De “guiri” en España

I’ve already been in Cádiz for a month….NOT O.K.!!
Time seriously FLIES when you’re having fun! Updates worth blogging about..

I have discovered the beauty of salsa dancing on a Tuesday night! The best part about it is that it’s right down the street from where I live. It’s a small place called la Isla Azul (it’s right across the street from the beach) and they offer free classes every Tuesday night. It’s super exciting because we are becoming “regulars” at this place. This only means one thing, SPANISH FRIENDS!!! =0) After salsa dancing at this place, we head over to another club called Barabas. Barabas is a lot bigger and they play salsa music up until about 3 a.m. then they start playing hip-hop and house music (I actually just made that up! I don’t know if that’s what it’s called! Hahahaha) anyway! You get the idea! The only bad thing about these Tuesday night outings is that we have class at 9 am the next morning!

So, last Tuesday we went to Barabas, and when I looked at the time, it was already 7….so that only meant one thing…naps on the beach the next day! After about an hr and a half of sleep after salsa dancing, we went to class and got through our Literatura y Cine class with no problems…then we realized we had to wait around campus until our next class, which started at 4:30 pm. So, we did what any other person would do….find a nice shaded area on the beach and PASS OUT!!! We had no towels or swim suits, so I’m guessing we looked like bums…but we got some sleep. Then the WEIRDEST thing I have EVER seen in my life happened!!!!!!! I woke up because some people with a nasty ass accent decided to sit RIGHT by us and start talking super loud….but then I looked up for some reason and saw a lady taking her little girl (probably about 4 yrs old) to the sandy part so she could poop!!!! Hahahahah WHO DOES THAT!!! Then the lady picked it up with a plastic bag. It grosses me out when people do this with their dogs crap….now imagine a mother doing that to her child!! SICK!!! OMG I am traumatized! Needless to say, my napping mood was over, and all I wanted to do was slap the people with the ugly accent, and the lady who let her kid poop on the beach!

Moving on…..Culture:

One of our professors was explaining the “right way” to take a siesta. Apparently, it should only last about 20 minutes, anything more and you are no longer taking a siesta, instead; you are just being straight up lazy. A siesta should never be taken lying down, it should always be done while sitting up, leaning over onto one hand. One of the methods you can use is to grab a “coffee spoon” using your thumb and pointer finger and slowly doze off….once the spoon slips from your fingers and hits the floor, your siesta is over. It’s pretty interesting because every time I took a “siesta” I would go into my room, get into bed and get up two hours later! Hahaha ooops!

Another thing I’ve seen here that I just think is absolutely AWESOME is the fact that a group of friends can be sitting out having a coffee or eating tapas, and all of a sudden some will start clapping, others will start singing, and it never fails that at least one person will be moving their hands like they’re dancing flamenco. It’s SOOOO awesome!

Last thing…I finally cut my hair!! Ok....Thanks, bye!

Literatura, “Americo Vespucci” e falando portugeis….

This blog is a little late....but better late than never!


Week three is officially over and all I can say is WOW!!! I think week three has been my favorite so far! 3 major things happening….One, I finally started classes at the University of Cádiz at the facultad de filosofía y letras. Two, went to a super fun party on the “Americo Vespucci,” and three, went to Lagos, Portugal!



1.)Classes at the UCA: We finally started classes at the UCA!!! WOOO I’m super excited to start! My goal is to make some Spanish friends at the school! So far we’ve had to go to all the classes so we can get an idea of what the class would be like, and finally make a final decision on the classes we will be taking for the rest of the semester. After going to all the classes I can honestly say that I’m super excited to start! I am taking historia de España, literatura y cine, lengua IV, and Variaciones. I’m feeling super official now! I can’t wait until classes start for classes to start for ALL university students (school officially starts on the 27th). My goal is to make Spanish/European friends that go to the UCA.



2.)On Tuesday of last week we were at the beach and 2 Italian Navy guys came up to us to invite us to this boat party they were having. So…Wednesday night rolls around and we decided to give this little boat party a try. We show up, and their boat seriously looks like a pirate ship! They were all dressed in their little navy uniforms. They had drinks, dancing, and cake for everyone who showed up…and of course, the sexy Italian accent was EVERYWHERE!!!! =0) we had a fun night of dancing, drinking, and learning how to count in Italian haha.



3.)Since we are in Europe we have to take advantage of how easy it is to go country hopping…so the first outing w/ a group of people was to Lagos, Portugal. We ended up having a group of about 30 students who wanted to go to Portugal for the weekend, so we rented a bus and headed out Friday afternoon. It took us a while to get there, but when we did it was well worth it! Friday night we got to “The Rising Cock” which is the hostel we were staying at. Hahaha each room had its own name, and I ended up staying in the “tea bag” room. We decided to go out Friday night, and celebrate the fact that we were in Portugal. Saturday morning we woke up, had some breakfast, and got ready to go on the booze cruise that was being put on by the hostel. That thing was CRAZY!! They provided beer, sangria, sandwiches, and tours on the boat. It was SOOOO pretty! After the tour we wanted to try some Portuguese food so we walked around and found a cute little place. I had a soup that was kind of the Portuguese version of Paella….it was SOOOO good!!! Saturday night was spent recovering from Friday’s fun and Sunday was a beach/ site seeing day. We ended up going to a beach where you could swim out to a cave like thing, which led to a different little beach. It felt so surreal being out there. I really want to start taking advantage of traveling while I’m here!

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. -St. Augustine

On Friday the 10th we had a “party” to celebrate being (almost) done w/ our orientation. I tried paella for the first time ever and LOVED it!!! It is sooooo freaken good! It had a mix of seafood w/ some chunks of chicken. It tasted almost like the meat was from pozole, yet the actual rice didn’t taste like pozole at all. Of course it wouldn’t be a real Spanish get-together if there wasn’t sangria involved…so some of the professors from our school made some for us =0) I am definitely a fan of sangria! After the school get-together, we wanted to go out. So 2 friends and I went to find some “drinks” to take to La Punta. We realized that getting to La Punta (where it’s legal to drink out in the open) at 11 pm is a bad idea. NO ONE is out at that time. We each had one drink and sat on a ledge that overlooks the water, and realized we were too tired to go out. On our way to find a taxi we walked by the Plaza de España and stopped for a bit when we saw some people singing flamenco music. It was SOOO awesome. I sometimes still can’t believe I’m in Spain, but sitting at the plaza watching people perform definitely made it more real! We stayed for a bit and luckily made one of the last busses that leaves the parte Antigua and goes toward the parte nueva (which is where we live) and made it home at a pretty decent hour.

On Saturday we had our second excursion. It was to the Torre Tavira which is the tallest tower in the old part of Cádiz where you can see the whole town. They have this really cool thing called a “dark camera” which is literally like a huge ass mirror that reflects live images from outside, and displays them on this huge bowl-like thing inside of a dark room. We then went up to the terraca and got to see all of Cádiz. The cool thing was that when we were up there, we got to see plane practicing for an air show that was going to happen Sunday.

Sunday morning air show: The air show is literally the equivalent of Seattle Seafair , except that the one here is like 2 hours long, and I thought it was a lot better. The Blue Angels are pretty cool…but damn, these guys are crazy! I had no idea helicopters could flip and do all that crazy stuff too! The beach was super packed with people who were there to watch the show. It started off with sky divers, then went into the old planes doing Blue Angel-like tricks, then the plane that puts out forest fires….then the helicopters, then this plane that was CRAZY loud and went super fast! The coast guard was out on boats….very very nice! J

Culture: I have seen SOOOO many boobs here! People on the beach go topless and just lounge around taking in some sun. What’s awkward about it is that sometimes they’ll be sitting around playing cards with their families just “hanging out.” The men wear Speedo’s and some women go in thongs too. My goal is to go back to the states with no tan lines! Hahaha JOKE!

I am in the process of creating a list of things I want to do while I’m here. I am SUPER determined to learn Italian while I’m here! I’ll also be traveling and exploring new places. A big group of us are planning a weekend trip to Portugal which will take place this upcoming weekend! I will definitely have to post pictures/blog after a I get back! For now, I’m just getting ready to start REAL classes on Wednesday! YAY!!!

Week One....

"We are all one. In the human form we are pioneers embarked on a wonderful journey, exploring and experiencing the physical world." - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

My first full week in Cadiz! WOOOO. So many things to see! I feel like I already have some great stories....I can only imagine what 4 months from now will be like! OH LORD!!!

The beach is AMAZING!!! Best story so far: I went to the beach w/ Karly, Taylor and Lindsey, and we were just laying out, sipping some "tinto" (red wine w/ sprite) when someone had the idea to just get in the water. So, to avoid getting killed by the waves we ended up going pretty far.... I seriously don't know how the hell it happened, but all of a sudden we realized we were in a spot where all the waves were breaking. At this point, I had my sun glasses on (stupid idea...I know!) and my bikini was still in place....But then the wave incident of 2010 happened. A huge wave came and almost took me down, but once it passed I realized my top was feeling a little different...I checked that everything was in place, but the top was becoming untied! Lindsey tried fixing the issue, but another wave almost took us down. At this point, I'm holding my top on, and Lindsey had been taken by the wave and ended up a couple feet away from me...so then Taylor tried to fix the problem. As he was tying up my bikini top we look back and a HUGE ass wave was coming our way. He tried tying it super quick before the wave got to us...He finished just in time because that wave got to us and seriously kicked our ass! I ended up doing like 10 flips under water, while holding on to my top (just in case) and holding on to my bottoms, which were about to go, and got kicked a couple times by Taylor.....needless to say, the wave won. I finally got back up, had sand in my hair, and in the bikini, and my glasses were missing...:( sad day. Lesson learned though.....

Anyway, I finally had sangria! SSUUUUPPERRR Delish!!!! Muy refrescante!

Night life here is SOOOO different from the states. First of all...if you show up to a place at 11 pm, you will prob be one of the only ones there...people don't start going out til 12-1-ish. It's SOOO Freaken crazy! They def know how to party it up. People don't get home until 8-9 am. I can't hang with the big dogs yet. The latest/earliest i've stayed up is til 6:30 am. What I love about it is that you will see people of ALL ages out having fun. Once 11 pm rolls around, people go out to the board walk and just hang out. You will see kids in their teens, as well as older couples in their 60's + just enjoying the cool weather. Everything is so relaxed...stress free!

My host sister is SOOO awesome! First of all, she introduced me to the show Dexter...now I am addicted, and we will wake up late, eat something...then watch a couple episodes :) Or watch some episodes while we eat! She has introduced me to a bunch of her friends, and took me to a capoeira expo that her friend was having. OMG sooo talented! It made me miss Brazil though!

We went on our first group excursion to Ronda. A white town with amazying views! There was a bull fight going on that day so we ended up seeing a ton of girls dressed as gitanas in the flamenco dresses walking all over the place. I had only seen that in movies! I have sooooo much to see! I love the feeling I get when I see old buildings. There is so much history!!!

Food: This is def something i'm still getting used to. So many strong smells (cheese and the meats). I've had sopa de mariscos...WOW! So amazing! You can tell all the sea food is fresh. I've also had bocadillo, which is (no joke ) a WHOLE damn thing of french bread cut in half. They either put meat or cheese (only! they don't mix the two). My host mom packed lunch for me one day and seriously put the whole thing of bread in there. El melocoton (peach) is different than what our peaches taste like...similar but different.

Ok this is def. getting too long...very eventful week. The plan is to travel all over Spain, Portugal and Morocco....can't wait!

Vale tio...estoy en Cadiz

7:16 am at home.....4:16 pm in Cadiz. This time difference is killer!

About the city: Second day here, and I am loving it!!! The city has the typical postcard, maze like streets w/ the flower pots hanging from little balconies. The city is divided into the Old Cadiz and New Cadiz, it's divided by this huge wall-like thing (will post pictures later). You can walk from the UCA (University of Cadiz) to where I live (New Cadiz), it's about an hr and a half to walk the whole way, but if I walk it it's right along the beach. There are so many little cafes and cute little shops. Some shoe stores have shoes for only 5 EUROS!!!! super excited about that part!

About the host family: "Mis padres" are a retired couple. They have 3 kids. The oldest daughter is 35, is married and has two babies Curro (4) and Elenita (1) She lives down the block and works at the hospital across the street. Their son is 30 but lives in Sevilla. And their youngest daughter, Marta, is 25 and lives at home. She is super fun, laid back, and very easy to get along with. I got to meet some of her friends, and they are all super welcoming. Did I mention we live a block away from the beach!? well....WE DO!!!

Food: So far I've eaten the famous Spanish tortilla, some delish salads, and other things that I don't remember the names of. They are over feeding me, so if I get home and weigh 30 lbs more...don't judge me! =0)

The School: this is my second day going to the K2 International School of Spanish. We are there for 2 weeks just brushing up on some of the technical stuff, and learning about the culture, customs, accent, etc. My professor, Carlos, Is SUPPERRR awesome! We have to start practicing our "Spain Spanish"...which includes the "th," hand gestures, etc. I'm super excited about that =0)

This is just a little of the awesomeness I am getting to live. Love u guys =0)