When you´re a university student in Salamanca, Spain (although I don´t think this is just for Salamanca... I think this goes true for the whole of Spain), the best day during a weekday would be a Friday. You know why? Many universities don´t have classes on Friday. It´s their rest day...this is besides the siesta they have from 2:30 to 5 (i think) in the afternoon. Hay, it´s so nice to live here - so many opportunities for sleep (which is actually one of my favorite things to do more than going to bars and having fun the whole night thru).

Today, our (that's me and Elaine) foster sister, Tania, didn´t have class. We had class though. And we had our quiz-game for our Spanish speech lessons. It was fun - unlike any ordinary quiz I´ve ever had my entire life. If quizzes were always like that, I´d want to have quizzes everyday. hehehe :)

After spanish lessons, we had lunch at 2:30 (as usual) and then at 5 we had gimkana (i don´t know if the spelling is right). Gimkana is a treasure hunting game of some sort. It´s actually like Amazing Race - only... it´s in Spanish. We were given descriptions of monuments and we had to take pictures of the monuments and answer questions regarding it. Hay... we had a city tour. hehehe As in! We toured the whole Salamanca...which was kind of fun, actually... although very exhausting... coz like Mont Mart in Paris, France, there are allies that go uphill... (actually, everything seems to be going uphill) hehehe We´ll be doing another gimkana next week. This time around, I have to be really fluent in Espanol. hehehe :)

Tonight, we´ll be going bar hopping and tapa tasting coutesy of ISLA, our school. It´s part of what we paid for back in the Philippines. I´m excited actually. I tried Spanish tapa twice (pork and squid) and they were really good. I can´t wait to taste more!!! Shucks! That's gluttony for you!!! hehehe But I love it anyways. hehehe :)

Salamanca is so much fun. It´s just a small town but there´s so much to see. However, I do not think I can live here for the rest of my life... although it is a very pleasant place to live in...it´s very quiet and the people are really very nice. But...I know that sooner or later...i´m going to run out of things to do and then, it would be all downhill for the fun... Actually, as early as now, I´m finding the bars already boring coz they all serve the same drinks and play the same music... If you´ve done the same things for so many times, it gets really dragging. But... besides the bars... so far, so good.

Spain is great! Salamanca is very cozy! Highly recommended!!!

Yesterday was fun! I had Spanish lessons in the morning, had flamengo lessons in the afternoon, had paella cooking lessons along with sangria making lessons, and had fun in Medievo (it's a bar in Salamanca) from midnight until a little pass 2 am.

The paella cooking lesson was so much fun! At least now, I know how to cook at least one dish. hehehe The paella I made with Bon and Michel had too much pepper in it but it was nevertheless good...although the paella of Elaine´s group was better than ours... at least, ours was edible (which is unlike any dish i have ever made my entire life). hehehe :) It´s a pretty great success for me. hehehe :)

We also had a sangria making contest. Of course, our group won. hehehe Sangria is made up of red wine, strawberries, gin, lemon... and many other things. It tastes like Shirley Temple... only, it´s more alcholic. Last night, I was able to drink 3 full glasses of sangria. I think if I drank one more I would have ended up drunk. hehehe But then, I didn´t. I know I still had to go home. hehehe After eating paella and drinking sangria at Amanda´s place, the director for ISLA Salamanca, we went bar hopping. At first, we went to Medievo. When we found out that there was nobody there, we went to Camelot which was recommended to us by Rosa, our Spanish grammar teacher. But then... sure Camelot had a lot of people in it but they were mostly OLD people... as in OLD. So, we went back to Medievo. After a while, the bar started filling up and there were really muchos chicos guapos dancing on the floor. hehehe It was so much fun people watching!!!

We went home at around 2 and Elaine and I slept as soon as we got home. We were tired. And besides, we had classes in 8 hours. hehehe We woke up at 9 am, did our thingies and went to school. We were suppose to go on a food trip (chocolate con churros) at 5 this afternoon but then, according to Sara (one of our guides), the weather´s hot and as such, it wouldn't be good to go on a chocolate tour. So, we rescheduled it.

At 8:15 tonight, we will be having another conference about the history of the Spanish language. Hay... tough life. We´re not going out tonight. Maybe tomorrow. We have a quiz tomorrow for our conversational Spanish.

Time: 7:56 pm Place: ISLA 3 Internet Cafe, Salamanca, Spain

I just came from Flamego Dance lessons somwhere in Salamanca. It was fun! At least now, I have Spanish steps to dance in Medievo, some Disco/Bar at Grand Via which is near our school, later tonight when me and my Spanish/French classmates go partying.

Salamanca is a party center. It has the third greatest bar/person population. People go partying almost every night but most especially during Wednesday and Friday nights... Where did I get this information? hehehe I have my sources! I´m supposed to do something at 8:30... cooking lessons i think... but nobody seems to remember where to meet or if we really are going to have cooking lessons. I guess, everybody´s so excited to go to Medievo later since the guy who invited us is muy, muy, muy guapo. Mas guapo que otra chicos that the cooking lessons have slipped off their minds... and with the internet, it´s about to slip out of mine too. Hay... i´ve never partyed this hard before... it´s fun but, at the same time, it´s also very, very exhuasting... One of the people I go out with at night in Salamanca keeps on getting drunk and it´s really hard to take care of her especially when she´s shouting in French, drinking other people´s drink, and dancing like crazy. I guess, tonight in Medievo will just be like any other night since if we go there before midnight, we get free drinks until 3 pm... and although our curfew is at 2:00am, we´re probably going home at 3:00 am when the drinks are not free anymore... mind you... bars in Salamanca do not close... they´re open 24/7. And mind you... although drinks are free... i haven´t gotten drunk (maybe one of these days... when it´s pretty safe) and the only drinks i´ve drunk since i´ve arrived in Salamanca are: 2 lemon vodka, 2 red wine...

need to go now... only have 5 minutes left... i guess they remembered the cooking lesson...

I´m in Salamanca, Spain right now. The time´s 4:48pm. My internet time will be over by 5:00pm. I just arrived in Salamanca yesterday afternoon. I came from Paris, France. We stayed there for a week. A week in Paris was stressful but nevertheless fun. It was stressful because we only had a week to enjoy what one could say is one of the best cities in the world (of course, for me, the cities in the Philippines are the best cities in the world... there´s no place like home!) There was never a night in Paris that Elaine and I, together with whoever of our French classmates (yep! we took lessons in French in Paris Langues) who wanted to join us that we took the night off. We´d leave our foster family at 8:30, take the metro, and come back at exactly 1:00am since the last metro rides at 1:00. have a lot to tell... but i´m running out of time... brb...

Ever since I was young, I've heard (just heard) of the Secrets of Fatima. I was curious, but I never really looked into it. For 20 years, it just remained as one of those that was mentioned to me but I soon forgot. Today, however, is a little different. I heard the secrets again. But this time it was accompanied by an anime.

I was so bored that I asked my brother for whatever anime he had that I hadn't watched yet. He gave me the anime Chrno Crusade. When I asked him what it was about, he answered me with a plain "God." And... curiousity killed the cat (In my case, curiousity killed the bunny... I'm the bunny, my sister's the cat, and my brother's an even bigger cat... that's why they both agree).

Curious, I watched the anime... I'm not yet finished watching it but from what I get so far, it's about the third secret of the Fatima.

In May 13, 1917 a luminous apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to three peasant children, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco, and delivered a prophecy that would change the world. According to Lucia, the Virgin Mary revealed three secrets: (1) the World War I would end soon, (2) World War II is coming, and (3) - it was never revealed-. Lucia wrote down the third secret, sealed it, and entrusted it to Portugal's Bishop of Leiria, with instructions that it was not to be read until 1960. The Bishop turned the envelope over to the Vatican. Pope John XXIII reportedly opened the envelope when 1960 arrived, but refused to divulge its contents, saying, "This prophecy does not relate to my time." Pope John Paul II is said to have also read it, and refuses to reveal it on the grounds that its true spiritual message has been obscured by sensationalism.

In Chrno, they think that the third secret is the reappearance of the 12 apostles. And along with the reappearance of the 12 apostles are the appearances of devils. I don't understand the devil part that much, but if I'm not mistaken, there is this "major" devil sealed in New York City. The more of the 7 vices that people in New York do, the stronger the devil gets...or something like that. To protect the 12 apostles against demons who are out to exploite their powers as well as to protect the 8-tailed seal in New York City from breaking, the Order of Magdala was created. There is also the mention of Mary Magdalene who Jesus Christ loved so well... I don't understand this part so much...

It's a really good anime (although there are jumpy parts...i don't understand some of the discussions in the anime...it jumps from God to Mary Magdalene to stigmata) because it introduces the audience to something new. I would recommend it (nevertheless) along with Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Bleach, and Prince of Tennis. Fruits Basket, Fushigi Yuugi (Mysterious Play), and Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) are also very nice animes. However, guys might find these three animes a little girly/cheesy...they are love stories with twists.

If you wanna watch, just ask. If it's available, I can lend you. Or I can burn one for you.

Classes are over. It was over two months ago. So, there really is no reason for me to feel all stressed up. But I am. And I think I know why, but I'm afraid to admit it.

In thirteen days time, I will be leaving for Europe. And yes, I'm excited. But not as excited as when my dad told me that we were going to the beach back when I was five. Or when my mum told me that instead of eating dinner home, we would be eating dinner at the Kalsangi Clubhouse and as a result, there is enough time for me to go swimming after class, before dinner.

The truth is, I find Europe very costly. And as I sit here with a calculator in hand, trying to compute all future costs, I am haunted with what I can do better with the money should I decide to stay in the Philippines, invest it here, and get around to helping other people.

Although I do not consider going to Europe a worthless extravagance, I do consider it extravagant. And this makes me sad. And sometimes, when I think about it, it makes me dislike myself.

But I need to go to Europe. I have been dreaming of the place ever since I knew the continent existed. And if I don't go there now, when will I go? Why not grab the opportunity now?

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sorry, suddenly i lost the mood to write...