oh, the little things in life

today i had the best breakfast at my casa: a slice of bread with one half peanut butter (my lastest, and best purchase) other half nutella, cafe con leche y azucar, and five little maria cookies.

what a great way to start the day. 

upbeat abroad/confessional time

My London group gathered yesterday at Dr. Phillips' house. There are a few new additions to the TOP posse (Kasey Sneed and Kimmy Court - the latter, unfortunately, is best friends with Nikki Bouchard). We talked about our two-week spring break, which got me so excited about traveling and meeting interesting people (whom I will be able to film, haha, because the residents of Worrell House, Spring 2010, are serving as testers for a Wake pilot program so we all get Flip digital video cameras). Also, there's a 1.5 hour pass/fail course that I am really looking forward to - you are supposed to join some sort of cultural/social group to immerse yourself in London living (and then write a brief paper about your experiences, of course).
So...confession-time: I have been hanging out with Ross. Please don't kill me, Haven and Devon - he really has changed a lot. A few times he has broached the topic of getting back together and I said I wouldn't even consider it until he took some proactive steps vis a vis his future. Things there are complicated, but I want to give him a second chance (even though he doesn't deserve one, which I have made clear). Yeah. But I wanted to tell you that so you don't hear it from anyone else.
That's all the news that's fit to print, or not, from my life.

Sometimes abroad is...

...like freshmen year: you have to make new friends which is hard sometimes and frustrating. Sometimes (more like all the time) I want y'all to be here with me so I can act stupid and you would understand.

...full of really annoying people: some of the people on my trip are so obnoxious and I want to slap them in the face.

...more than "raging": i wish some people would understand that I'm not here to not remember my abroad experience.

...really smoky: I am going to have lung cancer before I leave.

...really frustrating: when you run out of minutes on your phone and can't call anyone to see what they're doing. So you just have to wait for them to call you...and sometimes they dont...efffff.

...going by so fast: i've already been here for 20 days.

...soooo funnnnnnnnnnnnnn though! 

MISS YALL. 

abroad anxiety

Right now I am sort of freaking out about going abroad. This just added to it (from a blog I read):
Anyone who's spent much time in the British isles knows about the ingrained prejudice against hard-g "gingers," much of which surely dates from age-old racially-motivated distrust of Irish and Scottish immigrants, amongst whom red hair is more common. I remember when I lived there how utterly bizarre I found remarks like, "Lily Cole'd be pretty - if she wasn't ginger," or "I stood over his crib for hours just praying his hair wouldn't go ginger." What the hell? In 2007, the BBC addressed the issue with the headline, "Is Gingerism As Bad As Racism?"
Like, really? I will be a hated minority? Bo dropped out of the London program, citing the "opportiunity cost" of going abroad. For the past few weeks, I have been feeling the same way - that what I will miss out on will not be made up for by my experience in London. If I didn't think Dr. Phillips would hate me, I would also drop out, I think.

post before soc(iology)

Do people also call snacks "mixtos" in Spain, Haven? That's what they were in South America for the most part.
More later, haha.

Hello, My Name Is Haiber

So since I've been in Salamanca I have learned that my name is not Spanish friendly. 

I knew it was going to take a while for my madre to remember my name when she could hardly say it no matter how many times I repeated it. In fact the first morning I was here, I could hear my madre and little sister, Laura, snickering in the hall and asking each other if they could remember my name. haha too funny. Finally they just came and knocked on my door to tell me to help myself to breakfast. 

Since then I have been called Ivan, Ivory, and Ivy. I was Ivy for about 4 days which I really liked hahah.

But since yesterday things have rapidly progressed. I woke up Saturday afternoon (late since we were out until 5am) to a note saying that we would be having lunch at 3:15. And you may be asking yourself...who was this note addressed to?? None other than HAIBER. Yes, spelled that way and everything. 

Things have started to get a little hectic, but it is still the nice grace period when nothing big is due. On Thursday we had our first Arch Society meeting where we talked about issues confronting indigenous people in South America.
Last night I went on a date with Bo (obviously he didn't ask me if I wanted to go on a date, but he asked me for dinner and then paid, so I guess it was a date) to the Old Salem Tavern. Dinner was great, and we talked for like two hours. Then we went back to Polo and hung out with a few friends (including Sam Sims, Devon - he now has a girlfriend); Bo proceeded to get really drunk. After the rest of the people left (they were going barhopping downtown), he wanted me to stay, but I wasn't drinking and wasn't interested in being put in an awkward situation.
Upon returning to Poteat, I decided to go out to SAE's "Lax Bros and Jersey Hoes" party with Marge and her friend Elise. It was a lot of fun. One thing I wonder: is Billy dating a girl he met on the Vietnam trip? Remember when we saw him making out with a girl right before you left, Haven? We though she was a freshman. So last night Billy introduces me and Margaret to the same girl, and of course I ask, "Are you a freshman?" Turns out she is a senior, and not a very nice senior at that. But instead of hanging out with us, Billy was by her side the whole night.
So who knows what is happening there.
Miss you both so much, but it sounds like time is flying by for you and you're having tons of fun. Can't wait to hear more!

i love sangria.

Last night (as devon knows) I left around 5ish to go have tapas and sangria in La Plaza Mayor. Basically the point of this post is that I love sangria. A few of us went to this tapas bar, Bambu, for, well, tapas! It's great-- you go into this little mini bar/restaurante and get sangria with a complimentary tapas. So, last night I tried this piece of bread with cream cheese/crab/lobster spread...and it was topped with approximately seven chocolate sprinkles? ha

Later we met back up with our group and had dinner with everyone and our two professors. We sat down with all this little plates of various meats-- salchichones (sausages), chorrizo (some other form of pork), and jamon (ham) aka lots and lots of pork products. And for the next two hours, the waiters brought out plate after plate after plate of food-- more meats, breads, salads, giant shrimp, etc. Sadly Madeline I'm not sure that you would have enjoyed this menu. (Shannon has been eating loooooots of ensaladas). 

After dinner we headed back down to the plaza for, no surprise here, more sangria! We bought a few pitchers and sat around the plaza listening to bands/singers, watching the kids run around, and just getting to know each other. 

Theeeeeeen we had heard of this bar (Irish Rover) which had been recommended to us by fellow Wake kids who had been here before. So naturally, we checked it out. It was like a little Winston-Salem-- beer bong, tons of american college kids, karaoke. OH OH OH. So there is a guy here that is like the Dean Shore of Salamanca. He takes pictures of all the college kids, friends you on facebook, and tags you. Baha. Just like home. 

Today we're getting a walking tour of Salamanca-- apparently I should wear my tennis shoes because the guides practically run you all around the city?? Great. 

Di dove sei (where are you from)?
Come stai (how are you)?
Penna (pen)

These are some of the first words I learned in my Italian class yesterday. I just got out of Florentine Villas and EVERY class I have (except for my final) is a site trip. I can't wait to get into the countryside.

Yesterday was Louisa's birthday and we invited some people from Wake, a girl from NYU and a girl from Duke to come out with us to dinner. After dinner we got gelato (I had chocolate-orange and yogurt-nutella) and we walked along the Arno to this little local beach bar on the river. We sat on the dam and listened to a woman strum her guitar while singing Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" in Italian. It was really good to be with Wake people and it ended up being a great night- very chill.

I'm currently trying to figure out inexpensive options for traveling to Positano this weekend. It looks like I'm going to have to take a train to Naples, another train to Sorrento and then a bus to Positano... What could go wrong? Hahaha.

Missing you....

-Me.

gotta love freshmen

So, last Sunday I made out with this freshman kid named Zach at a party. Unfortunately, Haven had to witness this debauched debacle. Of course, I thought my brief association with this kid would be over for good. But last night Amanda came over for a bit and managed to find this kid on Facebook without even knowing his last name (her stalking skills are ridiculous). This morning I get a text from her saying that after leaving my room, she proceeded to go to a party, where she met this exact kid (and said that he was a very nice guy, haha).
Anyways, this morning Bo and I made chocolate crinkles from scratch. They were heavenly. And hanging out with him is a lot of fun, despite the fact that he is super ADD and changes topics of conversation every minute or so.
Facebook informed me that it is Louisa's birthday, so I hope you have fun celebrating, Devon! Oh, and do you like the rest of the kids on your program?
And Haven!! You do not have a widow!

hola de espana!

hola hola hola!

After a two hour delay on the runway in Atlanta, we finally got to take off towards Philadelphia. One problem, I was still in the air at 6:30 which was when my plane to Madrid was supposedly leaving, and I had not heard if it had been delayed due to weather yet. So we took off and I crossed my fingers that my plane would still be there waiting for me when I arrived over an hour late....

Good news! It was there and had been delayed until 8! So I basically walked off my plane and ran to my next flight to walk directly on. It was sooo exhausting. 

I got onto the plane and walked about half a mile down the aisle until I got to row 37 (the second to last row of the plane), and who was awaiting my arrival there?? Well, it was actually a 6'10" pro basketball player that was on his way to play for some island team in Spain. Needless to say we made a good pair because he took up 75% of our shared space and I only need 25%. I literally sat down and said, "Thank god I'm not a 300lb fat man. I'm Haven by the way," and we were instantly friends. 

There were 3 others on my program on the plane including ShAnnon. We were the first to Madrid and waited 3 hours for everyone else to arrive, and then we got on our bus for a 2.5 hour trip to Salamanca. 

And now I'm here! My family consists of my madre y dos hermanas. One is 19 and the other 9. My room is approximately the size of a closet and is complete with bunk beds-- my fave. 

I'm sitting in a park now stealing this internet and waiting for Shannon to arriveeeeeee. 

I miss yall so so so so so much. I'm honestly a little freaked out still, but I'm good.

birthday prep

As you all know, today is Bdubb's birthday. Everyone in the suite decided that we would make dinner for her tomorrow, and so we went on a 3-hour shopping excursion to Target, Wal-Mart, and Whole Foods. Becca plans to make pasta al pomodoro (probably incredibly incorrect Italian, but you will have to forgive me, Devon). Haven, Liz had moon pies in the back of her car (although I think they were not normal because they had peanut butter in them), and I ate one and it was delicious.
Last night was fun - Billy came over, drew on our mirror (a self-portrait, a Buddha, etc.) and then wrote stuff on our dry-erase calendar, such as designating certain days "special days" and reminding us that his birthday was something to look forward to in October. There were lounge parties happening at most frats, but by the time we (me, Marge, Liz) got to SAE, they had moved to their house. It was sort of sparsely populated, so I left. Luckily, too, because like 10 minutes later the cops came and surrounded the house for like an hour so no one could talk. Weirdly enough, while there I met a freshman girl from Lancaster who lives like a minute away from me and who is friends with my brother.
That is all the news here, sadly enough.
Miss you both!

Ciao!

Greetings from Firenze!

It's sooo beautiful here. Last night, Louisa and I joined a couple of girls in our building out to dinner. When we were walking there, a seater at a restaurant said, "Wait- you dropped something!" I turned back to look and he said, "My heart." Baahaaa. Yeah. It was epic. Louisa and I shared a pizza with a fresh spicy pomodoro sauce, mozzarella, proscuitto, and pesto. I died just a little bit and saw a glimpse of heaven.

The food isn't the only thing that's delicious here though- the language is scrumptious too. Every time I see a new word I want to say it out loud.

Today, Louisa and I slept through Day 2 of Orientation- but we made the most of it and visited the Mercado Centrale (the fresh market where the locals shop). We got supplies for dinner tonight- we're going to make Chicken Francese.

Wish us luck!

Love you so much.

packing, what a nightmare.

Here I sit in my room. Packing my life away. Clothes (summer, fall, and snowy winter), journals, spanish-english dictionary, comb, toothpaste, etc. It's really great trying to figure out how I'm going to choose what to bring. Oh, decisions. Wish I was good at making them. 

Started my second to last day at home exactly how I start every other summer day: hot tea and a magazine under the umbrella by the pool. The ultimate bliss (unless it's 106 degrees with 80% humidity). But, since then I've pretty much been a prisoner tomy room. My floor is slowly starting to disappear as I make and remake stacks of stuff to pack. 

Highlight of my day: "William Kennedy Oelsner is video calling you." Billy: Hey. Wow, is that your room?! Haven: Yes, it is! It's green! (Noticing lamp in background) Did you decorate your room?? (Computer camera flips around to show that Billy is in fact in the Green room skyping with me). Only Billy. 

Told Mads this already, but my mom literally follows me around like a cat, exactly two steps behind me. Speaking of kittys, mine has sneak-attacked me twice today. Needless to say, life is great.

Love the blog. 

first day of schooooool

Let me preface this by saying that my entries will not be exciting. With that in mind, I will now begin the recounting of day 1, fall semester 2009. (Oh, Devon, the next time we Skype I need to tell you a story about me and partial public nudity - it's actually semi-scandalous).
Today was quite pleasant. Had a very long lunch with Margaret and one of her friends, Andy, who went to McCallie and who is my friend Paul's roommate. Afterwards, we went to their room, which is in Luter. Hopefully Andy can make Paul a bit more social - he is so sweet, but incredibly shy.
Class-wise, today was so-so. Physics is physics, and this time my professor does not have an awesome accent. And my sociology professor is incredibly earnest, so I don't know if the class will be as interesting and provocative as I had hoped.
Amanda stopped by the suite today and said she thinks her classes will work out, so that's great.
Of course, I miss you guys so much and wish you were here with me. But I also look forward to hearing about your experiences in your fabulous locations.
P.S. Haven, Billy is now taking human physiology, too!