A while in the making (so, get settled in)

I've been batting around the idea of starting a blog for a while since I arrived in Spain. I really didn't feel that it was the right time until now. I wouldn't say that I'm so homesick, but I've just been existing under this general funk since I've been here. The city that we live in is amazing, and there is so much to fall in love with, but I've just been having some generally negative feelings about the state of all things and about myself. It had all been kind of building until the day before yesterday when it came to a head after a lot of introspection, and yesterday was my new beginning - which I had been waiting for since I arrived.

I had been in a sad state of affairs insofar as my quest for my own comfort zone was concerned, but I have finally managed to get my head right, and I feel some guilt for blaming other people, at first, for my predicament. Aside from taking a toll on my interactions, I also found myself with almost no desire to speak Spanish and slightly less capable of doing so as compared with when I had arrived, which was really frustrating.

Now I feel like my personal relationships are growing in all the right directions, and I'm feeling really good in general. A really integral part of finding my niche also has everything to do with this one class I'm taking here, entitled "Environmental Impact." The teacher is great and very friendly; the material is so far identical to that which was covered in a class that I took at Brown but received no useful credit for from URI (stupid vague course descriptions...). It's also great in the way that it brings me back to the feelings of general contentment with life that I had felt at Brown. It feels amazing to finally get back to taking classes in the environmental track again. 

I had noticed an inherent connection in the past between actually doing some sort of physical activity and my mental ease, though I can now also say that it also improves my Spanish. Today I went around talking to anyone I could in Spanish like a man on a mission. In fact, the other night after I introduced myself to these two Spanish kids, in Spanish of course, and later they asked me why my english was so good...because apparently I'm Spanish. A good feeling. So yeah, I've been running, but I really want to finally get around to getting a bike because the scenery here is gorgeous.

I've also been cooking near on everyday here, which I'm really happy about. Mostly just easy stuff to keep Andy, Amanda, and I from starving. Though, I have made a few big dishes that I'm really proud of, like spinach lasagna and tortilla española. Most recently I made this paella dish for about 10 of my friends. For a first time experiment, I got a lot of compliments on it. It was one of my best nights here yet.

The absolute happiest that I have been here was during a weekend that I spent in San Sebastian (Donostia, for those of you in the know) with Ana and Jon, two of my favorite people. Ana and Jon had both spent time at URI as exchange students. Ana was nice enough to put me up in her and her mom's house for the weekend. I had missed them both very much, and it was great to see them. Ana showed me some of the better somewhat low-key after-dark hangouts in the city, and Jon brought me to his friend Xabierre's place for what was, for me at least, an amazing reunion dinner, as I had met Xabierre and Xabier (another friend) when they visited Jon at URI. It was a great night of 4 hours of cooking and dining and then a few more hours of drinking "vodka limón" and teaching "Kings" to the Spanish as well as such colorful vocabulary as "technicolor yawn" and "talk into the big white telephone." At about 2AM we hit the clubs and ended up finally at this massive dance club on one of the most beautiful beaches I've seen until 7AM. It was an amazing time that I can't wait to relive.

That's just about the long and the short of my time here so far. I'm not going to give the standard bits about places that I've been in excessive detail, for the most part, though I'll likely write about the parts that most interest me. Unless it has direct bearing on something rather important, I'd rather show where I've been with a few photos so that it can be better appreciated.

I hope that you are all well, and I miss you. Con todo mi cariño y afecto.

Cory

Lagniappe

Things I'm proud of

• My success at dealing with independence
• The great food that I've prepared and the initiative that I've taken to do so
• My 1.5 mile canter around the park, without pause
• The amazing friends that I've made
• My improving spanish
• Impressing Spaniards with my spanish vocabulary (calling someone a "plebeian" in most any language usually gains respect
• Walking almost everywhere
• Bussing when I can't walk
• Recycling all things recyclable
• ...Just generally reducing my footprint

Things I'm less proud of

• By and large, the way that I've comported myself as of late
• The laundry list of infatuations that I've acquired recently
• The pure volume of alcohol that I've consumed
• My generally lacking consistency in keeping in touch with loved ones (friends and family alike)
• I don't yet own a bike
• I am not yet a flamenco guitar prodigy...

Music I love at the moment (old & new)

• The Strokes
  
• Jarabe de Palo (Mucho más, mucho mejor)
  
• "Juno" Soundtrack
  
• Iron & Wine
  
• Jason Mraz