So I think my laptop is on its last legs. In the last couple weeks it has begun restarting at random and graphics card is doing funny things... I would love it if it lasted for the rest of 2012 (that would help me finish school) but I think that might be too much to ask. It is almost 5 years old after all. I use it so much right now to communicate with friends here in Spain because we are all too cheap to use our cell phones frequently. I use it to work on my Spanish and botany projects for school when I get back in the fall. I use it to Skype! Ahh! I am not too worried because Evan has his computer here as well, which I could use for all of the above, but his computer is his precious and he can be very possessive of it (think Gollum). Thinking about spending copious amounts of time trying to get him to let me use his computer sounds difficult.
As much as I love my MacBook, I don't want to spend a grand on a computer again, so I will probably end up with a PC laptop that costs about half as much. I have always been scared of them because of the amount of viruses they contract but that is where Evan comes in handy because computers are his specialty.
I am really bummed today because I was all set to go to Valldemossa today and collect some lichens for my project but it is raining! Overall I am happy that it is raining because it doesn't rain very much here and the rain feels cleansing to me. And it helps wash the dog shit off the sidewalks, which is always a plus. I really do need to get outside of the city and see some nature. It has been a while! We haven't been on a hike since before we left for our winter vacation! On Sunday (if the weather is nice) I will be doing some volunteering at a community garden.
Our landlady, Paquita, got us a heater and now it is nice and toasty in our room! Hooray! The moment Evan had it assembled and turned it on it sucked up a piece of lint and shorted out one of the circuits. At that moment I was thinking "Spain, por favor no me jodas asi!" but then Evan took the whole thing apart and was able to fix it. Yay for handymen! The the light burned out in our room and Evan goes to change it and the bulb looks like a strange crack pipe so hopefully someday we will find an equivalent bulb somewhere. Spain, por favor no me jodas asi....
I think now today will consist of watching The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and sending some overdue emails to friends. And then tonight we celebrate our friend Italis' birthday!
Oh yeah, and I am going to run and do some strength training (with water bottles due to limited resources) because I feel horribly out of shape!
Showing posts with label Evan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evan. Show all posts
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Proud Wife Moment!
I had a proud wife moment yesterday when Evan asked me to take him shopping to look for a pea coat! He had no idea that they were called pea coats and had to describe what he was looking for to me so I could figure out what he was talking about. And we found a nice wool one on sale! Hooray!
I ALMOST titled this post "Proud Girlfriend Moment" but then realized that that would be incorrect. How sad that I still can't get this straight even after 6 months of being married?!
I guess after you have been together for 4 years and living together for 2, "married" is just a new word that describes the way you already were.
:)
I ALMOST titled this post "Proud Girlfriend Moment" but then realized that that would be incorrect. How sad that I still can't get this straight even after 6 months of being married?!
I guess after you have been together for 4 years and living together for 2, "married" is just a new word that describes the way you already were.
:)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Andalucía
I think I belong in Andalucía. The next time I apply for this program I DEFINITELY will be putting Andalucía on the top of my list.
We spent 5 days and 5 nights there total. And we spent 350E each (Evan and I), which in my mind is pretty damn good if you never even had a budget in the first place. We went with our friends Mary, Emily and Naz. We spent the first 2 nights in Sevilla, where we saw some amazing free flamenco, drank delicious sangria and explored the beautiful, colorful city. The art that people were selling on the streets was all soooo beautiful, it was really hard not to buy anything. We toured the gorgeous cathedral and walked through huge gardens. The food there was delicious! It was really beautiful/difficult because all the streets were lined with orange trees that were just dripping with oranges, but of course they tasted like lemons. ¡Que lástima!
We rented a car in Sevilla and then drove to Granada. Of course it was not as easy as that because we got lost leaving Sevilla and getting into Granada. The next day we went to the arab baths and soaked in the warm water for an hour and a half and drank delicious Morrocan tea. Granada was gorgeous and reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe (not only because it is right next to the Sierra Nevada mountains) but it was very cold and Christmas-y and looked like a really nice ski resort city. We went to the Alhambra and marvaled at the painstakingly carved and painted designs in the palace. We ate tons of delicious tapas there as well. I wanted to buy just about everything I saw in the shops there because everything was so pretty! It is funny because I haven't felt that way about anything I have seen here in Palma. I had a tipsy splurge on a very hippy but cute jacket, a scarf, a beautiful handmade wood picture frame, and Evan bought a magnet.
On the way back to Sevilla we stopped in Córdoba to see the Mezquita, which is a mosque that was converted into a cathedral. We watched a really interesting documentary about when the Mores had control of Spain and that time period is very evident in Andalucia. I love the rich patterns and colors that come from the Arabic influence. The Mezquita was really interesting because it was very much a (somewhat clashing) mixture of a traditional Catholic church and a mosque. It was very beautiful and well worth the drive. For our last night/day in Sevilla we went out to the bars, gorged ourselves on tapas and walked around the city.
I had a really great time getting to know Mary and Emily better. We traveled really well together and I feel like that is definitely a sign of a good friendship!
I really wanted to put pictures in this post but Evan is taking FOREVER to go through them (I shouldn't complain, there are like 1200 pictures) so he hasn't given me any yet. :( Or you could just check out the travel blog for pictures instead!
We spent 5 days and 5 nights there total. And we spent 350E each (Evan and I), which in my mind is pretty damn good if you never even had a budget in the first place. We went with our friends Mary, Emily and Naz. We spent the first 2 nights in Sevilla, where we saw some amazing free flamenco, drank delicious sangria and explored the beautiful, colorful city. The art that people were selling on the streets was all soooo beautiful, it was really hard not to buy anything. We toured the gorgeous cathedral and walked through huge gardens. The food there was delicious! It was really beautiful/difficult because all the streets were lined with orange trees that were just dripping with oranges, but of course they tasted like lemons. ¡Que lástima!
We rented a car in Sevilla and then drove to Granada. Of course it was not as easy as that because we got lost leaving Sevilla and getting into Granada. The next day we went to the arab baths and soaked in the warm water for an hour and a half and drank delicious Morrocan tea. Granada was gorgeous and reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe (not only because it is right next to the Sierra Nevada mountains) but it was very cold and Christmas-y and looked like a really nice ski resort city. We went to the Alhambra and marvaled at the painstakingly carved and painted designs in the palace. We ate tons of delicious tapas there as well. I wanted to buy just about everything I saw in the shops there because everything was so pretty! It is funny because I haven't felt that way about anything I have seen here in Palma. I had a tipsy splurge on a very hippy but cute jacket, a scarf, a beautiful handmade wood picture frame, and Evan bought a magnet.
On the way back to Sevilla we stopped in Córdoba to see the Mezquita, which is a mosque that was converted into a cathedral. We watched a really interesting documentary about when the Mores had control of Spain and that time period is very evident in Andalucia. I love the rich patterns and colors that come from the Arabic influence. The Mezquita was really interesting because it was very much a (somewhat clashing) mixture of a traditional Catholic church and a mosque. It was very beautiful and well worth the drive. For our last night/day in Sevilla we went out to the bars, gorged ourselves on tapas and walked around the city.
I had a really great time getting to know Mary and Emily better. We traveled really well together and I feel like that is definitely a sign of a good friendship!
I really wanted to put pictures in this post but Evan is taking FOREVER to go through them (I shouldn't complain, there are like 1200 pictures) so he hasn't given me any yet. :( Or you could just check out the travel blog for pictures instead!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Morroco
Last night Evan and I went out to a delicious dinner for our 4 year anniversary. We were originally planning on going out afterwards but just ended up picking up a forty of beer and heading back to the piso.
After watching a couple episodes of South Park, our roommate Naz called us out to the living room. Him and Mounir, our roommate from Morrocco had made some DELICIOUS Morrocan food. It was amazingly seasoned lamb with flavorful sauce, prunes, and hard-boiled eggs. We ate it with bread using our hands. So good! Mounir showed us videos and talked a lot about Morroco. Naz lived in Morrocco for 11 months. So pretty much we have 2 Morrocan experts on our hands so we should try and go to Morrocco because we are super close!
We are going to Sevilla in a week and a half and that might be a perfect opportunity to just hop on over to Africa, as we will be practically there in the south of Spain anyways.
They are going to try making another traditional Morrocan dish tonight and I am so excited!!!
After watching a couple episodes of South Park, our roommate Naz called us out to the living room. Him and Mounir, our roommate from Morrocco had made some DELICIOUS Morrocan food. It was amazingly seasoned lamb with flavorful sauce, prunes, and hard-boiled eggs. We ate it with bread using our hands. So good! Mounir showed us videos and talked a lot about Morroco. Naz lived in Morrocco for 11 months. So pretty much we have 2 Morrocan experts on our hands so we should try and go to Morrocco because we are super close!
We are going to Sevilla in a week and a half and that might be a perfect opportunity to just hop on over to Africa, as we will be practically there in the south of Spain anyways.
They are going to try making another traditional Morrocan dish tonight and I am so excited!!!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Rainy Day
It is raining today and will continue to be raining for the rest of the week. I am happy because I like the rain but unhappy because I didn't do laundry before the rain started so now I have to wait until after it is over so my clothes will properly dry.
Last Thursday, Evan and I went to this amazing agricultural fair (largest in Mallorca) and stuffed our faces. You can read about it here. Or, if you don't understand any Spanish, at least look at the amazing pictures that Evan took.
On Friday we went with our friend Lyda to Valldemossa for a spectacularly beautiful hike. If you want to know/see more go for here plants and here for beautiful views. It had rained recently and was absolutely beautiful. That day is also when I found out that there are reruns of Sex and The City on tv here and I am definitely heading to Lyda's one day to hit that up!
Saturday did not see much action, most of my time was spent catching up on blog posts and relaxing. On Sunday I went with Lisa to help with the Es Verger project. The Es Verger project is a small garden outside of Manacor that the volunteer group runs to help pay for some of the costs of the group by selling vegetables. They also have an old run down house that they are trying to fix up to create a nice place to people to work and relax. I don't have any pictures of this place but Lisa took a ton so I am hoping to get them soon. I helped till the soil and pick out rocks and then I worked planting peas, garlic, onions, and leeks. It was a beautiful spot and I hope to go out there the next time they have a work day. The people out there were awesome and it was great talking to them about the environment and gardening techniques. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
That day was also really successful for me because I was told multiple times how good my Spanish is. I felt like I was able to understand just about everything everybody was saying and I even new some Spanish plant/garden words that other people didn't. That day made me feel like I could definitely be fluent at the end of this program if I keep surrounding myself with Spanish speakers and practicing.
Sunday night we went to a Thanksgiving potluck put on by a couple of the other people in the program. We got to stuff our faces, yet again, on a delicious mix of Spanish and American food. Yay for pumpkin pie and empanadas gallegas.
Today we decided rather spontaneously that we are going to go to Sevilla, in the south of Spain for 6 days for December 5th through 10th. We have that Tuesday and Thursday off for holidays and I requested Wednesday off as well. So we are flying out Monday night with our friends Mary, Naz, and Emily and coming back on Sunday. I don;t work on Fridays so that day wasn't an issue. We don't really have a clearcut plan of what we are doing besides renting a car and driving to Granada at some point during those six days. I am really excited to see another part of Spain and be in a place where they only speak Castellano and not Catalan! This is also an opportunity to scope out places we might want to live if we decide to do the program again. 2 weeks away!
On a sadder note, our awesome roommate Ewa (she's from Polland and speaks excellent Spanish) moved out to go back home for a few months while her airport job is not available. Luckily she will be back in the spring, we just won't be able to live with her again. She also told us (Evan and I) that we could come stay with her in Polland on our winter break if we like! She lives in the very nothern part of Polland on the ocean so it is probably going to be freezing there so we will see what the weather starts looking like come December.
Here is the strange part: in her place a 50 year old woman moved in. This is a house of people under 30. Weird. She is a music teacher and mostly keeps to herself and it very quiet but it has set a rather weird vibe for the apartment. The day before she moved in our roommate Mounir put it perfectly "Mom is coming". Dun dun dun! So far there hasn't been a problem but it has only been 4 days.
So Jordan is coming to live here in Palma for 4 months starting around Febuary! I convinced her to take the spring semester off and come live here and be an English tutor! There is a huge demand and it is a well paid job with flexible hours. She has also been saving up for a while to come visit us anyways. This is going to be really awesome because Jordan is fun to travel with (not to mention that she is my best friend) and we can graduate together from HSU in fall 2012! Our roommate Mounir told us he is moving out in February to go back to Morrocco and finish his PhD so his room will be available! Que buena suerte!
Last Thursday, Evan and I went to this amazing agricultural fair (largest in Mallorca) and stuffed our faces. You can read about it here. Or, if you don't understand any Spanish, at least look at the amazing pictures that Evan took.
On Friday we went with our friend Lyda to Valldemossa for a spectacularly beautiful hike. If you want to know/see more go for here plants and here for beautiful views. It had rained recently and was absolutely beautiful. That day is also when I found out that there are reruns of Sex and The City on tv here and I am definitely heading to Lyda's one day to hit that up!
Saturday did not see much action, most of my time was spent catching up on blog posts and relaxing. On Sunday I went with Lisa to help with the Es Verger project. The Es Verger project is a small garden outside of Manacor that the volunteer group runs to help pay for some of the costs of the group by selling vegetables. They also have an old run down house that they are trying to fix up to create a nice place to people to work and relax. I don't have any pictures of this place but Lisa took a ton so I am hoping to get them soon. I helped till the soil and pick out rocks and then I worked planting peas, garlic, onions, and leeks. It was a beautiful spot and I hope to go out there the next time they have a work day. The people out there were awesome and it was great talking to them about the environment and gardening techniques. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
That day was also really successful for me because I was told multiple times how good my Spanish is. I felt like I was able to understand just about everything everybody was saying and I even new some Spanish plant/garden words that other people didn't. That day made me feel like I could definitely be fluent at the end of this program if I keep surrounding myself with Spanish speakers and practicing.
Sunday night we went to a Thanksgiving potluck put on by a couple of the other people in the program. We got to stuff our faces, yet again, on a delicious mix of Spanish and American food. Yay for pumpkin pie and empanadas gallegas.
Today we decided rather spontaneously that we are going to go to Sevilla, in the south of Spain for 6 days for December 5th through 10th. We have that Tuesday and Thursday off for holidays and I requested Wednesday off as well. So we are flying out Monday night with our friends Mary, Naz, and Emily and coming back on Sunday. I don;t work on Fridays so that day wasn't an issue. We don't really have a clearcut plan of what we are doing besides renting a car and driving to Granada at some point during those six days. I am really excited to see another part of Spain and be in a place where they only speak Castellano and not Catalan! This is also an opportunity to scope out places we might want to live if we decide to do the program again. 2 weeks away!
On a sadder note, our awesome roommate Ewa (she's from Polland and speaks excellent Spanish) moved out to go back home for a few months while her airport job is not available. Luckily she will be back in the spring, we just won't be able to live with her again. She also told us (Evan and I) that we could come stay with her in Polland on our winter break if we like! She lives in the very nothern part of Polland on the ocean so it is probably going to be freezing there so we will see what the weather starts looking like come December.
Here is the strange part: in her place a 50 year old woman moved in. This is a house of people under 30. Weird. She is a music teacher and mostly keeps to herself and it very quiet but it has set a rather weird vibe for the apartment. The day before she moved in our roommate Mounir put it perfectly "Mom is coming". Dun dun dun! So far there hasn't been a problem but it has only been 4 days.
So Jordan is coming to live here in Palma for 4 months starting around Febuary! I convinced her to take the spring semester off and come live here and be an English tutor! There is a huge demand and it is a well paid job with flexible hours. She has also been saving up for a while to come visit us anyways. This is going to be really awesome because Jordan is fun to travel with (not to mention that she is my best friend) and we can graduate together from HSU in fall 2012! Our roommate Mounir told us he is moving out in February to go back to Morrocco and finish his PhD so his room will be available! Que buena suerte!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)