Alyse in Wonderland

Argentina Calling

2010-11-19T03:42:00.005+07:00

When I left SE Asia, I promised myself that I wouldn´t take another twelve hour night bus. Well, promise has been kept as Argentine distances tend to be between 16-23 hours! Anyway, it´s been just over two weeks, and I can´t believe how fast time is flying. I´ve been having a great time meeting people and enjoying the cities and the countryside. Here are a few quick notes about the cities I´ve been to so far:

Buenos Aires: Really big. I stayed at Palermo House Hostal and met a lot of Americans, so much so that I felt the need to leave BA pretty quickly, despite how cool and awesome they were (two studying in Chile, one who works a diamond mine in Sierra Leone, one creative director, etc). Regardlessm I needed to feel in Argentina so I left after two or three days. The hostel workers were really nice and had a lot of good advice on Tango clubs, etc - very much a party hostel.

Anyway, La Boca district is fairly touristy and pretty beautiful. It doesn´t seem dangerous, but it is. Most of BA´s theft tends to happen there. The cemetary in Recoleta is a lot bigger than it seems and includes many of Argentina´s wealthiest dead. Saw the madres in the Plaza Mayor in front of the Casa Rosada. They march every Thursday at 3pm.

I think my favorite part of my brief stay in BA was the art museums. My god is Argentine modern art purely amazing! MALBA and Museo de Belles Artes were just incredible. The first is discounted every Weds. and the latter is free. I´ll probably go back there and write some art-inspired poetry. I think I could stare at those pieces all day long.

Puerto de Iguazu: Wow! Beautiful waterfalls, totally worth the 20hr bus ride. I met an Aussie girl who had spent the last 6 months traveling around South America. She´s only 18 and hasn´t even started Uni yet, a very bright and lively chica. Anyway, the two of us romped around the national park, taking snacks and a bunch of photos. Buses to the cataratas were only about 15 pesos ida y vuelto and the second day to the falls garners a 50% discount.

The first day at the falls there was a butterfly who landed on my arm and stayed with me for over half an hour. I named him Eduardo the Butterfly. Other animals included coati (racoon-like creatures), condors, iguanas and little lizards, and birds. Loved it, especially the Sendero Macuco and Isla San Martin.

La Garganta del Diablo wasn´t all that impressive after seeing everything else, but damn there´s a lot of water. I read somewhere that in the 1930s you could pay a local boater to row out to the top of La Garganta and row rapidly against the extreme current for a unique and highly dangerous photo opp, but after the death of one boater and six German tourists, the adventure was deemed illegal and thus no longer exists.

Córdoba: Here I met up with my long-time friend, Nelson (yes, there exists an Argentinine named Nelson). We had met four years ago, more or less randomly, in BCN. Ask me later for the story. I stayed with his family in Villa Allende just outside the city. One day we went to the campo where I met Minda del campo, the man who takes care of Nelson´s family´s acres of farmland and animals. He´s, to put it in one word, awesome. An old man full of life and energy, laughing at us crazy gringos that come to say hello to him and share some bizcocho and maté. He really liked me, the hugely tall american girl. I´ll post pics of him on Facebook later.

The following day we went to Alta Gracia to see Ché Guevarra´s first home. Not terribly interesting except a quote that says, ¨Leer y escribir es andar¨meaning To read and write is to walk. Love it. That and apparently Castro and Chavez visited in 2006... woo. Oh el comunismo.

More later on Mendoza and Chile.

Reinventing the Revival

2010-09-11T05:39:00.003+07:00

I'm bringing this bitch back!

Lookout for more poems and more random adventures... quit the job and heading to Argentina in November. What this means is I've got two months to compile my book of poetry and break free to the big bad world of wanderlusty profound confusion.

Zing!

The Final Days of SE Asia

2009-04-06T11:15:00.003+07:00

The last ten days of Vietnam and Bangkok were certainly bittersweet. After leaving Jungle Beach, we took a grueling and miserable night bus to Hoi An where we were supposed to meet my parents at a nice hotel. The overnight sleeper bus beds were clearly meant for non-western people. They were all too small with a box for your feet to go in. Not to mention someone had gone through our bags in search for valuables. The bus was cramped and uncomfortable. Those on the top bunks had a constant fear of falling out to the narrow passageway below. Valium and sleeping pills helped only a little. To make matters worse, the dates at the hotel were mixed up and we had to trek around looking for a new one and letting the parentals know where we were.

Tailored Clothes Galore!
Hoi An is a wonderful place, quaint and infested with millions of tailor shops. You can get anything you want made for any price. Alison and I got jackets made (without which we'd be dying in freezing Tokyo). I also got a dress made. The last time I had anything tailored was when I went to Venezuela about eleven years ago for my cousin's first wedding. Our friends, Steve and Tyler, got all too many things made for them: suits, shirts, jeans and.... Team Zissou suits from Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic. Hilarious.

Aside from tailor shops and various markets, Hoi An is host to ancient Buddhist ruins called My Son. We did a tour there and found out that the temples would've been more complete if the U.S. didn't bomb them during the Vietnam-America War, known to the Vietnamese as the American War. After being in Southeast Asia for over four months, the ruins weren't that impressive. After seeing Angkor Wat, you really don't want to see another temple. Still, My Son is interesting and beautiful.

Driving through the DMZ
From Hoi An, we took a four hour bus up to Hue. There we walked around the citadel but skipped out on the tombs and other attractions. We took an all day tour to the Demilitarized Zone, aka DMZ. The tour was miserable. We spent all day in a sauna, aka our bus, driving across the country and stopping at minor sites to take pictures. If you are a history buff or someone who enjoys scenic bus rides, this tour is for you. All in all, I learned a lot from the tour and the Vinh Moc tunnels were cool, but I've had it with bus rides especially since we had to board a night bus to Hanoi right after the tour. This was another miserable bus ride where my ipod got stolen as well. Hopefully, travel insurance will be able to compensate me for some of the cost.

Hanoi and Halong Bay
Hanoi was relaxing and pleasant. The weather there is cooler than in the south and the people more localized. It does not have much of a westernized feel like Ho Chi Minh City had. Here, we booked a one night two day tour to Halong Bay on a deluxe boat, which was not deluxe but still very nice. Basically how these tours work is you get what you pay for and everyone pays a different price for the same thing. Unfortunately, our trip was dawned with gloomy weather, a few arrogant guests and a crew that kept super over-charging us for random things. The rest of Hanoi was fun, just some shopping and saying goodbye to Vietnam and my parents.

Bangkok... the last three days
So Bangkok is, well, Bangkok. The one cool thing is that we were on Khao San Rd. for the 60th hour, also known as Earth hour, which is an event that supposedly took place worldwide, a simple concept: one hour lights off. It was pretty cool to be there.

From Cars to Motorbikes: The “Tuk Tuk” Phenomenon

2009-04-05T10:28:00.001+07:00

The automobile has been one of the world’s greatest inventions, giving people an affordable and convenient method of personal travel. Although the versatility and usefulness of cars still reign in many parts of the world, in Southeast Asia motorcycles and scooters seem to be not only more common, but more cost effective and necessary for livelihood

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Viet Nam as told by a young American

2009-03-21T17:44:00.009+07:00

Well, I must first say that Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon is utter madness. Imagine standing on a street corner watching herds of honking motorbikes zoom past you like a Disney cartoon of Goofy attempting to cross the street. I'm pretty sure motorbikes outnumber people here. Aside from that, HCMC is just another large city. We only spent two days there. Saw the Reunification Palace which is decked out in 70s decor asian style.

NAM, War and Tears
The War Museum was quite a heart-wrenching experience. Simple and plain with halls of pictures, this museum will scare you and if you're America it may just haunt you. After being in Phnom Penh and seeing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime at the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng, I couldn't help but find comparisons between the tactics. It's sickening really. What was especially interesting was the exhibit of photos by photographers who had died in the war. Then there's the pictures of the lasting effects of Agent Orange, not to mention the pickled deformed fetuses in one corner. This museum made me never want to go back to the US, especially with the double war in Afghanistan and Iraq. But, it's home and I've got the return ticket already.

Mui Ne Hey Hey
From there, we moved up the coast to resort Mui Ne. Boring boring for longer than a day, unless you want to drop $250 and learn to kite surf for a day or surf or just relax on the beach. Ok, so maybe not that boring, but we've done plenty of that already aside from kite surfing. The white and red sand dunes were amazing. It felt like a time warp to Morrocco. My favorite was the Fairy Creek or Fairy Trail. You walk a km or two down murky ankle-deep waters like walk through the river Styx to a fairly mediocre waterfall. One side of the walk is full of green and life while the other is sand and death. It's truly an incredible sight. Not to mention that it felt like we needed some M16s to hold high above our heads and the water to be eye level. Amazing is an understatement for this mini-trek.

Nha Trang and it's Jungle boogie Beach
We went diving in Nha Trang for $35 for two dives including lunch. It's definitely cheaper than Thailand for certifications. Advanced SSI was $175 and gives you six dives. We went to Octupus Divers, which supposedly is one of the better dive centers. I regret not doing the Advanced Course, but perhaps it'll allow me more freedom with my money when we get to Tokyo at the end of the month.

Next stop Jungle Beach, a must for any traveler. For $22 a night you get a secluded private beach, a bamboo hut, three comunal meals a day, afternoon fruit snack, ping pong table, free wifi, and a bonfire each night. It may seem pricey for those who have been living on $12 a day, but it's really worth it. The resort is within walking distance to a waterfall where dumb tourists such as myself jump off and fall about 12m into the cool water below (and that's the medium jump!). The high one is about 15-17m! It was totally worth it!

Rocking You from Saigon to the DMZ
Well, that's all for now folks. Stay tuned for Hoi An and Hue, some crazy tailors and 5,000 dong beers (about $0.20).

The Khmer Rouge Aftermath: Volunteering in Cambodia

2009-03-09T23:44:00.009+07:00

Phnom Penh, Cambodia a diverse city with tragic history. To detail my adventures in this wonderful country, I must first shed light on the horrors that have befallen it. The year 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam war, but not the end of war for Cambodia. During the years of this infamous war, Cambodia was victim to U.S. bombings and landmines that were meant to weed out Viet Cong. By 1975, the country was overtaken by an extremist communist group known as the Khmer Rouge.

One of the first acts of the new regime were to evacuate Phnom Penh under the pretext that it was going to be bombed by the U.S. Hundreds died on this trek to the countryside and many more were captured and imprisoned or sent directly to the Killing Fields. One of the most famous and atrocious prisons, Tuol Sleng, has been turned into a genocide museum, a must see for anyone who goes to Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge imprisoned, tortured and murdered all the country's intellectuals and political dissenters as well as women and children. If they were ethnic Khmer, they were as good as dead. The survivors were predominately the uneducated rural people. The regime believed that hard work and farming were the backbone of any society. Religion, family and many other ideals that Cambodians hold true and dear were unacceptable. Therefeore, families were separated and sacred temples bombed, including the ancient city of Angkor, one of the world's seven man-made wonders.

Genocide, we've all heard it before. Some of us have even seen it first hand. Why would this be any different? Many of us believe that we do our best to prevent or stop such heinous acts. That's why we have the U.N. right? Well, the U.N. acknowledge the Khmer Rouge government and gave them Cambodia's seat. Moreover, for years the U.N. ignored the Cambodian people's plea to remove the Khmer Rouge as representatives of their nation.

That said, Cambodia is still suffering greatly and taking all too long to recover from these tragedies. Cambodia has one of the highest female to male ratios in the world, not to mention that 33 percent of its population is under the age of 15. Something needs to be done. Alison and I spent four days volunteering at a childcare center/orphanage called Save poor Children in Asia Organization (S.C.A.O.). The director Mr. Sath Samith is one of the kindest men I have ever met. He and his late brother started S.C.A.O. only 16 short months ago.

Now the center houses 17 poor children, helping to put them through school, an otherwise costly and often discouraged luxury). On average it costs $300-$450 a year to put one child through primary or high school. This may not seem much, but to a people whose income is rarely more that $1,000 a year, it's a excessive. Children roam the streets hungry and desperate, claiming they go to school when they are forced by parents or poverty to sell books and knick knacks to help support their families. Not to mention that Cambodia has one of the highest rates of child sex slavery and trafficking in the world.

Something needs to be done. Despite the economic recession and hardships worldwide, there is always someone less fortunate. These people have suffered long enough. Therefore, I implore anyone who can give to please do so. In Cambodia, the dollar rules. Even just a few can make a difference. Also Alison and I are working on a proposal to NGOs to obtain annual funding for S.C.A.O. Anyone interested in getting involved or who has any information about proposals, etc. Please contact me at http://www.blogger.com/alyse.speyer@gmail.com. Also, S.C.A.O. is desperate for volunteers.

Donate Now!

Car Culture: What It’s Like to Drive in Southeast Asia

2009-03-03T22:40:00.000+07:00

Every day we drive, take a cab, or use a subway, train, or bus to get to wherever it is we need to go. On occasion, we pack our bags and jump on a plane, take a break from the day to day hassles of life, and go on vacation. Still, no matter where we are in the world or where we are going, transportation plays a key role and knowing the types of environment we may be driving in can make day-to-day life and vacations safer and more enjoyable.

On the Move
In November, I decided to jump on that plane and fly half-way across the world to Bangkok, Thailand, on a five-month Southeast Asian tour. For the past three months, I’ve traveled by car, bus, minivan, train, motorbike, “tuk tuk,” taxi etc to get to temples, waterfalls, beaches, mountains, borders, guesthouses, Wats, and plenty of other tourist attractions. On my journey, I’ve grown to appreciate the steady chaos of driving back home in Los Angeles.

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Onward to the End of the World...

2009-02-21T12:56:00.002+07:00

So it's been awhile, I know. The truth is I've been so distracted by all the things we've been doing. This period of our travels marked a lot of traveling and rushing from place to place. We flew the 20th of January to Bali and spent three or four days in Kuta and Legian before heading to Gili Trawangan aka the most beautiful place in the world.

On the full day journey to Gili T., we met two guys from England and two from New Zealand. We had a great time enjoying the sun and beaches, learning to surf, and the most incredible diving ever! For $74 we did two dives and saw so many cool things such as banded sea snakes, cuttlefish, an octopus, white tip reef shark (including a pregnant one!), sea turtles, anenome crabs, sweet lip snapper, banner fish, damsels, sponges, fan coral.... I can go on and on. The visability was about 20 meters (about 69 ft) in the warm water of Indonesia. I could certainly live in Bali with a summer home in Gili T. Anyone care to join? Real estate is super cheap, their practically giving away beachfront property.

Anyway, from Gili T. I left early to get to the airport to pick Wes up on Feb. 2. Alison and I split up for four painful days of separation anxiety! However, it was really great to see Wes and spend a few days wandering around the sweaty streets of Kuta and Ubud. He and I did an island tour to all of the temples in Bali as well as ate lunch at a rooftop restaurant overlooking a lake and volcano. On our tour we were with an older couple from Bevelry Hills, of course. They were quite pleasant and interesting to talk to.

Then Alison came with our two British friends and we spent two more days in Ubud. We went to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary and got plenty of cute photos with cheeky monkeys as they chased us down for bananas and rambutans (lychees). Then, we said our goodbyes to the guys and headed back down to stinky, touristy Kuta to buy up some gifts and ship a package home. Thank god! Our bags are easily 5k lighter! We flew out back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Feb. 11.

In KL, we wandered around and saw the Batu Caves which were quite beautiful and then spent another day traveling to Jerantut and the Taman Negara, the National Forest/Jungle. It was so beautiful. Wes and I hiked around in the heat up to the Canopy walk, the longest one in the world at about 450 meters! It was pretty intimidating at first, especially since I'm not a big fan of heights. The Canopy Walk is 50 meters high and consists of a slew of ropes and cables and a narrow plank of wood on which to walk. Wes spent the majority of the time laughing at me freaking out in the middle of the rope-swing-like walkway.

The next day we woke up early and hiked on the other side of the jungle to reach the bat caves. We talked to some locals and the gave us a rough guideline on how to get through the caves. Long story short we spent the better part of an hour crawling the heaps of guano and ducking out of the way while hundreds of bats flew over head in dark, clammy, low-cielinged caves. We made it out alive enough to hope on a 30 hour bus to boat to boat to bus to minivan journey to get to Koh Lanta.

Bargaining in Bali

2009-01-28T16:12:00.001+07:00

Bali air, thick like a warm stout, hangs over the art market
where eager vendors call out, "Hallo darling"
to passersby. Two of them creep out of their shop of tricks,
sunglasses, dresses, knock off purses and wallets.
The first, with a crystal whit smile, tanned skin
and as thin as the sandals he sells, comments
on my "beautiful white skin."
He laughs when I tell him I came here to be
a darker colour.

Stealing a sideways glance at the other vendor,
I run my fingers through the hanging sarongs.
The first puffs at a freshly lit Marlboro.
"Sexy body, like Coca Cola" -
grease on the wheels of an impending deal -
white skin, Coca Cola... money sign.
"A beautiful sarong for you madam
only 50,000."
Breathe out and bargain for a better price
as the heat wrings the water from my skin.

On Leaving

2009-01-27T19:08:00.000+07:00

It's no attachment to anyone or anything or any place. You're here. You meet single serving people. Create a family, a memory, who knows if the connection stays; but for three or so days that you are in one place, it becomes home. You are sad to say goodbye when you leave, but once you're gone, you're gone completely. You don't miss them or the place. It becomes a memory and an experience, nothing more. The people become another number added to your Facebook friends. Sometimes, they are more. They become real. People you may know forever. People you shared those three special days with, a pact. You never know if they will be these people until you leave them, just like you never know if you'll go back to the same place until you leave it. You keep moving and learning and seeing everything you can and those are the things that stay with you. The things that make traveling different from holiday, because you settle into a nomadic lifestyle. And you realize how easy it is to choose to leave or stay. The dat trippers don't know this because they go back to a stationary life, choosing to stand still and wishing to move, but refusing to take the step or afraid to strike obligation, the sacrifice. People are not meant to be barnacles waiting for adventure to float their way.

Cameron Highlands

2009-01-25T15:39:00.000+07:00

The rain forest adventure trek was quaint, but can be done on your own if you are amped up enough to do everything by hiking. At the start, one of the range rovers had a blowout and we all had to pile three carloads of people into two in order to get to the village for a blow dart demonstration. We all tried it, with poison-less darts made of bamboo. On first try, not only did I hit the board but I also hit the leaf attached as a target.

Because we were still waiting for the range rovers to come back, we decided to walk from the village through puddles of red mud. After 15 minutes, the rovers picked us up for an amazingly bumpy ride through rain-softened terrain. It was like being on a roller coaster without seat belts. Once we reached the top, we trekked through more mud and water, crossed a make-shift bamboo bridge where Alison nearly slipped through one of the bamboo poles that broke under her feet and the right railing fell. It was quite a scare but she managed to get across unscathed.

By the time we reached the Raflessia flower, we were caked with mud and sweat with soggy feet and pant legs. Apparently, this flower is actually a mushroom and smells like dead bodies or, as our tour guide joked, a Malay public toilet. The texture was bumpy and thick like an animal hide.

Afterward, we hiked back, many without shoes, jumped in the waterfall to wash off some of the mud, drank bamboo water and hopped into the range rovers for another bumpy ride down the mountain. Next stop was the BOH Tea factory that has roughly 200+ hectares of rolling landscape covered with bonsai-looking tea trees. The plantation is owned by a Scottish family who lives in Kuala Lumpur. It was quite a breathtaking site like green courdouroy hugging the lands voluptuous curves.

After lunch and a brief tour of the factory, we headed to the butterfly and insect observation. Imagine giant red and poisonous centipedes about 3/4 the length of your forearm, or mine at least. Giant beetles and mantis, millipedes and scorpions of indescribable size, yuck! as well as brightly coloured butterflies posing for snapshots. Next was the strawberry farm and back to the guesthouse for showers.

That night we has a Steamboat dinner, which is a soup where you cook your own ingredients. Unfortunately for Alison, the soup reminded her of the one we had in Laos that gave us food poisoning, we can thank the Lonely Planet for that one. Afterward, we went to Daniel's lodge for a campfire which wasn't much more than a group of Brits babbling about movies, actors and crap TV. Alison and I opted for playing a few rounds of pool and then bed. I really hate the day trippers.

If you want to be a rock and roll star...

2009-01-22T19:16:00.006+07:00

We arrived in Penang. It was late and we weren't planning on going out. At the cafe where we ate dinner in Georgetown, we met two guys. one was fairly creepy and took pictures of us while we ate. He bought me a soda, because I said I wasn't drinking. We couldn't understand a word he was saying because of his thick Indian accent and the music from the cafe was loud. After an hour, he left thankfully.

The other guy we met, Jose, is half Portuguese and half Malay and grew up in Australia. Jose is, to use the word he used to describe himself, a vagabond. He's a sailor who works on private boats as a chef. He also helps to run the cafe. He gave us some good recommendations for the Cameron Highlands.

Down the street was another restaurant called the Blue Diamond where a live band was playing. We decided to join him for a bit. There we met two other travelers, whose names escape me, one from Norway and the other from Denmark... musicians. Ironically, they had met doing volunteer work twelve years ago in Lake View Terrace/Tujunga.

We convinced the musician to play a song or two with the band. He did. Then they were talking about playing one of his songs from his band back home, Glory Box.. The next thing I know, the Norwegian points at me and says, "You are playing bass." I politely declined, saying that I don't know how. Apparently, that wasn'y good enough. So we played the sone for the entire restaurant, about 20 people. It was a lot of fun and a didn't screw it up!

We spent until 2:30 am talking about music festivals and traveling. What a night!

Langkawi, Malaysia

2009-01-18T13:26:00.001+07:00

This place is beautiful. The island is huge and there's lots to do here. It's a really strange change of pace, coming here. Since in Buddhist theology, people don't value life in the way westerners do. Because life is reincarnated, they don't tend to fear death. It's the soul you take with you, not the body. So coming here, to Malaysia, where there's more western thought, is really a change. Also the roads are paved and there are signs about "safety first" and "Keep Langkawi Clean" signs I never thought I'd see in SE Asia. There are a lot of muslims, but it doesn't have too much of a muslim feel (at least in comparison to Morocco). Alcohol is sold, but Malay people are not allowed to apply for liquor license (there's always a loophole though). The economy is stable, the locals are educated and speak English very well. It's really strange to be here after two months in Thailand and Laos.

We're staying at a guesthouse called Zackrys. It's the best place we've stayed at yet. The people are great and they have a lot of amenities for guests like free wireless, scooters on property for rent, cheap tours and a bar. The owner actually offered me a job here, maybe I'll come back and stay if things don't work out in the US.

We rented a car and toured the waterfalls and did some duty free shopping. Driving on the British side, was interesting, not as difficult as I had thought it would be.

The Last Two Weeks

2009-01-15T12:47:00.005+07:00

So I know it's been a while since I've last written. To recap the last two weeks: New Years was fun, check typical beach party and fire dancing. The first four days afterward were detox days as we got diving certified. Diving is amazing, I feel that everyone should try it. I fell in love and am itching to get back into the water. Two days after certification, we said goodbye to our friends and hopped on a ferry to the mainland at Surat Thani heading to Krabi. Here's a snippet I wrote in my notebook about the day:

A long journey, but an amazing one. Leaving at 9:30 am to catch a 10:30 ferry to Koh Pangan, then another ferry to Surat Thani. We sat on top of the boat in pounding heat that went unnoticed because of the breeze and the beautiful open water view. Along with our Canadian friend, we baked in the sun. By the time we got to Surat Thani, we were crispy like bacon.

The boat ride itself couldn't have been more fun. We also met a guy from San Francisco on the boat, who guessed on the nose where I'm from. I guess I can't escape the valley girl persona, even 15000 miles away. He had spent 1.5 months of his two month holiday on one beach on Koh Pangan. The four of us talked about travels and our next destination while we listened to music from Dave's ipod speakers and drank some beers.

At one point, a bag had fallen off the boat and we had to turn around to fish it out of the water. We thought it was a person, because only minutes before Dave had recounted a story that two travelers had told him. They had been sitting on the boat and saw a dead body float by and didn't say anything to anyone. We had been talking about how screwed up that was and then the boat slowed. In the distance an object was floating. We were relieved when we saw it was a backpack. Regardless, it was a cause for excitement.

We docked at Surat Thani where a bus was waiting to take us to Krabi. There, I met a girl from Argentina, Sylvana, who was incredibly relieved that I speak spanish. We chatted until we reached the next stop where we all had to wait an hour for a different bus. The hour went by quickly for me because Wes had called. On the second bus, Dave and I shared music the entire ride. He's a promoter (the type of people I avoiod like the plague), but also a musician and contractor - an all around great guy.

At Krabi, Alison, Dave, Sylvana and I caught a cab to Ao Nang and then a long boat to Rai Lay beach, thus was born La Familia Rai Lay. We arrived at around 9 or 10 at night and went on a hunt for cheap rooms, which was vastly unsuccessful. I swear we must have circled the beach twice with all our luggage. The only room we could find was a severely overpriced double that Sylvana and Alison haggled down to a slightly more reasonable one, while Dave and I talked to some of the local Thais. They came back and told us that we would all have to share for the night and wake up to find cheaper accomodations.

The next day we found cheaper rooms, but they were still overpriced and twice as disgusting... the beauty of high season. So we ended up spending the next few days all together... four people in a room meant for two. It was great fun, we became a sort of family, cracking jokes and climbing mountains and enjoying the beautiful scenery. I could live on East Rai Lay. Although it is not an island, it felt like one. It was our little home (overpriced and full of smelly mangroves). Phranang was gorgeous with white sands and small islands in the distance that were truly a site. There were caves and climbing spots as well as warm green-blue water. Vendors were selling corn, mangosteen and other exotic fruits, spring rolls, beer, soda, and chicken.

I spent a lot of time climbing the mountains to the lookout point and then down to the lagoon (probably the scariest thing I've ever done). Granted, the climb was full of vertical drops with ropes (no harness) to belay yourself down. At the top of each drop, more and more tourists chickened out until I found myself alone, shitting a brick terrified. Not to mention, I was in sandals as well. I had to do it. We climbed up and over a mountain late the night before to get to Ton Sai (also in sandals and a short skirt). If I could do that, I could do this. I made down to the lagoon, which was not worth the climb at all (maybe it's better at high tide when the lagoon is actually a lagoon and not just muddy nastiness). I didn't care, I was glad to find Dave, Steve and Sylvana and proud of myself for making the journey.

Before it could get any better, or worse for that matter, Alison and I booked our way out to Langkawi, Malaysia.

Koh Pangan Moon Party Madness

2008-12-31T12:36:00.004+07:00

Oh my is Koh Pangan absurd! So when we first arrived we stayed at a very small, quiet resort on Haad Son and relaxed for a few days. The beach was beautiful, although it rained off and on the entire week or so we were on Koh Pangan. For those of you who don't know, Koh Pangan is famous for its moon parties: full, half, black, shiva, etc. Generally, as most parties made for people on holiday, it consisted of a bunch of foreigners and some Thais getting blasted with buckets of alcohol, soda and red bull. There were fire dancers and glow-in-the-dark paint along with black lights and house music.

We paid 300 Baht for the Half and Black Moon Parties. The Christmas Party, however, was free. Usually the Full Moon Parties are on Haad Rin, one of the biggest cities on the island. Absolute chaos, to say the least.

At just a random night on Haad Rin, Thais were dancing with fire poi and staffs. We were talking to and dancing with these two Aussie girls on holiday when all of a sudden we feel the heat of a nearby fire on our backs. Two Thais were dousing a long rope in butane and setting it on fire. They through it across the crowd and the partiers scattered like cockroaches. We ran to one side and watched them swing the rope round and round. Three words: fire jump rope! I had to try it. It was a lot of fun, although I did get a small burn on my leg from the rope. I suppose that I've lost some weight since the skirt I was wearing that used to be tight was then starting to slip. So in attempt to keep it on, I got burnt - the lesser of two evils, in my opinion. Regardless, I got some great pictures out of the whole thing.

On the Christmas Party there was fire Limbo, which I didn't try. Anyway, many of the parties we went to we went with several people we had met at our bungalow in Baan Thai, just south of Thongsala. There was a Canadian from Toronto, two Chileans that live in Australia, two British boys (one who lives in Qatar) and a German.

We wanted to leave the island to go to Koh Tao the 26, but overslept and missed the ferry. Luckily, we hadn't bought tickets yet. So we spent our last night in Koh Pangan watching movies with our new friends. We must have watched at least four because we didn't get to bed until 2am.

Anyway, we are on Koh Tao right now and have been just been doing some relaxing and some partying as well. We met up with one of our friends, Brian, whom we met in Vang Vieng. He was the one that split his head open on the rocks and then got gauze stitched to his head so that he couldn't change it! We started calling him Bo Peep after awhile. We were on the same ferry and have been hanging out with him a lot, luckily he's healed so no more Bo Peep. We also met an Aussie in Bangkok on our way down and we've been spending time with him and his friend who lives on Koh Tao for the moment since he is an underwater wielder (one of the top five most dangerous jobs!). Well, that's all for now. We've booked PADI course at Baan for Jan 2 and will be officially diving certified.

Happy New Year everyone!

Last Days in Laos and Moving Down to Koh Pangan

2008-12-21T10:10:00.005+07:00

So it's been awhile, I know. Our last days in Laos were amazing. We went down to Champasak and Si Pha Don (aka 4000 Islands). Since we overslept, we spent about a day getting to Champasak and stayed the night in a guest house by the river. At 5 am we woke up and went to Wat Phu Champasak just after sunrise. It was breath taking. On the drive up we saw the locals give food offerings to the monks as the sun peaked it's glowing eye over the palm trees. We arrived to the castle/wat which looked a lot like a cross between the Secret Garden and Hogwarts. It was great. We climbed up the old, steep and uneven steps about 1km away from the entrance to get a view of the whole land. After about 100 pictures later, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our packs and hopped in a minibus down to Don Det island. On the ferry there we met up with Matt, one of the boys we met tubing in Vang Vieng. He was with a German guy named Til. We stayed together in the same guest house. I think it was called Thonden, but not sure.

We met some other Germans at the guest house and took a canoe boat over to a small piece of island in the middle of the Mekong. We hung out on the beach there and played some cards. Basically the whole time we were there we just chilled and enjoyed the sunsets. Not to mention watching one German get wasted and start singing Bob Marley's "Jamming" but replacing "jamming" with "German." A rendition that when something like: "We're German and I hope you like Germans too... We're German in the name of the Lord."

Unfortunately for us, we had no money and the nearest ATM was a 2 hour drive away. We cashed one of Alison's travelers checks. Then went up to Pakse, got sick from some bad noodle soup and spent a grueling day getting to the border then to the train and all night to Bangkok.

We stayed at the D&D, met up with Taz. Checked out the Grand Palace and disappeared on the bus the next night to Koh Pangan. We arrived at Chumpon at 5am and had to wait 2 hours for the bumpiest ferry ever. Half the boat was puking. We met a Mick Jagger type character named Ian. He was taking swigs from a bottle of Cointreau and shouting to me, "It's like a mad dance floor, but you don't have to move to feel the party." He was friggin ridiculous. Funny guy though, some sort of DJ. He played me some of his music from his ipod and took mine. He was so stoked on all my music. "Angelic Upstarts, mate, that's from when I was a kid oi!" I guess he's some sort of DJ. Kind of reminded me of a movie I saw with Wes called Everything's Gone Pete Tong or something like that. Anyway, it'd be pretty hilarious to run into him again. Strange old dude from South London who looked like Mick and started drinking at 7am on the rockin' ferry... pun totally intended.Do

A Life Made of Buses

2008-12-09T15:45:00.002+07:00

We were on another bus this morning from Vientiane to Pakse. This was a long one, about 14 hours. It was night and the giant VIP bus was softly humming along the roads, at least this time they were paved. The roads in Lao are like the board of a game, like Chutes and Ladders. They are windy with random patches of gravel. On the way down from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, I had thought at some point we were going to land on the spot that will push us back three spaces. It’s possible, especially since the bus wouldn’t start when we first got on.

Luckily, I was at a window seat so when the day passed into night, I was able to see the stars. Not just a few, but billions like I was on the outside of a giant lantern. It reminded me of a Native American legend my second grade teacher told me, the one of the bird that flies up to peck the sky in order to help the dear get home. Well, I’m not sure how it goes, but from what I remember the bird keeps flying up and down to peck the darkness out of the sky. The first peck is the North Star and so on.

Being from Los Angeles, you really don’t get to see stars like this even if you hike up the canyons. The only constellation I can really point out through the smog and lights of LA is Orion, or rather his belt. He was there on the road, big and beautiful. It was dark enough that I could see his bow and sword. The funny thing is that he was on the other side of the sky than when I was home. I took comfort in knowing that that was the direction home, at least to me.

My eyes continued to scan the sky for other constellations. Instead they fell upon the moon. It was shaped like a smile. The bird had sense of humor. There were two bright stars above it, so the combination made it look exactly like a face. I thought God is in the stars. Then I thought of Nietzsche, who wrote not only “God is Dead,” but also “I want to pray to a god who laughs.” This god of moon and two stars had definitely been laughing.

This new bus we were on was much more comfortable and the roads were paved. I had picked up a new book before we left Vientiane, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read about 50 pages and loved it. I suppose it sparked this memory of buses. We’ve been on so many and have many more to come. I feel like I was supposed to read this book a long time ago. The truth is I was.

I remember one day when I was in high school I was at my best friend Keren’s house. This was the time when she was living in Canoga Park, right next to the Mission Burrito. We were sitting in her room pulling up old photos. She was leaving to Canada, for real this time. I pulled out the book, “I’ve heard this was great.”

I’ve come across the book many times before, but never picked it up to read. But really, this isn’t about a book or a memory. It’s about embracing moments and feelings, despite the fact you can’t put your arms around them. Thank you Johnny Thunders.

One thing I’ve learned on this trip so far is to take in life, whatever that means to you or me or anyone else. We spend so much time suppressing everything in order to stay comfortable or happy in a unified society, but it’s not unified and it’s not happy.

I’ve been told many times that this trip is an excuse, a fear, a reason to run away from what’s really bothering me. The truth is that’s a load of crap. But, then again, it’s not. If I think about the two men who told me this and if I look at each individual relationship I have with both, I can see that it’s not me that’s running. It’s them. I’m doing what they want to do, what they can’t do, or rather won’t let themselves do. They are afraid of being uncomfortable, I’m afraid of being comfortable.

I don’t know what the future holds, or if this trip is a good or bad idea, or what the hell I’m going to do when it’s time to go back to this “real world” I keep hearing about. I feel like I’m already here in the world, taking in what it has to give me. Whether what it gives is good, bad or indifferent, it is still a gift and a part of me. I’m not trying to be new or unique in anyway, I’m just living and exploring in whatever way I see fit for now, because all I have is my mind and my now.

As a monk told me in Chiang Mai, “Tomorrow never comes. It’s always today, always now.” Life is suffering according to the Buddhist ideology. Want is one of the main causes of human suffering. I suppose it’s a good thing that I don’t know what I want...

Tubing in Vang Vieng

2008-12-05T10:20:00.003+07:00

Tubing is amazing! We had so much fun. It's bar hopping down the Nam Song river. You float down on an tractor tire inner tube. Some bars have swings where you can jump into the water and most give you free Lao Whiskey with every drink. So you can imagine how ridiculous it gets. One place had a mud pit where people were playing (we skipped that one) and the last place we went to had a fire pit and everyone dancing. We did not make it to the last bar, because it was just too much and we didn't want to float down the river drunker than skunks. An Irish guy hit his head on a rock and had to get stitches... not so much a good idea. He's in good spirits and doing just fine. Unfortunately, we have no pictures to document this event because we didn't get a waterproof camera. Maybe next time.

Since then, we've just been chillin. Said goodbye to Charlene and recovered from tubing. Yesterday we rented a motorcycle to go to the caves. We made a wrong turn and went up a hill. My foot slipped off the break and we fell. Just a few scrapes, but the exhaust hit Alison and she got a burn. She'll be fine, but I don't think we'll be riding on motorcycles for a while. (even though it was so much fun.)

Tat Kuang Si

2008-12-01T09:48:00.002+07:00

We went with some friends from the boat to the Tat Kuang Si waterfall about 32km outside of Luang Prabang. It was incredible. Charlene and I jumped off some of the smaller ones into the aqua blue swimming pond. We hiked up to the big waterfall and walked across the top, got lost and found our way back again. Ate and bought some stuff at the night market and went to bed. Sorry guys, I'm a little distracted so this is short and boring. I'll write more later. Today I think we are going to Vieng Vien.

On the river to Laos

2008-11-29T19:22:00.004+07:00

These last few weeks have been interesting, to say the least. I'm getting more comfortable here and we are meeting lots of people. The cities are small and we keep running into everyone we meet. On Monday, we went to Doi Inthanon just outside of Chiang Mai... I posted pics on facebook a few days ago. It's the national park. It was mellow and a lot of driving around, at least in comparison to the trekking tour. The forest and waterfalls were beautiful and we took all too many pictures. Also Markus, whom we met trekking joined us.

Later we met for dinner and got 30 min foot massages for $1.50. We ran into a Finnish guy who was on the park tour too. Then we all went to a bar yay! Some Welsh girl got all together too drunk and fell down a flight of stairs landing straight on her head. So we all spent some time helping her out and convincing her friends to take her to a hospital. Hopefully she's ok. After the drama, we went to 7 11 and got some Chiang beers and hung out by the river.

The next few days we slept in and took advantage of the free wireless at the hotel. We saw more wats on Thursday, our last day in Chiang Mai and booked a border crossing to Laos. I t was a little dodgey, but since we had great times on the other tours we figured it would be alright. Unfortunately, the guy had lied to us and we got ripped off. We were supposed to get to Laos in 2 days by bus and slow boat with night accommodation included. We left Thursday night in a taxi, not a minibus as promised, for 6 hours to the border crossing in Chiang Khong. We selpt in a spider infested, dirt encrusted, smelly room by the border. When we woke up the guy told us 2 more days to Luang Prabang accommodation not included and a stop in Pak Beng. Oh well, nothing we could do. All in all we lost about $20, but since we are thinking in baht it seems like a heck of a lot. So we got breakfast, hassled with the exchange guy who wanted to over charge us for US dollars (they only take $ for Laos visas).

We were told we could pay by credit card so we had no baht to exchange. Alison and I hopped on the back of his son's motorbike 2.5 km without helmets to an ATM. Then we changed money, got visas and onto a rickety boat for 6 hrs to Pak Beng. We met some cool people on the boat and hopefully will have some more friends to travel with in Laos. Also on our boat was the New Zealand girl that I met on the bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Southeast Asia is a small world.

Chiang Mai and All That Jazz

2008-11-24T01:57:00.006+07:00

Ok so we took the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok last Tuesday night. It wasn’t so bad actually. I was able to sleep and I met a really cool New Zealand girl who’d been traveling for ages. I may not ever see her again, which kinda sucks cuz she was really interesting, but such is the case with single-serving friends.

We arrived in Chiang Mai at 7 am and went to the Lanna Thai guesthouse. The room wasn’t ready yet so we ate breakfast, stored our backpacks and headed off to get bank accounts and Thai massages – definitely interesting. They massage everywhere and try to crack your back with their knees at the end. So we wobbled back to the guesthouse afterward, showered and passed out. Next we woke up, stumbled half asleep to the neighboring restaurant, Sweet Rain, ate lunch (it was nearly 5pm at this point) and wandered around the night market before heading back to the hotel for sleepy time.

The next day we walked around, got lost trying to find the center of the city. We took a cab to Chiang Mun Wat, which is the oldest wat in Chiang Mai. We ate lunch at Ray’s right next door. He’s a nutty Englishman who decided to pack up and move to Thailand 6 months ago after coming to the country every year for six years. Next stop was the Wat something or other and Wat Chedi Luang which is beautiful. (more pictures on facebook). Then we took a cab back to the hotel for some old fashioned relaxing and watching the degradation of the American economy on CNN World News.

Friday you go trekking!

Early Friday morning we started a trekking tour through the northern mountains of Chiang Mai in the Mae Tang area. It was incredible, to say the least. First we stopped at a butterfly and orchid farm, which was nice – just another random tourist attraction but interesting. Then we were off to trek. Lunch was fried rice with soy sauce aka the spiciest sauce I’ve ever had. So with mouths on fire and bellies full, we started our trek.

Although the trek was difficult and a fairly good length, the sights were beautiful and it was worth it. They told us it would be 3 hours and it definitely took us all day, maybe 4-5 hours or so. We stopped at a hilltribe, I think the Lisu, and had some tea-coffee. It was kinda like a mate. Then we continued until we reached camp at about five or six. We just chilled, while some of the guys played Thai football, which is like a cross between hacky sack and volleyball.

We ate dinner and spent half the night by the fire singing and drinking Chang beer. (yes there was a 7 11 even in the mountains! Of course it was a hut with a drawn-on sign, but still.) Here we played a thai drinking game and ended up with black grease from the bottom of the cooking pots and pans all over our faces! Afterward we made a beer tower of about 15/16 cans. It was 16 cans tall for about 3 seconds before finally falling over. One of the locals did it, praying or chanting as he placed each can on top (the tower was taller than he was!).

Saturday Adventure

We woke up early. A wheezing cat had slept next to me all night, cats just love me. No new mosquito bites, which was awesome. We trekked another hour or so to the elephant camp where we rode elephants through the river and jungle. Afterward we went to the Padong (Long Neck Karen) hilltribe, more like an exploitation of human suffering. Maybe they were real Padong, maybe not. Either way those rings are heavy. Supposedly the women wear them to prevent tiger bites from when they lived in Burma/Myanmar. Now it’s just tradition or a tourist attraction (meaning they do it so they can make a living off of tourists).

After lunch, there was an elephant show which I missed, but I’m pretty sure you can see the same at any zoo. Then we took a bamboo raft down the river. After we hiked to a waterfall and did some swimming or at least washed off some dust from our arms and legs. We thought our long day was done, but wait… there’s more. White water rafting. The drops were small, so no big deal. I did fall out of the raft though with another person. Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. No harm done though. The Thai guys were quick to get me back up, despite my maniacal laughter. They kept telling us to pedal faster as we were approaching large rocks. Of course we listened, and every time smashed into the rock. It was like bumper cars, really. The rest of the way down consisted of water fights with the other raft and collecting our things to go back to Chiang Mai. Finally the day was done.

Aftermath

Alison and I got our stuff and switched guesthouses and were grateful for our well deserved showers. We then met up with some of the people from the trip at the Red Lion. Had some drinks and dinner and went to Bubble, a Thai discothèque. There we saw some strange things. Several guys and gals we doing some funky dancing and acted as if they were on drugs. It was very bizarre. And they were around 40 or 50 years old. Random swing flips and smashed bodies. All and all quite a show. After, the club started getting more and more crowded. Exhausted from our trip, we didn’t stay too long and went to bed fairly early.

Leaving Bangkok

2008-11-18T12:56:00.004+07:00

So these last few days have actually been a rocky start. We've been stuck in touristville, jet lagged and confused. The princess (king's sister) had died of cancer several months ago and this weekend was her funeral. All of Bangkok tourist things were closed so we couldn't do any sightseeing. Every Thai person was dressed in black and swarmed the Grand Palace.

Sunday we just meandered around and didn't really do anything. Still tired and with everything closed, we were kind of stuck. One saving grace was our new friend Dave. Alison's friend John meet him a few years ago and so we linked up with him. He's been really awesome and helpful. Last night we went out and partied, partaking in the ever-so-indulgent buckets of booze. I'll post some pictures later here and on facebook. Yesterday we took a tuk tuk cab to a few random places and booked a bus ticket to Chiang Mai, which is in northern Thailand, for tonight. That's pretty much it for now.

Valuable Driving Techniques from Racing Professionals

2008-11-16T16:41:00.001+07:00

It’s not everyday that someone gets the opportunity to really have fun with the car that he or she drives. Can you remember the last time you drove your car just for fun?

read more | digg story

Looks like we made it

2008-11-15T12:18:00.003+07:00

So we made it to BKK after all. I have about 4 minutes to write this before my time goes out. We had a 3 hour layover in tokyo where we got a beer, edamame and miso soup... mmm good. Flew out to BKK for a 6 hour flight, cleared customs and got a cab to Khaosan Rd. aka backpacker central and checked into the D&D Inn. The room is small and the shower is next to the toilet... no curtain. Kinda weird using the entire bathroom as your shower. Once we got settled we went outside and got some falafal from a street vendor... not to bad. At this point it was probably 2 or 3 am, I'm not sure. We then went back to the room, showered and passed out.

This morning, we woke up late and got some breakfast at the hotel. Apparently, this weekend is the 3rd anniversary of the Princess's death so no parties. Earlier we heard fireworks... so we might check that out or go to a temple.

You can check out Alison's blog for a different perspective.

Two days later...

2008-11-14T14:48:00.000+07:00

We are now in Narita Tokyo's airport awaiting our connecting flight. After all was said and done. Alison managed to get her passport by 4pm Wednesday while I spent the day hanging out with Dave. We flew out earlier this morning. It's 4:30pm right now in Japan and we have about 7 more hours of flight time to get to Bangkok. Basically we miss a day in travel, arriving at 11:45pm Friday. I have no clue what time that is in CA, but it's 15 hours ahead or nine behind plus a day.

For those of you interested, download skype. It's free. My username is aspeyer77, so if you have one add away. Next post will be from BKK.

Woot!

Airport Drama

2008-11-12T06:24:00.002+07:00

So Alison and I were all packed up and ready to go. We arrived at SFO airport at 9am for our 11:08 am flight. After checking our bags, getting boarding passes and making sure we could get into Thailand, we proceeded to security check point. We took off our sweaters and shoes and put our bags through the machine. Lo and behold a miracle happened. Once we passed through security we were cleared instantly. It was 10:10 am and we still had just under an hour to get on the plane.

Alison was ahead of me and she went to get her purse and shoes, but in the 10 seconds of walking through the metal detector and picking up her things, her passport and boarding pass disappeared. I was putting my laptop back in my backpack when she said, "Uh my passport just disappeared." So of course it had to be somewhere around, maybe misplaced or on the floor or something. No panic. We informed security who searched through the bins for the missing documents, but searched to no avail.

As timed inched near our departure, the security guards told us to wait while they looked through video surveilance tapes. I went to the gate to see if they would let Alison board without a passport. She had a photocopy of her passport, birth certificate, social security and she had her driver's license. None of that mattered. She needed a passport.

One security guard said that the airport would refund her money or reschedule her flight free of charge. I asked about me and they said no. I had no excuse, they deamed as valid for missing my flight. Pricks. Alison tried to contact Customs to see if she could get a temporary passport. No luck there. Not to mention that today is Veteran's Day, which basically means all government offices are closed. While she was asking around for passport info, our bags were pulled from the plane and it left without us. We were not going to Asia today... or tomorrow.

I had gone back through to the United desk to see if we could change our flight. Luckily, they said that they would change it free of charge for both of us! Next step was to get our backpacks from baggage claim. In the meantime, Alison was checking up on how much it would cost to get an expedited passport. A whopping $450 otherwise known as a three weeks of living expenses in Thailand. Bust. She'd get the passport by 4pm tomorrow and our new flight was for 1pm. So it was back to the desk to change it for 11am on Thursday arriving in Bangkok Friday at 11:45pm.

Jeff (Alison's Dad) picked us up at around 1:30 and we've been researching visas and passport stuff for the last two hours. Let's just hope this is the only ridiculous mess we get into. So keep your fingers crossed and maybe we'll get to Thailand after all.

On the Eve of Departure

2008-11-11T06:58:00.001+07:00

So I leave tomorrow morning to Bangkok, Thailand. These last few days in San Francisco were fun and fast. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see many people due to last minute errands and randomness. Yay for Dave who drove out to see me! (you're the best). Next stop 20+ hour flight and the trip of a lifetime. See you all in 5 months!

Using Obama’s Online Marketing Strategy to Get Results

2008-11-06T06:19:00.001+07:00

Online social marketing media made this victory possible. In his acceptance speech, Obama thanked us all for helping him win the election. This includes the people on the viral web and his social web marketing campaign.

read more | digg story

Boo for Prop 8 Passing

2008-11-06T03:53:00.000+07:00

I'm so happy that Obama won. He truly is the best choice to bring back America to prosperity and stability. My great disappointment in this election was the passing of Proposition 8 in California. I couldn't believe it. I for sure thought that it wasn't going to pass. But lo and behold, it passed. Thank you Utah for being such an ass and pouring money into the Yes on 8 campaign. I hope your happy.

Honestly California. Have we really turned into the conservative schmucks we so greatly abhor? Can we really use the government to regulate how people live their lives? NO!

Two people in love who wish to marry should not and does not affect anyone other than the people immediately surrounding them. What we need more in this country is happy couples, so why would we deny two people their RIGHT to pursue happiness based on what they do in the bedroom. Come on people. Are we so willing to allow our government to stick their grubby hands and long noses into our personal lives? Or wait, maybe the Pledge of Allegiance says "liberty for JUST US and Not all."

Tired, Stressed and Thinking about My Trip

2008-11-04T04:29:00.000+07:00

So this month has been pretty crazy:

Pontiac Drive at the Bondurant in Chandler, Arizona.
Traffic Court to contest a ridiculous ticket for an "unsafe" left turn.
Hassling my old roommate for my deposit, half month's rent and money for my bed
Spending a weekend in NYC to visit my brother and some friends
Getting Tetanus and Typhoid vaccines
Getting through 12 hours of traffic school in two weeks
Training my temp.
Dad's Birthday
Halloween

All that on top of managing my own business and trying to say goodbye to family, friends and boyfriend before flying to Thailand. Can you imagine? I'm glad October is over, but I still have one more week of packing hell and I'll be off to San Francisco for two days before leaving the country, yet again. All in all, I'm a pretty busy chica.

I'm really overwhelmed for the next five months, especially since Alison and I are not exactly sure what we'll be doing in South East Asia. Hopefully, I'll be able to update my blog once a week with some exciting tale or updates on my work (professional and creative).

Huzzah!

My Free Trip to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving

2008-10-11T00:44:00.000+07:00

On October 2 and 3, I was regaled by Pontiac at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Arizona as a representative for AskPatty.com. The experience was incredible. Not only did I learn about the Pontiac cars on grounds, but also valuable driving techniques – not to mention an opportunity to really see what these babies can do!

It was a very intimate experience, being that there were only five media people including myself. The first day, the five of us met at the school for what would be a great experience. We were all outfitted with our own brand spanking new pairs of high class Piloti driving shoes. Then proceeded to our classroom for a ground course on under- and oversteer. There we had a crash course in physics as it pertained to vehicles in motion, transferring of weight and how to avoid spin outs. By the end of the class, we were ready for the road.

Exercise one was an autocross. Here we were supposed to use the techniques taught in ground school. One of the most important tools you have when driving is your eyes. Where you look is essentially where you will go. So the idea is don’t look at the streetlight when your vehicle is out of your control. Instead look for open spaces. Your body and thus your car will naturally follow your eyes. Since this is a driving school, there weren’t many dangerous objects to avoid. However, there were those orange cones. Instead of standing on the gas and plowing through the cones, we had to use our skills including our eyes to steer the car quickly and safely around the course.

Another interesting technique is to use your pedals to steer the vehicle. Believe it or not, your pedals play an important role in determining where the car goes. They do more than just stop and go. Taking your foot off the gas helps to slow the car and makes it easier to turn before you even step on the brake. While maneuvering tight turns at higher speeds, you don’t have time to say, “Oh shit.” If you do, it’s already too late. Slamming your brakes for anything other than a hard stop will not help you get through the turn.

That which is in motion stays in motion. Therefore, slamming the brakes in a turn will put pressure on the front wheels and will leave the back wheels spinning out, in which case you’ll need to turn the wheel in the direction of the skid to keep your back end from spinning the rest of the car. A lighter use of the break will help you get around the turn faster and more in control. Why is this important? When driving in icy or wet conditions, this can make a huge difference. Whether you’re speeding through an autocross or gliding on a wet road, it’s good to know that you can use both pedals, your eyes and your steering wheel to control your car.

All in all the school was incredible. The teachers were very helpful and the Pontiac cars were a lot of fun, especially the G6 GXP Solstice Convertible. It’s safe to say we all had a great time. Look for more of my articles on the AskPatty blog on November 6 and 13.

Trouble in Thailand and Car Expos

2008-09-16T06:36:00.000+07:00

So I keep hearing about all this drama in Thailand! My friend and I are supposed to be spending five months there come this November. Hopefully the government stays somewhat in tact for while I'm there.

In other news, I'll be heading to the Santa Monica AltCar Expo at the end of September. It's a conference on alternative and environmentally safe fuel and vehicles. Should be pretty interesting. So look for an article by me this week on Ask Patty.

I'm Back

2008-09-11T01:33:00.000+07:00

Ok, so I'm re-instating Alyse in Wonderland. Why? Because I'm always in a wonderland of some sort. Upon my return from Barcelona, Spain, I became a web content writer. Then graduation, then just plum wandering. My next adventure is Thailand with Alison. We leave November 11 and will be spending five months traveling, teaching and whatever other trouble we get into.

In the meantime, you all should check out some articles I've written for a great blog called AskPatty. It's about automotive advice for women and touches on all sorts of topics including environment, racing, engines, biodiesel, cars, etc. It'll be fun, plus my name is actually on these ones. And yes, I do know a little about cars and what I don't know, I'm learning.

Also if anyone knows of any good travel magazines that pay per article. Please let me know, as I will be traveling and writing in just a few short months.

Recent news

2006-11-29T22:48:00.000+07:00

Sorry I haven't written in forever, I've been so busy and such with traveling, midterms, maintaining sanity and saving money. So my flatmate, Elli, from Finland has her best friend Hannah staying her with us for the last month until mid-december. She fucking rocks. Since we are the only single girls in the house now we stay up all night watching movies, drinking and telling stories of drunkness, cancer walking (that's what they call crab walking ha!) and her drunk grandpa. It's going to be sad when she goes, at least Elli decided to come back after winter instead of staying in Finland. I went with friends to gay bars because I thought it would be funny, but it stopped when I realized that out of all the people I was going with I was the minority... you know, it's rough being straight haha. Also we all had a lot of shit to do before midterms so gay adventures stopped.
Jack and Daniel came up two weekends ago, which was incredibly. I love Jack so much, he's my little boy haha. We are going to travel together this winter which should be interesting: Brussels, new years in Amsterdam, then Berlin. Last weekend my random friend Daphne whose from France, studying in Sevilla for the semester came up here to visit with her boyfriend. So much fun... I'm really glad we became friends. We met at my house in the valley this summer, she stayed for a week or so... not exactly sure on how that happened ha! But, you know... we always have frogs at our house over the summers. My dad has a lot of friends from France. Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to Sevilla with David to visit her and I'll also go to her house for x-mas. Next week Switzerland. I'm going to stay with my mom's friend just outside of Geneva and then couch surfing in Bern and Zurich, should be fun. What else can I say. Things are going really well here definitely not ready to go home. So many travels planned, it's great but bad for the wallet. Celebrating the end of two weeks work for one class and midterm with a bottle of whiskey... which I haven't had in a long time, I know it's weird for me. Slightly overwhelmed with all the shite I gotta do. My heart is settled and I feel great, got off the meds and working to just explore myself. I've been writing a lot, definitely miss CCS in that aspect. I suppose that's all for now.

Monday night bars

2006-11-07T22:26:00.000+07:00

Down at the dive bar
Down at the dive bar
A round of beers
A pack of smokes leaning against the wall

Confessions of lust,
A need to get laid
Stare at my tits, why don’t you?
Awkward feelings breed sarcasm
For the one girl in the dive.

Did you fuck him?
Of course I did. It’s your turn
To buy the beer

Nice going, but you can’t be
Exactly like us.

Why would I want to
be like
you?

All women do,
Nietzsche said so.

That’s out of context.

Ok back to my life: Chelsea and I went to this bar last night and spent the whole night hanging out with these old british people who were totally smashed, dancing, and singing way off tune. Apparently I joined a band called Burning Ice. This chica from Tennessee wants to jam with me now, she's lived here for the last five years going to law school only to quite and become a teacher. I told her to fuck law school and be a rock star. She's hilarious. We also met this really cute 30 yr old from Worschester (spelling?), Britain. He was really cool as well and we just got smashed and Chelsea and I swooned at his beauty. We also befriended the bartender, this Swedish girl named Frida who is really cool and gorgeous, despite the name. Over all the night was a success and really odd. The true alcoholics come out on Mondays, and who knew they'd be British! Chelsea and I are planning on giving Frida a ring on Wednesday and do it all over again, except she was working and we were smashed. Good times Chels... sorry for being ridiculous and thanks for letting my drunk ass pass out at your flat. I could not have made it back to Eixample from Born... too fucking far.

On another note... the poem above is inspired by my guy friends who insist that Nietzche is god, but god is dead! Oh I'm so clever jajaja. Ok bad joke, bad joke... apologies.

The Pros... and The Cons

2006-11-06T00:19:00.000+07:00

Alright, the moment you've all been waiting for: what the hell happened in Italy? This whole trip has been so even-handed it's ridiculous.
Pro: Laura and I met at the train station in time to catch our train to Girona.
Con: Laura had no money whatsoever. Her american card was blocked and her spanish one had no money. So I had to pay for her until she could find a way to access her acounts
Pro: We checked in on time and the line wasn't a bitch like it usually is for Ryan Air.
Con: My plane ticket fell out of my pocket and we spent awhile looking for it. So annoying because that has never happened to me and I travel a lot and the plane was 20 min. from leaving.
Pro: The airport was able to get a new ticket for me and the plane waited for us.
Con: We had no way to contact anyone because I had not minutes on my mobile and Laura didn't have a phone. We were also too stupid to work the Italian pay phones and my mobile was also out of batteries.
Pro: We were able to charge my mobile at this area with tons of pay phones and a computer. Laura called Alvaro, our host, and he told us how to get into Rome because we were in Ciampino.
Con: Laura misunderstood an Italian and we took the wrong train one stop down and had to wait an hour in Casabianca otherwise known as buttfuck nowheresville.
Pro: We finally made it into Rome and caught the bus to Mancini to meet Alvaro. We didn't pay and it was ok, because I guess the Romans never pay for trams and buses anyway. Alvaro made us pasta and we had a minute to relax before bouncing off again.
Con: When we got to the train station the train to Lago Vico had already left so we had to wait an hour for the next train.
Pro: Alvaro bought us gelato which was fucking amazing and we spent the whole train ride playing hangman in different languages. We also got another Italian to join in! So random.
Con: Once we got to Vitterbo I had to piss like a race horse and had to pop a squat by the train station while waiting for some other couch surfers to pick us up. It was also incredibly cold and I only had a sweater for the night.
Pro: When we got to the lake we met all these awesome couch surfers for the CS Halloween party. 35 euro for meeting great people, an awesome dinner and a cabin on the lake. The dinner consisted of appetizers of bruschetta, artichoke paste on toast, beans on toast, and some meat appetizers that I didn't eat, obviously. Then second course was this awesome pasta with funghi (mushrooms). The meat eaters had meat or some crap in it as well. Main course for me was these awesome cheeses, potatoes, and grilled vegetables (everyone else was jealous because their meat was gross or something. Parmesian is heavenly Laura and I ate so much this weekend. Dessert was coffee and cookies. We partied all night with fairly good beer and shitty rum and made really great Italian and German friends in costume.
Con: We froze the rest of the night because Laura and I only had a sheet and a towel to sleep with and it was fucking cold. I got ill and was numb the entire night.
Pro: (picture left to right: Enzo, Stefano, Flavio, Valentina, Alvaro, and in the background is Emanuela.) Flavio, who organized the whole event, took us all on a wake around the lake and afterwards we all caravaned to this small town whose named escapes me. So awesome, we walked around and saw this old amphitheatre and church. Then we left to another lake to try to get lunch, but everything was closed because of All Saint's Day. But the lake was beautiful.
Con: I was starting to feel really ill and walking that much without eating was a little painful.
Pro: Emanuela drove us around Rome stopping at this beautiful lookout point, where we saw a view of the city. Orgasmic, despite me being ill. Then we went to the Olympic Stadium and saw the track field and statues with covered up penises.
Con: At this point I was dying. So I made everyone go home, because it was around 7 and I hadn't eaten and was moving all day. Also we had to wake up early for the Vatican.
Pro: Before going back to Alvaro's, Laura stopped at an ATM to see if she could withdraw and she was able to! She then paid me back the 80 euro she owed me. The next day we made our way to the Vatican at 8:45 to stand in the massive line. It was kinda fun because I was reading about Roman history and Laura and I had some good conversations.
Part one of the infamous Con: I decided to walk the line of the Vatican to see how far we had to go. On my way back I got accosted by two rude police officers. They asked if I was working or whatever and I said no. Then the one who couldn't speak English started sticking his grubby fascist hands in my backpack. I got really nervous because I've heard of fake cops stealing cameras from tourists and also real cops putting drugs in tourist bags and then arresting them. I asked him what he was doing and asked if what he was doing was legal. Neither of them said anything except for un minuti and tranquilo. They took out my notepad which had random quotes in it. Also a page of Laura's tally of what she owed me. Then the cops told me that I couldn't walk in the direction I was walking. At first I believed them, thinking I was supposed to walk in the direction of the line. Then, other people were walking the same direction as me and I told them that others were walking that way why can't I? The English-speaking cop only said that I couldn't be there and that the next time he saw me "We will take you down to our station". I said I was merely a tourist who wanted to see the Vatican and was walking back in line to my friend. My clothing attire was fine too. I was completely covered except for my hands and head.
Pro: So I stomped back to Laura, who I was actually able to find after a few circles, angry as sin and told her what happened. She was just as confused as I was. I said I was going to spit at them if I saw them again. We continued in the line and the cops where there! I told Laura and she wanted to take a picture of me flicking them off. So she did, but when we looked at the picture it was just my hand. So I said that I wanted to get a picture of them for kicks and handed her back her tour book so I could take a picture.
Part two of the infamous Con: The cops saw me taking the picture and one of them grabbed me by the arm and the other one took my camera. I asked them where they were taking me and they wouldn't answer. They threw me into one car and then another. I kept asking and finally one cop said that he would explain everything soon, which he didn't. Before we got to the station we had to stop so Italy cop two could buy some cigarettes. Once in the station they put me in a room. They kept coming in and out and saying stuff that didn't make sense or asking for my license. One other guy peered through the door and started speaking Italian. I said non capici italiano. Then he said some more stuff, in italian, I said, "what?" Then asshole cop one said something and then they left. Meanwhile, I'm freaking out and getting teary-eyed because I thought I was going to get kicked out of EAP because I'm not allowed to get arrested or they deport me. Then I was thinking that if they didn't, my parents would take me back regardless. I decided not to let these pricks get the better of me so I sucked it up and only shed a few tears (outside of their presence). I think they were pissed that I wasn't scared of them. They came back and asked me why I took a picture of them. I said that I was angry and wanted a souvenir. They made me delete the picture and gave me my camera back, thank god! Then they told me that I wasn't allowed to be in the Vatican and I asked why and they didn't answer except for saying, "We told you before." Then they asked if in the US cops are cops allowed to search you. I said yes but not without them telling you why and what for. They said that they did and I said that they didn't and then they tried to explain really choppily and I just said whatever it's been done what now. They searched my things again and were pretty pissed that I didn't have my guide book. I said it wasn't mine and I gave it back to Laura so I could take the picture. They soon left and came back with some forms and said sign or firma or whatever. I looked at them and asked what it was and all they said was yes. Then I said that I didn't understand and all they said was yes, sign. I wasn't able to leave unless I signed. So I did and they gave me a copy, which I had no clue until that night what it meant. They let me go and said that if they saw me in the Vatican again they 'd arrest me.
Pro: I went back to the Vatican to find Laura. To no avail I jumped the queue and zipped through the Vatican.
Con: The Vatican sucks. I didn't enjoy it because I was pissed off. Every room was crowded to the point where you really couldn't see anything at all. My camera died because of the bastard cops using up all the battery making sure they look hot in my photo or whatever.
Pro: I must admit that the Sistene Chapel is fucking amazing! So gorgeous, but still, crowded. I mucked around the city by myself. Shortly after leaving the museum I ran into some American tourist and they gave me their map, which was really nice of them. Luckily, Laura and I were supposed to meet at Piazza Spagna at 2-2:30 so I went there at around 1:30ish because I saw all that I wanted to see up to that point. While waiting for her. I had the most cliche American in Italy experience ever. I met a cute Italian who didn't speak any of the languages I did. He bought me coffee and took me on a moto ride all through out the city. So I got to see Piazza Venezia and the Coleseum and other parts of the ancient city on a moto! Then we stopped in a park and smoked some hash and hung out a bit. I felt so much better than I had before. He took me back to Spagna at 3:15 and his friends invited me out that night. I was over it and had other plans, but eh whatever... I'm always a bitch like that to boys I don't care that much about. I know, I should work on it.
Con: Fucking camera! No battery so I could not capture some of the awesome memories. Also after walking around the city so much alone made me a little lonely. I went to an internet cafe to see if Laura had sent me anything. I had so much time before 9, which is when we were supposed to meet Alvaro in Trastevere. It was dark and I was in some shady areas so I decided to go early to Trastevere to see if I could find some cool people to hang out with. After all, I was entitled... I saw all of Rome in one day!
Pro: So in the Piazza by the church I saw these guys playing guitar and singing and I was totally stoked on it. They were really good. So I stopped and listened and they kinda gave me some funny looks, but I was thinking whatever, I want to listen so fuck off. They were actually really cool and we spent a lot of time singing and talking. Laura soon found me there which was great. I told her what happened and asked her to translate whatever it was that the cops gave me. The italians looked at it and started laughing and telling me that the Vatican cops are generally retarded and that I shouldn't pay it. Pay? So they gave me a ticket for 103.30 euro for being an obusive tour guide without authorization! Insanity. We exchanged e-mails and they parted. Laura and I proceeded to buy and drink mass quantities of wine while waiting for Alvaro.
Con: Freezing and Alvaro was late. Laura wanted to show pictures but couldn't find her camera. It was nicked! Poor thing. Slightly accosted by drunk idiot that wanted our wine.
Pro: Awesome dinner of pizza, wine, veggies for real cheap. Met up with some American students studying in Rome, while waiting for our bus.
Con: My money fell out of my bra so I became very poor :(
Pro: Went to Valentina's show... so rad. She sang with a group of people while others were doing interpretive dance. Afterwards we went to a bar and hung out with all our new CS friends. They helped a lot trying to sort out my ticket. They appologized for their country profusely which was sweet. Laura picked up this guy who turned out to be an off duty cop and he said that he never saw anything so ridiculous and told me to go to the embassy to get rid of it and that I shouldn't have to pay.
Ok, I'm so done with writing now. The rest of the trip was pretty cool. We met Laura's hot friend in Pisa and his cool friend from England. What a weekend!

Italy

2006-11-04T05:46:00.000+07:00

Couch surfing... I love it. I met so many great people on Tuesday at the CS party by the lake in Rome. Really awesome people. We had dinner and talked a lot with everyone. Wednesday we walked around the lake and toured a little of the countryside seeing an amphitheatre. Pretty fucking cool. Yesterday was the most odd day ever. Rome is beautiful and all the people are nice except for the cops! I got arrested... yes, I know, Alyse got arrested. I leave some suspence for you all, because I am at an internet cafe and cannot really spend more money here. But it is actually fucking ridiculous what happened. More to come, I promise. Tomorrow: Pisa. Woo!

What a Wonderful Life

2006-10-31T03:41:00.000+07:00

Yes, a movie I have yet to see... but I feel like I'm living it now without the Christmas bit. So this past week has been absolutely odd. First off I've had the weirdest schedule of not sleeping for two days and then sleeping an entire day. Wednesday night I went out with Tal and David to Mojito and soon after, because it was Wednesday, we ended up meeting Laura at my place and just getting more smashed until like 5 am. Then Laura and I marched up to the Comeseria to wait 5.5 hours to register with the fucking Spanish government as students. Not to mention we were still pretty drunk at 5:30 am. Instead of going home and passing out, like I should've, at 11 I went to class. Then to work and when I got home there was a couch surfer waiting for me. For those of you who don't know what couch surfing is, it is a website where people all over the world can find friends and places to crash while traveling. So Toni, my couch surfer, was waiting for me and I was practically dead. He's a great guy who is traveling around Europe on his bicycle and making money by playing accordian in the streets! Unbelievable. So, we've had a great time together this past weekend and we might link up in Rome, which is both of our next destinations tomorrow. So I was exhausted and not in the mood for guests at all! Especially since my flatmates don't know about couch surfing, which made for a bit of an awkward experience. Most of Friday I slept or at least until 2pm (about 14 hours). Then Toni and I walked around Passeig de Gracia and I showed him La casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera. Laura, soon after, called me wanting to go to the Champagneria, a place where you can get cheap food and, more importantly, cheap champagne! Around 2-3 euro a bottle, yes a bottle. We had three between the three of us! Then we went off to Mily's house to drink more and go to Shoko and Catwalk, two very pijo clubs by the beach. Mily got us in for free in both of them, which saved us a good 30 euro each! Eventually I got tired, yes I know... but I had to wake up at 7 Saturday so you know. We got home at 5am and I passed out at 6ish waking up an hour later then going to the uni to meet everyone because we were all off on a grand exurscion! Ok, not that grand but it was pretty damn cool. First we piled into a bus and went to El Monasterio de Sant Pere de Rodes which is absolutely gorgeous. The view was amazing... the tour, however super boring. Prof. Losado, a sweet old man came with us but he kinda sounds like Ben Stein but with a quieter voice! Os tio! It was impossible to pay attention even though he was saying interesting things. One really cool thing was the rocks in the crypt. People would spend hours crying on these rocks praying to false relics for a miracle cure for whatever had ailed them or their loved ones. They are filled with so much hope and sadness it was so beautiful to see. They don't look like much, but try to picture it. It's absolutely amazing. JQ, Nick, and I wondered off to the top of the monastery to smoke and then I got coffee... running on an hour of sleep, it's necessary. Anyway, this is getting long and I have loads more to say. We went to the Dali museum in Figueras which is always great. Being in his house is like being in a new world of surreal magic. It's unbelievable this guy's work and such, he's so amazing! The works I'll show you speak for themselves...

Ok so after the long drive back to Barcelona, I bolted back to my house to quickly change and grab my ticket to MUSE!!!!!! How fucking awesome! By the time we all got back it was 7:30pm and I was still running on one hour of sleep. So I jetted over to Kirsten's piso where she, Natalia, Colette, and I got smashed... well, enough to be happy until Muse made us happier. The concert was perfect! They played so amazingly and, not to mention, everyone and their mother were there. I couldn't believe it... I really needed some amazing live music to boost the glum out of me... and the exhaustion. I loved every minute of it and they played the best songs. It's amazing what three people can do to a crowd of avid listeners. After a few hours of constant musical orgasm I took the metro home, made some pasta, and passed the fuck out. This time sleeping for 16 hours! Holy shit on a stick. About two hours later Chelsea came over so for me to cut her hair and then the rest of the night Toni and I just talked and played a little music. Phew!

Well, tomorrow morning I leave with Laura to Roma, where we are staying... we still don't know! Wish me luck... bad enough that Laura's insane and not responsible. It should be some wild weekend. Aside from above stated, Laura and I get on very well and I'm really stoked on traveling with her... just a little scared. Toni is also going to Rome because he needs to catch a ferry to Sardinia or Sicily. So he's taking an entire day to get to Rome by boat, whereas Laura and I will be there in two hours or so by plane! Oh well... until next time my little ones!

God Dammit

2006-10-22T00:30:00.000+07:00

Last Monday I went to an Erasmus party with my flatmate and her Argentinan friend. Erasmus is the foreign exchange student program for Europe. So we went and I met a really cute Italian. Long story short Elli, Mali, and I went back to our piso and Mali, the Argentinan, kinda forced his way into my room and the rest of this week I've been the butt of many jokes because he's a little ridiculous. Blah anyway, more importantly, last night was fabulous. Laura and I went to Gracia to meet up with Elli and her friends from Finland. After drinking around Gracia with our box of Don Simon we finally found them. Laura soon after left to chill with Mily and Lorena. I stayed and as we were walking home down Passeig de Gracia we ran into Kirsten, Natalia, Chelsea and Jon Jew. So I left the Finnish to hang out with them. We hung out briefly and then parted. I waited with Chelsea to get her a cab, because she lives in Born and that's far from Gracia. This guy came up and asked for a light so he can roll a porro. He smoked us out and then Chelsea got her cab and I walked home. Then Laura calls me at quarter to 12 and tells me to get over to Mily's pronto. I get up and throw on clothes and get to Mily's all discombobulated and everyone there is still partying from the night before boozing it up etc. We stayed until four and the went back. Lorena and Mily are fucking great... sweetest craziest girls ever. I'll have to get pics of them next time. They were surprised at how young I am, thinking I was 25. I, as usual, was the baby of the crowd. All in all a successful time. I don't know if I'll be partying tonight because I'm still disorientated from partying this afternoon. By the bye, sorry for the drunk dial Mira, but I love you too much not to! Besos a todos.

Madrid

2006-10-17T21:20:00.000+07:00

Wow, I've got so much to tell. I've got to start writing more often! Anyway, so Tal and I left Wednesday night to Madrid for a 7.5 hour bus ride. Unfortunately the ride was ridiculously long and we were delayed 4.5 hours in the middle of nowhere an hour and a half away from Madrid. We were sitting in the front with the door of the bus open and were freezing because it was like 5 am.

Finally they brought a tow truck and took us to a gas station where we were delayed the last hour. We finally made it to Madrid after 12 hours! Our only salvation was when we got on the metro and made a friend that we called Esteban and he looks like this:

For some reason this is absolutely hilarious to me. Is he dancing? Falling? Retarded? What the fuck? Anyway the remainder of our weekend was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun; Madrid is fucking amazing. It's kinda like the NYC of "E"spain. I almost wish I went there instead of Barca, but I'd probably be saying the same if the situ was reversed. We did a lot of random walking through the city, so beautiful and perfect weather. The first night we were to zonked to do anything so we just ate Chinese and went to a pub to play some pool, then passed the fuck out.

Friday we went to El Prado. Wow... that's pretty much all I can say in it's amazement. I fell in love with a Rembrandt painting and a Goya one that helped me succeed in making Tal think I'm more strange and crazy. I had to go back and look at them again after we finished the entire museum. Afterwards we went to a street called Fuencarral which is very similar to Melrose. I love streets like that so it was awesome. That night Tal and I had a lovely date. I should say "date" rather. We went to tapas in Plaza Mayor (oldest part of Madrid) and spent about 50 euros! We both learned valuable lessons: Tal doesn't like veal and Alyse can't eat Sopa de Ajo because it has meat in it and makes her vomit! At least the Sangria was good. We totally splurged, but it's all good because we didn't pay for dinner the night before and we got free drinks the rest of the night. We went to the hostal where Jon Jew, Brooke, Alan and Nacho were staying. Then got pretty smashed drinking and smoking hookah. Laura and some other Chicago girls were there and we had a wonderful time. Alan and I bonded over speaking Spanish and cute boys...

Laura was couch surfing and her host was throwing a party so we all went and it was absolutely amazing. The flat was full of madrilenos and looked almost like an art gallery with loads of books and paintings everywhere. We got trashed and made funny faces and had odd conversations all night. Also, we were smoking on the balcony and across the way there was a magical blue light coming from a window where the blinds were half shut. We stared into it like hungry mosquitos until suddenly appeared the thrusting upper body of a male figure with female-like legs on his shoulders. Ok enough with the crappy prosey description. Basically, wasted we were watching people having sex and laughing hysterically. It was hilarious.

Later we were loitering downstairs and Alan and I were talking about something that wasn't important and started making out because we were bored or something... I don't know I was drunk. It was incredibly awkward because who in the right mind makes out with a homosexual? Whatever it was funny, and it probably hadn't been the first and won't be the last, I'm sure. I'm so weird. Whatever, what else are gay friends for anyway? We walked all the way back to Jack's flat and Danille made us some pasta... of course the Italian makes the Americans pasta so cliche. I swear it was the best pasta ever!

The following day we were so hungover it took us all day to get out of the house in which case we walked around Madrid and the caught the bus back to Barca. Thank god it went smoothly and we had plenty of room to stretch out. Phew. Thus ends this episode of Alyse in wondrously wonderful wonderland.

Ok ok

2006-10-11T19:15:00.000+07:00

Alright I've finally decided to write again. It's been a struggle since this blogger thing has been on the fritz lately. Ok so, I'm going to skip over Thurs. night. Friday I was super hung over and stayed in all day and then tried to get tickets to Madrid with Tal at the train station only to find out that they were completo! So we went back to my house bought cheap bus tickets (over seven hours traveling yikes!) and then got greasy Chinese food. We separated for a few hours and then met up again. We were supposed to go to Razzmatazz with Kirsten, Natalia, and Jenny. First we had to get Jon Jew and pre-drink. Instead of making it down to the club, we just got buzzed and really fucking high... ridiculous. Then we thought it would be a good idea to make hummus because Jon Jew had garbanzos and his dad who was visiting brought him tahini from Israel. It was a true disaster. Tal, who can't cook for shit was just staring at us eating fruit salad and occasionally feeding me some while I was being traumatized by the garlic I was cutting. It was so much fun. Tal and I left Jon Jew's house at like 5 am and on the way home these two guys came up to us and in slurred spanish asked where there was a place open to get something to drink. This guy had to be on E or something, there was no way he was just drunk. Of course this awkward creepiness occured right at the split point for Tal and I, but I made Tal walk with me farther because those guys were shady motherfuckers and I've had too many run-ins with those these last few weeks.

Saturday I was supposed to wake up earlier than normal and go to the beach with Ocea. So much for that, I woke up at 2:45 because Laura texted me saying that her couch surfer was here and she wanted me to come over for a wine and cheese party at 5:30. It was awesome, we bought plates upon plates of tapas and it was the best feast ever. The night after that was a little but of a disaster. We went back to my house to change and to then go to a club in Gracia. Tal texted me wanting to come out with us, but we didn't get to his house until 2! So he was pissed at me, as usual. Then we didn't even go into the club. After we walked down Passeig de Gracia to find some food. Craig was desperate for a Kebab house, which doesn't exist in Spain, just shwarma... damn New Yorkers! There was nothing open so Craig and Laura soon after hopped on the bus to go home and Tal and I were left to search for something to do at 4 am. Everything was closed, but we were so awake and desperate. So we found these clubs on Aribau and I asked in my best sweetest American voice to ask how much it costs (in English) of course we got in for free, because we are just dumb "tourists" and spent until 7 am dancing and making fun of the electronica music by dancing ridiculously. After a few songs this drunk guy decided to get all over me... bah! He was cute at least. The club closed and he wanted me to go home with him, I had barely gotten his name and was beginning to curse Tal for disappearing to the bathroom. I was able to get away and we went across the street to this bar. I found ten euro on the ground and we bought some beers. As soon as we sat down we see a restaurant across from us called "Kebab House" how ironic. We took a picture to show Craig later. We were so persistent on the fact that it didn't exist! Then we left and went home as the night was a success.

Sunday I woke up at 5 and lounged around watching TV. Craig stayed the night because Laura needed to get shit done and we just had a mellow evening of drinking wine and watching TV. Some weekend eh? Well, I finally have pictures for you. To the left is the lake in front of Buckingham Palace and the Palace on the right, got to love gloomy London weather eh? Here are my cousins Josh and Aron before going out. So cute! and look nothing like me... haha. The other pic is of Josh's friends, Paul and Dom, and me.

Ok, here is one of my favs! My cousin David has kids now! So ridiculous, I still can't get over it. He's been a bachelor until 40 and now kids! I know he had kids last time I saw him two years ago, but I still can't get over it. Especially since he didn't come to my cousin Zach's Bar Mitzvah in April, because he comes to Every family event, but now he has kids! Ok I'm done complaining.

The one on right is Emily and Dominic, old old family friend. Their so big now, well at least Dom. Last time I saw him he was half his size. He's so cute and might be coming with Jo to Barca to visit. Emily, some of you might remember when she was in LA before she got sent off to boot camp in Utah. By the bye, Jo has written a book about it and my family and I are in it. If you get the chance pick it up, it's called Laughing Star by Jo Nisbet and it comes out October 15. Get it on Amazon! Do it, if you still want to be my friend! Bah! Off to Madrid tonight to see Jackie Pumpkin King! Nalani if you are reading this, you know who I'm talking about cuz... hahaha!

London Calling

2006-10-05T02:50:00.000+07:00

I've tried to post like three times already and it's being really obnoxious, so I'm not going to write too much. I went to London last weekend and it was awesome to see the cousins and my mom's best friend Joana. It quelled a bit of the homesickness. I went out with Josh and Aron saturday night and I got some old, drunk Columbian to buy us drinks just by asking him for a light! How random. Ok, I'm going to see if this posts and then I'll write more.

LONDON

2006-09-28T21:39:00.000+07:00

I have so much to say and such little time to write it. Two days ago I spent the afternoon with Peter Pan and I learned so much. He is such a great guy, I´m so glad we became friends. We talked about everything. I´ll elaborate later. Yesterday, I went out and about with Natalia, the one who put me up the first few days I was here. She´s venezuelan, 39 and absolutely stunning. It was good to see her. Tonight it´s off to London with Tal. I´ll hopefully write there when I get a chance. Finally bought a new camara!

Merce

2006-09-25T01:15:00.000+07:00

God I love this city. I just got home from last night, it's 8pm! Ok well, I crashed at Jenny's at around I don't know, 6ish? Anyway, her flatmates smoke hash constantly so I was pretty baked and a bit buzzed. We went to the forum and listened to some awesome music. It started raining and we were singing and dancing on steps overlooking a huge crowd of umbrellas and lights. Amazingly gorgeous. Seba and Liv were so cute, dancing and smoking. Nacho chilled with his umbrella and violin... he's beautiful, from Argentina. So much fun.

Friday night was similar Tal, Jon Jew and I went to Keren's house for a Rosh Hashanna dinner, twas adorable. They made a huge feast. Aftwerards we went to Chris's house for his party and I finally met his girlfriend. She's gorgeous and really nice... to cute for him. Then Allie, Laura and Joseph and I went to the forum to listen to french rap.... blah blah blah I'm done typing.

Bikini

2006-09-22T21:27:00.000+07:00

Wow, so two nights ago Laura and I went to bikini, a really posh club that's about 15 to get in, but we got in for free! We had been drinking quite a bit of rum and were dancing up a storm. Within in the first 10 minutes of being there some cute guy grabbed me and we started dancing then making out and then we got each others names... so random. Anyway, I think he's in love with me now and I'm terrified... ok not really but me being such a commitment-phobe you can only imagine. Oh well. Laura is trying to get me to see him again, but err... we'll see. I'm not too keen, maybe I'm more hung up on a boy back home more than I thought. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I made out with his friend too, at the same time! Ok, I felt a little whorish, but who doesn't do stupid things while traveling or in their youth. Anyway, Laura was jealous and she told me that I'm such a goody-two-shoes, which I am... well... at heart at least. All in all it was quite an adventure. And I going to repeat my famous line... well famous according to one of my flatmates last year, I gotta quite boys and drinking for awhile. Matt, if you're reading this, I hate you cuz you're right! haha.

Chris and his girlfriend are throwing a party and Laura and I are going to go. I finally get to meet this famous chica. I want to bring the other girls too but Chris and Peter Pan hate them and vice versa. People are so funny with their minor hang-ups, they hardly know each other and have such strong judgments.

Waiting for class

2006-09-20T17:15:00.000+07:00

I´ve got an hour to kill and I thought I´d write in the blog. Last night I had Jenny, Kirsten and Natalia come over for dinner. It was a success, my first real dinner party. I made onion soup, rice and salad (hey, we´re all vegetarians with the exception of Kir and onion soup rocks so let it lie man, let it lie). Nat brought the wine and Kir brought chocolate.... mmmm. We had fun, hopefully we´ll make this a weekly event.

My house is beautiful. I know I´ve been here for awhile but I didn´t really have the time to actually get a feel for it and a good look around. mmm, glory. Oooo and yesterday I saw two cute gay boys make-out... ah young love... so sexy.

The festival of Merce is this weekend so that´s going to be wild, it´s baisically a drunken party in the streets with music and shows, kinda like the Gracia festival. That should be interesting. I´m going to try and get another camara soon so I can post pictures of my place and flatmates.

Lack of internet

2006-09-18T20:52:00.000+07:00

Ok, so I haven´t written in a while because I don´t have internet at my place for the next 15 or so days... judging by Spanish time, lord knows when. I´m on campus now and I was supposed to have my first class at 3 but the professor is sick so I don´t have class Woo!

ILP is finally over, thank god. Finals were a pain, almost fell asleep during the last one. I still have a paper to write on Todo sobre mi madre and that´ll be the last of ILP forever. I hope the finals went more so in my favour, but we´ll see.

The weekend was great. Thursday night I went out with Chris, Peter Pan, and their two friends and they bought me a lot of whiskey... mmm. Chris is excited, because his girlfriend supposedly came on sunday so all thrusday he kept talking about how happy he was to finally start getting laid on a more consistent basis and then proceded to tell me that I need to find a hot spanish boy who´s great in bed. Thanks for making life a little more awkward Chris. I somehow managed to convince him after great effort that i´m fine right now and that sort of thing will come along eventually or whatever. Later that night I made the mistake of walking home alone completely sloshed and barely able to walk. Basically, let´s just say that bad things could´ve happened, but I´m alright and completely intact. Although, I´m not going to tell the boys what happened because they´d be pissed they let me walk home alone... i suppose i can be convincing when i´m drunk. Friday was boringish and not really worth typing about.

Saturday I went out with Celia and Ellie, my roommates, their friends and my friend Ocea from the residencia. it was fun, there was a cute boy named Albert but he was kind of a douche so nothing passed. Sunday during the day Jenny invited me to a ¨drug¨ party, odd. When we got there there were three people passed out in coma-like states. You could tell they´d been on a three day coke binge. It was pretty funny. Laura was awake, still drunk, and yayed out... reminds me of home. ok, not really. There were no drugs left, which was good because i probably would´ve done them without really wanting to. Coke sucks. Too many friends gone down the tubes with that one.

Last night Ellie and I went to a beach party for a few hours and that was cool. Then we went home and that´s that. Oh and I never want to go to IKEA again... bah. Spent too much time there thurs and sat trying to buy/return crap... thanks to Tal, who owes me like 50€ now. Whatever. England in two weeks!!! WOooo. I´ll try to keep you posted despite the lack of internet.

Sunday Blues

2006-09-12T04:59:00.000+07:00

Last night everyone was being lame and no one wanted to go out, probably because of the ridiculous amount of homework that we have due tomorrow. But come on, it's a holiday... Catalunya holiday. Anyway I managed to convice Jenny to come out and play. One of my roommates texted me about some beach party. So we were going to go there, but her directions were so horrible that it took us forever to find something. We ended up not finding the place, she went home and we were stuck in buttfuck-nowheres-ville. The metro was closed and there were no taxis in sight or humans for that matter. We finally got one and had the driver take us to Plaza del Sol so we could save the night... that was the mission. Accomplished very successful. Jenny and I got smashed and we had long talks about nothing. The bar closed and we wandered the streets looking for another one. We then ran into this group of skeazy spaniards and went reluctantly to a bar. We got chupitos, got really drunk, and ditched the creeps. There's something wrong with someone who's thirty-three and is interested in a 20yr old! Whatever, it was a kosher night. After that we wandered the streets some more trying to walk all the way from Gracia to L'Eixample, baisically several miles. Got to my apartment and passed the fuck out. Woke up late ran errands ate a an amazing vegan restaurant went back to the dorms did homework and now I'm going out again. Peace!

Crazy Nights

2006-09-10T20:52:00.000+07:00

Friday night was a lot more fun. I jetted home from the dorms, changed and jetted back to meet my friends. Mira called me during this process and it was so comforting, I knew I was going to have a great night. Once I got to the dorms Tal wanted me to shave his head, which was hilarious because he had to stick his head out of the 6-story window and the clippers were JQ's who uses them not for his head, but for "other areas".

Anyway, we left to Mond Bar in Plaza del Sol where I stayed very briefly. I met a cute Spanish punk named Guillem, "William". I went with him and his friends to La Macarena, a club off La Rambla that plays techno non-stop. These Euros and their techno, honestly! So the cover was 5 euro, but we managed to get in for 10 for five of us. Drinks were expensive, but I wasn't planning on getting smashed because I wanted my Spanish to hold up and my brain to keep functioning. The rest of my gang showed up at La Macarena at 4:30ish, but were unable to get in so they walked to the metro and waited for it to open, I guess.

We danced all night and then Guillem walked me home. We stayed up until 6:30ish, then I made him go home. Because, that's what I do. :P I can't cope with cuddling with people I don't know. I guess I'm just an odd girl, most of my friends are cuddle-sluts and can do that. Perhaps I see it as something more intimate. I can't feel comfortable. There's supposed to be a magical connection between two bodies, if you don't know the person, than it's nothing more than an awkward empty shell. I have no problem cuddling with my guy friends, but some random hookup? Negative. Last night I crashed in Kirsten's dorm room and she brought home this super cute Spaniard and he stayed the night (no, they didn't have sex with me two feet away!). I guess I see physical pleasure as something completely different than emotional connection. Both can coexist in the same person, but they can also be completely separate. Anyway, I've exhausted this subject and I need to write my essay for Cultura.

Blech

2006-09-09T01:11:00.000+07:00

Ok, so ILP is almost over. Thank god, it's miserable hell. We have a five page paper to write by tuesday, all in Spanish. I think Wednesday was the most hilarious day in class ever. We've all given up. In first period, Catalan, Tal put an ant on my paper and I decided to make it my pet. It's name was Sally. So Sally was chillin on my workbook, and crawling around my hands and then all of a sudden she just stopped and died! I was so upset but Tal and Jon Jew were laughing at me, saying that that would only happen to me. I guess it is kind of odd to make friends with an ant, but she was so sweet. Anyway, I was upset and the rest of class Tal, Kirsten, and I just dicked around.

Thursday I ditched because, fuck ILP, I did absolutely nothing, it was fabulous. Oh I did move into my new place, pretty awesome. Last night sucked because my phone died and I was all alone on La Rambla getting hassled by all sorts of weirdos. Although, one good thing about last night is that I got to talk to my brother. I still have to unpack and I don't have internet, which is why I'm back at the dorms chillin waiting for free shitty food. Hopefully, tonight would be better, although I did put a good dent in the book I'm reading.

All in all, you guys need to show me some love, because it's lonely in the big city.

The Weekend

2006-09-04T22:16:00.000+07:00

This weekend was awesome... Friday night, mostly wandering and heart to hearts with Tal and Jenny. We went to Chupitos which is Spanish for "shots". The shots were only 1.50 and very tasty.

I got drunk, again! I can't keep up with these Spaniards, they're fucking nuts! The top picture from left to right there is Rachel, friend from home; the infamous Jenny; me; and finally Natalia. We made her take a lot of shots.

The most fun was Saturday night. It was Quenton's last night before he goes back to Paris to wait 6 days to screw his girlfriend, at least that's what he kept saying. His friends were pretty damn cute, especially the 22 year-old Italian. We kissed, but the stupid Belgium we called Mr. Waffles yanked him away! It's all good though, he must've been jealous because he was clinging to Italy most of the night. Anyway, Italy has my number, but I don't think he'll call. Oh well, not exactly looking for anything anyway, especially since I'm a little hung up on people back home. Besides, I'd rather no skeazy Italians... j/k. Here's Quenton and his boys plus Rachel toward the end of the night after a few shots of Absinth. We'll miss you Quenton! It goes Christian (Italy), Quenton, Hennes (Germany), Rachel, Giome (Mr. Waffles) and all the way in the back is Chris.

Here's another one, Chris is in the middle and Quenton as La Oveja Negra. How flipping hilarious is here, I swear we were joking about it the entire night. Here's a better one of Italy with Quenton and half of Jon aka Peter Pan's head. Until next time, my dears.

Pictures Finally

2006-09-02T01:13:00.000+07:00

Phone Number

2006-08-31T22:53:00.000+07:00

Ok so for those of you who want to call me my phone number is 011.34.671.446.192. Remember 9 hrs ahead. I'll post my address later, when I find out my zip. Cheers.

TOMATINA!!!

2006-08-31T21:55:00.000+07:00

Ok, I swear to god next blog will have pictures. So Rachel came on Monday to visit so we are cramped three people with several suitcases in a tiny ass dorm, swell. It's actually not that bad sharing a twin with her, she doesn't flail around. I'm glad she's here, I feel more at home. Although now I miss Nic, because I saw all the pics of her and him in Germany.

Anyway the last few days have been awesome. Monday night we went out and I got crazy smashed. We met this chill bartender who must've been like 50 and she gave us absinth shots and we got crazy drunk and stayed up all night, making school on Tuesday very interesting. Either way it was a fabulous bonding moment since it was Quenton and David's first time hanging out with us. Absolutely hilarious. John/Peter Pan (my nickname for him since he's 28 and doesn't want to grow up) couldn't finish his absinth and almost puked so I hand to man up and take the rest of his shot! He won't live that down. So Chris and Chelsea wondered off and ended up drinking an entire pitcher of sangria between the two after already being smashed. Basically they didn't make it to class on Tuesday which is no good since we were all skipping Wednesday for La Tomatina. Jenny got separated and found some guy, first one here to get laid! Go Jenny. This girl is insane, but I like insanity. Class sucked ass on Tuesday, coffee helped a lot.

TOMATINA
Ok so we had to be at Plaza Cataluna at 4:30 am to take the bus to Bunol, a city just outside of Valencia for La Tomatina, which is basically a giant tomato fight. Exhausted, we all mounted the bus passed out and woke up uncomfortable wanting drinks pretty badly. Before we left the bus we drank some boxed wine and had a swig of Cuban rum, which is fantastic. We walked to some dive bar where the bartender was super trashed and bought a shot of J&B. Natalia and Kara asked for vodka shots but he poured them whiskey and they were not down so he gave them to Jenny and me for free.

Walking down toward the festival we saw a cerveza puesto and bargained for 1 euro beers. So after not really sleeping all night and not eating Jenny and I were pissed drunk. So instead of an actual tomato fight it was more of a mosh pit with thousands of sweaty, tomatoy people awkwardly smashed together. Not to mention the huge trucks that smashed us against the walls of the alleyways showering us with tomatos. We all were ankle deep in tomato slosh, lost shoes and shirts, and god knows what else. The whole experience was amazing and disgusting. Rachel was laughing at me histerically because I got dumped on hard core.

We managed to get our way out, bummed a cigarette, got another few 1 euro beers, took off our shirts because they were disgusting, and tried to find people we know. I saw Quenton, who looked clean, which made me mad so I tried to get him with the tomato slosh on the ground, but since he was sober, he got away. Chris came by and was blabbing about something or other so I thought it would be a good idea to shove tomato slosh in his face. Hilarious, he got me back pretty damn good though.

Jenny, Rachel, and I washed up as best we could in the river and also got hosed down a few times by the locals. We met some local guys and Jenny flirted to get us drinks. We hungout with them, practicing Spanish until we found this absolutely gorgeous guy. He must have been a god, the most beautiful person I've ever seen! His name is Dani, swoon. Unfortunately, we needed to catch the bus so we couldn't stay long. Although, we did score his e-mail.

Drunk as hell we passed out on the bus until we stopped at an Autocar, a super expensive truck stop where Kirsten and Jenny stole a bunch of food. Still drunk, back on bus. Seriously, is it actually possible for someone to be drunk from 11 to 9pm on how little we drank? I guess with no sleep or food it is... maybe we did drink that much. Whatever, the best part about the whole day was showering!

Lazy Days

2006-08-29T13:41:00.000+07:00

Really bad headache right now. Ok, so I'm going to put up pictures eventually. I lost my camera last drunken friday night so I was too depressed to write or upload pics etc. The Casa Mila/Pedrera is absolutely beautiful and very intricate. The Sagrada Familia is unbelieveable, words cannot describe how amazingly detailed and gorgeous it is. Fundacio de Joan Miro sucks... probably because I'm not a fan of Miro's art. Still Friday field trip was awesome. Saturday I was recluse, sulking about my camera. Sunday, apartment shopping. I found a place that I really liked with three other girls. Although, I am a little worried because it's going to be my first time living with all girls! My room is pretty big with a desk and a queen bed (hard to come by). Also I got some really good alone time walking around the city. Rachel flew in from Berlin yesterday and we went to some bars last night. It's nice to have someone from home here. Alright, I should do homework inside of writing this.

Long Story

2006-08-25T22:25:00.000+07:00

Ok so the last few days have been pretty intense. You might have to humour me here because I just smoked some awesome Spanish hashish and somehow managed to burn part of my right eyelashes... ya, I feel like a retard but that's ok. Anyway, on wednesday night we went to Montjuic (hill of jews! ha) for a firework festival thinger. We went to a bar, sat outside and drank a pitcher of really good sangria, then Larissa and I went to the bathroom in the place got a free shot of whiskey from the cute bartender. Then we all ended up going done to Gracia and partied in the street some more. Danced with this old spanish drug dealer named francisco who smoked us all out. Larissa flirted with some old business men, Jenny kept trying to get free drinks, some girls left to pop a squat, everyone was dancing and drinking. Fun stopped when Jenny couldn't stand. so basically i've recounted this event so many times i'm gonna make this real short: i ended up having to ride in an ambulance to take Jenny to the hospital and stayed up all night in the waiting room where they never told me that they released her in the morning. Sleeped in all day yesterday, woke up at 4:30 and went with Tal to grab some food. So drama in the dorms occured when everyone came back from classes because of jenny's stupidity. I'll post pictures later. Today we went to a bunch of awesome museums... anyway i'll write more when i'm more capable.

Fiesta de La Gracía

2006-08-21T21:37:00.000+07:00

Ok so Saturday night was so rockin’ except for getting stuck in the metro for half an hour with drunken French guys screaming incomprehensible words and lighting up cigarettes and joints in the flipping train! I went with a few friends from the dorms to Gracía which is a local festival where many of the barrios (neighborhoods) dress up the streets in different decorations. Each calle has a theme, a bar, and a live band. Herds of people wander the streets of Barcelona trashed and dancing. The street that one first prize was decked out in alien paper maché and plastic figures with a giant motorcycle in the front. Third place had beautiful carved lanterns and lights hanging from the home-made ceilings, and the band was playing Irish music. We went to the main stage in some random plaza and talked to this guy named Nacho for a long time. He was really sweet, but difficult to understand because he had a very thick Spanish accent. We wandered around some more and went to this one street where there was this awesome band playing catchy Spanish music and random American songs like Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life, which was perfectly cliché for the amount of debauchery we are all about to embark upon in the upcoming year. Drenched in sweat we danced the night away with people shooting water guns into the crowd. Kirsten and I got mobbed by a Spaniard and an Italian while Allie and Natalia laughed and took pictures. Shortly thereafter we decided to ditch our creepy foreigners. The city is beautiful and people of all ages where partying in the streets drinking cerveza and having a good time. Although I woke up incredibly late Sunday evening (5:45 pm) it was well worth it.

I have arrived

2006-08-20T01:32:00.000+07:00

Ok, so I'm in Barcelona, Spain right now. It's absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, about to go to dinner so real quick. If you want to contact me another way aside from blog, e-mail, myspace, facebook, etc. there is a program called Skype that you can get for free on download.com and you can talk to people all over the world for free! You do need a microphone or a webcam if you don't have either there is a chat function. My skype name is aspeyer77. Much love to you all.

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