Back in the saddle again

I´M BAAAAAACCCKKKK.  Okay: I´m going to really work on updating this as often as I can fit into my schedule.  I know I know, you´ve read this before but I really do plan on keeping this up THIS time :)  I´m telling you, I can´t wait until next year when I have the time to sit back, relax, and blog as much as my little heart desires (and obviously have more of a social life, meet more people, and travel at least double as much as I am this year).  This year the classes I am taking, the classes I am teaching, and all this spanish nonsense is keeping my pretty busy.  Next year, however, I´ll be free to gallavant around the city as I see fit.  Monday I was completely exhausted in classes after the superbowl situtation the night before BUT I somehow managed to fight through the grogginess and pump out some fun lessons.  Classes were a bit hard to sit through on tuesday night and by the time I got home (around 10) I was more than delited to see that my roommate had made a family dinner.  I grabbed a burrito, a shower, and hit the hay in a flash.  Wednesday was another B-E-A-utiful day in lovely Madrid and I even pushed through and walked the 7 miles back to my apartment after school instead of riding the train.  Such an amazing walk through the city.  I work on the northern outskirts of the city and live on teh south so I get to walk all the way through Madrid.  A nice little tour of the whole city and a great way to get an idea of where everything around me is :)  Keeping it real quiet for the week but there are big things to be had this weekend!!  So glad it´s thursday!  sooooo close  to el fin de semana i can taste it!!   :)

here we go...again

Superbowl weekend and the weather is fantastic.  at home we are getting dumped on with snow and wind and everything horrible for ohio winters and here it’s freakin beautiful and in the 60’s.  holler back.  Saturday i did a bunch of much needed laundry and got in some ultimate frisbee like a champ :)  sunday all i wanted to do was lay low until the superbowl but that obviously didn’t happen lving in the most beautiful city in the world.  Callie and i met out sydney and we walked all over downtown checking things out and of course stopping once for an ice cream and then again for an alcoholic coffee beverage.  A-MAZ-ING.  So my quiet day in turned into a whole day out in the city.  Usually I love these days but the superbowl starts at 6:30PM in ohio which is a solid 12:30AM here. aaaahhhhh!!  around 8 my apartment started to buzz with the silly packers fans i live with and myself breaking bread before the game.  I made a steelers t-shirt from an old white T i acquired (no idea where that came from!) and made my own terrible towel out of yellow construction paper.  That was a 30 minutes well spent :)  

AT around 10 we left our apartment and walked to sol to cheer on our respective teams.  Good thing for me, all the people that we met out were steelers fans.  

wooooo calle caceres!!

We even managed to meet 2 spanish guys and turn them into steelers fans as well. 

Juan and Carlos with the terrible towels!!!

I also ran into a group of German men that were in town and happened to be lucky enough (or incredibly unfortunate, depending on the way you are looking at it) to be at the same bar as us!  Needless to say I convinced them to be steelers supporters.  I dazzled them with my high school German.  Works like a charm :)

Wir wollen die Steelers zu gewinnen! (we want the steelers to win!!...i think haha)

However, no matter how much beer i drank (a disgusting amount) or how much Carlos and Juan cheered (surprisingly 80% in english)  Ben and the boys did not pull through for us. 

STEEELLLEERRRRRSSSSS!!

The game came to a nasty ending with green coming out on top, me stupid drunk, and exactly 3 hours to walk home, sleep, wake up, and get to class. yyaaayyyyy :)  We somehow found our ways home, fell asleep, and with the help of the Lord above I made it to my morning class on time :)  Seriously, it went by so fast I don’t even remember waking up, changing my clothes, and getting to classes.  The first three hours teaching all i was doing was feeling a massive headache, trying to keep the kids busy, and fighting will all my might not to violently vomit all over the class.  To my sheer amazement the other teachers and the kids were all clueless to the lack of responsibility I was displaying the night before.  We stayed out, cheered on our hardest, and still the steelers didn’t pull through.  O well, there’s always next year :)  we had such a kick ass night (as you can see from the pictures)  that I really don’t care and even though I am STILL hurting from all the booze and partying, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat!! 

Buckeyes in spain!!

The week at school has come and gone yet again i’m still not completely convinced i’m not just dreaming this whole life up.  Friday’s classes went swimmingly well and after Callie and I met over at Belen’s house for a nice evening of shit shooting and buckeye making.  Of course every time I go over there it feels like home to me but this time was a little different because we were making the very food that I grew up making all fall season with my mom, mana, and auntie Joyce.  We got to my home away from home around 5 and were immediately greeted with a homemade meal and yet another deceivingly delicious spanish treat.  Every time i get over to Belen’s she offers me something that I can’t imagine would ever taste good and every time she makes me try it I am pleasantly surprised.  This time was homemade pizza and a rice pudding style spanish desert that I am a big fan of :)  After desert, naturally we opened a bottle of wine and i FINALLY got to meet Belen’s husband Miguel.  HE. IS. AWESOME!!  not only did he put up with 4 females chatting away all night (Belen, Callie, Bea, and myself)  he also played camera man when we started putting the buckeyes together, he put on some background music, lit some incense, and let me call him tio on the way out!!  

all the goodies

in the making...

AAAHHHHHH!!!!

The actual buckeye making turned a little ugly because they were a bit sticky.  BUT they tasted amazing just the same and we sat and chomped on some buckeyes as we drank coffee and wounded down for the evening.  It’s so strange how you can travel half way around the world and run into people that are exactly the same as your family back home.  yet another night out a huge success.  Not to mention all the extra buckeyes we made...

Too blessed to be stressed

The whole month of January has flown by faster than I could ever express and before I knew it, it was already saying February on the calendar.  During that time we had a great house guest: the one and only JAMES HARRELL III.  We of course had a jacked up good time and went out to a new club in town.  Not new to the town, but new to us.  I hate to say this, but I feel almost too old to be going to those places.  Where do all the twenty somethings hang out???  I look around and all I see are kids that are the same age as my students.  weeeiiiirrrrrddddd.  James came and went in a flash but we had a brilliant time.  I have been doing a lot for classes; both teaching and studying, and I feel like I am in such a great place in my life right now that I could never ask for anything more.  You are all aware of my thoughts on my magnificent family and I have friends to die for.  I’m living in a fantastic city in a downtown apartment with the most perfect roommates.  I couldn’t have been placed in a better school to teach at and my classes for my masters program are actually going better than I had imagined.  This time is such an amazing experience that I have decided to apply for another year here.  I don’t find out for a bit if I get accepted back but I really am putting all my eggs into that basket because I can’t think of another place I would want to be next year.  Not to mention it is February and while winter is kicking the shit out of the states, it’s a mild 55 degrees here.  The sun is shining.  The birds are chirping.  And life couldn’t get any better (except of course if I had a valentine for next weekend....but I still have a week to figure that out!!)  HAHAHA :)  livin.  the.  dream.

Catch ya later USA, HOLA Españaaaaaaa

My last day on home soil I got a farewell brunch with the Balemians and mana and papa and was pleasantly surprised to see my cousin Ali, my Aunt Tammy, Steve, and Aunt Tracy and ROB with my mom, dad, and Kyle, and uncle Mark.  I can’t express how much I love my family.  They mean more to me than words could ever get across.  Brunch was amazing and just the way I wanted to leave the states: on the highest note.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to talk my cousin Ali into applying for the program I am in this year, I want her out here with me soooooo badly!!  Fingers crossed she applies!  Of course she’ll get in and then we will be ruling Spain together :)  I got to the airport early with Kyle, mom, and dad after some pretty hard goodbyes and we B-lined it straight over to the Wendy’s in the airport to get a last minute frosty.  So great!!!  I finally had to say goodbye to my parents and Kyle and headed for my gate and waited for my plane.  After a 2 hour ride, I touched down in Atlanta, made way to my gate and waited for the plane.  We finally boarded, I found my seat, settled in, and heard the welcoming voices of the Españoles all around me.  Funny thing about it: hearing spanish all around my felt a lot like home.  After 9 hours and 3 movies later we touched down.  IM BACK IN SPAIN, BABY!!!

D is for Dentist

I got back into town just in time to head over to my dentist appoint and to my lovely surprise I was in need of not 1, not 2, but 3 freakin fillings and they would have to do them the following day.  Feeling like crap the only logical thing to do was to ride over to the quilt shop with my mom and do some damage.  I always though that my mom and I were pretty different individuals and to my dismay I am slowly realizing that we are EXACTLY the same!  The good news: the older I get, the cooler I think she is.  Now, at 50, my mom is cooler than ever and I am soo pumped that I have that in my future.  My mom and I would sew for days on end if we could and the quilt shop is our little home away from home where we spend hours looking at different fabrics and finding a million new projects to start on at once.  The following day, the last full day I had in America, I spent in the dentist’s office getting shop up with novacane and getting huge holes drilled in my teeth.  Awesome.  After the torture was done and I was freed from the chair my mom and I went over to target and sipped on slurpees while we made our last minute purchases for my departure.  I also got to go bowling with my mana and papa (grandma and grandpa)  which was just perfect.  Kyle, dad, and mana and papa and myself tore it up on the lanes.  Not to toot my own horn, but....... TOOT TOOT.  I’m sick!  I haven’t bowled in at least 10 years and I cot about 8 strikes.  I had some major competitions with my pro bowler papa but we all did pretty well.  Well, almost all of us.  God bless my mana, she is the sweetest lady you will ever meet in your life.  But seriously, the SWEETEST lady in the world.  However, let’s just say if I had to guess from whom I got my athleticism from, she’d be my last guess haha.  She had fun with us just the same tho :)  We also had a great goodbye party at my house with my awesome godmother and of course Auntie Joyce and Uncle Bill (the most super badass old people you will ever hear about.  When they are gone books will be written about them.  They’re epic), My aunt Tracy and her almost husband ROB (all caps for a badass) and the rest of the fam.  So good to see my Aunt Tracy, she’s so happy all the time, can’t help but be in a good mood just thinking about her.  I am beyond excited about her wedding with ROB because he’s the greatest guy and she doesn’t deserve anything less.  Unfortunately I will miss their wedding in May but I can’t wait to see the pictures, she’s going to be a total babe in her wedding dress :)

Party in Portage

New Years day I spent 5 hours ridin’ solo in my Jetta up to Michigan (vomit) to see my beautiful older sister for a few days.  I hate the fact that we don’t get to see each other more BUT at the same time I completely understand.  The world would be in trouble if we were together all the time.  OOOo the trouble we could get into :)  For those of you reading this that don’t know about Erin Flynn, I’ll fill you in.  She is just a bit funnier, more clever, prettier, and all around better person than I.  That’s right guys, there’s 2 of me.  me. and then the turbo version of me.  She took me to a few parties in Portage, great places to eat, and we hung out with her friends for the whole weekend.  We did a lot of things that for legal reasons I should not discuss on here but I can tell you that we were non stop action the whole time we were together and I loved every minute of it.  On the way back into the great state of Ohio from the armpit of America (Michigan)  I stopped in Toledo one last time to spend the evening with my Gram and Bompa and get my last donut in in the morning on my way out of town.  Chocolate donut with chocolate on time.  can’t beat it.  EVER :)

New Year's Eve!!!

Over the past few days all I have been doing is meeting up with old chums and spending time with the family and the pets.  Nice leisure time never seemed to go by so fast in my whole life!  I went out and met my cousin Bryan at his bar for one night thinking we would just have a quick beverage and head home 2 nights before new year’s eve.  Not surprisingly, it turned into a gongshow.  I’m not really sure why (probably because we are wicked awesome and we are the only ones that lived in columbus) but the Balemians and the Flynns have always been a close bunch and when I was little all I wanted to do was hang out with the older kids (I was the youngest in the group) and as soon as I was old enough to party, we have had a super kickass good time :)  Bryan and I are pretty tight and the fact that he owns a bar works to my advantage like no other.  Our “quick” outing turned into about 4 hours and many many many many shots and cocktails that I have no recollection of.  Kyle met us out and had to take me home.  Great guy, huh??  The next day I had to wake up hard core early with a raging hang over and meet my cousins up at the lake to go snowboarding.  It was rough, but I managed to drive the whole way without having to stop and puke on the side of the road.  We hit the slopes and after my hang over passed I was able to enjoy some much needed family time with the younger cousins that I never get to hang out with.  It was a great day in the snow and surprisingly we all came back in one piece.  The following day I slept in super late and hung out with the pops.  He’s awesome.  Like, the greatest guy ever.  I actually feel bad that I have the greatest dad ever because it means that everyone else has to settle for something just a bit not as great as me.  Lucked out super good with Tim Flynn for sure :)  And when the evening came around we got ready in our Jackets get up and headed out to the Columbus Blue Jacket’s NHL game.  

nasty seats

rock on jackets, rock on

We have the greatest season tickets and the game was insane!!  That night 2010 drew to a close and signified an end to yet another year that has gone by waayyyy too fast.  That and another NYE down where I didn’t get a good luck kiss for the new year.  i’ve never been kissed for NYE for year!!!  ooo well, there’s always next year...well THIS year :)

Toledo with the Browns

My mom’s side of the family is a very unique breed of characters.  At first glance you might see that my immediate family are the only ones who indulge in alcohol while the cousins, aunts, and uncles do not.  Next, you might notice that my immediate family are the only ones who use vulgar language just to get our points across while our cousins, aunts, and uncles do not.  However, do not let this uptight facade fool you.  These people are some of the funniest and crudest people you will ever meet.  Mainly because 90% of our conversations revolve around bodily functions and racist/homophobic jokes.  HOWEVER, the Brown’s are no haters.  They seriously are some of the greatest people you will meet :)  Christmas with the Brown’s means so much to me especially after we were informed of my Bompa’s (grandfather’s) lung cancer.  He is absolutely incredible.  I have never heard him raise his voice a day in my life and is such a happy little bugger.  I really appreciate the time I spend with him and the whole family.  Christmas with the Browns was the same as every other year.  Grandma started by saying that we couldn’t get a present until we told a joke.  That soon came to an end when someone said a joke she didn’t approve of.  Gift paper would get balled up and thrown at blinding speeds at the faces of cousins through out the house and soon that too would come to a close after Adam took it juuuuust a bit too far.  And of course we ate as much as possible and Gram made her famous christmas cookies that were gone before dinner was over.  After the party came to a close my family went back over to my grandparents’ house and spent the night scattered through the familiar bilevel on Valley Stream BLVD.  The next day I accompanied my dad and Bompa to the donut shop.  Let me preface this with the explanation of the donut shop gang:  My Bompa has been going to the same donut shop with the same group of old guys for the past 20 years where they gather round the bar with a cup of coffee and a donut and discuss the world’s problems.  These guys are freaking hysterical.  They go in and are automatically greeted with a cup of coffee the exact way they have ordered it for 20 years and the same donut they have ordered for the same amount of time.  They talk about of shit, tell a bunch of jokes, look out for one another, and above all else...it’s just a place to go to either get away from their nagging wives for an hour or hang out with their friends for an hour because their nagging wives have passed away.  They take great care of my Bompa and I love them all like my own :)  I send them post cards and they return the favor.  Great little relationship!!  My time in Toledo came to a close and I said my sad goodbyes that have become all too common in the recent future and I left the town in the dust.  Great visit, I even got to see my Aunt Theresa who I just love to death.  My dad has the greatest 4 sisters in the world and a hilarious little brother that I just love to pieces.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to see all of them while I was home, but having Aunt theresa meet me out at the donut shack was a beautiful surprise.  Are you all sick of hearing about how amazing my family is yet??  Jealous??  I can’t help it.  I am just soo blessed to have the greatest family and so thankful to have people in my life that mean so much to me :)