Free time! POUNCE.

portero = goalie
campo (de fútbol) = (soccer) field
disolverse = dissolve
llover a cántaros = (literally) to rain pitchers; (i.e.) to rain cats and dogs
chantaje = blackmail
(chantajear a alguien = to blackmail someone)

Hi out there, sports fans!

(THIS IS A PUN.  YOU WILL FIND OUT WHY SOON.)

Didja miss me?  Sorry.  I had a ton of work to do this week, and when I wasn't doing work, I was sleeping, eating, being in class, or sleeping.  Or sleeping.

So on Friday, my Art History class had a field trip to a city called Cuenca, of which I had never heard before.  It was a very cute little town!  If you're a Facebooker, you may have seen photos already.  They've been up for a short while.  The highlights include:

View of Cuenca from a high-up bridge.

Some call it creepy.  The museum curator would hang it over her bed

so she could see it when she woke up in the morning.  I call it "Brigitte

Bardot, 1959" by Antonio Saura, because that's what the little sign next to it said.

Precarious "hanging houses," for which Cuenca is (apparently) famous.

Cuenca was a very cute city.  We were only there for a day, and we didn't do much: we started by climbing a HUGE hill (to the aforementioned very high bridge), and from there we headed to an art museum.  Brigitte up there was my favorite piece.  It was all abstract art, but this was one of the only pieces that had an abstraction that still made sense.  There was another one involving cigarette cartons and match boxes painted in acrylic colors and arranged artistically behind a glass frame.  I liked that one, too.

Afterward, we went in search of lunch.  A few of us found "la Bar Dulcinea," which, as you Quijote buffs will already know, is named after the lady don Quijote fights for.

Then we saw a cathedral, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. :(  I got one of the outside, but it wasn't very good, so you're better off Googling it.

Side note: my Art History professor pronounces Google like "goo-gly."  Just like Craig Ferguson.

The whole day was very cold, overcast, and a little rainy.  We were indoors for the most part, but they didn't do a great job of heating the museum, and the cathedral wasn't heated at all.  I wasn't truly warm again until I was back home under the heater… mmmmm.

Okay, part two of Nicole's Amazing Weekend Adventure.

On Sunday night, I went with a few friends to see Real Madrid play Villareal (soccer)!  It was REALLY fun.  I bought a Ronaldo jersey—it may be fake, but it's SUPER comfortable, and it's my nueva camisa favorita.  In fact, I'm wearing it right now.  How lovely.

We were up very high in the stadium, but we still had a good view of the field.  Here are a couple pics.

¡El campo de fútbol!

¡Góoooool!

It was awesome.  The field was outside, but our section was covered AND there were heaters, so we were toasty and didn't get rained on when it started raining!  So that was good.  And Madrid won 6-2, so that was even better!

Have I mentioned the rain?  It's been lloviendo a cántaros for the past week or so.  Today was unbelievable.  I was literally soaked through after walking home from school.  Blech.  I thought it was supposed to be sunny here.

So, I had two essays due and a presentation to give today, so that's what I've been doing all week.  Work, you suck.  Especially when you follow me to SPAIN.  Go away.

…And midterms are next week, so I might be pretty out of commission this weekend, too.  Sorry!  Come next weekend, I'll be free as a bird.

The good news is that next weekend is a CIEE-organized trip, so the odds are that the next time you hear from me, it'll be about Seville!  Whoooo.  So you've got that to look forward to. :)

In other news, I've been thinking about my favorite words in English, lately, and I thought I'd share a couple of them with you.  Tautology.  Denouement.  Nonpareils.

Did you get the pun?

That's it.  Peace out.