Some things are the same in every language :)

Day 60

.MIA.

Hey folks.. I know I've been missing in action for quite some time but there hasn't been too much going on here worth blogging about. Everything been very...routine. no strange occurrences, no new cities. just me, the kid, and the people of Cintruenigo.

Some highlights of the past week are:

The New Coffee Machine (660 € = about $900).. yeah, they spent guap but it's soo fly. It more like an espresso/cappuccino machine because coffee here is NOT like coffee at home. its mas fuerte! and this baby's got alllll the bells and whistles. Its legit like a live in Barista. I drink coffee just cuz i can and i feel OH SO european doing it.

The chronic steak i consumed for dinner last Saturday. It all started with some sausages that he couldnt wait to grill outside with the new spring weather. Next thing you know the man went out and bought all the steaks in the city and hosted this big ol' steak dinner shindig with friends and errbody. NO SIDES, just meat... uhh?
Eva was not amused, po thang. She had the longest day. Men are so funny.

And now Jorge.. is sick. Look at him haha.. just like a man. He's so helpless on that couch. Eva told him to go get in the bed... he just rolled over haha. But the not so funny thing is, I think i caught it too :( .. it was only a matter of time. the way he goes around touchin stuff, breathin on stuff, not washing his hands. Thats where the boy gets it from (shaking my head). I asked her where they keep their disinfectant spray and she looked at me like O_0?! saying "what's that? oh no, we don't do that." Say whhaa?? WELL little does she know I know i always keep my handy dandy Lysol pocket spray and hand sanitizer on me always.

tsk tsk, So sad but i am fighting like a champ. i got my nyquil, cough drops, juice, and other American reinforcements. so wish me luck

READY.

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In other news, Tarielle left to go back home today, this morning actually. Sad right?! that was my newest buddy. We were kicking it on a pretty much daily basis But Ana, her host mom, was straight fruit loops crazy. She needed to get out of that house (and thats all i'll say about that!). The funniest part of that whole situation is their new au pair comes...TODAY. THATS right. They're dropping off the old and bringing in the new, in the same day. po kids.. Eva and I plan to sniff her out and give Tarielle the skinny..

Paz and i made her some very lovely parting gifts (and by lovely i mean.. they look like they were made by Ismael.. but we were short on time). I "forgot" to take pics of them to post but because i love my many readers... (haha.. 'many') I have requested she email me pictures of them so i can post for you all to judge me for. Its fine, I'm comfortable with who i am haha.

The past 2 weeks were interestingly difficult as I experienced my first spell of homesickness since I was like 12. I know what you're thinking. Surprised me too!! I missed my American crap-shoot of a diet. I missed being able to text and call ppl whenever I felt like it. I missed Eastern Standard Time. American television in English. Athens, GA. The List Continues.

But i've snapped out of it. I had some much needed convos with some of my favorite people and now i'm back to loving my temporary life here. I have to make the most of my last days.. i'll regret it if i don't. I mean, I am in SPAIN afterall! Can you believe April is here!?

(shoutout to all my april babies. it seems like about 83% of the people I love most were born in April. Good Month)

But thats all i have for you right now. believe it or not.. The sun finally decided to bring spring temperatures to I can finally bust out my shorts, sandals, and swimsuit.

26 days left?! Where'd the time go?!

Ok. Good times to come. More pics to come. More Shenanigans to write about...to come. I hope!

Till then,

peace, love, and rockets.

.autumn.

Day 53

.a time to reflect

My Spanish yoga class has given me ample time to sit in silence and meditate on my own thoughts.

I was tagged in a note on Facebook with this snippet of positivity .. in this time of reflection, in this period of my life, i found it oh so appropriate and right on time. Hopefully you will too.

Health:

Drink plenty of water.

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

Live with the 3 E’s - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

Play more games.

Read more books than you did in 2010.

Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

Sleep for 7 hours.

Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Don’t have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

Don’t over do. Keep your limits.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.

Dream more while you are awake.

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.

Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

Smile and laugh more.

You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

Call your family often.

Each day give something good to others.

Forgive everyone for everything.

Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

Try to make at least three people smile each day.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

Do the right thing!

Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

The best is yet to come.

Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Thanks Danielle.

Day 52

.For now, Just Pray for my Family.

Day 45

.Viva Madrid!.

ok. just got up from a 3hr nap (tuesdays are my favorite) and now i'm ready to blog.

Sometimes I wonder when people wake up and decide they want to be parents. Man what a task it is and i'm only the psuedo-nanny! hats off to all the mothers out there. I say mothers because from what i see (in spain anyway) they do most of the work.

I always find it so entertaining when i walk Ismael to school. He always has to have his soccer ball with him, rain or shine, and everyday while i wait for the bell to ring that rallies all the cattle, he and the rest of the little boys run 'round and 'round chasing said ball. its quite entertaining. Now, Ismael has quite the wardrobe (i'm talking gap meets zara) and I always wonder why his mom puts him in the same couple of outfits and coats. I'll tell you why, because he can't come home clean. I swear she stays cleaning stains off everything. What are you doing in that school boy?! no wonder.. smart woman, that Eva..

Anywhoo.. the kids aren't the only one that can dress.. The moms.. Oh they stunt! and I'm not mad at it. I need to step it up because if the moms make time to be fly in the schoolyard... at 23, how dare i come out half-steppin? because its 9am and i dont care, thats why. haha. I say "Go on witya bad self and your 3 inch heeled boots." mine wouldnt fit in my suitcase.. sad day

sad to say i've already picked out my favorite little kids. Since I am now an unpaid employee of the school, I see these kids all the time and ANY TIME they see me outside of school, which is everyday, they all shout "HOLA AOTON!" and make an effort to point me out to their parents. It's cute. Anyway, outside of my own lil pipsqueak, i'd say Iker, Cesar, and Alejandro are my fav lil boys. They are the cutest!! I mean most of these kids are cute but those 3 are totes the cutest. of the girls, I'd say Paula, Lucia, and Ainhoa... and they superhigh voices.. oh it just tickles me. especially when they talk to me in English because its super broken and their accents are super thick... haha, good time.

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you've been waiting for the weekend update. Man, what a weekend it was. Nothing to spectacular to be honest but Madrid is the city for me. Legit. I could look for my studio apartment right now. I loved it that much.

We left Cintruenigo Friday and hopped on the bus for the 4 hour-ride to Madrid (also the cheapest option to Madrid so no complaints)

Tarielle, Paz, and I at the bus station all ready to go!

When we arrived, we got changed and ready to go out for the night: first night: Cats Club

table service? yes please.

Friday night we were out till like 5.. Saturday, I was out with Paz and her friends while Tarielle stayed in.. i decided i didnt like that club and took a cab home....alone. yeah bad idea i know but i was pretty confident i could get there, which i did. the only problem was the cab driver decided he wanted to make sure i got to the right side of the street (aw, thats nice) except, he took me around the back of the building to go around the block.. now at this point, i'm in fight or flight mode.. like whats about to happen? i know you're not about to leave me in this back alley... so i give him this look like 'sir i'll cut you' which is apparently understood worldwide and he reassured me that was taking me around but there were many roadblocks AND that I wasn't being charged for his scenic route. no worries, i got back safe but i won't be trying that again haha...

............

after embracing Madrid the party way, we took to the streets the next morning for a softer, more touristy approach. Here are some of our sights:

Plaza Mayor!

a whole Museum of HAM?! bet! and the street market (yes, i bought your gift)

Ha! we found a KFC in Madrid

all we did was eat and take pictures lol..i lost count of the # of pastries we consumed lol

If was definitely a whirlwind of walking, eating, walking, shopping, shopping, eating, walking, shopping, picture taking, eating.. you get the drift. At Plaza Mayor, I swear was like a trip to the streets of Vegas in the daytime (granted i've never been to vegas but this is my interpretation).. Spiderman, Mickey and Minnie, Spongebob, beggars, dancers, random folks with squeaky voices doing weird performances for money, street vendors of God knows what.. basically a giant freakshow in the middle of the many cafes of people trying to eat.. it was entertaining to say the least.. Everywhere I went I could hear English, French, Italian.. I didnt even have to leave the country to get a taste of the rest of Europe.

When we went to the subway (which is super legit btw, MARTA needs to take a lesson) a man walked up to me and asked me for directions in spanish. i was so honored to be mistaken as a local of the city!! too bad i didnt know anything haha.. all i could do was point him to Paz.

I've already forgotten the names of most of the places we visited.. shame.

All in all, super fun weekend. Although I may have come back with a cold. Tarielle hooked me up with some meds so i've been downing emergen-C, nyquil and dayquil gelcaps, and other vitamins as preventative measures. Ismael will have a field day if I get sick.

We are already looking into the planning of the next few weekends. Tarielle only has 2 weeks left in lieu of certain circumstances of her crazy host family across the street (and when i say crazy i mean legit bipolar, habitually lying, can't trust you type crazy.) I really want to call her out too.. I'm like "who do you think you're fooling?! yeah, we talk. And i know all about your bs." For anonymity purposes, I won't go into detail not will I start any neighborly drama but don't come smiling my way because i won't fake a smile back. SO we must show Tarielle a good time with time she has left.

In further news, I started yoga today. It was hard! but i thoroughly enjoyed minus the part where everything was in spanish lol. i kept peeking with my eyes to make sure i was doing what everyone else is doing. It was on some real natural herb, namaste-type ish but i can dig it. It went something like this in my head as i attempted to translate: "something something breathe.. something something left arm.. something something positive thinking.. something something I'll repeat this in English for our American friend in the back"... great, i can't be incognito anywhere!! lol but either way, i thoroughly enjoyed it...

ok. thats all for now. I pretty much live for the weekends at this point so forgive my posts for lacking in detail. its fine.. i know most of you only come to my page for the pictures anyway. mmhmm, i got ya'll all figured out.

till next time,

peace.love.and rockets.

.autumn

Day 39

.Weekday Recap.

Ismael had Monday and Tuesday off from school so now that he's back, I'm finally able to recollect on the past few days for my many fans (all 3 of you lol).

We'll start with the weekend, which was superfantastic. The family and I spent it in the mountains (the Pyrenees to be exact, which border Spain and France) at a rural house, much like a cabin, with 3 other couples. I didn't know what to expect. I'm def not the wilderness type and was more afraid of seeing bear or something.

But seriously. We were in some legit mountains. Like some "Over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go..." type ish.

then we arrived to Villanueva de Aezkoa.. our town of 60ish

and our rural house

i even got my own room.. i told them i could sleep on the couch and she told me to stop being foolish.. haha.. whatever you say

and the group:

The lady right beside me with the little girl au par'ed in like 3 countries. she speaks 4 languages.. Um Hello, you're my hero? ok, yes

ok. then the fun began. We went hiking and sledding and trekking and everything in the forest, Selve de Irati, to be exact and It was the 2nd biggest forest in Europe for all you random fact lovers.. we also had to cook everything. It was quite rustic.. for me anyway. I'm a city girl, cut me some slack. Friday night we kept it simple.. but saturday... whoo, see for yourself

I first want to draw your attention to the sign...Now you dont need to speak spanish to translate.. but apparently to them it means: "Go ahead and explore. No danger here."

BEAR PRINT!

(ok.. i don't actually know if is a bear but thats my story and I'm sticking to it)

I guess it was worth the danger.

Wilderness: one.. small step for Autumn, One giant leap for black ppl

then we went sledding:

i had some trouble haha..

THen they wanted to go to the nearest town for some goat cheese.. talk about fresh

Oh yeah.. that looks sanitary..

Vat of goat cheese (it was really good btw) and we found mountain folk! haha. (no offense to any folks from the mountains reading this)

OK. then it was lunch time. Paella.. mm yeah

they wanted to document me helping.. haha

and the finished product:

and yes. it was as good as it looks

then some quality time with the Kareoke:

then we finally called it a night.

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As for Sunday, we spent the afternoon in France. Yes! I went to France. and It was fabulous. We traveled 'round and 'round the mountains to St. Jean Peid de Port. it pretty much looked like Spain, but in French. but just fabulous nonetheless

how many ppl rememberd Pinnochio was French? one of my fave Disney movies ever

Somebody wakes up to this everyday.. Can we say jealous?!

classic group shot..

for ALL the pictures:

http://s1188.photobucket.com/albums/z404/AutumnHowardUGA/Spain/

and look through the sub-albums :)

In a nutshell, i had the best time. Since it was carnival this weekend, and i missed it for the mountains, my new buddies and I are making up for it by spending this next weekend in Madrid.. FINALLY

Super pumped to spend a weekend on my own. Ismael had Monday and Tuesday off from school for the holiday and if he cousins didn't live across the street, I wouldn't have made it out alive! I don't know how daycares do it. I just don't know. I was so excited to set my alarm this morning to send him off and what did i do... oversleep. smh. so sad

but i managed to get him to school. we were a bit late but we made it. i woke up at 9 (which is when school starts) and managed to get him there by 9:17. shocked myself on that one lol.

Either way. I am thoroughly enjoying everyday here..even the boy.

thats all for now.

till next time.

peace.love.and rockets.

.autumn.