So I don't even know where to begin in terms of stories to tell. I think instead of looking to the past, I'll sit content in the present (a current mental practice of mine, getting better slowly but surely).

I've just eaten a Hoi sin noodle bowl, drinken a strawberry-banana smoothie, and read a little story by Carlos Fuentes about a twisted, never-aging demon woman who traps an aspiring historian/writer in her haunted house of horrors and flaming cats. No, this is in no way an embellishment of the story. It's called Aura. Check it out. Oh, and a goat gets it's neck slit by a 12 year old phantom girl who later seduces the aforementioned aspiring historian/writer. Yeah. the noodles and smoothie did very little to prepare me for that literary experience.

Aside from that, I'm jamming to Lykke Li and Florence, the newest additions to my repopulating itunes library (thank you old hard drive that decided to break beyond the point of information recovery...) On the plus side of the computer tragedy, though, I did get a spiffy MacBook Air. The object of my affection for the time being since there are no boys to speak of. Well, that's a lie. I COULD talk ad nauseum about boy experiences, but that is better saved for a night with much non-written communication and quite a few gintónics. Hendrick's, please.

I'm also glancing occasionally at the pair of fake glasses I bought at H&M last week. I took them off to go get lunch since as I entered my usual mid-day eatery I became self conscious and though the cute cashier who had never before seen me with my douchy hipster glasses on would think it quite, well, douchy. Speaking of H&M, are you all aware of just how much money I could spend at that store? Too much, in short. I did, however, find a store that might very well be a top competitor with H&M in terms of my expenditures. It's called Topman - based in the UK, but its fabulosity/hipster-chic style knows no bounds. And thanks to the wonderful invention of the internet and international banking, all their pound-priced products (aka twice as much in dollars) lay a mere point-click away.

So i recommend you all now point-click yourselves to this GEM. I'm off to class, y'all. Viva Lykke!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TTPGAy5H_E

New Year, New Resolution(s?), New new new new new.

It´s January and my monthly blog update is due. I´d say it´s one of my resolutions to update it more frequently, but I feel like when I don´t it will only end in me being disappointed in myself and all of you being disappointed that you dont have more witty and entertaining rants abotu my life to read. So let´s just see how this month goes. And speaking fo this month and resolutions, most of my conversations have been littered with questions about what one hopes to accomplish this calendar year, as most of yours have also, I imagine. Some responses have been to "be more eco-firendly" or "only shop locally", which is all well ang good, though most responses are "I don´t really have any resolutions" (my responses included) or they have been themes to live the new year by (again, mine included). Although today I realized I DO have a resolution. It´s not something for self-improvement, it isn´t about aquiring beneficial habits or attitudinal corrections; I have that stuff under control. Rather, this resolution is a life changer only from it´s implications, not its direct outcome. Vague? Yes. Let me expound upon this...

The resolution of the yead 2011 A.D. for Matthew Thomas Fontenot (uh huh, Thomas. Maternal grandpa´s name. And I mean maternal as in on my mother´s side. Not that he was maternal toward me, far from it really) is: Beat the Paro in España and find myself employment!

The paro, or the unemployment unemployment, (that was supposed to be a hyperlink to an article about unemployment. Dont worry if I messed it up and it doesn´t work, just keep reading) is at around 20%, a daunting figure, indeed. BUT I do have confidence that natively speaking English, and soon being in possession of a Master´s degree will help me. I´m also secretly dreaming that this Foundation I´m interning for gains more funding from the WONDERFUL job we are all doing in the office and opens a new position for me to work there... not really holding my breath on that one, but the god of employment works in mysterious ways. On a final note about employment, and because I feel it is necessary to make a shameless plug wherever I can, IF ANY OF YOU HAVE CONNECTIONS OR JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN MADRID LET ME KNOW. =)

So in other news, I am back in Madrid after a 3 week vacation in California and a brief stay in Jamaica, New York. Thank you Delta airlines for severely complicating my flights and making me eat dinner from a Dunkin´Donuts in the middle of the city known by me as I´m-going-to-get-mugged-while-walking-through-this-sketch-ass-park-to-get-a-freakin´-muffin-from-a-gas-station-for-dinner-tonight-ville AKA Jamaica, NY. Other than that incident, the holidays were quite pleasant. It was fantiastic to see friends and fmaily, got some good presents, ate great food etc etc... but my favorite part of the trip is actually New Year´s Eve viewed in retrospect. Don´t get me wrong, I had a blast that night with Emmy, Mary, Heather, and crew - but I think it´s the fact that the next morning, upon awaking to intense waves of nausea and a fuzzy recollection of the events transpired the night before, I realized that I haven´t been that drunk in months! And lordy, it was nice. The margaritas made with tequila, triple sec, lime juice and cava were both delicious and intoxicating. The photos of me 1) in the truck bed of a red Ford F150 parked in Oakland (owner still remains unknown) posing like a hard core biker/13 year old Japanese girl (I´m referring to the peace signs I was throwing, not a sailor-suitesque school uniform, and unfortunately not to bentou boxes with rice and vegetables shaped into my favorite anime characters) and 2) laying curled in a fetal position against a concrete pillar in a parking lot under a freeway overpass were my moments of shining glory.

And I have just been distracted by a video of a girl on general anaesthetics after gettign her wisdom teeth pulled and COMPLETELY lost my train of thought for this entry. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLQD2y-ZL8s0%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded&h=41418

Un beso a todos,
Matt

Granada take 2

I had a very monumental last few day, Anna and I took a trip to my first Spanish home, Granada. It was interesting to compare how I had remembered the town, explained the town to others, and now saw the town upon my return. It was a quick trip (36hours more or less) but enough to be reminded of what life is like down there and why I prefer Madrid 1000 times over without hesitation.

First, I want to give an update for my other granaín@s that are reading this - most important change, La Senda de Oro is no longer operational. It has changed to Jazz Pub. Disappointment grande. Otherwise, ust about everything else is identical. It was a bizarre feeling to know exactly where I was going only by intuition and familiar alleyways. The women with sprigs of rosemary still lined the turistfares by the cathedral offering their "gifts" which they subsequently expected you to pay for if you accepted them. The viejita that ran the alimentación on Elvira is still truckin´on in her litte shop, though I didnt see her annoying yapping dog (thank god). The gente are still of the malafollá, the streets covered in dog poo, and te rastas run amuck along with the genie pants. The schawarma was still mind-blowing and my favorite pakistani schawarma stand is actually doing quite well by the upgraded look of their locale. The treehouse teahouse is still as amazing as ever, and El rincón de Lorca continues to offer swarthy yet friendly staff that serves a mean taza of cafe con leche.

Anyways, Anna has more pictures of our trip (along with the video clips that we are going to compile into a homemade music video) since my camera ran out of batteries about 3 hours into the trip. We did the Alhambra, the Albaicin, the Miradores, the mini graffiti tour of graná, the "Elvira experience" as I have decided to dub it (Granaín@s think of Animal the dog, the two lesbian owners, any sketch guy trying to sell you drugs, hippies, schawarma, and boatloads of tourists and foreign students getting ripped off at the various shops selling middle eastern themed items).

One last story the I think is my favorite of this trip is that of the bus ride to Andalucía. We board, the bus if chock full of foreigners chatting in various languages aside from Spanish and the driver starts to tell us safety precautions and such: he informs us of the need to wear our seatbelts at all times, to not take our shoes off because it gets really smelly and that "the bathroom is in the back of the bus.. Or rather, toward the back of the bus in a specific room" he added that he wanted to be very clear about the difference in case there were "very literal people on the bus". The Alsa Bus PSA was then concluded with "I don´t even know if you guys understood me just now..." Most didn´t but Anna and I giggled at this comment, an act we would later be repremanded for. So we stop at the rest stop and the driver tells us only the back door is open yet a dumb-ass dressed in pink tries to literally pry the front door open, setting off an alarm. The driver doesnt realize this until we get to Granada and makes an announcement "más grave" that the front door emergency alarm has been set off and the door no longer opened. Anna and I, knowing the source of this trouble laughed thinking how ridiculous the entire travelling experience had been up to that point. The driver heard us and on the loudspeaker commanded seats 11 and 12 (us) not to laugh because "this is a very serious matter for the safety of all passengers". Dude, its funny!

Ok, Im off to run. The three cups of coffee and zero amounts of food have me in a jitter that needs to be sweated out. Once more I will remind everyone to let me know if they want something from España (bc im coming back to CA over xmas).

Un besazo a todos,
Matt

Crunch Time

I wanted to start off this post by recapping just how long it´s been since I have made a post and just how lazy I am about such things, but I figure all of you are already very aware. Let´s get a lock down on my life right now...

Where: Sede Prim, calle Prim 19, Madrid, Spain
When: 17.30, otherwise known as 15 minutes before my last translation class for this semester. (SCORE!)
Who: Pretty much just me, an undergrad, and the activities director for the school all crammed into the aula informática.
How: Sin ganas. Wet surroundings from snow and rain. Tired form obsessive exercising in subconscious attempts to procrastinate. But luckily, NOT HUNGRY.

So that´s where Im at right now. And I want to remind you all of a few things...

1. IM GOING TO BE BACK IN CALIFORNIA FROM DECEMBER 19TH UNTIL JANUARY 7TH. I WANT TO SEE AS MANY OF YOU ALL AS PHYSICALLY, PSYCHOLOGICALLY, AND EMOTIONALLY POSSIBLE.

2. LET ME KNOW IF THERE IS ANYTHIGN YOU WOUDL LIKE FROM ESPAÑA BECAUSE I PLAN TO BRING A SUITCASE FULL OF GOODIES. Just like Santa Claus... just not bearded. or fat. and with a slight phobia of hooved animals... and not Catholic, but hey, i bring presents and that´s the most important part, right?

3. POST TO BE CONTINUED LATER BECAUSE I HAVE TO GO TO CLASS NOW.

Besitos a todos!

My liver is sobbing. Alcohol hiatus NOW.

Hi blog world,

I have officially dropped the ball on maintaining an appropriate level of bloggage with all of you TWO followers (Shout-out to Lut and Emmy WOOT WOOT!). Unfortunately, I have let too much time go by without chonicling my awsomely funny and unsuccessful interactions with men, stupid drunk things I did, and an all around thematic coverage of my life, so I can´t catch you up on those things without writing for about 4 more hours. Dont got the time, kids. Y'all can ask me about it when YOU COME TO VISIT ME! YAYYYYYY!!!! please?

So over the last month I have found an amazing appartment on the top floor of a building with large windows, skylights, and even an oven. Hello Spain, your luxuries are simple and fabulous. My roommate, Leah rocks my socks and we occasionally throw together a piso dinner that involves more or less 1-4 bottles of wine on any given weekday. I bought a duvet cover from Ikea (still my favorite affordable furniture store in existance) that is pin-stripey and candycane-esque and a super fluffy comforter. I'm sleeping like a baby.Oh and of course my first purchase for the piso, before bedsheets and food, mind you, was a coffee maker. I also found packs of coffee for 90. CENTS. EACH. My life is complete...ly oversaturated with caffiene.

On the scholastic front, classes are going pretty normally. I'm very happy with my selection of courses since others have been described to me by one hilariously accurate friend, Anna, as "finger painting for blind children." I'm in Morphosyntax (my inner linguist is giddy at the mere mention of the course title), New Narrative of Latin America, and Literary Translation. I'm also thinking about writing a thesis this semester about the translation of "Pedro Paramo" by Juan Rulfo and how its translation affected its reception in the US during the Latin American Literature Boom. So far I haven't started any reasearch. None at all.

Extracurricularly, I got an internship with www.universidad.es as I start tomorrow. I will be the in-house unpaid transaltor/helper person. I've been explained various times what the position actually entials, but it always becomes a blurry vagueness once I really think about what all those professional sounding job activities mean. Vamos a ver. Also, I have taken up running because my jacked up knee no longer bothers me that much. The floating chunk of whateveritis must have found a nice place to stay lodged into so my joint doesn't lock up when I run. In fact, I have taken up running to the point that I RAN A HALF MARATHON ON SUNDAY! WOOOOOOO!!!!! My first race was, unfortunately, in Leganes (small town outside of Madrid), but fortunately with awsome people. Anna, Danny and I entertained ourselves in the cold morning hours while waiting for our race to start by making various snarky remarks about either the children's race, the old people, the fat people, or DUMB COCKER SPANIELS. Anna has something against those dogs and after the 16th kilometer that inner canine-oriented fury came blasting out of her mouth when she saw one walking on the side of the road. It's ok though, we were in Spain, more accurately, a shantytown of Madrid, so I'm fairly certain neither the dog nor its owner understood the sweaty, angry woman's cry of absolute loathing.

Piso commetns, check. School comments, check. Extracurriculars, check. What else is left??? Well, I will mention one pathetic and humorous thing, out of the entire first month in Spain I realized at one point that there were only a handful of days when I had not consumed alcohol. 4 to be exact. Only 4 days of sobriety. I have since gotten my act together and I am a functioning scholar/member of society, so don't worry about your alcoholic friend abroad. I need to go recaffienate now so I'll end this before it turns into that 4 hour recap of my life I said it wouldn't be. I miss you all mucho and when I get reliable internet I will be Skyping you like there is not tomorrow.

Paz y amor,
Matt

Oh, hey there Madrid. Yeah, I remember you.

May i start an entry with UUUUNNNNNGGGGGHHHHHH. I´m in Madrid but what an effing trip! I had to get up at 5 this morning to traverse half the country of Belgium to the airport, arrive late because there is construction on the roads by the airport (which made the bus literally go in a circle. Absolutely ridiculous), deal with Ryanair baggage fees - thir computer system wasnt working properly when they sent me across the whole check-in lobby so I had to do that trip like 5 times and I arrived at the gate RIGHT when the last person got on.

The plane was REALLY yelow and blue. Oh yeah, it´s Ryanair. The seats were uncomfortable, the water cost 2 euros, AND we sat at the gate boarded and waiting for an hour. At least the flight attendants were nice and they spoke to me in Spanish. Score.

When I got to Madrid I was releived to find that my luggage had not been lost or rifled through. I picked it all up and began my insanely long subterranian journey to my hostal via metro. 20 million stops and a sweat-soaked shirt later I emerged into daylight again to have a man tell me my backpack was open. SHIT. Yes, I had been pickpocketed. I wondered why no one said anything. It´s not like they weren´t all staring at the weird sweaty foreigner the whole time... But worry not, reader, I am anything but a novice at travelling. I put all my valuables deep down in the big pockets of my backpack. I still have all my important documents, cards ,passport etc. I guess the pickpocket didn´t want to steal my Middlebury College ball point pens. Or my voltage converter adapter. Menos mal, right?

My hostel, however is BOMB. At the risk of being labeled a total weirdo, I might take picutres of it and the cute receptionist that works here. Once the stores open up again I´m gonna go get me a phone and do some piso hunting. I´ll put my number on facebook so you all should feel very at liberty to call me and chat me up, ok? And, send addresses if you want postcards. I´m gonna nap for a bit in the true style of the misnomered "siesta" time in Spain. L8r sk8r boiz n grlz! Yeah, sorry, I had an Avril Lavigne moment...

Horse sausage and pig face on toast.

I have a lot to catch up on in this here blog. There has been a lot of travelling this week and there are so many stories to tell.

August 23rd to 25th - Amsterdam!
I did a three day trip to Amsterdam while Lut and her bf spent some quality time together. I got to navigate the Belgian train system all by myself and only messed up two times! That's not so bad, right? First I missed my stop going to Brussels; I stayed on the train an extra stop and went 40 minutes out of my way to another town where the conductor kindly told me to get the hell off the train I hadn't paid for. Oops. I backtracked to Brussels and caught a train to Holland. Honestly, Amsterdam is one of the few cities that has made me go "wow!" when I got there. It's beautiful, interesting and the people speak really good English which was great for me. The next amusing anectdote happened when i got to the station in Amsterdam and found out that the tourist information office was closed on Mondays and I hadn't brought a map or even the address of my hostel. I know, fantastic planning, but that's the stuff adventures are made of, right? I ended up wandering around the city going into random hotels asking for maps and directions and ended up by sheer luck in front of my hostel after a couple of hours of aimless guessing as to which direction I shoudl be heading in. The enxt day I visited a couple of museums and saw the rest of the city, pretty chill especially after visiting a coffeeshop where I made very good friends with a cat who was sleeping at my table while I read a Dutch book about films from the 80s. I didn't understand much but the pictures were nice. That night I decided to go to the movies and thank god I bought a ticket early because in the hour I had to kill until the movie I went to get dinner. I was eating at my table and a downpour started driving the people on the street into any shop along the road. An older man came into the schawarma shop where I was and sat down at my table since the rest were filled with other patrons. His name was Rudi and he worked for Delta. He had a layover in Amsterdam for 12 hours and he was determined to 1, "burn those calories", a phrase he must have thrown out at least 13 times in the 30 minutes we interacted, and 2, "have a good time with the new toys [he] bought" at a sex shop. He certainly wasn't shy when he pulled out o bottle of poppers and lube. Ew. He told me a story of how he tries to go running and workout no matter where he is, for example, he was in a beach town and went running on the beach (GENIUS!) and then he found a large rock which he started to lift a few times to immitate weights. I quickly showed him my ticket and said the movie was starting as I speed walked away from him. Arent' you guys just sick of hearing about all my successful interactions with guys? HAH. The movie was good. It was about a man with downs syndrome living in Sevilla and he falls in love and yadda yadda the woman doesnt want him but has sex with him and life goes on. It's called Yo, tambien if anyone is interested. The next day I wandered more seeing the last of the sighs I coudl fit in my schedule before my train left. The problem was that I got on the wrong train. Again, the conductor told me to get the hell off the train I hadn't paid for and I waited another hour for the next correct train to take me back to Dendermonde.

Thursday 26th - Dendermonde festival!

I went around with Lut and Stefanie and we visited the smallest village in Dendermonde. Then that night we went to Dendermonde's town celebration which in volved acrobats, a parade with giant puppets, peopel dressed as large wolves called, literally translated, "clap tooths" and a circus show having to do somethign with a butterfly and a bee who fight over flowers until a spider comes. The spider, a mutual enemy of the butterfly and bee, cause the two to join forces to fight him. They get trapped in his web and all seems lots until the sun comes out (a man dressed as the sun) and then everyone danced around happily. No one understood what it all meant even when they got on the loudspeaker and said the only dialogue of the whole show "this has been the circle of life". Mystery prevails. Also, I ate horse sausage and ground pig face on toast, typical foods of this region. Kind of delicious and kind of very different....

Friday 27th - Brugge!
Toured Brugge with Lut and Saskia. Beautiful city with a lot to see and lots of chocolate shops. That day i discovered that I can't make one of the vowel sounds in Dutch. There were signs everywhere that said "te huur" which means "for rent". However, when I pronounce it, despite my best efforts and multiple attempts to change what i'm saying, I always spit out "for whore". I have to work on that....

Saturday 28th - Brussels!

Lut and I went on a 10 euro per day day trip to Brussels and we saw the sight, eat some BOMB waffles and took silly pictures around the city. Good times, thrifty times. Pics on facebook.

My battery is about to die and I am far away from the cord so I'm gonna wrap this up and click publish entry before my computer dies. I <3 you all!