Thursday, July 22, 2010

Being sick in Spain.

Apparently pink eye exists in Spain, y me ha pillado (it has played tag with me). I'll try to survive, but Barcelona trip plans for this weekend might be dead. We'll see about tomorrow.

Besos (well, maybe not kisses because that would get you too close to my sick pink eye) y abrazos.

Nick

Friday, July 16, 2010

I come from the land of red haired people!

Hola a todos! I hope everyone is having an awesome summer still because I'm having a great summer.

Last weekend was an absolute tiring blast. On Saturday the 10th, two friends and I headed to Pamplona to go run with the bulls. The bus ride was about 5-6 hours there with plenty of beautiful Northern Spain countryside to look at. Our first mission was to find some food after getting off the bus, and we eventually ate some 5 Euro bull sandwiches at some weird restaurant. I felt relieved that I was at least going to eat a bull in the case that I died (but luck and good route planning was on my side). We then went walking around Pamplona looking for interesting things in the 40 degree Celsius weather. Then we randomly sat on a bench and eavesdropped on a conversation between an Australian girl and 7 Frenchmen. We eventually relieved the Australian girl from the fiery love pit of Frenchmen, but not without being kissed on the cheek by a Frenchman (Hint - Don't take pictures of Frenchmen for Frenchmen. They will kiss you on the cheek whether you like it or not). After the Australian was in American hands, we continued walking around Pamplona eventually opting to not go to a bullfight because tickets were about 50 Euros a pop ($75). Our original sleeping plan (of David, Ellen, and I) was to sleep in the park as a group, but the Australian girl (Whom I shall now refer to as Chi, her name) invited us to sleep more securely on the floor in her hotel room. We obliged. Before heading to the hotel, I made sure to scrutinize her story to make sure she wasn't a rapist/Frenchwoman in disguise/murderer/Lover of pop rock. Her story was completely congruent and straight, so we slept on her floor.

At 12:12am, I get a call from America; it's my dad. I couldn't answer it because my cell phone would have exploded in 2 seconds from the costs. Apparently my dad didn't want me to get killed by a nice and friendly bull, but I didn't come to Pamplona to just watch. I came to run. So the next morning, I planned a nice, easy, and safe route where I made sure no bull was going to come, and I did it. I RAN WITH THE BULLS! For more details, must see me in person.

As for the night following the running, Spain was playing in the World Cup against Holland. I of course was a little torn. Should I root for the country I'm in or the country that my heritage is from? Either way, I couldn't lose! I went to watch the game in downtown Madrid at Plaza Cibeles, and then we wandered around watching the game at random bars. When Spain won, the whole city went nuts! Cecilia, David, and I stayed up all night in Madrid singing, walking around, dancing, watching 2 old people have sex in front of the Prado Museum (very tasteful place I must say...), asking prostitutes how much their services would cost (apparently 25 euros for ______), resting on random benches, getting window shows from high school girls, and almost getting caught up in a riot. It was a fun night I'll never forget. For more details, see me in person. Blogs can't express emotions too well.

Oh, and as for the title of this blog, apparently at 5am in Spain I look like an Irishman. The people kept coming around and asking me if I was from Irlanda, and I eventually just said 'yes' to get them to shut up. Oh, the joys of being a Anglo Saxon whiteman - no one knows what country you're from! haha

I've only got 19 more days here in Spain. Here's to the best of them!

Besos.

Nicolás Antonio Canfield

Thursday, July 1, 2010

2/3 done.

I thought it was about time for an update, so here it goes...

It's been 7 weeks and 5 days that I've been here in Spain. I've learned a lot of new Spanish, life skills, and a lot about myself. I've made some friends, hung out in the Madrid night life many times, and really enjoyed my time here.

The weeks are different now that Carlos and Danae are out of school. I wake up at 8:30, wrestle to get out of bed, eat a b-fast (toast with onion, salt, and olive oil. very delicious), teach Carlos at 9:35, teach Danae at 10:45, swim, eat lunch, take a 2 hour nap, swim some more, eat dinner, facebook, stumbleupon, and then sleep. On the weekends, I'm usually in Madrid from 9pm until 8am the next morning. I've been clubbing, bar hopping, touristing, dancing, meeting random people, buying beer from chinese men, and doing many other interesting things that only 3am can account for, haha. In all, Madrid night life is very fun, and I'm trying not to over- or under- do it.

Next big point of news: I have a Spanish cell phone! It's a prepay phone, and I can call people for $.14/minute. I bought the phone so I could meet up with people and stay in contact with new friends. I've had the phone for a week, and it's really been helpful.

Oh... so I know this isn't a big deal or anything, but I'm running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain on July 11th at 8am. I still need to buy a red handkerchief, a white shirt, and white pants. I'm going with a friend here named David, and we're pretty excited about going. Just bought the bus ticket last night, and it's a good 6-8 hour bus ride, and I'm sure I'll either be sleeping/preparing to run with the bulls or finishing up on my Spanish novel. It should be one awesome experience!

Holy freaking God it's getting hot here in Spain. My bedroom last night, when I went to bed, was 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Even after taking a cold shower, it was unbearable. It sucks that my house family doesn't do air conditioning, even though they live in a $2.7million house! During the day, I walk around the house with just my swimsuit on because it's literally too hot to wear anything else. But hey, it's all good. Can't wait to get back to the states for some air conditioning!

I'll be sure to post the pictures of the running of the bulls when and if I don't get trampled. Until then, I love all you guys and keep have an awesome summer.

Besos y abrazos,
Nicolás Antonio Canfield