Caitlin's email from Nov. 8 to Nov. 28
11-28-2007
So....I am getting wrinkles. Yeah, seriously, I am only 19....but I definitely
have not one, not two, but THREE wrinkles on my forehead!!! I guess that my very
expressive face, which my Prof told my TA who told me "radiates happiness"....so
after this realization I have been paying more attention to people on the
metro...and it is sooo not normal...maybe this is why people use
Botox....hum....
Anyway...we only have one more day of classes, and then exams next week!!! I am
sooooooo happy that this term is over...
Oh, so last night, I totally wanted to tell you more about my museum
Sunday....El Museo Sorolla is actually in the house where the artist lived...and
I reallllly want to live there, it is really cool...it has lots of natural light
and the rooms are spacious but not unnecessarily grand...and all the walls are
covered in his paintings. I really like Sorolla...yah!
Two nights ago all the Christmas lights in Madrid were lit....there are MILLIONS
of lights on all different streets throughout the city, and fake trees of
lights, and the big tree in Puerta del Sol....it is all very cool!
yeah....that's all I got for now.............
I am getting reallllllllly excited for the holidays
11-27-2007
Update on my computer, I brought my baby to the hospital today, where she remains in critical condition until further notice! I miss her already even though she hasn't worked in a while. At least before we could curl up in bed together at night and cuddle!!! I feel lost without my lappy!!
So it has been a while since I have had time to write to you, even now I have to rush because my host sister is waiting to use the puter. So...anyway....my Thanksgiving was interesting to say the least, I hope that your went well! I ate fish...and had a bit too much to drink on Dartmouth s tab along with everyone else on the trip. The wine was flowing freely to say the least, we had red wine with dinner, cava (Spanish sparking wine) before desert and then sweet dessert wine to finish off the meal. I guess it all added p and I talked up a storm and repeatedly told a somewhat, ok fairly, inappropriate story t least 4 times that night...and the conversation Prof totally over heard it as well....whooops.
On Friday night Sam s parents took Jess and I out to a fabulous restaurant to see flamenco and eat yummy food. It was a great night, it was really a tourist trap, but it was a fancy tourist trap!! The food was realllly good and reallllly expensive...don t worry, I thanked them a lot for taking me out!! After dinner we took Sam s sister to a discoteca, and I stayed out until the metro opened again.
okay....I really have to rush through this now....
on Sunday morning I got up early to be productive and went to this fabulous clothing museum with was soooo much fun and then to the reallllly amazing Museo de Sorolla (Alex, I am totally taking you there!!)..
11-21-2007
So...I am alive, I know it has been a few days, but that is because my computer
died, like dead dead, and I have to find a Mac OSX install disc to revive it,
which is proving more difficult than it sounds...
Anyway...I got back from Denia on Sunday...anddddd I had sooooo much fun there!!
That family is soooo cool and fun and hilarious. They have so much energy and
they make me feel like I am a part of the family. It was cool, I didn't really
do anything there but hang out with Yolanda and the family, but it was GREAT...
Sooooo YAH...I finally finished my midterms yesterday and now it is a race to
the finish of the term!!! Exams...papers...presentations...poo. I am kinda done
with this whole studying in Spain thing....and its Thanksgiving tomorrow...and I
want to help my mommy cook dinner!!! Oh well, I even have to go to classes
tomorrow...soooo lame. Hopefully it will be the only time in my life that I have
to not only miss Thanksgiving with my family, but also work and go to class!
lame! At least tomorrow everyone is going out to dinner together!
We went to El Prado again today to look at El Greco and Valezquez with our art
professor. It was a good visit...I like looking at the actual works wayyy better
than in slides...(hi Deb + Lauren! aren't you happy for my appreciation of
art??)
Okay....so I probably wont write again until this whole computer thing is sorted
out....so I hope you will do okay without my entertaining blitzes......psh
yeah...you know you love me.
Only one more month until I am home!!!!!!!
oh...yeah....I went shopping yesterday to buy some new jeans because the only
other ones I have are hopelessly ripped, or now to small because I have taken a
few to many stops at the pasteleria for some baked good deliciousness....hehe
11-17-2007
So, I guess I forgot to tell you guys that I went away this week. We went as a whole group to Barcelona Wednesday night and stayed in a hotel there for two nights. It was a crazy trip, we were busy alllll the time. We saw all the sites. We started the morning on Thursday with a bus tour through the entire city, and then we walked some, had a lecture and went to the Picasso museum. This professor was soooo good, he really helped me understand Picasso better and appreciate him as a GENIUS!
Yesterday we went and saw oll of Gaudi s famous works in the city. They were very cool of course, I mean I have loved Gaudi since I learned about him in high school. But, I did not like at all what they are doing to Sagrada Familia, a giant cathedral that Gaudi designed and was in the process of building when he died. There is no way that Gaudi would like how there are trying to finish it. Truly, he must be rolling in his grave. Its like giving an unfinished work of Picasso, and all the sketches to another artist and having him finish it. Its just plain wrong.
Anyway, Barcelona is great, I would love to go back again for a long visit in the summer to enjoy the sun and the beach!!! It was also good to spend some quality time with the whole group. I mean, we did split up almost along class lines 09s and 10s, but we were still together and more sociable than we are usually.
The only messed up thing about Barcelona right now, is that you cant really get there by train. I mean, you are supposed to be able to, but the rail lines were constructed badly and now holes are showing up all over the place, so you have to take a bus to and from Barcelona to a town an hour away to catch the train where the tracks are stable! Yeah, sooo last night there was sooooo much traffic that I was on the bus for 2 hours, and then I got to Valencia almost an hour late...it was a little horrible.
I am in Denia now visiting the family I stayed with the fist time I came to Spain. It is great, they are fun...
So...I will be back in Madrid tomorrow at 6pm...and then I
have to study for my art exam on Tuesday...boo. okay...bye for now!!!
11-11-2007
So, I have been spending some time this weekend studying...and we didn't have
internet for 24 hours, so that helped encourage me to focus a little better!! I
am really not looking forward to my two exams tomorrow...boo...the end of this
term is going to go by sooo fast now though!!!
I went to El Pardo again with Carlos yesterday and there were deer and goats and
duckies...it was cool. But there were definitely some creepy noises going
on...maybe I was just a little spooked from the wild boar incident last time!
Not to mention Carlos told me to watch out for wolves, because there are
lots...damn liar!! Haha
So, then Sam called me and told me that German (her Spanish "friend") had
invited us all to a party at his apartment in Sol, so I figured I might as well
go out...and I asked Carlos to come, but he said he would only come if his
friend Juan could come too. (Juan massively likes Sam and would be sure to come
once he found out she would be there...also Juan is the most outrageous of
Carlos's friends). Soooo...anyway...we went over to his house, but he wasn't
there...but his mom told us to come up and wait for him there....I was a little
nervous going into some randos house, but this lady was absolutely hilarious.
She was wearing her cute little old lady pajamas..so I was thinking she was just
a typical Spanish mother...but then she started talking...and my god did she
swear a lot, and she was telling Carlos that he needs to go out with me to the
party, even without Juan, because he should, and back in her day she would
always go out with her boyfriend without her friends, and that we would have
lots of fun...so yeah, she conviced him. Oh, and she tried to talk to me, and I
didn't realize she was talking to me, so Carlos told her I don't understand a
lot of Spanish...DAMN IT! I do to!! I understood everything that was going
on...I was really proud of myself...and after we left I yelled at him for that.
Anyway...Juan never should up...so then we went to Carlos's apartment so he
could change, and since Im not allowed to meet his parents I had to sit in the
lobby for like 20 minutes....my god...that was annoying....but the party was
FUNNN.
And todayyyy....I went to a Real Madrid soccer game against Mallorca. It was
SOOOO much fun, I loved it, it was really close and exciting and we won, 4-3. I
lovvved it really, it was so loud, and there was soo much energy...It was
great...but it was a little cold in there...and I sat and waited for a while
before we left the stadium, and walked to another metro stop to avoid the
crowds...and it worked, so I was happy about that!!!
So...then dinner with the chicas...and el churro (Alba's boyfriend)...he is such
a man. My god, he doesn't eat vegetable, fruits, or sweets...he likes MEAT and
things like that...and he eats probably 3 times as much as any of us girls. And
Alba was making fun of him because he didn't like to eat here when they first
started dating because he would still be starving after all the meals...haha...poor
boy. Okay....well I am gunna go study now.....
11-9-2007
Dude...movie theaters here are sooo weird...you literally buy an assigned
seat...for a MOVIE!! Soooo strange...and there were only like 15 people in the
theater! But the seats were fabulously comfy...they were like recliners with out
the reclining ability...I really wanted to kick off me shoes and curl up into a
little ball to enjoy the movie...too bad that's just not quite acceptable
here... So, yeah Knocked Up was a lot funnier in English, but still highly
enjoyable. So, it totally helped me learn some new slang words...you know what
I'm talking about...haha. But, I was laughing tons more and WAY louder than
anyone else, and it was sooo strange. The part that all the Spaniards found most
hilarious was the funny looking baby when they went to get the pregnancy
test...seriously?? That is just not the funniest part...we don't laugh at that
kind of stuff in the US! I dunno...totally different sense of humor here...
We went to Segovia today. It was a little lame; there is not really a whole lot
to do there...another cathedral, another palace...but this one inspired Walt
Disney to make the Disney castle, so I guess that's pretty sweet. And we got in
some good pictures after climbing up the itty-bitty spiral staircase to the very
top of the tower. So yeah, then all the chicas just sang one Disney song after
another...silly girls (we all know that I don't do such things in public). We
went shopping a little too, but some stupid women were really rude to us when we
went in a bakery and were standing around for a long time, they told us to get
out it wasn't a place to warm up, we should just order or leave. Soooo rude...my
god! It was damn cold over in Segovia too...brrrr...I so did not bring enough
war clothes to Spain...whoops.
Sam and I tried studying on the bus to and from Segovia, but damn it was hard,
and I don't remember anything from art history...this is going to be a
challenge. But mother, you will be happy to hear that I am not going out
tonight...I just don't feel like it...although I had plans to go out with two
different groups...I bailed on both...lame right? Psh...probs because I am still
totally homesick...poo! So lame...
Anyway...here are some sweet pictures that I am sure you are all dying to see!!
And I will try to have some more exciting stories to tell you in a few days...
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11-8-2007
Okay, what the hell! I just found out that "wenis" is not an actual word!! (for
those of you out of the loop apparently it's a slang term for the skin on the
end of your elbow) I am sooo disappointed...my god who made up that word? AND it
should sooooo be in the dictionary if GINORMOUS made it in...come on now!!
In other news...I went to a Russian classical ballet production last night of
Cinderella!!! IT WAS AMAZING!! We had great seats in the front of the balcony,
and the dancers were really talented...I loved it, I would have sat there for
hours watching them dance...I didn't want it to end...EVER! Oh, and this theater
had the weirdest seats I have ever seen! The cushion was like 7 inches thick,
but then there was like a gap between the seat and the back, so it was totally
awkward unless you shoved a giant jacket in that space, haha. Learned something
interesting....people here do not whistle, yell or scream after a good
performance....they just clap...and clap....and clap....we clapped for a long
time...yeah, I'll admit it, I got tired...that's how out of shape I am
now....but its okay, all of us were a little winded from our little clapping
session...
When I got home, I was very happy to find a package on my desk...and all my
dirty clothes were gone! YAH!!...So, I finally got my other camera from my
parents....but they were lame and didn't add in anything else special, a note,
candy, something homey, no poultry seasoning that I asked for....(and yes I am
publicly shaming you both)...so next time, I expect a little something
extra...come on now! Get it together!
So.....I have a busy week ahead of me! I am going to the movies tonight, Segovia
all day tomorrow, Kapital Klub tomorrow night, study/recover Saturday, study
Sunday, Real Madrid soccer game Sunday night, 2 exams Monday, and one on
Tuesday, Wednesday we leave for Barcelona, on Friday I go from Barcelona to
Denia until Sunday...damn...So.....if I am bad at emails, its not because I'm
not doing anything...its because I am too busy for you all!! Haha...just
kidding, you know I love you and will try my best to keep you updated!!
So, I don't know if I have made it clear how incredible ghetto this school is.
It is in the dark ages...no one has computers, and the ones they do have are
like circa 1995...and no one knows how to use email. Today Sam and I were
sitting in the art prof's office looking at slides against the light because the
slide machine was broken...I don't even remember the last time slides were used
in one of my classes...and not to mention the books this professor was using
were printed in 1960...at the latest...yeah...it was weird...I guess I have just
been spoiled my whole life...
So...that's about all I have to report for now!!