Bloggitude

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So I´m moving! We kicked and screamed for a bit and got a new place to stay with another friend of ours. From what he tells us he gets all kinds of amenities, included fresh squeezed OJ in the morning, daily laundry service, and a big screen tv and dvd player with a host of movies. :-) Sounds very nice, and I´m excited to go... however....We have to confront our current host mother today, in what I´m sure will prove to be a less than extraordinary experience. Today will surely be filled with much adventure and no doubt high tension scenarios will abound.

This weekend I am going to Toledo for a day. Its said that Toledo is a national monument in and of itself. Apparently new construction is not allowed there, so all the buildings etc are really old and full of history. It should be fun, but I´m told the stratosphere in those parts is roughly equivilant to ´hades´in terms of temporal reading. The tickets are only 10 euros round trip though, so I´ll be sure to have plenty of money left for water and other life sustaining substances.

Classes are going quite well, considering this is my first forray into the dialect in nearly 12 years. I can safely say that I´m not dead last among my peers, though I´m surely far from first as well. To elaborate, I can now not only ask where bathroom is, but I can also direct one to said room. It is also in my power to form semi-coherent phrases, or sentences if you will, by combining various pieces of vocabulary in sequential order. The mind reels.

Money, it seems, is becoming a rarer species in my wallet and bank account daily. Ordinary expenses add up quickly through the course of a day, things that one would no doubt have access to at far better rates in one´s home. For example, beverages, which are quite neccesary in such a dry environment as this, when purchased several times a day can add up to 5 or 6 or more euros. Lunch, I´ve found, can be procured for a fair sum at a place we humans call Subway, for around 4 euros. Add to that a cerveca or two at the end of a day and you´ve quickly spent 20 or so euros on average. Thats 140 euros a week for you math majors. Now factor in some extranious expences, such as going to clubs, museums, riding the metro, drinking alchohol, or buying snacks or sundreys. It seems 200 euros, roughly 250 US, will be the weekly average. Hopefully by moving to a residence with more abundant food supplies I can curb that number a bit, but that remains to be seen. But as the Large Man (RIP) says, ¨Mo money, mo problems.¨ ....I should be problem free upon my return.

Today, however, will not be a day for conserving cash, since the move has required me to purchase a few things. One is a metro pass, since my new hovel will require 2 or more trips a day on the subway. Thats a quick 30 euros. I will also finally be caving into the convience of a mobil phone, provided I can find the one that people seem to be raving about. Its 60 euros to purchase, and then you can charge it with talk time via its internal SIM card, at a cost entirely up to you. It works basically like an automatic phone card when you dial. I am also told incoming calls are free, so I will certainly send the number to all of you if and when I do buy one. Upon leaving I can sell the phone to whoever here at school and recoup most of my money. It sounds too good to be true so I´ll let you know more once I find out first hand.

Thanks for reading, oh and FENTON, CHRISTINA, DREW and GARY, I appreciate the responces. :-)

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Comments

[gary]

nothing
hey i hope you learn a lot because when you get back you can talk to felipe and no one will be able to understand.......but no one understands him now so i guess thats pretty much a wash. anyway i hope you are taking lots of pictures. but dont make them into slides, i will kill you. i have never been subject to a slide show and i dont intend to start anytime soon. drink a beer for me as i will certainly drink one for you. take care.

[scott"jabberjaw"clancy]

What'd i miss ? who's the bad guy ? is tom cruise in this picture ?
Wow,I just read through everything. you know me,im only on the computer when music is to be downloaded and wait...wait,there it is...ABBA's new record.Oh so many bands so little thiefing time.I must say,your spanish might be getting better,but,you my friend are writting at a 12th grade level.It's like poetry.You see john this is why I'll never be able to go to a distant location,for I have not even learned my own language(god,did i spell that right?). Man,I've got to hand it to you brother,You are a much stronger person then...shit, anyone i know.The fact that you can go over there and survive and not let anything get you down,Holding your head high is amazing.If it was me,christ,I freak out in my own room, could you imagine? Well,so far,your tale seems to be an adventerous one.And i ,for one, can't wait for the sequel. So write soon Traveling Mack,and for the sake of pete , keep safe.Love ya . -me- p.s.i liked fentons "i've been working 40 hour weeks" statement. He's funny .