the Spain roundup

First, a goodbye to November and a welcome to the last month of our trip. We've got only 23 days left, unbelievable to think how long ago I was in LA with Zach and Jori, San Francisco with James and Ben, Dartmouth, even Costa Rica with Antal was almost a month ago. what a crazy ride this is

Now, we've done and seen a lot so here goes. We rolled into Seville and hit up this hostel that got awesome reviews, a place called Oasis. We show up, the place is filled with young people socializing. The whole setup is beautiful, so we get our room, relax for a little bit, then walk around Seville a little before crashing that night. oh yeah, before we crashed, i freestyle rapped with this guy downstairs for like 40 minutes, we had a nice little crowd of hostelers watching, haha.

the next day we checked out alcazar, the old palace and cathedral in Seville. Really breathtaking, its the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, which, while not as impressive as the 2nd or 1st largest cathedral in the world, is still impressive. We climbed a tower and looked out over the whole city. Then we came back, lay down in the sun under the statue of Velasquez (sp?) for a little bit. Then, later that night, we went to this awesome underground bar and flamenco show. We drank the best sangria i've ever had with some girls we met there (including one named Dayna Arena, hilarious i know but anyway). The flamenco show was incredible though, it was a guitarist and an older man singing. He was so passionate about the music, sometimes smiling and singing playfully, other times nearly screaming with anger or sorrow or whatever the song was about. A really unforgettable experience.

The following day we walked along the waterfront and just chilled for a while before going on a tapas tour and back to the flamenco show where they had a woman doing real flamenco dance this time. Very Cool.

We rolled into Granada the next morning, checked into the Oasis in Granada, and immediately walked up to the Alhambra. The palace is unlike anything I've ever seen, religious motifs from different centuries, different religions, different rulers. Architecture from the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Andalusians, Christians, even Persians-- and everywhere, always, running water. The lower end of the palace is filled with fountains which are fed by the various water systems that run through the rest of the palace down to them. Pools are always filled with fish. And the view from the guard tower is a full 360, way above the city. One of my favorite things we've done.

Then we flew into Barcelona yesterday. In true barca fashion, last night was ridiculous. We drank some wine with our homecooked dinner at Jason's flat, drank a 6-liter whiskey and coke among myself, Jason, Dallas, and Mark. Dal and I convinced this really beautiful girl that, like her, we were from Minnesota and that we went to Franklin High in St. Paul. Then, I convinced her that I work for the CIA. haha, its not lying, its flirting. At 4:30AM Jason and I decided to head home early, a little tired from the travel but slightly upset to be going home at such an early hour. Barca is crazy. I have no idea what time Dal and Mark went back.

So thats where I am now, lying in bed at Cook's flat, its 11:30AM and my head is bumping. oh well, the price we pay.

So now some speculative things-- I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next summer. Obviously my financial situation has an important impact on that, but assuming I'll be okay, what do I do? Here are some options I've come up with:
1) Internship/Job
Pros: Steady Income, resume building
Cons: waking up early, having to do something when somebody tells me
2) Trip Part 2
Pros: See more of the world, Russia/Turkey/Croatia/Greece/Egypt/Israel, have fun
Cons: i'm already tired from traveling a lot, kinda want to chill out for a while. plus, I only speak arabic and, other than in Egypt, I won't be able to communicate well (Russian, Turkish, Croatian, Greek, and Hebrew are not my specialties).
3) Learn a language or 2 somewhere
Pros: Love learning languages, wouldn't mind getting started on Chinese. Also, there are language centers in interesting places all across the world. Could potentially live in Sevilla or something while I learned Chinese, random but cool.
Cons: Not sure I want to travel anymore (see above) and maybe want to do something productive or be around my friends.

Anyways, let me know what you think

love and happy december

Andrew