My Business Class

Last Wednesday marked a momentous occasion for me: my first business trip! Strictly "work-related," I was flown out to sunny San Antonio to sit through a conference for drug company sponsoring research on a new medication to treat insomnia. I was surrounded by the créme-de-la-créme of sleep scientists, many of whom were essentially the founders of the field. Now I know what you're thinking--the drug companies are evil, he's turned to their side....In fact, I was a bit worried that I was commiting treason upon myself because of the negative image I've long held of the drug industry, but having sat through the proceedings, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the researchers take painstaking measures to ensure quality control and have as their foremost concern to ease people's pain. It is a shame that virtually every drug manufacturer inflates their budget by about 100% just by reporting numbers from R&D, even though every year they are able to write those costs off as tax deductions, dollar for dollar. And there is something to be said for the fact that they shacked us up at a spa/resort and practically force fed us gourmet food any time we weren't in session, but I figured hey, I've been stuck in the dreary ol' Chicago winter for a couple of months now and I deserve a vacation.

Aside from the drudgery of sitting in closed-door sessions on Thursday and Friday morning, I was able to take advantage of the finer aspects of the environs. Like the jacuzzis, king-size down beds, Lone Star beer, and the Alamo. By the way, the Alamo is totally NOT what I was expecting it to be. I had this mental image of it being out in BFE, kind of like the wedding chapel in Kill Bill, complete with tumbleweeds blowing by, but no, it's right in the middle of downtown San Antonio. Literally, you turn a corner from the main artery through downtown and it's right there. I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to see it, but it turned out that the dinner function held for us on Friday was only about a block away. Not only did I get to see the Alamo, but I was able to rub elbows with the higher-ups, namely Phyllis (my boss/PI) and some esteemed PhDs.

Some other highlights from my trip: open-bars, the 65-year-old Panthers-loving woman who knows more about football than I ever will, fresh air, the world's largest collection of antlers and trophy heads, 20 million pillows, and 12F. God bless 12F.


Currently, I am nursing my poor hip back from a nasty spill I took while cycling with Scott last weekend. When attemping the turn on the LSD path near the Drake, Scott and I hit a patch of black ice. Yes, that's right, I was outside cycling when it was cold enough to freeze water. I saw a fellow cyclist carefully tip-toeing off to the side (actually, he wasn't much of a "fellow" since he didn't even try to warn us) only before it was too late--with my narrow roadie tires, my bike slid out from under me, and Scott, merely from trying to avoid me, went down as well. Ow. I shouldn't have even gone for the damn ride in the first place; it was far too cold, and I wasn't wearing nearly enough layers. I had to take a break at Scott's place to warm up, since frostbite was most definitely settling into my poor toesies, and to borrow some extra layers in order to actually make it back home alive and still slightly thawed. Despite my now-black-and blue hip, Sus luckily suffered no injuries.

Oh, and 24 totally kicked ass, by the way. I don't care what anyone says, Jack Bauer is da man. I don't know how they keep doing it. Scrubs is also back on the air, which I am also very excited about. This season is out of control. So many memorable lines. And FYI, if any of you ever wondered why all my blog entry titles begin with "my," it's from Scrubs. All the episodes are My-something ("My New God," "My Myocardial Infarction," etc.). Those of you who actually knew that, you just earned 5,000 points in my book.

P.S. - My dog thinks the wood chairs are his new bone. We discovered he's been knawing at the bottom rungs at night. Anyone who knows of a completely indestructible, soft chew toy, I will be indebted to you forever.

The following takes place between 6:55 PM and 7:00 PM

News flash--24 has officially returned. Everyone tune in. Do it now.

My Motivation

Am I nuts to attempt a triathlon this fall? Part of me screams, "yes," but another larger part says I could realistically perform. I might not be a gold medal contender, but I mean, I did erg 42,195m two years in a row, right?

Scott, my buddy now at NU Med School, and I are talking about entering the Chicago Triathlon in August. Originally, he had informed me of the Lymphona & Lukemia Society's sports event fundraising, which would require thousands of dollars in fundraising in order to attend either a marathon, triathlon, or century ride. Realistically, with my job, that would be a high milestone to reach, so I will have to get all the details from the organization before I can make a commitment. In any case, I can still register for the Chicago Tri by myself.

Training for this would give me a reason to get off my ass every once in a while and work some physical activity back into my lifestyle. Ever since I graduated and left crew in the dust, I haven't done much in the way of exercising. All I've needed is some simple motivation, and I believe this hits the spot.

1,500m swim, 40,000m bike ride, 10,000m run, check.


In other news, the new season of 24 begins next week. I am literally on the edge of my seat here writing this, in anticipation of the premier. I know, I'm obssessed. So sue me.

My Spanish Roots VII

Tues., 11/9

Lots to recount…

The Thursday before Halloween, Paci, Rafa, María, Jon, and I started at Cubil, then proceeded to a champagne/chupita bar somewhere behind Betis. They all got high, then we to Betis where Jon reclaimed his umbrella. We tried to go to one of the bars there, but I for some reason was negged since they asked me for my ID and it was the one night I happened not to bring my license (I was the only one they asked, argh. Reminiscent of past theater experiences...). We chilled at Fundición, where we ate sunflower seeds and stood in the background as Paci and Rafa had a lover’s quarrel. And that was that.

That Friday, we went out with the high school girls again to Atrevete, the same place we met them last time. It was equally as fun, except for the 12-year-old assassin and his posse. Apparently this kid will “rob you then kill you if you even look at him.” Even the cops knew him. Kind of funny, but not really…

Two weekends ago was the group trip to Granada. Except for those who had already made plans to go elsewhere that weekend, everybody else in the program went to Granada. It was a very fun city. Its "skyline" is most famous for the giant Alhambra palace. SBC hooked us up with 4-star accommodations in the city—at least they splurged a little there. No, but the trip was well planned. We spent about an hour waiting in traffic to get to our hotel, then checked in, although Jon and I didn’t get our room until several hours later since not all the rooms had been prepared. In the meantime, we chilled with the Sweet Briar chicks (Bea, Olivia, Holly-Lane Riley, and Tory…I think they’re all from SBC anyway). After chowing down on some bocadillos, we hopped on the bus for an afternoon tour of Granada’s biggest chapel and the oldest part of the city which runs along the cliffs where the Alhambra is situated. We had the option of hiking down from the elevated part of the city where we were dropped off, so we took it. Most of the afternoon was a blur, as the guys in our little group decided it would be a good idea to stop by a supermarket and each get some booze for the way down. We each had either 40 of good-ol Alhambra beer or a liter of wine (beer for me, personally). And since we hadn’t eaten much, it was quite an intoxicating trip down. Possibly the best part of the trip back down to the hotel was stopping at a falafel shop to get some doner kebab that, probably because we drunk, tasted like heaven. I talked with Josh a bit about his apparent withdrawal symptoms from not having played his guitar in a while (looking at tabs at internet cafes, getting the shakes, etc.); he and I will jam in the near future since I brought my baby along.

The meals were out of this world at the hotel in Granada--it was all buffet-style. I honestly ate the most I’ve ever eaten here in Spain. Four full plates, I think? Anyway, after dinner I went to chill in Bea and Olivia’s room (both of whom were in towels when I entered, still need to get the picture they took...) and continued down to Cruzcampo Especials. Lots more people showed up, and I went to wake up Jon who had taken a nap. We had about 20 people smoking and drinking in the room, breaking the program's three main vacation rules in the process. We later tried to go out clubbing, but it turned out to be a bust. Lauren tried to assume leadership and started asking Spaniards for directions to this bar which was way out of the way. We eventually found it, no thanks to her directing, however. With Matt macking Bea that night, and my buzz wearing off, I didn’t feel like staying long at the Chupeteria bar, so I cabbed it back with Karli, Zach, and a few other people and crashed hard.

The next morning I proceeded to stuff my face at breakfast, then hopped on the bus again for the Alhambra tour. It is indeed a spectacular palace, and our tour guide (Raúl I think is his name, although I never found out for sure) was one stylish dude, all decked out in outbackapparel. We also toured the adjacent Jardines de Generalife. They didn’t quite compare to the Florencian Boboli Gardens, but they were still very pretty. Lunch came as a surprise--another buffet--since I thought we were just getting back on the bus and heading home directly after the tour. But again I stuffed myself, and our table with all guys recounted our favorite childhood cartoon/TV shows while getting boozed on wine that was donated from every which table that found no use for it. Then we went home, and all the wine-takers fell soundly asleep.

The following night was to see the Halloween celebrations on Betis/in Boss, but it turned out to be a huge debacle. All the high-schoolers we had made friends with weren’t able to get in since apparently el jefe intended the free passes to be only for Americans, so the bouncers were making up excuses not to let the kids in. Of course, the kids got mad. Maria and I tried to make our way to the front of the line, but as soon as we did they took away the list we were on and things just went downhill from there. One of the kids threw a glass at the entrance door; the bouncers went out into the crowd to find the perp, and after not finding him they decided to close down the bar (this at only 1:15 AM). Jon, Antony, Irene, and her friends had already entered. I couldn’t find them even though I tried texting/calling Jon a few times, but to no avail. Maria and I decided to go to Madegan’s to get a beer and wait and see if we could find them, but we never did. We tried to wait in line to find a cab at the Betis Plaza, but the line was huge, so we decided to walk across the bridge and a bit north to find one that would take us to a club to meet Chuti. But there were no taxis to be found at all. Neither were any of the cab companies answering the phone when we tried to call to reserve one. Maria told me that had never happened before. We ended up walking all the way to the university and catching a bus the rest of the way back. Oy vay. Jon felt bad, but was able to deal with all the jokes that consequently poured from Maria's mouth the next day.

As of right now I can’t remember much of what happened MTWTh—mostly just classes and rowing, I think.

Tuesday night was the election. Flaherty’s was having live CNN coverage with some drink specials (which I didin't find out about until it was too late). I chilled with Mallory and Emily for a bit to watch the initial coverage, then moved into the giant party room after they left. I stayed until just after 4AM with Jon, waiting to find out Florida’s results, but they didn’t end up calling it until a day later. The results make me sad, and pretty much everyone else here. And I’m mad at my family for all voting the other way >:o Florida once again dicked over the country. I decided not to out Wednesday night since I wanted to make my EU class. We had a big discussion about the likely election results (no winner had been declared at that point), and talked a bit about the new EU constitution.

Friday I met up with Lito, Aunt Vicki, and Aunt Linda who had planned a three-week trip to Spain way back when. I took the bus to meet them at their hotel on the outskirts of Seville, and then came back to Conci’s place to have coffee and meet the family. Maria, Conci, and Benito loved them all, especially Lito, who they said is the “perfect grandfather.” He knew exactly how to deal with Benito, since I warned him he was reminiscent of Jon. Conci had a dinner date, though, so we exited after a little while and tried to find somewhere to eat. However, this was at around 8:00 PM, an hour during which I had never really tried to go out to eat dinner here, and it didn’t even occur to me that the bars/restaurants would be closed. We ended up going by Cubil, which had just opened its doors at around 8:45. We were able to order lots of tapas and sangre, which hit the spot. After seeing the family off, Jon and I went back to make some sandwiches and get a good night’s sleep before the big canyoning trip on Saturday.

We had to get up quite early—5:45, but no earlier than during crew season, of course. DiscoverSeville had set up a hiking/canyoning trip in the mountains of Málaga. This was perhaps the greatest adventure I've ever had. It was a bit disconcerting since we really didn’t have much of an idea what “canyoning” entailed, or what part of the country exactly we would be traversing. Aunt Vicki had scared Jon and me when recounting cousin Mike’s story about body surfing in rocky waters, and reading a newspaper story of his former canyoning guide and his group who died during a flash flood on one trip. Luckily, our experience didn't end up that way.

We hiked up a mountain in one of Málaga’s national parks, near the highest peak in the southern province. It was quite steep for the first part, and kind of awkward having to hold all the gear in the process, but we made it all right. After reaching the top of our route, we took a snack break and then put on our gear. Everybody had a bit of trouble getting on the wetsuits, especially me when I unknowingly put it on backwards at first. The whole trip down was amazing—we hiked in varying depths of water and did some rock climbing/repeling down the breaks in the descent that were too high to simply walk down. It ended up taking much longer than it should have, although I could tell it would be well past the original intended departure time since we had to wait so long at the kinks where we had to rock climb down, one person at a time. Echoes of the bus driver’s joking banter with us before kept sounding in my head, that if we weren’t there at 5 PM he would leave. At the last descent, they didn’t even bother with hooking up a rope to descend—they simply stuck us in a hole under the rock that was about knee high and slid the rest of the way down. It was quite exhilarating, though—never had been rock climbing. Nor had I ever worn just boxer shorts and sneakers. That was interesting, changing clothes with everyone on the side of the road.

That loaded turkey bocadillo tasted sooo good afterward. On the way there and back we happened to stop at the big Spanish-style rest stop that we had frequented on the Granada trip, or rather what Jon likes to call “hell.” All that jamon serrano hanging on the walls, in addition to the alien mannequins, is indeed disturbing. Several people went out in Seville aftet we got back that night, but I decided not to go, as I had made a whimsical decision to go to Jeréz with a few people the next day.

There were only 6 of us who went—Elliot, both Rachels, Luisa, Ashley, and I. It was just a quite train ride via the Cercanía to Jeréz de la Frontera. We took a full tour of the Gonzalez-Byass/Tio Pepe bodega (the same place that Lito & Co. toured, I think), led in Spanish nonetheless. The smells in the barrel rooms were positively intoxicating. The tour was very well designed, lasting over two hours, and culminating in wine-tasting with tapas. We were the last ones to leave, along with a numerous, friendly Spanish family with whom we chatted for a long time. The bartender was very gracious, constantly giving us more chips/tapas and refilling our sherry . The family ended up accompanying us to a good tapas bar nearby, after a quick stop to the expansive Tio Pepe gift shop! They thought Elliot was a riot, though, even offering to set him up with some of their rather attractive daughters. It was definitely worth the day trip.

No study abroad trip would be complete, I imagine, without a little trouble back at the home school. I had had this financial hold on my account for a long while, stemming from Dad’s unemployment and long time away from home on job training. It eventually threatened to complicate my registration, so I put the pressure on Dad to resolve things on his end. After some discussion, it fell on me to write a rep from student accounts asking for a release on my account, but after a follow up email and two calls, I still hadn’t gotten a response by Monday, when I was supposed to pre-register. However, Dad was able to get in touch with him two hours after my appointment time, and I was able to clear up the problem and register, and now things are okay for now. Phew!

Maria and I had a fun time last night sharing my pictures from trips here as well as ones from home. She and the family especially got a kick out of Jon’s infamous pigeon video, heh. Benito and I also started a game of Risk. I thought I would win at first, but María entered to help Benito out, and I’ve been losing pretty hard since then. I don’t know how much longer the game will last, but hopefully things will improve for me! Jon and I played chess last night, too. He got frustrated after beating him every time since he hates to lose in general :p. Oh weeelll…

Got to go heal the hands from rowing. Es todo for now.

Lito and Me in Torremolinos

Cousin Linda, Aunt Vicki, and Me in the caves beneath Nerja

The Alhambra Fortress at Granada

El Palacio de Leones, inside the Alhambra

Alhambra Garden

Jon and our rugged Alhambra Tour Guides

The many barrels of sherry at the Jerez de la Frontera bodega

Everybody in Jerez gets some wine, even the mice...

My New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year 2006 to all! One of my new year's resolutions is to keep better records on here. And since it's winter, that wonderfully depressing time of the year in Chicago when one is forced to stay indoors 3/4 of the time, I have no excuse. Anyway, in an effort to recapture all the events that have taken place since my last update, I offer snippets of the most memorable goings-on:

*Ryan, my cousin from FL, and Chad, my cousin on the westside, and I kicking back four rounds at a Loop bar, reminiscing about our youthful day and those in our family who've left us

*Chad hanging upside down fifteen feet about ground, riffing on a guitar

*Grinding on stage with the lead actress in a play

*Piss-drunk on Division with Ryan, who still manages to pick up some ladies

*Hearing both sides of the story when Uncle Ron crashed Uncle Mike's car

*Snow "falling" sideways, and my mom loving it

*...My dad and I hating it *Meeting my cousin Sean's new baby!

*$100 lobster

*Spending just two hours with best friends in Florida and once again being reminded why, no matter what, nothing will change, ever

*Also, for unrelated reasons, being reminded why I left that state in the first place

*A full-on intellectual debate with my brother's fiancée about politics, religion, philosophy, and evolution

*Realizing I'm even more different from my family than I ever knew

*Catching up with my old piano teacher/mentor

*Admitting to my mom I'm no longer a Catholic at 1 AM

*Leaving my baby for six days, but knowing he was in good hands

*Getting a Christmas bonus!

*Spending my first New Year's outside of the eastern time zone with good friends, good booze, watching fireworks over the skyline, all while wondering why they ever let Carson Daly host the New Year Special in the first place

Throughout this nasty winter--and I'm not just bitter, it's actually the coldest start on record--I have tried to keep in mind that spring is but within a few months' reach. Especially now that I'm out on my own, it truly gets rather melancholy around here sometimes, but I try to get the endorphins going by running with Alexei when weather permits and playing a good tune on the ol' six string. I can't wait until biking season begins again. I was very tempted to take Sus for a spin, since there was actually no ice on the roads and temperatures warmed a bit, but in fact it's still a tad too chilly to have an enjoyable ride. Soon enough...

In spite of this rather dreary season, I am also warmed by the thought that not two years from now, I will likely be venturing out west to start grad school. At the moment, the University of Arizona is at the top of my list. I recently got to talking with my Uncle Ron, who is a PhD at a research institute in Phoenix, and discovered that he is on several boards and is in constant contact with several professors in the area. He could wield some serious clout for me when the time comes next year. I plan to fly out there this summer and go with him to meet some of my would-be mentors. Even though I am just finding my groove at work, I know I will definitely be ready to move on to bigger and better things by that point.

In the meantime, I will have to settle for a free "business" trip to Texas next week. GlaxoSmithKlein is holding a conference for a new insomnia/drug study, in which I will be involved. They are providing free airfare to and from San Antonio, lodging at a resort & spa, and dining for three days. I get to be that guy flagging down the driver holding up a sign for me at the airport. When Lukas, my co-worker, asked if I would be available to come, naturally I obliged.

In the absence of a new Family Guy episode, I shall now instead curl up with a good book and read until I fall asleep. Because God knows there isn't much else going on around here tonight.

My Simple Life/Spanish Roots VI

Today was a curious day.

First of all, it's the first time this year that it's truly felt like the seasons are changing in Chicago. The transition seems to have come at a very late point this year, although every successive year I'm here, it seems to be warmer and warmer in general. This probably isn't the only place on earth that's seeing this, though. Regardless, I was up the creek without a paddle tonight as I was exiting the hospital and discovered the wind had become particularly chilly and strong, and I had no hat or gloves. Will bring those next time.

For the first time, I have become aware that the word "sleep" has lost all usual meaning to me. Maybe it's the nature of my job, watching the latest subject pass out, my becoming a sentient observer of something I am indeed so used to experiencing myself but in a subliminal manner; or maybe it's from seeing everyone's away message tonight--"sleeep," "sleepy sleep sleep," or "sleep--highly recommended"--at 2 AM while I'm still wide awake. To me, sleep has become something amorphous, ethereal. My rhythms have been altered as of late, forced to adjust to the variable nature of my work. But I've found I can easily adapt within a rather short period of time, confirming a process that will likely help me the rest of my life. (Speaking of confirmations, many things recently have been confirmed that I never would have expected.)

Today, I was doing some reflecting--something I'm not so prone to doing since I have essentially zero concentration skills-- and overtly realized that I am coming to a point in my life where simplicity is the name of the game. I believe I have become a bit too materialistic and am searching for ways to purge myself and focus on bigger and more important things I may have missed during my first twenty-one years this planet. Accordingly, I am trying to get rid of a bunch of shit in my apartment (although, granted, a big reason is that I don't even truly have enough space for everything in the first place). I've even been toying with the idea of relocating to a more rural area for grad school and beyond, a move I never previously entertained at all. Part of me still isn't completely happy here, although--don't get me wrong--I am happy to have a secure job and not be living in that abonimation called South Florida.

P.S. - The 147 is the bane of my existence.

More from my Spanish Roots:

Fri., 10/22

I must say I’m in a much better mood than last time I wrote in here. I am back into the swing of things. The weekend should be pretty fun. Tonight, the other guys and I are having a group intercambio/botellón with some Spaniards (hopefully some chicas). I don’t know where we’ll end up, but it’s more fun that way, no? Tomorrow, SBC has a group trip to Ronda. None of us is quite sure what’s there, nor does our family know too much either since they haven’t been there themselves, but I’m sure it’s worth an all-expense paid daytrip.

I’m bummed Mandy won’t be able to make it here! I knew something would go wrong—she always puts off things much longer than even I am prone to do. I wouldn’t have paid $/euro350 in any case, though. And no other weekend will work for her. There’s a very, very slight chance I could see her in London for the Puente, but that’s highly unlikely. I’m excited about Ireland, though, and now maybe Scotland. It looks like I’ll end up going to Cork, Dublin, Blarney, and Edinburgh. The price is right for the airplane tix and we'd have free lodging with Jon’s friends in Dublin and Edinburgh. As soon as Jon confirms plans with his buddy in Scotland, we’ll book the tickets.

I also made contact with the “Club de Remo”/Rowing Club today. I’m pretty sure I will choose the 3x/wk option. For a non-collegiate center, It’s a fairly nice place—a full erg room and bay right across from the dock. I will get to learn to scull in a single, and maybe join a double if Sarah or Zach goes, or if I meet someone else there on the same schedule as mine. Quite exciting.

Mucho ruido, poca nuese = all bark and no bite

Operación gamba = paper-bagger

I’m getting quite annoyed with Jon’s girlfriend calling so much. I guess I should be understanding right now, as the RedSox are in the World Series, but damn, I need some shuteye! But yea for the Sox.

Thurs. 10/28

So the intercambio with the high school people went well. By high school people, I mean 7 17-to-18-year old chicas. I am quite infatuated with Mamen (combo of María and Carmen—cool, huh)--just ask Jon. Paula was the ringleader on the Spaniards' side who set everything up. Apparently she told her friends there would be girls from our program going too, but she lied to get them to come because she knew they wouldn't come if they knew it was just us guys: Harry, Jesse, Zach, Antony, Jon, and me. We had a great time, though. After the awkward period of initial introductions, we proceeded to botellón in a neighborhood where there’s an underground 24-hour liquor store, and in Triana/Feria, where Jon and I got lost two weeks ago. I, as well as most of the other guys, were “más ciego que un tropo.” Jonito and Antonio went to their high school today to give a presentation about Halloween, and to hand out passes for the crazy Halloween party at Boss this Sunday. We’re supposed to party with them tomorrow night as well—fun times! Also, tonight, Jon and I are supposed to go out with Paci and some other Spanish people.

Saturday was the daytrip to Ronda. Most of us were pretty hung over, and I almost didn’t get out of bed that morning; the only thing that made me do it was that Jon wanted to go :p Anyway, there wasn’t too much to do there, but nonetheless it was precioso. Ronda mainly earns its renown from Hemingway's literature about, and vacations to, this quaint city overlooking the countryside. We did a walking tour of the old city, mansions, and bullfighting ring, then had lunch and a little free time. Lunch was cheap and yummy at one of the local tapas bars. Jon, Antony, and I then took the hike down to the near-bottom of the Puente, to behold the gorgeous view of cascading waterfalls that pour out from under the main bridge. I probably took one of my best pictures ever there.

And I finally began sculling in Sevilla. My first day was Tuesday (Monday was pretty rainy). Other than a quick ten minute mini-lecture of sculling-to-sweeping comparison, I was pretty much on my own to learn the new technique. Sergio, el jefe, told me his place is kind of “anti-gimnasio,” which probably isn’t the best method, but hey, it’s the only place I could find that wasn’t too hardcore for my schedule here in Spain. I’m getting the hang of it, though. After figuring out the height and set differences (left hand over right), I got the hang of it. I’ve notice my right side is a bit stronger—either that, or I’m still digging on one side, because I continually steer to starboard. The river is perfect for rowing, though—no wonder it’s a world-famous center. Plenty wide and straight for the most part. The FISA world champsionships were held here a few years ago. Today, I cut a path south through the main party of Sevilla, passing some boats and other tourists on the bridge who took my picture J. Later, I went north, where it’s a perfect straightaway. I’ll probably only scull for one month instead of two, since it won’t pay off with my short schedule in December. But it’s worth it!

I’m having a bit of trouble with my absentee ballot. I sent in what I thought was the official ballot over a month ago, but Monday I received a second ballot that looked even a bit more official. I’m confused since the first one didn’t have any indication that it might have been a sample ballot. I’ve been trying to calling the elections office back home but every time I do it says that all circuits are busy. I left a message on my mom’s phone this afternoon—hopefully she will have gotten in touch by the time I call her tonight. I can’t believe the election is in less than a week…

Carbonería is quickly becoming the hangout spot for our clique. I hope we don’t go there much more, though—it’s really noisy and smoky and you can’t really hear or see the flamenco unless you have one of the coveted few seats up close. Monday night, Jon and I went to meet Becky and her boyfriend who was in town, and Emily and Mallory. They kept asking me about my “girlfriend,” whether I had one, etc.--interesting… Tuesday night I went with Jon and María to meet Antonio and Zach for their FunkyClub “business” meeting, i.e. free beers and more Carbonería/Bar Levies. ¡Muchos pases por gratis con copa esta vez!

El puente de Ronda

Gateway to Ronda

Plaza de Toros

My Working Life/Spanish Roots V

OK, so it's been a while. But honestly, that's probably because, aside from a select few instances, nothing much worth writing down has happened. I've been working full-time for about four months now, and although it feels great to be fully self-sufficient, I'm living a very different lifestyle, one that took some getting used to. It was a definite shock only after I had settled into my new place when I realized that I really am on my own. I truly am at a crossroads in my life; things are changing fast, and I've tried to keep up. I buzzed my hair fairly short, got a dog, and joined a cycling club, among other things, perhaps as a internal means to match the external pull of vertigo I've been experiencing.

For a while, I had been falling into the trap of letting work completely envelop my life because I thought that was the only thing that mattered at this point. However, as of late, I have become aware of the fact that work is only one of several aspects of my life now. Most of those other aspects are preparation for the future (although I try to be cognizant of the present). I am preparing for grad school. I have started saving for retirement. I am trying to rub elbows with the higher-ups at work in order to cash in next year. I am spending countless hours thinking about what I will say at my brother's wedding in a few years (I still cannot believe he is ENGAGED).

Regardless of my recent cheerlessness, I have become very independent, even more so than I ever was in college, which has its pros and cons. It's beneficial in that I am forced to seek out interaction with other people in non-traditional manners, a lesson I probably did not fully develop before. However, I do get a bit lonely down here--the ultimate irony of living closer to a metropolis of three million inhabitants. You see, since I graduated early, most of my friends are still in college. Now that I live much farther south, it's not so convenient for me to see them, and vice versa. Plus, our schedules tend not to coincide with one another. My roommate is also gone more than half the time.

Sometimes I just feel like I grew up way too fast. I am trying to apply the brakes, though, and still enjoy my youth. In any case, I have Alexei, my new dog, to keep me company :)

My brother did come up to visit me a few weeks ago. After his vacation with Devon in LA, he hopped on a plane to Chicago to stay with me a few days. It was his first time in the area, and it sure wasn't long enough! Unfortunately, he had to be ready to report to base in West Palm only a few days afterward, but I'm glad he was able to squeeze some time in up here. I showed off NU and a bit of downtown to him, but mostly we just reminisced about the past and celebrated the near future. And of course we were able to fit in a few rounds of Halo between.

I also have fun plans for the holidays. Ryan, my cousin in Palm Beach, is coming up for Thanksgiving. We're going to tear up the city, and in the process hopefully meet up with my other cousin, Chad, who lives on the west side. This Thanksgiving will have been two years without my family's Thanksgiving smorgasbord. But I booked a flight home for Christmas, so I can make up for it then. My parents--and a bunch of other family, actually--are also coming up the first weekend in December, ostensibly for a play that Chad is helping to put on, but I like to believe it's mostly to see me : ) It's also my Dad's birthday that weekend, so the next month will be chock full of good ol' family fun.

After the end of 2005, who knows what dreams may come. 2006 is a new year, likely bringing even more change.

P.S. - I currently have what some may consider an unhealthy addiction to bluegrass, wine, and The Apprentice. I don't care what you say, though--each is strangely intoxicating to the point of ridiculousness.

P.P.S. - I haven't forgotten my Spanish Roots journal:

Thursday, 10/14

Another long delay in the journal entires, thanks to my near-perfect trip to Italy. It was quite a blast, and spending it with the friends I’ve made on this trip as well as with Mandy made it even better. Despite the debacle of the return leg of my trip (missing my flight, unsympathetic attendants, sleeping overnight in Fiumicino, having to take overnight train from Barcelona--see below for the full story), I had a blast. I spent the first two nights in Rome, mostly just with Mandy. We stayed in a hostel very close to the Vatican. The last three nights I was in Firenze, AKA Florence. I stayed at Mandy’s place and but spent most of the time with the rest of my Sevilla amigos as well as Mandy.

The first night in Rome, Mandy and I went out for some wine and panini at a local bar. Friday, we toured Vatican City, Castel Sant’Angelo, Piazzas Navona, and Popolo. Dinner that night was amazing—we ended up eating with two local Italians, Giuseppe and Angelo. They practically force-fed us their fresh calamari and eggplant, they were so generous. I was very proud of the fact that together, the four of us managed to communicate in four different languages (English, Italian, German, and Spanish). It was the one time I’ve gotten to practice my German outside of class. Halfway through the meal, I became pleasantly drunk from the Chianti we had with dinner and Cabernet we bought at a true bodega at the Piazza Popolo, so that made it even more fun. After dinner we proceeded to explore the city in the best way possible--by getting lost! We were trying to find the Pantheon to meet up with Jon & Co and ended up taking a very roundabout path. The others never did arrive, however, so the two of us went back and crashed.

Saturday, we took the Metro down to the Ancient City. The ride was fairly crowded and was highlighted by the arrest of four young female pickpocketers. It was probably the best expression of justice I have ever seen--two cops boarded the train immediately after the theft and fully embarrassed the girls by shouting “pickpocketers, pickpocketers” aloud in front of everyone on the train. Anyway, during the day we toured the Roman Forum, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Piazza di Campoglioni, and the Wedding Cake monument/museum. Then we picked our bags up at Colors Hotel and caught our evening train to Florence at Termini Station.

It was a fairly long ride, but we spent the first half talking to an elderly American from North Carolina, who ironically had attended school at NU’s seminary, then later lived in Louisville. Mandy and I ate at a nice tratteria, where I had one of the best calzones, before arriving at her flat.

Her apartment is extraordinary. All of the culinary students are guaranteed a place with a nice kitchen, and you know if it has a nice kitchen, every other amenity is nice as well. My sleep that night was interrupted by the frantic phone calls of Antony, Whitney, her boyfriend, and Zach, as Zach, Whitney, and Jon apparently had been kicked out of the hostel and were trying to find another place to stay. They ended up finding a Best Western, even though Mandy offered to take them in.

Florence ended up having fairly crappy weather--it rained the whole time--and of course I had forgotten to pack my umbrella in my backpack. Florence is a lot more chill than Rome, but the atmosphere is unequalled. Mandy and I toured the Borgello museum, went to mass at a local church (all in Italian, very short), passed through a bunch of piazzas (Vecchio, Repubblica, and Signora), walked across Ponte Vecchio, then met up with the rest of the gang at the Accademia to view the David.

The David is awe-inspiring; as Zach put it, “it inspires homosexual tendencies.” Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures--security confiscates your camera if you do--so I have no real record of it. We had lunch at a tratteria that Mandy suggested, where it started to rain again. Mandy split, and I went with the others to wait in line at the Uffizi (since I found out it is closed on Mondays), but we discovered the wait was 3 hours, which would’ve given us ~20 minutes to see things. Thus, we scratched it, and proceeded to look around at some plazas, stop at a café. Then I split with Jon to head back to Mandy’s.

We killed time by shopping for wine and other uniquely Italian items, then went back to Mandy’s place. Earlier, Mandy had offered to have a dinner party for everyone, so we helped her find some last minute ingredients. I was Mandy’s assistant chef, and we had everything prepared in time for the “guests.” Everyone is now completely in love with Mandy. She made a very good meal. We had mozzarella and tomatoes w/ olive oil, salami, and brie/crackers to start, spaghetti carbonara for the main dish, and biscotti w/ vin santo after-dinner wine for dessert.

Mandy was gracious enough to let Zach, Whitney, and Jon crash at her place for the night. The following day we went to the Santa Croce church to see lots of famous dead bodies (Michelangelo and Machiavlli to name a few), then saw the Duomo and Baptistery. The Duomo has the most amazingly intricate façade, yet the interior is ironically starkly bare. We wandered for a bit, then Jon, Zach, Antony, and I walked to the Synagogue, but I decided to stay outside (not being Jewish, I didn't have much of a desire to see it as the others) in order to call my parents and Mandy, since we were to meet up with Mandy later. The rest of my buddies decided to take the train back directly afterward, however, so I met Mandy for gelato.

We then toured the Boboli gardens. The main highlight of the gardens was a hilarious statue of a fat, naked Bacchus riding a statue. It took forever to find it, however, since it was poorly marked. I did get to practice my Spanish with some other Spaniards who were trying to find the statue. In fact, most people we met along the way were also lost trying to find it. We had originally planned to hit up the Piazza Michelangelo afterward, but it ended up being too far to walk for our level of exhaustion. Instead, we ducked back in Mandy's place and cooked some fresh prosciutto pasta and sauce and watched School of Rock and 13 Going On 30 (there were three girls living in the apartment, what could I do?). I crashed hard, and the next morning, began the complete disaster that was my trip home.

I purposely bought my return train ticket to Rome on the way into Florence with plenty of time to spare in case there was a delay. In fact, there was a delay the morning of my return train ride, but the delay was well past any length I could have imagined for what is supposed to be one of the best rail systems in the world. The train was already over an hour late getting in, and I thought I would have just enough time to make my flight. Once we got to the outskirts of Rome, though, we slowed down and just crept the rest of the way. I was shitting my pants, knowing I had only 10 minutes between Termini and the airport to make my flight at the scheduled time. I kind of got ripped off by the cabbies (I probably should have negotiated with the real RadioTaxi people) but I had no time to negotiate effectively. I knew once I hopped in the cab that my only saving grace was that my flight would be extremely delayed like the one from Málaga to Rome. Of course, that didn’t happen, and I missed my flight.

After getting the runaround many times by a mix of sympathetic and downright unhelpful Alitalia attendants, and waiting around for the elusive “supervisor,” I was able to get myself on the wait list for the evening flight back to Madrid. Tuesday, however, was a Spanish holiday, so all the flights into Spain (3 to Madrid, 2 to Málaga, 2 to Barcelona, and 2 to Sevlla) were severly overbooked. I never made a seat on the Madrid flight, and the only spot they could guarantee me was the next day at 9:05 AM to Barcelona, so I took it. Fuck, I had to take whatever I could get, right? I was probably the last person to eat dinner at the airport that night, as they were closing up shop right as I was scarfing down the last of my pizza (what the hell was on that pizza, anyway? That was the most disgusting pizza ever).

Fiumicino Airport and I got really close that night. It was probably one of the longest nights of my life. I tried to read to keep myself occupied, but I was too anxious, nervous, and exhausted to concentrate for long. I “slept” alone in terminal B, suitcase under feet and backpack under arms, sans pillow, which meant I never got real, deep sleep. After 5:30 AM the crowds started to roll in again. I got breakfast at the café, where I ran into Allie and Lauren who were waiting for their flight. The flight to Barcelona went off without a hitch, even though I couldn’t really sleep on the plane. I took the train from the airport to Barcelona-Sants train station, and discovered the only other flight that day to Sevilla was a night hotel train. I had no other choice: I booked it, put my suitcase in a locker, and bummed around the surrounding outside park at first, then read and shopped (one of the nicer shopping centers, I must say) until my train arrived.

My cabin was shared by one younger and two older Spaniards. We all pretty much crashed as soon as we got settled. One, or maybe both, of the older men had some crazy BO, but I was too tired to let it affect me for long. I slept soundly for 9 hours until we rolled into Sevilla at 8:45 AM, then made the last leg home via autobus. The plan was to sleep as long as possible when I got back to Conci's place, but my rest was interrupted by a phone call from Noelia, frantically concerned that I hadn’t signed my matriculation form. **The administration has been less than stellar in giving us information plenty of time ahead of deadlines, but luckily they stretched this one out (and the Granada one).

Anyway, it was good to be back, able to sleep in a stationary bed with pillow, and eat some of Conci’s home-cooked food. As many people pointed out to me, “lo que no te mata, te hace más fuerte.” Now, to share the story with my parents…

This weekend will probably not involve ANY traveling whatsoever. It’s the only weekend for which I never really had definite plans for a trip anyway. I slept hard last night, and will probably take a gigantic nap again this afternoon. I need to get more of my pictures uploaded to share with friends and family, but I won’t be able to until Monday since the office is close through the weekend. I might burn them to a disc like Dad suggested and send them home.

Oh, I’m kind of upset that I probably won’t be able to do guitar lessons here. The schedule is Tues./Thurs., right in the middle of my translation seminar. I’m already missing that class at least 3 times. If not guitar lessons, then maybe rowing. Get off your ass and go! It’s just so far away…we shall see.

St. Peter's Basilica

Mandy seducing Nile

Il Coloseo

Dinner with Giuseppe and Angelo

Ponte Vecchio Locks of Love

Il Duomo

Bacchus pissing over the head of his trusty shelled steed (yes, there's actually a stream of water coming out of it)

My @#!&!$#

MY BROTHER IS FUCKING GETTING MARRIED NORTHWESTERN IS A RANKED TEAM AND WILMA JUST ATE PART OF MY PARENTS' HOUSE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IS THIS PLANET EARTH HOW CAN HE AFFORD A RING I CAN'T EVEN AFFORD A PAIR OF PANTS RIGHT NOW AND I'M NEVER GOING BACK TO FLORIDA THIS IS AWESOME/NOT AWESOME/BITTERSWEET CONGRATS JON AND DEVON FUCK YOU WILMA AND GO TEAM.

That is all.