Looking back... 2008's tribute

I did this last year, so I thought I'd make it an annual tradition. Speaking of - look how long I've had this blog! Anyway...

This past year has had it's ups and downs, of course, but the end of the year always makes me wax sentimental about leaving behind another calendar. All in all, I think I'll miss writing 2008 at the top of my school work. This year, as last year did, has brought me many blessings, first, milestones, generally memorable stuff. Some...

-I joined a household.

-I finished my first year of college.

-I learned a lot about travel.

-I visited foreign embassies.

-I learned a lot about taking care of kids. (specifically at camp)

-I visited Canada for the first time.

-I became fluent in Spanish (well, as close as I reasonably can)

-I lived in Europe.

-I turned 20.

-I wrote a novel.

-I spent a night alone in a hotel room.

-I went to my first night club.

-I drank alcohol. (not a lot, but it was legal)

-I grew up a lot.

Wow. Looking back, I can kind of appreciate that I might be a little more of an adult than I thought. I guess I can be proud of what I've accomplished.

Try it. Make a list of what you've done in 2008. Tell me what you find out about yourself.

As promised... some of my photos from Rome. (btw, I think Picasa is about to gain a new testimonial story)

Beth and I stradled the Italian/Vatican border outside S. John Lateran.

On the bridge over the Tiber by Castel Santangelo. He's got the sponge.

Il foro (Oh yeah - I speak Italian now) (not)

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva - cool lighting over the altar.

Many more photos can be seen at my Picasa web album. And I'll post more soon too.

La navidad, más de Roma, Asís, &c.

Primero, lo que había olvidado el otro día fue mi regalo de navidad. Mis padres me lo dieron temprano para que yo pudiera usarlo. ¡Es una camera! Mi antigua tenía 3 años, y el zoom no funccionaba. Entonces, tengo unas fotos bastante buenas de Roma que poner aquí. PERO, voy a esperar un nuevo post. Vale. También... Si no lo habiais notado ya, este post es en español y inglés. PORQUE PUEDO. Por favor, si estudias la lengua, por lo menos intenta leerlo en español. Espero que no sea muy difícil, pero si es, la falta puede estar corregida por un semestre en España... :) Pues, la navidad fue ayer, aunque me sentía como cualquier día casi normal. Esto es lo que hemos sacrificado para pasar tiempo juntos en ROMA, entonces, está bien. Hablando de Roma,  (Cosa chistosa... hay una estación de metro aquí que se llama "Re di Roma" - me hace reír.) Italiano es una lengua un poco rara, que sólo me hace echar de menos español más. Pero estoy aprendiendo unas pocas palabras. "Aceto" significa "vinagre", que me confunde bastante. Ahora las noticias. Hoy fuimos a Asís. Hacía tanto  F R I O. Pero todavía lo pasamos bien. Vimos las basílicas de S. Francisco y Sta. Clara, la "Porziuncola", ¡y (por fin) San Damiano! Hay una historia sobre eso del viaje de 2005. Y... creo que es todo. Espero que os ha gustado este formato. Es increíblemente probable que no voy a hacerlo muy habitualmente. Pero he dado la dirección del blog a Concha. Y, pues, Ya echo a menos la lengua, que sentimiento sólo puede aumentar tanto en itensidad y como en importancia en los siguientes meses. Entonces... sí. ¡O! Y todos sabéis de cualquier forma que voy a viajar por Europa pronto. Ayer, reservé mis hoteles en Italia. A partir del primer de enero, voy a Siena, Padua, Turín, y Milano. No os preocupéis. ¡Voy a escribirlo todo en el blog! Hasta entonces, (o más pronto)

First, what I had forgotten the other day was my Christmas present. My parents gave it to me early so I could use it. It's a camera! My old one was 3 years old, and the zoom didn't work. So, I have some pretty good photos of Rome to put here. BUT, I'm going to wait for a new post. OK. Also... If you hadn't noticed yet, this post is in Spanish and English. BECAUSE I CAN. Please, if you study the language, at least try to read it in Spanish. I hope that it's not too difficult, but if it is, the lack can be rectified by a semester in Spain... :) So, Christmas was yesterday, even though it felt almost like any normal day to me. This is what we've given up to spend time together in ROME, so, it's all right. Speaking of Rome, [You'd only get this if you spoke Spanish, so if you don't, tough beans.] Italian is a pretty weird language, which only makes me miss Spanish more. But I'm picking up a few words. [Again, sorry!] Now the news. Today we went to Assisi. It was so C O L D. But we still enjoyed ourselves. We saw the basilicas of St. Francis and St. Clare, the "Porziuncola", and (finally) San Damiano! There's a story behind that from 2005's trip. And... I think that's it. I hope that you've liked this format. Though it's incredibly likely that I won't do it that often. But I gave Concha the blog address. And, well, I already miss the language, which feeling can only increase both in intensity and in importance in the next months. So... yeah. Oh! And you all know in one way or another that I'll be traveling throughout Europe soon. Yesterday, I booked my hotels in Italy. Starting the first of January, I'll be going to Sienna, Padua, Turin, and Milan. Don't worry. I'll write about it all on the blog! Until then, (or sooner)

-Rebekah

A quick post about things vaguely relating to Rome

...which city I am currently in. (losing my mind slowly due to not being in bed. Have you ever noticed that when your brain works more slowly, music sounds faster?)

Left the homestay at 3:30 am on Saturday, and was with my family in the immortal city (that's this one, right?) around noon.

We've been spending the past few days seeing interesting stuff and forgetting that Christmas is Thursday.

So, I'm working on planning my big Euro Tour in earnest, which is a lot of work which should probably be requiring some of the time we're spending at tourist sites, but that's OK.

Belated birthday shout-outs to Anna and Mary Joy Cunningham!

And there was something else I wanted to say but can't remember.

Ciao!

Finals, Packing, [insert blog here]

Yep, I'm done with my finals!

I had my last test this morning at 8:30, my last presentation at 11:40, and my last class period (got to sit and listen to presentations) at 1:10.

Then I came home, ate lunch, and went to bed. I was quite sleep-deprived.

In about half an hour, we'll be going to Concha's house for a cooking lesson. On the menu/curriculum: paella, tarta de manzanas, tortilla de patatas. Rome should be gooood!

Speaking of Rome (which I really was, by the way)

Shout out to my family! who will be in said city by the time they read this. They should currently be somewhere over the vast American countryside.

Vale, I think I might just go and clean up this room. I've got to pack tonight and tomorrow, cause my flight leaves Barajas Saturday morning at 7:05 AM.

Bendiciones a todos,

-Ganchi

#200

Would ya look at that!
It's been another 100 posts!
Cheers,
-Ganchi

An Audio Tour of a Madrid Metro Station

Not really. What this is is a recording of me walking through Sol (lineas 1, 2, y 3) and sharing with you, the reader, just a little taste of the legendarily horrible quality of the performers in the Madrid Metro. There were three musicians on my way from line 3 to line 1. The third is the same guy who's almost always there. You got lucky today, he's usually even worse, but his Christmas repertoire is more barable than his usual collection of 3 songs.

Click here to listen.

Next, for your listening pleasure, I've got a short clip of the lovely announcement inside the metro car that I'm reaching my station. The sound quality is about right, but you won't get the full effect unless you turn the volume way up until your ears start to bleed.

Click here to listen.

Enjoy!

Mailing Address in Rome

I've had some requests recently for my mailing address in Rome.
So, it's...

c/o Paolo Marroccu
Via Labicana, 80
00184 Rome, Italy

I will be in Rome from 20-31 Dec. So you know, it takes about a week for a letter to cross the Atlantic. Before that, I'm still at my host family in Madrid. See here.

Picasa Web Albums

All of my photos from Spain are now online to be seen. There is a link on the side of the page. -->

Enjoy!

Killing 8 Weekends With 1 Post

I shant try to catch up too detailedly on each of these, but feel free to comment any questions!

  18/Oct: Avila

I went by my self, as my first "test run" for this winter's upcoming European tour. It was raining, (but I saw it without the rain with ISA on the way to Salamanca) It was really neat. I visited the Murallas (walls around the city), the Cathedral, The convent that St. Teresa lived in, with museum, and a cathedral that was built in 4 different architectural styles over centuries.

  25/Oct: Valsain & Segovia

This was an ISA-organized day trip. We went to Valsain, where we went for a hike through some beautiful landscape. It was real

ly nice to spend some time outside of the big city setting.

Then we went to Segovia, which has a famous aquaduct. This part was pretty lamely organized, as the only thing we did there was have a lunch break, but overall, I didn't think the day was a dud like some people kept complaining.

  31/Oct-2/Nov: Zaragoza

I went to Zaragosa with Pomme, my Thai friend from school. She has some friends (from Thailand) who attend the Academia Miltar (there's some sort of international agreement). We went to the Jura de Bandera, where the Spanish military students make their formal commitment to the country, which involves kissing the flag.

There was also a lot of Thai language spoken and Thai food eaten.

I started my NaNoWriMo novel out of town, and started off behind word count.

  6-9/Nov: Fatima

This was my second "test run" for January, and this semester's biggest individal trip. It was absolutely amazing. I found Fatima to be a beautiful, peaceful, and holy place. I really got a lot out of it. I visited the aparition sites, the homes of the children, it's all there. I also saw the bllet that shot Pope John Paul II!

And the Portugese more or less understood me, and I more or less understood them. It worked!

I didn't have my computer, but I noveled on paper, and was back caught up by Sunday night.

  14-16/Nov: Salamanca

ISA's first overnight trip. There was a long and amusing story about an Italian restaurant that involved the owner and teh chef picking us up because we were lost, and then there was a lot of free limoncello. Good times! The cathedral there is absolutely gorgeous. (I've got a soft spot for gothic architecture.) We also saw the University (old and famous), and an art-deco museum with an antique doll exhibit. And we stayed in a 4-star hotel, which was lovely.

I was already getting behind on my novel, but this weekend didn't help.

  21-23/Nov: Home!

I was really looking forward to this weekend, as much because I was a whole day behind on my word count, as because I hadn't really rested in about a month. The weather was beautiful and I had a wonderful time. I went to the Jardin Botanico and the Planetario with Pomme, both of which were fun.

Friday, I have no idea how I wrote >5k words, Saturday was 

the write-in. (more here) And I was well on my way to crossing the finish line Tuesday night.

  28-29/Nov: Granada

I misplaced my camera, so I only have photos from facebook, which is OK.

Granada was spiffy. We saw the Alhambra, which really was amazing. I guess I love Arab architecture as much as gothic. We also saw a flamenco show, which was pretty cool. Most of our free time was spent trying to find food in various places. But the arab atmosphere permeating the city is really neat.

I finished the last 500 words of my novel on Friday afternoon, ending at 55k.

  5-8/Dic: Home

The Immaculate Conception is a national holiday in Spain, so we didn't have classes yesterday, making a four day weekend. I didn't have the cash to be spending, so I stayed at home, did some homework, caught up on some TV shows and watched some Christmas movies online, and, most importantly, making eggnog and sgar cookies. I had some issues with the icing, so I think I might just give up on that. We're already eating them plain.

There! That's the important stuff over about two months. Maybe I'll post about school after the fact, but until then, I will most likely not blog about much important.

Less than two weeks until I meet up with my family in Rome!

Que Dios os bendiga,

-Ganchi ♥

*interesting* trend: What's up with the asterisks?

I've noticed a growing trend recently online. People are using some different punctuation in places like twitter. Namely, _underscores_ and *asterisks*

I'm not sure where it came from originally, but I do know that gmail chat has used these for some time to mean _italics_ and *bold*. The chat box converts them automatically.

But now they're being used without any conversion, and I have to wonder...

Am I the only one who thinks that it looks a whole lot more like *wink, wink* than *emphasis*?

And this really destroys the intended message.

Checks and Balances

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Spanish constitution. I doubt it will ever cese to amaze me that Spain, though it's got written history and art and whatnot going back two thousand years or so, has a very young constitution. Other European countries are in a similar situation. I know, I know. Franco only died in 1975, and other countries had their political turmoil, wars and so on. That is my point.

Look at the United States of America. Whatever else you can say about our society, we've got a 232-year-old constitution, one that's kept us safe from internal and external threats, political or military upheaval. We must be doing something right. It's that system of checks and balances, for which I am so grateful. "Change" can't just happen in out political system. It takes a ton of time and effort, which keeps things at a healthy medium between modern movements and time-tested traditions.

So happy Thanksgiving! (Being in Europe, I get my calendar mixed up)

-Ganchi

NaNoWriMo final thoughts

It's December.

NaNoWriMo officially ended at midnight last night, but I finished my novel on Friday, and I crossed the 50,000-word mark Tuesday night (Wednesday morning). It ended at 55,197 words.

Today, I printed it all out. With single-spacing, 10 point font, tiny margins, and no page breaks, it worked out to 40 pages. (Formatted like a paperback, it's about 200 pages.) It's amazing what a thrill you get out of a stack of warm paper, knowing that you wrote all 55 thousand of those words, and in only 28 days.

It's really been a life-changing experience, much more so than I had originally thought it would be, maybe even more than for most other participants. Not to belittle their accomplishments. All 21,683 of them are incredible. And the community is one of the abolute best things in the world, especially on twitter.

But I never really liked writing. I've never been bad at it, but I've always kind of looked at English majors and aspiring writers as over-artsy dreamers. Sure, I admired their dreams, but I never understood the allure of writing, so the idea never made sense to me.

This past month, though, has opened my eyes. I have to say this has been the most fun I've had, like, ever. The thrill of creation. And it's even cheaper than crochet and cross-stitch. Especially near the end, when my plot and my characters started to take over every moment of my thoughts. It took on a life of its own for the last 25,000 words or so. It was a real thrill, and something addicting. NaNoWriMo has become a part of me. I don't think I'll ever get over the writing bug.

Yet I just wrote a bunch of sentence fragments.

'K then. I hope some of my dear readers will consider writing their own month-long novel next November. Check it!

Much love,

-Ganchi

Homesickness

Yeah.

I'm finally getting homesick. I guess I had let my guard down. I wasn't expecting it to happen.

And now it's December and I want to be home.

Don't get me wrong. I'm loving every minute of Europe. So don't feel sorry for me.

Just send me letters! :)