con·tent

(taken @ Cueva de sésamo- Madrid, Spain on 25.9.10)

[kuhn-tent] 

–adjective

1. satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.

it may not seem extraordinary to you, but that doesnt matter bc #1 to me this photo is everything- i never wanna forget that this is me finally & truly content WITHOUT any of my old vices :) and #2 this blog is primarily for me, myself & I 

home-made II

(potatoes + octopus)

Lunch today was the best overall home-made meal thus far!!! 


potatoes + octopus
asparagus
salad w tuna


The photo doesn't even do the size of that dish justice. 


Now I can go about my homework/church/yoga day w an even bigger smile on my face :)

day getaway: toledo

99% of photos courtesy of Kelly Yonashiro 

1. the girls 

2. Situation, Pauly D, Ronnie & Vinny

3. Filipina mother w her Japanese [love?]child

4. first sights of Toledo- so close, yet so far

5. figuring out how to get to those sights

6. We made it!

7 + 8. courtyard

9-13. Puerta de Sol. Stairs to get to the top were the steepest I've ever climbed! P.S. Hey EAP, we ask for 5 euro each in the future use of this photo for advertisements. Thank you.

14. stray, shivering kittens we found

15. view of the city from high above

16. A new addition to my increasingly obsessive collection of bracelets. Can you guess which baby reps Toledo?

17. Mazapanes- Spanish desserts that Toledo is popular for making

18-21. exploring the beautiful, old streets of Toledo. I truly do wish all places were just like this. The aesthetics are my ideal vision of what a beautiful city looks like.

22 + 23. West entrance of the Toledo Cathedral. The carvings were unbelievably intricate. Some of the most beautiful artwork I've ever seen.

24. candid shot w my BBs

25. street musician

26 + 27. "Mazapan Artesano" made by the nuns of Convento de San Antonio de Padua

28-31. another beautiful church. We had to "pay to pray" so we decided to just relax outside & take silly photos reminiscent of  high school lol.

32. In front of another church that had a red carpet for celebrities/weddings only of course.

33. Sorry, Mom! Got married to a Colombian in Spain. I am now Mrs. Juan David Rangel. We'll re-do the wedding when I get back to the states :) Joke lang!!!

34 + 35. San Martin's Bridge. I take fierce photos.

P.S. ibiza part II still coming up ASAP 

finally

(#1-5 Cueva de sésamo; #6-9 Club; #8 Cal students w our new Spanish friends; #9 Pablo & Daniel)

So thanks to the" intercambio" program at the university, students have an amazing opportunity to interact with Spaniards who want to learn English. In turn, we as students studying abroad can not only improve our Spanish, but also learn about the people of the country we're studying in & their culture & customs as well. Mad props to whoever thought of & executed the program :) I finally have Spanish friends!!!

I met Daniel through Evan, who's from UC Irvine. They came & sat at the table in the school cafeteria & we all est.a friendship. Daniel's an engineer & here, in Spain, its takes about 10 yrs to become one. Yes, you read right. A decade. And I though engineers at Cal had it bad, lol. The program works really well because it's totally but choice & very relaxed. I've been able to learn common Spanish phrasing from Daniel like "guiri" is a word to describe any foreigner in Spain but its connotation is neither good nor bad. Also, he's learned English slang like "hella". Besides the espanol coloquial class, our daily conversations are the only thing I feel make the hour-long trip to the university worth it.

Last night we met up w Daniel & his fellow engineering friend, Pablo at Sol. We ended up at Cueva de sésamo, the same sangria spot that I had gone to the night before. I adore this place! It's cozy, adorable & has random, thought-provoking quotations painted everywhere. Not to mention the sangria! It's so sweet it tastes like juice, lol. I hate alcohol but this is one of the very few drinks I don't make a thizz-face to. Afterwards we grabbed pizza & went to a club- all places on the same street.

Good times!


P.S. "ibiza part II" post coming up ASAP

ibiza PART I

1. After an hour & 40 min delayed flight, Miri & I finally arrive in Ibiza @ around 2:40am

2 & 3. Views from our hostel

4. It is "the world's party capital"

5. Me, Delenie, Matt, Miri & Brenda

6. Surrounded by crazy beautiful scenery 

7. With Mateo aka my official TB

8. As I was standing in the Mediterranean ocean, I came up w a prayer:

"Thank you for this moment,

thank you God for this life,

thank you for all the trials & tribulations,

cause in the end you only made it right"

9. With Karim aka the kindest, most genuine & generous Spaniard whom I've met yet. We connected right away & I now have "el gemelo" that I've always wanted :) He definitely helped make my day that day.
10. Mediterranean sunset!!!
11. Three grown men skinny-dipping 
12. Walk back to our hostel
13. Mambo: the spot to go to for the sunset watch
14. I thrived off the laid-back energy before the nightlife & the chaotic energy began
15. Wish I my camera could've captured the true beauty of the sights at night


More details, info & photos from Ibiza to be posted later! Including some from quite possibly the best night (party-wise)of my life thus far :)