Compostelando se llama un concurso de fotografía que han hecho aquí para los estudiantes de cursos de verano. Quieren una foto que resuma lo que significa para nosotros ¨Compostelando¨. Yo voy a ver si someto una aunque no sé ni donde la pueda imprimir. Por lo demás todo va bien. El "Virus Mortalis" que me atacó la semana pasada, hoy, cinco días después parece haber cesado y espero que no vuelva. Con todo y eso la gente se sigue enfermando y estoy con mi botellita de "hand sanitizer" por todas partes, pelando las frutas para tocar lo menos posibles las casacaras [View Full Entry]

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by anna (and david) July 7th-24th After the excitement of the first two weeks back in Madrid, things have calmed down somewhat, nevertheless, we've kept ourselves busy. I have been back at 'school' for five weeks now, David has been enjoying life "as free as a bird", and we've both been loving life in Madrid - la vida espana. The week before last, David spent a couple of days in London for work (the most stressful part was having to get a hair cut for the first time since leaving - note the new clean cut look), during which I went [View Full Entry]

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Whew! We have arrived! I love the many faces we've seen and the languages we've heard around us... Highlights for Barcelona are the food! The ornate wrought-iron balconies on old stone buildings, the Cathedral, the food and wine!, the Church of the Holy Family, the art: Dali...strange man...but interesting art and Picasso...normal, interesting man but strange art! Our ship is very nice, well-kept, but the Mediterranean is choppy...I feel like I have a buzz all day. We enjoyed champagne upon arrival and Martini-tasting last evening, a little of the show and the disco to top off the night [View Full Entry]

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I decided to write about my adventures in Spain, especially for you, Dad. So, this is how our flight went: SA-NY: 6 hours (1 stop in Dallas) NY-Madrid: 6.5 hours Approx travel time, including when we arrived to SA airport, to when we arrived at Madrid hotel: Monday, July 21 8:30am-Tuesday, July 22 10:30 am (You can do the math :) Spain-July 21-22: What a long trip! I probably slept about 2 hours total during the 14-16 hour trip (including changing planes, getting baggage, etc.) Mom and I barely made it during the flight transfer from NY to Spain. Luckily we [View Full Entry]

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I only have one week left here, how sad. Luckily the setup is a little weird, I had two finals today and I have the other two tomorrow. Even though We still have class Monday-Wednesday, the stresseçful part will be over. We have Friday off this week for a celebration for Santiago (Saint James, the patron saint of Spain). Most people are travelling for the long weekend, but I am going to stay here. I looked around for buses and hostels, and it would cost me at least 200 euros to go anywhere. I figure I have travelled enough around Spain. [View Full Entry]

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I started writing this from my dear friend Marcie's lovely flat in Paris. She and I studied voice together at UT and now she's finishing her Phd at UCLA, writing her dissertation on 17th/18th century french comic opera. I finished writing this at the world of its own Gaylord Opryland in Nashville. So, from hearing opera in Barcelona to country at the Grand Ole Opry. . .from visiting the gravesites of Chopin and Moliere in Paris to Elvis at Graceland. . .I've seen quite a lot and truly savored every moment. BARCELONA: My mom and I met in Barcelona and had [View Full Entry]

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Three weeks from today I'll be on a plane home to the US :-( Although I miss home, thinking about leaving Spain makes me incredibly sad. I wish I had at least another two months! I feel like I am really just getting the hang of things, really getting comfortable here and now I have to leave. One of the main reasons I would love to stay longer is to practice my Español más. It certainly has gotten better but there is still a lot of room for improvement. More than anything, I would love to just live here (or anywhere [View Full Entry]

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1. DECISIONS- made in Spain April 2008 Why should a “Gap Year” be the prerogative of the young? The idea of a Gap Year is to have a break between the world of study and the world of work; in other words, between university and career. Well I never got the chance to do that. Therefore, a gap between the world of work and retirement seems thoroughly appropriate. With this in mind I’m starting to plan a trip around the world to gentle myself in to the strange concept of not having to get up on Monday mornings to start the [View Full Entry]

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I spent the weekend in Barcelona. I still love the fact that I can just go overseas so easily at relatively last minute (only booked tickets a few weeks ago), relatively low cost and only for a few days. It is just something that you can't do from Australia!! Anyway I left work early on Friday and went straight to Gatwick. The EasyJet flight was running on time and I arrived into Barcelona airport at around 10pm. Managed to get the Aerobus and then the Metro to my hostel very easily. I was quite surprised as even though I have been [View Full Entry]

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Reporting back after delay, we have finally found internet in this society with dwindling technology. A few days after Leon on day twenty somewhere in the Spanish outback we had the hardest day yet. The troops were woken at 0600 hours by Corporal Comyn aiming to leave base camp at 0630 hours. However a short delay was incurred after the albergues owner offered us some of his personal rations of coffee ( triple espresso) and buns, Spanish style. We eventually left base camp at 0700 hours whiler the whether was still forgiving. With a new found vigour and spring in our [View Full Entry]

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