Just the Beginning

             I'ts been 3 weeks since my last blog post, and for those of you who still read my blog, I commend you. As you may know, my journey is over, the 12 weeks are up and I've been home now for a whole week. The flight went ridiculously smoothly, there were absolutely no problems, and I was even able to smuggle in some food for my family and sand from the Sahara desert. When I saw all my friends with their signs, ugh it was an amazing moment. I had a giant smile glued to my face and didn't stop hugging people and laughing for a good 10 minutes, I was shaking at one point. I know it sounds a bit extreme but it was great to see them after 3 months of  separation. And in usual Alvarez fashion, my family arrived late picking us up, but I wasn't even surprised, it was just like old times.  ever since I got back, I have been meaning to write about Morocco but in truth I could have  whole other blog just about Morocco. It was incredible, each day was jam packed with unforgettable moments, it would take 1,225 pictures and 1,000's of words to do the trip justice. I tried to upload pictures, but apparently I maxed out the memory space on my blog, and I would have to pay for more space. But if your curious I have a small collection of photos on my facebook. 


             I also wanted to write one final blog post summarizing the trip and bringing closure to my blog, but how can I summarize and bring closure to a whole chapter in my life? 3 months, that's 1/4 of a year all new and eye opening. There is no way I can do that. my time in Spain is over, but the impact it has had on my life is just beginning. For one I am hosting Laura now, and sharing my life in lil' Rhody with her and 5 other of her friends. And obviously my Spanish has vastly improved, I feel so happy with my ability. I'm not fluent, that will take more time but I'm on my way. My comprehension is much higher than my ability to speak but in time they will be equal. But mentally, I feel like this trip has opened my eyes to a whole new world, literally.
             I feel so closed off in our little world in Rhode Island, going out and seeing these new countries and cultures has opened my eyes and given me some true perspective. Seeing all these different places just blows my mind and it amazes me how so many lives and cultures and people are going on all at the same time. As I'm writing this blog post, the school girls I met in Morocco are eating breakfast and getting ready to go to school, my family in Spain is probably fast asleep, the people in London Heath row are probably running around trying to make their flights, all these different people all these different places, all these different lives, all at the same time. It blows my mind. When you grow up in one place (or in my case 7) you tend to forget about the rest of the word and only focus on you and the people in your lives. 


           You forget about the fact that we live on a planet with 7 billion people, and that over 70% of the world lives off of what we consider pocket change. This trip has allowed me to see with my own eyes how small we are, but also how united. I feel like in America we are sheltered and hidden from the rest of the world. Sure we have some diversity depending on what state you live in, but what about countries that don't even speak a romantic language?? Traveling gives your life perspective, and a thirst to see more. Though my time in Spain has come to an end, the impact it as had on me is just starting to take hold. This trip was just the beginning. 

Fútbol!!

Last Saturday, I experienced a check point in my life. Something I'd always wanted to do since I was a little kid. 

Go to  professional soccer (or Fútbol!) game.

It is finally spring, and the orange blossoms were blooming, the smell was amazing.

A caffeine stop right before the game.. there were tons of people all making there way to the stadium.

There was an abundance of red.. the people here are serious fans.

And there it is... the stadium. Among the most beautiful sights I've ever seen in my life.

That was the guy who scored the winning goal for Spain in South Africa in the world cup.

My new favorite scarf.

Barcelona huddle up before the game... right now, they are the number one team in the word. Half the players of Spain's team for the world cup came from this team.

A drunk guy who wanted to take a picture.

Such an amazing moment. The whole stadium help up these papers to form red and white stripes in support of Sevilla while singing songs. 

It was truly a beautiful unifying moment.

Before the match

And the game begins!

Check out that elbow, that's a foul if I ever saw one.

Perfect form... but he missed :(

(Sevilla is white Barcelona is blue/red)

Penalty kick... they scored :(

And then Messi got the ball..

And that happened.

He was yelling, but yo can't really tell. These fans are hardcore.

A beautiful shot, but the damn goalie caught it.

The stadium.

Team spirit

Messi got the ball again

and then the first aid came out.

Look at that foul. Lying on his belly. Haha, no that's just acting, the player for Barcelona literally just ran by with the ball.

More theatrics, look at the dramatic fall.

Waiving the scarf in support

Some of the most intense fans o=out there. These guys didn't stop dancing/yelling/chanting/ whistling till the game ended.

And end it did. Barcelona being the best team in the world won unsurprisingly by 2-0 but Sevilla put up a good fight. It was a great game, and one that I will never forget.

Browniesss

So when my parents visited in Barcelona, we all went out to have dinner together (both families) and for dessert we all ordered a brownie Sunday.

But the brownie was dry and crumbly, not a very good consistency, and the flavor left something to be desired. I promised to make them a real brownie. One that was thick and fudgey bursting with buttery chocolate flavor. An American brownie.

And last Sunday, I did.

I also took pictures : )

They don;t really have cocoa powder so I used really dark sugar free chocolate.

Allrecipes.com, never fails.

Primero, (first) we start by cracking some eggs, 4 , in case you couldn't tell.

You know what that is? Melted chocolate and butter. Yeah.

Sugaaaarr the magic stuff.

sugar into eggs

Chocolate and butter into eggs and sugar. 

Notice how this is all done with a fork and little glass cups. No kitchen aid mixer or measuring cups round here.

Mixing in the flour

Perfect luscious consistency.

Pouring it into the pan

and into the oven!

after 15 minutes.. (baking is my favorite form of chemistry)

All done! Sorry I didn't take a picture of them cut up and dolloped with whipped cream, or a shot of their faces when they ate them. But this batch of brownies lasted a good 2 days...

Makin' the world a better place, one brownie at a time. 

But seriously, it was great to bake again, I really have a passion for baking. It's just so different over here! Literally no one bakes, desserts are usually custards or yogurt,  they've never even heard of cupcakes, let alone butter cream frosting! This was my attempt at sharing a little piece of Americana with them, and I think it was a success. 

Recording... and Life

As you know, I'm apart of a "band" at my school, and these kids are seriously talented. So talented in fact, that they went to a professional recording studio to record 5 of their songs. Unfortunately for them (but fortunate for me), I was included. See, the thing is, I'm not really that great at singing. I can follow a tune, but I'm nothing special... I just figured that band was a much better elective than studying in the library, and alas I was given a microphone and did my best to sing along with the tunes. I had a lot of fun, but things got serious when I realized I had to sing by myself.

Last Friday, we got to miss school (and an exam) to go to the recording studio. It was on a college campus, equipped with weird square sound boxes all over the wall, the infamous soundproof room for recording with (one) microphone and head phones, a big techy mac desktop computer, a bunch of head phones and like 6 guys who all had piercing for some reason controlling the computer and all the other techy aspects of it. See, as I realized, recording is much more complicated than it seems.

After a good hour of biting my nails and watching my band mates sing courageously one by one in the sound proof room, and listening to their fabulous voices coming through the speaker, it was my turn to go in. My heart was beating way too fast, and there was pretty much three thoughts going through my head:
1) I can't do this.
2) I can't sing.
3) I'm going to embarrass myself in front of my band and these sketchy techy dudes.

Encouraging huh?

But I had to shut my eyes and clear my mind. These thoughts would only make me do worse. And very few people get the opportunity to record in a professional studio, and this kind of opportunity doesn't come along very often. So I went for it. I told the butterflies in my stomach to take a hike, and I put the headphones on and took a deep breath.

And then I sang.
I didn't look at any of the faces, I just did my best to follow the tune. And it was kind of awesome. Well, I mean it felt awesome. I'm pretty sure my voice sounded better to myself than it did in real life,  but in total it only took about 2 minutes, and then I was done. When I sat down I realized my legs were shaking, and that a strange sense of jittery-ness had taken over my body.

It was nerve wracking, but I'm glad I did it. And sorry I didn't think to bring my camera, that was my only regret for the day. So instead, I hope my descriptions serve as a good idea of what went down last Friday.

We get the CD all done and edited on Monday, and if there's a way for me to somehow put it on my blog, I will...

Anyways, while I was having lunch with my family about a half hour ago, it hit me. I only have one week and 2 days left here. Only 7 school days before I take off for Morocco, and then fly home. It's absolutely insane, I always felt like I was gonna be here for such a long time, I'd lost track, and my "long time" quickly became 9 days ( + 7 more in Morocco). Crazyness.
I have such mixed feelings about coming back. Initially when I got here, everything was new and different, and I was very nostalgic for my old home and normal way of life. But with any situation, I adapted, I became accustomed to my life here, and now I'm used to it. I'm gonna have to go back to real life soon. Cold weather, high school, my old house.

Don't get me wrong, I miss my family and friends like crazy. I just hate it when something so wonderful has to come to an end. But the adventure we're going to have in Rhode Island is a new beginning.
I'm going to be sharing my life with Laura, and showing her and her other friends around, introducing her to our way of living. In truth, nothing would ever be the same when intensives started. No more normal school. Cause, see, when intensives started, they were a weird much funner alternative to normal school, then we had winter break, then when we all came back to school, I didn't even have to do my work, cause, well I was going to Spain. And now, when I return to Rhode Island, I'll be sharing my life with Laura. And in the blink of an eye, those three months will fly by, she'll fly back to Spain, and the it'll be summer, and I'll be on my way back to Miami, where my life will change again, for better or worse.

Jeez, this is becoming a really long post, I appreciate those who haven't given up reading this out of boar-dome, but yeah, I've been thinking a lot about life in general lately, and I had an epiphany the other day.... I decided two things I want to study in college! I want to study business and psychology. And I want to somehow own my own cafe/bakery with my dad, and be a social psychologist at the same time, with my own office, and flexible hours helping make people feel better and get through their problems, and with my free time I'll volunteer at the Animal Shelter. But before all this, I'm backpacking around Europe with my best friends. That's my little goal right now and who knows, I'll probably change my mind once my future comes into better perspective.
But for now, I'll just have to see were life takes me.

Adios! And See you soon :)



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Barcelona & the Family

I truly feel blessed. I've never had such amazing luck before... the opportunity to go to Spain was something I knew I couldn't turn down but I never expected to see as much as I have. The experience thus far has been priceless, and I can't thank my family, and everyone involved enough for making this possible. last week, I got the opportunity to fly to Barcelona, which is an hour away by plane, where I met up with my family after a solid 2 months of separation.

Both of my families met up in an Italian restaurant, and they talked non stop well into midnight, it felt so good to be reunited with them again. My brother and I even sort of got along.. it was a rare occurrence... shows what 2 months of not being annoyed by your brother can do to you.
For the next 3 days, we explored the wonderful city of Barcelona, using nothing but our feet and La Metro to get around...

First, we set off to explore the Segrada Familia, a super huge miraculously elaborate cathedral designed by Gaudi... Even well after his death the Cathedral is still under construction, and it probably won't be finished in my lifetime.. but let me tell you, this cathedral was magnificent.

This was the ceiling, it reminded me of a kaleidoscopic.. it was meant to imitate a forest canopy, the pillars imitate palm trees, and the light resembles the sun peeping through the thicket of leaves.

All right so the order is all messed up, but after the 3 days in Barcelona we flew back to Seville, where I showed my family around the city.

This is at the Alcazar, which I already posted a ton of pictures of...

These fish were so wierd... the gathered around where we were standing and started gulping the air, I'm pretty sure this was their "begging" face. Dogs are way cuter.

...and fast forward to a night strolling around Seville with both of my families at a tapa bar.

Look! We aren't trying to push each other into the water!

this is the Jamon (ham), which is practically a religion here... the pigs are raised on open fields eating a diet of acorns and running free, then they're killed, soaked in salt water, then hung to dry for 2 years before being carefully shaved and served for hungry Spaniards to enjoy.

The Cathedral at night.. it's the 3rd largest in the world... if you count the tower (la Giralda) it would be the first, but it was built by the Arabs, so it doesn't count...

The Apartment we stayed in!

The streets were very narrow... 

Mom trying on the hair clips for La Ferria

The fans..

Okay, back to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Please, just admire the attractiveness of my brother.

La Metro

It wouldn't be right without another random parade..

The Paella we had for lunch

The first time I saw the Mediterranean Sea 

soaking up the sun

Some guy juggling

Who needs a car when you have this guy?

Okay, just look at how classy this McDonald's is. Come on America...

Another building built by Gaudi

It was meant to resemble bones and skulls...

Sevi, me, Paco (my host dad) and Laura

and now it's day 2 in barcelona and we are walking, or climbing/crawling up a huge hill to Gaudi Park

Aww, we kinda look normal..

Meant to imitate waves

When it rains, jets of water poor from the lion's mouth.

Inspired by the gingerbread houses in Hansel and Gretel

Yet another fabulous example of Sevi's undeniable good looks.

A bit easier on the the eyes... a castle in the distance

My future care.

I liked the contrast in the colors.

You guessed it, another Gaudi building.

A typical tapa menu

A cool sculpture.

That Sevi had to climb of course...

The old city...

The Cathedral of Barcelona

In the cathedral, there are several alters, and to honor them, you light a candle... but this is the 21st century, so instead thy use LED candles, just pop in a few Euros, and your candle lights up. 

It was kind alike facebook likes, some alters had lots f candles, other, not so popular...

These things were really, really old.

This was the Baroque time, ridiculously over the top

When we went out for dinner, Sevi was crazing a good ol' fashioned hamburger unfortunately, the hamburgers in Barcelona look a little different...

The next day, we went for a road trip along the countryside, we came across an old fortress

We found ourselves in the town of Rosa, along the coastline. Who needs Hawaii when you have Spain?

There were sea urchins along the shore.

Caste by the sea <3

And back to the Cathedral in Seville...

La Giralda 

That's all 100% real gold, rubies, emeralds, etc.

See that guys? Jesus was in Rhode Island.

This was Christopher Colombus's tomb. He didn't deserve this kind of burial. he should be with all the Tanu's.

The we climbed La Giralda, there were a total of 34 flights of ramps we climbed

The top!

The entrance to the Cathedral

Plaza de Espana, or the palace were star wars was filmed. Sevi was excited.

Orense, the region were my great grandfather was from.

My dad probably consumed 20 espresso's by the end of the trip.

Tapas!