murcia? no, murTHia :)

so my speech impediment is a blessing here in spain. thank god that i never made any progress on my lisp in elementary school :)
so since the last time i updated, i got my suitcase, unpacked, settled into life here in madrid (sort of, still adjusting), we went to andaluTHia for a week. i fell in love with a flamenco dancer and a spanish guitarrista. cried cuz i was homesick once. we went to the prado and i started checking off paintings from my list of "masterpieces in spain.

i took a placement exam at university complutense. i planned three weekend excursions. i made friends with the 22 girls and one boy in my program. i went out in chueca the gay district in madrid with a actual spanish college student who took us to actual spanish bars without tourists.

i slept every once in a while.

here's what the future looks like, consider this a table of contents of sorts for future posts
~this next weekend i'll be at my host family's beach estate in Murcia. they have two houses connected by a garden/courtyard thats a five minute walk away from the beach. i'm pretty sure i'm living w/ spanish royalty and i don't even know it. they have to at least be like noble or something.
~then there's the portugal trip i just booked, followed by cuenca cliff jumping, barcelona w/ the fam and a long weekend in paris and then granada
~oh yeah, and somewhere in there i'm gonna be going to school and learning.

I LOVE SPAIN.
besos
tay

deep thoughts and rationing underpants

hello friends, or should i say amigas
here i am sitting on my new bed in my new room in spain.. roomie's name is angelika and she likes alphabetizing things. so do i. perfect :)
my host mom, maría josé is super nice and fun. her little baby is probably one of the cuter babies i've seen ever. his name is jorge and a él le gusta sonreír. everytime you say his name or tickle him he gets a ginormous smile on his face, convulses in giggles and a little bit of my heart explodes.
so that dog i was supposed to have when i got here? died sunday. looks like my mom really is gonna have to get me a puppy for chirstmas.
the only negative in a so far wonderful trip is that AirFrance lost my suitcase. the big one, with all my clothes and my gift for my family and basically my life. the suitcase they were able to find had my books and my tennis shoes in it. no thanks. wanna know what i need more than my books? clean underpants. no seriously, i've got one days worth.
it should be here either today or tomorrow. everyone start praying
thats it for now, i just took a well deserved shower and am going to eat dinner soon at la abuelas! (my host moms mom lives next door w/ some other students and we all eat together. its pretty adorable)
besos
taylor

damelo que quiero

i know blog, it has been a while. my apologies. twitter is much more convenient and i get to feel like i'm really friends w/ the jo bros, but i'm back. for good this time. i hope you can forgive me, after all, carrie forgave big.

the real reason for my return is the muy exciting trip i'm about to embark on ... MADRID! i leave for study abroad in españa in exactly one week. as i sat here and listened to the Juanes inspired station on pandora, i realized that thats like super duper soon. for the first time since i was accepted into the program, i can see past my all consuming anxieties and actually feel excited about whats about to happen.

i've made many many lists of things that have to get done, and things i have to buy, and people i have to write letters, and which cardigans i have to bring and the list of lists goes on and on.

i plan on using the next seven days to cram in play time with important people and to fully prepare myself for flying so when i pop a couple lorazepam before i board i can know everything is taken care of. more exciting updates to come i promise....

besos!
tay

oh hey there God, you ride the red line?

tonight i got on the red line at jackson in a fit of rage. middle east politics professor was a jerk tonight and i had to rethink my love for him and our plan of running away together. that and he gave me a b+ on a paper that i TOTALLY deserved an a- on.

as i began considering quitting academics because i am clearly incompetent and not meant for a career and politics and just a dumby (i think i used that word towards the end of my phone conversation with my mom...i was reverting back to 3rd grade vocab) a man got on the train.

i took him to be the typical crazy homeless man who is on the red line after 9pm. maybe he had a weird poem to read. maybe he wanted some taco bell. maybe in his head he was surrounded by nymphs with clogs on. ya know, typical crazy.

but then he started quoting to the entire train my all time fav bible verse...II Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." I'm not gonna get all preachy in a blog post but isn't it kinda freaky when you hear exactly what you need to hear at the exact moment you need to hear it?

i need to ride the red line more often.

lovaBULL, false.

so last night i learned that there was a reason for me not watching sporting events very often. my nervous system is not built for it. I don't have enough control over my stress level for triple overtime situations.i'm not built for them.
stress level through the night:
1st overtime: oo, this is cool, but stressful.
2nd overtime: seriously, at least its almost over.
3rd overtime: gaaaaah anxiety attack. this sucks i wanna go home.

its probably a good thing that i have my fam in town and won't be able to watch game 7. GO BULLS.

adorably uncomfortable.

there is nothing quite like the first time you go to mass with a new friend. so wonderful to start a semi-regular church date, but sort of uncomfortable for the following reasons.
1. how loud does this person like to sing the songs, if they sing at all? i'll just mumble sing till i figure it out.
2. are we going to hold hands during the our father? did is stick my hand out too soon? ok i'll take it back, now she's sticking her hand out. fuck.
3. during the peace, do we hug or shake? should we try both? shoot that was uncomfortable. giggle. giggle. oh jeez.

so don't worry lauren, we'll get better at this. i promise.

taylor: 1, burger: 0

I eat quickly, don't know why but i always finish my food a good 10 minutes before my dining mates.

tonight i ate a half pound burger in 7 bites. impressive? yes. healthy? no.

i'm left w/ a stomach ache the likes of which I have seen many times before and will see many times again. but here's my theory, as long as the burger comes out of my digestive system on the lower half of my body, then i win and the burger loses. so far, so good.