Today, I tried to asphyxiate myself. Super Bueno!

Hola, todos!

So I left off on Monday afternoon, yes? Well, Stacy and I talked later - before my evening class - and decided that all of us from Mizzou should get together and have dinner, and attempt to plan our trip for this weekend. I offered to have them all over, and she said she'd tell Kate and Leslie, and I called Lindsay, so we had dinner plans! I then made the video I mentioned to send to chapter, and when I looked up from doing that, I was twenty minutes late to leave for class, so I decided it would be best not to go.

Instead, I did some stuff around the apartment, and then went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner. Menu: Lasagna!! So I got to the little store up the street, called Dia, but I hadn't shopped there before, so I sort of walked through it and tried to see if they had all the ingredients I needed before I loaded up my cart. I ended up having to ask where the lasagna noodles were (which they did have) and then attempting to explain and ask for ricotta cheese (which they did not understand, and did not have). Either way, I got the things I wanted, and went home. All the girls showed up and about twenty minutes later the lasagna was done, and everybody loved it! I was so excited - I think this is one of the best ones I've made, even sans ricotta. So afterwards we all sat there and had wine and cookies and attempted to plan a trip to Amsterdam, which sadly will not be happening this weekend because we couldnt' find any deals on flights so close to when we wanted to leave. After many many other discussions on where to go, we settled on taking an afternoon bus on Friday to Bilbao, staying the night in a hostel, seeing the Guggenheim on Saturday, and then taking an evening bus back - plenty of time for sightseeing, etc. So we have plans!

Let's see, Tuesday morning I got up a bit early and met with my international relations professor so that I could get copies of the maps he handed out last Friday, when I couldn't go because of my lit class - a conflict he knows about. So I went to his office and he was so funny! He showed me all of the trinkets he's got from the foreign countries he's been to, and there were plenty, and told me little stories about a bunch of 'em. I pointed out a Fred Flinstone figurine, and he said he's got that because his name is Pedro, which may be equivalent to Fred? Either way, he couldn't find his extra copies, so we wandered downstairs to the copy room - which, now I know where it is - and he had the lady make copies for me, and they were free! Oh and also, I wore a scarf and I FINALLY figured out how they tie there scarves here - kind of like a very complicated bandanna, but I did it! But right, so Tuesday started off much the same as Monday - good lit class, and then on my own for the hour between lit and international relations. On our way out the door Stacy and I ran into Santiago, and we talked for a bit, and then she went home and I headed to the library cafe.

I put my things down, ordered a cafe con leche, and once I got it, went back to my table - made it ALL the way without spilling, and then as I set it down (mind you it was full to the brim) the coffee spilled all into the saucer. Boo. And the napkins provided on the tables don't absorb anything, so I smooshed a bunch of them into the saucer and the coffee just spilled onto the table. About three more spills and twenty 'napkins' later, I just had my cup off the saucer and dried off, and sat doing my spanish word finds and drinking the remainder of the coffee. AND I found out that I was so cracked out on Monday, because they make cafe con leche with espresso, not with coffee. Whoops! Caffiene overload, much?

So after a bit, I wandered around towards the fcom building and went to international relations, which was fun and interesting, and then I walked to yet another grocery store on the way home to get stuff for lunch - fajitas were on the menu this time, with the intent of them lasting me all week (which it looks like they will!) I went to Eroski, and ran into two of the other international students, Tyler and James, and we all sort of attempted to find things with little luck and much wandering. I couldn't find face wash to save my life, and finally asked another lady who was shopping, and she said I'd have better luck at the farmacia, so I'll go eventually. However, can I please point out that it is a truly unique experience to be grocery shopping to the music 'Sexy, Can I', and other such American rap songs that you just...don't grocery shop to.

Right. So I went home and made the most awful fajitas ever, because I was super scatterbrained and in a hurry, and then I went to my Structures of Journalism class - for the first time - only to realize about ten minutes into it (a two hour class) that he was talking about how to properly put together a business proposal. I was sure I was in the totally wrong class, so while I - unenthusiastically - took notes about business proposals, I got really annoyed that I was missing the class I was supposed to be in. However, at the break, I turned and asked a girl behind me the name of the class, and she said it was in fact structures of journalism, but really more of the busniess side of things, at which point I gathered my things and left. No way - not only can I not pay any attention to that sort of thing (though I thoroughly respect people who can), but the teacher was this young guy who was 'friends' with everybody and who didn't speak clearly and the class was noisy the whole time - I couldn't follow most of it anyways. So, I called Kate and she told me when her historia de publicitad class was that night, and I elected to go to it. So I was home, got on the computer, looked up and had to run because I was going to be a bit late.

In reality, I would have been completely on time except I didn't know exactly where the classroom was, so I made the most awkward late entrance of my life. I went in the left door (there were two doors, kind of like a movie theatre) and nobody was on that side of the lecture hall, so I poked my head around the corner, and everybody was silent and watching me, and then I had to to back and shut the door because it didn't close properly, and it was SO loud because I was nervous, and then I kind of scampered to the closest empty seat and muttered 'lo siento' as I passed the professor. Awesome, yes?

So I followed along okay, but the professor has some very odd mannerisms that make it very hard to actually listen to what he's saying, but I think I did alright, and there are literally about ten of us international kids in that class, so I think between all of us we've got it. At the end I went and apologized for being late and explained why I wasn't in class last week - because of our stupid schedules - and then he told our whole group that there are class notes if we need any help and we can get them from the copy desk. So that's an option.

I spent last night in, and today I didn't have class until 1 p.m. so I slept in this morning, too. Went to international relations, it was interesting - we talked about global power systems - and then I came home and did a much better job at making fajitas. Minus that I filled the whole kitchen with smoke and tried to asphyxiate myself. : ) Today was lovely though - I walked home and it was the first day I didn't need a coat! But I think it'll only be that way in the afternoons for awhile, before it really warms up. So I had lunch, cleaned the kitchen like, twice, swept my floor, busied myself, showered etc., and then I went back to campus for class this evening - historia de publicidad again. It was alright - very hard to focus again today, but I'm sure I'll get better.

Tonight I had more leftover lasagna, and the girls are going out tonight, but I don't think I can really wrap my head around the idea of going out at 1 a.m. at all yet, much less on a Wednesday, so I think I'm gonna stay in and get enough sleep - I have class tomorrow at nine, and I missed it last Friday because I went out, so I think this is a good plan.

Mkay, off to do sudokus, and Spanish word finds! I'm going to try to get some pictures of campus soon - I'm just waiting for a time when I won't look super dorky - and I'll have pictures of Bilbao up after this weekend, for sure! Hope all is well at home!

Hasta luego!
Alex