I <3 Seattle. I really wish I had more days there...

I rolled in from Vancouver in the late afternoon, definitely pressed for time to get to my show. Normal... I stayed in Bellevue with my friend Arash. Quickly ran in, got dressed, made up, drove off to Enlighten Cafe in the Ballard section of Seattle. I had absolutely NO idea what to expect.

I was happy and relieved to see all the equipment was already set up. All I had to do was start playing. One problem. There were 5 people in the (large) cafe: one girl studying up front, a couple talking behind her, and 2 girls reading all the way in the back. Immediately after I started playing, the front 3 people got up and left. I found myself left with a choice - Either let this get really awkward, or make the best of it. After I finished a song, in an attempt to save the small audience that remained, I called to the girls in the back of the room.... "So...! You go to school here?...!" They shouted back, "No...! I'm from Denver and she's from Minnesota...! Just visiting...!"

So, we were in this together. I continued singing and we enjoyed some clever banter. Thai, who was running the cafe, was also a lot of fun. I kept playing songs and more people started coming and going. Before long, Jenny, a girl I had not seen since 8th grade, walked in with two friends of hers. We connected recently on Facebook, and it was so cool to see that re-connect take place physically so soon. She now lives in Renton, WA and is one of the select few, yet awesome people I know in this area.

Soon thereafter, the other two people I know in the area, Kai and Susan strolled in. I met them a couple years back when Shawn invited me as a plus one to a wedding in Ashland, OR. We all hung out at the wedding, and thankfully stayed "in touch" on good ol' FB. I was so jazzed to see them again. Kai's band, The Bucharest Drinking Team, had a show that day and they were going to be headed to the after-party. I really appreciate that they took the time to come out to the show with all the other stuff they had going on. The show went great! AND Kai and Susan invited me to the party :)

This party was unlike any party I'd ever been to. Definitely a huge highlight of the trip! As the name suggests, the Bucharest Drinking Team is a band of Balkan musicians. I have very limited experience with this genre, but these folks were super cool! There were tons of instruments being passed around - some, I still don't know the name of. Thus began an epic Balkan jam session complete with drink, boisterous dance, bountiful accordions, and many gemini birthdays to celebrate.

Amy Denio was there.

I didn't know of her, but she caught my attention several times with her incredible clarinet and accordion playing. I learned she's quite prominent in this area. She hypnotized us all with a solo accordion/vocal piece she composed. Very cool lady! Another honorable mention of the night goes to the girls singing songs from the country of Georgia. I wish I had links to these songs to share. I hope to soon. Absolutely amazing and beautiful music.

Well, I mostly hummed along and shared playing of the castanets and tambourine until a gentleman named Peter introduced me to the group. I shared a couple of multicultural pieces and finally felt initiated into this wonderful family. Soon, we dove into American music and went for hours and hours. I left after 3am and I know many of them were still going strong. Brilliant night. Absolutely brilliant!

That night taught me the joy of jamming. It also taught me I am getting old. I was completely wiped out the next day. I took 3 naps and finally felt human again around 8pm.

Arash and I shared several meals, including one at this fine establishment.

We also went to see Hangover Part II. If you haven't seen it yet, it's just like the first movie, just as shocking, and seriously, JUST like the first movie. Arash is a great friend. I'm so grateful for the time we had to catch up and for all the hospitality he showed me during my time there. They don't make 'em like Arash anymore.

I went and got coffee with Jenny, too. We had a nice catching up. I don't know how many opportunities I'll have to reconnect with someone I haven't seen since childhood. This was definitely a very cool coffee date. In fact, I found we have a lot in common! If only we lived in the same state... Regardless, I'm happy for where she's headed and to have her as a Washington amiga.

I wanted to perform more, of course, so I hit up some open mics. First: Bad Monkey Bistro. It was nice, but not too many people, so I got to perform 2 sets (total of 6 songs...) It was a good place to get some video, so I did some of that. A guy named Nick approached me and told me of some other things going on that night. I took his suggestion of Seamonster Lounge in the Wallingford area. AWESOME venue! I loved the quirky way it was set up. It was also full of people who totally rock. I had a great time playing for them and meeting new folks there.

And that was my last night in Seattle. Started with a bang and went out with a bang! I still feel the need to get back there... and I guess that is the whole point of this trip: to eventually go back. :)

The next night was scheduled for Tacoma, but that fell through. The venue had to close for refurbishment. Although unplanned, I couldn't deny I was more than happy to leave for Portland a day early. I'll save that story for another time, but yeah.... <3 Portland <3...

I lost my Vancouver V-Card and This Is How It Went...

First of all, driving to Vancouver was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. That I-5, man... who knew? There were a few stretches along the way that were simply heaven. I literally could have died at one point just South of the Canadian border. There is way too much beauty to take in!

When I did reach the border, they were pretty harsh with me. I failed to notice the slow speed limit posted right before the border. Three guys searched my entire car and yelled at me. I was embarrassed, but kinda liked how seriously they took these matters. Being yelled at by a young man in uniform is something everyone should experience :)

I arrived at Foxy Haus in East Vancouver where I am occupying a room. This place and its people (and kitty) are just lovely.

So much charm and creative energy! I feel especially privileged to be staying in the room I'm in. Every little corner has something beautiful to experience. I've been soaking in the creative vibes and loving the time I have to meditate on unblocking my inner artist... (Thanks Leia <3 )

Much of my week was spent "working" during the NAFSA Conference. It was actually a great conference! 9,000 international educators unite! I went two years ago when it was in L.A. Now on my second go, I had more 'ins'... Which is what NAFSA seems to be all about. The days are spent networking and the nights are spent

attending all the parties and receptions you manage to get yourself invited to. Some of them are pretty exclusive and fancy. Brazil, for instance. Among my generation of Nafsans, getting the Brazil invite is a status symbol. Hahaha! In L.A. I didn't get an invite to their party. So uncool! So this year my boss and I went first thing to the Brazil booth for our invite. We were among the first to sport our Brazilian invite sticker on our name badge...

Oh, the pride! But I only stayed

about an hour at the party after an exhausting day.

Other great wining and dining events were sponsored by Scotland, Germany, Australia, and a couple program providers and organizations.

All schmoozing aside, I have to say this conference does wonders for my professional development. It's a tiring event, but I

somehow feel re-charged, re-inspired, and motivated to be an even more kick-ass Study Abroad Advisor!

I've had personal intentions to focus on during this trip as well. As I mentioned, I'm working on 'unblocking'. For me, it is almost necessary for me to physically leave town every once in a while to reconnect with myself. This experience has been exactly what I needed. The drive, the foxy haus, the solitude, the music, the books, the new city, and the people I'm meeting have all played a role in helping me to get back to the loving source of life. I've renewed my vows to practice this awareness and connectedness in my daily life. Even if I fall off course, as I expect I will, I think it's very important to not give up trying.

Friday was my first and only free day in Vancouver. Thankfully, the sun was bright and shiny all day!

I took the Skytrain and bus down to Stanley Park. I rented a bicycle and took an incredible ride around the enormous park. The wildlife I encountered was simply amazing! Here's a seagull with a starfish in its mouth.

Apparently, this is quite common 'round these

parts.

I also met this little guy while I was photographing flowers. He just came on out to check the scene. Sweet :)

I came back and hung out some with the Foxies. Then I ended up going with some new girlfriends to a jam session. Jillian is a beautiful poet and Chelsea is a great, soulful musician. Mando playing Lynn drove us in her sweet burgundy van. She's got a voice too! It was a great night except that it was my first and only night to chill with folks here. I'm looking forward to touring, but I'm sad I have to leave Vancouver already! My dear friend Michael was right when he said I would fall in love with this place. It's very easy to do...

And now it's been 5 days. Onto Seattle! I am very excited for the show tonight!! Also stoked about this great weather! Peace!!!!!!

Heading North!

Hey! Welcome to my formerly abandoned travel blog! Over the next couple weeks I'll be posting about an interesting adventure I'm currently experiencing: Driving up to Vancouver for the NAFSA conference followed by a tour of performances as I head back South.

Today was a long day of driving, but I did manage to enjoy it. If you've driven north on I-5, you know why. Every mile took my breath away.

I'm currently in Portland for the night. I've never been here, but I already think I'm in love. As I drove in after so many hours of travel, I was beside myself with excitement!

For various reasons, I've found myself in a hostel. The man who checked me in is named Happy and I, too, am happy, so you see, it's fitting. In the women's dorm, I connected with Barbara from New York and E.J. (I guessed her full name!) from Chicago. We had some really nice convo before turning in.

Tomorrow, I'm waking up early and trying to make the most of what remains of the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle. The plan is to do some street performing to promote the Seattle show the following weekend.

Some Videos... Hi Mom and Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, the sweet warmth of Eurolife's simplicity: hand-washing clothes (or pay 9 euros to have a
machine do it), fending for yourself on Sundays when everything is closed, cobblestone streets massaging your feet as you walk (everyone thinks I'm crazy for that, but that's probably what I missed most about Europe)... No sarcasm here, my friends. I am SO happy to be in Europe again!
So, I'm in Chambéry about to start my 3rd week of classes. Chambéry is a really sweet town. If you walk around for a day, you've probably seen the whole thing almost twice. It's nestled between gorgeous mountains on all sides. The weather just turned nice this week. I feel like I'm in an outdoor person's paradise. Chambéry is an hour and a half away from Geneva, Switzerland, two hours away from Turin, Italy, and one hour away from Lyon (France's second largest city). There may not be much in the way of entertainment if you spend a Summer in Chambéry, but it is a perfect hub if spontaneous exploration is your thing.
I'm enjoying the class a lot and definitely getting a lot out of it. Our group was divided into three groups based on a placement test. Somehow I was placed in the most advanced group after taking only one year of French (Props to my SJSU teachers Nehal and Renee!). Not sure how that worked out, but I was glad to accept the challenge. I would like to get the most language practice possible out of this trip.
The people here are incredible! Completely different from my Paris experience. People are so happy to start a conversation, offer help, invite you to do things. I can just go sit on a bench and within ten minutes be speaking broken French with an old man who sees no reason why we should each be sitting alone on separate benches. One afternoon, I took my guitar into the park and just started playing. All sorts of teenagers came up to me to... hang out, I guess. One 15 year old girl invited me to her parents' house for dinner (I didn't go, but it was a sweet gesture).


Thanks to the genius travelers' website: www.couchsurfing.com , I've come into contact with lots of people from Chambéry willing to get together to speak French. My new friend Olivier is the only such person who I've actually met in real life so far. We've gotten together a few times over drinks, a choral concert, and an Italian film festival. We hang out with his friend Sebastien as well who is also very helpful with learning French. The two of them are adorable and really fun to be around (even if I only understand half of what's going on).











The other people I've been hanging out with are mostly from the program. My roommate, Rophe, is awesome. She's from Alabama and goes to school in West Virgina. Definitely a cool girl. We get along really well.








Madison is my SJSU co-representative. She's a ball of bubbly energy who has similar taste in books as I do. She likes to call me a hippy and a democrat. And she likes to read my blogs (shout-out!). The girl knows how to have fun. We'll probably be going to Spain together in July after the program.

Arthur is my fabulous fashion designer, music loving, thought provoking, creativity sparker friend from Long Beach. Definitely happy he's here. He's great at French, great to go out with, and great at having reflective conversations with.





Then there's Ian who is really quiet at first, but one of those people who gives off so much energy, the need for talking doesn't so much apply. I definitely dig his musical taste and I love the balance he gives to our little social structure.
The program is full of awesome people from all over the country and world. I'll introduce you to a few more next time.

Here are some more pictures of my time here so far... Thanks for reading, if you read. 'Til next time...












Group trip to Annecy - Absolutely breathtaking!











An Annecy swan was so sweet to my camera


























I just don't understand why she thinks I'm a hippy ;)












My very pink room.















Friends and I overlooking Savoie from Albertville











The best fondue I've ever had in my life... and I've had my fair share...

Coming up next: La Fete de la Musique, Tearing up Lyon, Geneva?, My 23rd (!#$?%@*) birthday, more new friends, and the mystery of my missing camera :(

Bonjour! Glad to finally have a quick chance to let you know I'm alive and well. I spent about a week in Paris with my Aunt Lilly and had a fantastic time while learning beaucoup de francais. I would normally go into much more detail than this, but I haven't found the university's internet yet so I'm paying through the nose on this computer...

The plane ride was very long. Look at this incredible sunset! I just bought a fancy new camera before the trip, so hopefully I'll be sending you lots of pretty things like this!

I really had a fantastic time in Paris. I mean how could you not? Despite the drab weather, I loved just being there midst all the vibrance, energy, cheese, and French speaking of the city. Staying with my aunt is always such a pleasure. The one day she had to work, her wonderful friend Isabelle took me to a part of Paris I've never been. We walked along the canal St. Martin and enjoyed all the fancy shops around the 19th district.

We stopped into a cafe and suddenly Isabelle was very excited and urged me to notice the man about to leave. It was this man, Laurent Voulzy. Someone I've never heard of, but who is evidently a very famous French singer. I searched for him on youtube and I'm impressed with what I found. For some reason youtube isn't letting me embed the video, but here's a link to a video of his from 2003. His 70s stuff is also pretty entertaining.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=i3_o-EHZx3w

It is so relaxing to be in Paris and do things other than sightseeing. The archives of this blog should have some of the sights if you're interested. I was far more interested in doing normal French people things. Like going to the theatre. One of my aunt's dance students performed in a production that we went to see in a very small and enclosed basement theatre. The sketches were funny, I'm sure, but I confess I didn't understand most of it. My aunt gave a synopsis as we went along. The conversations afterward were much more comprehensible. I think the Spanish immersion experience is really helping me survive with the few French skills I have. As much of a fool I may appear to be at times, I'm conciously trying to ignore my shyness and just jump right into speaking. I make mistakes left and right, but its really helping me learn.

On Tuesday, Aunt Lilly took me to Normandy, where she's been meaning to take me since I was 18. This was my first time in France outside of Paris! We arrived to a city, well two cities. Deauville and Trouville; twin cities divided by a train station and a river. Wow I really have to get going, but the pictures say more than I can anyhow. I'll be back on hopefully within a week and tell you all about Chambery. For now I leave you with images of Trouville...

Yes, I do think its time I pay the due of letting you all know how I am. Where to begin...

Today is my last day in Granada. First thing tomorrow morning I have about 36 hours of traveling on which to embark and once I walk through those airport security gates into the loving arms of my family, my life as I know it will once again change entirely. As you can imagine, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. Mixed feelings would be an understatement. Its pressure like this that make me ask myself questions like, "How much do I really need that degree?" "Exactly how settled do I want to let myself get in the United States?" When the life-altering moments are so close at hand, the decisions I always take for granted really do pop up as decisions that are up to me and I realize much more clearly that I actually CAN do whatever I want most.

A month ago, you would have heard me say "If I could get on a plane home tonight, I would." Today, my statements are more along the lines of "I'd really like to visit my family and friends. I miss them. But I'll be back to Spain in no time." So yes, its very much an emotional and sentimental roller coaster, but given that I was prepared to spend a year here and that I've now done it, and done it well, I can be sincere when saying that I am very, very excited to come home to California and strengthen the bonds with my family, share experiences and make new ones with friends, make the changes in my life that this year I've learned are ones I'm determined to make, and continue to grow and learn and take every moment of life as it comes.

I don't know what to expect in coming home. I've gone from overworked and overbooked (aka life in California) to a year of, yes, hardships and challenges, but mainly, the most exhilirating, spontaneous, relaxing, inspiring period of my life. Coming home, I know I have readjusting to do as far as sticking to schedules, being competitive in class, and maybe not having once-in-a-lifetime adventures every day. But I also know (and by "know" I mean KNOW) that my life will never be the same as it was when I left California. I absolutely refuse to let myself be the sheep I saw myself as to society or the slave I saw myself as to the machine. Life is too short for that. Thanks to the opportunities I now realize are mine and to all the tools I've been given over the years, my goal will be to find the careful balance between working to live and living to work. I believe in myself more today than I ever have in my life and I will do whatever it takes to not let myself down.

I know I heard it a million times before and didn't believe it, but having found it to be true, I'm passing it on. Take it or not: Do whatever it is you dream of doing. Don't stop yourself. Whether its fear, a lover, others' expectations, finances, WHATEVER, THE WORLD IS YOURS! Pay attention to your dreams, your talents, and your opportunities. They are pointing you to where you should be. If you are true to yourself, you will always find yourself exactly where you belong, even if it isn't where you expected to find yourself. If you want something, I promise you can make it happen. And when things don't go as you planned, don't get discouraged. You'll find more often than not, its because you have something better coming your way.

Huge huge thank-yous to all of your support for me to do this. Words can't tell you what this year has meant for me and will continue to mean until my last day. To my family and loved ones who let me go, thank you. I know none of us knew what to expect and I was taking huge risks in forging a temporary life here. However, through any doubts, fears, and uncertainties, you believed in me and supported me and understood that it was what I needed to do. I can't wait to see you and give you a huge hug. I'M COMING HOME, CALIFORNIA!!!!!




















Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
















Bike riding in Holland
















Program goodbye dinner. What would I have done with out the frands, tho?















Blanket weavers in Morrocco
















Spaghetti made from scratch in Livorno, Italy
















Charles Bridge on its 650th anniversary. Prague, Czech Republic





















Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral at 3 in the morning. What better time to do sight-seeing? Barcelona, Spain

The last couple weeks have begun to shift my mindset as this untold year of adventures is more than half over and therefore no longer so "untold". I've begun focusing more on getting through a list of priorities and being more proactive rather than waiting for things to come my way. I have about four months left and it looks like I'll be able to do just about everything I wanted to do while I was here, so I'm not feeling too uneasy. There is definitely a part of me, though, that would love to stay another year or two and really get this Spanish down. However, I've befriended many spaniards as of recently and the language is coming along fine.

I'll be home JULY 15th! Its final!

So, What's new in my life? Plenty! The most exciting addition to my list of distractions (er... hobbies?) is a GUITAR! About a month ago I bought a Spanish guitar off of my friend, Jake. He and another friend, Luce, have been teaching me bit by bit and I've been messing around with it a bunch on my own. I am really enjoying playing it! When I play, I have an excuse to sing! I'd been missing singing regularly, but now I can do it whenever I want, so I do! RELENTLESSLY! I've been catching on rather quickly! A lot faster than I thought I would. After playing for 3 weeks I happened to be at Open Mic Night and since there was hardly anyone there, I got up and played a few songs!!! It went pretty well for a first performance and made me feel really great! I hope to keep up with learning, which I hear is rare for a beginning guitar player (heck, I've started to learn 3 or 4 times before this), but now that I can play some sings and am making it part of my every-day itinerary, it's looking hopeful!

Last weekend I went skiing with my roommates in the Sierra Nevada mountains about an hour away from Granada. It was my second time skiing and it was really scary, but really fun. I didn't fall too much. Well, that's a lie. The thing is almost every time I fell, I wasn't actually skiing... just standing there. Here's a picture of me trying to be cool for a photo, but falling instead... From watching other people I noticed that people most often fall right after you can tell that they've stopped trusting their bodies to be able to balance and recover. So, what I tried to do was remain calm and trust myself when my footing was shaky rather than panic and fall. It worked! I'm no pro by any means! I couldn't just let myself go straight down, but I had a really great time and I enjoyed learning how to use my body that way. I learned a lot that day about how my physically abilities work and how to discover them.

I love living in Granada because you can go skiing one day and go to the beach the next! And that's what I did! The weather has been amazing here, so I've been to the coast every weekend for the last 5 weeks. GOOD TIMES! The time I went after skiing, a few friends and I rented a car and drove to Nerja, a town with a gigantic famous cave! If you've been to the Moaning caverns in California, imagine that about 6 or 7 times bigger. AMAZING! We explored there for the morning and then spent the rest of the day on the beach playing guitar, frisbee, what have you. This is my life: Playing!



The weekend after that my program took us on a trip to Jerez and Cadiz, about 4 or 5 hours West of Granada on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. We left at 7 in the morning, which everyone grumbled about, but you know what? It turned out fine. How often do you watch the sun rise? How often do you watch it rise over the hills and vineyards of Andalucia? It was a real gift.

Jerez is evidently famous for their horses, so we watched a horse show there. The horses were rather amazing and there was a bit of time before and after the show to meet them in their stables. For what it's worth, meet the crew:














This is the last unicorn. Unfortunately the gate got in the way of showing his horn, but if you imagine real hard, I'm sure you can see the magic in this beautiful horse!







This is Gothic horse. He was down just to be down. He had a majesty about him, but was more mystery and gloom than anything. I think he needs to listen to some more uplifting music...








This guy is the life of the party. I'm gonna assume the picture speaks for itself. He was a friendly one. I liked meeting him the most.









This stud had a thing for Lynzy. He nuzzled her quite a bit, but never when my camera was ready... anyway, they hit it off well!









This is the cold shoulder horse. Or maybe the deaf horse. Whoever he was, he was the only one who refused to acknowledge me... I guess everyone needs their alone time now and then?






The word Jerez means Sherry - like the drink. Accordingly, we went to a winery called Tio Pepe for a tour and to taste their sherry. I found out I don't like sherry. But I still drank it and had a really nice time with the friends. Something was hilarious... or maybe sherry is just a lot more alcoholic than any of us realized. It's photos like these that I know I'll look back on in 50 years and recall warmly all the wonderful memories and friendships I've made here.
It was St. Patrick's Day when we went to Cadiz, which happens to be the birthday of my red-haired, Irish-descent, shamrock tatoo-having best friend Katy. We'd been looking forward to celebrating her birthday for several months, but since we were on our group trip, one of our best friends, Luce, wasn't included. Well, Luce wasn't about to let the one birthday in their life that they would spend together slip away like that, so she rented a car and drove all the way there as a surprise. It was my job to keep Katy in the hotel room while everyone gathered and schemed around her. Basically I just took a really long shower and by the time I came out she was sleeping haha! Well, here's the video of Katy being surprised by Luce. My voice is kinda loud on it... sorry 'bout that!



From there we had a wonderful time. Our hotel was right by the beach so we went down and made a bon-fire. Turns out you can't do that in Spain. It also turns out you can't steal wood from construction sites. Ahem. One of our buddies didn't think through that one too well. We had fun while it lasted, but soon enough, we attracted the police and it was all over. And no, no one got in trouble. It was just another episode for the journal.

I have to give credit and mad props to my friend and fellow SJSU kid CAITLIN for taking the vast majority of these awesome pictures. I get to take her back to San Jose with me :) HOORAY!!!




I'm taking a class about teaching music to children. The class requires that we learn a repertoire of kiddy songs (in Spanish!!!) and be able to sing them and perform them on the recorder flute and the xylophone. The xylophone is no problem, but I was a bit unsure of the recorder. However, two days ago I realized that the recorder has all the same fingerings as the alto sax (which I played all through school), so YAY! I know how to play the recorder!!!!

This weekend I plan to go to the northern coast of Spain (up above Portugal) to Gijon with some Spanish friends for an electronic music festival I'm stoked about! On Wednesday, Nina arrives from Germany to spend the weekend with me. The Monday she leaves is the day my parents and baby sis arrive in Spain for Holy Week and Easter with me!!!! I'm going to Amsterdam in May! SRVHS Choir is coming to Spain for my birthday in June!! Everything about this year is so incredibly amazing! My travel priorities that I have yet to accomplish are Italy, Morocco, Prague, Barcelona, and a proper tour through the UK. I think I'm gonna get to do it all!!!!!

LOVE LOVE and more LOVE from Spain!