California's going off

And in Spain the forecast calls for Ankle Slappas

Doing my best Jordan Farmar Impression

Segovia, to the tune of Disturbia

The next morning I woke at around 9 and ventured to the Metro with Kenny to catch the train to Segovia. There, we met Brankow, Casey, Devon, Shani, Katie and a few others. I wikipedia’d Segovia antes de salir and was excited to see the 1st century Roman Aqueduct, the Alcazar (castle) and Catedral. The train ride was quick and we arrived near the aqueduct. The aqueduct was impressive.
It was built without mortar, just huge cement blocks. After, we set out to see the Catedral.

It was an impressive 16th century Cathedral with some really cool art and jardin.

View from the Torre, Looking at the Catedral

After the Catedral, we bumped into some high schoolers from Colorado who were studying there, we asked them a good place for lunch and they took us to a spot called Restaurante California. They got kind of lost, and many people in our group kind of lost it and started getting mad. I didn’t mind getting lost and took a lot of good pics. The lunch there was amazing. The best I’ve had. We got jarres of red wine and the primero course was stuffed peppers with a sunny side up egg. The second course I got chicken empanada. For dessert I got a limon mouse with blueberries. Soo good. All of this was under 9 Euro. After lunch, we headed to the castle, which was Walt Disney’s inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty.
We climbed the Torre and took some awesome pictures.

We met a older local man who told us to hike across the river to get a view of the entire castle. It was well worth the trek.

I was able to understand almost everything the old man said, which made me happy. My Spanish is improving very quickly. After taking pictures, we stopped in a Bar and got hot chocolate and churros. I tried banana hot chocolate which was surprisingly great. We took the train home and I was exhausted. I fell asleep and woke up early to skype the fam. It was great to see them. After school, I came home to siesta and noticed it was snowing outside. I am filled with childhood wonderment (did I just make up a word?) when I see snow. I ducked into a bar close to my house and ordered a cana (small beer). I ate tapas of oyster, sardines and potatoes. I ordered a café con leche and walked back to my apartment and now I’m going to start studying and planning a couple trips con mi amiga Marisa. Adios Amigos.

Retiro Park and Plaza de Indepencia

This is by the Prado Museum, where I'm going to visit Saturday. I had a nice walk and got very lost

Taylo Picasso?

At Plaza Mayor

Que Pasa AFE?

Party

I had a great weekend. On Friday night, I started with a couple cervezas at the casa and watched some OzzieWright videos (volcom surfer…look him up) on you tube. I miss surfing terribly. At around 12 p.m. I decided I needed a fresh cut before I left the house. Armed with clippers, I gave myself a euro cut. Long on top and short on the sides. I put on my freshest clothes and headed north (I think) to Plaza del Sol con mi room mate Miami Mike. We heard some kids from our program were heading to a bar called El Tigre, infamous for their stiff drinks and big tapas. We got lost and distracted around Gran Via. I noticed multiple black working girls on the streets and before I knew it I had lost Mike. He had been sweet talked by a prostituto and was walking with her the opposite direction. I got his attention and explained that these girls were working. He was surprised. As we turned the corner, two working girls locked arms with me and mike and whispered some malo cosas in our ears and when we said no gracias, they said it would be 1 euro to get them off of us. I saw a group of pimps in the corner and quickly broke out of her grasp and headed for a bar. We ducked into a bar that was playing CCR and Tom Petty. After we got oriented, we headed to El Tigre. When we arrived, we saw many familiar faces and they were ready to head to the discoteca. We all cruised in a big American mob to Plaza del Sol, to this famous nightclub called Joy. It was a three story, three tiered, three bar place with a huge dance floor and nude women dancing on stage. It was 12 euro to get in and the DJ was decent. We danced until dawn. We caught the morning metro around 7 a.m. I went to bed and slept for most of the morning. Saturday was kind of the same, but less eventful. My room mate mike got super drunk and was in a violent mood. We partied with this kid Danny from Mater Dei and his roommate Lue from New York, who has been living here for a couple months so he took us to a couple local spots. He took us to Moores Irish Pub and then a dance club I’m having trouble remembering. I called it an early night around 4 a.m. and walked home. I lounged around Sunday and headed to an Irish bar to catch the AFC and NFC championship games at around midnight. I left before the Vikings game was over because I had school but I missed a great one. Favre is an animal. On Monday night we all went to El Tigre again to celebrate Michaeyla’s birthday. We all had a couple too many drinks and the birthday girl ended up outside in the snow, posted in a stoop. We put her in a cab with her friends and she wasn’t in the best shape. I guess that’s what happens when you turn 21.

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Hey Izzy!

I took this for you.

Love you!

So this Americano walks into the gay district...

Today after class I went to Chueca, the gay district, to shop for some shoes.

Greaaaat

I need some for the clubs cause they won’t let you in with tennis shoes. Chueca is extremely gay but awesome.
I stopped in the first restaurant that had Siracha hot sauce and had lunch.The only downside of the meal was every time I looked out the window I saw a huge poster with a bare ass promoting a “Leather Club”. All good. I can’t wait to go out tonight. Adios Amigos.

Atletico Madrid!

I’ve gotten in a routine of waking up at 7:10 (crazy huh). Hitting snooze twice and hitting the shower by 7:40 and then on the metro to school by 8:20 to get to my 9:20 class. After class yesterday, which gets out around noon, I sat in the grassy area of our school with my sketchpad to do some drawing homework assignments. My three assignments were a picture of your room, a pleasing childhood memory and your favorite place. My room looks like shit, my pleasing memory is of a Christmas tree lot that is epic-ly out of proportion and my favorite place, 56th street is only cool because I’ve been drawing waves on my binders since I was little. Anyways, while I was drawing I heard a game of basketball start up across the field on campus so I walked over there. Some Spanish students were playing 3 on 3. There was one big black guy who looked like Ben Wallace who was decent, but none were any good. An Italian and a Portuguese guy walked up and our international team called next game. More kids joined to hang out under the basketball hoop as I taught these Spaniards how baloncesto is played with a variety of dribble drives and bank shots. They were impressed. I was impressed at how the people underneath the hoop hanging out rolled a huge joint and were smoking it between points. After ripping the doob, Ben Wallace looked at me and said, Its my Gatorade. After the game, which we won after my pull up jumper, I ate with some American students and we made plans to go to the Atletico Madrid Futbol game that night. I went home to siesta and had to listen to the people under me violently hammer every wall in the apartment for over an hour. When I arose from my siesta, my roomates and I cooked a dinner of breakfast burritos, drank beer and then walked down to the stadium to buy tickets. The scene was rowdy on the way to the stadium. We bought tickets in the nosebleeds for 20 euro (around 28 bucks) and then went back to a bar for a beer before the game. Atletico was playing Celta and Celta scored within the first 10 minutos.
The crowd was going crazy. Atletico tied it up soon after with a header from a corner kick, which was amazing to see. The game ended 1-1 (which is why soccer won’t become popular in the U.S.) and I walked home and went to bed to wake up for class at 7:30.

On my block

Puerto de Toledo

I found waves in Madrid!

Concrete Olas, that is.

Money Making Idea of the Dia

I live very close to the Plaza de Sol, which is probably the biggest tourist destinations in Madrid. I see street performers making bank there everyday. One of these weekends when my beard gets scruffy I’m going to buy a Pau Gasol jersey and bring a basketball and go do spin the basketball on my fingers and take pics with kids for money. I'm the modern day Mesa Globetrotter.

Give me your money!

Oh, Bronco

We were learning new vocab today in Spanish class. Professora Sara told us the word for animal cage (I forget it). There are only 6 of us in our class, and as we were busy writing the word down, my amigo Bronco from Iowa asks “but…what about the word…for like…a human cage.”

Chestnuts roasting

Tonight, we are trying to hook up wireless internet with Spanish instrucciones. So hard. Once we get internet I want to start researching weekend trips to take. I’m thinking maybe of meeting Marisa somewhere halfway in Spain, I’d love to see her. I also need to research more skate spots (anyone know any?). I had chestnuts today that were roasted right outside my house, super dank. The vendor was also roasting corn but I only had 1 euro on me, and those were dos. Its 9:35 p.m. and while Kenny is trying to configurar la internet, I’m going to go skate around for a bit then do my homework. Adios Amigos

Escuela and learning about Madrid

School this week has been awesome. I’m studying Spanish tons and getting way more comfortable. I’m taking a history of flamenco class which I hope is not as boring as the first class was. We watched a DVD from ‘92 that showed about 30 performances of flamenco for an hour and a half. Que aburrida. After, I was so exhausted I took a 7 hour siesta, I think that was still from my food poisoning though. My otro class, Spanish civilization y culture is going to be great. Today for my drawing Madrid Class, I bought 50 bucks worth of art supplies and we met at the Plaza Mayor. Our teacher gave us a walking tour of the area (which is in my backyard) and I learned a lot. Madrid was founded by Arab Traders in the 9th century and built great mosque around the city. The Christians razed and built over them and all that remains is one wall, which I saw today. We saw the catedral y palacio y jardin de palacio. I’ll take pics tomorrow (thanks Dad for the cam). Welcome to Jamrock by Damian Marley is a great album…go buy it. Anyways, after walking around we sat at the Plaza Mayor and painted. The teacher basically gave us no instruction and wanted to use this session as a benchmark for us. After about 15 minutes I wanted to break my charcoal in frustration but she helped me with my perspective and my drawing turned out pretty awesome. I’ll post a picture tomorrow. My teacher is obsessed that my last name is Lobdell. She says there is a painter from California named Frank Lobdell, who is one of her favorites and his paintings has a mystical property. She will not stop mentioning him to me. She swears were related. Get ready for this blog to grow into version 2.0 when I get my camera tomorrow. Adios Amigos.

Atletico Madrid!

After last blogging, I heard the roar from Vincente Calderon stadium down the street. Atletico Madrid was playing Sporting something rather. I skated down to find the streets littered with beer bottles and vendors closing down after selling their Atletico gear. Their was pee in every corner of the stadium. I completed one and a half loops of the stadium, looking into every entry way to see the three tiered stadium going nuts on a Sunday night. The crazy thing was that the match wasn’t even crucial. Sporting isn’t a big rival (I don’t think) and aren’t highly ranked, never the less the street sweepers were on the street immediately after everyone entered the stadium, leaving me with fresh concrete to skate. I saw some local kids skateboarding outside of this Banco, which was a huge relief because whenever I saw a policia I’ve been jumping off my skate but these kids were skating in front of everyone. They were way better than me but super nice and we were speaking in Spanish about the local parks and such. I skated this three stair with a little handicapped ledge on it for about 15 minutes then went to the super Mercado to get some dinner. I bought microwavable lasagna (bad choice) and Limon Schweppes (great choice). After grinding, I finished some tarea (homework), watched an episode of the office and went to bed.

Start at the bottom to catch up

I just got internet for an hour. I'll be posting more frequently now. No pictures yet. You'll find out why if you read the first post of the day.

Sunday Flea Market del Rastro

Woke up feeling better this morning. I went to bed at around 8 p.m. and woke up at around 1 p.m. Still very weak and little appetite but went with Kenny to the Rastro Flea Market. It was enormous! Leather chaquetas were 10 euro and their were sweet little deals everywhere. I ate a piece of bread with pollo on it. Finally ate something substantial. Kenny bought Super Maderos (Super Troopers) and Extrano de Ficcion en Espanol. Weird second choice but I just watched Super Maderos and learned a couple words. I smell weed again in my apartment, I have to go find the stoner who lives next to me. Going to go skate around the hood then start on some tarea. I feel like I missed out on a huge weekend from being sick. I slept basically all of it. At least I’ll be well rested and healthy for this semana. Adios.

Metro ride to Madrid International

Just got back from taking the metro to Madrid International to see Ris. She got off looking so jetlagged but super cute. It was so good to see a familiar face after being that sick. I wish her the best of luck in Alicante and hope to see her soon. Yo quiero una camera. Feeling better. Eating a greek pasta deal.

Horible dos dias (don't read on full stomach)

Wow these passed two days have sucked. My first day of classes went fine. My Spanish class is going to be amazing I love my teacher and she doesn’t speak any English to us. I’m taking another class called Drawing Madrid. We are going to be meeting at different locations around Madrid and drawing while learning the history and everything. I already made a pretty cool charcoal painting. I started to have a stomach ache at school after eating Paella with mussels, clams, and shrimp. After school, I took a long metro ride to Plaza de Olvide to this place called Booksellers and picked up my books for Spanish class. After, I ate a bocadillo de jamon with a cana (small beer) and took the metro back home. I was about to start my Spanish homework when my stomache started going crazy. I don’t want to go into details but I was making trips every 20 minutes to the bathroom exploding out both ends. Good thing there was a boudet because I could sit on the toilet and do my other business in the boudet. Sorry for TMI. At around 3 in the morning, when I began vomiting blood and bile I called the head of USAC gGabriella (the sweetest lady in the world) and asked where an emergency room was located nearby. She said it would be best to wait until 7 in the morning because insurance would not cover a emergency room visit. The hours between 2 a.m to 6 a.m where the longest of my life. Twice I couldn’t make it out of my bedroom to barf. I woke up today feeling like a ran into a brick wall. I was running a fever and took a walk down the street to the Catedral de Almudena, hoping for a miracle. After the Catedral I visited the Palacio Real and Plaza de Sol y Plaza de Mayor. The Saturday scene is crazy. I’m so bummed I can’t be out there right now, but I feel so sick and weak. I smelled the sweet smell of weed today in my elevator, which definitely brought back memories of California. I’m about to leave on the metro to help Marisa with her bags because she has to recheck them to fly to Alicante. I’ve eaten 2 crackers and a banana in the past 2 days. I want my appetite back. Adios Amigos.

A Wednesday Noche

Still no pics, lo siento.


It is 251 in the morning on the 14th of January and I am in mi cama listening to Band of Horses’ album Cease to Begin. After taking a siesta at 8 I woke up and called my mom. It was great to hear her voice. I attempted to call Marisa but she did not answer. I was running out of minutes on my phone so I called my new friend John and told him to meet me at La Preciosa subway station (totally wrong name will look up later). I woke up Matt and went out. We got there about 15 minutes and didn’t see John, Kenny or any other USAC kids around. Matt and I walked around and noticed everyone in the bars and restaurantes were glued to the television. We walked in this one bar hoping to grab some dinner and saw the Barcelona v. Sevilla game was on. The older guys in the bar were rooting for Barce and the younger crew was rooting for Sevilla. We ordered cervezas y bocadillas. They brought us meatballs and bread as an appetizer. Before the plates arrived, Matt had found his way to the corner where 4 young Spaniards were playing Texas hold em. I enjoyed my meatballs and beer while Matt’s cerveza went flat. I joined them after about 2o minutos and saw Matt take Segundo place and win 5 euros. These guys were super nice and helping us with our Spanish. Pase means to Pass. Baile means to play. Grande is big blind. Pequena is small blind. They told me Laker games come on at 3 a.m. and they love Gasol. They asked if I wanted to play, first I said no porque I don’t have money to waste gambling but then I obliged. I ended up taking the pot and walking out with 25 Euros. My night was paid for. One of the younger guys gave me his numero and told him they will be playing poker and a different bar and then will go out dancing after. Marisa called me while we were playing and even though we didn’t talk long it was great to hear her voice. After leaving with our earnings, Matt and I got lost trying to find our way back. I stopped at every ATM to try to recharge my cell phone to meet back with John, Adam and Ken and to text Marisa but none of them worked. We caught the last subway to Sol. As we were walking the normal club promoters were hassling us but one was especially nagging and asked if we liked Hip Hop. We said sure and followed him because we wanted to grab one more beer before we hit the cama. The short little man asked us if we wanted cocaine at least 3 times before even getting to the club and my danger radar was going off. We walked in to find a couple black people dancing and a couple prostitutes in the corner. The promoter kept trying to hug us and ask if we wanted cocaine. He offered us Hookah and we declined. I gave him a cigarette and he split it apart and put it on top of the hookah. He reached for a hug and whispered cocaine and when I didn’t give him a hug he gave me a dirty look. I just didn’t want to get pick pocketed again. I could see how that place would be heaven for a very drunken tourist. We had one Carlsberg beer and walked back home. Now I’m listening to Detlef Shrempf and about to pass out and begin my first Spanish class at 9:20. I wish I had my camera. Adios.

From LA to Madrid through Warsaw

Sorry for no updates. No internet. I'll post much more frequently now, but here are my unedited ramblings as of now.


I woke up early January 11th anxious and excited to start my journey to Madrid. I got a ride to LAX by the muy bonita Marisa and was early enough to post up at the bar for a tall glass of Bud Light. The 6 hour flight to New Wark was pretty unremarkable except for the fact that Mishcha Barton was standing behind me as we loaded onto the plane. Such a tall babe. I think she was checking me out. (Call me Michsha). After landing, I could not find my Polish Airline flight to Warsaw on the screens. After wasting time running around the terminal, this Eastern Europian lady told me I vas in the vrong terminal and to vun fast. I ran to the right terminal where it seemed like everyone was blonde haired descendents of the Aryan Youth. Somebody important was on the plane because all the attendants seemed starstruck by someone named Checkhov. They also sent a dog on the plane and 2 armed guards dressed in leather accompanied him. I sat next to a fashionably dressed Polish 20 year old named Zophia. She spoke little English. I found out she liked Whiskey from the Sky Mall catalogue and she taught me to say Jay Qwee (like borat) and Chiste. This means Thank you and Hello in Pole. I spent the night crossing the Atlantic and slept most of the way. After arriving in snow covered Warsaw, I was obviously underdressed. I bought two Wark’s beer for 10 PNR? And wandered around Warsaw international. There was a huge display that read DO NOT IMPORT and a full polar bear skin and head was sitting there as well as a lions skin, an elephant foot, sea horses, and a variety of different oddities. After downing the 2 beers I bought, I sat next to a cute girl on the plane, a 25 year old Pole named Isa (short for Isabella) that spoke Fluent French, Pole and broken English. I passed out for most of the ride but when I came to she switched me seats so I could have the window as support. I asked her about the subway system and how to get to my apartment. She explained her boyfriend, Guillermo was waiting for her at the airport and he lived close to Puerto de Toledo and they would show me the way. While collecting our luggage I told Isa that if we were to get separated that she shouldn’t worry because I can find my own way. She said since she was bigger than me she could look after me. I corrected her to say she mean older and she laughed. Guillermo, who turned out to be a student at my school, was waiting for Isa at the airport and after making out for 5 minutes we were on our way. We switched about 3 subway lines before they left at Chueca, where Isa says the gays live, 3 stops short of my Puerto de Toledo station. I said thanks and they said to call them whenever I needed anything. As I approached my station, a man got way too close for comfort and I felt since it was getting close to 11 p.m. and the crowd had died off a felt threatened. I was expecting to get off the subway with my big ass bag and him to take everything. Fortunately he backed up and I emerged to the beautiful Puerto (gate) de Toledo and the area was completely deserted. I saw one of the most intricate and beautiful pieces of graffiti to my left and reached into my pocket to grab my camera. However street savvy I thought I was, I was wrong. Pick pocketed by that dude on the first subway ride. Lost all pictures of my friends Zophia, Isa, Guillermo and the polar bear. To make things worse, I had no idea where my apartment was and it was dark and rainy. I went to a nice looking hotel and the concierge pointed me past the Bombero (fire) station in the right direction. I rang the bell to 4b on Cuesta de Calle Descarges and my roommate Kenny came down to get me. He looks exactly like Orlando Bloom. I went up the elevator to the 4th floor where Mike had just woken up from a siesta, again the time was 11 p.m. I checked out the apartment, which is spacious and very 70’s. I have a small room with a twin bed and a figurine of a breastfeeding mother. I’ll post pics when I get a get another camera. We went out to grab some Kebab down the street then headed to a bar in the Puerto de Sol area. We got 6 Heinekins for 15 Euro and a Tarantula shot which was Kahlua, Vodka, and Tequila. We cruised the area, which seemed to only get more lively as the morning came. We headed back around 3 p.m. because we had to be at the University at 9 for orientation. We took the 45 minute subway ride (5-2-9 I believe) to Vivalcaro. I attempted to talk to a girl who was reading a tabloid magazine. After thinking about it for about 5 minutes I turned to her and said “Que Estas Leyendo” She replied Que? I felt like an idiot. I then kind of just muttered bien and asked Escuela, totally ignoring the verb. She said something I couldn’t understand and our conversation was over. I’ll get better, my goal is to strike up a conversation on the subway everyday on the way to school. We met all the USAC students and I was the new kid because they already spent a day and night getting to know each other. We got a tour of the campus, which is small but beautiful with 2 cafeterias that serve beer and wine. The campus food is the cheapest I’ve come across in Spain. A 3 course lunch for under 5 Euro. I ordered a tortilla which was a roll with cold scrambled egg and potato in between. It wasn’t horrible, especially after airplane food for so long. We had orientation with Suzanne and Gabriella who is the most animated and cutest person I have ever seen. They warned us not to get pick pocketed. We then took a Spanish Placement test which I did asi-asi on. . I had a meeting with Alvaro and enrolled in Drawing Madrid, Exploring Music and Society: Flamenco, Intermediate Spanish 1 and 2, and Spanish Culture and Civilization. That is 15 units and I think its going to be a bit much but we’ll see. After hanging with some USAC kids who seem really fun, I went to downtown Madrid and bought a pay as you go phone for 19 Euro. It came with a random but handsome laptop carrying case and 5 euro credit to make calls and texts. Now I am writing and waiting till 8 p.m. when it is cheaper to call mis padres y mi muneca. I have no internet access and I’ve had no contacts with anyone since I left LAX and it is now 7 p.m. January 13th. I’m meeting some friends for dinner couple metro stops to the north around 9. I start school tomorrow at 9:30 and I’m already spending so much money on subway fares, housing deposits, and food. I’m going to the market tomorrow and I’m going to start cooking. I walked home from the celular store in the rain with Kenny and saw this amazing palace. I can’t wait discover more of the city and its already more fun and more beautiful than I expected. The street art is crazy. Hace frio I can’t wait for Alicante.

My new apartment

We have an apartment (USAC students only, all males) in the Puerta de Toledo area (about 10 minutes walk from the Plaza Mayor and the great tapas places, close to the Puerta del Sol and the Rastro Market, but a residential neighborhood). It´s the typical 70´s house from Madrid !!!



Address:
Calle Cuesta de las Descargas 6, 4ºB
28005 – Madrid



It is located in the centre of Madrid , has three bedrooms and one and a half bath. The apartment is on the 4th floor of a building. There is an elevator. The apartment is furnished. The living room is big (for Spain ), with a table, chairs, sofa, also there is a big bookshelf. The kitchen has a stove, microwave, oven, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge and cabinets for you to keep your food.



Heres a picture of the Puerto. It is a flamboyant structure made of granite that was started in 1812 under the Napoleonic government of Joseph Bonaparte. Construction was halted following the demise of the Napoleonic government, but re-started again under the rule of Fernando VII, successor to Joseph Bonaparte. It was finally completed in 1827. The present structure underwent major renovation in 1995.




STOKED

I'm all set to go

Passport. Check
Airplane Ticket. Check
Money to hopefully make it through June. Check

I am going to start packing tomorrow. This doesn't seem real to me at all. I still can't believe I'll be away for six months in a European country. Unreal. I leave January 10th from LA to Heathrow from Heathrow to Madrid.

I'm going to try to pack very lightly. One of the worlds biggest outdoor markets occurs weekly in Madrid (so I've read) and whatever I don't pack I hope I can pick up at the mercado. I still need to cancel my cell phone and once I do that I'll blog more regularly. Still camera-less but here's a picture to hold you over.

Surfing the Rio Hardy in Mexico over New Years. How do you say "shred" in Spanish?


Practicing my spanish


Wakeboarding






Enjoying a cerveza



Talk to you en Espana

Taylor