Christmas Eve in Don Benito

For Christmas Eve, my friend Maria invited me to her house for dinner. Since I had no other plans, I of course accepted her invitation. I walked to her house which is on the other side of town, about twenty minutes away from my apartment. I arrived about half an hour late and was still there before many of Maria's family. Nobody is ever on time here in Spain, it's completely acceptable to be half an hour or more late when meeting someone somewhere. Maria's family had the dinner in their garage which has a huge lounge that they use for parties before going out to the clubs.

For dinner there was a roast suckling pig, plates and plates of jamon, shrimp, salad, cheese, and lots of other things to munch on. For dessert one of Maria's relatives brought a couple chocolate mousse cakes which were delicious. The food was all really good, even the baby pig that I was apprehensive about eating.

After dinner which ended around 1 a.m. the young people went out to the clubs to meet up with friends. There were tons of people out as Christmas Eve is one of the most social nights of the year. Each place we went to was packed and it was really a good time out.

I'm happy with my decision not to jet-set to a European capital for Christmas since I had a good time right here in Don Benito and I got to experience a traditional Spanish Christmas Eve dinner. The way I figure it, I can visit Rome or Amsterdam any weekend, but Christmas only comes once a year. Plus it's cold in Amsterdam!


Christmas Eve dinner with Maria's family


the Christmas lights in the plaza in Don Benito

Madrid & Paris

A couple weekes ago I was chatting online with my friend from high school Becky about when I was going to go to Paris. She surprised me when she told me that she was going to be leaving Paris in mid-December because she was going to travel before she had to return to the States. I had thought she was going to be there until January. She told me I should come in the next few weekends because after that she was leaving. I had planned on going to Cadiz for the six day weekend I had coming up, but my plans feel through so I was facing spending great traveling weekend at home. So I thought, why not Paris this weekend?

I quickly checked flight prices online and saw a flight for €138 and I jumped on it. Looking back it wasn't so much of a deal as I thought it was originally. In the past few days I have found flights to places like Turin, Mallorca, and Marrakech for under €30! So the next day I headed to Madrid by bus to catch my afternoon flight. Everything was going swimmingly. I didn't even need to check a bag since I was only going for two nights. Not checking a bag eliminates so many headaches.

We boarded the plane and the only concern on my mind was the three young children occupying the row across from me. If only I know that planets were about to collide...

We sat at the gate for a little too long and then the captain spoke over the PA something in spanish that I didn't pay attention to. A few people seemed worried so I listened when he repeated himself in english. He said that he couldn't contact the tower which was strange since their sole purpose is to be in contact with pilots, and we weren't in the Burmuda Triangle either. He said we were going to wait a bit and see what happened. Ten minutes later he was back. This time the Spaniards on the plane all groaned after his announcement. Someone had found out with their phone that the air traffic controllers had just gone on strike. We were told to deplane because the airline was cancelling flights until midnight.

Walking back into the terminal was like walking into the mall on December 26th. Nobody knew what was going on and everyone starting forming a line. Apparently the front of the line, which was already a couple hundred people long, was where we could get complaint forms. I found another place to get one and had it stamped. I never ended up using it for anything though.

I found myself stranded in Madrid, so I called the only person I knew who might be in Madrid, my friend Aleksis from Don Benito. He was spending the long weekend with his girlfriend in Madrid and they invited me to crash at their place for the night.

In the morning I headed back to the airport hoping that the strike was over and I would be able to get on a flight to Paris. When the elevator doors opened in the terminal, I knew immediately I wouldn't be going to Paris that day. The lady on the PA confirmed that for me about an hour later when she informed me that Iberia had again cancelled flights for the day. It was only around noon, so at least I didn't have to spend the whole day in the airport. I headed back out into the center of Madrid to see the sights. The only downside to my free day in Madrid was that I had to drag around my carry-on suitcase around with me.



I went to Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol and met my friend Nadia who was also stranded in Madrid instead of sitting at a cafe in Amsterdam. We complained how much it sucked that the controllers were on strike and made plans to meet back up since she had to return to the airport to sort some things out.


Plaza Mayor, Madrid

The next night a bunch of us stranded people decided we would hit the town since it was Saturday and Madrid isn't the worst place in the world to be on a Saturday night. We decided to head to Kapital, a seven story club with seven different dance floors. It was so big that I didn't remember seeing the same person twice the whole night.

Monday I went back to the bus station to take a bus back to Don Benito. I had given up on going to Paris, and spent a lot of money in Madrid anyway, so I wouldn't be able to really enjoy Paris. While I was waiting for my bus I went to the atm to check my balance and to my surprise I had been paid again! I changed my bus ticket and headed back to the airport. Paris was on again!

My replacement flight to Paris went off without a hitch and I arrived to a cold, dark city of light. I stayed with Becky at her dorm room which cost twice what my three bedroom apartment in Spain cost per month. We went out for a crepe which was amazing. Perfect street food.

The next day Becky had to go to work so I was off on my own for the day. I took the metro towards the Eiffel Tower. Above ground it had started to snow. Seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time was a trip. Climbing the stairs was great exercise. I took a few pictures before they kicked me out because they were closing the tower due to snow. In one weekend I found out that they could close an airport and the Eiffel Tower.



I decided to take a stroll down the Seine towards Notre Dame, but quickly realized that Paris is HUGE and the walk might take me all week. I hopped on the metro and rode the rest of the way. The cathedral was impressive, and free to enter. I sat around for a while, but got bored. I was having a lot of fun wandering around aimlessly in Paris, but it was starting to get dark so I called up Alex from Sac State to go hang out and have a few beers. Little did I know I would need to be approved for a loan to afford to do so. €15 for two pints!


The inside of the Cathedral of Notre Dame

We hung out until late and I visited his TINY studio apartment that was down a flight of stairs, then up an elevator and then up another flight of stairs. The place was smaller than my kitchen, but it had a clear view of the Eiffel Tower out of the window, which in my mind is priceless.


See the Eiffel Tower out of the window?

The next day I went to the Louvre before heading back to the airport. The Louvre is enormous and I got tired of the paintings really fast. I felt the Mona Lisa was underwhelming and displayed strangely. The coolest things in the museum were the treasures, of which there were countless. I wish I owned just one of them.


The Mona Lisa


Napolean Bonaparte's apartment

My flight back to Madrid was delayed by five hours due to snow, so I was stranded in Madrid for the night again when I landed. I should have been used to it by then.

Thanksgiving in Spain

November 29th was 'El Clasico'. Barcelona-Real Madrid. Here it's like the super bowl, but their are at least two each year. I went to see the game at an Irish pub here in Don Benito. I arrived 45 minutes early and still barely got a seat. The place was packed with soccer fans, both men and women. I would say the crowd was two-thirds Real Madrid fans. The atmosphere in the pub was amazing, it's something that America just doesn't seem to have. Everyone back home watches the game at home, and here they all go out to their favorite pub. In the end the home team won, 5-0 and I went home happy.

The Friday after Thanksgiving we had a dinner at our apartment with all of the American auxiliars plus a Canadian girl and a couple English guys from out of town. The food was terrific, but we didn't have a turkey which was a little strange. Instead we ate meatloaf and roasted chicken and a potluck of side dishes. It was a lot of fun and everybody seemed to enjoy the food.

Spain: Endless Commercial Breaks & Consistent Glassware

Every day during siesta, the tv networks show the news and then a movie. The movies they show are actually pretty good. The other day I watched Timeline, a sci-fi flick. While I was watching the movie, a commercial break came on that lasted 15 minutes. Apparently this is normal in Spain, but very strange to me. It seemed endless.

In Spain when you go out to a bar to eat tapas, all the bars have the same exact shaped glassware. Theres a tube one, and a short fat round one. It's bizarre to me that every bar would decide to have the same glassware.

One of my favorite new products to buy in the supermarket is this milk-juice concoction. It's like a smoothie without the ice. They have tropical and Mediterranean flavors, I've yet to try the Mediterranean.

I haven't heard one Christmas carol yet this year, and honestly I haven't missed them. Christmas shouldn't start in mid-November. The only clue I have seen that Christmas is coming is that they have started putting up the Christmas lights on the Avenida, but they haven't been lighting them up yet. It's nice to not have Christmas shoved in my face for once.

Spain: Cheap Groceries and Castles

Groceries are so cheap here in Spain. Today I went to the store and bought:

1 bottle of Rose
1 bottle of Tinto de Verano
1 loaf of sliced whole grain bread
1 package of parmesan cheese
1 package of frozen french fries
1 loaf of fresh bread
1 dozen large eggs
3 breakfast pastries
1 package of sliced sausage for sandwiches

and the grand total? Under 9 euros! This would cost well over $20 in california, I'm sure of it.

Yesterday I went to a castle in the nearby town of Medellin. I arrived just before sunset and I was the first visitor of the entire day. I had the whole castle to myself which was really strange and awesome at the same time. The place was kind of eerie without people, especially the dungeon underneath.





All of the high school students from Medellin go to my school, so being a small town and all, I saw another student around every corner that I turned. They were all really surprised to see me in their little hamlet. I'm sure I'll hear all about it in school next week.

Some of the things that the Spanish people do make me shake me head in disbelief. It's really amazing how different the culture is here. One of the first things I noticed upon moving here is the dog poop. People don't pick it up. If the dog poops on the sidewalk it'll stay there until it disintegrates. Every time I walk anywhere I can see all different types of dog poops. There are fresh ones, dried ones, already stepped on ones, and everything in between. Yes, I've stepped in one already. You really gotta walk with your head down here in Spain.

While I'm dodging dog droppings in Don Benito, the Spaniards are zooming by me on foot like they're giving away free clothes at Zara. I know I have a West Coast stroll, but literally everyone under 65 here walks faster than me. It's discouraging, but walking fast is uncomfortable and I'd rather just be two minutes late anyway.

I think I have finally gotten with the Spanish program. That is, I've figured out when people do things. Monday through Thursday are pretty much the same. Coffee and a light breakfast (by the way, toast with olive oil, pureed tomato, and salt is fantastic!) before noon. I usually just grab a coffee and toast at my school during the 30 minute "recreo" or coffee break. Then everyone goes home around two, two-thirty for lunch at home. After lunch is siesta. Finally a country which agrees with my ten hour daily sleeping requirement! I take a siesta pretty much every day that I can. Sometimes I even take two, because the only thing better than a nap is two naps! Then after siesta people usually go back to work. I don't go back to the school for obvious reasons, but I do give private lessons in the afternoon that pretty much cover my per diem. There's not really any kind of nightlife Monday through Thursday, so I almost never go out.

Friday's are pretty much the same except people seem to go to the local bar around the corner for tapas and a drink in the evenings more often than the other weekdays. I don't work Fridays, so I use the day to catch up on laundry, sleep and anything else I need to take care of.

Saturday is the day everyone goes out to the bars and clubs until nearly dawn. And by everyone, I mean everyone. You can see people well into their 60's out at some of the clubs after 3 a.m.

Sunday is a very relaxing day to stay home, sleep in, and take care of domestic chores. Not to mention there is a lot of soccer on tv. Also a lot of people go out for dinner on Sunday night.

Hasta luego!

Halloween, Spanish Style

Sunday was halloween here in Spain, just like back home in the States. Halloween here isn't a huge holiday, but it is gaining some traction. Lots of kids wear costumes and my town even had a haunted house for the first time ever this year. A couple of my friends hosted a halloween party at their apartment and then we went to the club afterward in our costumes. I got a cheap mask, sword, and hat and went as Zorro.

Today is a national holiday, so everything is closed. It's a holiday in which people go to the cemetary and take care of their family members' graves and put flowers and everything. Lots of people are back in town from where they are currently living for the weekend. More importantly for me, the extra day off after Halloween has been nice for recuperating, and I'm sure a bunch of people my age in America wish there was a day off after Halloween.

The store that I bought my Halloween costume from is called the Hiper-Chino. These type of stores are everywhere in Don Benito, and they stay open on Sunday and have EVERYTHING you could ever want. It's like a really small Wal-Mart owned by Chinese families and the prices are better. Everyone just calls them "chinos" because of how different they are from the rest of stores in Spain. Walking into the chino around the corner from my house is always fun because of the things I am amazed that they have.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind, hopefully we will be paid soon because I'm getting cabin fever from staying in Don Benito for so long while the other auxiliars are jet-setting for Amsterdam and Barcelona seemingly every weekend. I'm jealous now and it sucks!




Halloween with friends

What I Miss

I'm finally starting to actually feel settled here in Don Benito. Things feel normal, I have a routine. Still haven't made friends with locals, but I've made the acquaintance of a few.

I've been gone long enough to miss things now. I am really craving Mexican food and an In-N-Out cheeseburger. Yes mom I miss your cooking too. The stir-fry with the snow peas and peanuts would be awesome right now. I miss my queen size bed. My bed here is about six inches too short, I sleep with one foot on the footboard. I miss American water heaters, our pilot light keeps blowing out unexpectedly which sucks when you want to take a shower in the morning. I also miss having a weekly paycheck, we probably won't get paid for another month and I'm surviving off of private lesson money. I miss American pop music. The music here, while growing on me, is all European techno-pop.

Things I don't miss: having to drive EVERYWHERE. $3.50 cups of coffee, it's highway robbery when you think of how little it really costs to make. Commercial breaks on tv every 12 minutes. American women in general. Sorry ladies, ya'll are completely outclassed by the Spanish chicks over here. Maybe you should get off your iPhones and get some fresh air? No there's not an app for that.

This weekend we had a few friends from other towns stay with us in Don Benito. It was nice to have some friends over to party with. On friday we went to the botellon just outside of town which is where everyone takes their cars and plays music from huge speakers and drinks in the parking lot. This type of thing would never, ever happen in California. The police would break it up in a heartbeat. Here the police just circle around and make sure there everyone is alright.

While I wait to get paid from the Spanish government, I have made a mental list of places I plan on traveling to. Paris is at the top of the list, with Lisbon, Berlin, Salamanca and the north of Spain just below.



Hasta luego for now!

Last week I was talking to the one of the teachers at my school about how I wanted to find a soccer team to play with. He said he would call his friend who was the daughter of the manager of C.A. Gimnastico Don Benito. He did and the next day I went to train with them. They are in the 5th division of Spain and they play other teams around Extremadura. The first practice was rough, we ran 10 or 12 laps around the field and that was just the warmup. I somehow made it through that, but I was pretty gassed the rest of the practice. I've since been to two other training sessions and my fitness has gotten way better since then. It feels good to be on a team again and knocking the ball around. We practice on the Don Benito stadium grass and also on a lighted field-turf field behind the stadium.

Last Tuesday I participated in a yearly tradition here in Don Benito. It's a pilgrimage with the Virgen de Las Cruces from the church in the center of town to her chapel 8 km outside town. A bunch of people carry her the entire distance on their shoulders. It's called La Vela' and there were maybe five-thousand people walking the distance with friends and family. I left alone, but met up with Aleksis and his girlfriend along the way. When we got to the chapel there was food, and a flea market of sorts. It was pretty fun, but my feet hurt a lot after all that walking. We took the bus back into town at around 12:30 p.m. and then I fell asleep.

I have also started working at the school. It's been two weeks now, and I have just about seen all the classes that I will be with. I have 24 classes that I will see once every two weeks. Needless to say there are a lot of faces and names, too many to remember really. Spanish high schools are set up differently from American ones. They have six grades all together in one school from 11-12 year olds up all the way to maybe 20 year olds who have taken longer to graduate. The first four years are mandatory, but the last two are optional, but necessary to get into college.

The students are all pretty enthusiastic and pretty much ask me the same questions every day. What is your favorite Spanish food? Do you know any famous people? Do you have a girlfriend? So far I've only done introductions, but tomorrow the real lessons will likely begin. I haven't been asked to plan lessons, only assist so it's pretty easy and fun to do.

I also have acquired a bunch of students for private lessons. I have 8 or 9 hours right now, and the extra money helps. It's pretty fun, and I have students of all ages, so I have to custom tailor each lesson for the target group.

Well hasta luego for now!

Orientation in Caceres and Living in Don Benito

On the 29th of September, all of Spain experienced a general strike. The trains and planes supposedly shut down, but in Caceres the impact seemed minimal. I saw some people marching in the streets and there were stickers put up all over town saying "Closed due to the strike," but nothing seemed to really be closed.

I got to Caceres two nights early which was cool because I got to spend a few extra days getting to know some people who would be living nearby. The orientation was basically a waste of time, but meeting most of the people was nice. There were about 140 of us at the orientation, so meeting everyone in one day was virtually impossible. The town of Caceres is absolutely beautiful and a pretty fun town as well. My camera broke in Florida, otherwise I would have snapped a ton of photos. The university students were hazing the freshmen since it was their first week of college. The were getting written on in sharpie, eggs cracked on their heads, sprayed with water, but all in all it was in good spirit and everyone seemed to be having fun. One of the more brave students came up to me and we talked for a while. I asked her about Don Benito and she said it was one of the more fun towns around. Sweet. She told me where everyone was going out that evening and a dozen or so of us auxiliars went out and met up with them.


Students being hazed by upperclassmen

After orientation my teacher drove me to Don Benito from Caceres. It was about an hour drive, and through a bunch of little pueblos along the way. The countryside along the way was full of fields separated by old stone walls. Really interesting stuff.

The second day in Don Benito we signed up for an apartment. I'll be living with an english girl and a girl from Iowa. The apartment belongs to my teacher's father and it is a pretty good fit I feel. It's relatively cheap and I haven't found anything wrong with it yet.

Today the three of us went with Aleksis and Tom to the Don Benito-Arroyo soccer match. The stadium was about a 3 or 4 minute walk from our apartment. About 200 people were in the stands to witness our beloved C.D. Don Benito defeat Arroyo 2-1. Just before halftime it started raining and we were told we could move from our cheaper side to the home side to get out of the rain.

All evening it has been raining. Strangely the rain is different from how it rains in California. My english roommate Victoria told me that this is a European rain. The raindrops are smaller, so it doesn't seem to be getting you as wet as it really is. My clothes were drying on the line when it started raining, and since we don't really have anywhere to put them, I guess they are just going to get wet again.


Caceres


Caceres

gone

Driving 2 hours with the top down in the Florida sun is a bad idea. Even though it was only 1030 when we left, I was a little sunburned by the time we got to the airport. Right as we were pulling into the terminal at the airport my Blackberry fell apart and now I have to be careful not to lose the The flights went smoothly and I met a bunch of people from our program along the way.

From the airport we navigated the metro to the train station for 2 euros. All of us were really tired and had to lug our bags all around Madrid for a few hours. In the train station we found a store that sells cell phones and all of us got a prepaid phone. I paid 11 euros for a phone with credit already on it. It was cheaper to get a new phone than to get a sim card for my old phone, go figure. The train finally came and it was only then that I fell asleep for the first time in almost 36 hours. The train ride was really smooth and except for a rambunctious toddler was really peaceful. We agreed the countryside of Extremadura is like that of western Texas.

From the train we caught a cab to the hostel, by which time there were 6 of us as we met more people in the train station and on the train. It was nice to get out of Madrid as everything was expensive and today there is a strike that is slowing down public transportation. Even though we were really tired, we all went out for tapas and drinks in Caceres our first night. The food was good and I think I’m going to have to drink more wine since it really is almost as cheap as water here. The little that we have seen of the town looks beautiful, but they are doing major construction in the town square right now.

The hostel we are staying has clean, nice rooms and is huge. Last night there was what sounded like a elementary school band practicing on one of the upper floors. They must be in town for a competition as there are buses in the parking lot.

I really don’t know what I’m doing here right now. After so much travel, nothing feels permanent. It’s like a vacation right now, hopefully soon it’ll start to feel like home. Also everything so far has been expensive, I need to find a place soon before I burn through all my money! My camera is broken from the Gators game, so hopefully it shouldn't cost too much to fix!

Tuscaloosa is wonderful!

The other night I drove into Tuscaloosa to stop there for the night. After an hour of backwood country roads I finally made it into the town. It's pretty remote. I almost ran over an armadillo on the way in, I wonder how strong it's armor is?

After freshening up in my hotel, I followed the advice of a friend and former Bama student and headed towards "the strip". Right next to campus, "the strip" is where all the students hang out and it was pretty awesome. I went into this pizza joint and sat down at the bar and watched baseball for a bit. It was still early, so I was kind of just killing time. I met some Bama guys at the bar who told me I should go to another place just down the street, as the pizza joint was closing and was dying down.

The second place was a bar that was having a pretty awesome happy hour: $5 bottles of wine, or $3 pitchers of bud light. Needless to say I grabbed a pitcher and set out for the outdoor patio. Upon finding a table to sit at, I didn't even manage to sit down before a girl told me I could sit with them at their table. Southern hospitality ftw.

I introduced myself to the people sitting at the table, a groovy redhead named Molli who had a flower dress on and was listening to music on her iPod, the outspoken brunettte named Allie, and their friend the bouncer who was working, sort of.

I found out that Molli worked at the bar too, but wasn't working tonight. Allie worked for some company with connections to the school, which explained her business attire at 9pm on a Wednesday. After we chatted for a while, Allie offered to take me on a tour of the campus, so we hopped in her beemer and drove through the school.

Bama really does seem like an awesome place to go to school. We walked into the rec center and I was blown away. They had tons of gym equipment, dance rooms, basketball courts, running tracks, video games, a climbing wall room, indoor soccer even, I could go on for hours. After the tour, we went to this other bar that had a live band playing southern rock style covers of reggae bands like Sublime. It was pretty good, and the bar was alive. I couldn't get over the fashion in Alabama. Girls go out to bars with t-shirts and running shorts like they came straight from the gym. And this is totally accepted by everyone. Only in the South.

I had a lot of fun in Tuscaloosa, and I hope I find myself there again one day.

Driving Sucks

Right now, I’m sitting in a comfy chair inside the Washington University medical school in St. Louis. Earlier today I woke up on an inflatable mattress in Omaha. Between now and then I drove for 7 hours, only stopping to get gas in Columbia, Missouri, home of Mizzou. I drove around the campus for a couple minutes, it was nice and really big. Not as nice at CU though, it’s still my favorite.

I’m already getting sick of the 1250 songs I put on my Blackberry before I left California and it’s only been 4 days of driving. On the plus side, at least I get reception in the Midwest, I had nothing between Reno and Denver.

I got to STL around 4 today and since I had some time to kill before Lawrence got done with school, I went directly to the gateway arch. After driving around in circles looking for parking, I finally found a garage and made my way over the the Arch. It’s cool because it doesn’t take a genius to figure out where to go, just go to where the bottom of that huge steel arc meets the ground. No worrying about getting lost. The arch is MUCH bigger than I had imagined, the thing towers over you when you stand below it. I walked past security under the foot down to the underground lobby of the museum (which was free) and bought a ticket for a ride to the top. It cost only $10 so I think that’s a good value. The elevator stop was really weird, we had to wait on a flight of stairs essentially and wait for the thing to stop at the bottom. Once the doors opened up, a bunch of people ducked out of the little pods they were in and we got in. There were 5 little seats in the circular pod-shaped car. The ride up only took a couple minutes, but it was weird since the pod kept tilting as is was going up. When we got to the top there was only a little hallway sized observatory with windows for peeking out. I snapped a couple photos and stayed up there for a few minutes, but I wasn’t really feeling it since you could feel the arch swaying in the wind. Not cool. I took the first available ride down and was glad to be back on terra firma.

The coolest thing to me was the gift shops, I’m a sucker for a good gift shop. They had all kinds of historical things about America, not just St. Louis. I bought some replica documents for a couple bucks each (the Constitution, the Declaration, and the I Have a Dream Speech) and also a book about Lewis & Clark for kids. I’ll probably bring those with me to Spain and give them to the English teacher as a gift.

Earlier this evening my buddy Lawrence and his wife Gabby took me to a pizza joint called Pi that Obama visited not long ago. It was pretty bomb I must say. I've had more pizza on this road trip than in the last 3 months combined!

Tomorrow I'm off for Tuscaloosa, Alabama!

At the Top of the Roller Coaster

Right now I feel like I'm at the apex of a roller coaster and I can finally see the track ahead. Today was my last day working for Safeway. It was fun, and I made some nice acquantances, but I got other things to do! It felt good to clock out for the last time at Safeway. One more milestone passed on the way to Spain. I was really lucky to have found a job there as quickly as I did, and I'm thankful for the chance to earn money while essentially living for free at my parents' house. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to afford to go to Spain if I had to pay rent for the last three months.

Moving to Spain is rapidly becoming real. The past few weeks I have tried to contain my excitement, but I'm packing up tomorrow, and kissing my mother goodbye so there's no more time to put it off. I have 3,000 miles of highway ahead of me with Tampa airport at the end.

Since my last post I've decided to take some detours along the way across the country. After I leave my sister's house in Denver, I'm going to drive through Omaha to visit my friend and former roommate Aaron who is at Creighton law school. Hopefully we'll be able to grab some beers and catch up the night I'm there. Monday night football maybe? From Omaha I'm going to visit a high school buddy Lawrence who is in St. Louis for med school.

My dad surprised me this morning with his generous offer of his laptop in exchange for my desktop. It'll come in handy and I'll take good care of it, Dad. My loving mother has hand-crafted me a version of her award winning photo albums to take with me to Spain so that I can have something to do with the photos I take. I'll be sure to add some trinkets to give it some Spanish flavor. They say they won't come visit me in Spain, but I have a feeling they'll be at Barajas before too long. ..

A Double Dose of Excitement

Today my visa finally arrived from the Spanish consulate! Although I somehow wrote my address wrong on the envelope. Oops! Could have turned out badly, but all is well.

Now the next thing I need to do is buy a plane ticket to Madrid... departing from Orlando. What? I know. You're probably thinking "but this kid lives in California..." My parents would like for me to take my car (read: their car) to their house in Florida as they are not satisfied with the vehicle they have there. They'll even pay me to do it. I jumped at the chance.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Yes, the great American adventure will be followed immediately by the great Spanish adventure. It's like the double feature at the drive-in, only more sitting in the car. I'll be going from northern California to Orlando, by way of Denver. I have 13 days to get to my flight to Spain, so it should be pretty fun. I'm going to Denver to visit my sister and her family who I haven't seen since she lived in New Orleans before Katrina. Other than that I don't have any plans for places to go.

This will be my first time seeing lots of the states I'll pass through, so I'm pretty excited, but who wouldn't be excited about Kansas? You're not human if you don't get a little riled up about Utah.

If you live anywhere along or near my blue line of destiny down there on the map, let me know! I'll most likely be looking for any excuse to stop driving.

Any tips for things to see along the way?

The Waiting Game

I've spent my whole life waiting for summer to come and wishing it would never end. I love the sun, and I love being outside as long as I have some SPF 15 on hand. My anticipation for summer 2010 turned into contempt a few months ago when I received my acceptance letter from the Junta de Extremadura folded in it's fancy, official envelope. At first I felt like Harry Potter must have felt after he found out he was accepted into Hogwarts. Filled with excitement and wonder surrounding my impending adventure.

Now it's mid-August and I still don't leave for another five weeks. What is with Spain and doing everything late? They delay everything! The kids here in Lake County, Ca started school last week! I'm tired of the waiting. My fingernails have all been bitten off, my ankle is tired from tapping my foot so much, and the clock just can't seem to move slower!

So I'll be here waiting, spending ungodly amounts of time on the internet, and anticipating like the Rapture the end of September. Sigh.

How To Make a Tinto de Verano in America

a tinto de verano at El Sardinero, Chipiona, Cadiz

Virtually everyone who has been in Spain in the summer can tell you how wonderful a tinto de verano is on a hot afternoon. Tinto de Verano, or summer wine in English, is the refreshing concoction Spaniards drink with lunch just before taking a siesta. I had one with every lunch the summer I was staying in Chipiona, Cadiz.

In Spain the drink is made with a cheap red wine, the cheaper the better, and Casera brand soda. Some people like lemon flavor Casera, some prefer the blanco. I like a tinto con limon, with lemon. When you go to a bar in Spain and say "un tinto de verano, con limon por favor" You know that you'll get it in a tall, skinny glass with three ice cubes, no more, no less. They'll pour some red wine in, some casera limon, and maybe you'll get a lemon wedge for garnish. It'll probably cost around €1.50 or so.

So you're back home from Spain and you wan't a tinto on a hot August afternoon? Tough luck unless you know where to find some Casera. Luckily we have a soda here in America that tastes a bit like Casera limon. It's Squirt! I never drink Squirt by itself, but with wine it's just like a Spanish tinto de verano.

So grab a red wine, any one with do, but I recommend the Carlo Rossi Burgundy. It tastes just like those cheap Spanish wines, and why waste a good bottle of wine on a mixed drink right? Add some ice and the Squirt and you're good to go. Thank me later.

About Don Benito

I guess I should say a little about where exactly I am going to be living for a year. The town is called Don Benito, in Badajoz province of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Don Benito is a city of 35,000, which makes it the fifth largest city in Extremadura.

Looking at pictures, the town doesn't seem to be an especially beautitul one with old buildings and the like, but there are lots of old cathedrals and castles nearby. The city of Merida is only 50 km away and has Roman ruins, including an almost completely intact amphitheater.

The neighboring town of Medellin is the birthplace of the conquistador Hernan Cortes, and has a cool looking statue of his in the middle of town. Towns like Trujillo, Caceres and Badajoz which have many historic buildings are not too distant. I'm sure I will get over the fact that Don Benito isn't a postcard town, but rather a city of commerce.

Don Benito is hours from anywhere that I've ever been in Spain, so it could be a very different lifestyle than what I am used to when I think of Spain. I hope that it isn't very different from Cadiz province where I spent my last two summers. From what I have read, Extremadura is full of warm, hospitable people so I'm sure it will be lots of fun.


Roman Ampitheater in Merida

Last Wednesday I went to the San Francisco consulate for my visa appointment. I was super excited and also nervous that I might have forgotten something. Everything went well except for one thing. They didn't accept my doctor's note, so now I have to try to get a new one. I called the local health clinic and they want $229 for a physical! Eff that, I got one for $50 in Sacramento. I'll probably have to make the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Sacramento to visit the same clinic. Maybe I can sweet talk them into writing me another note in the correct wording without charging me for a physical again. Good thing I have such good friends that I can stay with in Sac.

I'm spending the summer just working to save money for before I go to Spain. I was lucky to find a job so quickly here in Lakeport. The first job I applied to called me for an interview, unheard of. It doesn't pay much and is only part time, but since I'm living with my parents for the summer that isn't so bad. I need to save everything I can so I have money to last until I start getting paid from the auxiliar job, which could be until Christmas! One thing that is nice about not knowing any people here is that nobody calls me to go out and spend money!

Is it weird that I'm more nervous about logistical things like money for rent and food than actually moving to another country? I'm surprising calm about the thought of living with strangers who most likely won't speak a word of English. I guess it's just my blind optimism showing again.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! This blog will be about the tales of an American guy in his twenties living in Extremadura, Spain. Don Benito to be precise. The title "Con Las Cabras" (with the goats) is an homage to the first thing my Spanish friend said when I told him that I was going to live in Extremadura. It seems to make a fitting title, and I hope it doesnt offend any Extremenos that might be reading.