mejorar la vida.

things are feeling a lot better. i have a small cough and am feeling a little under the weather, but i think it´s just from the stress and rush of emotions and mixing medicinces and all that stuff together. the vision in my left eye is always blurry because the drops i am putting in dialate the pupil.

my only issue with this is that it makes studying for exams, etc. slightly more difficult because all the reading and seeing and stuff is only using my right eye, giving me a little headache.

other than that, i´m just praying for the inflamation to go away and for everything to be back to normal within a week. i have two more bumps (very small, almost not even raised, but slighlty pink) on my face this morning. maybe they are just pimples. i hope so, but i don´t think so.

yesterday i had a very spanish day. kristen and i went shopping in the old part of town in the morning. We went in search of some little, uniquely spanish shops. In Spain, there are the normal chain stores (like The Gap or Forever 21, etc.)called Zara, Mango, and Bershka, and there are the little stores in the old part of town where everything is special and not brand-named and all that jazz.

So I found more gifts for people (yay!) and the first wallet I have ever bought for myself. I figured I would enjoy it because everytime I see it, I will think of the old part of Pamplona and cherish that memory.

There seems to be a parade or festival in the old part of the city every weekend... and what do ya know? There was! There were huge muppet-like stilted people walking through the streets, music, dancers, and everything you would expect from a Spanish parade! How cool!

And we stumbled upon my favorite chocolate store (the one where the chocolate is imported from a village in another part of Spain) and of course had to stop and eat a chunk of chocolate. Later, we felt the need to get a muffin. Not just an ordinary muffin, a muffin in the most packed bakery I have ever seen, a muffin with chocolate chips and huge nuts. Kristen insisted. We waited in line behind all these people ordering dozens of pastries and stuff for our one muffin. Then we realized our dilemma - we didn´t even know how to say muffin! And out of nowhere, it popped into my head. Magdelena! Muffin! That´s it! So we ordered it with no problem and sat on a wet bench and savored our magdelena split in half. That´s the problem, we feel like we must indulge on these things in Spain. And we have to. Cuz when am I gonna go into a small family-owned bakery and order a magdalena ever again?

After I did some studying and eating of lunch, it was time for adventures with my intercambio, Fernando.

He took me to the stupid Gallipot again, that bar he took me to on our first meeting. But i guess we are getting used to each other, and even if he speaks too much in english, i still reply in spanish... getting some practice rather than none. later, we went to eat pintxos (i think that´s how you spell it). it´s kinda what i did with amaia and beatriz the other night... it´s when the spaniards go out before dinner for little appetizers and drinks. it´s definitely not something i´m used to, and after two of these little bars in a row, with a glass of wine at each (you can´t order water... it´s, in fernando´s words, too big(they give you a big water bottle rather than a small glass of wine or a small cup of beer)... because you have to drink something small at each place, which apparently means alcohol. it´s what they do. it´s not very suitable for me.. i was feeling pretty happy after the two bars we went to. a bit weird to be feeling tipsy after a ¨school-related event,¨ but, then again, my spanish seemed to flow out of my mouth much more easily (haha, great).

I came home around 10, but i was in no state to resume my studies, so i translated my spanish music magazine into english and went to sleep. i get to learn all the news about the new clap your hands say yeah cd in spanish. woo! better than no information.

my sister is watching the family guy in spanish.

today i intend to do all the fun stuff in life - study, work out my spring schedule (for which i have to wake up at 3 in the morning here in order to schedule at the respective u.s. time), figure out internship and scholarship applications, more homework, etc. there are some things you just cannot escape no matter what country you flee to.

time for fun stuff! i miss you all!!!!

hasta luego. (pronounced here as ¨hastloogo¨ really quickly and almost indistinguishable)