Soy malagueño

Malaga has begun to feel like home.

First of all, I want to apologize for not updating my blog in a while. Despite the fact that my life is mostly free time, I feel like the days go so quickly. However, I do not really have an excuse, so I will man-up and try to be better in the future.

Wednesday (2 weeks ago) was our first day of class. Matteo and I got up at 7:45 since we had to be at the school at 9. Tere made us cafe con leche and gave us pan tostado with mantequilla and mermelada de fresa. In English, that is coffee and toast. I had purchased my bono-bus pass the night before, so Matteo and I walked half a block to the bus stop and waited for el Once (number 11). Here's a traveler's tip: Matteo couldn't buy his pass yet because he couldn't cash his travelor's checks. NOWHERE IN SPAIN TAKES TRAVELER'S CHECKS. Matteo FINALLY got them changed to money yesterday, and he has been trying for over two weeks.

When the bus came, we quickly missed it because we had no idea what we were doing. Eight minutes later the next bus came, and we got on. At this point we were a little worried about making it to school on time. Our nervousness made us get off 4 paradas (stops) too early so we had a bit of a hike before making it to school. However, Spanish school never starts on time so our lateness did not really matter. We took a placement test, and I made advanced, exactly what I needed. Since I was not taking language, I had three hours off, so Jen, Andrea and I headed back home to la Playa Malagueta to catch some rays.

Since then, we have fallen into a nice pattern of school and nightlife. Each day I have culture class from 9-11 and literature class from 1-3. During the two hour break in the middle, Andrea, Jen, Kendra and I hang out, sometimes buying fruit at the fruit stand at the corner, getting bocadillos across the street, going to the beach, checking our email, napping, reading books, or watching the Bachelorette, although that last part is mostly Andrea. I have a love/hate relationship with the bus--I love the idea of mass transit but practically it is annoying.

After class I head back to Tere's piso for comida (lunch). I usually get home around 3:20 but Matteo gets home at 2:20. I found out today that he usually eats lunch with Tere's 8-year-old nieto (grandson) during which they both watch Kim Possible in Spanish. This makes me more jealous than I think you can understand. By the time I get home, everyone else has eaten, and Matteo is enjoying one of his 2-5 hour siestas. The typical Spanish siesta is 20-30 minutes, but we Americans tend to abuse the system a tidge. Sometimes Tere's adult son or adult daughter come for lunch, and that takes longer, giving me some dining companions.

I usually spend my afternoons at the apartment or at the beach in front of our building. Sometimes I watch a tv show, take a siesta, or go grab some rays. A few days we have gone shopping--there are some great malls and shops that we can reach with a short bus ride. Supper is usually eaten around 9-10, and Tere prefers 9 since she goes to bed a little earlier. Tere goes out a lot at night to visit friends and family, so she frequently prepares our bocadillos beforehand and leaves them in the toaster oven for when we are hungry. We love her.

After dinner, we see what the night brings. There are seven of us from ISA Malaga that live on la Playa Malagueta, so people meet on the beach every night at 10:30 to hang out. Sometimes that means just chilling; other nights it means hitting the Centro and going to the Discotecas to dance the night away. A few days into our time at Malaga Matteo bought a guitar, and now he brings that down to sing and play. He and I are collaborating on a recording of Kanye's Heartless. Other nights we go out for tapas or helado. Ironically, our two meeting points tend to be the Burger King at Plaza de la Malagueta and McDonald's at Plaza de la Marina. We are so American.

One night Pedro, Sarah and I went to el Centro Comercial Larios to watch Prince of Persia: Arenas de Tiempo in Spanish. Thankfully you do not need to understand much of the dialogue in action films. I highly recommend it--I really enjoyed the film. It has one of the happiest endings of any adventure film I have seen in a long time.

So many crazy things have happened, and I have more stories than I could every tell or write. I have been catcalled by a transexual, interrogated by an old crazy man about where the Weapons of Mass Destruction are in Iraq, dined in the shadow of the Arabic castle and the unfinished Cathedral, danced with Jen to protect Rubia from a creepy Spaniard that would not leave her alone at the discoteca, had several old ladies think I was Spanish and call me guapo, attended church with six other people, gotten very lost in el Centro, pretended I did not understand Spanish, eaten so many pitufos de tortilla, gone swimming in the Mediterranean, made friends with two kebob guys, climbed Mount Gibralfaro, met people from Australia, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, the DR, Cuba, Colombia, England, France, and Canada, and so much much much more. I cannot wait to tell people everything in person.

We have taken a few trips since coming here, and I have enjoyed them all. Iker, a native Spaniard and one of our directors, gave us a tour of Malaga on our first day. Since then, he also gave us a tour of la Alcazaba, a Muslim fortress and castle, and took us to the Museo de Costumbres y Artes (Museum of Customs and Arts). We also took a day trip to the picturesque city of Ronda which is divided by a HUGE ravine and may have the prettiest vistas (views) I had seen since coming to Spain. Tomorrow we head to Sevilla for the weekend, and I am excited to see yet another magnificent city of Spain.

Life is beautiful. Skype me!


Click here for photos of MALAGA
Click here for photos of LA ALCAZABA
Click here for photos of RONDA

Baby, baby, baby, oh...

I am a Belieber.

For some reason, college students at Grove City College do not seem to love Justin Bieber very much--at least not publicly. The same girls that still love to rock out to *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys scrunch up their faces when you mention darling Canadian Justin. My dear friend Emily Smicker recently had a near emotional meltdown when she saw that the Biebs was recommended for her on iTunes. I do not understand the hating.

Justin Bieber is great. I suppose I should provide a brief biography for those of you who have yet to love Justin's music. He was born March 1, 1994 in Ontario, Canada. That makes the little pop star sixteen, not twelve like everyone seems to think. When Justin was twelve, his mother began uploading videos of him singing songs on YouTube for his relatives to see. Justin gained a large following on the website.

A year later, a marketing executive discovered Justin online and brought him to Atlanta to perform for the R&B artist Usher. Usher loved Justin's performance and signed him to Island Records in 2008. Since then, both of Justin's albums have gone platinum in the United States, and he has performed for President Obama, presented at the Grammys, and sung the opening line the new "We are the World" video for Haiti. He has even been the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.

No one who reads Justin Bieber's impressive list of accomplishments should doubt the legitimacy of his stardom. Justin literally causes riots where ever he goes--his fans are insanely devoted. He is popular all around the world (especially in Canada). Unlike Miley Cyrus, who I expect will follow the same death spiral as Britney and Lindsay, Justin will continue to become a bigger star and join the modern greats like Justin Timberlake in pop glory.

If you do not believe in the power of Justin Bieber, please watch this YouTube video. This three-year-old girl is in the depths of despair when she cannot spend time with Justin. When I was three, the only songs I knew were church hymns and the Barney song. Celebrities were silly people who lived far away and had no impact on my life. Jimmy Kimmel capitalized on Bieber fever and brought the adoring fan together with her idol for America to see. I think we can all agree that the little girl is out of control.

I am constantly amused by young Justin's interactions with other celebrities. His "One Time" video features Justin hosting a party at Usher's house while Usher is away. A squeaky clean rap by Ludacris is featured on the hit track "Baby," and Sean Kingston collaborates with Bieber on the song "Eenie Meenie." Justin flirts with Kim Kardashian on Twitter and hits on Chelsea Handler during his interviews. He even creates great humor chemistry with Tina Fey on SNL. Such a charmer.

For April Fool's Day, like many celebrities, Justin took to the internet to pull a prank. He created a series of hilarious videos and put them on the website, Funny or Die, renaming it Bieber or Die for the day. These videos include an explanation from Bieber saying that he bought the site to showcase his humor and several recreations of viral videos from the internet. Two of my favorites are "Dramatic Bieber" and "Bieber after the Dentist."

However, Justin Bieber's biggest challenge may be growing up. His voice is changing--he has even admitted in interviews that he cannot hit some of the high notes from "Baby" anymore. As he seeks to make a smooth transition to manhood and avoid the squeaks, Bieber needs to worry about loosing his iconic high tenor voice. His genre of music may also need to be adjusted as his main fan base grows up with him. Puberty is the biggest challenge standing in his way.

Regardless of Justin Bieber's dropping voice, I will continue to listen to my two CDs and enjoy everything he does. Like baby, baby, baby, oh.

Snuggle up

I sleep wrapped in a snuggie every night.

It took me a while to fall under this trend's power. My family and I used to make fun of the people in the commercial. They looked so ridiculous sitting around on plush couches in backwards monk robes, reading books and being pleasant with one another. The snuggie's ridiculous appearance kept us from seeing its true wonder.

I did not know I needed a snuggie until after I bought one. On Black Friday 2009, I forced my mom and sister to get up early and go shopping in the wee hours of the morning. When we got to Menard's, a store that I have hated as long as I can remember, I spotted an off-brand snuggie called a Cuddlee. As an avid bargain shopper, I could not pass up the six dollar price tag. After all, snuggies usually retail at about fifteen dollars.

That night, as I shared a pull-out couch with my little brother, I put my arms through the holes and wrapped the snuggie around my body. I instantly felt secure and safe. Even more importantly, when I went to grab my glass of water, my arms did not get cold. Up until that moment, I had never realized how annoying cold arms can be. A marketable invention either fills an existing need or makes people think that they have a need, and the snuggie does the latter beautifully.

Since then, I have slept wrapped in my snuggie almost every night. While I used to scoff, now I embrace, and the snuggie embraces me. The snuggie has become a pop culture phenomenon and has been mocked by many comedians. It even got a mention on a hilarious SNL skit parody of the Today Show with Hoda and Kathie Lee. I believe that all of those comedians secretly sleep with snuggies.

The snuggie was also one of the most popular Christmas gifts this past year. The Snuggie company has diversified its product by creating snuggies for children and dogs. While I own the classic navy blue, the snug also comes in burgundy, green, pink, and animal print.

There are even more uses for the snuggie than what the commercials show. If you turn it around backwards and add a belt, it is a shepherd's costume for a Christmas nativity scene. I recently had someone stand behind me and put their hand through to create the humorous illusion of hands out of my control. That same night, I also put it on backwards and had two people under that snuggie behind me, and we raced through the house screaming and pretending it was a Chinese dragon in a Chinese New Year Parade. We have fun.

If you still are wary about the snuggie, I'll let you try on mine. Just make sure you give it back.