The Tower

I figured I had to prove I was at the Tower before my final post. This is my last video hope you enjoyed my blog.

My Final Post

It is so hard to believe that the trip is over! That was the fastest month of my life. I have seen and done so many things in the time I have been in Europe: I was able to vist three different countries (not to mention two of them were in the world cup while I was there). I met so many people, not just from Spain , but from around the U.S. It is hard to find words to explain what I witnessed and what I went through. I will never have a better time in my life then I did in Spain; I will always tell storys of Europe for the remainder of my life. I want to give a special thanks to Dr. Wilson; he is one of the coolest people I have ever met. Also, to all my fellow Catawba students that were their with me. It was nice to know that I had fifteen guys back me up when I was in a forgein country. I can honestly admit that when we all went out together, I was never scared of what might happen. Also I want to give thanks to the Forspro Program. Although there were some flaws, overall it was well put together. Good bye Europe, Iwill never be able to repay you for what you gave to me and my friends.

The Louvre

The third day we were in Paris we went on an adventureto the Lourve. The Louvre is a famous museum that features artists shuch as Micalgelo and Leonard de Vinci. After a while, we got tired and did not realize where we were. It turns out we were right outside the Louvre we just did not know it!

Paris

It was extremely hard to want to leave Spain for France; there was just way to many things I loved about Spain. Unfortunately, we had no choice in the matter because are flight back to the U.S. was out of Paris. Oh well, time to make the best of it! During the day, we went to most of the tourist "hot spots" around France such as the Arch, The Eiffel Tower, The Louve and Notre Dame. We also took boat tour through the cannels of Paris. The city of France is very beautiful, but I cannot say the same for the french people personalities. I felt like any where we went somebody was trying to rip us off and at this point in time on the trip I did not have much money left. I am really glad I experienced Paris but I highly doubt I will ever come back. It is very expensive so if you do decide to visit Paris, be ready to spend some money.

Good Bye Spain Hello France

Part of our trip included a four day stay in Paris. Here is a little tour of the hotel room Casey and I stayed in.

Good Bye Spain

This little clip is my last few minutes in Spain on the bus going to the airport for my flight to Paris. I loved Spain ; I don't ever think I will have a better time in another country for the rest of my life. I was very sad I had to leave!

My Class Room

Looking back on my trip to Europe, I often forget that I was in school because I was having so much fun. Almost every week day we had class at 9:45 in the morning and I was usually woken up by my good friend mike. I would roll out of bed usually hurting pretty bad and make my way down stairs for class. When you first hear the word "class", alot of people automaticaly connotate it with boring and miserable. Well, that was the complete opposite of my Spainsh class with Dr. Wilson; we had so much fun trying to speak Spainsh and most of the kids in our class made things intresting. Dr. Wilson is an amazing teacher and if you havent started your foriegn language credits, take Dr. Wilson! Up above is a picture of the class room we crammed into every morning.

The Cafeteria

The cafetria was like any cafetria: it had its good days and it had its bad days. The problem was even on the bad days, we had to eat it unless we wanted to spend money at a resturant. There were definatley days where I had no idea what I was eating, so I would drink water with it to make it go down faster. Needless to say, the bad days outweighed the good days by a large margin. The one thing that I loved about the cafeteria was the ladies that worked in there were so funny and nice. I never could figure out what they were saying to me though. Up above is a little picture of the dinning hall we ate in.

Spain Style

Every country has its own unique style but sometimes, it is hard to put a finger on whatthat is for certain countries. One style that I immediately noticed about the men in Spain was that they wore capri-pants. In the states, I am starting to see a little of those, but not much. Another little trend that caught my eye was every where you went, all the girls have these little "Asian-style" hand fans. One of the most interesting style I observed was these MC Hammer pants that my friend Mike was kind-of obsessed with. At first, we thought he was joking because only girls wore those pants but we were sadly mistaken. The first time he saw those pants in a store, he bought them. I figured it was only appropriate that he had a cute little fan to go with his puff pants so I bought him a one.

Handicap

If you are having second thoughts about traveling to Madrid, maybe it is because you are injured or handicap. Don't worry about that because there are elevators to the metro. Even in our dorm there were electric escalator chairs that could help you get up and down the stairs. Here is an example of the chair.

Workin Out

While we were in Madrid my friend Casey refused to let his body get out of shape. So no matter where we were, he would always try to get a quick workout in.

Using The Metro System

When you get to madrid, you will quickly figure out that using the Metro is the main way to get around town. If you are going to be there for a month, you should go head and buy the month pass; you will end up spending more money if you buy a single ticket every time. One ride cost 1 euro and if you buy 10 passes that cost 9 euro, so in the end you get one ride for free. The second piece of advice is to figure out your metro stop before you just hop on and ride. I, unfortunately, made that mistake the second day I was there. The maps are very easy to figure out so just take some time to check them out; it will make your life much easier. I was lucky enough to have a great Metro leader by the name of Mike Pecchia or also known as "Man Bear Pig". He did a really swell job guiding us through the metro stops, thanks Mike!

The Market

If one of your main interests when you travel is food, there is one place you need to got to: it is a small market where you walk around and order small tapas, which are appetizers. The market is located at the Metro stop Sol, which is basically the "town square" of Madrid. I'm going to warn you, you should bring a good amount of money if you want to leave with a full stomach. All the food is displayed in windows and you walk around and pick what you want. There are raw pieces of fish that you can pick from and they will grill it on the spot right in front of you. It is really cool and definatley somthing you should experence if you ever visit Madrid.

Notre Dame

This is a little clip of the outside shot of Notre Dame in Paris, France.

Clubing

So Madrid is well known for their clubs that go all night long. In this clip you will see two current students at Catawba College, Corey Eldridge and Tom Mitchell, attempting to party all night long. They made it pretty obvious that they were getting tired.

Party Time

Throughout the streets of Madrid, there are always people doing strange talents, mainly looking for tips. One of the performers I found pretty interesting: he was dressed in normal clothes but had knee pads on and Clown make up. His talent that he exhibited to the crowd was dancing to the music on his head phones. He was very good and my friends seemed to like him as well.

Gondola Tour

If you are running out of things to do while in Madrid, you should take a Gondola Tour. It was really cool way to see Madrid. The Tour is about two miles long and each gondola can seat up to four people. I went with three of my friends and for some reason, we let the kid from England make all the plans. He lived up to being the "not so smart" kid from England because he brought us to a mentro stop that was about four miles away from where we were going. So if you are ever in Spain, don't let the English kid make the plans. When we finally got there, it was a beautiful tour and I defiantly would recommend it to future tourists. At the end of the ride, there is a bar that overlooks the City of Madrid and I thought it was appropriate to get a quick drink.

Even Spain has Zoo's

Who would have thought that Spain has a zoo! One day after class, Casey and I were trying to figure out something to do. After brainstorming, we settled on the Zoo because it was the cheapest option we had. It was fun seeing all the exotic animals, but we realized we probably should have done something else. An observation that I had made about the Zoo in Madrid, and about Europe in general, was that every thing is smaller than the things we have in America. Although the Zoo was smaller than expected, it was still a good time. Here is a video i took of some talented seals.

Surviving with Low Funds

During the first week in Madrid, Casey and I had ran into a small problem: we spent five hundred eruo in one week! From this, we realized it was time to start managing our money better. There are a couple ways to do this: first off, you need to figure out what bars have cheap drinks. I luckily found a bar that had cheap drinks and a nice atmosphere, so I was of to a good start! The main problem was finding cheap food. Every where you go to eat, it seemed like they wanted you to sit down; not to mention they charge you for water! Eventually, I learned how to say "pitcher" in Spanish and started to order tap water, which was free. Finding cheap food was still my main problem when trying to manage my money until I discovered places that served Turkish food or Middle Eastern food. If you haven't tried any, it is delicious and not to mention cheap! Above, there is a picture of a kabob which is a delecacy within the country of Turkey.

Madrid Architecture

Before I left America, I honestly did not know much about Madrid. I knew of a few things though; they spoke Spanish and they like to have a good time. It was a pleasant surprise to see that Madrid's buildings were extremely beautiful. Everywhere I went in Madrid, the architecture of the buildings were very sophisticated, with every little inch carved into a specific design. Here is a picture of me taken by Casey Chinn, also known as "Mini Moose", of me walking down a street in Madrid.

Next Segway Stop

We went to a monument for Miguel de Cervantes, the writer of the famous book Don Quioxte, which was said to inspire the artist Pablo Picasso .Here is a little video of our tour guide explaining the statue.

Egyptian Monument

During my stay in Madrid, you might think that all I did was party. You will be happy to know that I made time to do some "tourist activites" during the day. One of the cool monuments I got to visit during my segway tour was an Egyptian Monument. Good thing we had our tour guide with us because I would have had no idea the history behind the monument. So it turns out, the history behind the monument was due to the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1960. Many valuable monuments and archaeological sites were in danger of being destroyed during this time. The Egyptian people made an appeal to other countries to helpthem save these monuments. Due to the aid given by Spain, particularly in helping to save the sacred buildings of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian government donated this temple to the Spanish people in 1968. My tour guide told me all the rocks in the monument were flown in directly from Egypt. The monument is located near the palace, so if your near the palace check it out!

Casey Getting a Cab

Mike Excited about the Bull Fight

High Speed Segway

zoomin

Bull Getting buck

I was hoping the bull was going to buck the matador.

Pull Ups

Casey had to get his work out in.

Bull Fight

This was the bull when he was fresh.

Segway Scooting

Me gettin my Segway

The Cars

While I have been in Madrid, I have noticed that the cars are much different then the cars in America;they are much smaller and are better on gas. There are also a lot of brands of cars that I have never seen or even heard of before here in Europe. Something else I noticed is that the BMW vehicles have cloth seats and are mostly diesel; as they drove by they sounded horrible! Another thing that I thought was quite funny was that the majority of the car companies distribute certain models of cars that they dont offer in America, like this ford in the picture above. You dont see these in my country!

Bull Fight

Another thing you have to do if you are in Madrid is go to a bull fight, but only if you can handle an excessive amount of blood. I did not really know what to expect when I showed up to witness one of these fights. It was very exhilarating and they actually kill the bulls! One thing that I did not know was that there is a certain bull fight etiquette that you need to obey by if you are a spectator. You are not supposed to cheer at certain times; since i was unaware of the code of conduct, I cheered very loudly and alot of the Spanish citizens got very upset with me. The majority of the time I was cheering for the bull because the humans would all just gang up on the bull; that's not a fair fight! Something else I didn’t know is that they use horses that wear blinders; that didn’t seem fair for the horse at all! Dr. Wilson was telling me that they use to lose more horses then bulls because the bulls would always get impaled. Now the horses wear a protective sheet that is full of Kevlar. I’m glad that I went to one because it was a good time.

Segway Trip

If you go to Madrid one thing you should definatly do is take a Segway tour; it was one of the funnest times of my life! It cost fifty dollars and you can make your reservation online. The tour takes you all around the Royal Palace and to numerous monuments around the city. The Palce was beautiful and luckily enough the tour giude spoke English. She was very lenient with us messing around on the segways, which made it ten times more fun. I am not going to lie, we were being pretty crazy on them. The tour last about an hour and fifteen minutes. If we tried to do the same tour on foot, it would have taken a solid four hours; we would have been super tired! This is a "must do" activity if your in Madrid.

Segway

Pecchia, Casey, and I signed up for a segway tour. Here is my first time trying it out :

Sketch

It is said that if you are any where in Europe, there is a high chance that the the locals will try to pick pocket you and that is definately a true statement. The program that I am apart of is called Forspro and there are students from many schools throughout the U.S. I was talking to a guy who went on a trip to Barcelona and he was always down to party when he stayed there. But he partyed a little to hard because he happen to fall asleep on a bench, and some little" hood rats" took a razor blade to his pocket and stole all of the euros he had on him. (hopefully that won't happen to me!) So if your planning a trip any where in Europe, you always need to be aware of where you go and where you sleep! That is, if you don’t want to get robbed! If I feel tension with anybody I usually let Casey do my dirty work. If you don’t know Casey, he is about 5’6 and is jacked. So if he doesn’t punch the mean people I will. (sorry dad!) The main message I’m trying to send to you is: don’t get too drunk and fall asleep on a bench!

Boat Tour

If you happen to ever make it to Amsterdam, one of the things you need to do is take a boat tour. Hands down, it is the best way to see the city and you don’t have to walk! Amsterdam is known most for it's hookers and weed, but I really appreciated the architecture of the buildings. Every were I looked, there were cool buildings. The picture above is a famous museum called Nemo. Unfortunately I didn’t get to go inside but the outside was awesome!

Kitty

One of my favorite things about Amsterdam was the animals that were just roaming around; they were so friendly and cool! The stray cats were not scared of anything and let people pet them. If I was eating outside, they would walk under the tables and rub against my legs, it was cracking me up! This picture above was taken from about two tables away ; the cat just hoped up into the chair and was hanging out with two people eating! I even got to pet this cute little cat! After I thought about it for a while, I realized all the animals must be as stoned as the people of Amsterdam! I concluded that my favorite thing in Amsterdam was the kittys!!! If your reading this blog, please help me out by making a profile and start commenting on my blog. I need feedback!

Spainsh jigga bo dance

Some guy was jamin so I had to join

The Game

Here is a little video from the ground of the Holland National anthem.

World Cup From Amsterdam

Some how, I lucked out by booking my flight to Amsterdam during the world cup; the problem was that I was cheering for Spain! That did not go over to well with the people of Holland; let's just say that there was almost a few fights. (good thing i had big Casey Chin with me, not.) It is really hard to explain how amazing it was in Holland. I have no words to explain what I witnessed; it was literally insane in the membrain! There were fire works going off: it was like I was in an sea of orange! Yet, there was only one place in the world I would have rather been: Madrid. But I had the time of my life and not many people will ever be able to say they stayed in the only two countries that played in the world cup final; Let alone it was my 23rd birthday! Mom and Dad, I love you guys: I could never repay you for the experiences I'm getting here over seas.

World Cup From The light Post

I couldn't see the game, so I climbed a light post

Sorry for the Delay

First off, I just want to appologize for taking so long to update my blog. I did not have access to a computer while I was in Amsterdam, so I will write a couple of entries now.

While traveling through Amsterdam, we had no idea where we were going or even what the main language was. Eventually I just started asking people where I could find a train that would lead us to our hotel. After we settled in, we HAD to see a couple of things: if the red light distirct was real and if cannabis really was legal. The locals told me in Amsterdam cannabis is handled like alcohol: if you smoke on the streets, you get in trouble. Therefore, you have to do it behind doors. Yet what was funny was they also told me you can purchase it at any coffee shop in town.
The second night, we actually made our way to the red light district to see what all the "hype" was about this place. Sure enough, it lived up to its reputation by having hookers displayed in windows. They point at you from the window and try to get you to come inside; I talked to one and she told me it cost fifty euro to start. You aren't supposed to take pictures, so I didn't take my camera along with me. Although I wish I did because I saw other guys taking pictures. (You just cant get caught by the cops or the pimps!)

We stayed for two days in Amsterdam and even I, myself couldn't handle it. I'm glad that we went but I like Madrid better than Amsterdam.

Next Stop Amsterdam

So me and a couple of my buddies decided that we had to go experience Amsterdam while we were staying in Europe. We looked for cheap Airline flights through expedia and found tickets for one hundred and fifteen doallars: so we bought those right away! What amazes me was that we purchased the tickets about three days before we were leaving for Amsterdam, and a round trip ticket was only one hundred and fifteen dollars!!! (We must be getting ripped off in the United States!)

Some of you may know that this coming weekend is the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain. Im cheering for spain regardless, but alot of my buddies are cheering for the Netherlands. Probably because Amsterdam would go absolutely crazy, due to the fact that they have not won in quite some time. I have a feeling some people aren't going to like me; GO SPAIN!!!

The Mayhem

So here is a little clip of the mayhem as we got of the metro

I survived

So, I survived the world cup semi-final game at the stadium in Spain. Oh yeah, mom and dad: I didn't even drink a lot! So it probably goes without saying, last night was totally insane! The streets were filled with crazy Spainish fans; everywhere you looked there was the color red, people singing, people drinking in the streets,and police officers. What was funny was that there was even drunk thirteen year olds running around! . In european cultures, alot of the younger children start to consume alcohol when they are young; no wonder everyone is so good at it! Anyways, we went back to the sama local bar that we went the second night we were here and the bartenders immediately recognized us. (It didn't take long before he was hooking us up with free drinks.) When Spain scored the winning goal, it is realistic to say that the country errupted, or at least where I was anyway! If you happen to miss the goal here is a link, it was perfect!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV8AuUHTx-k

World Cup Part II

So its Wednesday, the 7th, and I can smell the world cup in the air every where I go: the people of Spain are getting ready for the big game. It feels like a holiday because my teacher is not even assigning us any homework or quiz for the day after the game. Life is good and the crazy thing is, the other team in the world cup is the Netherlands: I'm going to Amsterdam soon, how crazy! Well I don't want to waste any more time, I got to get rolling but I'm cheering for Spain no matter what. I'm going to leave now and go the stadium: wish me luck and cheer for Spain! Famous words of Mike Dolesh: I want to get in the s$%#.

To The Window

It was the first night in Madrid and I was the first Catawba student that arrived on campus. I really had nothing to do except wait around for my friends to arrive so we could start drinking. They finally get here at about 9:30 and they were all ready to party. Eventually, we went out to a club to get are dance on for a little bit. As we were there, we met some other students from our school and before you know it, it was almost six o'clock in the morning! So we rounded up our group and left. When I got back, I went and hung out in Mike Pecchia's room, which was right "outside the pool. I took a peek out the window and saw a girl so i shouted "hello" to her although she didn't really speak any English. For some reason, the guy next door thought it would be a good idea to take his shorts off and jump out of the window into the pool. I told Mike when we first got here that someone was going to jump out of these windows and into the pool, I just didn't think it was going to be the first night! Well it doesn't end there: some guy came running out and chased him down. The guy who jumped out the window ran from him and hid out on the roof for about an hour.

It Just Got Real

Some of you may not know or have forgotten that the main reason I am here is for school. Well, I just got a small taste of reality on our first quiz, but a large portion of the class that did not do so well either. There is good news to follow that: at least I showed up to class. Some of my fellow class mates were not so fortunate, so I did not do the worst. The fact of the matter is that I need to start taking my school a little more serious if I want to get a good grade. For now on, less partying and more studying!!! I'm sorry if that's going to disappoint some of my readers, but I will still have plenty of good stories.

Spanish Dance

This is a video of me trying out some new dance moves for some of the local Spanish people.

World Cup

Last night was insane! You may have heard that Spain is still in the world cup: the country is going crazy! So myself, Casey, and Mike heard that they were going to play the game on big screens outside of Madrid’s soccer stadium. For some reason, we decided we were going to go shopping instead. As soon as we got on the metro, it was packed full of chanting Spaniards. I looked to Casey and Mike and said "are we really doing this?" They both said "hell yea!" So we got off the train and followed the flock of crazy fans. There was a man selling Spain flags on the sidewalk and I asked him how much he was selling the flags for. He told me he was selling them for five Euro. I tried to bargain him down to three Euro but he would not budge, so i said see ya! He ran me down and said he would sell them for 3 Euro. Well, the shirts came off and we tied the flags around are necks. We headed towards the closest bar and the festivities began. It took about five minutes to make friends and they even spoke English. So before you know it, the bar tenders were giving us free drinks! The best news of the night was that Spain won, which means they play this Wednesday. Now here is where the story gets good: I got lost and had no idea where I was. I ended up making friends with three Spanish girls and went to a party with them. The most bizzare thing then happened: I found Casey on the metro next to a bald lesbian who helped him navigate his way home. The funny thing was, he ended making out with her. After the party, I realized I was so screwed. But luckily I met the three nicest Spanish girls in the city and they drove me home. As they dropped me off, they gave me their information so I could meet up with them another day. They contacted me today on Facebook, I couldn’t believe it. Go SPAIN!!! I cant wait for Wednesday!!

Pull Ups

During my time in Madrid I will most likely be hanging with two main guys: Mike Pecchia and Casey Chinn. Casey really likes to stay in shape: I can't take him any where without him trying to get a quick workout in. I call this video pull ups on the metro.

I heard that hollah hooping is a popular thing to do in Spain. I guess the store clerks weren't to impressed.

Suprise!!

Today while I was strolling through Madrid with my man Mike Pecchia, he let out a girlish squeek that took me by surprise. The reason he let out this girlish noise was because he thought he saw some "poopy" on the side walk. After further examination of this "poopy", we noticed it was a a pine cone. But this pine cone was special: it was a spainsh pine cone! Not the standard North Carolina pine cone that me and Mike are familiar with. Very intriguing stuff!

Day 2

Obviously last night was a long night, due to the fact it was my first night in Madrid! Im sure you can all imagine what happened, but im going to talk about today. So, since Iwas the first one up, I decided to wake my entire hall up for breakfast. After breakfast, I basically went into food acoma and almost slept threw my first class! Luckily my professor knows me very well and sent a student up to my room to wake me up. Dr. Wilson is the man and if you haven't taken spanish if you are a Catawba student, you MUST take it with him. Not only is he funny, but he is also a very resonable teacher. During our first class, he tought us students important words we would need to know for the night life. What is cool is that the weekends start on thursady night here, yay! I would love to stay and chat some more, but I have to find a way to the soccer stadium to watch Spain play in the world cup!

So It Begins

IM FINALLY HERE!!! At first, it was very strange because I felt like a freshmen all over again. This was probably because all the kids I went to school with were on a later flight. So we finally arrived here in Madrid after hours of waiting in traffic, flying on a plane, and traveling on buses; I was alone all day with no friends. I decided to unpack and re arrange my room. I got interrupted while I was writing this post because my friends forced me to go out with them. (peer pressure gets me every time.) I just returned to my room because somone spilled some of their drink on me, so I had to come back and change my outfit and of course to refill my drink. I have class at eight tomorrow morning so I need to go back out and enjoy my time. Good night blog followers!

So right now I’m in France: I just flew on a plane for six hours but man did it feel like ten! On this long flight, I made some friends who are in the same program as me: their names were Matt and Michelle. Making these friends definately helped the time go alot faster. They served us two meals during the flight and the meals were honestly not that bad. Maybe it was because I had a few drinks before I got on the plane. The last two hours of my flight were miserable: my legs hurt, I was sweaty, and my new friends were getting tired. I just exchanged one hundred American dollars for about seventy-five euros. I’m falling asleep now due to the long flight, so I am done with this post but I there are some good stories to come!

New York Here I COME!!

It's Tuesday, three days until I fly to Europe! I came to New York three days early so I could see some family and wait for my flight out of JFK airport. Also while I am on Long Island, I will try to catch up with some old Catawba friends who some of you may have heared of : Mr. Rio Baggs and my old trusty ex-room mate Sean Duggan. Sean is a real winner but unfourtantly, he will proably be to scared to hang out with me. He has a couple of bad memories: GAT GAT GAT.

Time to Start Packing

Packing; one of the most boring things about preparing for a trip! Since I am going to be in Madrid for about a month, it is going to be pretty hard to figure the amount of clothes I should bring with me. As I started to get everything out that i thought I might want to bring, I got tired from looking at all my options and decided to take a break. After three hours of watching television, I was starting to notice that I still did not have anything packed. So I did what any "momma's boy" would do and shouted "MOM I need help!" She was easily convinced, thank God! So I put everything out and made a list of all the things I needed. By the time I was done, the clock said 11:30 pm; who thought that packing would take so much effort! Then I realized, I can't find the one important thing I need; my camera charger!!!!!!

Passport Drama

So it turns out, it is not that easy to get your passport. In order to get your passport, you need a birth certificate, a social security card and a number of other things. So, I had to go back and forth to the post office three different times. I also assumed that they took the picture for you at the post office that is placed on the I.D. They do offer this to you, but it costs an additional fifteen dollars. So when I found out about that, I had to call my mom and tell her to transfer fifteen more dollars to my bank account. After three days of struggling to get this passport, I finally had all of the right paperwork and amount of money to get my passport. Yet, what I failed to remember was that the majority of post offices take about twenty days to process and create the actual ID. Thank goodness I did not wait until the last second to apply for my passport like I do for most other stuff!

first post

I'm going to Madrid, real soon. Before that happens, I need some money and a job. I'm real excited about my upcoming trip and i will be writing a blog about my experiences.