What about harebrained? Or no brained?

According to this Web site, I am:

***You Are 35% Left Brained, 65% Right Brained***

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you’re left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you’re right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?
http://www.blogthings.com/areyourightorleftbrainedquiz/

Evil in the skies

Many of you know this, but for those of you who don’t, I have long ardently asserted that the squirrels on KU’s campus are evil and are attempting to exterminate the student population. I know realize that this is absurd, because they are merely happy chittering rodents in comparison to their (albeit somewhat distant) cousins across the Atlantic: the pigeons. The plague of our times, these maddening creatures have somehow managed to reproduce at what I consider to be far beyond an acceptable rate until they reached the dizzying numbers at which they currently haunt my daily existence. If you don’t believe me, you have merely to observe them. They bob their heads menacingly as if daring you to fight them and they have an emotionless glance that suggests they would kill you as soon as look at you. In conclusion, observe this frenzy, which took place at what would otherwise have been a very tranquil McDonald’s in the middle of Rome:

Hide your children, that’s all I’m saying.

Italy

Yes, I’m still alive and I’ve been doing things and what not. I went to Italy for 13 days and met up with Corey, Eric and Leah. I was mainly in Venice and Rome, but I also spent some time in Paderno del Grappa, the small town where Corey is studying, and a couple of the surrounding cities. The trip mainly consisted of eating incredible Italian food (I may never eat Italian in the States again) and going to the top of things (my personal favorite travel thing to do).

This is Corey. He hasn’t gotten a haircut since he’s been over here, so he’s pretty hairy.

A visit to the top of the bell tower in St. Marco’s Square offers an incredible view of  Venice.

The canals are something to behold as well. And no, they didn’t smell badly. That’s mainly only a problem in the summer.

To get from Venice to Paderno del Grappa, one must pass through Bassano del Grappa. It’s a smallish town situated amongst the lovely pre-Alps.

And then we did some other stuff. I will finish up my tales of Italy when the pictures finish uploading.

Oh, Santiago

My St. James is a new city lately. It’s odd that the absence of rain has become a sensation, but I am constantly aware of it and how much it changes the experience of being here. Suddenly it’s comfortable to spend extensive periods of time sitting in the park reading Spanish things or having coffee or wine at a sidewalk cafe. Without so many trips I’m actually discovering a life here.

On Sunday I took a 20 km hike in the hills outside Santiago with a couple of friends. They are planning on doing the Camino de Santiago (the way of St. James) during our week off, so they wanted to walk part of it to see what their pace would be. The scattered fields and cottage-like houses, the incredibly green landscape and the little streams are about as quintessentially Europe as it gets.

I’ve lost a friend

My beloved, yet rather silent roommate, Paco or Pablo (I’m not sure), has moved. He somehow managed to do this without Farashta or I noticing at all. My visions of us braiding each other’s hair and having girl talk are fading with passing days.

Living on Spain time

Okay, so it looks like it’s Friday rather than Monday as I’d promised you, but you must understand that Spanish people are crazy and do not exist in normal people time. It may be that I was born to live here.

For example, I just got up at 3:30 in the afternoon. This may seem absurd, but it is only because I stayed out until 6 a.m.  I don’t know how it happens, but I just sort of go around doing one thing and then another until I realize that it’s time to get up. And everyone does this. Lunch at 2, dinner at 10, and home around whenever. Yes, they still have jobs, but life and socializing are never sacrificed for something as trivial as work. A lot of the people I was hanging out with last night had class today. Poor souls.

We started out with tapas (the free and very random snacks you get when you order a drink) around 9. This particular time I got lucky enough to have my first taste of octopus, and it was delicious.  Then we ended up going to an Erasmus party at a dance club. We are not part of the Erasmus exchange program, but how is anyone else going to know that? I danced like a crazy person for two hours because for some reason in Europe it just doesn’t matter (sorry, no pictures of this). We picked up a few more people at the club and then headed on to one of our friend’s flats where we continued dancing and hanging out until I felt I would fall asleep standing up. Then Farashta and I made our usual 30-minute trek home. All in all, a pretty good night.

I’ll get back at ya next Monday

Sorry about taking another long hiatus from posting, I’ve been out of town quite a bit and now I’m heading to southern Spain for a week. This is a class trip, and therefore purely academic, for those of you who doubt that my sole purpose in coming to Europe was my extreme dedication to learning the Spanish language. Here’s a picture from Barcelona, which I will tell you all about later, to hold you over:

It’s a scene from Don Quixote made out of CHOCOLATE. Come on, that is incredible. Seriously, who doesn’t want to look at that for a week?

Love and kisses,

Mindy

p.s. Please send peanut butter and nachos. Also, money. and cookies. and maybe a pony.

It rains a lot

Santiago is teaching me a lot about the nuances of choosing a proper paraguas (litterally: for water). I guess I handn’t learned enough before I bought this one. I’m aiming for a purple one this time, maybe made out of titanium.

Mind the gap

I caught a last-minute flight to London this past weekend to surprise a certain boyfriend of mine and immerse myself in English and food with flavor. It was exactly what I needed, because after a month the Spanish lifestyle was beginning to slowly erode my sanity. The price of the trip was definitely worth it for the look on Corey’s face when I walked into the hostel behind Eric and Leah. I was worried that he suspected I was coming, but I will never forget the mix of joy and surprise when he looked down at me from where he was sitting on the top bunk. It was one of those moments that you live for.

I arrived a day before he did and ran around the city with Eric and Leah. Note that if you are ever flying into Stanstead it is nightmarishly far from downtown London. It was so good to see Leah after five months, I don’t think we ever actually stopped talking. The main touristy thing I did was go on the London Eye (pictured above and below), which is a sort of giant Ferris wheel that offers amazing views of the city. The weather was crazy when we were there, and the forbidding clouds made it all look like a painting.

Looks a little more precarious from this angle, doesn’t it?

We also happened to wander into St. Paul’s Cathedral as they were doing some sort of pre-mass thing on Saturday night and the choir was singing. The large, strange shape of the building creates unearthly acoustics that were incredible to hear. You can’t take photos inside the cathedral, but here’s something to give you an idea of what I’m talking about:

In short, it was perfect.

Contact information

In case you want to send me a letter or a valentine:

Mindy Ricketts
c/o Programa de Kansas
Residencia Universitaria “Burgo das Nacions”. Campus Norte.
15782 Santiago de Compostela
Spain

Donations to the poor wanderer fund can be made directly to my mother. She lets me know about most of them. I also have a cell that is undoubtedly expensive to call from the states, but the number is 0034-661-083-845.  It’s actually also expensive to call if from Spain. Not having a cell phone contract sucks.