a kick in the pants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lulJdMKaZw

things that make my heart explode with happiness

1. acting
2. being a director and getting it down
3. running a kitchen/restaurant
4. making my mom snort with laughter
5. seeing other people in their "element"
6. spending time with you and your family
7. DS performances


what about you?

:)

Today at the dinner table, with all the family around, my señora turned to me very frankly and asked if I was in love. Everyone went silent.


She and everyone else thought so because apparently my appetite is not the same it used to be! 

Spain likes to party

Hello my faithful readers! All two of you (hi Cecily!!) deserve an UPDATE!

Things have been nice. I've been finally coming out of shell and feeling a bit more like myself lately. Which is always a good feeling.

I went to my first "botellón" (which is what the young and free do here to spend their evenings) with a lovely group of Spaniards and it felt like a high school drive-in. I was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of youth, broken glass, plastic cups, and cars that were parked by the river to blast music (and it was a Monday night.) People just talk for hours until the wee morning hours. I left at 3AM and I was one of the first ones... I should have taken pictures so you can SEE the hoards of girls in sexy clothing and men wearing cologne and smoking strong cigarettes. It's such a sight. I'll do it eventually, I just didn't want to lug my Texas-sized camera on my first real date with Españoles....

Last weekend I participated in the Carrera Nocturna del Guadalquivir (the night run by the Guadalquivir river.) I signed up, all super cas. about it, and didn't know that it was a 12K until the day of. Ah, well. It was time that I started running distance again...! Anyhow, it started at 10 PM and there were 20,000 people there! Some serious athletes but also, men dressed up in drag and women wearing animal outfits. Even "Bob de Esponja" made an appearance. (Yes. SPONGEBOB!) And he got to the finish before me. No importa. I had a blast. Even though I needed assistance walking downstairs the next morning ;)
Spaniards know how to make EVERYTHING fun. Really. To them, it's not about WHAT you're doing--it's HOW you do it. And man are they good at that.

When I got to the finish line, I was so thirsty and I couldn't find water?
What was there TONS of instead? Beer!
Yes. Cruzcampo (Spain's leading beer company, owned by Heineken) was pouring thousands of cups of beer for everyone. I know athletes in the US would be horrified to hear this. In thirsty desperation, I lunged for a cup (alcohol-free, of course) and it was gone in 60 seconds. After that, I felt oddly refreshed and when I asked my señora about it later, she told me that a lot of people drink the alcohol-free beer in Spain for the yeast.

Well I'm off to go bake some chocolate cupcakes at a house. He's letting us use his oven!
Speaking of food, here are some photos :)

I made Arroz con Leche (rice pudding) and my señora and I were getting giggly from all the tasting...

Alvarito (there are three Alvaros in the family...) is pretending to like my pudding, but in reality, he despised it

Puente de Triana (Triana Bridge) Triana is the most fiercely spirited Sevillan barrio (neighborhood) and I love it

Some nice things

1. Yesterday I went on an 8 mile hike through the forests/mountains of Huelva. We came across: figs, walnuts, chestnuts, edible acorns,  apples (which I later, drank...), peaches, pomegranates, and tomatoes. We drank from a stream and a waterfall.

Along the pass, we stopped to lunch in a small town called Castaño del Robledos.
While we were eating our "bocadillos" in the central courtyard, there was this little boy running around from person to person with a tray of glass jars and a large pitcher of brown murky liquid.
It was fresh pressed apple cider that they were preparing on the street in a wooden barrel. It was so delightful to see that IN entered those golden apples and OUT came ambrosial cider.

2. I went for a run today in a park and after, went to the playground. It made me very happy to see that in addition to all the cool things for kids to do, there was a section of playground for "personas mayores" (senior citizens) to work on balance, movement, and flexibility.

3. Kids get out of school at 2:30 PM, so they are all home in time for lunch, which they can eat with their family.

4. I might be taking a class called "Música en el espectáculo audiovisual" in the communications dept. at U. Sevilla. It's all about the use of music in movies and advertisements to evoke certain reactions within the audience.

5. "Spanish boy of the week" coming soon...

lunch today and the museo de bellas artes

It was incredibly delicious.
A cold pasta salad with shrimp and cheese and olive oil, pokemon pasta shapes, smoked turkey, and apple vinegar. Scrumptious it was.


This afternoon I rode a bike to the Museo de bellas artes and saw some magnificent work that has been restored from hundreds of years ago. Here are a few that made an impression on me: (the photos say nothing of their beauty...) 

In the Retablo del Convento de San Agustin- "Jucio Final" (Final Judgement) by Martin de Vos

Santa Isabel de Hungría curando un enfermo  by Lucas Valdes

Las Cigarreras  by Gonzalo  Bilbao (whose work I like)

La muerte del maestro (Death of the Teacher) by José Villegas Cordero

Retrato (Portrait) de Sra. Malinowska by Ignacio Zuluaga

Spanish Blunder #2

Today I visited a bakery and have been wanting to try this dessert very badly. It looks like a triangular wedge of chocolate eclair. They are called cuñas. I wish I had said that.

Instead, with that Alia-can't-wait-to-eat-sweets enthusiasm,
"! Hola, un coño con mi café, por favor!"

Direct translation:
Hi! A coochie with my coffee, please.

Funny Spanish Mistakes no. 1

What I said:
¡Mañana, voy a probarte!

Direct translation:
Tomorrow, I´m going to taste you!

Cádiz...ooooh

The magnificent view from the Catedral--you can feel the salt in the air and the steep climb to the top is not made of stairs, but a long winding ramp up a tower! 

I know, right? 

Manasi, you´ll be glad to know that my tour guide (beautiful Alejandro) referred to pigeons as "ratas con alas" (rats with wings...)

Narrow cobblestone streets seem to be quite common here in Southern Spain

View from the Catedral de Santa Cruz de Cádiz

Pretty Buildings ;)

Los primeros días

Future hunks of España

Take note of the pizza "Sorpresa." Of course that's the one I ordered.

The women's bathroom

Hoards of family members in our hotel to pick us up and take us home!

My First Week of Bike & Build

These past days have been such a blast. I've fluctuated between highs of excitement and lows of utter exhaustion. And since I haven't written in so long, I'm going to just take things day by day and summarize some memorable moments :)

Jacksonville to Callahan: 60 miles
We took a ferry midway through our ride and I also got my period (surprise!) on this day. Most of the time I LOVE being a woman, but that SUCKED...
We camped at an RV park and my chore group improvised dinner and made some killer beans. We all have "chore groups" named after different Star Wars characters (ours is Obie Wan Kenobie.) Chores include: laundry--which can be pretty stinky with sweaty biking shorts called "chamois" for the pad that softens the friction between the rider and seat, breakfast, dinner, trailer crew (they load up the trailer in the morning with the coolers of food, Gatorade, and water), and other motley and critical things which I cannot remember...

Callahan --> Lake City 81 miles
This was a beautiful ride. We passed through farms and rolling fields.
There was a large pasture of gorgeous cows that looked like they were from the Lord of the Rings and we biked through a chunk of Georgia for 15 miles. We met farmers who sold cucumbers and peaches on the side of the road and they willingly donated their goods for us to taste!
Oh, we also biked the entire length of the Osceola National Forest.

Lake City-->Perry 76 miles
Looong ride since we stayed on one highway for 45 miles. We took lots of stops and there was a huge storm that we managed to miss! Perry, FL is a quaint, almost creepy little town where everything looks straight and orderly. We slept in Taylor County Middle School's gym and they provided us a free dinner of BBQ! Any food OTHER than peanut butter is embraced with open arms. The next morning, a few of us went to Johnson's Bakery (highly recommended by the locals) and I ate the BEST yeasty, pudding-filled doughnut ever. It was warm and sugary and perfect.

Perry --> Sopchoppy 63.2 miles 
 In addition to stopping to swim with manatees and buying Mayhaw jelly from a boyish vendor on the road, our host was awesome.
We arrived at our destination hot, tired, and wet from a thunderstorm. Our destination--"Sopchoppy Southern Baptist Church." They welcomed us with poppy seed chicken, mac n' cheese, tupelo honey, biscuits, corn bread, lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, sweet tea, and peaches: a huge Southern feast upon which we gorged ourselves. It was delightful and delicious. We then attended their youth services and gave a presentation to the children of the church.
Only downside: they had MILLIONS of  EVIL yellow flies which latch onto your skin and give you welts.

Sopchoppy-->Apalachicola 45 miles
I was on sweep, which means that I am one of the last two riders and we make sure that everyone gets to the destination before we do. We also fix flat tires and all that jazz. The ride was along the Gulf and it was quite stunning. Apalachicola is hurting from the oil spill (well, not yet but all the residents whom we spoke to are panicky and upset.) 50% of Apalachicola's economy is dependent on tourism and their seafood (both of which are now teetering dangerously after BP's mess.) We were fed oysters by a very gracious fellow and got a free dinner (paella!) from a Mediterranean restaurant called Tammy's. One of the waiters later treated me and Meira (one of my dearest friends on this trip :)) to a slice of key lime pie.

We slept in an abandoned high school gym (where our riders spent hours cleaning out its black mold infestation...) It was creeeepppyyy.


Apalachicola-->Panama City 67 miles
Long ride along the Gulf. Stopped at Mexico Beach and swam with Agata and Cassie (two of our trip leaders...they are like older sisters to me) in the ocean for a break. We didn't have bathing suits so we just swam in our sports bras and chamois. When we arrived to Panama City, traffic wasn't very friendly. We had a half-day off that Saturday so we spent it at the beach.

Panama City-->DeFuniak Springs 62 miles
We received alot of warnings about DeFuniak Springs but people there seemed pretty friendly.
We had to shower with a hose.

DeFuniak Springs-->Gulf Breeze/Pensacola 88 miles
Today was the roughest ride we've done so far. We all arrived at the host site in a daze. The sun was very strong today and the roads didn't seemed to end:
-We rode on a highway the locals call "The Bloody 98" (which we later re-routed so we could avoid the terrible drivers)
-I got knocked down by a school bus at a traffic light. (Not a scratch on my body :))
-Hans, our trip leader brought us popscicles (this made me very pleased)
-We rode through Navarre Beach (so pristine but since it was our last 25 miles it felt like a dessert)
I've never ridden so slowly or felt so utterly hopeless on a ride before...

Overall:
-I ride an average of 13-16 mph
-We wake up at 5 or 6 am
-We thrive solely on the goodwill and kindness of strangers (we are staying at an AWESOME church right now and they bought us SO MUCH lovely food!!)
-I now have no qualms about asking for something. I ended up getting our whole group (33 people) free food from Chik-fil-a because I ASKED. And it fed us for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner ;)

I miss you all. I get lonely sometimes but I think of all the wonderful people I have in my life back home who are rooting for me :) Thank you for all your messages and love and support. It doesn't go unnoticed. 

:) Alia
 

meow

My friend wrote this poem for us
And it's making me smile

"An ode to the trip"

Ride true and fast,
through many a day,
the pains of tomorrow,
soon become yesterday,

Meet people aplenty,
build houses galore,
feel blessed from within,
just to sleep on the floor,

The journey you'll face,
many cannot relate,
on hilltop and desert,
glimpse many a state,

"My legs will be strong,
I will be defiant,
Instead of just standing,
I'll sit on my Giant!"

guest house, by rumi

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

- Rumi

Worries

Today the nerves began to kick in.

I was wondering what the hell have I gotten myself into!? This was all brought about by the staff at a bike shop I visited today who thought I was crazy to do this trip. To make it worse, I browsed through photos of the bike and build alumni--tan, athletic looking chaps. And I was getting worried. I felt pale and flabby.

But the worst part was that I began to doubt myself. I was thinking Alia, you haven't trained enough. You're not fit enough to do this. Ghosts of the third-grader who got picked last in team sports flooded in; the 9th grade mile I couldn't run came to mind.

So I took a nap--which is what I've been doing increasingly these past few weeks (a good way to just ignore the problem for a while ;)) I had a nightmare.

In it, the world was distorting itself as I stood in a bike shop. A murderer had stolen a car and was in the parking lot. It was raining and I wandered with my keys, pressing the unlock button which activated multiple cars that weren't mine.  For what seemed like a happy mood change, Skanda and Justin drove with me in a Mini but all happiness was evaded when the dream ended with us flying (the Mini turned into a plane) into a prominent building.

I trudged downstairs to my parent's bedroom in a daze. We unpacked my gear and talked.
What's the worst that can happen?

I could get really tired and feel like shit every day until I get used to it.
I could fall of my bike and really hurt myself.
I could feel fat and un-athletic if everyone else is super fit.

They're stinky scenarios but not SO terrible.

So no more worries because they don't help. I actually came across Dale Carnegie's book today in B&N something titled like "How To Stop Worrying" or something remarkably similar to my dilemma.
Here's a summary I found online:

Fundamental facts you should know about worry

1. If you want to avoid worry, do what Sir William Osler did: Live in "day-tight compartments." Don't stew about the futures. Just live each day u ntil bedtime.
2. The next time Trouble--with a Capital T--backs you up in a corner, try the magic formula of Willis H. Carrier:
   1. Ask yourself, "What is the worst that can possibly happen if I can't solve my problem?
   2. Prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst--if necessary.
   3. Then calmly try to improve upon the worst--which you have already mentally agreed to accept.
3. Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health. "Those who do not know how to fight worry die young."

*http://www.westegg.com/unmaintained/carnegie/stop-worry.html

Well I'll head off to sleep now. 

Good night! 

It's been a while...

It's been a long time since I wrote on this blog but I am starting again with the approach of my bike ride in SEVEN DAYS!

We'll be building houses along the way for families who can't afford decent homes with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. I have raised $3,200 so far through the generosity of friends and family. I also obtained a third job at a late night (and AWESOME waffle shop, where my hard-earned monies went to the trip--we also just opened the conflict kitchen, which you should so totally check out!)

Spoorthi and I have been training, the gear has been purchased, our minds are ready.

All that's left is for us to begin...eek!

Oh, and for me to raise $800 dollars (in the next seven days) please contribute!!

Help HERE