After returning from an idyllic countryside drive with Benoit to Madrid, I caught a bus to Salamanca, an absolutely precious gem of a city. It has the population of McAllen, but the vibe is so much bigger. It is full of foreign students, which means bars and clubs, which means crazy nightlife, which means fuuuun! I really enjoyed this city, for its ( Read more... )

So here I am on the last stretch of my trip. I arrived in Portugal one week ago, and in three weeks I will be flying across the Atlantic to the motherland. How time flies when you're having fun...err...trying to survive!

My route in Spain: Madrid--> Segovia--> Salamanca--> Barcelona--> Cadaques--> Girona --> Tarragona --> Detour to southern France ( ( Read more... )

hi ma,

i am finally in marina's apartment in central madrid; its a run down dirty apartment with several students from peru, austria, france, and other countries; they are all very nice and i think its going to be a great time!

you would not believe the mess i went through getting here though. at houston, continental airlines had a weird problem ( Read more... )

I'm home.

we were supposed to leave yesterday, but in fact we are going today. we are leaving to go camping in the alps. i am so excited. we're taking mountain bikes, a tent, warm sleeping bags, ohhhhhhh sweet jesus i need to be out in nature again. this will be wonderful. so no internet access or cell phone access anymore, until i get home next saturday. i ( Read more... )

so since i last wrote, tons has happened. i visited a medieval village named tourettes sur loup and enjoyed it. i have gone on countless rides on the back of a piaggio scooter (its really fast!) up and down the coast. i have gone to virtually every hole-in-the-wall bistro and cafe and bar with the friends i have made here (a russian chick, two ( Read more... )

i have finally won over the royal nightmares. thank god in the highest heaven. it's made the summer actually quite enjoyable instead of my own beachfront hell.

my best friend, a.c., on my failed efforts to chat online from france:

HIM: what's wrong with your computer? every time there is an IM exchange you get kicked off. 
ME: whats wrong with my computer is that its a freakin french whore...i dunno man, it sucks 
HIM: well, you gotta be the bigger french whore and show that computer who's the real bitch.

i finished reading 'waiting for godot'. it was entirely different from anything i've ever read. i highly recommend it, especially for people who love drama (besides, it's less than 100 pages long...i read it in a day. so it's not a huge investment of time.). in this play, nothing happens....nothing. it's bizarre, stark, absurd, and totally poignant ( Read more... )

since my rant about life being miserable here, several good things have happened. for one, this past weekend i visited juan-les-pins, the playground for young europeans seeking sex, sun, and sand (in the words of frommer's). i got to use a private beach owned by the family of the father of the child i'm nanny to. so i was told to lounge under a ( Read more... )