Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Rainy Days

Not much to update on. I woke up to the Monday of midterm week to the first rainy day we have had so far in this lovely country. The mornings here are also quite cold. Everyday we walk to our 9 AM class and it is in the 40's. I didn't have a midterm on Monday, but the night was spent studying for the test today. I had a midterm today in my Legal and Political Structure of Spain class. It went very well. There were three questions and we had to write essay answers. I wrote a LOT. The professors here don't tell you how much you need to write. They just say "answer the questions in a couple of lines". Tonight we are having another study session for History tomorrow. Unfortunately for me, I have a group project due Thursday. However, my reward for getting through the week is 4 days in foggy London town. I am so excited. I don't really have any exciting pictures because not much is going on right now. There will be much more in the future. Time to go to the Prado. Today we look at Las Meninas. YES! About time. If you don't know it, look it up.
Luke

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Study Time



This week started off just like any other. The 49ers dominated the Lions, ending their winning streak and further projecting them in the power ranking to #4. Besides that amazingly exciting Sunday, the rest of the weekdays were spent going to class and hanging out with everybody. The next week and a half are all about midterms. I had one midterm on Thursday and then I have three more next week. (1-Monday, 1-Tuesday, 1-Wednesday) I don't have a midterm for my lit class, instead we have a group project. My Thursday midterm went well. On Wednesday night, we had maybe 8 people over in the apartment hanging out, studying, watching soccer and it was a lot of fun. Also, I received my only grade so far the other day: A. I was quite happy. (It was on a lit paper) The temperature has dropped maybe 20 degrees in a week and it is a very drastic change. The morning walk to class is usually around 45 degrees or so and by the middle of the day it heats up to around 70. I had to go buy a light sweatshirt to wear to class because its not cold enough for a big jacket just yet. Yesterday we went on a day trip to Toledo (where Sam lives) with our program. The night before we went out pretty late so everybody was passed out on the bus there and back. When we first got there, we had about a half hour of free-time in order to eat and look around a bit. I met up with Sam for a little bit before she had to go pack for Madrid (she was going on a class field trip and staying with her parent for a couple of nights. Sam's parent are visiting for a week so last night I went out to dinner with them and it was very nice. The rest of the weekend I am just going to relax and get a lot of studying in. Next week is a big week with the midterms and then its time for vacation! Next Friday I head to London for 4 days. I am so excited. I will let you all know how the midterms go.
Luke

Friday, October 14, 2011

Bullfight and the Best Concert Ever





This week has been insanely epic. (mostly because of last night) There was a holiday in Madrid on Wednesday, so we only had a 3 day week. However, because it was on Wednesday, having class Monday-Tuesday and then Thursday was a little annoying. We had some people over on Tuesday and we hung out, made some mojitos and had a pretty good time. Wednesday my friends and I decided that we would go to a bullfight. We haven't been to one yet and we thought it would be time to experience this brutal side of the culture. That's the keyword: BRUTAL. It was very interesting to see how the whole process is done but in the end it was pretty hard to watch. The only fun part was chanting "OLE" with the crowd. Still, it is something that you need to see if you are in Spain. (They also might not be around much longer anyway) The stadium was amazing and although we sat up near the top, it was actually pretty close. We got to see everything from a good view (not sure how great that was though). Thursday went well with class and now for the part we have all been waiting for..Thursday night.
So, earlier this week somebody posted on our IES facebook that Michael Franti and Spearhead were going to be at the Sala Heinekein (a very nice club) on Thursday night. I, immediately, looked into it and bought my ticket. I told my friends about it and they had no idea who he was. I was disgusted, seeing how they were all from California. I convinced my roommate, Jay, to go with me (he thanked me very much afterward) and so that's just what we did. Basically, my whole family likes Michael Franti (especially my brother and my Aunt Pam). We got to the concert about 20 minutes before the set started and met up with two other people from our program. The place was surprisingly not crowded so we ended up standing right in front of the stage. Throughout the entire concert, we were close enough to touch the man. That's just to start how jealous you are all going to be. So, he rocked the entire night without stopping (the man is an animal). He was jumping all over the place, playing all of his good songs, making the crowd go crazy (we were all jumping up and down and singing along) and doing everything barefoot! Because we were in the front row, there were some perks. We got multiple high-fives and fist bumps from Franti and the rest of Spearhead (again, only tapping into how lucky I was). He jumped down into the crowd a couple of times. The first time, he was standing right next to us playing and singing and guess what? Michael Franti put his arm around me while playing his guitar and was singing to me. I couldn't believe it. But, guess what else? Later on in the night, I am standing in the front row and he pulls this girl on stage from the left side of the crowd (we were on the right) and then he comes over our way and I am jumping up and holding my arm up and what does he do? MICHAEL FRANTI GRABS MY HAND AND PULLS ME ON STAGE. HE GIVES ME HIS GUITAR AND HAS ME "PLAY BACK-UP" WHILE HE SINGS. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. After a minute or two he went to the other side of the crowd to start his next song but I got to keep playing with Spearhead for like 5 minutes, pretending to jam out with his band members. Holy freaking sh**. (Obviously, the unplugged the guitars so that we didn't actually end up playing horrible notes. We just got to look like we were jamming out.) So that was awesome and the set kept going for a while. Later on in the night he drops one of the picks he was using and I HAVE IT. Also, after the concert ended, he jumped into the crowd and is right next to us. Next thing I know, I am hugging Michael Franti (he was dripping/drenched with sweat) and then tells me "hey you did a great job playing up there". What an amazing ending to one of the most amazing nights. You want proof? Look at those pictures. That's all that matters. Best concert of my life.
Luke

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Already a Month?



As of yesterday, I have been in this wonderful country for a month. I can't believe that it has already been a month. I am scared that time is just going to keep flying by and then it will all be over. (Thank goodness I have another semester in Italy!) This week was pretty uneventful. Classes were fine. I learned some new things and did very little homework. Our program just started offering free yoga every Wednesday at 8 in the morning so that is nice. It was very interesting doing yoga in Spanish. Only 5 people showed up but it was cool. I like yoga. Also, anything that is free here, we jump all over it. It doesn't matter what it would be. Last night was a lot of fun. We had a lot of people over to the apartment for a couple of hours before we went out. We headed to a club downtown called Gabana (our program had a party for us there earlier this month).With some fine persuasion, we ended up getting everybody into this club for free and we danced until maybe 3 in the morning. I spent 0 euro last night and had a great time. That is how you are supposed to do it. This weekend about 90% of my friends here are going to Barcelona for a huge concert/party/14 hour rave called Sensation. I, however, am not going. It took me a lot of thought but I decided that it would be too expensive of a trip so I am hanging out at home this weekend. I am going to go buy some clothes maybe, catch up on sleep, watch my 49ers (1st in division), run and go to the gym, watch a couple of movies maybe, skype my family (Jordan will be home on Sunday) and save quite a bit of money. Other than that, I have been relaxing all day long and I am preparing myself for a good night full of rest.
Luke
(I put up some random pictures. One of us guys at the beach in Valencia and the other is Sam and I in Toledo)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Valencia




This last weekend we went on a FREE, two-day trip to Valenica. Valencia is a city on the east coast of Spain. We left early on Thursday morning (7:15 bus) and embarked on a 4 hour bus ride. We stopped at around halfway in order to eat breakfast in this town in the middle of nowhere. We ate in a castle. Yes, a castle. There was a great spread filled with bread, croissants, fruit and chorizo. It was so good. It was a great way to really start the morning. From there we made our way to Valencia and once we arrived, we went to our rooms for a bit, at the hotel, (it was a very nice hotel) and were granted a few hours of free time. What to do, what to do?..BEACH. We couldn't get on that bus fast enough. As soon as we got there, we ran right into the Mediterranean. It was warm and salty with great waves. We hung out in the water and on the beach for a while. Later, we went on a walking tour of the city (super cool) and saw many important/interesting landmarks and buildings of extreme architecture. I took so many pictures this weekend. After the tour, I was so tired from the night before that I just ended up in the very comfortable hotel bed watching a movie in Spanish. The next day (very well-rested), I ate breakfast in the hotel with my friends (another great spread). We then checked out of the hotel and boarded a bus headed to an aquarium. It was so cool. One of the best aquariums I have been to. They had all kinds of fish, penguins, dolphins, beluga whales, sharks, seals and sea lions. We jhung out there for a while and then went to a nearby science center in order to watch an IMAX movie about the hubble telescope. It was amazing. Afterwards we were all having deep conversations about space, life out there and life itself. It was great. We headed back home for another 4 hours on the bus. (Everybody was knocked out for the first half of it) Once home, I skyped my mom and dad, watched some of the shows that I missed while I was in Valencia, ate some food and went to bed. Today was very relaxing. I woke up around 10 (with a nice 10 hours of sleep) and went for a 4.5 mile run. After I showered, my roommate and I went shopping for a bit. I bought 3 new shirts for a good price so I was excited for that. I ate a hamburger, changed and then went to the pool for a couple of hours with some people from the program. (I love it here) I am currently watching the 49ers game on a website that my friend gave me. I am so glad to be able to watch the game (since my direct tv doesn't work here in Spain) I also am loving the image of my mom yelling at the tv back home. It comforts me whenever something bad happens during the game to know she is just as upset. Tonight I don't think I am doing much but continuing to watch this game, eating, skyping and doing whatever homework I have to do. Other than that, the theme of today is: Relaxation.
Luke