super-mega-guay

so every day is a lesson in vocabulary. unfortunately i don't remember most of the amazing words i learn, but i will never forget "super mega guay". people here add the adjective "super" to everything. things are always "super guay" (super cool) or "super interesante" (super interesanting) or even "super obsceno" (super obscene). they also say "freaky" sometimes, and i laugh every time i hear the word. the other night my RA mureia informed me that if you meet a girl who is overly trendy, rich and annoying about it, wears dolce sunglasses when its cloudy, you would call her "super mega guay" (which literally translates as super mega cool, but obviously it is an attempt at sarcastic irony). the term is so perfect, i love it. and now i have decided to add "super" or "mega" to as many words as possible throughout the day. i would suggest it, it makes everything much much more exciting.
i would call my RA pretty super. she is definetly on the top of my list of favorite spaniards so far. (that is a picture of her and me singing loudly on las ramblas, sorry you can't really see her, she was a little overly excited)

other things i think are super:
1)lists
2) torre agbar. i mean, who wouldn't want a huge phallic shaped building that lights up at night near your home? (i actually haven't been to torre agbar, but it is so ridiculous i can't help but enjoy it a little)
3) my oceanography teacher. he is super nerdy and i think its awesome. he doesnt speak english very well, and pronounces everything in the most beautifully ridiculous ways, and it pretty much makes the class perfect. his nerd-dom is also wonderful, and then we took a field trip to the ocean with him, and all of a sudden he was super hardcore, and putting random things in his mouth, and digging in the freezing sand, and wading into the wintery ocean.we also saw some awesome pirates during the oceanography trip. unfortunately they wouldnt let us stop the bus. very disappointing.
4) Noche en el Museo (aka, night in the museum) is a beautiful movie. emma, ali, and i went to go see it at the movie theatre, and i actually understood what was going on. and, may i just say, we were not the only 20 somethings there that weren't babysitting. and the theatre was awesome and had a bathroom inside it. you didnt even have to go to the lobby to pee.
5) Double Choc's are the best cookies in creation. at lunch we (as in, 4 of us) split a sleeve. and it's never enough. i go home and eat more. they are kind of like oreo's, in that they are sandwich cookies. except they way better than oreo's. chocolate in the middle, vanilla cookies on the outside. creamy goodness.that is a picture of jeanna, me, and ali at a picnic at ciutadella. thats another think i think is super. picnics. especially on sunny days. and picnics with double choc's are even better.

organic 911

We went to a resaurant called "origen 99.9", and it was amazing. it is ths place that servers "99.9%" local products. so all of the food, all of the wine, all of the everything (well, except whatever that .1% is) is from catalonia. I had this funny tosta thing, which is mostly just an openfaced sandwhich, and then for dessert i had mato, which is a sweet cheese that you smother in honey. Well, apparently my friends love honey, and most of the table ended up eating spoonfulls of honey straight. (that picture is of ali admiring the honey, but don't be deceived by her innocent face) it was so ridiculous. anyway, long story short (as talking about food is not that interesting) it was pretty much the best meal, and afterwords we were all on the biggest sugar rush. of course, we decided that going for some gelato would be a good idea, because there is never a bad time for gelato. and, thankfully, borne (the part of the city we were in) has some amazing gelato places and then walkied around and explored that area of the city. beautiful date.

table wine and techno

my senora has a son alex who works in the music industry. one night at dinner she asks emma and i if we wanted to go to a concert with him. sure, why not, right? we ask juaq and alex about the concert, and this is the info we get: electronica, at a small venue near torre agbar (there will be a short posting regarding torre agbar and my love for it soon, i promise). sounds fun. dancing, young people, spaniards. you know, general goodness all around.
we meet alex at the metro station, go to the concert early (cause he is working it, so he has to get there to set up and such). emma and i stay downstairs at the bar area to wait for the concert to start. Everyone is drinking beer, but i really want wine, so we ask the bartender if they have any white wine. He pulls out a dusty bottle lableled with huge letters "TABLE WINE" ( it was even in english, not a good sign). We ask for two glasses of it. and continue to play with this random pog thing we found on the table as we sip our vinegar.

it comes time for the concert to begin. emma and i go upstairs, to find the room and after a bit of searching, are led to an auditorium like room. as in, high school auditorium, possibly even smaller, and more pathetic. for my ithacans: park school auditorium, only less high tech. for my cdale loves: central high auditorium, plastic chairs and everything. on the stage was nothing but two mac laptops and a projection screen. bad sign, flashback to film aesthetics and analysis. i had a nervous feeling in my stomach. and then the first act came on, and the bad feelings were confirmed.

i would just like to say that i am all for experimental music. in fact, i generally enjoy it. however, when one piece an hour in length consists only of metallic banging, dogs barking, and a projection of tissue paper being crinkled up, i get tired and cranky. and emma falls asleep. i wish i had a better picture, but here is an example of what the concert was like. this was followed by alex's performance. all i need to say about this portion of the show is phallic symbols! the entire visual portion was a sexual reference, choreographed to the beat of the music. as in, round egg like image on one side of the screen, with a long line (slowly getting thicker and more forceful) thrusting towards it. leading eventually to a bursting of all. repeat from beginning. i began to get quite uncomfortable after an hour of this. blushing galore.

needless to say, the pog and table wine was the best part of the night

jamon jamon, and other encounters of the fear factor kind

dear ham, i do not like you very much. i do not like your hairy legs on the counters in bars. and i do not like the way you make half of the supermarket smell.

everything here is meat. and ham is god. there are even ham flavored potato chips. seriously.

but i greatly miss vegetables. my senora likes to argue with me and emma about vegetarianism. according to her beans don't have protein, and we are the reason all americans are fat. thankfully, after some crying and RA talking, she only feeds us fish now. and even though it seems she is only able to make fish one way (fried), i am quite ok with it.

i can even handle the little fish with eyes that she feeds us. you eat them whole, eyes, tails, and all. if you close your eyes tightly enough they almost seem like really crunchy french fries. and the watery potatos from a box that you have to eat with a spoon could be bland soup.

there have been some pretty exciting meal times. some of us have come to believe that our host families are trying to kill us slowly, hansel and gretel style. my friend kevin's senora has been the best at it so far. one night, as just an example, she served them ham and cheese sandwiches that were then deep fried, with french fries, and mashed potatoes that were topped with chopped up hot dogs. followed by chocolate souflet for dessert. i wish i were exaggerating.

however, i did get paella today and it was beautiful.