Carnival, Carnaval, Karneeval.... however you spell it, Move Over Mardi Gras - This party is nuts!

WOW- the internet in this dorm is extremely booty.  I had 'posted' this a while ago, and I come back today to see nothing since February 12th!  MAN that sucks. It never actually posted to the page. OH, and I can never upload pictures on here with our connection either - I've only been able to do it with the WiFi at the university.  Anyways, here's what I wrote...

So, Mike is snowboarding in the Alps this weekend like a baller --- what am I to do???

Don't worry, I actually MADE THE BUS for the trip we had on Friday, which was at 10am instead of 8am --- didn't make the hangover from those damn ERASMUS parties any less miserable, however.  I've got a few pics from our CIDE excursion to the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (one of the most important natural areas of the Basque Country), Gernika, and Mundaka.  The rest are on Facebook for all those who are lucky enough to find me on there, mwah ha ha. 

OH.   And Carnivale (that's how it's spelled here I'm pretty sure) is seriously so insane.  

Pretty much Halloween-- but better.  And I didn't get a costume, so I threw something together last minute...  este es una pictora de mis amigos y yo despues 

de nuestro pregame. 

Sorry I'm so slow at posting... the weather is getting so nice here that I just try to spend as much time outside as possible!  I found an awesome park right down the block from our dorm - perfect spot to workout.  All uphill walkways, a basketball court, and huge "Greek Theatre"-type stairs that are a killer to run.  Great for the full-body workout!  

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Madrid y Segovia

This is the Palacio Real in Madrid.  Huge, gorgeous castle that everyone got to go inside... except the delinquents who missed the bus that morning. (that would be us. see previous post.) 

They weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but from what I saw, it was huge and very eloquent in it's entirety.

Here's a pic of Plaza Mayor, courtesy of Chelsea. (couldn't really make it out for the field trip - bus sick?)

This is the Aqueducto in Segovia.  Built in the FIRST CENTURY.  They used no mortar, glue or cement whatsoever, and this thing transported all of the cities' water.

Another shot of the Aqueducto, with more detail of the stones they crafted to fit perfectly together.

This is the Cathedral of Segovia, built in 1571.  So gorgeous, but we didn't go in because it was like, 7 euros or something. 

Name that Disney movie!  (see answer below)

This is El Alcazar, a fortress that many kings and queens lived in, including Queen Isabel and King Ferdinando.  The history: Muslims, Catholics, and Jews lived as one, uniting the kingdom of Segovia. 

Did you guess it??  When Walt Disney saw this castle for the first time, it inspired his drawing of the castle in Snow White =D

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And.... we've been here a month. DIOS MIO!!

So yesterday was the One Month Mark of our time in Spain thus far - how do these days go by so quickly!? En serio, es una problema. El tiempo esta muy muy muy rapido. (and if you put that into a translator, it's wrong. Don't worry I'm not estupido.)

Alrighty, so here's a quick overview of what I think are the most interesting things that we've done/that has happened in the last few days:  

1. Conversation group 

2. ERASMUS Party #1 - aka the reason we maaaay have missed our bus to Madrid...

3. Excursion to Madrid y Segovia (after catching another bus of course...)

Numero uno - When Mike went to London for the weekend of January 29th, I realized that I had quite a lot of time on my hands without an amigo in the room to chat with.  It was nice to have the weekend to ourselves, but man did I get bored.  So I decided to take part in this Spanish conversation group that was coordinated by the Erasmus group (they travel all over Europe and plan social things - HUGE parties).  It was the first one, so I had no idea what to expect, but it was actually at an Irish bar within walking distance.  Very laid back kind of get together, and I definitely know by now that speaking Spanish to natives = muy facil con mucho vino tinto (very easy with a lot of red wine!)

After that, we ventured to other bars in the area, got hit on by some Spaniards that love asking Americans for "dos besos," and once again, had to leave because of the assload of smoke filling our lungs. 

Numero dos - So, ERASMUS party #1. Flash Club near Plaza Moyua. Pregame in our room as usual, with lots of friends and lots of vodka.  After Mike, Chelsea, Greg and I realized that we'd already missed the window of opportunity to skip out on cover charge, we figured HEY, why not just PREGAME SOME MORE?????

So we're walking to the club, and on our way we see some of our friends already returning to the dorm for a decent night of sleep. (Dumb Decision Indication 1).  When we arrive to the club, we had to pay a 6 Euro cover charge and drinks were about 5 Euros each... I think... Redbull Vodka, Rum & Coke... why not right? (Dumb Decision Indication 2). This party was TIGHT.  They had chips and cookies and chocolates and pastries all over the bar - I was like, DUDE this is GREAT!  SOOOOOOO hours go by, without notice of course, and then HOLY CRAP we have to wake up at 6:45a.m. for our excursion to Madrid---with the ENTIRE CIDE PROGRAM (yes all 50+ students, and our teachers - Dumb Decision Indication 3).  So Mike and I left the group (they were seriously trying to head to another bar) and I KNEW the way home - I had walked that way tons of times.  Well.... this time we got lost, okay, I GOT US LOST, and it ended up being quite a drunky night (D.D.I. 4).

Needless to say, 'passing out' cannot even describe the way that we slept for the 3 or less hours... and when we finally woke up and checked our phones, they said 7:59 a.m.  um...The CIDE bus left the station at 8.

"GREAAAATTTTT so now what the hell do we do??? GOD I'm so mad! Why didn't our alarms go off?! etc.etc.etc" (meanwhile people are calling/texting from the bus station 'where are u guys?')   So we text our friends Greg and Chelsea, letting them know that we're assholes and don't know how to make it on time for a PLANNED TRIP TO MADRID.  And then.... we get responses from BOTH of them saying that they missed the bus too!!!!!! HA!!!!!!!!!! Oh the hilarity... seriously, the 4 retards that decided it was a good idea to pregame for 2 freaking hours ALL MISS THE BUS.  Gosh.  But at least Mike and I didn't feel so bad then - and luckily the CIDE teachers said we'd be able to catch another bus at 10 a.m.  And that's what we did.  And that's where I'll stop, because you reallllly don't want to know how that bus ride went para mi...

Numero 3 - Excursion to Madrid y Segovia!!  This trip was great, and it deserves it's own post with pictures and all, so I'll get on that asap! We went to the Museo del Prado, the Museo Reina Sofia (where Picasso's Guernica is!), a royal palace, y mucho mas! Ooooo I know you can't wait!...

Hasta luego =)

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