"The Homeland, Aztlán," Gloria Anzaldua

1,950 mile-long open wound
          running down the length of my body,
          staking fence rods in my flesh,
                      splits me   splits me  
                      me raja   me raja

This is my home
this thin edge of
           barbwire.

But the skin of the earth is seamless.

(universitat pompeu fabra)

i start school for real tomorrow: español avanzado II, transatlantic perspectives in literature, arte y artistas, and hispanic and latino cultures in the u.s.

tarragona, catalunya

imperfecto, subjuntivo

sometimes i catch myself feeling like i have a long-distance boyfriend at home. but i do not. i do not have a boyfriend at home, i do not have someone waiting for me. i am free here.

next week i will get my shit together

W

ooph. today i feel lonely here.

they say "the study abroad experience" is supposed to be like a W, emotionally. of course my up down up down up feels more like a richter scale (oh haii, separation anxiety).

ode to mukluk

O dear, dear mukluks

you have been

so good

to me, and to my frosty toes

more places to go: ATHENS, CINQUE TERRE

and closer to spain; SEVILLA, BILBAO, LISBON

places i want to visit: DUBROVNIK, PRAGUE

euros, etc

things i will spend money on every month:

1. metro pass
2. dance class
3. cell phone
4. hot chocolate
5. jugs of crackers
6. going out
7. traveling
   

parc güell

 

 

 

 

today was lovely. very warm and very lovely. parc güell was filled with violin playing, steel drums, spanish songs, spanish dancing, palm trees, laughter and light. it felt like summer and it felt like spain and i was basically in heaven.

aguila roja

um, this show is SOGOOD. also, i cannot stop eating little spanish cookies and little spanish xocolates. also, if i could stop hemorrhaging money sometime in the very near future that might be kind of great.

la sagrada familia

  

well, thanks gaudi

so this morning at around 5am barcelona time, kelly and i were mugged walking home. thankfully nothing was really taken but we were both grabbed violently from behind and since i (stupidly) fought back a little, i was thrown pretty hard onto the ground and hurt my head.

this is a reminder to myself and to all of you to be safe be safe be safe. love.

*update

t is supposed to snow here on saturday, according to weather.com. SNOW.

i literally do not know how to handle myself in this weather. (or, apparently, in this situation. distance is making me even more neurotic and push-pull-y than ever).

joan miro, you know how i feeeeelz.

week #1: madrid y toledo

we arrived in madrid a couple days before dia de los reyes, so everything was still lit up and decorated for the christmas season. of course, i am a sucker for christmas lights and so i loved it, but it was very very cold and very very rainy and i missed/miss home very very much.

 

 

 

the highlight of madrid for me was when kelly and i went out for churros y chocolate. the day of reyes, we (ISA) went to toledo, which was seriously gorgeous (and had much more sun). we tried to make it to town to see the festival, but didn't make it in time. instead, we had bad tortillas, good sangria, lots of mazapan, and many pictures with don quixote statues.

 

 

i dont have pictures from barcelona yet, but hopefully i will soon. also, hopefully it will stop being freakishly cold and rainy here because i don't think i can handle another freezing downpour. i am such a boring, cranky old lady that i can barely handle eating dinner at 9:30pm (early for the spanish!). i miss you all. love!