Yum!

Made Florian a pizza last night (we even had ranch dressing!). It was probably the tallest pizza I've ever seen.

Just whisper sweet (past perfect) nothings into my ear...

Finally finished signing up for classes today. I signed up for an introductory German class. I am craving a third language. I then was immediately gripped by the senselessness of that act. If I am going to graduate from MU anytime in the near future with a double major, I really should take classes that give me credit for at least one of my majors. I double checked, and wouldn't you know it, the Spanish class I needed had opened up. I took the last spot and dropped the German class. Maybe in the spring. I want to speak it so badly!

Florian and I bought our tickets to Frankfurt the other day. From a German website. I hate having that wall up. I hate not understanding. But this feeling isn't about being lost in the dark. On the contrary, when I learn a word in another language, when I learn how to pronounce a group of letters or how to conjugate a verb, I get this rush through my body. Languages just turn me on.

Así, gute nacht a todos. I'm going to fall asleep to The Sound of Music (since Grey's won't be online until tomorrow) and dream happy little dreams about the apple muffins Anna made tonight. Sweet dreams to you too!

Tag!

My dear friend Amanda tagged me on her blog, Hoi Polloi, so hear are some fun facts about Cassidy Diane Shearrer. The rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. If I could be a superhero, my power would be communication. If I could live forever, I would learn every language in the world. I like to talk.
2. I love God and believe the Bible. I've also been rejected by Christian friends and disgusted by evangelists. Living in Europe amidst the Catholic church history makes me queasy. My closest friends don't share my beliefs but also never judge me. The mistakes of the church make me very sad.
3. Creating is my favorite thing to do by myself. Having left behind my sewing machine and film camera in the states, I've been really into cooking here. Learned how to make my own pizza crust yesterday!
4. I have an unhealthy attachement to my laptop. Celebrity gossip sites, illegally downloaded TV shows & facebook are my biggest vices right now. The celebrity obsession began when Mary-Kate Olsen started dressing weird-people.com was a fashion consultation site for me. Now the Olsens have better security and my taste for fashion has devolved into perezhilton.com.
5. Living in a this new culture has made vegetarian resturants the freaking mecca of all establishments. Found one last week in La Latina, Viva la Vida. Holy scheiße.
6. I want to live in a big city, but I really don't want to be a suit. I would be content to serve coffee for the rest of my life.
7. I always wanted to be in the boy scouts. I am still angry that I'm not an expert fire builder. Survival stories were my favorite as a kid! I wish I could say with 100% certainty that I could make it on one of those deserted islands (unfortunately, I am pretty sure they've all been bought up, so I may never get a chance to prove myself).

Though I barely know 7 people with blogs, I will tag Anna, David, Marta, La Revolutonista, and Cafe Con Soja.

Eurovision '08

Last night we watched the Eurovision Song Contest & ate an amazing Italian meal. For the estadounidenses, this Eurovision thing is pretty freaking awesome. Think American Idol with less hate, more ridiculousness & more languages. It has been around since the '50s. Russia won. Mostly because of the Olympic ice skater in their act? What that has to do with music, I do not know. There were also Latvian pirates, fohawks & well, Spain. Most of the acts were bad pop with pretty outfits. Spain's submission...was original, to say the least:

In case you didn't catch it, the third dance move is the "maiquelyason" or Micheal Jackson. Sweet.

Toledo-third time around

Florian & I took a bus to Toledo on Saturday and spent the weekend sitting in coffee shops and getting lost in winding alleyways. Poppies are blooming here right now and the view from the bus was incredible-brilliant streaks of red on each side of the highway.

We saw an old monastery where Isabella & Ferdinand were planning on being buried (ended up in Granada)-old and cool; Florian got bored somewhere during my commentary (probably at the phrase 'nave lateral') but I think at one point we were actually standing in a crypt. Sweet! We drank lots of café con leches and café solos-several in a cafe that was obviously a straight portal to 1988 (check out the couch in that photo & think lots of Tracy Chapman). My favorite part was that the cafe wasn't trying to be stuck in the 80s, it literally was.

Also ate some yummy pizza in Plaza Zocodóver and talked with a Portuguese woman who had 13 kids. Decided that was a few too many.

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!!

Fuegos Artificiales!!

Last night we met my friend Megan in Retiro Park for a picnic. A bunch of ERASMUS kids showed up and we had a good time listening to Vincent play the guitar. The weather is finally really nice here! There were cute little Spanish kids dressed up in costumes for the holiday and we saw some bats after the sun set, but clearly the light and firework show was the highlight.
Vale, here we've got a photo of the lovely Anna & friends in the radiance of the explosions. Super cool! Also a still of the lake and some of the first fireworks. The video didn't work, so I threw in another firework picture. Imagine music and explosion sounds!


































We had a big group and got desperately split up in the crowd, but we all met at a cueva in Sol afterwards. I first came to this bar in the fall with Giovanni and couldn't understand any of the quotes on the wall. It was very rewarding to realize how much I have learned this year! Also, John's mom is still in town and I got to talk to her again which was wonderful. And I finally taught Vincent the cup rhythm we've been working on. It was a great night. And I was in bed by 1:30!

I am anything but a madrileña.

Went to Canal today for the first time. One metro stop away from my piso. Anyway, played some padel (I think that's how it is spelled). It is just tennis on a smaller court with smaller rackets. Super fun! Luckily Florian had never played tennis before, so I didn't look like a total idiot, just a bit of one.

Today is another fiesta. This is the first madrileño holiday I actually know something about, though sadly, only the name of the Saint: San Isidro. I get two days off school and all the little girls in my neighborhood are wearing dresses with red flowers on their head. And there are fireworks tonight! I don't get it, but I like it.

I take it back

As always when I open my mouth to insult someone, I end up being quite wrong.

She may have just felt guilty for being an hour and twenty minutes late, but my profesor was actually really helpful in our meeting today. I know now that the exam is going to be killah and I will probably fail, but at least she isn't planning on failing me without reading my exam!

Rhymes with Witch

I am in 5 classes this semester. The hardest by far is my 20th century Spanish poetry class. I love poetry. Reading in Spanish is incredibly difficult because I have to look up at least one word a line, but I find that I understand Spanish poems better than some English ones. I am forced to find the meaning behind every word (or be utterly confused), whereas I tend to skip over a few words when reading in English.

So. Luis Cernuda has a few poems that are about 3 pages long. Needless to say I have a new vocabulary sheet that is about the same length. I am learning. I love this challenge, it is my favorite class.

Today after class I went up to my professor and explained I was having some difficulty and asked her when her office hours were. Her response? This is not a class for people who don't have a very good grasp on Spanish.

Then she showed me the books I need to read for the class on the bibliography I've had since the beginning of the semester. The books she showed me were already underlined and I've been making copies out of the one relevant to our current theme for weeks. Only after a few more minutes of conversation did she give me her office hours.

If you are reading this and you teach something, please don't forget how valuable encouragement is to a struggling student.

Charity

Madrid has quite the homeless population. After reading Irresistible Revolution this fall, sharing makes more sense. I really want to live a life that has community and giving at its core.

Which is great and all...except when I start giving away things that don't belong to me. Florian's food. Florian's money. Florian's sweet comic book in Spanish that we found sitting outside my apartment. And the latest:

Okay, clearly not a tragic loss. First of all, the front wheel was busted. Secondly, well, Florian is a fully grown man.

The convenience store by his apartment is run by an Asian family, like most of the 'alimentaciones'(or 'chinos') in Madrid. Florian tried to ride the bike from the dumpster to the chino. Hilarious!

It was around midnight, but the Asian kids were still up, helping their mom run the store. We bought what we needed at stepped back outside to get the bike and go home. The kids followed us out. The little girl was eying the bike-I don't think she even noticed we were there. I opened my mouth and offered the bike to the girl. She didn't have a clue what I was saying, but her brother immediately said "Sí" and she hopped on.

You should have seen her face! So cute! Hopefully Florian will survive.

Boredom strikes: Cass blogs.

Going to see Iron Man tonight with friends. The last movie I watched was crap, so my expectations are pretty low. Vamos a ver.

Today I cleaned the bathroom (so exciting!) and took a bath while listening to a sermon from The Crossing. I am so glad they podcast their sermons!

Florian has been teaching me German. So far the only thing I can say with any confidence is "ich mag dich auch sehr, hübsche" which basically means "I really like you too, cutie." I think I'm going to have to take lessons if I'm going to learn anything useful.