Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Once upon a time in a distant land. . .

In a land full of peculiar people, with creatures so cold, and good food so scarce, I lived and it was awesome! My dear reader, it has been well over two months since my last entry and a variety of events have transpired. Where to begin, I know not. Just shortly (or sometime around then) after my last entry three more “Spaniards” arrived. By Spaniards, I mean Spanish-speakers but in all truth they are proud to come from Basque country (but their passports identify them as coming from Spain jeje ;)). I like to identify them as Spaniards just for fun because they always retaliate and state that they’re Basque. Anyways, Inigo, Elene, and Garazi L arrived and Clermont has not been the same since. Something funny is that Gara tried to give me the nickname of Bugs Bunny because I would eat carrots after French class, but to her surprise I turned it around and since then I call her Bugs. Truth be told, it fits her better because she does kind of look like Bugs :)--front teeth, hair, funny looking ears jaja. As for me, the only nickname that has stuck to me is Chikis (Chikistrikis :)) and that was given to me by Triple Ace—Adriana, Aida, Ade. As I see it overall, the great Clermont-Ferrand has been better than sitting back and watching the best good movie. In reality I am living a movie. At times I have been a spectator and at other times a participant, but mostly a spectator. The stuff that goes on here is full of drama, lust, alcohol, tears, laughs, love. . . okay not love because there’s no love in Clermont; there are protagonists, dancers, prancers, chefs, drunkards, villains, inamoratos, entertainers. . . in short, a little bit of everything. Life is quite an adventure. Other than the little schooling that I receive out here, life is full of good times. There have been great salsa nights, karaoke, birthdays (Ade and J.Lo), tons of parties that all seem to blend into one, competitions, and even a Gala event. Some nights will always remain as unforgettable, other nights are better off forgotten, and yet other night can’t even be remembered :). My Italian friend Rikki has challenged me to a series of competitions and he hasn’t won any. To name a few, I out-run him, out-eat him. . . and yea, so far so good. Some time ago the school had international week and I represented, with colors, US but I stayed with the Mexico booth since I am always with my Mexican friends. That night Mexico won some prizes for having the best environment/atmosphere, but it’s only because I was dancing haha jk. Oh and I cannot forget to mention that just over a week ago I injured Ricardo wrestling.

Other than crazy stuff, I live my adventures by traveling. Since my last update, I have been to Vichy, Toulouse, and Milan, Italy. Italy will remain as a unique trip. I went there with three Italian friends and J.Lo. Jose Luis and I stayed at Rikki’s house. Food was delicious, pizza and pasta was tasty, the people friendly, and the ladies :). For spring break, which was in mid-April I went to Eastern Europe with Ade, Celeste, Elene, Diana, and J.Lo. We took a mini tour of eastern Europe and we went to Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Prague, but we only went to Prague accidentally. I decided to travel even though I didn’t have my long-stay visa for France, which is needed when you have been in France for more than three months. In all honesty, I was quite sure I wouldn’t have a problem leaving the France airport but, if anything, I would have a problem coming back into France. Since everything always works out for me, that one volcano with the crazy name erupted, our flight was canceled, we visited Prague, and we took a bus from Budapest to Prague and from Prague to Paris. For some odd reason, I never worry and never stress out about anything. . . sometimes I wish I did, at least a little bit.

Well, here I am enjoying my last month in France and in Europe. I was scheduled to leave May 26th but I decided to extend until June 15th because Gara offered to take me on a tour of Spain. That will be in June, but before then in two weeks when exams and classes are over I will be taking with some friends a tour of southern France. We plan on visiting Montpellier, Marseille, Cannes, Nice, Saint Tropez, and Monaco. I have much to do but here I am finally updating you, my reader. For some odd reason, I have developed some sort of insomnia. I don’t know why but there are days when I only sleep three or four hours but then again that could be due to the fact that I’m going to sleep when the sun is rising. My 5 month vacations will soon be over. . . did I say vacations, because I definitely meant to say my 5 month study abroad. What adventures (where and with who too) await for me this last month, only time will tell.

As I like to think., I’m a big fish in small town. I have learned to love and care for my friends at Clermont Ferrand and just like in the mission soon I will taste the bitter sweet. . . sweet because I look forward to being with family and friends, and bitter because only time will tell if I will ever meet again the great friends I have made whilst at Clermont

1 comment:

  1. It'll be nice to see you again,sadly won't be until August. :)

    ReplyDelete