Reconnect.

Oh my, it's been awhile since I've updated here. I suppose it was something I thought I would just let go of when I got back to the states - who keeps updating their study abroad blog once they're back from study abroad? Especially if they were awful about updating in a timely matter when it counted?

So I have this other blog. Yes. Another blog. I left you, blogger, and found a niche in the wordpress community. But this affair is strictly business (and not the business trip sort of business, the real, professional sort). The other blog I'm writing is for professional purposes as it only functions as a photo blog, with photos and the occasional photography-related musing.

To be honest, it's probably for the best. I think for the first time I can confidently say that people are regularly looking at the information I choose to share with them (thank you, wordpress blog statistics), but I can further con myself into believing that they're not just looking at the pictures, but also reading the brief and to-the-point text that goes along with them.

The only thing missing is that there is no room for day-to-day real life musings in that atmosphere. I don't want to punctuate my photo blog with 'This just in: my schedule for next semester is a real bust, and my roommates finally agreed to turn on the heat at my house!' because that would waste any future employers' time if I directed them to that site.

Thus, the reincarnation of Viva España. I've elected to keep the name. I think my time spent in Pamplona changed me in a very real and concrete way, and that the impact that has had on my life didn't end when I left Spain, so I think the blog title can continue to cheer on that wonderful country (until the day when I come up with something marvelously witty and elect to change it myself).

So. I guess stay tuned for more on the less professional musings of your one and only, Alex Browning.

Hasta luego!
Alex

Don´t Stop Me Now, I´m Havin´ Such A Good Time!

School :

So this week is the last week of official classes here at Unav, and exams are to follow. I have my first exam, Lenguaje Publicitario, on Friday, and then my literature exam the 15th and my Historia de Publicidad on the 29th, I think. Lots of time to study for the other two, and lots of quick catching up to do for this Friday. But ! We´re getting our last essay assignment in Relaciones Internacionales today, and if I pass this one I don´t have to take the exam for that class (which I´m banking on – I don´t even know when that exam is). So far, I´ve written both of the two previous assignments the day before they were due, and gotten a 9 out of 10 both times. Which is super exciting, and which means I just have to get a five on this next one if it really comes down to it. I´ll make an effort though, getting a 9 as my overall grade would be pretty epic. Not to mention I´ll need something to make me feel better about my grade in my lit class. Impending doom, that one.

But yeah, I´ve really enjoyed school here. My Relaciones Internacionales class has been awesome, and I´m finally learning in detail history of the past 100 years, that we had to skim over for the AP test in high school, because we ran out of time. We´ve been going over the Vietnam War, Israeli-Pakistani conflict, the Space Race, the Berlin wall, etc. and now we´re moving on to the unification of Europe up through 9/11, and the implications that has had on modern international affairs. Very, very interesting.

As for my other classes, I´ve done two projects – one for each of my advertising classes. The first was for Historia de Publicidad, with Kate, Stacy, Lindsay, and Garland where we analyzed and compared the history of Doritos brand and Coca-Cola brand in Spain and America. The second for Lenguaje Publicitario was with Kate and Stacy, where we analyzed in depth the ad campaigns for the new Kia Soul in America and Spain. The American ads are super fun – go look ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFHCfwF87_o

Now then, let´s go on with my last catch-up post before Semana Santa. Excited ? I am !

By By Disco : Ride On Me Party

This was the weekend that Jaime (Lindsay´s friend from home) and Dave (Kate´s high school friend) both came to visit. Jaime is studying in Madrid right now, and Dave in San Sebastian. For the sake of showing our guests a good time, we went out for pinxos (tapas) and then found ourselves at a surprise birthday party for Victoria, where lots and lots of cheap sangria was provided, and somehow Stacy got her hands on a bottle of wine – literally. Tape had been going around taping people´s cups to their hands, and so that wine bottle somehow got secured to Stacy, and she powered through it valiantly. And got wine spilled on her. And then I got to go into ´mom´ mode and rinse it out of her white shirt for a good 15 minutes. Whee !

After the birthday party, a celebratory Sangria chug on Victoria´s part, and gifts, we all wandered to By By disco for the ´Ride on Me´ party, with a cowboy theme. En route, Gabriel and Jonathan made their first efforts at lecturing me that, when in Europe, soccer is not soccer, but football, and if you are in Europe, you will say football. It was really funny, and probably my favorite part of the evening. When we got to By By, everybody disappeared – Stacy walked herself home and nobody knew where she was until I called her, Leslie wandered off into the VIP section, Linsday and Jaime where wandering about together, and Kate was occupied with her ´mantourage´ (Santos AND Dave). So after searching for everybody for a bit, we collected ourselves and decided to go. It was a good night, all in all.

Me with the visitors, Dave and Jaime.

Next day, we had a touristy moment and went to Cafe Iruña, the famous restaurant here in Pamplona, where Hemingway ate and wrote. The food was okay – normal, but apparently I showed up too late to see the real attraction – a man getting carried out of the restaurant after wandering up and down the aisles and snatching tips of the tables. After that, Lindsay, Stacie Henry, Jaime and I strolled about old town, went into an awesome sword shop, and went home after a bit. It was a good weekend, and I think our visitors had a nice time.

St. Patrick´s Day :

Oh, man. So, just so you know, in Spain there are almost as many Irish pubs as there are Pinxos bars. And yet ! Spaniards do not celebrate St. Patricks Day. Shame, shame, shame. Lucky for us, the Irish pubs do.

So, St. Patrick´s day we make plans to go to the Jumping Jester, the Irish pub on Iturrama, in a big group of Americans : Me, Kate, Stacy, Leslie, Lindsay, Jane, Garland, Rachel, Gabe, and then our europeans : Swetlana, Pedro, Andrew, Santiago, and Borja. It ended up being QUITE a success – green beer, free hats and t-shirts if you could drink two Guiness´, free shots of Jameson and Hypnotique, and lots of pictures. And who doesn´t love an occasion to wear green eye make-up ? Of course, the next day we would leave for Valencia and Madrid (of which I have already told you stories), so we made it a relatively early night…some of us. Anywho, fun was had, and the next day we were off on an adventure !

Lindsay, Swetlana, Me, Kate, Rachel, Jane and Garland at the Jumping Jester.

I´m pretty sure, now that I think about it, half of these updates have been ridiculously out of order, for which I apologize. I may go back at some point and give you guys a nice little timeline to clear things up, but I´m of the opinion that the stories are worth enough without knowing exactly in what order they happened.

Next up, Semana Santa ! I´ll put up pictures for this post when I get home today, and then we begin the epic Euro travels. Keep reading !

Hasta luego!
Alex