Pamplona = Pure Craziness

So there really isn't much you can say for San Fermin and the Running of the Bulls except.....wow. I have never seen such chaos and madness in my entire life. Spain knows how to throw one heck of a party, that's all I know. From the minute we stepped off our bus until the minute we stepped back on, there was non-stop action. During the Festival de San Fermin, Pamplona is literally the city that doesn't sleep.

So we hopped on our bus Sunday afternoon to head up to Pamplona so that we could experience the Running of the Bulls. All was going well, we made it to our bus with plenty of time to spare, it was a nice bus (nice = with air conditioning). However, Evie and I were so lucky that we got to sit behind this ancient old lady who apparently still follows the one bath per year rule.

Now don't get me wrong, we've all gotten used to the odors here. Deodorant and regular bathing is not really the Euro style, and you get used to it after awhile. But this lady had a stench that smelled like she had been decaying for a few days. Ugh. It was so bad that Evie and I peeled an orange and used the peel to cover up our noses. For real.

The good thing is that she got off at the halfway point, so we didn't have to suffer through it ALL the way to Pamplona. Lucky us.

So we finally pull into the city around 11 to a HUGE fireworks display. We had just caught the official beginning of the festival, which is known as the "Chupinazo". The fireworks rivaled any I've ever seen in the US, and even though the 4th was a few days ago, we went ahead and counted it as our Independence Day celebration. In addition to seeing an incredible set of fireworks, we also saw this right as we stepped off our bus:

People, people, people anywhere and everywhere you looked. It was literally mass chaos in the entire city. Literally millions of people descend on the city for San Fermin and it was packed to the very brim with them all. Here you can see the ambulance posed and ready for anything in the crowd.

One thing that we noticed was that everyone was wearing red and white. And that we were not. So we stuck out like sore thumbs, which is never a good thing. So we immediately went and bought ourselves the clothes to match. Here are Ashley, myself, Evie, and Matt posing in our new San Fermin outfits.


After we got our new souveniers, we went off to try and find something to occupy our time for the next few hours. Hotels and hostals are impossible to come by unless you book a year in advance, so our plan was just to stay out all night long and head to the street where the run takes place really early to get a good spot. So we lucked out and came across this free concert that was in a big park in the center of the city. Even though Spanish rock music is absolutely horrible, it was still fun to sit and listen and talk to some Spaniards.

Around 4 am, we decided to go ahead and walk over to the run route. We had been told that you need to be there by at least 5:30 or 6 in order to get a good spot, but the concert had ended and we were bored, so we made the decision to go ahead and check it out. When we got there, we got to watch them set up the border for the run. The particular spot where we sat was close to the beginning and has a really sharp curve (known by many to be "dead man's curve") so they had to double the barriers because the bulls and the runners always slip and slam into the barriers.

And don't kid yourself, we had a fight on our hands to keep our spots. Everyone thinks that they have the right to watch the run from a prime location. And they do. But tons of people think that they can come up and shove you from where you were sitting and steal your spot. The run route is actually pretty short and there aren't that many good spots available, so for those of us who had one, we had to pretty literally fight to keep them. I won't lie, I threw an elbow here and there and utilized my Spanish a ton. But I was able to keep our spots for us, so I guess I just did what I had to do.

However, only me, Evie, and Ashley were together at this point, so we only had to fight for three. We basically all got split up during the night, so we each had to fend for ourselves. My friend Cherrie almost got in a fist fight with a Spanish girl who told her "I'm Spanish and you're an American. It's my right to be here, not yours." Needless to say, none of us are that big of fans of the people of Pamplona.

After what seemed like hours and hours and hours of waiting, things finally started to begin. This is a picture of the starting line. The cops were holding all the runners in before the official time went so they could keep the streets clean. They had just swept all the debris off to be as sure as possible that no one would get hurt. Or that as few as possible. haha

To get things going, they set off a round of firecrackers to get the bulls running. Since this picture was at the very front of the line, everything is fairly relaxed (at the moment) because the bulls weren't even close yet. So all the guys were walking at this point.

This picture was taken just as you could hear the thundering hooves getting closer and closer. The urgency had picked up a bit and the guys were starting to pick it up and move their rear ends.

This picture is pretty self-explanatory. Here are the bulls as they go charging through. The view wasn't that great because even though we had front-row seats, the press still got to be in front of us on their own little towers. But you can still see everything pretty well.

It really was incredible at this point because all the runners were literally running for their lives. There was so much fear and excitement that I can barely describe it. The bulls kept slamming into the walls in front of us because of the sharp curve, but at this point no one had yet been hurt.

Here comes another round of bulls getting ready to charge through the runners. And of course, we have some dumb guys who think it's a better idea to watch instead of running.

And now we have a man down. The scariest part was that there were a lot of bulls still coming (you can tell because there are guys who are obviously running for their lives), so even though this guy was out cold, he still had the chance of getting hurt even worse by getting run over. However, the police came with these portable shield things and surrounded him to make sure that didn't happen. So even though you would think that the Running is ridiculous and unorganized, they actually have contingency plans for everything.

I still don't know if this guy was alright. They came after it was over and carried him off in a stretcher, but they didn't seem too urgent, so I assume he's okay.

This is my friend Brian and I after the run. Brian actually ran with the bulls, so he didn't wimp out like I did. He was on such an adrenaline rush at this point that he could barely talk. He did say that at one point he turned and saw a guy get run over by a bull right next to him. He actually had to jump up the fence at one point because he almost got gored. But he said it was the biggest rush of his life. And even though it's crazy, I'm jealous! haha

The Run was over by 9, and our bus didn't leave until 4 in the afternoon. So the only thing that we had to do at this point was wait. Most of the festivities take place in the evening and into the night (although there were plenty of people getting an early start). And after being awake and fighting for a spot all night long, we were all exhausted.

So what do you do in Pamplona when you need to take a nap? You head to the park and find a spot. Personally I opted for a shady place in the grass, but Ashley found an empty park bench and took advantage of it. No worries about sleeping in the park. During San Fermin, this is what everyone does. In fact, walking through the park 24 hours a day you'll find people sleeping all through it. It may not be 100% safe, but there is just kind of an understanding that we're all here, we're all tired, and none of us is going to rob anyone else. Kind of an understood thing.

So finally we got on our bus and made it back safe and sound to Madrid. Even though all of us were more tired and sore than we had ever been, it was such an incredible feeling to know that we all had witnessed history. The Running of the Bulls is wildly chaotic and massively crazy, but it is incredible. And now I can say I've been there.

Going back to life as usual after all this is going to be rough! haha

A Pride-ful Weekend

Well I would have to say that we had a pretty successful 4th of July. After laying out all day by the pool, a group of us went out on the town decked out in our red, white, and blue and just had a nice, relaxing evening together. Here is a picture of Ashley, Evie, and I (color coordinated and everything!) in Plaza Cervantes.

Don't judge us. We haven't seen America in over a month now and this was the best we could do. haha

So then yesterday, even though it was the 5th of July, we decided to go have a nice American meal at the Madrid Hard Rock Cafe. Cause really there's nothing more American than a big, juicy hamburger and fries and it was nice to have one outside of McDonalds. So what do we see when we get there? The good old American flag waving in the breeze. Now I'm no super-patriot and the sight of the flag doesn't really bring tears to my eyes, but it was nice to have a little America tossed into our day.

So we all went out and had a good time together once again in Madrid, except this time we had a little surprise. On our way to Hard Rock, we had to walk down Gran Via (one of the biggest main streets in Madrid) and through Plaza Colon (just another one of the giant plazas in the city). But what did we meet in Gran Via on our way there.........

Oh yeah. The Madrid Gay Pride parade. haha And let me just tell you, you haven't seen ANYTHING until you've seen some of the stuff we did. Thousands upon thousands of people were packed into Gran Via and we saw some of the strangest things I could have ever imagined seeing.

But hey, all of our teachers at the University had told us that we all needed to go see it whether we're gay, straight, or anything else there might be. Apparently it's one of the biggest parties in the world and millions of people come to it from all over the globe. I guess this is just another one of those things to show us just how liberal this country actually is.

So in just a couple of hours, a big group of us is going to hop on a bus headed for Pamplona, and we're expecting an awesome time. The Running of the Bulls is one of the most famous festivals in the world and by this time tomorrow, I'll be able to say that I've been to it. How exciting that I'm getting to experience such incredible stuff!

Which brings me to my next point. I love Spain and I really really love Madrid. The more I think about it, the more I love this city more than any other I've ever been to. I mean, I loved New York City for the action and I love Chicago for the culture. I loved Miami for the night life and I love Oklahoma for the people. And Madrid has every single bit of that all rolled up into one huge, ancient, yet incredibly modern, city. I can easily imagine myself living there for a more extended time and I would be surprised if I didn't look for jobs that would let me live there once I get back to the states.

It's funny to look back and remember how uncomfortable and out of place I felt in the beginning and how at home I feel now. Spain is an incredible place and I can't imagine not having this experience in my life.

Bringing the 4th of July to Spain

Happy Independence Day everyone! Hope everyone back in the states is having a blast, because for some reason the Spanish people just really don't appreciate the holiday. haha

I suppose I'll get to our celebrations in just a minute. Time for a quick update on things since we got back from Portugal.

I guess the first, and most important, change that has happened in my life here is that my roommate John decided to go home. He was supposed to be here for the entire summer like I am, but for some reason (and he has lots of reasons, none of which really make much sense to me) he decided to call it quits and head back to the states. So as soon as we got back from Portugal, John hopped on a plane and flew back to Oklahoma.

When I found out that I was going to be living alone with Tony and the kids, I was a little worried. John's a big talker and I've always let him do most of the talking at lunch, dinner, and any other time we've been with the family. So to actually have to start talking more, well, it was going to be an adjustment. And I just was afraid it was going to be weird living alone. It had been nice so far to have another American in the house that I could speak English to, or to have someone who I could talk about all of Tony's weird Spanish quirks with.

Regardless of everything, my worries were all fairly unneccesary. So far living alone has worked out really great and I've actually become a lot closer to Tony, Mario, and Guille. The kids hang all over me now like I'm their real big brother, which I actually kind of like. I've never had little brothers before, so it's nice to have someone look up to me. And Tony and I have had some real conversations lately about school, Oklahoma, and life in general. It's been nice.

And I got to move down to John's room, which was a MAJOR upgrade. My room is partially underground, so it's so much cooler down there it's insane. My room upstairs was getting to be so hot during the days that it was getting tough to fall asleep at night. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten fairly used to this no air-conditioning thing, but it's been nice to have a darker, cooler room. Plus, the room is almost three times the size of my previous room, it has two beds, and it has a tv. I really lucked out with this move.

So in addition to John leaving, my July classes have started. Both of them seem fairly easy so far, and I have one of my same teachers from last month again. For my Spanish civilization and culture class I have a guy named Carlos, who seems to be really cool, but he gets stuck lecturing on an awfully boring subject. I fall asleep in American history classes, so there is no hope for me in this one. And I get to have Mar again this month for my business spanish class. I can definitely tell that I'm one of her favorites because she gives me tons of attention. And I'm not really a gloryhound, but I like that she likes me. It proves that I'm not a total failure at the Spanish language/culture.

So on to our 4th of July celebrations!

There really aren't many Oklahomans left for the month of July, so those of us who are still here have become even closer than we were last month, which is almost hard to believe. There are about 7 of us and we've all been hanging together fairly non-stop. So today we all decided that we wanted to have a big 4th of July celebration, Spanish style. So we started off our day by meeting at noon (American lunchtime rather than the 2 o'clock Spanish lunchtime) at McDonalds for some good old American hamburgers. I had a Big Mac and a Coke, which was glorious. haha The Spanish part of our meal was a huge Spanish tortilla (not at all like Mexican tortillas. Spanish tortillas are made with egg, potatoes, onions, and tons of olive oil) and a huge Apple Tart, which tasted just like apple pie. Mmmmmmmm, delicious!

So after our big meal we all went to the city pool and laid out and swam all day long. We figured that would take the place of going to the lake. And it was perfect. It has been a beautiful sunny day (which is pretty standard in Spain) and the water was the perfect temperature to swim in. It has been a fantastic 4th, almost as good as being in America!

Tonight a big group of us are getting together because one of the local bars and one of the discotecas are getting together and having a big cookout for all the Americans and we definitely don't want to miss out on that. I'm wearing a white t-shirt tonight, my friend Ashley is wearing red, and my friend Evie is wearing blue. We're going to represent America with style.

And as for my other upcoming plans, I couldn't be more excited about them! On Sunday we're all going up to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls at the Festival de San Fermin, which is going to be incredible. I can't believe that I'm actually going to be able to say I've been to the Running of the Bulls. And then next weekend I'm going to Paris with another group of friends! What a fantastic couple of weeks this is going to be!

So that's really all I have for now. So far July has been a LOT different than June, just because so many people left and it's been such a different dynamic. It's been a big adjustment all over again, but it seems to be shaping up to be another great month in España!

Que Lindo Es Portugal!

Well, after a long, tough round of final exams and presentations, it was finally time for a vacation.

Okay, even I don't believe that. Even though I'm in school while in Europe, this feels like one big two month long vacation. However, this was my first time to go somewhere to just soak up some sun and not really see anything historical. It was time for the beach and I was looking forward to it big time.

So on the Wednesday after my very last final exam, a huge group of us loaded on the overnight train and made the long 16 hour journey to Lagos, Portugal. Which I'm convinced is one of the most incredible places on this earth.


Of course, the trip didn't start out quite so smoothly. Jordan came very close to not going to Portugal. Very very close. Basically (to make a long story short, as I'm beginning to realize how very long winded I am in this blog) I was having dinner in Madrid with a friend of mine north of Retiro Park (which is Madrid's version of Central Park). I kept glancing at my watch all throughout dinner to make sure I would get to the train station on time. All I had to do was hop on a train at Atocha Renfe (one of Madrid's main stations) and get to Chamartin (Madrid's other main train station) by 10:30 when our train took off. So along comes 10 o'clock when I realize that I've lost track of time and am about to miss my train to Portugal. Oh crap.


So I literally sprint from the north of Retiro to Atocha, which took me about 15 minutes. So I've only got 15 minutes to go to catch my train. Oh geez. So I get on the first train to Chamartin, which normally is only about a 5 to 10 minute ride. But then what happens? Oh yeah, the train gets stopped on the tracks in between the two stations. And time is still ticking by. So I get down to 8 minutes, 7 minutes, 6 minutes, and I'm really starting to sweat. The train finally starts back up and we pull into Chamartin and I have a mere 3 minutes or so to catch my overnight train. I sprint once again (I got a lot of exercise that day) and finally get to my train with seconds to spare. As soon as I got on the train it started moving and the vacation began.


I nearly had a heart attack, but I made it, and finally hopping on that train and having all my friends cheer as I finally ran up was the best feeling in the world. :)


Wow, that wasn't a long story short at all. That was a long story long.


So anyway, we pull into Lisbon the next morning around 8 am and immediately buy our tickets to get down to Lagos, which is in the south of Portugal. It's about a 5 hour train ride, which isn't too bad. But, oh yeah, this train was un-air conditioned. How fun. No worries though, cause it was totally 100% worth it to finally get to this little slice of Heaven.

So we finally get off the train after 16 hours of travel, and here is one of the first things we see:

This was on the walk from the train station to our hostel (which was incredible also, by the way). Palm trees, ocean, and yachts everywhere. I knew right then that this was going to be a vacation for the history books.


As soon as we got all settled into our hostel we decided to head down to the coves of Lagos that we've heard and read so much about. We've been looking at pictures of them for weeks while planning this trip and we were almost scared that they weren't going to be as impressive in person. Oh, no worries, though. Much like most things in Europe, the pictures just don't do it justice. The coves were some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.


Here is the same cove from the above picture, just from a higher up view. There were 16 coves altogether, each one different, and each one just as incredible as the next. But you had to swim some and wade some to get to all the coves, so I didn't get to take my camera to all of them. You'll just have to be satisfied in the knowledge that they were all beautiful.


On the opposite side of the Lagos marina was the main beach where swimming and sun-bathing were the only things on the agenda. White sandy beaches and crystal clear blue water was all you could see. Oh, and the occasional topless woman or man in a tiny speedo.

You can kind of see here just how blue the water was. And the temperature was absolutely perfect. Hot hot beach and nice cool Atlantic. What more could you ask for?

Of course one can't go to Portugal without sampling the local cuisine, which consisted of fish, fish, and more fish. And when I say fish, I don't mean fried fish sticks. I mean the kind that was just swimming in the ocean about an hour ago and is still staring at you as you eat it. This was one of my dinners on the first night I think. Once you get past the fins and the eyeballs, it was really tasty.

Here are a couple of pictures with some of the other Okies that went. I'm really not exaggerating when I say that these people are some of the coolest people in the world. I'm so glad that I have them here with me and I couldn't ask for a better group of friends to be in Spain with.

On Friday or Saturday night (I've kinda lost track of my days) me and four other friends decided to go down to the beach at nighttime to see the stars and listen to the water. What we didn't expect was to stumble upon a hippie beach party. And that is exactly what happened. And what is a hippie beach party without bongos, a campfire, and people playing with fire sticks? No hippie beach party that I would ever go to.

I have to say, though, for being such a weird experience, it was one of the coolest things I have ever done. The Portuguese hippies were some of the funniest people I've ever met and so fun to be around. All of us had an great time hanging out with them.

These are my friends Brian and Lauren at the beach party. We just laid back in the sand and enjoyed the music for awhile.

Here are the 4 friends who were with me. From left to right it's Brian, Lauren, Evie, and Ashley. Such a fun group.

So the last couple of days I just sat and enjoyed the shade of the umbrellas on the beach, which was extremely relaxing. However, there was a really good reason I had to stay in the shade, and that reason is:

Because I nearly fried myself to a crisp. haha Not really, but as you can see, I was really good at getting sunscreen on myself, except for this one little strip on my back. You can even see my handprint where I must have slapped it on. Needless to say, this was kind of painful, so no more sun for Jordan.

As I mentioned earlier, the Eurocup has been going on ever since we got to Spain. And the really cool thing is that Spain made it to the championship game, which has never happened before! It was such an exciting time and we were all SO sad that we weren't in Spain to watch the game. They played against Germany, and this is a picture of the watch party we sat in on. You can tell that we were by the Germans for awhile, but we moved over to the Spanish fans pretty quick.

And here is a picture of the final score. SPAIN WINS!!!!!! It was one of the most exciting times since we've been here, and I'm still sad we missed the celebrations in Madrid. But it was still awesome and it's been a really exciting time to be in Spain. After we won, we all kept chanting the Spain Eurocup motto, "Viva España! Juntos Podemos!" (Long live Spain! Together We Can!)

And on our last night in Portugal, the entire group of us decided to head down to the beach one last time at night to see the ocean in the dark. This is a picture of all the girls. We didn't take a guys picture, but there were a lot of us there too. It was really such a blast being in Portugal with this group.

And this is me and my friend Lauren dancing in the surf that night. She had taught me how to tango and we decided to show off my new skills a little bit. We also sang some Disney songs in Spanish just for fun.

On our way home, we had some time to kill in Lisbon, so we went to the big area where all the shops and restaurants were. It's really a beautiful area and this archway is the doorway to it all. You can't really tell but on the other side of the arch and the statue on the other side is the ocean, and behind me is a looooooong avenue packed with shops and places to eat. It was a cool place. Lisbon is a beautiful city and one I would definitely go back to.

And the last picture of my trip is of some souveneirs I bought while in Lisbon. I'm becoming a pretty big art fan over here because there is so much of it everywhere. And you can find some really incredible original pieces pretty much anywhere you go. So one of my paintings from Lisbon is of the big archway and the other is of a yellow trolley, which are EVERYWHERE in Lisbon. I think they're pretty cool mementos of my trip.

So all in all, as I'm sure you can tell, I fell in love with Portugal. It was really a surprise because Portugal had never been a place I really wanted to go. But as soon as I got there and saw the sites and met the people, I knew it was a place that I would love.

Regardless, it was so great to get back to Spain. I really really love this country and everything in it, and as I've explained it to some of my Spanish friends:

"Siempre seré americano, pero ahorra, siempre seré español en mi corazon"

"I will always be an American, but now, I will always be Spanish in my heart"

What an incredible experience this is turning out to be. :)

My last picture here is of my latest obsession: Nutella and Galletas (cookies). Nutella is pretty much the most delicious stuff I have ever tasted. Kind of like peanut butter, but more chocolatey and hazelnutty. People eat it all the time over here, but I just recently got in on it. And now I'm hooked. This picture is of a jar that I just bought today and I've been snacking on ever since.

Apparently you can get Nutella at some places in the US, so I highly recommend it to anyone who can get some.

And that's all for now! Hope all is well in the Sooner State!

Ich Liebe Berlin! (And Alcala Too!)

<> I went ahead and added captions to all the other pictures, so if you're curious, they all have explanations now. :)

(for those of you not too familiar with german, Ich Liebe Berlin = I Love Berlin)

Okay, so it's been about a week since I last gave a real update. And seeing as how fast the time flies here, that means I have a ton of stuff to talk about. So without further ado, let's get this thing going.

Before I get into the stuff about Berlin, I have a couple of things to update about Spain.

First of all, I saw my very first socialist protest here in Alcala. Apparently the public education system in the Madrid province isn´t all that great and the teachers felt the need to strike. Which there really isn't much point to this story other than to mention that there are a ton of strikes and protests going on right now. Everyone from fishermen to truck drivers are doing it. Apparently it's the cool thing to do.

The other thing that I've forgot to mention (and I really can't believe I have because it is HUGE right now) is the Eurocup. The Eurocup is a huge soccer tournament between all the national teams of Europe and it's only held once every 4 years. So it's like waiting for the Olympics for the Europeans. And let me tell you, they get into it. So far I've watched a ton of soccer because Spain is doing so well. They made it through to the semifinals along with Russia, Turkey, and Germany. And every time Spain wins, the city goes into an uproar. It's the craziest thing.

Okay, now on to Berlin. :)

I first flew into Berlin on Thursday night, and right off the bat I knew it was going to be an awesome time. Germany had just one their game to get into the semi-finals, and Berlin was going nuts just like they've done so far in Spain. Philipp took me to this mountain in the middle of the city to see everything and it really was incredible. It was a great way to start off my trip.

One of the first places we went on Friday morning was to Potsdamer Platz, which is a huge plaza in the middle of the city where a ton of historical stuff is located. The incredible thing about Potsdamer is that it was completely 100% destroyed in the last world war (Berlin basically got blown of the map because everyone was attacking the Nazis) and so almost every single building here is brand new.

This is the view from one of the skyscrapers in Potsdamer. Philipp had decided that my first view of Berlin in the daytime should be from a bird's eye view, and he made a good choice. Berlin is a beautiful city, especially from way up high.

Right by Potsdamer Platz, there is a pretty big section of the Berlin Wall that has been left standing as a memorial. And I definitely took a picture with it. But the incredible thing is that throughout the entire city, there is this strip that marks where the Berlin wall stood. So anywhere there used to be a part of the wall, you can still see the mark it left. Really incredible.

And here I am with the Berlin Wall. You can't ever pass up a chance to take a picture with such a huge part of history. :)

Right down the street from Potsdamer is the Holocaust Memorial, which is one of the most unusual and interesting things I have ever seen. Basically it's this huge seemingly flat area with a ton of concrete blocks set up in rows, like you can see in the picture. From the outside looking in, it seems like all the blocks are different heights and they rise and fall throughout the entire huge area. However, once you walk in between the blocks, that is when you get the full effect of the memorial. The ground is actually not level at all, but rather very hilly and topsy-turvy (if thats even a word). And no concrete block is the same height. So once you walk in this labyrinth of blocks, you can't really tell which was is up, or down, or which blocks are taller than others, or where you are. It's supposed to symbolize the confusion and sickness of the Holocaust, and it really does it well.

This is the German Parliament building, which is called the Reichstag. It is a gigantic ornate building that really looked incredible from the outside. But you can kinda tell that there was a huge line to get in the building, so we opted to not waste time waiting in line.

This is me in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which used to be a huge section of the Berlin Wall. Basically, the way the gate worked was as a gate for the West Berliners. They were allowed to pass back and forth as they wished, as long as they obtained permission beforehand. However, the East Berliners didn't have that option, and should they try to pass through, the West German military force was allowed to shoot to kill. So sad.

This is a memorial in the center of a plaza whose name I can't remember. It's kind of hard to tell what it is from the picture, but basically it's a huge underground library with empty bookshelves. You are able to walk across the glass and see the emptiness inside. The reason it's here is because this is the plaza where Hitler burned all the books he felt were unnecessary in Berlin, which was almost all of them.

And you can also see Philipp making a crazy shadow at the bottom.

This was at an open air mall pretty close to Potsdamer. There really wasn't a ton to see here, because malls are pretty standard anywhere you go. However, the outdoor plaza area had some really cool architecture and I thought the picture turned out well.

This was also at the open air mall at this little outdoor cafe. This also wasn't too incredibly interesting as there are little outdoor cafes literally everywhere. But I took this because it represents just how crazy the German language is. Very throaty and with looooooooong words. I didn't understand a thing the entire time I was there. haha

And my next picture is somewhat controversial, and I apologize in advance for the language. However, one of the things I really like to do is to learn about what the natives think of America and the American political system. In a lot of places, there is indifference and the people don't really care one way or another. In Spain, everyone has an opinion, but most everyone seems to really strongly be in favor of Obama and pretty opposed to Bush. And in Germany, well, the picture pretty much explains it all:

Again, sorry for the foul language, but this little message was pretty much everywhere around the city. Apparently Bush isn't a very popular guy in Berlin.

On the other hand, apparently Obama is a pretty popular guy here as well. This little apple-shaped card was in the Jewish museum. There is a tree in the museum called the "wish tree" where anyone who wanted to could fill out a card with their wish or message of hope and hang it on the tree. It's kind of hard to read because the picture didn't turn out very well, but this apple says "Barack Obama will bring order to the universe." Seems like a pretty tall order to me, but hey, props to the guy if he can pull it off.

This, my friends, is about the most German dish you can possibly get. It originated in Berlin and the people of Germany are in love with it. It's called "currywurst" and basically it's a big bratwurst sliced into pieces and covered with this strange (but tasty) curry sauce. You can definitely taste the curry in it, but as one person described it to me, it kind of tastes like a mix of ketchup and chili. Which actually, oddly enough, fits the taste pretty well. The currywurst is always served with a side of fries, which more often than not are served with mayonaise on top. Gross. So I got the only other option for the fries, which was a HUGE mistake. Mine was the currywurst with the brown stuff on top of the fries. And it wasn't that it tasted bad, but the brown stuff was the spiciest stuff I have ever eaten. And I've eaten a lot of spicy stuff.

This is the Berlin dome, a very famous landmark in the city. It's a huge ancient cathedral that actually sustained a ton of damage during the war, much like in Potsdamer Platz. The entire dome was destroyed from bombings. But, as you can see, it was rebuilt perfectly and the cathedral really is incredible. Much like most of the pictures I take, the image just doesn't do it justice.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip, for several reasons. First of all, I just think the picture turned out really cool looking. It looks like it could be an album cover. :) But second of all, I love this picture because it represents the festivals that were taking place in the city. While I was in Berlin, there was a huge music festival called "Fete de la Musique." Basically anyone in the city that wanted to could go in the streets, strike up a band, DJ mixing table, etc. and be as loud as they wanted. So just randomly some streets would get blocked off as some band or DJ got started playing music. This particular picture is from a DJ playing and within minutes the street was packed with Berliners dancing in the street. It was awesome.

This is another picture from the Jewish Museum, which I'm sure you can imagine was very emotional and moving. It didn't focus entirely on the Holocaust, but rather on the entire history of the Jewish people all over Europe. It showed how the slowly moved from some of the richest and most respected people in society into some of the lowliest of everyone, basically less than human. Everything in the museum was symbolic and evey room was well thought out to mean something important. This garden was called the "Garden of Exile." The ground is slanted one way, the big concrete columns were slanted another way, and on every side you can see the building right side up. There is a warning before you go in that says you will likely get motion sickness just from standing in the garden, which I thought was silly. Until I stepped in and automatically felt sick to my stomach. Yet even though it is so sickening, the blocks, lines, and dimensions are all perfectly symmetrical. It symbolizes how perfect order can still sometimes hide the fact that there are sickening things taking place.

Also in the museum were these rooms called "voids." Every void was symbolic and each one was different to symbolize something new. This particular void was called the memory void. It is a room that is almost 4 stories tall with nothing but bare concrete walls all the way up and natural light coming in from openings at the very top. At the bottom are thousands and thousands of little metal faces, each representing the face of a victim. It was supposed to symbolize not only the victims of the Holocaust, but also every other needless victim of any other war.

Here are a couple more pictures from the void:

Here is a close up shot of the faces on the ground. You were allowed, and encouraged, to walk on top of them. It made an eerie clanking noise with every step, and it almost sounded like the wheels of a tank turning.

This is a shot of the walls of the void. As you can see they are completely bare and stretch up really high.

This is a shot of what a German sunrise looks like. Why would I have a shot of this, you ask? Well, Philipp felt it was necessary to take me out in true Berlin style on my last night. So we went to a party that was related to the Fete, and we stayed out until the sun came up. I literally went back to his apartment from the party, picked up my things, and took the bus to the airport. Philipp tried to wear me out.

And this was my parting shot on my way back home. (I just realized that I typed "home" for Madrid. Funny how Spain feels like home now) Could be the Alps. Could be the Pyrenees. I don't really know. But these mountains looked really cool from the air.

So thats all I have for now. As for me, finals are done and I'm on my way to the beach! Life is good! :)

Not enough time in the day...

Well, I wish I had time to make a real post. I would love to talk in depth about Berlin and how incredible it is and how awesome it was to see Philipp.

But it's final exam time. And I have a ton of work to do for final exams and trabajos finales, and I don't have enough time in the day to do it all. What a crazy week this is going to be.

Hopefully things will slow down so that I can write about Germany while it's still fresh in my memory. And I can't wait to post all of the amazing pictures from the trip.

Oh well, it'll get done eventually. Hope all is well in the states!

Oh, and PS, it's about a million degrees in Spain all of the sudden. 1,000,000 degrees + no air conditioning = a very, very hot (and sometimes cranky) Jordan. I'm seriously sweating right now, and I'm just sitting in my room doing nothing. July could be an interesting month.....

I'm Famous! (In Alcala at least)

So I definitely got interviewed live on air on Alcala's radio station today. That makes me pretty cool, right?

No, for real. I got interviewed. In Spanish. And I spoke back, in Spanish. Live. On air.

Probably the most terrifying thing I have done thus far. But also probably the coolest.

I guess it really wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a thing I did for a class and I got interviewed about studying abroad, where I was from, etc., etc. But it was cool, nonetheless.

I also went with some friends after class today to drink a pitcher of sangria and eat tapas. Which is further proof of how rough life is here. :)

Tomorrow I leave for Berlin to see my favorite German. I can't wait to see Philipp, as I haven't seen him since he came to visit me freshman year. So it's definitely been awhile. And he's been hounding me to come visit him in Berlin for years, and I'm so incredibly pumped to finally get to do it. It should be a great time.

I also made a new friend that lives in Madrid that really likes to let me practice my spanish! Which is nice because most of the time I feel like the spaniards here get somewhat frustrated with me. And I can't say that I blame them. But this new friend has promised to show me more of Madrid and I'm definitely excited for that.

And that, folks, is all the update I have for now. Life is neither overly exciting, nor is it boring at all. I am completely content with everything at this moment in time and I really couldn't be happier.

Life is good. :)