“Lo que es valioso no es nuevo, y lo que es nuevo no es valioso.” -Voltaire

TODAY! Today is fantastic so far!
Nothing too special, just class this morning, which was somewhat difficult considering the festivities from last night with the soccer win, but we survived. After an adventure of learning just how difficult it is to print in Spain and some lunch at a little cafe in the main square we came back to the dorm.
BUT Kathryn and I went for a run up the road that she went on yesterday and the view was absolutely amazing. Just mind-blowing. I could have stayed up there for hours. I didn't even realize how much time had gone by I was so focused on the view the whole time. I could and definitely plan on doing that everyday. The next clear day I'll take a picture and post it. It's such a great view because it is a straight hill the whole time which gets you high enough that you get a full panoramic-picture-perfect-what-I-want-to-remember-as-my-envision-of-Alcoy view. I just can't even describe it :) Jack you're going to have to get here early so you can run it with me!
One of the things that I was discussing with my mom before I left was the how the body can adjust to different climates. I knew that it was going to be pretty hot here, but I was wondering if having worked in New Orleans all last summer may have helped a bit as far as my body tolerances for warmer weather goes. When I realized that I had just ran up a 20% grade hill in a black t-shirt and dark blue shorts with it being 75 degrees and sunny but felt absolutely perfect...I decided that I think that I've adjusted a little to warm weather. :D Granted there was some of a breeze....but still....

"What is valuable is not new, and what is new is not valuable." -Voltaire

P.S. I am going to have a ridiculous farmer's tan by the end of this trip....it is coming along in style!

Fuuutbol Club Barceloooona, Barca! Barca! Barca!

"You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all, just as an intelligence without the possibility of expression is not really an intelligence. Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are nothing." -Luis Buñuel

Two words: 70% Cocao! :D
Life is good.Unfortunately I didn't end up getting the chance to try the intense cycling class the other day, but next week we do! Tuesday we went for a walk to the mall and sports store to try to get jerseys for the game (see below), but were unsuccessful, but such as luck...we still had fun.
Kary, Tony A., Tony R, Lucas, Ellen, Jenna, Kathryn and Damien:
Yesterday we went on a tour of an Olive factory which has been in the area since 1926 I believe. It was interesting, we got to see a mini-museum, video and the actual factory area. It certainly smelled strongly in there! They did give us free samples of traditional green olives stuffed with anchovies though. I have a hunch I know who in our family will be trying those ;)Afterward I tried to do some work at the computer lab at the University, but it was crazy crowded and was unsuccessful in finding a computer that worked properly so I came back to the room and researched for my paper for a bit. At 3:00 we headed back to the University for four hours of classes and then went straight to the main square for the League Championship!! For those of you that don't follow soccer, Barcelona played Manchester United last night for the League Championship. I think you can probably guess who everyone in Spain was cheering for. It was very funny because Steve and Lucas (two guys on the trip) decided to wear their Manchester United clothes for the game so as we entered the square we had about 150 Barcelona fans greeting us with jeers, cheers and general noise beyond belief. There was a big screen set up for everyone to watch and it was absolutely crazy.
Some Barcelona fans intent on the introduction ceremony to the game:
Rocio, Damien, Tony Rizzo and Matt:When Barcelona won (they were the underdogs big time) chaos ensued. The Spanish celebrate everything with fireworks and to say it was like fourth of july would give the wrong impression. These were fireworks all over the place loud enough to send shock waves through the crowd. It was chaotic, but a ton of fun to celebrate and do the cheers with the Barcelona fans. I'm not quite sure how to even describe it. I'm going to try to put up some pictures of the celebrations in a little bit, once I get them from Ellen. Long and short it was one of my favorite nights of the trip so far. I'm looking forward to the game in Valencia!
Marisa's very official completely (not even remotely un)biased
FCBarcelona Player Pick
Manchester United Player Pick

"La vida es lo que te pasa mientras estas ocupado haciendo otras cosas." -John Lennon

We haven't been up to much since, unfortunately, they actually expect us to do schoolwork while we're here. Yesterday we had class and afterwards some poeple went exploring some new Spanish restaurants while others went to the grocery store to pick up some snacks and such.
At 5:15 there was a walk with focusing on modernist architecture, which I was very very upset to find that I accidentally slept through the departure time when I woke up at 5:30. Not cool.
I was so sad about missing this that I decided to have my own personal cultural experience and went for a walk ultimately finding my way to the park near our dorm. I stayed here for quite a while just relaxing, drawing a little, writing a little and generally taking in the sights. I think that this is one of my favorite spots that we've spent any real amount of time in. I was sitting on the guard rail with this to my right, the rising homes and buildings in front of me and to the left the city and the famous mountain's with St. George's gap.

I did make a friend though! I wanted to go down and see him because he looked so handsome, but I couldn't figure out quite how I would get down... It doesn't look like the picture turned out as well published on the blog, but there's a beautiful white horse that is is above the pine tree's branch. It was absolutely awesome to see him run around for a while. Two guys came running out after him a little bit later, looks like he may have made a break for some freedom. ;) If you click on the picture you can see a bigger version which shows the horse much better.
Later on a pick up basketball game was started which got to be pretty intense and highly entertaining with some of the Spanish guys. After dinner some people watched a movie, others played some soccer (Bayo managed to mess up his wrist bringing his total number of injuries to 3. He is currently on the way to the hospital to get x-rays on his wrist). I went and checked out the gym in the dorm for a bit, but I'm excited because I think next week we're going to start a spinning class which is supposed to be highly highly entertaining. Overall it turned out to be a good day despite missing the trip.
Today we haven't been up to much of anything special either, had class and lunch at the cafeteria. Pau gave Ellen, Jenna and I a ride back to the dorm which was sweet, but then had a dorm picture with all the hall residents. I will try to put up a copy of the picture later. Sounds like basically everyone will be working on the 7 page research paper due next week. Looks like I should work on finding a topic like everyone else...

But in the mean time these are some pictures from PE Girls Getaway, Easter and Graduation (Thank you Dad!)
Mom and I at the Pasquerilla East (my dorm at ND) Chapel:
Easter Sunday brunch with the family and Juliana:Commencement Mass on Saturday afternoon:Jack and Juliana right after the morning graduation ceremony:
The whole family at St. Mary's in the morning:
Juliana and parents after the morning graduation:Jack and Juliana in front of the dome:
Dad and Jack:
Obama at the Commencement:
Well it sounds like later today we might actually get a chance to try out the intense/hilarious spinning class, wish me luck!

OH and P.S.
Thanks for the comments from the first day's post! I just saw then today and I was really excited :D Thank you for reading if you've gotten this far I'm glad to hear that people are following!
And for Jack ;)


"Life is what happens when you are busy doing other things." -John Lennon

Estoy Pensando en Espanol!

Despues de un fin de semana a Alicante y hable mucho en Espanol estoy pensando en Espanol! Esta muy dificil para hablar en Ingles con mis amigos solamente.

This weekend I went to Alicante to visit my family! I stayed with Juan, Rosa and their daughters Carmela and Lucia. One of the things that is most interesting to me here is the quantity of music and movies from the United States that are played. At every store that I've gone to I've heard an American song. And while I was in Alicante I was able to see many TV shows and movies that had been dubbed in Spanish. It's just very interesting to see because it's something that I wouldn't have thought of typically. I guess we just take it for granted in the US. Besides eating a some ridiculously amazing food, we talked a lot and walked the streets of Alicante and got to see barrios (some of the neighborhoods):
The beautiful marina and the beachs:

Some of the best views in Alicante from a garden near the area that the castle is:

Some beautiful churches:
After a walk we went back to the house, had some coffee and Juan's sister and family and chatted with some sweets for a good while. After a bit, Abuelcita (Juan's mother) went home and went went for another walk at night.
Even though it was difficult for me to speak in Spanish we were still able to have interesting conversations ranging from from politics to the family to differences between the US and Spain. I'm going to probably try to ask my dad to send some pictures from Jack's graduation because I know the family wants to see some pictures. It was good to see Carmita Losada even though she has trouble speaking after her stroke. She misses her sister a lot, but showed me pictures from when they were younger. I wish that the entire family could meet up together.
On the drive back to Alcoy, rather than take the highway, Juan and Rosa were very nice and drove me back on one of the older roads that winds through the mountains. They were even nice enough to stop so that I could take a picture! The scenery is absolutely gorgeous, I love the mountains. Even though they are much smaller than the Rockies, the way that the towns are laid out remind me of Colorado, just sprawlled across valleys and crevices. I'm looking forward to showing Jack and my mom the area when they come after the classes so they can see the towns and meet the family!
This isn't the highest point on the mountain, but it's probably the highest level that we reached in the car. And it made a very good picture!It was a shame to come back to the dorm, the food is good, but just doesn't compare! It was also a very somber return because the soccer team, Alcoyano lost in the game that would have given them the opportunity to move up a division (That's a really big deal if you don't follow soccer).
I know that there are about a million and one things that I wanted to say on here that I've forgotten already somehow, but I guess I just had a little bit of an overload! I do know that I think the last weekend I will, and perhaps some of the other students, will go back to Alicante with me for a celebration that is going on.
While I was gone, the other students also went to Alicante and spent the day on the beach. I know that they stopped by the castle and then went to a Spanish ballet and went out to a pub. Sunday they mostly slept in and then eventually went on a hike in the foothills south of the city I believe. It was a bit after that I ended up getting back to the dorm and meeting up with them.
Well for now that's all. Hopefully I will remember some of the things I wanted to say tomorrow! I neet to start taking more notes....

El Viernes Primero

Today was pretty quiet after staying out so late last night. Most people slept in as long as physically possible and then showed up to class. We were lucky that they pushed back the start time for today to 11:15 which was nice of them. It meant that we got out of class earlier, but it gave us more much needed sleep. It's strange though, I am definitely adjusting to their schedule and the way I think about what is "late". Dinner time from 9:00-10:00pm to put things in perspective so the day is somewhat adjusted. After class almost everyone went back to the dorms to catch up on sleep, but I went to the computer lab at the University since I wasn't sure if the internet was working or not at the dorm again. After I failed about 6 times to login I had Rocio help me and promptly felt like I was about 12 years old since I could not log onto a computer. Around 6, Rocio showed me where the bus stop is and then I kept her company while she picked up some things from her house. I got to meet her mom who was so so sweet and see pictures of her sister. On the way back we just chatted and actually ended up seeing her boyfriend drive by, which was good because she was late for meeting him and at least he would know that she was going to be late! It was interesting to talk to her, I had a lot of fun just hanging out. By the time I got back to the dorm most people were still essentially passed out and it was quiet.
Dinner was pretty good and we just relaxed until deciding to go out and get some really good ice cream at the place we went a few days ago. Nice and relaxed day!
Brought a bit of home with me! Welcome to Spain!

La Fiesta de los Estudiantes de Estados Unidos!

Yesterday we had another double dose of Ethics since the other Professor still wasn't doing very well. It was a little more entertaining today that it has been since Professor Schmidt decided to tell us a few stories about people who tried to sue for extreme liability cases. It's pretty crazy what people will do to try to make some money. After class we tried a new place for lunch, which happened to be the headquarters/meeting place for a fila in Alcoy. A fila is similar to a New Orleans krewe or a club that participates in Christians and Moors. It just happened to be a bar in the middle of an elementary school attached to a church. It was however very very good and the people were really nice about accommodating such a big group. Pau was ridiculously nice and took pity on us and helped us with understanding the menu.
This is a church on the way to the University that we pass every day that I thought was very pretty



The glass building at the end of this alley is one of the two buildings of the UniversityAfter lunch we headed back to the dorm for our siesta and most people took a nap to some extents. I woke up after a little while and decided to go for an excursion with Jenna and Ellen. We got some really good treats at a little supermercado and walked around a park near the dorm. Then we decided to go exploring and successfully navigated all the way to the mall which we were very proud of. By the time we were done wandering the mall we had to head back to be back in time for some dinner (really good by the way) and get ready for the party.
This is one of the views from the park by our dorm

Some graffiti in the park: "Do not think in the past, but create a beautiful future"

The University decided to through a welcome party for us in the cafeteria of the University with live music etc etc. We were pretty much convinced that no one would show up, but most of the other exchange students (mostly from Turkey or South America, but also other places as well) showed up which was fun. After a bit we headed over to the area with the clubs to explore. We went into a place called Liverpool since it was still a bit early for the clubs, and eventually made our way to a place called Gaudi. We didn't stay there long before heading over to "The Western" which was designed to look like a wild wild west saloon. It was very funny to walk into a place that was decorated in "American" wild west paraphanelia, they were even handing out cowboy hats which the guys fought over once getting their hands on a few. The DJ humored us and played some American music including Brittany Spears, Beach Boys and the YMCA to much entertainment.

Escuela en Espana?? Es loco!

hola! Hoy esta el primer dia de escuela en Espana. Para quatro horas! El professor tiene un hija y no te gusta tener ver Disney para quatro horas, ella eres muy triste.

hello! Today was the first day of school in Spain. For four hours! The professor has a daughter and she did not like having to watch Disney for four hours, she was very sad.

Since our other professor is in the hospital (They think that she broke her ankle, but she has an infection so with teh complications she is staying overnight just in case) we had a double dose of Engineering Ethics today. In fact we may be having that all week if the other professor is not feeling well soon. It actually wasn't as bad as it sounds, the subject matter was interesting and we kept up with doing different things to keep it going. But I don't think that anyone was happy about being assigned three chapters of homework for tomorrow! Another neat view of the decorations left over from the Christians and Moors festival in April.

After class we had lunch at the cafeteria again (although today I split it with Betty since they give us SO SO much food!) and then headed back to our dorm for a little siesta time. It's a little annoying that after class it's siesta so no shops are open and all, but on the flip side if forces you to just chill out a bit, which I can't say is too terrible either!
I got some homework done and successfully wrote a email to Juan (some family in Alicante which is 45min south of Alcoy) which I was so extremely proud of completing I thought I'd share. :) Katheryn and I also both were able to successfully call home (hi Mr. Acord!!) which was also a huge plus.
After the siesta we went to the Refuge of Cervantes which was one of the underground refuges that the people of this city used to protect themselves of the air assault during the Spanish Civil War. It was interesting to talk to Rocio about this, she said that both of her paternal grandparents remember it and what it was like to stay in the refuge. And because of that her grandpa always insists on "clearing your plate" because he there was a lot of starvation during the war.
...this is a famous picture from the Spanish Civil War, just after he was shot. The reasons this photo is important according to Prof Schmid is following:
First of all, it's very graphic, and it is famous, as it was used in many newspapers and posters before World War II to show the horrors of war. The people of Alcoy know that the soldier was an Alcoy citizen. Alcoy was opposed to Franco, so they suffered a lot in the Spanish Civil War.

This is the "medical station" for the refuge which held up to 1000 people at a time

This is some of the war propaganda...from the Italian bombers

This is looking down the fall of the refuge...it was very echoing of the concentration camps in Germany.

After the refuge we walked around Alcoy a little bit exploring the city. Rocio and Pablo brought us to the Camp de Futbol "El Colleo" (Soccer Stadium) in Alcoy. This is from the outside:

And we ended up seeing some workers who let us go into the stadium and go right up to the grass. I thought this was a neat picture of what you get to see from the background of the stadium!

Ellen and Jenna:

Alcoy, like many cities is victim to a changing of times. The city is peppered with old buildings from the rich of previous generations, but are now falling to disarray. This is a church that we passed on the way back to the dorm. Apparently it is where Elena and Miguel were married :)

Long and short it was a good day since we got some HAMBURGERS for dinner!! :) Granted they were a little different, but overall a good day.

El segundo dia de Espana

Today we had orientation and officially are celebrities!

http://www.diarioinformacion.com/secciones/noticia.jsp?pRef=2009051900_15_888089__Alcoy-Alumnos-Notre-Dame-eligen-campus-Alcoy-como-sede-programa-verano

We started off the day with some "breakfast" aka combinations of chocolate pastries. But don't worry it was a "volcan de engergia!" (please forgive those who speak Spanish, I don't know how to do accentos on this) Then we headed over to see the University and got to see where various things are. (see below)

We were then offically greeted by the president of the University, and after a short break, went to town hall to be greeted by the mayor of the city! Inside of town hall:

and a painting depicting the killing of a mayor that the citizens decided they did not approve of:
We then wandered around the city a little and had lunch at the cafeteria de Universidad and headed back to the resident halls for a mini siesta (afternoon break). Most of us took a nice nap and I organized my things a bit. Then we met up around 5:00pm to go to a museum called "Explora", which gave us a short overview of the history of Alcoy. After a short visit at a church we went to a little restaurant and had our first Spanish beers (Alhambra Reserva because we're classy like that) and headed back over to the resident halls for dinner. :)