Probably my last blog (overdue) from Spain

It's been a really, really long time since I've written. So to those of you that read this somewhat occasionally, I apologize.

As usual, I've been trying to think of what I want to do with my upcoming "freedom" and whether or not I can actually do it. I regret to say that at this point it does not look like my internship in Argentina will be a possibility in January; this will be the second time it gets pushed back, but it's not the end. I've found another, more cost-effective program that does good work that I will continue to fundraise for.

With that said, when I leave my summer job on Star Island, NH in September, I will be going to Germany; yes, once again outside the U.S. My friend Ben's family has offered to host me at no cost to me so that I can take German courses at the local university. This is great, because I had been studying German on my own, made quite a bit of progress and then just left it to the wayside because I had no one to practice it with. It's actually kind of mind-blowing how cheap it is for the course: I'll pay 285 Euros for a 20 hour per week course for 11 weeks.

I'm also hoping to get my TEFL license so I can teach English at a private academy on the side to make some money and support my music habit. I'm hoping to do this for the next two years so that I can have a good enough level of German to study/intern somewhere, and perhaps even live in the best city on Earth, Berlin. This way, I'll have 3 super-useful languages, tons more great experiences and time to keep doing music.

Side note: my desire to make music has never gone away, but since I'm always moving it has been tough to play with people, so I've gotten into electronic music. I've got a ways to go, but I'm having fun with it and learning piano along the way. All is good :)

I finally got to Granada, the most incredible city in Andalucia in my opinion. There were people from everywhere, YOUNG people and plenty of good food, good bars and clubs to visit. I went to a house music club the first night that had a live saxophonist and keyboardist and was pretty impressed. The second night I went to another awesome club that played minimal tech upstairs and indie rock downstairs. Pretty much heaven.

During the day, I was able to see one of the most aesthetically city pleasing cities I have ever come across. The city has a long history of Arabs, Jews, Catholics and Gypsies living together in peace, which is easy to see from the various architectural styles throughout the city. I went around with Lolo and his friends, as well as my American friends and German couch surfer to have the best round of tapas in history. As some of you might know, Granada is the home of tapas, little food that was one time placed on beer glasses to keep stuff from getting into them. Now, tapas are a tradition, with every zone boasting its own specialties. On our tapas outing, we saw several bachelor/bachelorette parties in which people traveled from all parts of Spain to Granada, dressed up as groups, to say "farewell" to their soon-to-be-married friend. There were women dressed up as flamenco dancers, men from Pamplona dressed up as participants in the running of the bulls (with the groom as the bull), and the list goes on. I actually might have fallen in love with a bride-to-be from Alicante and yelled "think about it!" to her from afar. Maybe.

My time in Spain has been amazing. The country has a type of natural beauty that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet. I've found that many people in Andalucia will give you the shirt off their back without knowing you much better than someone off the street. The food has been awesome, even if it is mostly off-limits due to its meat content. Algeciras might well be the ugliest, most boring city in Spain, but the surrounding areas and more importantly many of the people here are top-notch. I know now that I don't want to be a teacher of high school children. Teachers, I have the utmost respect in the world and we owe you so much more than you are given. SO MUCH. My Spanish has gotten much better, which is a goal accomplished; however, I do have to say that much of it is vulgar slang that has no English translation for good reason.

Thanks for following me here during my time in Spain, hopefully I'll give you something to read about in the future.