Lunar Luminate

And so the details continue! Soon life will become rudimentary and rote here and I won’t have half as much to share. But until, then, TAKE THAT!

—–

…You know, I just realized something that bugged me about the assigning of homework in these orientation classes.
There aren’t any syllabi. I’ve had syllabi in ALL my classes since sophomore year of High School.
Like, there are course descriptions that have an outline of the topics we’ll cover, but nothing that says THIS IS DUE ON THIS DAY.

It’s disconcerting like woah.

—

OH BOY
I’M LEARNING ABOUT THE PAST TENSE GUYS
GUYS

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In other news, I woke up this morning and there were five ants on my bed. But I don’t have any food in my room? I dunno how they got there, or what part of the house they’re milling about in if it’s not my room.

Also most of the kids this weekend are going to Madrid since we have Saturday and Sunday off.

I am not, mainly because no one has passed invitation to me and so I was like buhurr. Buuuut, Sarah Tompkins and Allie Garrison, of Northwestern, are going to  Gibraltar
With an agency that has a trip with MONKEYS and CAVE EXPLORING.
Monkeys are cool, sure, (I much prefer birds <3), but CAVE EXPLORING? I’M SO THERE.

—-

Another day of classes. SIGNED UP FOR GIBRALTAR and also they have a trip to Morocco, 5 days, December 4 through 8
Which costs 449 euros.
A day in Morocco, checking out buildings and things
A day in Fez, seeing the bazaars and also the old-ness of the place because they have the OLDEST ink wells ever where they dye their leather and cloth and stuff
And then, two days in the Sahara Dessert. Riding by Camel, and then by 4×4s. Spend one night in an oasis owned by a family, with tents and a dune that takes 45 minutes to climb that they have a snowboard there for sand-boarding
And then another night in this amazingly pristine hotel.
And then we come back and spend the rest of our time somewhere.

It looks amazing. It sounds amazing. It’s about 1.5x the cost of a roundtrip ticket to Copenhagen. It’s a long weekend.
I’m guaranteed to do SOMETHING that weekend. Is that what I want to do? I dunno. @.@ IT SOUNDS SO AWESOME ARGH but the price is a bit steep. It would probably be steeper if I did such a trip on my own but..

And upon returning from the agency (so it’s like 9:30 PM), the dad was in the Kitchen and was like SO HAY DID YOU GO OUT AND HAVE A heh-heh *drinky-drinky hand motion* And I was all serious like “No I was at the agency for the trip this weekend” and then his disposition suddenly changed and he was less Eh? Eh? And more formal.
IS THE IDEA OF ME DRINKING THAT WEIRD TO PEOPLE THAT THEY HAVE TO REACT SOMEHOW? ¬¬

Of course I still haven’t out yet. BUT we have to go to this one chain, 100 montaditos or something like that? It’s a Tapas franchise in the city and we need to order something we have not had before.
For lunch tomorrow, I could order one of the famous wines of Spain, a vino tinto, along with something to go with it that I haven’t had. I was actually going to tonight, but the agency took way longer than expected soooo I agreed to meet some folks tomorrow for it.
But I feel weird ordering something for early in the day oO ALTHOUGH that shot was right after lunch. Eh I’ll make up my mind later.

ALSO ISN’T THAT WEIRD? FOR HOMEWORK, GO SPEND MONEY ON A FOOD ITEM AT THIS ONE PLACE. I KNOW YOUR FAMILY IS GIVING YOU THREE FULL MEALS A DAY BUT YOU NEED TO DO THIS TO GET A GRADE FOR TODAY. Is the professor being commissioned by the restaurant or is she just crazy..?

In other news, yogurt definitely is better here. Especially cherry yogurt. OH lord, I have found my favorite thing EVER. It’s not overdoing the cherry flavor and it leaves you craving more. I need to find my way to a supermarket and see if I can just buy a bunch of cherry yogurts. Like, LOTS. Because those are the ultimate snack of delight. ULTIMATE.
Speaking of food, that was dessert. Dinner was mashed potatoes and hot dog sausages. EXCEPT, and I didn’t realize it until after I was halfway done eating, the hot dogs were stuffed with CHEESE. :O LIKE SOME MALEVOLENT MEATY TWINKIE.
The saturation of mashed potatoes prevented me from tasting the cheese before, but suddenly it became very apparent. This cheese did not make my mouth happy. Thus, I consumed more mashed potatoes to out-balance the cheesy hot dogs.
Also, the bread was tough enough to dislocate my jaw :O or at least, my jaw hinge seemed to grind and crack as I chewed. I take that as a bad thing oO

And Lunch was lots of bread, a fried rice :O which had a softer consistency than Chinese fried rice which it was trying to imitate, and it had bits of ham and Spanish tortilla and some shrimp in it. NOM
That was the appetizer. Main course was veal prepared in another way similar to what my mom makes, but with potatoes and a tomato sauce? This seems like olive oil and I sense Worcestershire sauce but I might be totally wrong. ALSO YUMMY and dessert was a slice of flan and also a piece of fried milk.
Yes, you read correctly, fried milk.

I asked how it’s made, and it seems it’s a combination of milk, corn-flour, sugar, and then it gets fried but it has to be controlled well because it needs to gain some solidity but it is very easy to go beyond that point.

A very traditional Andalucian dish that fewer and fewer people know how to make, or even have the time to make. It might even disappear in a few years. Interesting :O

And now, I have an adventure this weekend!
I think I’m gonna do some homework tonight so tomorrow I don’t have to be all blaaaah
I’ll be online later than usual tonight though. I wanna see who’s around to chat with 8D
And hopefully tonight I won’t dream about anything violent or sad.

Woke up late, having weird dreams lately about old friends and new friends and I’m either stabbed (with knives AND swords!) or sobbing or curled up in my Spain-bed or I have big giant laser cannons integrated into my arms.

…Anyway

Homework is boringly tedious.

Matias, eldest brother, took me with him to the dentist university branch, which is an interesting building. I should go back with my camera some time :O

ALSO it’s in the Macarena district EEEEEEEH wtfever
There’s a famous archway there, and then there’s the parliamentary building which used to be a hospital
And a church dedicated to the Virgin of Macarena (Apparently Spain has lots of virgins of things as everyone sees the virgin mary everywhere. I’ll wiki the story to this one later)

ALTHOUGH AWESOME CROSS-OVER IDEA
The Burlador of Seville meets the Virgin of Macarena. :O

Oh god that was a terrible idea SACRILEGE owell

And then we walked back through the center, which means the stupid cobblestone thin street labyrinth. STUPID ONLY BY VIRTUE OF BEING LABYRINTHIAN.
Although I wanna spend a day just walking around there to see if I can figure out the place by virtue of landmarks. I’ve been there three times now and each time I got in through a different way than I did before oO

Also hanging vine gardens make awesome decorations I SHOULD REALLY BRING MY CAMERA the place I’m talking about is in the jew district 8D BECAUSE THERE’S A FORMERLY-JEW DISTRICT AND A CURRENTLY JEW DISTRICT. 8U

Also I have now had veal! In the form of small breaded-fried hamburger patties that are called Russian somethings. Quite good :O but I forgot about dessert and overate. D:

Oh I’ve ignored the other notable food for the days!
Yesterday was liquefied zucchini, warmed, and thus it was like a cream of zucchini soup? Surprisingly good, because I like zucchini flavor but hate eating the steamed vegetable for the squishy texture

Dinner once was chicken in an apple vinaigrette with garlic and carrots, served cold. NOM

And then also fish roasted in an oil with some things :U

NOMNOMNOMfish. In some sauce and oven roasted

And then there have been oven baked pizzas. Not bad, but one of the cheeses doesn’t sit well with me.

Anyways, the culture class presents a lot of unknown details to us about everything. It’s like a sort of trivia of Spain-ish ness.
Conversation throws new vocab our way, and some saying. It’s interesting BUT mostly old news to me.
Grammar is, like, me going back to just doing the rote work and ignoring the rules and just following the flow of things. Oh you’re using Haber for things? Okay, Haber and the infinitive. No I don’t know what tense that is why do you ask

Another thing I’m not used to is that lunch is a multi-course meal. Appetizer of some kind, main course, then a dessert.

And I also learned that I’m actually the first student ever that this family has housed :U And while I know that a lot of the things they do are contractual promises, I still feel bad, and under pressure to make sure I leave a good impression.

BUT THEY MAKE FUN OF ME SO MUCH especially the Dad and the two younger brothers D: though Matias also will poke some fun at me. As a result I’ve begun getting sarcastic and snippy

But my intonation in Spanish is different, because I’m not used to whining or going BUHURRR at people (i.e. You know what a cura is?
Me: mhmm
Brothers: A (and I jump in to form a triple jinx) sacerdote (mind you, all these words mean priest)
Antonio (youngest): A catholic one
Me: NO, A JEWISH ONE
Matias (oldest): …no it really is a-
Me: I KNOW IT’S CATHOLIC I WAS BEING SARCASTIC
Matias: Are you an anti-semite?

Me: no-
Antonio: He doesn’t know what that is (Matias had said it in spanish (anti-sémito))
Me: YES I DO and I’m not D:
Matias: Are you pro-semite?
Me: …)
As a result, it’s difficult to find the appropriate tone to establish myself better and not be impolite but be capable of going Stop thinking that I’m dumb

And anyways, after that conversation about alcohols now whenever I go out, the next day the dad’s like OH HO HO DID YOU HAVE A BEER HUH WHAT DID YOU HAVE A NICE TALL FROSTY ONE 8D 8D 8D and I’m like no I had a coke. Again. And then this is what else we had as we ordered tapas and I have to like FORCEFULLY STEER the conversation away

Speaking of which the general glass of coke is more expensive than tinto or sangria or beer. WHY?

Although the cheapest thing is the Botellón, a phenomena that began when kids realized it was more economic to pregame by buying the bottle of whatever, taking it with them, sharing it amongst 7 people outside the club and then finishing it and heading inside. You get drunker for less 8D But it was such a problem because they bring noise and drug trafficking and random things like that, that the city now has designated Botellón places. (I guess a literal translation of the word would be a Big-Bottle-ing)
And actually I didn’t order alcohol the last time I went out, which makes my drinking in Spain still limited to the solitary failure of a shot of caramel vodka. o_O

Oh the brand is Grecko. I’m gonna see if I can find it myself at a store

And while in the manuals (and potentially in the contract) it is stated that we are not allowed to have alcohol in our homestays, that aforementioned conversation with the adults I think gave me liscence for it oO

Or at least, I can buy wines, and keep them with me. Drinking them is still unknown, BUT THEY’RE SO NICE that I guess as long as I don’t go all HAAAY GUUUUUUYS SPAIN IS AWESOOOOME TIME TO PARTY TO 90S MUSIC IN MY BEDROOM ADJACENT TO YOU it ought to be appropriate.

Anyways, tonight some of the kids are meeting at 11:30 to barhop. I was invited when I started listing places they should go, as they’ve already gotten into the rut of going to the same outdoor bar in the same park, and it’s only the second week. Left untapped is the establishments along the Barrio of Santa Cruz, which I know a little better now. Thus, I think I will go with the group 8D

Tonight is also the opening festival of some Flamenco dealio :O The mom is definitely going because they’re doing some sort of homage to some famous guitarist. And I am also curious, and there ought to be celebrations all over the city.

Regardless, I miss having the capacity to just spend some hours sitting and going through the net, keeping up with the latest trends and memes and chatting with fellows via AIM and everything in between. But when the wi-fi matter gets solved, I ought to have the freedom to do that with a little more impunity.

I also noticed that if I don’t spend time listening to music, especially my music, or like, music I like..
Did I mention? I follow music based off the emotion or mindset it presents, so lyrics don’t matter to me, I just want to be moved either to the melancholic or to the cracktastic happy tunes. THUS music is an emotive outlet for me
And if I don’t spend time listening to music, I begin to flop and go insane. Like, increasingly so. As if I were getting little sleep, stress begins to affect me far more than it ought to.

And thus I was getting to that point, but hardcore bio working had me listening to my melodies as I typed, and thus my therapy is maintained. I MUST MAKE SURE I DO NOT SUFFER WITHDRAWAL IN SPAIN.

Anyways, it’s 9:30, and I’m gonna pop down to see if I can load more screencappery before dinner. Entertaining things to load and have minimized until I’m in my room to chortle freely 8D
I have an old rom of Phantasy Star IV sitting around, maybe I should do one…

ALTHOUGH I REALIZE DAY 4 WAS REALLY AN EXTENSION OF DAY 3
but it happened after midnight, so that counts for something, right?
I’m afraid my ranting is terribly interesting this time, too. But I can travel now, so I’ll talk about places soon 8D

Let’s begin!

———–
Day4

I got back at about 3 AM last night, after being called at 11 by Danny…something from Northwestern to meet up at the university to hang out with some people.

“We’re meeting up like…now” I’m informed So I quickchange and inform the parents and ask stuff like MAY I GO OUT and WHEN SHOULD I BE BACK and while I’m aware most kids seem to be out until 5 AM easily, my latest time was given at 12:30. Or 2:30. But 12:30 seemed too soon so I decided it would be 2:30.

And then I head off, aaand wait an extra six minutes at the front of the University because I underestimate how far everyone else is. Other than people watching some fairly random scenes though, it wasn’t bad. Those who show up include Danny, the other three guys of the program (Nico [Though I dunno if he is regularly called Nick oO], Hunter, and David, and out of us five, Danny and I are the most similar height-ed while the rest are really tall. THUS I FEEL SHORT) and a girl from another program who is friends with… either Hunter or David, named Jen.
Jen is from a school in the Claremont system, and brought along another friend of hers on the program she’s on, named Colin, I believe.
And we went to a cool little outdoor bar that sits in the park about a four minute walk from my homestay. I got a coke (I was not going to make myself sleepy again after sleeping off the earlier Caramel Vodka sip for four hours @.@ plus that moment turned me away from potential drinking for the day, though I had in mind everything I had been told by the parents).

The bar played music (fair amount of American tracks) and also gave out free SoCo shots every hour or so. Two more girls from our program met up with us, and eventually most of the other females of the group were going to come and meet up with us to head to a Discotech 8D

Pleasant though to note that all four other guys seem fairly chill. Of course, more interested in sports than I am and so I can’t just jump into a conversation as easily, as I think I’ve begun to establish myself rather accidentally as the super punctual and cordial smart kid oO

BUT IT’S NOT ON PURPOSE it’s not my fault I don’t have to think about Roman Numerals or struggle through Spanish as much as other kids D:
BUT SO OFTEN, I WANT TO CRACK A JOKE BUT IT FORCES ME TO CHANGE LANGUAGES D:

Whatev. Notable also is that all four other males had button up long sleeve shirts, with stripes, with the top two or three buttons undone and their sleeves rolled up. I had a polo no one informed meeeee of the dress code D:

So I left at like 11:10, met people at 11:30, we got to the bar and just sat and drank and shot the breeze until around 1 when the rest of the program suddenly appears, including our TA Jesse (also male :O) which tripled our size as people began to want to go dance.

And so we split into three fairly even groups so as to not go en masse to the discotech (Party? Party-party-party *Waddle-waddle-Penguin*) EXCEPT, we were still too clumpy it seems, as the wait for entry was a half hour, but those at the door decided to charge Americans 30 euros for entry ($50 or so). RIP. OFF.

At that point is was nearing 2:15 AM when everyone was like WHAT WILL WE DO where will we go and the group divided itself. Some people heading further down to a different discotech on the same street, some of the guys + Colin going to grab a cab to Catedral apparently (but it’s not close to the cathedral? No idea on this one), and Danny was going to a club on the first street that’s right across the river, which seemed like a better group so I started with them.
HOWEVER, as it was getting late and some drama and bickering began (why is it this hard to find a party in Seville), I decided it might be better to surrender for now, and just head back, in particular because at that point I was still close to home, and if I went with them, I’d extend my walk an extra fifteen or twenty minutes and have to do the entire thing on my own, and since I don’t yet know the other part of the city on the other side of the University yet, I felt uneasy about that.

So I went back home. Lights were all off and I had little trouble getting the keys to work (all the doors have small tricks to them. They’re not easy doors @.@), and I just woke up after sitting on the net for about half an hour.

Today will likely not hold adventures until late. Hunter and…. The girl who sat left to Jen for a lot of the night at the bar were talking about going to the beach via bus (takes an hour) for the day, but I doubt that they’ll get up if they can help it. It is a good thing to keep in mind though before the fall weather sets in.

Meanwhile, I continue to Bio today. I MUST BE COMPLETE. PowerPoint is the program of choice for the matter, I have decided.
Well, time to shower. 8D

OMG

BREAKFAST COOKIES NOM NOM NOM

OMG APPLE JUICE IT TASTES LIKE MARTINELLI’S

OMG. |D

Powerpoint makes dealing with Bio really easy, but I find myself wanting to procrastinate, like, a lot.

Lunch is at 2:30 PM.

Meanwhile I think I’ve solved the wi-fi problem. MY PARENTS WILL SEND ME A SECOND ROUTER AND IT SHALL BE CONNECTED TO THE ETHERNET HERE. Then I’ll have a wi-fi router for my home when I take it back with me 8D

The rest of today was spent falling asleep for an hour and waking up to do bio for an hour intermittently. AND I’M STILL EXHAUSTED. I should just call it a night and finish tomorrow while I still can X_x

Aljds; zzz..

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Day 5

Even if I am 6 hours ahead of EST, this approaches zero hour for biology.

As I was going to bed, PowerPoint had a spasm and stopped letting me type and delete, and asked me to force quit because it made a mistake.

Even though I took screenshots, I lost about half my work, so I’ve regressed to being 2.5% complete

Without figures.

Meeting at noon to discuss classes, keeping my lappy with me to test the wi-fi at the office.

Returning for lunch at 2 PM

Then I need to be back at the office at 4:30 so I might just go after lunch, with the lappy

Classes from 5 to 8, and then we finally have homework, which I might leave for mostly tomorrow just because it’ll be easier to deal with that way. Bio, you can and will be done.

OH MY PARENTS BOUGHT ME THIS ROUTER

http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/RangeMaxNEXTWirelessRoutersandGateways/WNDR3300.aspx

Which uses the new N signal, which was put into use last July? The router will pick up the multiple waves from various points, interlace them and use them to strengthen the signal altogether. It allows for greater range and greater use. 8D

AFTER THE MEETING!

Kay so apparently concentrated courses might suck because the university professor will dumb it down like woah for the other internationals, which means redundancy and boring classes to the max.

I’m thinking a concentrated course or two, one to three seminars, and a regular course.

AND CLASSES ARE COMPLETE! Well first sessions anyway.

Busywork is busywork D:

The Culture of Spain looks like it really will be very scratch-the-surface and be vaguely aware of the social context you walked in on (And I was accidentally profound only by virtue of being motivated angst-i-ly :P)

Conversation looks fun, except, vocab D:

Actually conversation is cool because we also go over the difference in the lexicon of the region. I ALWAYS FIND LINGUISTIC-ISH TO BE INTERESTING

Grammar is busy work, but also it doesn’t help that the class goes slowly because it looks like a lot of people don’t have a clue or simply don’t care about the rules. I’m one of the apathetic ones, but I know the difference between ser and estar and so I don’t need to spend time with that D<

——————————

Day 6

…agh X_x

Finally DONE with Bio

And thus after classes, went tapeando with the program TA and 9 other girls

Tapeando - to go and have some Tapas 8D

Went to a bar/tapas place called Levíes, nice place.

7 1/2 servings ordered, including Paella, Spanish Tortilla (it has potatoes and is awesome), Cod with some orange sauce thing, Some pork thing in a whiskey sauce with potatoes, Potatoes with Ali-Oli, some three-cheese stuffed thingies whose name I do not recall, and a coke, and I feel like I’m forgetting something

70 euros for 11 of us, and most people got full fast 8D

IT WAS NOM

Also I am exhausted 8D But I feel oh so good.

I shall go to bed early tonight and I will wake up whenever tomorrow.

And I shall walk around town, exploring what I can and learning more about this area on this side of the river.

8D

WHEE Maybe I’ll take pictures too?

Anyways, to bed I go.

For those of you I haven’t heard from in a while, or have heard from far too little since getting to Spain - I miss you dearly and love ya

It’s time to adventure. :3

—————–

See you around 8D

Hey all!

So nothing really notable happened on Friday, so I am posting my OneNote rants from yesterday and today, together.

I really ought to have more to say about the ruins in Itálica, but they’re something you need to see yourself. COME VISIT ME IN SPAIN AND I’LL TAKE YOU THERE? ;D

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Day 2:

Again, awake massively early.

STEREOTYPES LEARNED:

French people rarely shower and are gross D: (lololol)

Italians shower once a week

In Spain generally people shower once a day  but there is no pressing need.

All this learned when being explained what the… Bidet? was. :O

Sons are going to the beach, will be back Monday.

Meanwhile I continue apologizing about being anti-social but I am giving out my number!

But having gone through explaining my research in a basic manner multiple times, I’ve managed to gain the vocabulary to detail it better and make it more intelligible while in Spanish, which led some of the people in the office to look at me and compliment me on my Spanish

I STILL THINK I SUCK

But apparently I have the same manner of speaking as a fellow from Princeton who was named Mateo :O

I also think that if I’m gonna pick up the lexicon here I’m going to have to force the use of certain phrases

Que wai, for example, instead of going “Wow” in a distinctly american voice whenever I’m vaguely impressed

Also saying “Valé?” (does it have an accent I dunno @.@) At the end of sentences

And saying the phrase que da igual more often

And If I wanna pick up the accent, I need to start swallowing my s’s and being like ey-TA instead of esta

AND SOME OF MY S’S AND Z’S SHOULD BECOME TH’S.

Also

Walked home for the first time today. Live kinda far from most kids and in a different direction, so it’s weird, because I go alone then, however at my pace it takes like 5 minutes to walk

Now some interesting facts!

The University of Seville is housed in what used to be I believe the first Tobacco factory in Spain (or greater Europe? Or maybe just the region. Was it even the first?), making the building over 500 years old, and it shows. The architecture is amazing, with all these fountains and carvings and pillars and awesomeness. I will take pictures on Monday, then I will post them online 8D.

4 Newspaper publishers exist who have people standing at street corners giving out the day’s paper , free. Yay? I got a paper today but had no time to read it.

No need to tip in Seville, but if you really want to, just round up to the nearest euro and give that small bit of change.

Fanta here is 8% orange juice, contains no corn syrup (hell I haven’t found anything that does and as a result it weirds me out that the rents are like WE WILL NOT BUY ZUMO AND SODA FOR OUR SONS BECAUSE THEY GET FAT D: the Spain-ish Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest in the world. More on that in a sec), and it is also BRIGHT YELLOW. But it tastes like Fanta from the states, except perhaps a bit less thick (though that’s part of the charm I find behind US sodas). Quite good :O

Spain happens to be the world’s largest producer and consumer (or maybe just consumer) of Olive Oil. DELICIOUS DELICIOUS OLIVE OIL. Italy is better at advertising their, so they have greater fame, but we are number one in that

We also happen to be the second largest consumers of fish, and we are second to Japan. :O 

And I should NOT walk around alone! BUT most of the group live across the river, in particular those I know and have been meeting, and so won’t it be awesome to walk back alone late at night? 8D whee.

But before dinner the parents took me for a walk along the thin cobblestone old-timey parts around the Cathedral, showing me bars and places that they recommend

It was entertaining for several reasons because they showed me all these really pretty parts and the whole thin cobblestone/brick streets are cool and then also the random drunk people (it’s only 11 though seems early for a Spain-ish drunk) and encounters such as a woman talking loudly on the phone NO YOU’RE DRUNK STAY WHERE YOU ARE and a man peeing on a garage gate as it opened

Which is fantastic because these parents openly criticized these things and I was bemused.

Actually on that note, still have not had alcohol here. Although the older brothers asked me if I’ve had alcohol/done drugs (it came up because the anti-drug commercials here are JUST AS OUTRAGEOUS as in the US, like with the extended metaphor and stuff) and I established my habits (or lack thereof)

The oldest brother does not like to drink.

Dunno about the next

The youngest brings his dad his whiskey oO Or something that’s brownish gold that I think is whiskey but I don’t know my liquors yet so I might be wrong.

And the parents seem to have a glass of wine with lunch, and something extra to go with dessert.

They haven’t offered me anything yet though, which is unexpected but expected? oO

Hmm but If I go to a bar I don’t know if I’ll just go for some wine or if I’ll get other random things that are not alcoholic like other kinds of zumo or sodas or I’ll ask if they have a roy rogers here :O

ALSO food for today:

Lunch was a casserole with cod, potatoes, white-carrot things whose English name I don’t yet know, a cream consisting of milk and flour (or so I’m told)(Probably the least appetizing part of the casserole because of the consistency it would enforce, but with some bread it was nom), and a sprinkle of various cheeses on top that melt and become crispy 8D

Although without me noticing, the mom had grabbed my plate and started serving me when the youngest was like NO DON’T GIVE HIM THAT MUCH YOU DON’T KNOW IF HE’LL EVEN LIKE IT D:< and I was like err o.o

Also LEGITMELON for dessert 8D That is my name for it. It also has the names Piel de Sapo, like I said yesterday, and also apparently Mélon del Año, or melon of the year oO

Dinner was a personal 4 cheese pizza which was CRISPY AND DELICIOUS

Also I finished the grape/pineapple zumo. And began the orange. I was warned by Matias that it tasted sour but it really doesn’t oO same as the US as far as my taste goes. Again, less thick :O And though it says it contains pulp, I detect none.

That reminds me, I need to try the orange zumo at the Boston Burguer (wtf name) across from the University. I HAVE BEEN TOLD IT’S DELICIOUS

It’s also still hella weird to see everything close for siesta only to reopen later, potentially. Hrmmm.

Tomorrow, we are being given a bus tour of Seville, which is my first opportunity to be a camera whore.

And then right afterwards, probably also before lunch, we’ll be taken to Itálica, the birthplace of two roman emperors and also the location of some old roman ruins that are nearby. It’s supposed to be really pretty

OH OH and Flamenco lessons like weekly like omg yee 5 euros a pop so 20 euros a month, which is FINE BY ME 8D it’s the most expensive thing I’ll have done as of yet oO

And I SWEAR I’ll be social tomorrow. I can leave the rest of Bio for Sunday since we have the day off and since Monday I have an appointment at noon, and so I can work and be social then too as I’ll be permitted to sleep in 8). IT’S THE WEEKEND it’s time to party it up Spain-style. 8D

Well, now I actually do have to wake up an hour earlier tomorrow (which is just the same for me as I’ve been waking up 1.5 hours before I really have to), and thus I bid you

Sweet Dreams

—

Day 3:

Caramel Vodka - brand Gecko

Is 30% alcohol

Burned my throat a lot more than I thought it would @.@ Except I remain intrigued

Also what the hell first alcoholic thing I try in Spain, after lunch :U

This occurred because I decided to ask some questions like

What wine would you recommend as a gift to someone?

Hay so I don’t drink much (yet)(but is it really yet because I have yet to find something I’m willing to go past the first SIP for as I didn’t even finish the comically tiny beerstein of the aforementioned Gecko caramel vodka and only drank maybe 1/3d or 1/4th of it)(MY THROAT WAS TOO BUSY GOING AGH TO FIND THE CARAMEL FLAVOR D:) so what do I do :U?

Recommendations were to start by ordering non alcoholic beer

Which made me go but isn’t that gross because beer is supposedly rather terrible in the US :O

Which, they laughed and were like hahaha nope because here beer is awesome 8D

Also because it’s from a really prestigious international corporation based in Germany which is what Heineken is associated with so I may presume Heineken is good too :O

Also never mix my drinks

Always be a few drinks behind everyone

Be careful with the fruit-tasting drinks because those go down easily so you could get drunk

Being drunk is a bad, shameful, embarrassing thing

We don’t drink in this house

Matias is anti-alcohol

But Julio Maria does drink

And since I (the father) work sometimes from 8 AM to 10 PM so It’d be sad if I got drunk during a mealtime while I still had work.

ANYWAYS WHERE WAS I?

Oh right FIELD TRIPS!

Bus was late so they took us to the Plaza de España, which is a super gorgeous town-center like thing that had paintings for each of the major cities in Spain along with a map. I’m totally going back there when it’s sunnier because there’s lots of street vendors and things there, and it’s kind of awesome to see the whole Muslim influence in the architecture, and then some.

Then the bus took us along Seville to the Island of something, which has a theme park that opens until the end of October 8D

And it also contain all the pavilions built by countries back in 1992 for the Seville world fair. VERY INTERESTING and cool, as some are still maintained and have been converted into buildings for other uses. The US’s pavilion is gone though as it was a sad and pathetic excuse for whatev.

But taking pictures through a window when you are not in a window seat would have been a nuisance, so I skipped pictures of the city. WHEN I WALK AROUND, I WILL TAKE PICTURES TO MAKE UP FOR IT.

Then the bus took us to Itálica, which was really, really cool. All that really remains are like, floor tiles and the foundations of buildings, plus the two lower floors of the three floor amphitheater that could sit 25000 people comfortably (which had in its center a pit that via a gate system they allowed water into for water gladiator fights and stuff :D), along with underground ruins beneath everything, but we could only walk around the above ground parts. STILL REALLY COOL pictures have been posted to Facebook

Although I feel like if I had taken geo 11 I would have gotten more out of seeing these ruins made of rock :O

Then we came back and were given a menial tour of the rest of the center. We actually were let out about an hour earlier than expected, which gave me an opportunity to wander the University and snap some shots of it.

But then they started locking me in random corridors so I had to keep finding alternate routes to get outside and get back home.

LUNCH WAS a soup with things and rice, which would go excellent with some shrimp in it methinks

And then oven roasted chicken that had been stuffed with things, SO TENDER AND JUICY and nom

And dessert was homemade chocolate mousse. SO RICH so good couldn’t finish too much x.x

Thus far today has been the tastiest mealday 8D … it’s been like six hours and I’m still full.

Whether or not I go out depends on whether or not people call me, as they did several times yesterday but I left my phone upstairs away from me. The parents are off to the mall, and I actually declined going with them because I keep taking three hour naps and extending the time it takes to bio unnecessarily, thus let’s see how close I can get to finishing tonight.

Ideally, all I’d have to do tomorrow (Sunday) is dink around photoshop and make some pretty pictures.

LET’S SEE HOW FAR I GET 8D

—-

Take care

I woke up an hour before my alarm went off, which means 7:40 AM instead of 9. MAINLY BECAUSE I’M DEHYDRATED note to self get a glass of water to keep at the bedside for warm nights

Also: bed is firm but comfortable, as are the pillows. Sheets are all white. Very simple, but sufficiently comfortable.

Still cannot get the wi-fi to work, will figure it out maybe later. >(

Gonna shower and take advantage of being up before everyone by using their net for the extra hour I’m awake. THAT AND DRINK WATER COPIOUSLY although juice D: I want juice.

So, what awaits me today? WHO KNOOOOOOOWS~

—

OKAY MY DISTRICT IS SAN BERNARDO

Went to supermarket with oldest brother! Bought pineapple & grape juice (like, it’s mixed :O not bad too) (also it’s not jugo it’s zumo :O how curious)

Also got corrected for going -ito again D: REPEATEDLY AHSAJKLKLDS

I fell asleep at like, 6 to 7:30 @.@

Yarr oh well. THIS ONLY TAKES AWAY FROM TIME I HAVE TO WORK!

Speaking of which COME TO MEEE INDESIGN

Anyways, if I cannot connect to the wi-fi here, then late at night after everyone has gone to bed I can probably get permission to sit in the living room and skype until midnight-ish perhaps 8D

You know, if anyone is interested

Angie brings up a good point earlier with the whole smaller glass drink portion size THIS IS TRUE you realize back at my house, I have enormous beer mugs where I drink my various liquids from? Here they’re tiny little glasses which I think are barely 4 oz probably, and so whee.

WHEE

Anyways, I’m having fun. Eldest brother is the most informative because he keeps showing me pictures of like everything ever. Youngest brother is the most scolding being like WHAT DON’T JUST THROW WORDS AT HIM HE PROBABLY DOESN’T KNOW YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT THE ALCOHOLIC DRINK YOU HAVE ALONGSIDE A CANTALOUPE D< and he’s loud and gets scolded for it but I don’t mind.

I KNOW IF IT WERE MY PARENTS THEY’D BE ALL D: I HAVE NO SON so it’s amusing.

Oh so day 1 of orientation? 32 students, 5 of them males :O Good group of kids. Mostly from Northwesterrn lolol

And then there’s still a lot to get to know in the city :O After class I went with Michelle Sweetwood and another girl (So terrible with names right now @.@) on a random adventure before lunch! We walked along… La Avenida de la Constitución (I will learn streets D:< THIS I SWEAR)  to find an ice cream shop (my idea) recommended to them by their host families. BOTH SHOPS WERE CLOSED so we got ice cream from a coffee shop called Café de India if I recall correctly. There was another near the uni (University) so it’s probably a chain. Plus the one we went to had within a block from it: A Starbucks, a Burger King, AND a KFC. I mean, the other two, fine. I NEVER expected to see a KFC in Spain o_O

Ice cream seemed to be gelato :O I got vanilla (lack of adventure whoo), and it cost 1.90 euros so NOW I HAVE EURO-COINS because so far the family isn’t letting me buy anything which is making me go D:?

T’was good t’was good.

And then I headed back to meet my host family at 1:30 at the Uni. AN EARLY LEAVE FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD but that’s alright |D I got the keys to the house and was treated to lunch at 2:30 so yay.

It began with the gazpacho (sp?), cold tomato soup which also had bits of a bacon-ish thing in the bottom of the bowl. I tried it, and was like “…this is good :O” but then each following spoonful somehow became worse and worse and then I ran into a bacon bit and I was like “…this is REALLY good :O” and then as before the more I consumed, the worse it became. Thus, I was like @.@ by the end of the cold tomato soup.

But then the main course! Pork (I think? Some white meat that wasn’t chicken) and APPLESAUCE you know I don’t believe I’ve ever had apple sauce in the US so this is my first apple sauce :O It was hot and perfectly creamy and sweet and sooo good. But as I was given the dish with the ladle, I scooped it up, and then went “…am I supposed to put it on the meat or on the side or what”
Father: ON THE MEAT
Family: WHAT NO WHEREEVER YOU WANT
Me: *pouring on meat* Wha-OH OKAY *pours rest next to it*

That, though, was good. Oh, and baguette also. FRESH AND CRISPY and somehow I expected bread in Spain to be more flavorful :O but perhaps it is just my mind, as it was still quite good.

And then dessert was fruit slices, a melon (like a legit melon how have I never had melon before) and pineapple. Pineapple was tough at the core but soft and delicious at the edge towards the skin 8D

Melon tastes like watermelon but only slightly less sweet. Also different texture. Like soft honeydew. I NO LIKE CANTALOUPE but that won’t be had here in the house I am told
Speaking of which a distinction! Melon here is also known as Piel de Sapo.

IT LOOKS LIKE THIS:

And Piel de Sapo like Skin of Toad/Frog.

GOD they won’t let me wash dishes or help set the table or anything. I feel waited on and it makes me uneasy )< LET ME HELP PLZAlso the mom keeps taking my indifference to things or “*pause* ..ambiguous answer” as me being polite and not openly expressing a distaste for something, which earlier today dealt with the father asking me what I thought about the Bull Fights.

USUALLY HOWEVER MY PAUSE IS BASED ON MY TRYING TO FIND THE PROPER WORDS. But then my mind farts so I default to something else 8D

Yarr.

Anyways, for those of you who’ve sent me e-mails, I’ve replied to most of you now that I actually read them. I’ll be on again tonight to post this up and see if I can get any yeastie articles, as what I’m missing now are legit sources for s. cerevisiae background on my project.

Although it’s 10:30 now and dinner still has not been had :O like woah I KEPT WORRYING I SLEPT THROUGH IT

…DINNER TIME!

Back

Eggs mixed with sausage (hot-dogs which were quite good  :o) bacon-ish and potatoes. WHY IS IT SO DELICIOUS ARGH
Also breakfast for dinner is surprisingly more amazing than it should be :O

Alright, final check of things and then I will sleep, as tomorrow is slightly more active.

Also, Bio goes swimmingly 8D

BYE

Kay so this was written last night as I can only connect to the net limitedly until someone figures out why the computer goes OMG SORRY CAN’T CONNECT TO WI-FI 8D and the ethernet cable is in the living room.

FIRST EVENT IN HALF AN HOUR Will probably be blogging on Microsoft One-Note, then copy and pasting to here, AS I PLAN TO UPDATE. Also realize that until I get comfortable, a lot of these will be LET ME JUST VOMIT ALL MY INFO so they’ll be ranty and stream of consciousness-y. Thus..

Take that! And I’ll be back LATUR HURR HURR 8B

-Eban

——————————-

I’M HERE! I’m here and I’m happy and the family is awesome 8D

Let me CHRONOLOGIZE

Mother, Rosa Baeza

Married to Julio Maria

3 Sons

Matias (?), 22, dentist soon

Julio Maria, 20, foot doctor soon (pedogologist? Something?)

…Antonio? 14

I have my own room, no other student here

THEY EAT MEAT dinner was delicious om nom nom pork filets with fries THE POTATOES WERE SO GOOD OMNOMNOM but they don’t eat much and I can totally eat more than them but it’s dinner MAYBE LUNCH WILL BE DIFFERENT

IN HAVING JUST VISITED THE KITCHEN FOR A GLASS OF WATER, I REALIZE THEY HAVE A DEEP FRYER. THIS MUST BE THEIR SECRET. Also their fridge is full of yogurt and tomatoes I’m like woah oO NO JUICE?

By the by, this is being typed in OneNote as I unpack because even with the WEP keycode I can’t access their wi-fi so I’ll be on sparingly on their ethernet until I get wi-fi OR go to the Uni to do my BIO POSTER via VPN-ing

Speaking of which expect a series of posts detailing my experiment and the past and stuff which will in effect be what also goes on my poster 8D

HAY GUESS WHAT

THE -ita -ito CLAUSE DOESN’T FUNCTION HERE

NO ONE SAYS I want a little bit like yo quiero un poquito, you say un poco. THIS WILL BE WEEDED FROM MY VOCABULARY, MAKING THINGS SOUND CUTE. NO MORE CUTE.

Almost done unpacking. My closet is huge. MY ROOM IS COOL small but cozy and heartwarming 8D

The apartment is really pretty, also fairly cozy but beautiful furnishings and paintings everywhere. I’ll take pictures at some point I NEEDS THE INTERNET >:O

So, after 18 hours of travelling, jumping forward 9 hours, and being expected to be somewhere in… nine hours, I’m… happy. I freaked out at my Frankfurt connection because EVERYONE SPOKE TO ME IN GERMAN AS THEY CHECKED MY PASSPORT AND DID THINGS and I was like AUGH? And also because the flight was gonna be late heading to Barcelona because of the slight drizzle and their slowness in packing stuff into the plane.

I mean geeze I was like oh god I’m not gonna make it to Seville noooo D:

But, I fell asleep as the flight started and woke up as it ended, and it was only 10 minutes late. And I did not have to go through customs at Barcelona, contrary to what the lady at SFO International told me.

Waugh I feel vertigo sitting in this chair. Too much plane for today.

Done unpacking. Almost ready for bed. 8D

It’s… comforting here. I was freaking out so much but my host family has made me feel amazingly welcome. They’re super nice and they keep offering me things and I’m like nooo stop you’re doing too much I feel bad and yet they continue :O

Also trying to explain what I did during the summer in Spanish SUCKS. Doesn’t matter that I’m a native speaker, usually words like PHOSPHOLIPIDS and FLIPASE and CEREVISIAE don’t come up in Spanish conversation.

*sigh*

I will catch up on my e-mails probably today during lunch, as I am supposed to return here and then go back when it finishes. I’m like 10 minutes from the University 8D yee

Most of you who had e-mailed me just got a I’M IN SPAIN NOW OKAY

OKAY

Also I need to find songs that I heard on the plane. MILEY CYRUS WAS PLAYED ON THE 20-ON-20 STATION. THREE TIMES. See You Again, probably her only enjoyable song due to the chorus (FUN to yell with a bunch of people in a car)

And also played was that weird song that Mattison played for us which has fairly unintelligible lyrics until suddenly the female vocalist goes I WILL HUNT YOU DO-OWN~

AND I COVERED MY FACE AND FELL OVER LAUGHING

Also on the flight to Frankfurt, I watched Speed Racer. I heard bad things about it, but if you ignored the terrible plot (which I could easily, the anime is far more contrived and redundant in dub form and thus this was like omg coherent :O), it was really fun and colorful to watch. THAT AND THE NEW MIX OF THE SPEED RACER THEME IS AWESOME. Too much to rock out to that was not on my iPod. THIS SHALL BE FIXED.

Hmm..

I’m in a big urban and yet historical-cultural-beautiful center of Spain.  Even if typical nature is missing, I look forward to what comes ahead. I MUST INCREASE MY VOCABULARY 8U

But I wonder if anyone is trying this much at having detailed, sophisticated conversation?

Well, I’ll post this in the morning before I go.

I’m alive, I’m…significantly more content than I thought I’d be. It’s a lot more stable and comforting than all that OH EM GEE CULTURE SHOCK :U stuff you read. Thus far I am only BLARGH at myself for speaking what in my mind is mediocre Spanish (I apologize every time I get corrected D:)

And thus, sweet dreams, good people.

Until I get Wi-Fi, don’t expect to skype-voice/video chat, because the ethernet is located in their living room and so unless I’m alone there, I don’t wanna interrupt their TV watching.

G’NIGHT

It’s 3:01 AM PDT, and there’s roughly 16 hours until my flight takes off to Frankfurt.

From which I go to Barcelona and then Sevilla, an hour layover each time. WHAT RANDOM FLIGHT PATTERN 8U

I feel the need to bring a plush or something with me to take pictures of in various locales. But nothing really means that much to me or is terribly cute.

I COULD ALWAYS BRING MY LAWYER

Well,  if he stops running around that is.

What can I say? I’m excited! I’ve been up and down on this whole going to Spain thing for the past WEEK, worrying about everything, becoming paranoid about being arrested in Europe (srsly JYS no need to scare us into thinking we’re gonna get incarcerated and be helpless when we go abroad I mean yeesh), about my host family/mother, about not fitting in, not finding friends in the 30 or so kids going on the program, not finding friends in Spain, being inept at Spanish even as a native speaker, not having enough money, not being able to travel and explore Europe the way I want to, blah, blah blah, blah blah…

But regardless of all of this, I am alive, I am surviving, and I am going. I can’t believe it. I’M GOING TO EUROPE.

Being the only one awake in my house at this hour, I am listening to music and trying to settle my mind in one spot long enough for me to even want to go to sleep. But this is difficult. Hrm.

Still,  I am sad about missing this semester. The last time George is teaching Neurobiology, the only time that Human Cancer seminar will be offered, classes and opportunities missed because of timing. My 20th birthday will be in Spain, the end of my teenage-hood. Time that could be spent with elder Senior friends who will be gone soon. Grargh…

I WISH I COULD SPLIT IN TWO AND STILL BE AT AMHERST D:

Wait!

That gives me an idea! HOLD ON NOW

Yea okay so I’m just having way too much fun with this IF YOU HAVE A WEBCAM YOU CAN DO IT TOO

GIF Maker

Usually it has a ton of traffic and goes down, but IF IT’S UP THEN IT’S BRILLIANT 8D

Anyways, back to seriousness. I actually had a ton of things I wanted to ramble about, but I’ll spoil too much of my trip if I start now.

I’ve gone through the pre-departure packets with a fine tooth combed, used the outdated materials on their website to determine things on my own,  such as the classes I will pre-register for (doesn’t even happen until we get there, which is IRRITATING), what to do in case of blahblahblah… I’ve spent too much time trying to focus and psych myself out for this that I’ve neglected a bunch of other things.

But, I will focus this first pre-departure post with the following message:

In going abroad, I am not going to expect to return and be a completely different person. I shall not anticipate an epiphany, I shall not hope for my eyes to be opened to the world. I want to experience something different, something new, a change of pace even if I am still not completely comfortable in my current place.

The world keeps turning, so I’m just going to have to roll with it.

That said, for the average Amherst student, I will live six hours ahead of your time. I should arrive at the airport in Seville at 10 PM CEST, being 4 PM EDT for you folk. No guarantee of internet at my homestay, which I’ll need to access VPN.
The first few days I’ll probably be hard at work finishing my Bio Poster, which will lead to a post about my Research and where I got to here. Orientation keeps me busy in the evening for four hours, but I promise, I’ll be sociable because I SHOULD NOT HAVE SCREWED MYSELF WITH THIS ARGH D:<

I’ve got until the 9th anyway, so I have six days to complete my work. HERE’S A HOPING.

As orientation kicks up, I’ll be posting with detail and pictures as to the events.

Classes begin at the end of September, orientation for the Uni being September 26th, a Friday.

I’ve got many hours until my flight. I’ll be awake and online tomorrow until probably around 3 PM PDT.

I wish you all the best, and take care.
For some of you, and you know who you are, I already miss you.

Sweet dreams, Amherst. Have fun with your first day of classes!

(p.s. Title is from a song that I just cannot get out of my head lately)

(p.p.s. )

In my attempts to see this more as simply a blog and less of a LET’S DISCUSS SOMETHING WITH INTELLECT AND STUFF

I update an hour before the Valley Transporter shall pick me up to take me to Hartford.

My flight is at 1:30 PM.

I touch down in San Francisco at 6:34 PM (yay time changes!).

It’s been fun, but I must go.
And I hope to see you folks again, five months from today.

I’ll update from Hartford or Cincinnati airports if I can.

Take care!

—

12:57 AM

O hello tharr. Boarding soon.

If Cincinnati offers free wifi then I’ll be back again.

To nap and play Ace Attorney on the plane!

-Eban

OH WAIT BEFORE I GO

New machine thing at the airport to detect for “explosive” powders and stuff on you?

You step in this giant thing with the general electric logo on it, and then a woman’s voice is like ABOUT TO PUMP AIR.

And then you get shot with these quick gusts from like all these random angles, and I started cracking up while in the thing after getting pelted with air pops

And then if you’re clear it’s like CLEAR and it has a little green light and these clear doors in front of you open up automatically. It’s really cool but I wonder where the detectors are for it to find trace amounts from what amounts to dust off your person.

IF I CAN FIND A PICTURE OF IT I WILL POST IT I should have taken one MAYBE AT SAN FRANCISCO IF THEY HAVE ONE THERE

Bye

SO with the rush that comes at the end of all things, I realize how much I still have to sort my Amherst life before I leave for five months to have mind opening adventures in Spain and greater Europe.

But as always, if things can go wrong, they most certainly will, as demosntrated by the sudden implosion of things!

LET’S BEGIN WITH A RETROSPECTIVE, SHALL WE?

1) Some very good friends who I care deeply about are leaving or have left before me. THIS MAKES ME SAD D: While it is selfish to be the last one to depart, I always find it easier to be the one staying and wishing well than the one leaving and saying goodbye.

2) My research project combusted and fizzled really quickly. Nothing that I can’t start up again, but I have to wait until I return on January 16th before I can see this project through to its completion. I still have to blog about this, and since I’ll be indesigning while I’m at home, I may as well have a post later with diagrams that explains my project and acts as a sort of dilution of what I am doing.
2b) Williamson is gone this week so all I’ve done in lab is organize my notes and start something which failed way fast and I was like OKAY not trying again so as to not waste my own time. Thus, begins our perpetual correspondence as I make my poster at home.

3) Storage still sucks X_x Campus Police unknowingly let me put in my giant fridge-box (you know, the one that comes with your fridge, and mine being 4.4 cubic liters, this box has no bottom making it an awesome bucket of storage good-ness 8D) into Cohan storage which would soon be discarded. THUS, my boxes for my mirror and my fan and my fridge and I have no idea what else in there got tossed. However, seven phone calls later, I will be recompensed with packing boxes tomorrow. YAY I’ll have until 2 PM to pack tomorrow so that’s a time cruncher. Yar.

4. The EMT written exam today was taken and failed by a single point. I even tallied the number of ambiguous questions I guessed on and totalled them to 33, and considering that you can get 30 wrong and pass, I assumed it was a safe bet after going back and second guessing myself as I reviewed.
I WAS WRONG. D:
I even woke up at 5 AM to study extra for it, thanks to Jessica Cook’s help. AND YET
ARGH.

5.  As I leave the school there will be far too many changes in the dynamic here. Lab techs that are highly valued, friends, etc. that are all going to be gone to some extent, either perpetually or just become super rare. To not share those last moments with them properly is upsetting :<

6. And new friends I have made here who I am going to be missing for a semester or more, thanks to poor synching of going-abroad times and such, I WILL BE SAD ABOUT THAT TOO.

All in all, it’s a melancholic end to the summer. Frustrating too.

However, as I once read,

“The world keeps turning, so roll with it.”

Not much I can do now then, is there?

Let’s see this through to the end.

See you in January?

Hi.

Just quicky post because I feel like this will probably motivate me to post again at some point soon-ish.

BUT

Summer goes well, research is as research does, I don’t see enough of certain people, and somehow I get mad cleaning frenzies in the middle of the night when I should be asleep.

I’ll post something more substantive later. But until then, I must say, there is something very pleasant and appealing when it comes to vocal synthesizers and such technology. Perhaps the topic of my next post?

I should also detail my research, except I’d rather do that when I start getting data, because the past weeks have ALL been set up and manipulation in hopes of getting things to function and work. Hrm.

Alright, take care people 8D

OH, quick question though, and feel free to leave a comment on the matter.

Top Favorite Restaurants in the Amherst-Northampton area? Split it up by cuisine or by location, I don’t care, I just wanna hear people’s opinions.

I myself think that Zen is the best asian restaurant in Noho (After visiting Osaka on Friday) and thus in the area. THIS SHALL ALSO BE EXPLAINED MORE PERHAPS LATER.

Goodnight!