Sunday, July 31, 2011

Venetian Dreams...


I still can’t believe we are where we are so let me restate what I’ve been saying all day today: We’re in Venice guys! I can’t believe we’re in VENICE! It felt nothing short of some sort of magical dream to wake up in this morning knowing that we were in Italy. Since it was our first and last official whole day in Venice, we had to make haste and use our time and money efficiently haha. For starters, while Jinah went to find some pizza to eat for brunch, Edgar, Lu, Sherry, and I found the nearest grocery store to buy some inexpensive snacks that would last us throughout the day. I ended up grabbing a bottle of water, pear juice, strawberry yogurt, and a pack of “Plum Cake.” We decided to let our ghetto sides shine and eat our cheap snacks on the ground behind the market next to one of the canals. The food we bought was surprisingly filling; this was a very good thing.

As soon as we finished eating, we picked up all of our trash and headed out on one of the main streets again. Remember how I said that we were surprised to find not many people out last night? Well, scratch that. There were so many people out and about today it’s not even funny! I guess people only come out during the daytime. But anyway, while we were walking along one of the main streets, we stumbled upon a Gondola service station… where we were drawn in by the beautiful Gondolas and breathtaking Venetian scenery. We didn’t plan on it and we definitely didn’t expect to pay 20 euros each, but… it happened anyway haha. Yes, we got to ride in a Gondola boat today! The ride was about thirty minutes long and we were given a tour of some of the highlights of Venice… I really enjoyed the ride! My goodness, I have no idea how to put Venice into words… everything about this place is so wonderfully beautiful. The water and canals are one thing, but the boating arrangement for transportation, the food, the music… everything is full of their own “beautiful, specific details,” that it cannot be replaced nor taken granted for. I cannot find any word that is nearly close enough to describe the awe-inspiring nature of Venice… other than, “Now I know why this is Mom’s favorite place in Europe.”



After our Gondola ride, we found our way to San Marco Square where we ended up staying for a good two to three hours haha. We took about a billion and a half pictures of everything! The church, the (original) Campanile, the pigeons... everything! Speaking of pigeons, I had THEE best time taking pictures with them haha. I took some of the bread I had bought earlier to feed them; once I threw down the first few crumbs a whole flock of pigeons began swarming me! The pigeons are not afraid of people at all; they’re seriously savages! Haha. They just came swooping down towards and passed you like bomber jets trying so hard to snag just one more bread crumb. Mom took a similar picture feeding these pigeons when she was in Venice many years ago… so I really wanted to recreate that photograph stuck in time.

After bonding with all the pigeons, we realized that Jinah was no where in sight! She must have walked off somewhere and unknowingly got separated from the rest of us. We waited around in the Square to see if we could find her, but… we had no luck. Since she had the map, we knew she would be okay. Along our mini journey through Venice, we stopped to eat some of the most delicious gelato in the world (of course, I’ve been saying that every time I ate gelato here in Italy), we tried on various authentic Venetian masks and took pictures with them, we browsed around a bunch of souvenir shops, and continued to take a plethora of pictures.

The rest of the evening was awesome. I mean, all we did was walk around as much of Venice as possible without a map haha… but that was all I needed. Venice is beautiful from every and any angle… Lu and Edgar surprisingly ran into one of their friends from Berkeley who is studying abroad and traveling this summer as well! Haha talk about a small world… ah! After they chatted for a bit, we continued to walk and we walked as far as we could until we reached the water’s edge! It was a beautiful site to see… Once the sun went down, we thought it would be best to head back to the hostel. We were a bit worried when we found out that Jinah wasn’t at the hostel waiting for us but just when we were about to leave to eat dinner, we see her coming up the stairs! Haha yes, reunited! We all ate dinner together at one of the only Italian restaurants that were still open near midnight.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

"Every Bite Means Less Pizza!"


And in the blink of an eye, we are out of Guardamar del Segura… goodbye Spain, hello Italy! I’m currently in Venice, Italy right now! The journey was long, the airlines were mean, but we made it to Venice… and it couldn’t feel anymore like a dream than it already does. As soon as Melissa and I woke up this morning, we started packing and getting everything together before our shuttle arrived at 12 noon to take us to the airport. It was another bittersweet day today, especially when we woke up to near silence in the Pension; almost everyone had already left to their new destinations. It felt a lot like the end of freshman year at Berkeley in the dorms… haha but enough about the “sad” part. All of us had such a wonderful experience in Guardamar this summer and I know I will never forget it.

As noon neared, Melissa and I brought our luggage downstairs and I occasionally poked my head outside the door of the Pension looking for a large van. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for, but I guess I didn’t need to, because the shuttle driver parked his van and walked over to me and asked if I was the one that scheduled a shuttle to the airport. Thank goodness he did that. Anyway, within five minutes or so the rest of us came downstairs (Edgar, Lu, Sherry, and Jinah) and we packed up the van before heading out. Haha we had so much luggage between the six of us… it took some strategic work to make all of our stuff fit, but we did it.

I’m so glad that we took a shuttle to the airport because we ran into a bunch of difficulties and delays between checking into our flight and boarding our plane. Ryanair, the airline that we chose to fly with today, caused us so much stress and were completely unreasonable with charging us with fees for our luggage… to make a long story short, we ended up running to the gate and vowing to never fly with Ryanair again haha.

Anywho, within a few hours we arrived here in Venice, Italy with a combination of a hungry and sparkle in our eyes. We hadn’t really eaten all day so we were all so hungry but –I don’t know about them— I was so wide-eyed and like a kid in a candy store once we got here… I think my “homies” were making fun of me for filming us walking through the airport once we arrived here haha. Anyway, we had to find our way through and out of the airport so we just asked for directions and were guided to take a bus and then a boat to get to our hostel. Yes, you head right – a BOAT! The most amazing thing about Venice is the fact that water takes the place of streets, boats take the place of cars, and boat stops take the place of bus stops. It’s just so amazing. One of my first impressions of Venice is that it is extremely classy and it’s actually not as crowded as I thought it would be. After asking around, we finally found which bus we were supposed to take (the 52) and we took our boat to our hostel where we waited for one of the owners of the hostel to direct us to where we’ll be staying for the next two nights.

Dude, our hostel is so legit! It’s located right on one of the river streets and is absolutely huge and wonderful. It’s like we’re living in an actual Venetian home… and it’s all to ourselves! Man oh man.

We spent the rest of the evening walking through Venice… exploring the streets and experiencing the “night life.” We passed by so many amazing little shops that I can’t wait to walk into tomorrow. We ended up eating some delicious Margarita Pizzas at a local food place and dined so wonderfully. And our meal was topped off with an amazing scoop of Gelato icecream…. Mmmm!!! It. was. bomb. After we ate, we started exploring more and more…. Until we started feeling raindrops fall onto us. Can you believe that? As soon as we got to the Grand Canal, it started pouring like crazy! Madrid, Part 2 for sure, dude! The funniest thing was that as SOON as it started raining, crowds of venders came out of no where carrying a bag of umbrellas and asking if we wanted to buy one. We didn’t think it was worth 5 euros, so we stood under a landmark for a bit hoping for the rain to stop so we could walk back.

Alas… it continued to rain. HARD. So we decided we had no choice but to run back home in the rain. I tried my best to cover my bag but other than that, I let myself get SOAKED. I mean, there was nothing I could do haha. By the time we got back to the hostel, we were all drenched… we look at each other, shrugged, and walked up the stairs to our hostel. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Water seems to be a reoccurring theme this summer, now isn’t it? Haha.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Stay Classy, Guardamar!


I can’t believe I’m about to say this… but today was our very last full day in Guardamar del Segura, Spain. Can you believe that?! Aye well, before I get too caught up on how fast this summer has flown by haha… I should mention that Group 4 successfully presented today and this summer’s Arch 101 Studio Program in Spain… is complete. As far as the presentations went, everything went smoothly haha. We had new reviewers again today; they were great reviewers but the only catch was that they didn’t know any English. So, Alex had to translate every few sentences of each of the student’s presentations as well as the reviewers’ comments so that both end understood what the other was saying. It took a bit longer because of this but it worked out just fine. Haha by the way, Melissa has a new fan now! One of the reviewers, Jesus, was absolutely taken aback by her project – he was so mesmerized and he just couldn’t get enough of it! Haha in the end, Melissa ended up leaving her boards and signing them so that Alex could give it to Jesus. Oh man, he’s going to be so happy haha. Alex ended our Review with a few words of advice in the Architecture realm… it was like a sentimental motivational speech haha. It was nice to end on a happy note, even if it was bittersweet.

After Final Review, we went directly to the Pension and ate our last meal together in the Pension (AKA “Our Last Supper”). We definitely ate well. I had the usual, Carbonara and Roast Chicken haha. Even though the Pension serves incredibly greasy food and provides “bug juice” for their customers to use… I’m going to miss it haha. Really. Especially Vicente, one of the owners of the place. He has been so good to us this summer. I’m never going to forget not only his food and mannerisms, but his incredible hospitality to us “chicos y chicas.” He told us that he really enjoyed having us at the Pension and that we were an amazing bunch of kids to keep him company during the summertime. It was all so bittersweet… but a nice way to end this summer session. One of the students took a picture of him sleeping in the kitchen or something haha and we all passed it around to sign and give to him. Albert helped translate some words so I could write my little note to him in Spanish. I think it made him really happy. Oh! Melissa, Sherry, Lu, and I got to take a picture with him haha! That made US equally happy.

After eating and resting up a bit, we headed back over to the Ayuntamiento to pin down and pack everything up. Slowly but surely, as everyone showed up, the walls became bare and all of our presentation boards and mylar were either rolled up or laying on the floor for Alex to take home. I’ll admit that it was sad to think that it’s all over… but I am so very thankful that whatever is “over”… happened. I have made so many irreplaceable memories this summer that I will never forget.

Eventually, everything disappeared minus the stacked chairs and collection of models on the floor. Haha maybe it’s a good thing that none of us are able to take our models home on the plane; seeing our models laying on the floor the way I did today made me think of the models as pieces of us… yes, they were precursors to what our buildings would look like, but they’re also like a representation of us; we’re leaving a part ourselves in Guardamar haha. Is that cheesy or what? Before leaving, we all said our goodbyes farewells to Alex… thanks to Ceci, we were able to get a framed group picture of the class and him with our signatures on the back in time before he left. It was actually really cute! Haha.

Afterwards, Melissa and I spent some time at the daily market that’s held down by the dunes. Since it is our last day, I shopped more aggressively and efficiently as I didn’t let myself think too much about what I eyed and whether or not I should buy it or not. I’m so glad we went! We did have fun though; aside from the shopping we –once again – took some “silly” pictures together haha! They are priceless.

What can I say? It’s time to start packing everything up, for real this time, and moving on with new adventures. I have definitely had one of the most adventurous summer’s of my life here in Guardamar del Segura… even with the unreliable internet connection, “it’s been good, Guardamar, it’s been good.” I’ve also realized that for the past two months I have lived WITHOUT a cellphone, texting, air-conditioning (this is normal, but still), television, more than one meal a day, and a dryer for clothes… in return, I have lived WITH one large meal a day, nutella and bread in place of other meals, a tiny room for two, limited toilet paper, cockroaches, bugs in vinegar and soup, loud music playing until 7am in the morning, cigarette smoke just about everywhere, and the good ol sunshine to dry my clothes… the list is endless.

Come tomorrow morning at 11am, all of us will be checking out of our rooms and will be on our way… some of us will be heading home while others will be delaying their trip home for an extensive Eurotrip! Come tomorrow afternoon, Lu, Edgar, Jinah, Sherry, and I will be heading off to Venice, Italy! I’m so excited!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Watch Out… They Have THEE Pants!


Today was our second day of Reviews and I’d say it went well. We had two new reviewers instead of Vicente, so it spiced things up a bit. Overall, everyone’s presentations were great! I mean, each Reviewer had their own opinion about each project, as expected, but the critiques they gave were solid. I’m really proud of everyone haha. Both Group 3 and 4 were supposed to present today but since the Reviewers had to leave, only Group 3 got to present. Thus… we shall leave Group 4 for tomorrow.

This is the longest Review I have ever had!

Anywho, this evening was so much fun! Remember those really colorful and comfy pants that I bought several weeks ago? Well, five other girls and I had bought them too, so we decided to have a most epic photoshoot at the ol castle of Guardamar. Haha you should have seen us! We all wore our pants, slip on shoes, and a tank top. We took a BUNCH of absolutely ridiculously-amazing pictures with our most awesome pants on haha! We took jumping pictures, kicking pictures, “normal” pictures… a combination of everything with everyone! We were getting so into it and had such a great time. Cristian, Albert, and Yoshie came up a little bit later to see us and they helped us take pictures of us. Cristian called us Gypsies once he saw all of us dressed in our matching pants and shoes haha



All I gotta say is... "Imma Gypsy!"

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

My Jelly Fish Pulled Through!


Today is Wednesday. That means that today was the very last Mercadillio that we went to. We couldn’t, wouldn’t, and didn’t miss this amazing market for the world. So, we got ourselves out of bed before meeting up with Alex and browsed around a bunch of booths. Since it WAS the last time we were ever going to be able to go to a Mercadillo, I finally decided to buy a nice dress haha. I’ve been eyeing it for the past several Mercadillos… haha so I’m glad I finally got it. We scurried back to the Pension before meeting with everyone else; all the while I was mentally preparing for my presentation at Final Review that was about to happen!

So, today was Day ONE of Final Review… and I am officially D. O. N. E. with Arch 101! Since I’m in Group 1, I was a part of the first group to present today (Group 2 presented today as well). I think my presentation went well. It was the first time that I didn’t rush through my presentation and slur my words together haha. That usually happens since I get really nervous sometimes, but today… I handled it much better. The reviewers, Alex, Paloma, and Vicente (a visiting architect from Alicante) seemed to like my project. Vicente kept saying that my Jelly Fish were so… different and very unique. He couldn’t think of any other place that looks like my Jelly Fish haha. I guess that’s a good thing. Of course, my project isn’t resolved and essentially, it is still “incomplete” but for the amount of time I had to produce a building and with all the technical problems I was having with my complex Jelly Fish… I’m really proud of the end result! Final Review = Success! I’m so glad I finished today.



Anywho, half of the class finished presenting today. Up next: Groups 3 and 4! After Final Review, most people hung around for an hour or so and then everyone met up at the “Alone” café that’s right across the street from our Studio and we all celebrated the ending of our summer session with dinner. The owners of this café made a GIGANTIC pan of Paella for all of us with enormous shrimp and mussel. Oh baby! It was nice to eat with everyone and wind down after a long day of our first day of Review. Haha “Edgar and his women” were all sitting together having a blast and we were writing each other’s names in whatever language we knew… all over each others’ hands… just because haha.

Only three days left!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Now, THIS Is My Cup of Tea!



Oh man, so today we have been printing nearly all day at Copi Gama trying to prepare our boards and presentations for Final Review. It’s been pretty stressful because there were so many of us trying to print two boards on one plotter in the store. Also, a handful of us were having technical difficulties with our Illustrator files… some were too large to open or needed to be split into two different PDF files. All of which slowed down the printing process. But anyway! Haha in the mean while, the students who already presented were with Alex who was getting interviewed by the local news! Yeah! We really are the celebrities of Guardamar. They must have interviewed Alex for a while because we arrived at the pin-up space before everyone else did.

Aside from printing our boards, we spent most of today pinning up all of our work and making our exhibit look presentable. Once everyone else arrived at the Ayuntamiento we all just mingled together, nibbled on the snacks and refreshments that were brought to the exhibit earlier, and were occasionally taped by the local news who were walking around documenting the whole event! Haha. Since it was nearly 9pm by the time the press left, Alex decided that it’d be best to officially start our Final Review tomorrow! Group 1 and 2 will be presenting tomorrow on Wednesday and Group 3 and 4 will be presenting on Thursday. That’s totally fine with me. I just feel so relieved to have plotted!



As soon as I thought the day was over, a spontaneous idea came to mind. Alex asked us if –to those who have not gone yet— if we wanted to go to the Tea House. Earlier in the summer, Alex took most of the class to this amazing little gem outside the skirts of Elche, which is only about thirty or so minutes away. Since all of us were finished with our work, we really had nothing else to do, so we jumped on the opportunity! Haha it was getting late, but Alex and Paloma still drove a group of us to the Tea House. And let me tell you, I absolutely LOVED this place! Yes, it was dark when we got there. Yes, I was tired from the crazy printing session earlier in the day. But, “Oh my jesus,” I just couldn’t stop taking pictures (of what I could) and focusing my eyes on what was visible in the darkness haha. We ended up staying there for a good two hours. I wanted to stay longer haha. But anyway, it’s like a magical, exotic garden in the middle of no where… with beautifully-lit lanterns, lush greenery everywhere, lounging areas, tents that you can sit in and have tea, peacocks chillin’ on the roof (literally), geckos on the walls, kittens and puppies running here and there, an impressively-built house that you discover its history by running your fingers along the walls and walking through carved spaces… it’s incredible.



One of my most favorite things about the Tea House is the view of the stars at night. Since we got there pretty late, we could see so many stars out in the sky. And since the Tea House is located in the middle of nowhere, away from all the light pollution, it’s like being covered with a blanket of millions of stars when you look up. It. was. breathtaking. Being in such an exotic environment is almost as sweet as the teas and snacks they served us under the tent, or maybe even sweeter!

I really, really want to go back. Maybe if I'm lucky enough I'll go back to the Tea House in my dreams tonight haha. Wish me luck on tomorrow's presentation!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Go, Jelly Fish, Go!


Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... it is my pleasure to announce the official completion of my design project for Arch 101 Studio this summer! Yes! You heard right. The only thing left for me to do is to plot and present within the next couple days. Even though I've been having so many difficulties with the complex geometry that I used to create my "Jelly Fish" forms and even though I had to start over and redo everything a countless amount of times, I'm pretty happy with the result of my project and I'll admit, these Jelly Fish of mine have really grown on me haha. I mean, we did only have a couple weeks to crank out the whole project in its entirety! The last two weeks or so have been brutal, but we made it through! Melissa and I have been working so hard these last few days. It's crazy how we even forgot to eat... since the hours pass as quickly as a shooting star shoots through the sky. The lack of sleep and decent food has really drained us, but that was expected... haha. As soon as I got up this morning, I literally sat up and clicked "Save" on the render I had left running over night and set up another render... I did this all even fore going to the restroom. What's up with that?! Haha.

Well, anyway, it was definitely another L O N G day today. Melissa, Albert, and I were working all morning, afternoon, and evening. Once we saved everything and were ready to go print, we got the news from some of our classmates the plotter that we were using broke... after seven people plotted, it broke. It was expected though, twenty-five kids plotting two boards right after another... it was bound to happen! It sucks because we really wanted to print today and we were ready to get it over with, but it's okay. We'll just have to print tomorrow. Hopefully.



I'm really proud of the work I produced in these last couple weeks though! I really, really am. The renders I made came out pretty well. And thanks to Albert, Melissa and I were finally able to successfully produce a "night render." It's awesome! But anywho, I'm probably going to hit the hay early tonight and finish up some other little things tomorrow morning.

Go Jelly Fish!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

"La Cucaracha, La Cucaracha, Ya No Puede Caminar..."


Oh it's getting down to the grind! I somehow managed to get myself out of bed today and ever since I succeeded doing so, I have been working on my project and preparing for Final Review this week. The work, work, work hasn't stopped so today wasn't very eventful, unfortuntely haha. I don't know whether or not I should mention this or not haha... but the most eventful part of the day may have been finding a cockroach in our room. I freaked when I saw it and I just could not even begin to imagine where on earth it came from! Melissa saved the day and took care of the situation... haha! Afterwards, I turned my suitcase and everything upside down to make sure there weren't any of the critter's friends left behind...

Haha so other than that, today's festivities was a close repeat to that of yesterday's with the whole parade down the main street here in Guardamar. We saw some of the same intense and elaborate costumes this evening. I think the only difference was that during this parade, there were some intense battle scenes between the "Moors" and the "Christians"... and seeing people toss torches into the air like batons was awesome!

We have the best seats in the house from our balcony.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Down To The Last Spread.


Today, Melissa and I opened our last jar of nutella that we are going to eat this summer in Spain. Remember how we’ve been surviving off of bread and nutella? Well, it has gotten us through all these weeks and we’re pushing towards our last week in Guardamar. I wish I saved all the empty jars of nutella that we consumed this summer… between the two of us, we must have eaten nearly TEN jars of nutella. That's crazy haha. Yes, it’s probably more than what our bodies' need. But, it has been gentle on the wallet and it still tastes so good. SO GOOD, like a pie... SO GOOD.

Anywho, since it’s the weekend we didn’t have to meet in Studio today so Melissa and I got to work in our room. It’s significantly cooler in our room and infinitely more comfortable than studio so we were happy about that. As soon as we woke up, we started working on our laptops and didn’t stop until we were too hungry to go on anymore. At that time, we went downstairs to catch dinner in the Pension. There were so many British visitors walking inside and outside of the Pension; apparently, many British families come here to Guardamar on holidays to enjoy the hot weather and festivities during the summer. There are about 17 thousand permanent residents that live in Guardamar year round, but during the summer the population increases to about 80 thousand people! That’s a significant jump!



The last week has been full of festivities and performances as it is a tradition for Guardamar to celebrate the city’s rebuilding in 1832 and the rest of its rich history. Of all that has been going on this week, today’s parade in the main street was quite impressive, as it was the Moors and Christian parade. The parade lasted for two hours and we all stood outside of the Pension to get a good look at the costumes. The costumes were so LEGIT, let me tell you. It looked like something straight out of Brave Heart… rows and rows of people dressed in the most elaborate and intense costumes marched down the streets as bands played to represent both the Moors and Christians marching out to battle. People of all ages participated in the parade; babies that were pushed in strollers to senior citizens that proudly led their group – all whom dressed equally stunningly and painted their faces so vibrantly. It was quite a sight to see!

Now that the "formal" festivities are over, all of Guardamar is partying it up haha. When I say "all of Guardamar," I mean everyone single person and child haha. The streets are literally filled with people everywhere and the music and fireworks aren't stopping for several more hours!

Alright, back to work I go!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Listen To Journey When They Say, "Don't Stop Believing"!


I rolled out of bed this morning with the Studio sparkle in my eye... or should I say, a fire-cracker explosion that has worn me out! Haha. The alarm went off at 9am but Melissa and I, as usual, hit the snooze button and woke up fifteen minutes before ten. We washed up, tied up our hair, ate our muffin, and started walking down the three flights of stairs. It's how we do. All we're doing in Studio now is finalizing all of our models, designs, drawings, and preparing for our Final Review next week! Where did this week go?! Just a few more days to go.

I can finally say that I have tried absolutely everything I possibly can to be able to manipulate my Rhino model. Aside from trying every single possible way cut a section, export lines, trim layers, etc... Paloma even tried opening my BEAST of a model on Google SketchUp Pro on her laptop. Nothing seemed to work. Apparently the weird geometry of my Jelly Fish forms are so complex and dense that working with it in any possible way is a job only for a high-powerful desktop computer, Paloma said. It's so strange how small the file is, yet it's too "complex" to handle. The complexity of the geometry grows while the file size stays the same. That's pretty sneaky. Anyway, I really appreciated her trying to help me figure out how to manage my model, oh man. I guess I'll just have to fudge it!

Oh! Haha while we were in our little Studio, so many people were stopped by, peeped their heads in, and asked what the heck we were doing haha. I felt like someone new was walking in every thirty minutes or so. We have our exhibition poster and Berkeley Summer Sessions poster taped outside on the window, so the whole world can see who we are and what mischief we're up to. Speaking of Summer Sessions, the facilitator behind our Travel Study Program flew in for the weekend to check up on us and to scope out everything haha. He's the one that "supported [Alex's] crazy idea" to launch this summer studio in Spain!

I still have tons to do but I know it will get done. By golly, it will.

Lets do this!!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I Want To Eat Muffins, Not Wear Them!


We're getting down to the final days of Studio work before we have to plot on Sunday. So far, we're scheduled to plot our work at a local architect's office and we'll be holding our exhibition and presenting our work on Tuesday and Wednesday. I've been having a lot of technical issues with creating what I need in Rhino... I've gotten a bit setback, but I'm still pushing forward. As of right now, I'm not able to create any traditional plans and sections... but I guess that just means I'll have to be creative with how I present my project! It'll be interesting. I just hope I don't pass out tonight before I figure out what I'm going to do.

Less than three days left.

I'm really excited for this next week to pass haha! I'll at least feel a lot better once I've plotted everything. Then I'll be set. Oh! And our GSI, Paloma, finalized the poster she was making for our exhibition and posted copies of it all over town. I wonder how many people are going to show up to see our work!

But other than working in studio, we've been eating our most filling one meal of the day, everyday, at the Pension. Haha it's good food but I'll admit that I'm getting tired of the greasy-goodness they have been feeding us haha! That and studio isn't a good combination haha. I think what I'm craving the most right now is a big fat Burrito, a huge glass of milk, my grandma's Korean food (mmm) and a side of every kind of fruit imaginable. And IN N OUT! Oh man. Muffins with Nutella are Melissa and I's staple food here in Guardamar haha. We eat muffins for Breakfest, Lunch (on weekends). and Dinner... everyday. I like them, but... just to make it clear. I eat muffins, I don't want to wear them! If you know what I mean.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Time To Prepare For A Show!


Okay, okay, okay. I thought of another word that can best describe what my project looks like: WHIPPED CREAM! Oh yeah haha. Talk about multi-functional... it every way possible! So lets see. So far my project looks like a combination of Mushrooms, Jelly Fish, Knome Hats, and Whipped Cream. I think you can imagine - maybe - what a building described with these words may look like. This shall be very interesting, let me tell you. Some kind of breakthrough must have happened if my building design is not orthagonal - like they were for Arch100A and Arch100B. So that's a good sign! I'm still thinking that I was subconsciously inspired by Gaudi's work when we visited Barcelona... oh man!

But anyway, today was another Studio day... I can't get over hot it is in studio. Within five minutes, you start sweating in your chair. It's truly a sauna in disguise. Things are finally starting to finalize, too... Our GSI, Paloma, showed us a sample of the poster she made in promotion for our studio's Architecture Exhibition next week. All of our projects are going to be pinned up after we present and shared with the local community! Apparently one of the local architects is super excited about this. We're kind of like the celebrities of Guardamar Del Segura. So many people take double-takes when they pass the Studio on the street and glance inside. I always wonder what they're thinking when they pass by. Anywho, It's crazy how our old scribbled up mylar is slowly but surely transforming into a functional building. I just have to DO WORK starting... now!

Also, I keep hearing a bunch of firecrackers and BOOMS outside the window. It's seriously a battlezone out there... !

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

¡Una Más Semana!


It looks like every day until next Tuesday, AT LEAST, will be very busy! We've got one more week of Arch 101 this summer... I can't believe it! Unfortunately, nothing too climactic will be happening for a few days... but I will still continue to update each day with what's going on.

We're getting closer and closer to completing the design portion of our project. Well, that's what my thought was after walking around the class and looking at what everyone else was working on and how far everyone has gotten thus far. I was working on my Rhino model for the whole day trying to figure out how to bring out the spatial qualities that Alex kept pointing out in my physical model. I'm not quite sure if I succeeded in doing so, but I'm going to keep going and working with what I have. I mean, we DO only have a few days to finish EVERYTHING! Aye hopefully, by tomorrow morning I can start cutting my sections and drawing some plans!

And... the fingers are CROSSED.

Monday, July 18, 2011

It's Hot, I'm Going... Outside?


It's soooooooo HUMID here! I think today was one of the most sticky and unfitting days to sit for hours at a time in a stuffy Studio room. It's been pretty warm outside all day today, but I'd rather work outside than inside the Studio where the moisture constandly drips off of your skin... haha. But we all got through the day and here I am, typing on my laptop in my room at the Pension. Oh man, I had the worst time on Rhino today... something had gone wrong with my Project files and I had to start all over on my project! I hope it turns out alright. We have less than a week to finish everything!

PS: It's a quiet evening on the streets of Guardamar.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

It's A Lazy Sunday Kind of Day.


Today was an incredibly lazy Sunday kind of day. I slept-in today and woke up to nothing but a warm breeze coming through our balcony sliding door. I melted for most of the day, as expected haha but I tried to stay productive! Since our Final Review for Studio is in about a week, we all have to sattle down and work as hard and as best we can! So other than attempting to "tame" Rhino throughout the day, I finally did my laundry today! Thank the heavens. I was running out of the necessities... Anyway, I think I've gotten used to laying out my clothes on the balcony and letting them air-dry... who needs dryers?! The sun is the most efficient way to dry clothes.

I can't believe how fast everything is moving! This Studio class already ends next week and post-traveling will commence for a bit - and before I know it, I will be in the States again!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

At 7:30AM: "Jaimie. Jaimieee. Wanna Go To the Island?"


This morning, I woke up to Melissa's voice asking, "Jaimie. Jaimieee. Wanna go to the island? The bus leaves at 8:15am." Ironically, I was having a very elaborate dream with Melissa in it talking to me in the same tone and everything... it took me a hot minute to comprehend what was real and just a dream, let alone what was going on. It's crazy how that happens sometimes, when reality merges with your dreams. Anyway, we both had talked about going to Tabarca, a small island thirty minutes off of Santa Pola, but I think we both passed out before we really got around to talking about it haha so, Melissa's voice this morning was a surprise. We hadn't slept much last night and I kinda of just laid in bed and tried to weigh options and figure out what to do with my half-asleep mind. A few minutes later, we ended up getting out of bed and we were out the door by 8am. Gotta love spontaneous moments and decisions!

It was our first time going to Santa Pola and Tabarca so it took a little bit of searching and "adventuring" to find where we needed to go. Once we got to Santa Pola, we found the port we were looking for and took a ferry to Tabarca! It was a really nice ride. I couldn’t stop staring at the water… it is absolutely GORGEOUS! The water went from green to blue to deep turquoise by the time we arrived at the island. There we SO many fish swimming around by the boat as it was approaching the dock and the water was so clear, you could see just about everything on the surface below the water. Oh man.

Since we left pretty early in the morning, we spent the majority of the day walking, laying out, or swimming IN THE SUN. I kept applying sunscreen every chance I could get to make sure I wouldn’t burn haha I think it worked, but I am DARK. Golden brown… I can’t remember the last time I was this tan. We walked around the island in no time, considering it’s only a few miles long. It’s a small island, but it’s beautiful! We tried swimming in various coves but decided to stick to the main beach area where there was the clearest water, softest surface to walk on, and calm waves. It was a lot of fun! We brought some goggles and swam with some little fishies in the water off the shore… it was great.

We were enjoying this little island so much that we definitely lost track of time and sizzled under the sun for several hours. We both turned all red and brown… Gotta love that sun!

PS: The evening ended with most of our class witnessing a most interesting parade that Guardamar put together in their annual celebration! We could see everything from the balconies of the Pension. I wonder what the next week has in store for us!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Look At All the Pretty Lights!


We had a work day today in Studio today. I was actually pretty productive today since I slept like a log last night! After our lunch at the Pension, Melissa and I decided to lay out on the beach... which, I still can't believe is only a 5-10 minute walk from where we are staying. The red flags were out today indicating the danger of riptides out on the beach... so, we just found a spot on the sand near the shore and plopped right down. We were laying down for close to an hour before we sat up to go back to Studio. We were HOT and I definitely go noticeably darker haha.

Anyway, time spent in Studio flew by as usual and before we knew it, we were back in our rooms in the Pension. Melissa and I decided to check out the festivities that were being held across from the town church. Apparently, Guardamar is having their annual celebration for its founding (something along those lines) this whole WEEK... which, I was told, involved a bunch of parties, decorations, parades, performances, traditional dances, etc... it should be interesting! Today, we got a glimpse of the performances and some fireworks that were shot right down the street from us! Walking down the decorated street here reminded me of Main Street at Disneyland haha.

We ended the night by hitting up the local farmer's market that's held every night during this time of year. I love browsing all the booths!

PS: I wanted to watch Harry Potter 7 Part II here SO BADLY but there weren't any nearby theaters that were showing the English version of it! As much as I'd love to hear "Harry Potter" be said in the Spanish accent over and over again haha... I need to see the original version first! I guess I shall have to wait until I get back to the states.

26. SpongeBob SquarePants, Hello Kitty, and The Simpsons merchandise is sound absolutely everywhere here.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Mushrooms, Jelly Fish, or Knome Hats?


So, today we had a more formal pin-up for Studio. Everyone was frantic getting all their work done and printed. For the first half of class today and all of yesterday, I have been trying to figure out how the heck to translate my physical model into Archeological Housing and a Research Center. Alex kept pushing us to plop our Rhino model of our physical model into the dunes site and edit, edit, edit until spatial elements start to appear. So... that's exactly what I did. And what did I come with? Well, lets just say I couldn't come up with any other name to describe what my project looks like so far other than: Mushrooms, Jelly Fish, or Knome Hats... yeah. Weird, I know. But, that's what my project looks like so far.

After I presented my project during pin-up our GSI (Paloma) told me that the forms of my building remind her of Gaudi's work, just a more modern version haha. I think she's right on the money because after visiting Park Guell and Sagrada Familia... I instantly fell in love with his work. I'm a fan!

Anyway, other than studio, Melissa, Sherry, and I walked around the city after dinner and enjoyed a most epic sunset at the castle AND a picturesque sight of the clearest moon I've seen here reflecting over the Mediterranean. It was gorgeous. I didn't bring my camera, but my eyeballs won't ever forget what I saw today.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Z z z. . . OO! Pants!


We finally woke up in time for the Mercadillo this morning. Success! Well, actually... we woke up with enough time to seek and seize our awesome pants! What pants am I talking about, you ask? Well, they're pretty much the most comfortable and casual pants ever! They're baggy & loose and striped and colorful. We have been looking for them forever, so Melissa, Sherry, and I felt accomplished when we found them hanging on a rack in one of the vender's booths.

Other than that, we're working hard in studio trying to crank out a building project in about 1.5 weeks. Insane, no? I worked on Rhino for much of today... until I started falling asleep because of how hot and humid it was in the Studio. It's seriously like a sauna in there! I don't know how we stay in there for as many hours of the day as we do. But, it is Spain. And it IS the middle of summer haha.

Alright, time to crank out some spacial qualities in the Rhino model!

24. Each store is named very specifically to what is sold there or the function of the place itself. (ie. "HOTEL")
25. Water is NOT served for free in restaurants.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Hotness.


T-minus two weeks left until Final Review.

Today was definitely all about studio. We stayed in studio for most of the day, aside from our regular siesta and lunch. I feel a little better about my project after talking to Alex... hopefully, everything will pan out and I'll have the Archeological building and urban extension all figured out! I'll just have to keep exploring and experimenting in Rhino and sketching tons.

As usual these days, I've been sweating - literally - all day. Every minute of the day. Even though it was a bit overcast today, it was surprisingly still hot and extremely humid... at least Melissa and I have a balcony, holey moley.

Time to tame the Rhino and sketch, sketch, sketch.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Dun Dun Duuuuuuuun.


From the looks of today's discussion with our professor, studio is back on a roll and the work load will be increasing in intensity like a snowball rolling down a hill. Until, of course, it hits a tree AKA after Final Review. We have a ton of work to complete by Thursday... that's in three days. It's not a lot of time but Alex believes in us...

Most, if not all, of today was spent in working in studio, melting from the humidity and heat, or a combination of the two. It's safe to say it'll only get hotter, stickier, and CRAZIER as the days progress.

God Speed!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Drop-Dead-Uhhhmazing!


“Kids, we done today good. That’s all I gotta say.” Today was both our second and last day in Barcelona… but I think we maximized our time here as best we could. For starters, we first visited Sagrada Familia – which, by the way, I have been waiting to see for such a long time! I was so excited to see this beautiful creation. I’d like to compare my first impression of the Sagrada Familia up-close to the first time I saw The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California. This is because… as soon as we reached the top of the escalater and turned around, just the way I did in Los Angeles, there it was! The Sagrada Familia was right behind us and all of us gasped. I couldn’t get over how amazing this cathedral really is. As expected, I took far too many pictures haha but that’s okay! Because when’s the next time I’ll come back again? Anyway, all of us were stoked beyond words about what our eyes were seeing. And all of this multiplied by ten once we entered and saw the interior of the Sagrada Familia. Literally, once we all saw the inside, we all couldn’t stop saying to ourselves, “Oh my god, Oh my god!” It was truly amazing. Gaudi is a genius.

Speaking of Gaudi, we spent the rest of the day hitting up all of Gaudi’s most famous works, including the most amazing park EVER, Park Guell! As soon as I walked into this public park, I thought of Arch 170A and I fell in love with just about everything there – especially the beautiful and colorful tile! Ahhh! I couldn’t believe my eyes… the whole idea behind the park is just brilliant and absolutely gorgeous. I don’t even know where to begin! All I have to say is I didn’t want to leave and I just had to buy one of those tiled salamander magnets.


Since we were pressed on time and had to catch a 10pm bus back to Alicante, we rushed our way to both of Gaudi’s Casa Mila and Casa Bastillo. Fortunately, we were able to get to Casa Mila in time and we were able to go inside and explore the roof top, museum, and apartments. It was so crazy. Again, all I could think about was Arch 170A… it was all coming to life! We didn’t get to go inside of Casa Batillo but we took a lot of great pictures of its exterior… which, by the way, totally overshadows every building adjacent to it haha.

I love you, Gaudi!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Hahah "You guuuys, I'm crying! I almost pee'd my pants!"


Today was our first full day in Barcelona and we spent a lot of hours on our feet - how it should be! After eating an enormously filling but equally delicious korean breakfast, we started our day off at the Picasso museum. I really, really enjoyed going through his exhibits! Even though I'm a bigger fan of his earlier works before the whole cubism shabbam happened, i still really respect this artist who is immortalize through his paintings. I ended up buying a couple things from the Picasso gift shop and a really awesome Van Gogh postcard haha. I loved it there! Afterwards, we went to the Joan Miro museum as well. I'll have to say I didn't enjoy this museum as much as the first... but it was still cool. I think it's because I'm not attracted to the whole "modern art" scene where "artists" can make meaning of a dinner plate glued onto canvas. But anyway, it was still fun! While we waited for Jinah to finish her museum tour, Edjar, Lu, and I took tons of pictures all around the museum including a sculpture garden that was right next door. Hahah I don't know what triggered it exactly, but while we were taking pictures in the sculpture garden, I just busted out laughing so hard... SO hard that I legitimately cried! It lasted for a good five to ten minutes hahah! It felt so good to laugh until I cry. Even if I can't remember why I started to laugh to begin with.

Afterwards, we ended up eating some delicious gelato and GUESS WHAT. I ran into a group of those people a part of the whole "Free Hugs" campaign... guess what! I actually got a hug from them and took a picture with them! They were so friendly and were holding up signs saying "Abrazos Gratis!" I just had to ask them for a hug and picture. They made my day. Anywho, soon after we ended up visiting the Mies Van Der Rohe building, the Barcelona Pavillion. Haha you should have seen Edgar and Lu! They were so excited to see the pavillion in person because they had used the pavillion for numerous case studies in their studio classes. Only architecture students... haha! It was great.



The evening ended with us stumbling into the main market area where, apparently, "the whole party was at," because there was a market, a Harley Davidson motorcycle exhibition/festival, and a pretty epic water fountain performance in the center square right below the beautiful museum of modern art. It was so amazing. The water fountain show actually lasted a lot longer than we had expected! It's like... every time the fountain or fountain lights or music was turned back on, we were drawn back to the fountain. We just couldn't leave!

There's so much to do in Barcelona! I wish we had more than one day left here!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Have You Had Your Calatrava Today?


Today we visited and got a tour of some of the most interesting modern architecture that I have ever seen in real life. We were privileged enough to be guided by one of the local Spanish architects that worked on the construction of Santiago Calatrava’s Opera House in Valencia. My first impression of the Opera House was that it was very monolithic and huge. It’s more than just architecture, it’s art and engineering as well. Well, I had never seen anything like it before, so I was very impressed.


By the end of our architectural tour of Valencia, we all split up depending on our plans for the weekend. About a third of the class is going to see the running of the bulls in Pamplona, a handful are going back to Guardamar and we – Edgar, Lu, Jinah, and I are headed to Barcelona!

The rest of the evening consisted of us walking down on one of the most famous streets in Barcelona, La Rambla! We walked through huge crowds of really interesting people… Barcelona has one heck of a night life! Eventually, we found a lit public space where we saw all kinds of groups of people sitting together in a circle on the ground. We thought it’d be appropriate if we participated in all the other kids and we, too, sat down in a circle in the middle of this public square haha. Aside from the fact that within minutes of sitting down we were approached and interrogated by a strange man asking us to talk to us, it was fun! Haha.

Anyway, the evening ended with our arrival at our hostel… our KOREAN hostel. You heard right! Haha Jinah found this Korean hostel that is very close to the downtown area of Barcelona… so we took it! Let me tell you, it has been an experience! Apparently the husband and wife that own the hostel have been living in Barcelona since the early 80’s so they know Spain pretty well; the husband even speaks relatively fluent Spanish! It. blew. my. mind. Anyway, the Korean woman is so sweet, she even cooked us some authentic Korean food for our late dinner today! Aye. But yeah, it has been great so far. Even if the room is extremely tiny and hot haha… we’re not here to sleep, baby! Anyway, we explored the streets for a couple of hours into the night before heading back to finally get some rest for the night.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

"I Think I Need A Sunrise..."


I can’t remember the last time I intentionally woke up early to watch the sunrise. And pulling all-nighters and watching the sun rise from Wurster Hall doesn’t count. Whenever that “last time” was, it has been a while… until today! It was our last day in Altea so I feel really fortunate to have gotten the chance to see this gorgeous sight. I don’t know how we did it but Melissa and I got ourselves out of bed at 5:50am and headed to the roof terrace. It was still pretty dark outside but we decided to sit and stay put because Alex told us the sun would rise around then. But little did we know, the sunrise didn’t happen until almost 7am! Can you believe that? Haha we were an hour early and stood in the cold air an hour more than we needed to but once the sun peaked over the mountains in Altea and shined over the city and ocean… it all became worth it.

It was so beautiful! As soon as the sun was on a roll rising up, it rose just as quickly as it would drop to the horizon during a sunset. But anyway, once we felt that we soaked in the moment enough, we called it a sunrise and rushed back to sleep. We got to sleep for a couple of more hours before we set out for the rest of the day.


Before leaving beautiful Altea, we spent some time in town, but this time, during the day time. It was definitely a lot more barren and empty in the day; none of the stores opened until 10:30am! Haha aye pues. The view of the Mediterranean from where we were was pretty sweet, I must say. The scenery was like a painting. We didn’t have a lot of time before we had to check out of the hostel, so we scurried out of the narrow, cobblestone streets. We made a quick pit-stop at the Mercadona where Alex bought us a variety of necessary ingredients for us to make sandwiches with on the bus ride to Valencia. Making sandwiches, cutting cheese, serving each other at the back of the bus… was pure magic. And it left us much more satisfied than usual.

We arrived in Valencia to the site of some amazing structures… we are definitely in a modern city. Upon arrival, we checked into the Red Nest Hostel and met Alex at an archeological museum nearby. The rest of the day was really fun as we climbed an intense tower of a cathedral to see an epic view of the whole city of Valencia, took some extremely adorable silly-face pictures with Melissa, and rode the local ferris wheel. Now that, was sweet.

I used the free wifi with my ipod at the top of the stairwell at the hostel and browsed the internet as I dripped with sweat. Lovey haha.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A True Gem of Dreams


The days seem to be getting more and more magical with each passing day. We just arrived in Altea, the first major stop of this weekend. It has been a dream come true so far.

Our day began this morning in Guardamar when we stood in line to buy our ticket to go to Alicante. Soon after we bought our tickets, one of the managers of the station came up to us and told us to watch our bags and belongings because the handful of ladies that purchased tickets before us were pick-pocketers… AKA Gypsies. At first, we were really confused about what was going on but soon realized what they meant. It was unbelieveable how obvious the Gypsies were. The four or so that were present at the bus station seemed to be crowding in on us, getting way too close, and were eyeing our bags. The movement of their eyes were so apparent… all twenty-five of us just hung onto our bags and stared at each other haha. Anyway, two buses came and picked us up as we headed off to Alicante.

From Alicante, we took a tram along the coast through a handful of interesting Spanish towns… we stopped at one and spent some time walking around before catching the 6:35pm tram to Altea. It was dreadfully hot today so Melissa, Sherry, and I did what we could to beat the heat and walked down to the beach, ate some ice-cream, and hid in the shade. The beaches there were so beautiful, oh my God. The water is a lot clearer than the water back in Guardamar! Ahhh. Eventually, we caught the tram to our final destination of the day: Altea. Once we got off the tram, Alex pointed to a dome structure on top of the hill and said, “We need to get there.”

The walk up to the small Altea town was unexpectedly steep, but we endured the burn we felt in our calves. The view of the whole town and scenery just got better and better the higher we went. Arriving at the top made us forget about how heavy we were breathing. The town was so beautiful! All the buildings are white, the streets are narrow, and an old-town Spanish culture runs proudly throughout the town. The “pension” that we are staying at is GREAT. It has private doubles so Melissa and I got a room together… with a sweet balcony! It was sick, dude! Haha.

We spent the evening browsing some really beautiful shops. Melissa and I even ate some Margarita Pizza for our candle-lit dinner! We rarely, ERRR hardly ever eat anything from anywhere but convenience stores. So it was a nice change of scenery… on my plate. We really enjoyed our one summer night in beautiful Altea. This gem of dreams is definitely one of my favorite towns in Spain, thus far. Hands down.

The cold shower I ended the night with was numbing haha. But, the view we have from the roof top terrace of our “pension” makes up for it, even the numbness. The view from the top of where we are staying is breathtaking. Melissa says it reminds her of Greece. For me, I felt at peace.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Back To the Ruins!


Today we took another class trip to the dunes and the ruins that we are incorporating into our final project for studio. This time around, we were able to soak everything up more like a sponge than the first time we visited. It was a lot more interesting, too. It's crazy to believe that there is still so much to uncover beneath the sand - definitely a city lost in time. Anyway, after documenting the site with pictures and sketches, we left the hot, hot sandy dunes and ate one of THEE best lunches at the Pension... YET. Oh my goodness. My mind, stomach, and soul were satisfied in just about every way after I cleaned those three plates.

Today was another work day in studio and Alex assigned some more work for us to do in the coming week or so. We're now really getting into our projects and site interventions... Wee! Busy weekend ahead!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Save the Fireworks... Recovery-mode!


To the U-S-of-A... Happy 4th of July!

Today was our recovery day, as we finally arrived back at the Pension around 11am. Man, that bus ride was brutal! Today we spent the day eating until we felt like we were going to burst and listening to a guest lecturer speak in studio today. Nothing too monumental happened today, but it was a good day to finally rest a bit. It's hard to believe that we only have a few weeks of the program left! Especially since this week will be another busy week of traveling... this time to Valencia and Barcelona! Well, so far that's the plan. Other than that, Alex reminded us of all the work we need to finish before the end of the month... yeah! It's so crazy.

Okay, time to go to bed while I can! Buenas noches!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

That was SO worth it.


Happy Sunday!

Today we woke up at 8:30am and met downstairs at 9am. We all took advantage of our free breakfast and ate cereal, toast, and drank some orange juice. As soon as we finished breakfast, we left the hostel and walked to the bus stop, where we took the bus to the bus station haha. Once we got there, we got in line to buy our tickets for the rest of our weekend trip. We couldn't believe how expensive the bus tickets were... but we had to do what we had to do. At least the program is covering 25 euros. Anyway, we ended up catching the 12pm bus to Cordoba, which was a two and a half hour ride. I dosed off here and there. Before I knew it, we were there!

We traveled in a pretty large group today: Lu, Edgar, Melissa, Leslie, Ceci, Jinah, Albert, Sherry, and I. A few others were with us as well but we split up somewhere along our journey though Cordoba today. Our first mission of the day was to see La Mezquita, a most famous mosque in Cordoba. Before arriving at the entrance, we walked in and out through really cute alley ways and streets, and yes, we took advantage of every photo OP available to us. The admission to go inside the Mosque was 8 euros, but it was SO worth it, dude.

The interior of La Mezquita was absolutely amazing... hmmm I should really try to come up with some better adjectives! It had a huge floor plan and I have never seen so many arches in one place! We ran into Alex for a bit and he informed us that all of the arches are supposed to reflect some sort of paradise, like palm trees below the clouds. The red and white stripes on the arches matched what Melissa and I were wearing so we were really excited about taking pictures together. Ahhh "Aye, pues..." haha it was so great.

Afterwards, our group walked around on the nearby bridge that went over the river. We watched as a father was watching his little son feed pieces of bread to local ducks which had flown into the water. If the ducks didn't catch the bread in time, it continued to float down the river until we saw a bunch of ENORMOUS fish come up and snatch the bread under water. It was so cool to watch! We threw in some more crackers just to watch these fish swim up to the surface. Of course, we took tons of pictures... haha soon after, we fled to the shaded streets and ate at Burger King for lunch haha! I know, I know. What tourist eats Burger King in Spain?! ... College kids do, apparently. We saved a few extra bucks by doing so! Although, I know I could have eaten at least two more of those happy meal burgers. Sometimes, Happy Meals just have to do.

We also found this famous little street called "Calleja de las Flores," which is a narrow alley way with beautiful potted plants all over each of the walls. It was LOVELY.

We ended our evening in Cordoba by going back to the bridge we went to earlier, once the sun went down, and raced our Burger King Happy Meal toys haha. I'm so serious. We even had an audience haha. We eventually made it back to the bus station and took a nine to ten hour bus ride to Guardamar which left at 12:20am. We just slept. Or... tried to at least. I think I was much more comfortable sleeping on the ground in the airport than I was sitting upright on the super long bus ride back haha. Oh well. More stories to tell.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

"She's a BEAST, dude!"


Today was our second day in Granada and we spent most of the day walking around the main City Plaza of where our new hostel was. I should mention that I totally knocked out last night at the old hostel. I was OUT like a log; I woke up this morning with some solid shut-eye. Anyway, after we arrived at our new hostel, we began walking. Oh! By the way, the hostel we're staying at right now is so awesome! It's very Spanish. I love the lobby room where the interior is decorated beautifully and there was traditional Spanish music playing.

But anywho, we started our day by going to the Market that was outside of the Cathedral. There were alleys and alleys, all intertwining and connecting that were filled with venders and sellers. There were so many beautiful and colorful things being sold... I didn't know where to look first! In the end, I bought a couple postcards, a magnet, a candle-holder, and a gorgeous hand-made, 100% leather purse... it's definitely going to last for a very, very long time haha. I love it. Since we split up into a few groups at this time, we reconvened later in the afternoon so we could officially check into our hostel. Edgar, Leslie, Ceci, Yoshie, Molly, Albert, Jinah, Lu, Matt, Cristian, and Sherry stayed on the top floor (By the way, I have never seen so many bunk-beds packed into one small room) while Melissa and I stayed on the floor below.

Later on we continued to walk around, shop, browse, and all that jazz. The night ended with us meeting up together for out reservation for the Flamenca performance in a nearby venue. Flamenca is a Spanish dance where a woman claps and taps her feet at impressive speed and precision to a guitarists melody. Anyway, we were lucky enough to see this performance, this Flamenca dancer and... Dude, the lady was a beast! The guitarist, older man, and woman performed amazingly. All I remember was how intense the lady was, how fast her feet moved, and how intimidating it must be for any guy to dance with her! Unless, of course, he can dance the dance twice as fast.

So amazing.

Friday, July 1, 2011

We Are In Granada!


Today was another adventure and I'm writing about it in a whole new place. It was a long journey but we finally made it to Granada. Our charter bus left Guardamar at 9am and we, for the most part, passed out on our four-hour bus ride. During the first half, I dosed off for a bit and listened to my ipod; but during the second half, I talked with Edgar about a whole buch of different things. He has so much knowledge about, well, everything really. At least I feel that way. I ended up asking him a bunch of questions that he answered with the best of his ability. It was so interesting and engaging that the time passed by so quickly and we were already getting off the bus in Guardamar.

Granada looked so beautiful even from the inside of the bus. The only downer was that because of some miscommunication, the bus driver couldn't take us directly to our hostel so he told us in Spanish, "You don't have a lot to carry, you can walk there from here." We didn't know where we were or where our hostel was but with the help of a map and some wifi from Yoshie's phone, we eventually found our way to our Hostel. It was enjoyable since our walk became a mini tour/adventure through the streets of Granada. I took a lot of picture, for sure! The crazy thing was that even though it looked overcast outside, it was still extremely HOT. Hotter than Guardamar, even! I didn't wear sunblock for the first time today so I burned a bit.

We had an appointment at the Alhambra at 4:30pm so that was the first place we hit up as soon as we were settled at our hostel. Since the bus driver kinda-sorta abandoned us earlier, we were running late for out appointment - so, we had to BOOK IT. Eventually, we found out how to get to the Alhambra... along the way, we stopped at various shops where they sold all kinds of souvenirs, treasure chests, lamps that were made out of leather, vibrantly-colored dresses... basically anything and everything awesome. It was all so lovely! Aside from the scorching heat, of course, the walk up to the Alhambra was so green, lush, and beautiful.

So, the Alhambra... what can I say? It was incredible. We visited the Palace itself, the garden and the hedges. I couldn't stop taking pictures!! Holey smokes. The Palace's interior was absolutely amazing. I don't know how to accurately describe it. Would you believe me if I told you that every wall, celing, column, corner... was all CARVED by HAND in incredible detail?! Because... it was, oh, it was.

Afterwards, we checked out the gardens and hedges and marveled at ever water feature that was installed within the landscape. It is such a peaceful place to be.