What is the difference between exploring and being lost?

I'm off to Galicia, Spain, a beautiful province in the north for 7 days to work on a forest restoration project. I'm going solo again and I am so excited and just a tad bit anxious, but I finally can't wait to have this experience. Full recap when I come back for sure! Until then, I leave you with this, a quote I hope might accurately describe my adventure when I return...

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

The closest thing to French toast

In Sevilla during Lent and Semana Santa, a special pastry called a torrija makes a quick appearance and it is imperative that you grab one before they go away until the next year! Basically, torrijas come in all shapes and sizes and are made with a variety of ingredients, however it always resembles a delicious piece of French toast! Today, in honor of skipping class, I decided to try one (again) at La Campana, a famous pastry shop in the center of the city. And it was wonderful. Today's was a torrija de vino, so the sweet and sticky syrup it was doused with hinted of alcohol. Torrijas de leche, the other popular type are also quite delicious, they resemble a flan + French toast combo and I tried one of those when I was in Madrid! It really is quite incredible, much so that I pretty much inhaled it this morning. And since they are only offered during the 40 days of Lent, I'm even more convinced that spring is clearly the best time to study abroad. Let your eyes feast on this one.

A real life MTV Spring Break, check.

This past weekend can't exactly be explained, for numerous reasons. Between the 400 American college students on the beautiful beaches of Lagos, the lazy town life, the numerous runs to the market and a ridiculous tale of events, I feel as if I've had my turn at the iconic college spring break. But really all I can definitively say is that LAGOS, PORTUGAL is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. And I think that quitting my life to take up a long-term residence there, maybe run a B & B on the side, it would be a preferred life. Seriously, just look at these photos...

My time in Europe has truly been incredible.

Faith has been restored.

After failing to find any soda but Coke and Fanta in Spain after 2 months, I'd given up on being able to taste the sweet deliciousness that is Dr. Pepper until my return stateside. However, a trip to a magical bakery/American food store in Madrid changed everything...

Christina chugged her's immediately. Mine however, is sitting underneath my bed, where it awaits a rainy day/absolutely miserable day to be consumed.

My quality of life has infinitely improved.

O Valencia!

I decided to a little more solo traveling and spent Saturday and Sunday in Valencia, Spain! Although it is the third largest city in Spain (and Sevilla ranks number 4), there wasn't a terrible amount to do, so my time there was just the right amount! Also, I found out that in Valencia, there is a dialect of Catalan (called Valencian) that can be found throughout the city; after a few hours of seeing a slightly familiar language, I finally remembered that it resembled that Catalan that covered the street signs and metro stops in Barcelona. Although I did not get the chance to go to L'Oceanographic (I ran out of time to make it to the aquarium, and I wasn't especially keen on the 20 euro admission charge), the world-renowned aquarium that is part of the City of Arts and Sciences, which is an avant-garde science park designed by architect Santiago Calatrava (really neat arcitecture) , I did go to the Museo de Ciencias Principe Felipe (which was kind of like Durham's Life and Science Museum in some ways, which is HANDS DOWN THE BEST MUSEUM EVER). I also got to go to the beach, even if it was pretty cloudy, and catch some rays, wander around the city, witness a PILLOW FIGHT and a random Vespa motorcade, as well as see Degas' ballerina sculptures at the modern art museum. I quite enjoyed the time alone and met some nice fellow travelers at my hostel, like Leonardo from Portugal who is on a 2-month long bike journey that started in Barcelona and will take him back to his home in Portugal. I also watched my first bit of AMERICAN television, considering the hostel was tuned into Discovery Channel--American Chopper, MythBusters, the like--what a treat! So even though the weekend wasn't too incredible eventful in itself and Valencia isn't as exciting as some of the other locales I've visited (or plan to visit), it was a much enjoyed break (and an opportunity to do some of my own, basic, yet delicious meal preparation...no FRIED FOODS for once). So there you have it, O, Valencia! I've included just a few photos below, mostly to show you the spontaneity that was the pillow fight...

Pillow Fight!

Degas' Ballerinas

Torres de Quart

The return to Ronda

The return to beautiful Ronda this time was strictly business. More or less. Around February, my journalistic self got to searching for English-speaking newspapers here in southern Spain that might offer me an opportunity to do a little bit of writing abroad. I stumbled upon The Olive Press, a bi- weekly or "fortnightly" publication that is based out of Andalucia! Perfect, right? I got in touch with the editor, Jon, not completely expecting a reply, however received an enthusiastic invitation to come and do a month-long internship with the paper! Jon is a British ex-pat who runs the paper, which appeals to the large number of ex-pats in southern Spain as well as the entire population of Gibraltar, ha. Although I can't exactly take off a month from school here (or maybe I could, who knows with Spain) to go live in Ronda and write, I organized a mini-introduction to the paper this past Thursday and Friday, kind of a test run to see if I would like it. Although the two day stint was quite enjoyable, the days leading up to it were quite frustrating ( I swear, Spain is making me more impatient/schedule and detail-oriented (thanks Mom for the latter))...

Of course, like a lot of Spain life, my trip wasn't confirmed/slightly detailed until Wednesday afternoon, where I learned that the paper is actually in an even smaller town, Arriate, a few km outside of Ronda that I would have to take another bus to. So all I knew at this point was that I was going to Ronda on the 10 am bus, catching some bus to Arriate, trying to find a place to spend the night and finally ending up at the office of The Olive Press. Getting to Ronda and then Arriate as I found was pretty easy, and after arriving (and asking for directions/backtracking a little), I found the suggested pension where I could spend the night. Problem was, there was no vacancy. So now here I was in Arriate, with no where to stay, no clue where the paper office was and Jon wasn't answering his phone. Since I have a pay-as-you-go plan here, I hate calling more than I have to, because it can get pretty pricey, but I finally got in touch with him and he sent the reporter, Wendy to come pick me up! After I hopped in the car, we then proceed to drive 10 minutes out into the countryside of southern Spain, a little strange when I thought we were heading to a newspaper office. Turns out, it was exactly the right direction, as Wendy explained to me while we pulled up, that Jon runs the newspaper out of his house and the office is in fact a converted cow shed. HA. The entire time, I was imagining a fairly large staff and a nice, professional office--the small staff of 5 and the cow shed were quite the surprise.

Despite the small-scale initiative, Jon has built a paper that is one of the most successful English-speaking newspapers in Spain! Just by looking at the website, you can tell that he knows professionalism. After the few brief introductions, I was straight to work, something else I wasn't entirely expecting. Since I came towards the end of preparing for the next issue, everyone was busy busy and over the course of Thursday afternoon and Friday, I helped to write about 12-13 briefs--mostly skimming previous news articles and either translating or summarizing them into new briefs. It was interesting to do this way, as well as learn the slightly different format of journalism (considering the entire staff are a bunch of Brits)! And not to fear, I found somewhere to stay--Wendy has an extra cot in here piso in Ronda, so she graciously let me spend the night there. We went out for tapas and too many beers with the other reporter James Thursday night, and by the end of the night met up with Wendy's friends who were hilarious to say the least. I really enjoyed getting to talk to Wendy and James about a lot of things per usual, Spanish, American films/TV shows, NCAA basketball and journalism. On Friday, it was a bit of an early morning, but I spent the day writing just a few briefs and mostly catching up on my personal blog and surfing the web (oops). My bus left for Sevilla at 6 pm, so I clocked out right around 5 pm and had Wendy drive me back to Ronda. Quite the successful trip, I would say!

Having the opportunity to work with The Olive Press was all in all a great experience, and I have been talking to Jon about hopefully coming back in June to do a few more weeks of work. Not only is this internship a resume booster, but I've already managed to get some stuff published (fingers crossed) and I wasn't even there two full days! I was a little skeptical about it at first, but after my two-day excursion, I know that the internship possibility is definitely something I want to make happen. Besides, how could I turn down the opportunity to live in GORGEOUS Ronda? The answer is quite clear there I think.

Compass Comforts.

The Love Language. record stores. Locopops. Hanging out in downtown Raleigh. summer time. Kooley High. REAL breakfasts. concerts. the NC Art Museum. Noodles & Co. Umstead park. crab ragoon. Weaver Street. Tar Heel Basketball. cupcakes

These are a few of my favorite things, things that are currently absent from my life. And things that I can't wait to hopefully fill my July and August with, when I return to sweet Carolina.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE SPAIN. Currently, I am sitting in a former cow shed turned newspaper office in the middle of the outskirts of small Arriate, Andalucia (about 15 minutes outside of Ronda), doing a little bit of a trial run with an English-speaking newspaper (more about this in another post). And it is absolutely beautiful--mid 70s outside, Carolina blue sky and a generally relaxed atmosphere. There is no denying that I fell in love with Ronda the first time I came here in February and if I can arrange to make a month long stint with this newspaper at the end of my semester, it would be phenomenal. But that being said, as I move further into my semester, my longing for all things NC grows ever so slowly. I am convinced it must be this fantastic weather that spurs my desire to listen to my favorite local bands, check the lineups at all of my favorite Triangle venues, dream of the tantalizing pomegranate-tangerine and ache just the slightest for the dog days of the NC summer.

Last night over drinks I was talking to the fellow reporters about what I miss most from home, but also how much of a perspective change it is to be looking back at your home country from the outside. It has been good for me--it makes me realize the things I took for granted, but also allows me to be humbled and not so absorbed with AMERICA (though from time to time, it comes up in comparison, but I guess that happens to anyone who knows one thing more or less all his life).

I'm taking this weekend to relax and re-group, doing some solo traveling and looking to find some treasures without any barriers from the outside or from companions. So far it has been good to me, a nice recharge despite my longing for a few "compass comforts." I'm excited to discover some more incredible things in this European country of olive oil and warmth.

So, in the words of The Decemberists (who also happen to be playing a show in Raleigh while I'm still overseas), July, July! Until then, let the adventures continue!