Jingle

This is Jingle.

When I was in the sixth grade, a day or two before Christmas, a friend came by my house in the evening. It was an unexpected visit but a welcomed one at that. She only stopped by for a few minutes, to give me a Christmas present.

Jingle was that present.

Although her tag claims her name is Peace and her colours aren't very festive, I decided to name her as I pleased, in tune with the holiday season.

But perhaps she was aptly named from the start, for peace is what I feel when I look at her. She is a reminder that there are many good things in life and many good people to share them with.

When I think back about how my friend came to see me, having her parents drive because we did not live near each other, it makes me smile. Although we have long since gone our separate ways, we parted amicably and I will forever be grateful that I had a friend as kind and sweet as her.

Looking back, I am amazed by how many fantastic people have come into my life and how I have learned and grown from meeting each one - whether I knew them for five days, five weeks or five years.
 
I can only hope that I was as good a friend to them as they were to me.

As the year ends and the new one begins, I resolve to be the best friend I can be; to listen when needed, to help when I can, to encourage new experiences and to enjoy the small things in life.

And Jingle will be there. The constant reminder that good people and good things do exist and I should strive to be one.

Happy New Year :)

♥

Christmas Things and Getting Lost - London Part 1

Hola amigos!

I am currently in London, where I have been for the last 6 days or so and it has been pretty different and cool thus far. I basically came because the thought of spending Christmas by myself, in Salamanca, was not so appealing. So I/my parents (perhaps mainly my parents) were like why don't you go and invite yourself over to your relatives in London and spend Christmas with them? That's more or less what went down and here I am! It turns out I have a lot of family here. A LOT. Like a bajillion cousins and some aunts and uncles, most of whom I haven't even met yet and I leave on Wednesday. It was my first time meeting any of them, although they were more of less all familiar with my dad and the older ones remembered my mom from when my parents got married here a million years ago. But it is nice meeting family. I am staying with my aunt and uncle and their almost 8 year old son, Mr. T. He got a lot of Lego for Christmas and we (I) basically put it all together so I am now a Lego master if I do say so myself. And he likes to make fun of the way I say things like washroom instead of toilet or how I pronounce "water" like the "t" is a "d". But we tend to do that in North America, pronounce lots of Ts like Ds. But enough with phonetics (I hope that's what it is - if not I will definitely fail my phonetics and phonology course. I never know which is which).

I spent Christmas Eve on Oxford Street, doing some very unnecessary but fun shopping. All the boxing day sales had started Christmas Eve which that was great for me, bad for my wallet. I discovered the awesomeness that is Primark as well as later realized that the pound is a horribly expensive currency and with an exchange rate of 1 pound to 1.5 Canadian dollars, I wasn't really getting thaaaat much of a discount with the sale prices. Not like that stopped me. Also Top Shop continues to be my favourite store. Word to the wise, NEVER go to the one in Madrid. It is such a disappointment. Even our little Canadian not-fully-a-store versions are better than that one.

My dad was so kind as to pay for a London Pass for me, which I am going to say is a Christmas present, because those things aren't cheap. But they are well worth the money I think. The pass basically gives you unlimited access to the Underground and buses in all the zones (if you buy the travel part) as well as free entry into a lot of the most popular  tourist attractions and some of the lesser known ones along with discounts in stores. I bought a 6 day pass. You can get the pass on its own without the travel feature but because my family doesn't live in central London, I got the travel part is necessary. It's perfect because when I got it, I had 7 days left and it if valid for that long. It expires the day I go back to Spain.

I spent yesterday and today traveling around central London, doing touristy things, after spending the last few days inside with Mr. T, perfecting the art of electronic Guess Who while becoming hooked on Eastenders and Coronation Street. The Tube isn't hard to figure out - I just wish that the door closing bells were louder. I got caught in them one time when I wasn't paying attention. It is when I get above ground that I can get sooooo utterly confused. And I am VERY good with directions and almost always know my orientation, north, east, what have you. But I find London streets terribly confusing. Now I appreciate the brilliant grid-like system that is North America, where things make sense. Take for example, Piccadilly Circus. I went there with the intention of walking from there to a place I wanted to go, a few subways stops away, just to take a walk and see what was around. But I could not get my bearings what so ever. The map outside the station was oriented in a different way than the map I was walking with and I couldn't tell what street was what and eventually I just gave up and went somewhere else. Also, I don't get what's so great about Piccadilly Circus. I always hear about it but nothing's there really...

Annnnyyyywhoooo

I was gonna write about the sites and places I have seen so far but it's late. And I'm tired. And I'm still fairly sick (I've been trying to cough silently for the last 2 hours to no avail). I'm going to go to bed now and leave you with some photos of nothing in particular.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

To the Abbey!

I'm pretty sure SALE is the greatest word ever invented

some products of said sales - bracelet and earrings from Primark, ring and necklace from Top Shop

Stereotypically British

THE coolest rock I have ever seen in my life - Natural History Museum

at the Tower of London

not called an exit

A girl's best friend (or maybe just mine)

Walking to Buckingham Palace

Until tomorrow. :)

Ávila, Segovia & random other stuff

The last two Saturdays, excluding today, I visited the lovely nearby towns of Ávila and Segovia. But lazy me didn't/still does not feel like writing anything particularly lengthy about them, so I think four sentences each and a whole lot of photos should suffice.

ÁVILA: This town is about an hour and a half away and the main attraction is a giant wall that surrounds the historic centre. I went with my roomie and a very nice Italian girl from res. If you want some good exercise while looking like the ultimate tourist, I recommend spending the last hour before the bus leaves running from one end of wall to the other, all the while stopping, snapping a picture and bursting off again. It's fun (and exhausting!)
 

"cheesecake"

 

SEGOVIA: Segovia is about three hours from Salamanca and personally I prefer it to Ávila - it's prettier. I went with Em (one of the girls with whom I went to Madrid) and we had a great day. We spent most of our time at the giant roman aqueduct and inside the giant castle, climbing stairs of death (I think giant = today's adj. of the day). We also ate kebabs and for dinner I ate a questionably cooked hamburger - good times. :)

looks like Switzerland

detailing on a house

the Cathedral

the Castle - it supposedly inspired Walt Disney's Castle

Segovia: the land of crazy ceilings

tiles and tassles

Life lesson: always eat before getting on bus rides. Both times, people got sick on the bus ride there.
 
Now onto other matters.

MELANIE  FIONA! Have you listened to her??? I know she's not new to the music scene but I mean, I'm just falling in love with the (Canadian♥) girl! Also, Azealia Banks is great if you like 90s sounding hip hop and are not opposed to explicit content. Oh, and I have FINALLY listened to The Asteroids Galaxy Tour's newest album, Out of Frequency (which came out in January). Gotta love those Danes.

I'm seriously thinking about moving. I spend a few hours today emailing people about looking at apartments. Res is not for me and I really need my own room and space. Plus there is only so much food cooked with ham, calls in the middle of the night, and lack of a refrigerator and oven I can take. And the fact that I have to put on a bra just to go eat?! That might be the tipping point.

Besides that, things have been pretty chill around here. I think I have a midterm on Tuesday. It might be Wednesday but I'm just gonna  go to class and see what happens. I found out you can buy a pack of 6 snickers for €2.30. So naturally I did. And that McDonald's has a curry sauce as an option when you buy chicken nuggets. It's actually not that bad. I went out the last two nights (:O). Thursday night was for a friend's birthday and Friday night was a Brazilian themed party, although the ratio of Brazilians to every other nationality was like 1:4. But it was fun, met some cool people and learned not to mix rum and wine. Silly naive little me.

Cheers!

(and in German: Prost!/ Polish: Na zdrowie!/French: Santé!)

The Worst Weekend Ever (that wasn't even completely bad but still horrible)

This weekend started off lovely. My roommate wanted to go somewhere for the weekend and we settled on going to Avila, a small town about an hour and a half away from here. I will finish righting the blog post for that when I'm in a better mood and have finished combing through all the photos. When we got back home from buying the tickets at the bus station and doing some shopping (which wasnt supposed to happen, so I didn't bring a bag or anything with me), I realized the 30 euros I had in my pocket was gone. yeaaaaa. I tend to be VERY pessimistic when something goes wrong so I was completely pissed off but I knew I had lost it a while back and the money was no where near res. My roommate insisted on searching some of the street we had walked but we didn't find it. Luckily for me I have a roommate who is able to stay in a good mood (but not in an annoying frustratingly cheery mood that would drive me nuts), so I didn't go to bed super angry, just a bit upset.

The next day we went to Avila and that was great. We had a lot of fun and took some good pictures.

AVILA!

This morning we got up early to go to the flea market,  called "El Rastro" in Salamanca (I'm pretty sure El Rastro is a general name for a flea market). I will probably write another post about that at some point too. Everything was going fine until my roommate, near the end of our time there, was just casually like, be aware of your stuff. That's when I realized that my purse was considerably lighter. I opened it and realized my wallet wasn't in there. It had been stolen.  I panicked. I tend to panic. (If you have never seen my wallet, it is this giant blue thing with a large Canada sticker on the back. Not easy to misplace). I basically started crying and freaking out. There was no money in there really, less than 10 euros, but everything else was: my credit card, debit cards, sin card, health card, driver's license, my new library card (!!), my residence card, all my old university cards which I loved, my UofT card, and a bunch of random other junk like my yoyo's card! Now I won't get points when I buy frozen yogurt :(

El Rastro in summer (source)

We left the market and I was crying while trying to call my dad back in Canada. But he didn't answer so I called my mom and started semi-crying all over again while I explained everything to her. Then I got a hold of my dad and once more there was some crying. While all this was happening my roommate was looking for the police trying to get help and find out what to do (she's the best). After ages we saw a police car (the second one) go by and she had to run after the car to try and get it to stop, despite the fact that they saw her signaling  to them. And then they weren't even helpful, just impatient, not like there were going anywhere -__-. They said that I would probably just be lucky and someone would turn it in. HAHAHAHAH surreeeeeeee. How helpful policemen.

I know I shouldn't walk around with all that stuff. It's just I never thought to take most of it out because I normally walk with it all in Canada. You would actually not believe how many times I have been asked for my SIN card or need to show proof of ID or have my student card. But then again I'm not in Canada. Thankfully my passport and my USal student card, which I only got on Friday, weren't in there and neither was the card I use for my meals on residence. And I also have photocopies of my documents and cards back home in Toronto. My dad also cancelled my bank cards within an hour of them being stolen so they haven't been used.

It just sucks. Plus I don't remember my log-in name for my classes so I can't access that and I discovered that for some reason I don't have a full month meal plan, which I learned as I went for lunch and I had no more lunches left for the month. Luckily the lady is really nice and let me eat, but I am suppose to have 30 breakfasts, lunches and dinners a month...sigh....

Tomorrow morning bright and early, we're going to the police station to check lost and found and file a report. But I just want to sleep. Hopefully this week turns out better. Halloween is Wednesday (I've been working on a (not so creative) costume :P)  and it's a long weekend, so hopefully it's better. It has to be. For now I'll drown my sorrows in M&M's, Snickers, Muse and the Big Bang Theory and be thankful that I have my passport and an awesome roommate :)
 

Realizations

There are some things I have realized in the last week or so that have been life changing! (not really). This is just a list of some of those realizations. Note, this basically contains a large amount of run on sentences :P

1) If you don't buy groceries like your dad keeps insisting that you should, eventually you will run out of food. Then you will be forced to rely on food from your school's cafeteria, subway stations or on an abundance of snickers, until you get off your behind and realize that 3 bags of chips do not constitute a decent meal.

2) Belts are a vital part of your wardrobe. They help keep pants in a comfortable place and eliminate the need for constant adjusting and pulling.

3) Leaving your house on time is a good idea to: a) prevent yourself from being late; b) eliminate anxiousness (usually found in the form of "OMG! Am I gonna make it??! AHHH!!!); c) stop the constant chasing after buses and running for subways (made worse because you forgot your belt).

4) Bus passes are vital. Without them you're screwed.

5) Know where your stuff is. Or else you'll spend 20 minutes trying to locate something (let's say earphones). You'll become frustrated and eventually music-less, because nature dictates that your earphones should be where your MP3 is. But alas, nature loves to screw people over.

6) Always be prepared for foul smelling apartment hallways upon exiting the stairs or escalator. Although at times it can smell deliciously like pancakes or deceivingly like Trix.

7) Don't rub your eyes while there's chocolate on your fingers.

8) Beware of your unconscious facial expressions and actions. Maybe when you're deep in thought you scrunch your face up, purse your lips and squint one eye.Perhaps you're a tongue chewer, unaware that when oblivious to what's happening around you, you sound like a well fed cow.

9) Don't make weird faces when leaving apartment buildings you don't inhabit. It's suspicious looking.

10) Always check your pockets (maybe that's where you'll find the missing earphones the next morning).

:)