Bonjour mes amis!
I’ll be taking a bit of a different direction with this
post. However, before I do that I would like to announce that I have chosen the
city that I will (hopefully) be living in a year from now… SALAMANCA! I still have
to talk with my academic adviser, but as of right now, that is the location! I
have a couple of reasons for choosing Salamanca over Granada, a few of which I
will share with you now:
1.
Salamanca is smaller
2.
Salamanca is close to Madrid and is more
centrally located
3.
The University of Salamanca is extremely old and
prestigious, and it also draws in a lot of university-aged students from around
the world
4.
It has less tourists than Granada
5.
I was reading a blog written by a student living
in Granada, and he said that there are a lot of Rasta-type people hanging
around all of the squares smoking dope (sorry, but that’s not really my scene)
6.
There was also word floating around that the
Spanish in Granada is a lot harder to understand and sort of looked down upon
by other Spanish-speakers
Now, I honestly don’t know if numbers five and six are true,
so if they’re not.. well, too late! I will definitely still visit Granada while
I’m in Spain, though. Also, my dad wasn’t a huge fan of the fact that I would
be going to Morocco on the Granada program (civil unrest and what not). On the
other hand, my mom is a very big supporter of traveling and exploring new parts
of the world, and told me to go where I
want to. I have wanted to go to Morocco for a while, however, I decided to
respect my dad’s wishes and hold off on that trip. But if I don’t get my first
choice, I could still end up going to Granada, so we’ll see!
So this week...
Films – I am a huge
fan of films. They’ve made my rather hard year adjusting to uni quite a bit
more bearable. This week I didn’t watch
quite as many films as I normally do because of exams, homework, and an
astonishing increase in social life.
I started off this week with the 1997 animated film, Anastasia. This is a childhood favorite
and never fails to boost my spirits, so after my French exam on Monday I popped
it in. The astounding cast, including Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Angela Lansbury,
Kelsey Grammer, Hank Azaria, Christopher Lloyd, Bernadette Peters, and Kirsten
Dunst, and Disneyesque quality (it’s not Disney, I promise!) make it a
very fun film to watch.
I didn’t watch another film until Thursday night, when, on a
whim, I decided to watch Moulin Rouge!
It’s one of four films that I have at uni with me, the other three being: Pretty Woman, The Devil Wears Prada, and Beauty
and the Beast. I know. Pretty deep films. I promise I have a much more
eclectic taste than these four represent. They’re the few films from home that
were actually, fiscally, mine.
Friday morning I received a text from my friend Kelsey
(another brave Californian trying out the East Coast) asking if I wanted to
grab dinner and go to a movie. We went to see the new Tina Fey and Paul Rudd
movie, Admission. All I can say is:
Paul Rudd is very attractive and Tina should stick to performing her own writing. Basically, it wasn’t as funny as Kelsey and I
thought it would be, which is a shame because I think both actors are hilarious if they have the right material. We both agreed we didn’t hate it, but we didn’t love it.
It sort of left a lukewarm impression on us. Also, we had these super obnoxious
people next to us who were snorting (no joke) and yelling at the screen. Who
does that? And it was rather uncomfortable because, based on some comments they
made, I think they were admissions people for my university! AGHH! Maybe they were
the people who admitted me! So unsettling.
My last film of the week was Beauty and the Beast. Nice, light film to listen and sing along to
while working on homework.
Also, I received a Netflix this week. La Vie en Rose. I am very excited to watch it and will let you know
what I think!
Television – Unfortunately,
I don’t have a TV in my dorm room. Fortunately, I live in 2013 and have a
computer. Hulu, Netflix, sites I prefer NOT to mention: you are my good
friends. This week I have been serial watching Friends, one of my favorite shows ever (I’ve watched all of the
episodes, countless times, except for the very last one, because I like to
pretend it never ends! I don't make much sense, do I?) That’s okay! I’ve also
been watching A Game of Thrones. I
absolutely love the books, and people rave about the series, so I thought I’d
give it a shot. I’ve only seen two episodes, so I haven’t made up my mind about
it yet, but I’ll keep at it and see how I feel. I also watched the new How I Met Your Mother, The Mindy Project,
and New Girl. I love all of these
shows so much!
Books – I love
books and stories, but I don’t read as much as I should. Over my spring break I
decided I should try to read more. I am currently reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (liked the film,
thought I’d try the book) and Nicholas
and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie (love history, am fascinated by this
particular time, location, and family).
Small (Travel) Book
Haul: I just purchased Fodor’s Spain
2013 (for obvious reasons!) from my uni’s bookstore. It was rather pricey
at $24.99, but I figured it’s something that will come in handy in the long
run. I also purchased Hanging Out in
England (2001 Edition – I wonder if the “hoppin’” pubs they mention are still as “hoppin’” as they were twelve years ago!) and Rick
Steves’ Ireland 2005 from my favorite used bookstore downtown! Together
they were under $7! Whata deal! They may be outdated, but they’ll still give me
good tips!
Bits o’ News – I
am currently obsessed with Tazo’s Earl Grey Lavender tea. I. Am. Obsessed. As
in 20 oz tea every time I stop at the coffee shop. This is new/odd for me, as I
am a crazy coffee drinker/ ex-latte drinker. I still have about a half a cup of
coffee every morning, but I seem to drink less and less every day. I also used
to drink a latte every day and now it’s down to one every two weeks or so.
I am also in love with The
Mortal Instruments series. They’re a young adult fiction series written by Cassandra
Clare. And I have to say, they are pretty freakin’ awesome! I feel like I should
be reading all of these classics (Bronte, Salinger, Fitzgerald, etc.) right now
and act all adult, but I can’t help it… I love my YA! I just finished City of Glass (the third book) about a
week ago and can’t wait to get my hands on City
of Fallen Angels.
Finally, to end on a positive note, my plane home is booked! May 5th! So
long Pennsylvania, hello California! It’ll be so good to be home, I simply
cannot wait!
Au revoir, mes chéris!
