Mi Vida Española

Ah, my Spanish life. It seems like it changes a bit every day, but always for the better.

As I had mentioned before, Kayla and I got back to Madrid and vacation time is officially over. Kind of.

School hasn't yet started, so we've had some time to go out a bit more, do a bit more sightseeing, etc. So the stressful part hasn't quite kicked in yet. Aaaand more importantly, our little international apartment family is finally complete! Woo hoo!

Let me give you a little rundown of my roommates for the coming year:

• Kayla - a fellow OU Sooner who is also in my same program with the Universidad de Alcalá. She's been one of my very good friends for a long time and I'm not sure what I would do without her. I don't really know what else I can say about her that I haven't said already, but I do know that I'll probably become a Shakira expert by the end of the year because of her.
• Maite - our Spanish roommate. She's 24 (or 25, I don't really remember) and she's originally from Bilbao in the north of Spain, but she's lived in Madrid for several years now. She doesn't really know any English, which can be both good and bad. It definitely helps with practicing Spanish, but it also kind of creates a language barrier for any real, intimate conversation. In any case, she's very nice and a good person to have around.
• Gabriel - our 17 (almost 18) year old roommate originally from Nice, France. However, although his father is French, his mother is Spanish so he is of both nationalities and he speaks perfect Spanish. He also speaks great English and he loves speaking it with us. He loves America and even has an American flag hanging in his room. He's a pretty cool kid and I think we'll get along really well. He's starting his 5 year program in Madrid this year.
• Saila - the 24 year old roommate from Helsinki, Finland. Her name is pronounced SIGH-la. She's here for an exchange year to finish up her Masters and being from Scandinavia she speaks perfect English. Her Spanish is pretty good, about the same level that I'm at. She's tall, super platinum blonde, and reminds us of a Barbie doll. Pretty much your stereotypical Scandinavian girl. She's really cool though and a lot of fun to talk to and hang out with. She and Kayla are very similar in a lot of ways and they've already hit it off very well.

And here is a picture of all of us minus Maite from just a couple of nights ago. From left to right it's Gabriel, me, Kayla, and Saila. And Gabriel wanted to do like Kayla and I have done several times making the OU symbol, so we're holding up an M and U for Madrid University. haha

And technically we have a 6th bedroom open, but we're all kind of hoping that no one takes it. Right now there's a great environment in the flat and we don't really need anyone else. Also, right now one of our showers is out of commission, so we don't really want to have to share one shower between 6 people. haha (No worries, it's getting fixed soon. I don't live in the ghetto, I swear).

And also some good news: We're getting our own wireless internet tomorrow! Which is AWESOME! I'm sick of stealing crappy internet that only lets me look at gmail, youtube, and my blog. And that way I'll finally be able to use skype and see people. I can't wait!

So as you can see, life is good thus far. I was a little worried about how the roommate situation would work out, but I don't think I could have asked for a better set of people to live with. I'm even more excited to live here now.

And now it's time for a siesta. Man, Spanish life is rough....

Buckle In...

...Cause this is gonna be a long one.

It's been well over two weeks since I've updated. Which normally isn't all that bad, but considering the mountain of things I've done over the past couple of weeks, this could be a difficult task. But in the interest of keeping things as brief and non-boring as possible, I'll try and keep from being too over-expressive.

First of all, as I'm pretty sure I mentioned before, Kayla and I left Madrid on Wednesday the 12th to go meet up with our friends Gloria and Jorge in Jávea, which is a little beach town about an hour south of Valencia. While we expected to get plenty of beach time and to get a little more tan, I couldn't have even begun to imagine just how amazing the next couple of weeks would be. (Unfortunately, since it's been so long since I've updated, most of the stuff is running together in my mind, so it probably won't be in perfect chronological order. But I'll try.)

So anyway, we get to Jávea and meet up with our friends who we've been waiting to see for months now and it was awesome. It's so good to see some familiar faces. Also it was awesome because Jávea is an incredibly beautiful Mediterranean town. The sea was beautifully blue, the weather was fantastic, and the people were friendly. Anyway, in true Spanish style, the first night they took us out and we stayed out until around 7 in the morning. Which I suppose was a good way to start our vacation time.

Over the next week, Kayla stayed with Gloria and I stayed with Jorge, so we each had slightly different experiences, so I'm sure our stories would differ a bit. But all I know is that my week in Jávea was AMAZING. Rather than giving a day by day account, I'll give a quick list of the things I did:

• Went motorbiking around the city on Jorge's motorbike. Which was surprisingly awesome.
• Went cliff-diving several times, with the most memorable (and terrifying) being a cliff that was over 4 stories tall. Needless to say, it took us about 30 minutes of psyching ourselves into actually jumping off and not just climbing back down. haha In fact, thinking about it now is making my palms sweat. And if you don't think 4 stories is very tall, just walk to the roof of a 4 story building and look off the side. See how brave you are.
• Fought bulls at a Spanish capea. A capea is a small, private bullfight where everyone gets to take part. Rather than one full-grown bull, there are many smaller, younger bulls, so there is much less danger of getting hurt. And basically, it's a bunch of young guys eager to jump in the ring and show off how manly they are. So naturally, I had to jump in there and prove that Americans are just as good as Spanish. Not sure how good I did, but I do know that I did a pretty good job of not getting hit by any bulls. Mission accomplished.
• Went snorkeling with Jorge's family and watched a guy dive down and pick sea urchins right from the sea, and then proceeded to watch him cut those sea urchins open on our yacht, and then proceeded to eat raw sea urchin. Which was quite possibly the fishiest tasting thing I've ever had in my mouth. Still good, just different.
• Stayed out until 7 am more than once. I'm not sure how the Spanish do it, but I know that this guy's body will not be able to put up with that too often. I enjoy sleep WAY too much.

There were a few other experiences here and there, but those were the main ones that make for the best stories. And if I was to account for the entire week in Jávea, I'm sure no one would ever read it.

So then I rode to Valencia with Gloria and Jorge where I met up with my friend Dini, who I was going to stay with during my time there. Glo and Jorge both live in VLC, but they needed a bit of a break after hosting us for so long. (And just as a side note, it's so odd being the one everyone is having to take care of. I'm so used to being the host and the driver.)

Anyway, Valencia was amazing because two more of our good friends, William from France and Jacek from Germany, flew in to meet us and have a big OU reunion. And it ended up being so incredibly fun. Again, I'm not going to go too much into detail about what all went on, because it consisted of a lot of going out, a lot of sightseeing, and a lot of beach time. But I promise it was fun. All these guys are some of my best friends and we've been planning this reunion for what seems like forever, so for it all to finally take place was great. And of course, it was over all too soon. But, no worries, we already have plans to meet in Madrid sometime this month, Paris in October, and Berlin in November for the 30th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Not too bad, right?

And I feel like I should mention that I've adopted a new Spanish family as my own (no worries, Mom and Dad, it's only a family while I'm in Spain. You're not being replaced). Dini's family was absolutely incredible. I've never been in more of a welcoming, accommodating environment in my entire life (aside from my own home, of course). They were so fun and I really felt like I became a part of the family over my week with them. I know that anytime I get homesick or need a good home-cooked meal, it's only a short train ride away.

But now vacation time is over and I'm back in boring, old Madrid in my apartment. JK JK. There really are no "life as usual" feelings for me now as even the mundane is exciting. I finally have gotten around to doing some decorating for my room. Kayla and I went to the famous Rastro, Madrid's huge open-air market on Sunday mornings, and both of us got some things to make our rooms feel a bit more homey. I'll get some pictures up soon.

Speaking of pictures, throughout my entire vacation time, I took about 5 pictures. I know, TOTAL failure. But plenty of other people took pictures, so I'll steal some of theirs soon and post them and take full credit for them.

Anyway, I LOVE my room now. I bought a HUGE tapestry thing for my wall, a poster, a lamp, and some other odds and ends. It no longer feels like I'm living in a dorm room! Hooray!

And I feel like I should end this now. It's getting to the point where even I'm bored from it. I promise I'll get more pictures soon and that I'll update a little more regularly so that it won't be a novel to read for each post.

Until next time....

Slowly But Surely

Man, I need to get on the ball with this blog! Although time here definitely feels much much slower than in the US, it's amazing how time really flies. For example, I can't believe it's already been a week since I was at home. So on that note, if I don't get going soon, it's going to be impossible to update this thing without writing a novel. So here goes nothing....

First of all, I suppose I could talk about the flight, although it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. Fairly simple, no problems. However, I have found a new favorite airline. Oh, British Airways, how I love you. Seriously folks, I had my own individual TV screen where I could choose from an entire library of movies, tv shows, and radio stations. Amazing, really. Especially compared to the nightmare that was Continental Airlines last year. But that's neither here nor there....

Anyway, got into Madrid on Tuesday afternoon and Kayla and I promptly went to lock our luggage up in the airport. Or so we thought. It actually ended up being around an hour wait to get our luggage and then another hour to get into the locker area. But despite the wait, we felt secure in knowing our belongings were in good hands. And then we proceeded to our hostel, which was also fairly simple. Although I will say that a nice, cool shower felt amazing after a day of travel and sweating with our stuff in the Madrid heat.

Thus began our search for a place to live. Of course we had been doing a bit of looking beforehand on various websites to try and get a headstart, but for anyone who has done any kind of apartment/house hunting, you'll likely agree that it's nearly impossible to do it before actually getting to the location. So once we got an internet connection, we looked for every possible appealing apartment listing. And the next day, we made a ton of phone calls to set up appointments to view the different places.

Luckily, Kayla and I didn't have to do too much searching to find our perfect place. After only viewing one other apartment (that definitely didn't strike our fancy, on any level, but most importantly factoring into our decision was the incredibly weird Canadian that lived there) we made our way to an apartment right by Gran Vía and Plaza del Sol, which, for anyone who has been to Madrid knows, is an AMAZING part of the city. It's right by absolutely everything, including all the shopping areas, the nightlife, the important sites of the city like the Royal Palace, and so much more. Basically, we never thought we would be able to find a place like this that we could afford. And then, almost magically, it appeared. Upon viewing it, Kayla and I decided right then and there that this was the place that we wanted to spend our year. And even better, after meeting a couple of our roommates, we realized even how much luckier we are.

Our apartment has 6 bedrooms, 5 of which are currently occupied. Of course Kayla and I both have one apiece. We also have a 22 year old Spanish guy named Guillermo, who seems to be really cool. He's very artsy and trendy and loves to go out. Our first night after meeting him he took us out with all of his friends and gave us our first taste of the Madrileño nightlife (including staying out until almost 7 a.m). Also there is Maite (pronounce MY-teh), a 24 year old girl who is also from Spain and who is full of information for us. While she is a bit more reserved than Guille (GEE-yay, short for Guillermo), she is still really cool and friendly. And last but not least we have Gabriel, a 17 year old guy from France. We have yet to meet him as he has been on vacation since we got here, but according to Guille and Maite, he's nice enough. And then we'll just have to wait and see who else ends up living with our little international apartment family.

Probably the only things that a person might have as a complaint for our apartment are the stairs (We live on the 5th floor with no elevator. Imagine carrying a year's worth of luggage up 5 flights of stairs. Not pretty.), the air conditioning (Or lack thereof. But really nowhere in Spain has air conditioning, so there wasn't much we could do about this one.), and the Internet situation (We don't currently have it. No skype, no facebook, no nada. However, at times we are able to steal internet from a local hotel, much like I am doing now. So it works out I guess.)

But Kayla and I both feel incredibly lucky that we found such a great apartment. Quirks and all (it's a really oooooold building) it's a great place and an even better location. I've been really blessed with both the place I'm living and the people I'm living with. I know it's going to be an absolutely amazing year.

Other than all of that, we've just been doing a lot of sightseeing. And just as I remember, everything in Madrid is photo-worthy and beautiful. This city has so many incredible things to see and I am completely and totally in love with it. I dare anyone to come to this place and not get swept away by it. And the more things we see, the more people we see hanging out, the more times I wake up to a great Madrid morning (or afternoon, in some cases), I know more and more that this is where I'm meant to be at this moment in time and that this is a defining moment of my life.

Whoa, that just got deep.

Anyway, I'll try and keep things a little more updated and hopefully get some pictures up on here soon. Although, with my stolen wifi internet, I doubt the pictures happen soon.

As for now, love you and miss you all!

Besos y abrazos muuuuuuy fuertes! (Kisses and reeeeeeeally strong hugs)

I'm in Spain!

Well, I'm here and I'm happy and all is well. I actually don't have any time to really type anything or get into any details. I was actually just looking through some pictures on my computer (before going out for drinks and tapas, naturally) and noticed that I was picking up some stray wireless internet and got really excited (because my new, awesome apartment doesn't have internet yet).

Anyway, now that I know I can get on this blog, I'll post some more later. I don't know if I have strong enough internet to post pictures, but if so, I'll do that too. Woo Hoo!

Abrazos mis amores,

Jordan

Same Story, Different Semester

Let me get one thing clear right now: I HATE this time of year. With a passion.

I know, I know. It's an exciting time. Graduation happens, people get to go out and start their lives, and summer finally comes after a long semester. But I'm sick and tired of being sad when things end. And it never fails, I'm always sad at this time of year.

The last couple of weeks have been full of lasts. Of course, last year was my "official" last year and since I technically already graduated, I shouldn't really consider this my end. But I just can't help getting emotional at the last OU Cousins BBQ, or the last Panam party, or the last pool party. It's amazing how we get used to a way of life and when that way of life comes to a sudden stop we find ourselves struggling to readjust. Or maybe that's just me.

I'm trying to keep positive right now and tell myself to get excited about Spain. But it's always so hard to look past the present.

It's That Time Again

Birthday Time!!!

Woo Hoo!

Here's to being 23!

I'm going to be honest

I hate the song "I love college."

And it's not just the, "oh, that song is so overplayed" kind of hate. Or the "it's really annoying when that song gets stuck in my head" kind of hate.

It's like a "I think that no one in the entire world should ever be subjected to that song and that Asher Roth should be taken out back and beaten senseless for ever creating it" kind of hate.

Now, I've mentioned before that I am most definitely not a music snob. I appreciate all music no matter what the genre even if I don't necessarily enjoy listening to it. It takes a lot of talent to create music in any form and I can usually find the beauty in the song.

With that being said, I don't appreciate anything about "I love college."

Just to give you some lyrics from this song that, I think, will prove my point:

"That party last night was awfully crazy, I wish we taped it.
I danced my ass off and had this one girl completely naked.
Drink my beer and smoke my weed but my good friends is all I need.
Pass out at 3, wake up at 10, go out to eat then do it again"

I mean, really? And that's the freaking chorus, people! It's played over and over and over (literally the guy beats us over the head with it) and I really can't think of anything more representative of the god-awfulness of the song.

And it really bugs me when I hear people at parties get all excited to hear it come on the radio.

Oh, you trashy, trashy people.

So here's to those who agree with me that this song should be banned from humanity.

Moving Onward and Upward

It's no doubt that the past couple of weeks has been full of a lot of good and a lot of bad. And there are no two ways around it...I've got some serious internal conflict going on because of it all.

On one hand, I have the excitement of getting accepted into grad school and getting to do the one thing I've wanted to do for almost a year now.

And on the other, I have to accept that there are bad people in the world who will only ever care about themselves.

However, I am trying my hardest to push on and find that little glimmer of a lesson learned through it all. Not so much a concrete lesson like "always double check your locks" or crap like that. More along the lines of "good things happen but that doesn't keep the bad things from happening too, so you've got to keep your head up and keep on keeping on."

Too generic? Yeah, I need to work on my lesson learned. But that's the general idea and I think everyone gets the picture.

So now I'm just trying to set my eyes forward and move on. I can't let myself get too caught up in the "I got into grad school" thrill because I have oh so much paperwork to fill out and get done, including Spanish translations of my diploma and transcript, an Apostille Seal from the Hague Convention (wtf is that, anyway?) to get on all of that, and a student visa so I can even stay in Spain to begin with. And, of course, I can't let myself continue to sulk and throw myself a pity party just cause my stuff is gone now.

So it's official. I'm moving on. And it feels pretty good.

Back to Earth

I totally jinxed myself with that last post. Seriously. I was knocked off of my little pedestal on cloud nine and shoved on the ground so hard I'll be digging myself out for weeks.

So, long story short, and mainly because I don't like talking about it, my apartment was broken into and I got robbed last week. The damn thieves took all my nice stuff including my brand new macbook (my graduation gift) and my ipod. I can't even begin to tell you how unbelievably sad/angry it makes me.

And I wish I could say that this was a new experience, but it just wouldn't be true. I've been broken into/robbed not once. Not twice. Not even three times. Four times, people. Four times I've been targeted. And each time it's just as bad. First was my house last year, but luckily my roommate woke up and chased them out. Then my car got broken into. Then I got robbed in person in Spain. And now this.

I don't know who these people are or what possesses them to do it. But I do know that they are quickly turning me into a very bitter person with some serious trust issues.

On Cloud Nine

I know that everyone who reads this (which isn't many) pretty much already knows, but just for the sake of posterity.....

I GOT IN!!! I got my acceptance letter into the Masters program in Alcalá, so I'll be moving to Spain in August/September to live there for awhile. I can't even begin to describe how excited I still am and how much I'm looking forward to the future now.

Dream of getting a masters? Check.

Dream of moving back to Spain? Check.

I'm definitely riding a mental high right now. And it would take a lot to knock me off my current pedestal. :)

Hooray for the future!

Like Waiting For Christmas

As the time I find out whether or not I get into the Spain graduate program gets closer and closer (currently 2 days, 16 hours, 54 minutes and 50 seconds and counting...) I'm starting to really feel the gravity of the situation. It's really fully sinking in.

And it's like waiting for freaking Christmas to get here. Uggggghhhhh.

Friday, Friday, Friday. Holy crap, I'm so ready for the day to get here! This day is going to determine my entire future and I'm just ready to know, plain and simple. If I get in, then I'll be moving to Spain and starting a crazy amazing adventure. If I don't get in, then the job hunt will be on and God only knows what paths will open up for me. Where will I end up? Dallas? Boston? Chicago? OKC? Who knows?! Either way, I'm finally going to know (or at least have a bit more of a general idea) what my life is going to be like.

I've been waiting for months for this day to finally come and now that it's here, I'm so damn anxious. 

Can I add another week of vacation?

Seriously folks, I could use a whole extra week of spring break. Not to be all cliché and use tired old phrases, but I could use a vacation to rest from my vacation. Spring Break 2009 ended up being quite the whirlwind tour of the southeastern US. All in all it was an AMAZING time, but man it's hard on your body to go, go, go 24/7 for a week and a half.

Anyway, I can't really do this trip justice just by blabbing on and on with the risk of getting slightly boring. It was way too awesome and I want to toss a few pictures up here to show it rather than just talk about it.

For the first leg of the trip, we had planned on leaving OKC by 2 so that we would get into Memphis, TN by around midnight. However, the best laid plans often fail, especially when it comes to gathering 15 foreigners at a specific time (just as a side note, we started calling ourselves the "United Nations". In addition to having a few Americans, we had people from Spain, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Germany, and Peru. Let's just say I got lots of spanish practice.) So we ended up finally packing up our 4 rental cars and leaving at 7:30. Which meant we got to Memphis at around 4:30 in the morning.

After getting an all-too-short night's sleep, we got up the next day and headed to see the sights of Memphis. 

First item on the agenda was to hit up Beall Street, which is Memphis' big street of music clubs, restaurants, and bars. So here is a group shot of all of us right after having a HUGE meal of delicious bbq. We also were lucky enough to finish dinner right around the time a big St. Patrick's Day parade took place.

And of course, you can't take a trip to Memphis without checking out the home of the King of Rock and Roll. Here Kayla and I are posing in front of the Graceland sign. I can't lie, I've never been a huge Elvis fan, so it wasn't the most exciting part of the trip for me. But it was still cool to see.

The next leg of our trip was a stop in Montgomery, AL. Once again, we pulled into town nice and late, and after driving through non-stop rain, we were ready to hit the sack. But the next day we checked out the very few sights of Montgomery, most of which revolved around Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Rights history. Here is the group posed in front of something to do with the capital. It was right across the street from Martin Luther King's church.

And of course, the next stop was the main part of the trip, Panama City Beach, FL. AKA the sight of MTV's Spring Break Beach. So not only was it an amazing beach, but we also were lucky enough to get to see the All American Rejects and Flo Rida in concert completely for free. You can see the big concert stage behind us in this one.

One sad part of this amazing beach is that there were drunk people EVERYWHERE. Which means there were discarded beer cans and bottles all over the beach (which I found out later would be very painful if stepped on). Here is our group on the beach and you can kind of see the litter all over the place.

And then here is a picture just of the guys. Most of the guys I knew really well before the trip, but there were a few that were just acquaintances beforehand. I honestly can't imagine a cooler group of guys to hang out with for 9 days.

The last day was the best day of all with a completely cloudless sky, which made for amazingly blue water and perfect white, sandy beaches. In this picture is Jorge and Gloria from Spain, Kayla who is applying to the same Spain grad program I am, Fiorella from Peru, and me. The five of us spent a ton of quality time together over this trip because we all shared one of the rental cars. What a fun group of people.

The next stop of the trip was New Orleans, which we didn't arrive in until around 1:30 am, in true group fashion. I can't lie, it was kind of a scary city in the early morning hours. But as soon as the sun came up, the city was just as great as all the others we had seen. Here we are early the next morning eating beignets, which are pretty typical NOLA food. They're a french fried doughnut kind of thing and they're pretty similar to funnel cakes.

Of course, New Orleans wasn't without it quirks, as expected. These little painted signs were all over the city, among several other odd things. We never did find the "real" blood.

And then we stumbled upon this big free meal that a church was putting on in honor of St. Joseph's Day. It was cool because we got to try a few other New Orleans' dishes, completely for free this time. And free is always nice, especially when you've been paying for meals for 8 days. This is the group of us sitting on the church lawn enjoying the food.

Next stop: San Antonio, TX. The original plan had included a stop over night in Houston as we wouldn't get there until around 1 or 2 in the morning. But we decided last minute to continue on to San Antonio and didn't get there until 4:30. So typical of us.

But San Antonio is always good for a nice, calm time and we enjoyed ourselves on the Riverwalk and the Alamo. Here we are on the Riverwalk about to take in some fantastic Mexican food.

Last stop: Austin, TX. The original plan was to spend one last night in the Texas state capital, but we were all tired and couldn't imagine spending another night out, so we just made a quick jaunt through. Here we are in one of the University of Texas' bookstores showing our true Sooner spirit.

Of course, Kayla and I weren't satisfied with just holding a few shirts upside down and throwing the Un-Hookem' Horns sign. So we proceeded to walk around the entire store and turn every single removable sign upside-down. And here we are in the aftermath.

Sure, I'll be the first to admit that it sucked for the guy who was working that day. But no one could possibly expect us to sit idly by and do nothing to our arch-enemies. Right?

We were lucky again as we got into Austin just in time to experience South By Southwest, a giant music festival held every year in town at this time. It was really cool to see the crowds that came into town for it, as it fit right in with everyone's mental image of weird Austin. 

So anyway, just like always, we didn't end up leaving Austin until around 11:30 at night, which made for a LONG drive home ending with us pulling into Norman at around 5:30 in the morning. And Jordan was a sleepy boy. And Jordan still hasn't fully recovered.

Anyway, I know this post is getting ridiculously long and I've probably lost you by this point. But all in all it was an amazing trip with an amazing group of people and I can't possibly think of any better way to spend my last spring break.

So Much Good

You know, I would consider myself to be a very contemplative person. I often find myself in my own little world thinking through things and really mulling them over. (Mulling? Who actually uses that word anymore?) And I know that often comes out on this blog, too, as so many of my posts are reflections about the life I lead and turning relatively small situations into huge, mountainous problems. 

And I try not to. Honestly, I do. But I'm nothing if not dramatic.

Anyway, I find myself more and more lately in absolute awe of just how much good there is in my life and in the world in general. Sure, things aren't perfect and they never will be. But I find myself being more and more okay with that.

Here are a few of the good things that I'm currently happy with:

• The HUGE stack of books that I am currently enjoying the crap out of. Seriously, I have some good taste in books.
• The HUGE road trip that I am leaving for in less than 24 hours! Yay! I'm going with about 15 other people, mostly international students (I know, so typical), and we're going to spend a night in Memphis, a night somewhere in Alabama, 3 nights in Panama City, Florida, one in New Orleans, one in San Antonio, and one in Austin. This vacation is probably going to wear me out more than it will relax me, but it is going to be so worth it. A whole week driving across the country with some of the best friends a guy could ask for? Yes, please.
• The fact that I got an email from the University of Alcalá (the school in Spain where I'm applying for grad school) today saying they had received my application and everything looked fine. Sure, it's no acceptance letter, but at least I know I've done everything possible on my side to get everything in on time. It's out of my hands, but surprisingly, I'm not all that stressed out about it. Weird, right?
• The fact that even if I don't get in, I have a college degree that I know will open up doors for me somewhere out there. Will I get a dream job right off the bat? Eh, probably not. But it's exciting to think that I will be starting my life one way or another.
• The fact that my favorite drag queen is in the top 3 on RuPaul's Drag Race. :) Now before you judge, take the time to watch an episode. Sure, it's a mess of a tv show, but it's incredibly entertaining. I'll take it over mainstream reality tv any day.

Anyway, that's really all I've got for now. I guess I'm just in a really good mood lately and I wanted to pass that off to you lovely folks.

Hope all is just as well in your world! And if not, give me a call, I'll try to persuade you in person!

You know you're getting old

....when you get excited about a new pair of slacks. And sadly, I've reached that point in life. Not sure how I feel about that. :/

But seriously, I went with my mom this weekend shopping down at some outlets in old Téjas and got some new stuff. A few new things for work including slacks, shirts, and a tie. And I legitimately want to show them off to people. Didn't I only used to get excited like this about toys and crap like that? When did I get this damn old?

Another sign of these troubled times is that I'm also just as excited about this huge stack of books I am currently working my way through.

They cover a pretty wide range of genres, but they're all books I've either been recommended lately or ones I've glanced at on my lunch break and decided I couldn't live without. So far I've finished The Stupidest Angel, which is one of my new Christopher Moore books, and I'm almost finished with Everything Changes. The Stupidest Angel was really good and it fit right in with Christopher Moore's kind of dirty humor, which is perfect for me. And Everything Changes has been an amazing book as well. Pretty sure the next one I start is going to be Flowers for Algernon, just because it looks like a good one.

Aaaaaannnnnd man this post is boring. My bad guys.

I really wish there was something exciting to talk about. My life is just not exciting in any way, shape, or form these days. Work sucks, but I don't want to keep complaining about that because I know it's about as fun to hear about as it is to go to. I've definitely played that topic out.

However, I did find out that I will know for sure on April 3rd whether or not I got into the Spain program. Which will be nice, because I'm sick of all this uncertainty. It's really getting old. I also know that I am going on a road trip next week for Spring Break, which will be fun in it's own right. Probably more of a stressful trip than I would like because it's going to take a LOT of coordinating. But at least it's a trip away for awhile. Which will be nice.

Oh. My. Gosh. I'm boring myself.

That's it. I'm done. I'll only be back when I have something entertaining to talk about. Which could be awhile.

P.S. I'm kind of thinking about starting a video blog type thing through youtube rather than posting on this. Seems like I could maybe be a tad bit more personal that way. Yet I also don't want to be one of those weird vloggers. Thoughts?

The good times never end

I actually have a ton of great stuff to talk about, but in between coming down with strep throat and trying to get my Spain grad school application off, I haven't exactly had time to sit down and type out all of my thoughts.

But no matter, because my first bit of good news is that my Spain grad school application is officially off to Madrid as we speak! I can't even describe how good it felt to finish that thing and get it sent off. It's been a HUGE monkey on my back for so long now and I've been dreading the deadline for awhile because I knew I would put most of it off until the last second. Which I totally did.

But it's done. And now it's out of my hands. So say an extra prayer or two for me guys, I'm really hoping for this! (if I don't get it, it won't be the end of the world, but this is just the top choice at the moment)

Now on to more fun things. First of all, this last weekend was freaking amazing. For real.

Friday night there was a 90s themed party that a bunch of us went to...and the costumes were awesome. My friend Kayla and I decided to channel early 90s Nickelodeon and dress up like the Blue Barracudas from Legends of the Hidden Temple. And what better way to show you how awesome it was than by tossing a picture up here for you guys? So here you go!

I think we pulled it off pretty well, especially for making our entire costume. And we totally would have kicked ass on Legends of the Hidden Temple.

And as you can see by this picture, we definitely kept the teamwork going throughout the entire night. Hey, if we put that much work into it, we were going to enjoy ourselves.

And here you can see Kayla with some of the other girls that were there. From left to right it's Susana, Gloria, Kayla, and Paz. All of these girls are from Valencia in Spain and they're all hoping that Kayla and I both get accepted into the Spain program.

Saturday night was Colombia Night on campus which included a big cultural show, a nice dinner, and a party afterwards, similar to a Panam party. Or exactly like a Panam party. But anyway,  here are me and some of the guys about to head out to the after party. From L to R, it's Nathan, Dini, me and Marc.

And then here is a huge group of us at the actual party. We all had a great time and it was easily one of my favorite nights lately.

Well, as much as I would love to continue chatting about life in general, I'm supposed to be playing Rock Band over at Erin's right now, so I'm going to head out. But expect a lot more posting now that the application is done! Woo hoo!

Figuring it all out...kind of

Well folks, I went in to my apartment leasing office today and double-checked to see when my lease goes up and as of July 31st, I will no longer be a resident of Norman, Oklahoma. Wow, what a crazy set of emotions that brings! 

And I completely realize that I've known all along that I would be leaving Norman very, very soon, but having an exact date really lets it sink in that my days are numbered and that the next phase of life is looming ever closer. And I'm so ready for it!

Not to keep on changing my mind constantly, because I know my mood swings are giving you guys some killer whip-lash, but I have officially and finally decided 100% that I want, above all else, to get accepted into the Spain masters program. Which is going to be a bitch if I don't get accepted, but there's no turning back now. But it's a good thing that I've finally made my mind up, because it's really helped me get motivated to tie up lots of loose ends and get all the application stuff taken care of. So now, hopefully, I'll get everything done and sent off in time and I'll have a killer application that will get me selected! Woo hoo!

As to the day-to-day life for now, things are alright. I still hate my job with a passion and I've literally started counting down the days until this internship is over with. I'm not kidding ya'll, I set a stopwatch every day I go in to work that is set for when I get to go home. That's not normal, right? 

And I can't lie, I'm just waiting for them to give me a reason to quit. And I've got these huge, gratifying scenarios that have started growing in my head of just how I'm going to quit. Most of them revolving around me punching the CEO in the face and shoving the damn phone down my boss' throat. (not literally of course, cause that would just be gross) And somehow, those little mental images help me get through the day. :)

So I'm pretty much always working for the weekend. Which isn't a bad thing, I guess. But it just really makes me hope beyond all else that, when the time comes, I find a job that I actually enjoy going in to.

Aaaaaanyways, that's really all I've got for now. On a side note, I've been stocking up on books lately, and as of now I've got a mound of about 8 books that I'm pumped about diving into. 

Wow, I'm getting lame in my old age...

A few more things about me

I think we've all done, or at least seen, these "25 things about me" lists rotating around facebook. And I've actually already done one while bored at work one day. But I was bored at home today, and thought to myself about how there are SO many more things that are really interesting about me. So here you go, a few more little bits and pieces of what makes me who I am:

1. When I'm out with my foreign friends, I often pretend like I'm from a European country so that I won't seem boring.

2. I have the biggest sweet tooth in the entire world and I have a complete lack of ability to turn down any kind of cookie, brownie, cake, or ice cream. :/

3. I am the farthest thing from a music snob in the entire world. I don't care if your favorite music is Relient K, Celine Dion, Pantera, Garth Brooks, or Elton John. I believe in listening to what makes you feel good. (However, I miiiiight judge you juuuuust a little if you listen to Creed)

4. If I could do college all over again, there are definitely a few tweaks and changes I would make here and there, but for the most part, I would do it all the same.

5. I own every single book that Christopher Moore has ever written, including his book that was just released this week. I would say I have a borderline obsession with his writing, which is most definitely not for everyone.

6. I waste a ridiculous amount of time youtubing, facebooking, and generally finding websites that I find funny and/or amusing. And I always make sure to share the particularly good ones with anyone that I think would be interested.

7. I freaking love to laugh. Like hard enough that it makes me cry. Make me laugh and I'll love you forever.

8. Any animal with an unnatural amount of legs/extra appendages creeps the f out of me. This includes, but is not limited to, spiders, crabs, scorpions, grasshoppers, octopi, and centipedes.

9. I very rarely watch much tv, but lately I've been watching the crap out of HGTV. Don't judge me. But I could literally watch House Hunters and Property Virgins for hours on end. It gets me excited to move somewhere and get my own place.

10. I feel like I go through so many personal changes/developments that I can't even begin to fathom the kind of person I will be in 20 years.

11. I get horrible road rage. A lady cut me off just last night and stole my parking spot at Target and I legitimately considered keying her car. It's a weakness, I know.

12. One of my absolute biggest pet peeves in the world is people who use racial slurs and derogatory statements. If I ever hear you say a discriminatory remark against any person/particular group of people, I will automatically think considerably less of you.

13. I'm horrible at dating. For real. I think I was born without the good boyfriend gene.

14. I kind of wish that I felt more connected to my fraternity. I honestly doubt I will keep in touch with that many guys from my house and that makes me really sad. It's not that it wasn't great while it lasted, and I loved it while I was there, but I just don't feel it anymore.

15. I'm definitely a summer person. I have no desire whatsoever to live somewhere where it snows year round. Which is interesting, because my job hunt keeps leading me to cities in the north.

16. Really good, meaningful music lyrics really make emotional. Don't be surprised to see me tear up during "I'm Taking You With Me" by Relient K. 

17. I have recently acquired a slight potty mouth. And I'm not sure where the hell it came from.

18. People who condemn other people by using the Bible to justify their actions make me sick. Seriously. What ever happened to loving each other? 

19. I have a superhuman sense of smell. I can smell when any of my neighbors are smoking anywhere around my building. Which is actually not a good thing.

20. I have this really inexplicable desire to move to Boston even though I've never been there. Or anywhere in the northeast (except for NYC) for that matter.

21. I love to drive and super-long road trips are some of my favorite things in this world. My road trip buddies always assume that I just don't trust them to drive my car, but really it's just that I like being behind the wheel.

And I didn't feel like going to 25, so that's all you get.

A little more optimism

You know, sometimes it's hard to be optimistic and positive. And, let's be honest, at times I can be a little over-dramatic. And even though I was having just a bit of a crisis, I went a little overboard in that last post with the "my life is crazier than anything else in the entire world" bit.

In any case, things still aren't perfect and I still don't have any real direction, but I've found myself being hopeful again. Maybe because I made a few changes. Maybe because we all have to freak out every once in a while. Regardless, I'm looking at the blank canvas in front of me with excitement again rather than fear.

Speaking of changes, I decided to drop all my classes. What the heck was I thinking enrolling in classes after graduating? You can't tell me a single college student who wants to study for more tests when they are completely arbitrary and useless. So I gave class the ax. And now I am truly done with college. And that's a nice feeling. 

I have decided to go ahead and apply for the Spain program since I still don't know for sure what I really want to do. If I don't get accepted, it won't be the end of the world. And if I do get accepted, well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I've gotta say though, there are worse things to do than to spend a year in Spain.

I've also started applying for about a hundred jobs all over the country. I think the main place I've been focused on has been Boston, but I'm so open to go anywhere. I don't know if I want to stay gone from this area of the country forever, but I know it would be nice to get away for awhile.

Anyway, on to more important things....my nephew's 2nd birthday was this last week and the party of the year took place in Calvin, Oklahoma to celebrate it. Everyone who is anyone was there. And here are some of the photos snapped by the paparazzi:

Here the new 2 year old is sporting a smashing Mickey Mouse ensemble with his Finding Nemo ball accessory.

And here we see the little guy diving into the icing from the birthday cake.

And here we see the lucky little fella in the arms of the coolest guy in the entire world.

So anyway, that's really all I've got for now. Things definitely aren't bad and even though I'm still trying my hardest to get everything figured out, I'm a lot more optimistic about it all.

And just as a side not, all of this written to the blaring sounds of smooth jazz coming from my next door neighbors. Hey, at least it's not techno.

The Right Direction

Okay, before I get started with this, let me just throw out a quick little disclaimer. This is going to be a venting session that probably won't have much significance for anyone but me, and it's likely that the horribly foul mood I'm in right now will give it a slightly bleak undertone. If you read it, good for you! If not, it's probably for the better, haha. Regardless, no matter what you choose, at least you can't say I didn't warn you.

So. To begin, I would just like to say that I am almost undoubtedly, 99.9% sure that I am going through a quarter-life crisis. No joke, people. I have realized lately that I am not at all happy with the direction that things are going and I have no clue what to do about it. And I have no clue where to go from here.

When I mention the direction of things, I don't really mean anything specifically. I guess I mean more of a lack of direction. I have been so accustomed for my entire life to having a meaning and a purpose to everything I do. I have never been without goals and direction. In fact, I've always set super-high goals for myself and then worked my butt off to achieve them. But I'm grasping at the air these days. I've got nothing. Which way do I go?

It also doesn't help that so much bad stuff has taken place. (and before I go any further, I want to acknowledge that there are literally billions of people in the world have have things FAR worse than I do. But it's hard to look past my own bubble when my future is on the line) I applied for a job that I really, really, really wanted and didn't even get an interview. I realized that I might not want to go to grad school right now after all, which was really my only plan for the coming year. I realized that I have no idea why I am taking classes right now and that I have zero motivation for them. And I realized that the internship I'm working right now is the most god-awful thing I've ever done and that I am TERRIFIED that I will have to take a job with them after I finish.

I also realized lately that I am so done with OU and that I can't wait to get out of here. Apparently it's a shared sentiment with several of my fellow fifth years. The first 4 years of college were such an amazing time in my life and ones that will always, always hold an extremely fond place inside me. But things just aren't the way they used to be. And I'm ready for the next phase to finally begin. Which is actually why I'm kinda leaning towards not doing grad school just yet. I just don't think I can handle more of an academic atmosphere. And that was a sad realization.

Or maybe it's just that I want a sense of stability in my life. Who knows.

No matter what it is, apparently I'm not too good at hiding my feelings. Walking to class today, I ran into an old friend who, upon seeing me for the first time in months, asked me if everything was okay. Also, Erin had to explain to some other people who don't know me as quite as well as she does that I kind of become a hermit when I stress out and that I'm "not handling graduation and everything all that well." Hmmm. I guess I'm just not handling the stress all that well lately.

In any case, I think all this stress will go away once I just figure out what I'm doing after May. Because right now it's just a big blank. And I hate that. 

I just need some direction.

Jordan = Worst Blogger in the World

For real guys. I suck at this.

However, I have a ton of good stuff to post about. All about my life these days and all of the crazy things that have gone on lately. Including me having to do a field sobriety test on Lindsey Street while completely sober. 

**coughcoughNORMANCOPSAREDOUCHEBAGScoughcough**

But anyway, I really don't have the time to write a long post and really put effort into it. So I'm going to save it for another day. But just know I do have a new one in the works.

The only thing that I currently have on my mind that I want to get down though is this. I am completely, 100% ready for change. I'm glad I had last semester to give me some time to disconnect but now I can honestly say I'm ready to move on. Bring on the next phase.

Now if only I knew what that next phase was. :/