right now, it is day 2 in granada at the hostel and it is currently 7:40pm on the 30th of april. day 1 was settling in, mostly. i met rosemarie, a korean girl from LA/the OC who graduated from ucla last year. she's been traveling through europe on her own for a week now with three more weeks to go. we discovered that we had both just gotten hooked on korean soap operas because of stairway to heaven, whereas before, we had much disdain for said soaps. haha...small world. there's another girl from the states, from virginia actually, and she's been traveling through spain for quite a while now too. surprisingly enough, i've found a bunch of solo travelers. and people who randomly will decide, "hey, let's travel together." i guess there's like this unspoken hostel code or something, because people here are great. and i've met so many aussies traveling through europe. some are at the beginning of their year-long travels, and some about to end their 3.5 years of travel. it's been cool to discover new things about the different places that people are from. and a lot of them, who've already traveled through most of europe, have told me that they really love granada, that there's something about it that is just different. yay, i'm in a cool city.

anyway, day 1: i found my school, which is right down the street, like 2 minutes away, and figured out all the paperwork stuff and got listings for housing options. hung out in the common room and met some more people and then walked around the city for a little bit. in the evening, the hostel organized a "tapas tour" and that was nifty. i had tinto de verano - something fruity, red, and i think really, really light on alcohol taste, and mosto, which is pretty much white grape juice, and coke. and of course, there was tapas snacking along the way. we were out until 1:30am, which i guess is early by spain standards, but a little late by mine, since i'd been traveling for way too many hours. and then is was a hot shower and precious sleep in a comfy bed.

today, i slept in, had breakfast here, and found a homestay. it's more expensive, but the host mom is way nice. and all meals are included, which i guess balances the higher cost of a homestay rather than renting a flat. and in a flat, i'd be sharing living space with a local student who wouldn't even be around to practice speaking spanish with. in the afternoon, rosemarie and i tried our luck at getting tickets for the alhambra (usually you have to buy tickets the day before), which worked out. we walked up the fatty hill to the top and toured the insides with our audio guides and snapping photos. it was beautiful and from different points, i could see most of the city. we were so tired after 3.5 hours and starving. we found a little cafe with sandwiches. sadly, sandwiches here mean two pieces of bread, a slice of cheese, and like meat paste. but hey, lesson learned, right?

did i mention that the restaurant dude from yesterday that helped me find my way stands on this corner in the plaza nueva like all day/everyday, or something? the first time i saw him on the corner, he was like, "you were looking for the hostel? did you find it?" and as i've seen him multiple times now, it has now become polite to give a head nod/acknowledgement.

my favorite things so far: being able to walk everywhere, the people - who are so warm and friendly, the city itself - because it's not at all a big city, but like a big town. there aren't any skyscrapers, that i can see. it's great. now i need a nap. tomorrow i move in to my homestay house. i get my own room and it's cute...kinda ikea-esque in the bed linens. :)

hola from spain. after many hours of travel, three plane changes, a bus ride, and a little walking (and getting a bit lost along the way), i'm in the lobby of my hostel waiting to check in. i was trying to follow the walking directions from the bus stop and it was going well, except that somewhere along the way, i forgot to take a turn or something. and when you're lost, you start asking people on the street. of course, i thought, hey, i can do this bit in spanish. wouldn't you know, the first person i ask turns out to be british and speak only english, and was like, "i don't understand a thing you're saying love" and promptly kept on going. thanks lady. i eventually tried a restaurant and the guy outside runs inside and drags another guy outside to point me in the right direction.

restaurant dude: ¿hablas español?
lost me: un poco.
first restaurant dude: she speaks english
restaurant dude: oh ok... (and proceeds to give me directions)

his directions lead me to this set of "stairs" which was really just a cobblestone hill. i dragged my luggage up and was still confused. good thing another dude pointed me to my left. i saw it and almost wept with joy. ok, there was no weeping, but there was a "praise the Lord!"

and now i'm waiting to check-in. i love that they have free internet access 24 hours a day. yay! i'm so tired. i think it's actually siesta hour now, but i need to drag myself to the school and finish my admin stuff there and find more permanent housing for the time that i'm here. ok, more later.

there are moments when there can be a sort of awkwardness that hangs in the air. i always want to blurt out, "wow...this is kind of awkward, huh?" but obviously, that would make it worse. so instead, i think it in my head and smile to myself - like my own private joke.

- - -

i had an activity-filled weekend. on saturday, i slept too much and had a headache. i tried to fix it by lying down some more and curling into a ball. needless to say, that didn't help. later, shiv and i went to dinner at hosoonyi's to celebrate a birthday. while we were there, i saw four friendly faces. i guess everybody loves korean food. later, we played games. well actually, we only played one game - trivial pursuit. it took forever and it was exhausting.

on sunday, i had church and then parker, melissa, and i went to world wrapps for lunch. we walked over to greenlake and sat down. we took a few bites and then promptly returned to the car because it was stinkin' cold [the wind made it chilly]. so instead, we ate in the car, and then drove around the lake, blasting the beach boys and singing along. it was fantastic. in the evening, i threw myself a potluck party - like a bon voyage/i'm leaving for spain party. it was great because friends who hadn't seen each other in quite a long time were able to catch up and some people even made new friends. gotta love it when different circles of friends collide.

i worked on monday, had the day off on tuesday and saw kill bill: volume 2 and started on my "to do" list for spain. then people came over and i made them watch the rundown. haha :) i'm all about movies with the rock. [i even saw his E! entertainment special on saturday when i was channel surfing.]

- - -

the other day, a friend asked me if i was excited to go to spain. i'm definitely excited, but i told him that i was starting to get nervous too. i'm good with travel within the US because it is familiar in the sense of language, culture, customs, etc. you know? i'm not the greatest with travel internationally because i'm always lost. not lost in the geographic sense, but lost in the i have no idea what i'm doing or what i'm supposed to be doing sense. i hate that feeling. this whole last year after graduation has been about that feeling. it seems fitting that the end of my travels coincides with the one year mark of graduation. well, close to it. i have a lot of expectations for my time in spain. my friend seemed to be confident that i'd be fine. i told him that i think of this experience as my own sissy version of survivor. he laughed. it sounds ridiculous, but it's kind of how i feel at the moment.

countdown to spain: technically it's thursday, so 6 days and counting.

i finally saw walking tall today. i loved it...as i suspected i would. seriously, the rock is so cool. now i feel like watching the rundown again. before i leave, i need to watch eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, the prince and me, the punisher, 13 going on 30, and kill bill volume 2. how's that for variety and eclectic movie taste?

countdown to spain: 11 days and counting.

now that the reality of flying out in a week and a half is sinking in, i'm starting to get a little nervous. i don't know a single person in spain. i have no definite housing plans until i get to the university. [i'm staying in a hostel for a few days.] this may just be the gutsiest thing i've done in a long time. maybe ever - i'd have to think about it.

there are a few new pictures here from the weekend. a few of us had dinner at benihana's and played board games afterwards on saturday. there are a fair amount of photos of sammy's new 'do - a perm. crazy. and the permed hair expanded during the evening.

i want to claw my eyes out. i wage my own private war on pollen.

i was at work today...and my friend elizabeth loves the indigo girls.

elizabeth: i think dr. lung likes the indigo girls because he smiles/laughs everytime i mention them.
me: elizabeth, trust me...he has no idea who the indigo girls are.
elizabeth: oh yea, he listens to slow jams...

and then we laughed.

and then i told her that we have a friend, who's last name is lam, so someone once called him slow jam lam. and then we laughed some more. hahaha. sorry dennis. haha.

wendy and i were talking about the nick and jessica variety show that was on abc last night. wendy and i agree that she's beautiful, except when she sings because she makes ugly faces. to quote wendy, "she makes me want to be blind." [when she sings] "you could park a freakin' car there." [as her mouth is so large.] i laughed...and laughed and laughed.

HE IS ALIVE. happy easter.

i got to visit joana and owen today! yay!

i'm at work and there are no patients today. i love it. that means we get to play whatever fun music we want all day long. so far we've gone lilith fair and heard the indigo girls [my coworker loves them...i mean loves them.] we had some 80s cover songs in raggae style courtesy of the 50 first dates soundtrack. a little cuban flavor with songs from dirty dancing: havana nights [don't laugh. it's fun music.] and now we're in our afternoon soul mood with joss stone, moving to a little norah jones later. we may have to go back to the cuban though. and i sort of want to hear some elton john since tuesday's american idol, for the most part, butchered the songs.

monday night was garrett's last night in seattle. to celebrate [not his departure, but his mini-break back home], we hosted a potluck and games night. there was a lot of food and whatever was left, we made the guys take home. then we played scene it! i didn't win again, but i did get to answer lots of questions. all that time reading celebrity/entertainment news - actually...i can't even call it news... - celebrity/entertainment gossip - is finally good for something! garrett's team won. the answer was frankenstein. it seemed fitting that he win. he was also the big winner of another game, poker. well, by big winner i mean he won like $9, maybe $10. the buy-in was $1. it was also the first time i'd played poker for real money. i know, $1 isn't exactly "real money." but to me it is, as i'm not a good gambler, and therefore not fond of losing money, especially when i know i could be using that money to buy something concrete. naturally, i was the first one out. but that's fine. i did get to say "all in." sadly, it was all of something like $10 in chips.


garrett and his winnings...

afterwards, kristie and i watched gigli. well, kristie actually watched it; i fell asleep halfway through. i need to watch the other half to determine if it really is as bad as people say.

earlier, siobhan, cora, and i went shopping around fremont and it was beautiful, weather-wise. the clothing and handbags at the stores were also beautiful, but i restrained myself from indulging. afterwards, i went to overlake to visit james, joana, and baby owen. at 6 lbs 1 oz and 18.5 inches tall, owen is one cute baby! he's got tons of hair and it feathers around his face and over his little elfy ears, with a little bit of sideburn too. so cute. pictures can be seen here.

as promised, the pictures from ryan and siska's wedding can be seen here. and i reorganized the photo albums so it'll now be in reverse chronological order, with most recent photos first.

it's been busy. i picked up wendy from the airport on wednesday and then dropped her off at the train station later in the afternoon, after having lunch at hosoonyi's and hanging out. later, heidi and i went shopping in bellevue. then, grace, dennis, and i stayed up until 4am to watch the rest of stairway to heaven. it was soooooo good. do we know we're freaks? yeah, we know. and grace had to catch a flight that left at 7am. thanks grace, you're the bestest!

thursday, there was dinner at beppo's, which was pretty much just pigging out - family style. friday, rehearsal for ryan and siska's wedding and dinner in chinatown. yesterday, the actual wedding and reception, which was so much fun. congratulations ryan and siska! have fun in hawaii! the pictures from the wedding will follow...soon. and today, my last volleyball game until i come back from spain in june. after the games, we went to eat at this greek restaurant in the u-district. i don't think everybody liked it, but i liked my moussaka.

and now the weekend is over and i'm exhausted. people keep telling me i'm getting old...i suppose it must be true. sad.