I hope Grecian Turkeys are tasty!

Hello dear friends, I'm writing to say that this will more likely than not be my last post for 12 days or so. My abroad program includes extensive study/trips throughout the mediterranean and as of tomorrow morning I will be off to Greece and then Turkey for a 12-13 day marathon of travel and wonderment! We start off in Athens but only stay there 1 night before we board a small cruise line and cruise that mo'fo' all through the Greek Isles. I'm particularly excited for Crete but we go to them allll, including Ephesus for which im very excited. We're supposed to swing by the Virgin Mary's house but I don't think she's going to be home. Santorini is supposed to be incredibly beautiful, it's a good thing I'm going to have my handycam glued to my palm! After we go through the isles we return to Athens for a day or so, then head to Istanbul! I'm particularly excited for this because Turkey is the only country I'm going to this semester I haven't already visited in previous European extravaganzas. Anyway, a friend sent me a picture she took of me during our visit to Segovia and I think it really captures the essence of my trip so far haha.



Anyway, i hope you are as excited as I am, are you?! HUH?!? PS I will soon be the official European Correspondent for AAA (or Amanda Across America) and I'm very excited about that as well. Things are going well. I'm staving off the plague that other people on my trip seem to have caught, its not the Black Plague though...they're sitll alive and kicking so I guess its really more of a Grey Plague. Yeah that sounds about right. Peace.

Soccer Hooligans!!!

SO as some of you know I am a huge fan of FCB or Barca as it's most commonly known, the Spanish futbol team from Barcelona. Well for any that don't know, the Barca-Real Madrid (Madrids premier and fanciest soccer team) rivalry is paramount even to the Yankees-Red Sox baseball rivalry. Very intense. Anyway last night I went out with friends from school to an Irish pub called Dubliners in Plaza de Sol here in Madrid. It's a place where lots of foreigners get together and go out to clubs/bars/cafes etc. Anyway at 2:30 Dubliners closed and forced everyone to the bar next door. After a while I came back out to find Mike and a friend, which I accomplished, but on my way back to the bar I came across a group of hooligans discussing/arguing futbol. Well naturally I found myself in conversation with 1 British man, 1 man from Toronto a Spaniard and a very short very tan woman of unknown Mediterranean origin. As the newest member of the discussion I was expected to declare my loyalty, mind you I didnt know who the others were for and representing Barca in Madrid is an easy way to get into a scuffle but nonetheless I declared my loyalty for the best team in the world (Barcelona). As soon as I said that the British guy says, "oh yeah? check this out" and proceeded to pull down his sleeve to expose a tattoo of B A R C A in big black letters. INCREDIBLE! We then proceeded to tear down the poor Arsenal fan (a french team who Barcelona beat in a championship match last May) and praise Ronaldinho as the best player in the world. A good night indeed and my first hooligan experience.

Node666 is active!

Finally, after weeks of waiting, the groundbreaking collaborative videoblog project Node666, curated by Casey and Rudy of Galacticast has officially launched! It features the work of 14 collaborators including, but not limited to Zadi and Steve from Jetsetshow, Steve "G-Money" Garfield of the Carol and Steve Show (as well as stevegarfield.com) Michael Verdi from Node101, and of course myself. There were also a number of other hilarious collaborators but I got carpel tunnel in my linking finger. Go to Galacticast now to see the compilation!

My segment is called, "The Bunker" and it was directed by Mario "M.L." Librandi and written/produced by/stars yours truly, but more importantly it guest starred my friends...the Send More Brains Players!: Mat Calabro...the least convincing zombie with the best tan I've ever seen, Andrew "chewie/pod/td" Duncan, Jeffrey "Jeffy" Harger and Matt "Soldier" Cisto. The video on Node666 was edited by Casey who graciously helped me to get everything flowing smoothly.

Welcome to The Bunker! {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/822/3507/1600/rob%20zombie.jpg">

We'll Always have Segovia

I realize it's been quite a while since the last post, and much has happened. I'm currently posting from Senora Hernandez's room where the broadband is located. They do have wireless but I need to contact IBM to learn how to make it work with my computer, until then I am plugged into the router via a 3 meter cable. Anyway, the first day after my arrival at the homestay I woke up early to go to the Prado, for the last day of an immense Picasso exhibit. Very impressive. I actually came across my new favorite painting, Les Tres Musicos. The painting is a comical portrait of Picasso with his two artist friends as they lived in Paris together bohemian style. It struck a chord with me because my two best friends ive known since highschool are currently living together in Brooklyn pursuing their lives and dreams as artists, in photography and film respectively. Certainly its less glamorous than Paris but I do wish I could be there with them although I know I'm following my own path here in Spain. I've taken lots of video and my friends are all equipped with digital cameras so expect to be inundated with content soon! Speaking of which, my account and page with www.blogabroad.com will be set up soon so you can see videos and pictures there!

Madrid is for Spaniards...and people from Connecticut

Alright alriiiiiight! Its been a long time since the last post and much has happened. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Saturday morning, an hour before we drove back to Madrid to meet our senoras, myself, Mike, a friend Meagan who didnt have any luggage either and the one and only MariCarmen (wonderful program director) drove to Valencia Airport to try and find our maletas (luggage). At the Lost & Found I actually got my largest suitcase that contained my videocamera (scooooore) and clothing so I felt better, unfortunately Meagan got nothing and Mike only got his garment bag. We insisted on going back to the buggage claim area where Meagan discovered her bag and I discovered my duffel bag, dusty and on the floor yet miraculously intact. Regrettably, Mike didn't find any of his things and when he got to Madrid he went to Barajas International Airport and searched for hours upon hours to no avail. Saturday we met our wonderful homestay family, the Hernadez..es...Hernadezs...Hernandi? Salud Hernandez and her two daughters, who are 24 and 13. Her son is 23 and he is studying to be a doctor at university in Pamplona. Mike and I live with them at their townhouse in the suburbs of Madrid, about half an hour to center of Madrid and 45-1 hr. to the university. I hope to make a video tour of the house and neighborhood soon, once i can upload video from the house (a few technical difficulties.

Valencia Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Martin

Ok so Im pretty sure he´s not Spanish but i thought that the above might make for an amusing title. I arrived in Valencia Sunday and have been staying at the Universitat de Valencia, at one of the student residences. So far my days have consisted of taking 4 hours of spanish language training across the street at one of the university´s buildings from 9:30 to 2 with a half hour break and then afternoon activities. Monday´s activities consisted of a walking tour through the center of Valencia, including the old squares and cathedrals. Spain is known for its amazing cathedrals and Valencia did not dissapoint. Our program leader, MariCarmen, gods gift to study abroad students, took us around and the following day she took us to the Aquario called L´Scientific. I heard it was one of the largest aquariums in Europe though Im not positive. There I saw sharks, fish, voluptuous sea lions and a dolphin stunt spectacular! The dolphin trainers were exceptional and had the dolphins launching them into the air, catching rings with their noses and my favorite stunt, acting as living surfboards all choreographed to music (featuring Ludacris´ Red Light District) My amigo Mike and I bought two grande cervezas to get the free straw hat. Not suprisingly, Mike was the only one in the audience wearing it. OH yes, I forgot to mention that I will soon be the official Madrid blogger for BlogAbroad.com, a subsidiary of StudyAbroad.com where myself and several other students studying around the world will blog about our experiences in our respective cultures. I am more than excited to do this because I love Spain and can´t seem to shut up, ergo it should be a perfect fit. Its day 5 of Luggage Watch:2006 and I think its about time for me to draft a formal list of what I had in the suitcases so that I can get some money if I never receive my poor suitcases. There are hundreds if not thousands of travelers similarly screwed by British Airways so they apparently have stopped tracking all the luggage, though last I heard mine was officially in Spain somewhere. I think I can get up to 1300 dollars per bag lost so we will see. Still I haven´t let the crisis taint my experience and once I figure out a way to take video you will see some amazing things! Until then you must wait with bated breathe, but don´t hold it, ok hold it, maybe then my stuff will find its way to me. I´ll do it with you, ready? 1, 2, 3...Go! *Gasp* ..............................
.....................................
.....................................
.....................................
.....................................
.....................................
.....................................
.........ñalkjfoijaosjidf (my forehead hitting the keyboard)
...Are my bags here yet?

British Airways: 1 Andrew Congdon: 0

Well met, British Airways, I hardly knew that when I booked my flight those months ago that I would encounter an adversary of such malevolence, tenacity and poor dental hygiene. It would seem that you have my bags, but I have your customer support number! So while you lord over my polo shirts and calcetines (translation: socks) my friend Mike and I shall be harrassing your service representatives endlessly until we achieve our vengeance. Beyond the tremendous security measures taken by the airline (no contact solution, chapstick or any other ammenity allowed in the cabin) it also seems they love to cling to my belongings, like a small child clutching his favorite teddy bear to his chest. I am currently wearing the same blue jeans and white tshirt that I wore when I walked onto my 7 pm flight on Friday September 1st. Yes I know that is gross but know that I have showered and washed since then and today I intend to purchase new clothes with the 55 euro afforded to me by the people of British Airways. Despite this gesture I know that they continue to frollick in my belongings. For a young man who has travelled 6 weeks on a backpack worth of clothes this experience hasnt been that trying of an ordeal but other people in my program need medication and havent been able to take it for 4 days. Not cool. I hope they fix these problems in the future but I know they probably won´t. Supposedly the luggage is on its way to Valencia but I always know not to count my huevos before they are hatched (having dealt with Dell tech support). Until then my brave and stinky compatriots, take heart! For noone complains half so well as the ornery American, and in time, justice shall be ours!