Art by Gaudi, my favorite artist who got ran over by a trolley. 

It's official; I can't sue the school if I die in Spain. If that happens, all I ask is that I be buried next to Gaudi. He died by getting ran over by a trolley, which I think is the ultimate way to go. A lot of people who went to get their visas over Thanksgiving break had to wait for hours to turn in their paperwork. I'm very glad I went when I did. And I didn't get any of the department scholarships. I was saddened. But it's alright, my parents and I have saved up enough money to cover the costs. If we don't, there are always loans. My loan tally isn't really high thanks to bonds and former scholarship winnings, so it's not like an extra one would kill me. Getting another loan would in truth make me feel safer. I think my parents will cave in and get one once they see how expensive this is going to be. Anyway, I found out tonight that Liza and Amy are also leaving a day early and will be staying overnight in Madrid. I think they'll be in a hostel though. A hotel room came with my flight package, so I am definately staying there. But it'll be nice not to be alone.
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Oh man...my poor conversation partners and I have trouble coming up with topics to talk about. For awhile, we just sat around and reviewed the vosotros command forms. That's not a bad thing, but it's not really conversation either. The big bad vosotros is going to throw us all for a loop when we get over to Spain. We're not used to hearing it over here with American-Spanish. We simply use ustedes for you all. But I shouldn't complain much. At least Spain and Latin American countries all use the metric system, arrange their dates in the same way, and call soccor football, which makes more sense. I seriously have no idea why the U.S. thinks football is a sport where a bunch of huge guys pass a ball around with their hands. That's just like why I have no idea why American-Chinese and -Japanese restaurants give out fortune cookies. Why is the U.S. such a crazy-ass place? What made us all such fucknuts? I personally believe its roots lie within McDonald's cheese burgers, hippies, and televangelists.
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Suddenly last Thursday we finally got assigned language partners. A fellow traveler, Liz, and I got paired up with a nice guy from Peru. We have to converse with each other for five hours every week. That doesn't sound like much except that we had to plan our hours in bulk: two hours Tuesday, three hours Friday. It's hard to find something to talk about for three hours straight no matter what language you're speaking. Anyway, we met up on Friday at the coffeehouse. I was the only one who actually bought a drink. We talked about everything from alcohol to politics to how loud Americans can be without realizing it. We truly are a race of screaming wackos. But it was fun. I think Liz and I are going to get along really well while we're both studying in Spain. There are only two men going to Spain this time and they're brothers, which is kinda funny. I can't imagine traveling abroad with my brother. My parents would make me babysit him the whole time. They did that while we were both in marching band too, as if the little bastard can't take care of himself. But, yes. Reviewing the subjunctive a little bit. This is the hardest part for English speakers learning Spanish, this foreign subjunctive tense. I've been getting a feel for it over the years, but I still screw it up sometimes.
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Ever since the meeting, I've been freaking out a little bit over money, the spending kind. I do plan on traveling around, at least to Barcelona and the Canary Islands if nowhere else. I'm trying to coax my parents into agreeing to take out another loan because I know that they don't have $5,000 extra dollars lying around. I plan on taking nicer clothes so I won't be too tempted to buy everything in sight. I won't develop film there. I'm not going to travel outside of Spain's territories. When I go out, one coffee/beer. I want to try to be financially conservative like I am here. It's that I was told that people go out every day while they're there. Why does going out mean that you have to buy stuff? There has to be a loophole in that statement. Spain isn't exactly the cheapest place to live in the world.
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Today was the long-awaited second meeting. A girl who did the program last year came in to talk to us about her experience and what to expect, some differences in culture. The thing I feel I'll have the hardest time adjusting to is dressing up a notch for every day crap. In all honesty, I don't think we live long enough to bother wearing anything but comfortable, leisure clothing. My ultimate goal in life is to become rich enough that I can walk the streets in my pajamas and not be bothered. But, the thing that worries me the most is having enough spending money. I've always been pretty frugal, but I'll be expected to go out more. I don't know. Maybe I'm over reacting. I think where people lose a lot of money is shopping, so I'm going to bring dressier clothing from home so I won't feel so out of place that I'll want to buy them there. And for internships, I definately want to do stuff with the Red Cross. Apparently, we worry more about that in Spain, so I'm going to let that slip in the back of my mind for now. Everything seems to be falling into place well. I've been warned against the bird flu, however. Maybe I'll get a flu shot at my doctor's appointment.
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