No witty title this time. Sorry.

el 12 de noviembre de 2008

First note: new blog setup. There wasn't enough green in the other one. Seriously, that was my main motivation. I like the new one.

Moving on:

Since Halloween, several things have happened. In general: classes continue to go well. My social life has settled down a little bit, but for a couple of reasons. I got really wrapped up in some school work because, for once, I am actually interested in my subject matter. The class I am specifically referring to is International Social Law. My grade is based on two papers that I have to write, each on one topic chosen from a list of four. For the first paper, due one week from Wednesday actually, I elected to write about International Organizations. For those who keenly remember, this subject interests me very much. Between my work with Invisible Children and S4S and my considerations towards NGOs and the Peace Corps as post-graduation options, I was excited to investigate. I wasn't let down, and found the material to surprise me and change my opinion, attitudes, and overall thought process on what constitutes an international organization and what goes into it. In any case, I got into all the reading I was doing, but it's a lot of work and as such I've been working a lot to get it done.

In addition, I have an exam/second paper due next week as well, the day before the Law paper. This I was NOT excited about. Two papers and one exam in the same week means something isn't gong to get done. Well, luckily today Cory and I approached that professor and got an extension. The conversation went very much like this:
Cory: Professor, we were wondering if it might be possible to have an extension, because we're having difficulty with the language and trying to get everything done (etc etc)
Prof: Sure. Just hand it in after Christmas break.

Note: That's about 2 months from now. "Small" extension haha. So that helped ease my work load.

On to the other exciting thing about that extension: now I can fully enjoy and appreciate this upcoming weekend which will be spent in Amsterdam for Jenn's 21st. I'm wicked excited. I get to see a bunch of the IEP people from back home and in Amsterdam no less. It should be amazing.

Which brings me to another recent development: I've packed almost every weekend I possibly could with a trip to somewhere. I finalized my New Year's Eve/Following couple days plans, and besides that planned a couple other trips with some friends around Spain. The mere notion of knowing that I'm taking a trip really helps me get through those cabin fever bouts that I've had the past couple weeks. They came up often. Either tension with class, stress, a little bit of homesick... all of that comes from just sitting around every day in the apartment. It rained for the past two weeks as well, so I couldn't even really go outside. So the travel plans really help. Plus I'm finally getting to see Europe!!!

Another fun development is the job that I had (we'll get to that) downstairs in the cafe/bar. It's amazing. The bar is really small, really laid back, and the regulars and other employees are all really nice and also very laid back. To be honest, if I ever get to open my own cafe/bar that I've been pseudo-dreaming about, it would be very much like this one. The owner was really cool about me working there. They weren't even looking for people; I was just in there one day and went up to him and said "Hey, I'd like to work here. I've tended bar before. Call me if you could use me." And he did. I worked last week and it was really really fun. It's a great way to practice my Spanish and put a little bit of cash in my pocket. So anyways, the past tense is being used because I actually quit the job today. I went down and talked with the owner and told him it was just one too many things on my plate right now. He was really nice and wanted me to stay, and said we might be able to work something out for a schedule, even with all the dates I need off (the main reason for my quitting) and I truly considered it. However, I quickly brought to mind the past two semesters I had at URI. I drove myself crazy trying to do everything I possibly could at the same time. I wasn't going to let myself get into that position again, especially not when I could be enjoying myself in Europe. So as I was ready to take off he mentioned that if I wanted to host any parties there that I could, as long as it wasn't a million random Erasmus kids. I told him I had some ideas for some smaller parties and it would mostly be me and my friends. I'm excited to see if he's cool with it. Having a bar offer itself as your personal party-host for NO fee is a pretty sweet deal. So I hope that works out.

So anyways, I dropped a job, I'm doing lots of schoolwork, I'm getting psyched to do some traveling, and I'm on the winning side of the tail end of a cold. All in all, I'm still doing alright out here. Which is good. Also, Cory's mom sent us Flintstone vitamins.

For the win.

Hasta pronto,
Andrew
Santander, ESP