[S d C]ompostela: Tapas, San Juan, and Culture.

:: Santiago by Night ::

I added more photos here.

Photos of San Juan, repainting the cafe, and of the city last night while out for tapas.

Its great... You go to a bar/cafe here, and if they do tapas, you simply order a cold drink... Like a beer, glass of wine or something... And they bring you appetizers for free. So, you simply order a round... Eat the tapas, finish your drink... Then go on to another place and do it again.

We didn't actually eat dinner last night... Just did tapas. Fun fun.

Lazy day today... And a funny story. I was in the cafe this morning, on Skype talking to Helena, then after I finished, I just shut my laptop and left it out here on the laptop station. I was sitting up at the bar talking with people, and I looked back after a while and some dude was using my laptop to browse the internet. !!?? I started laughing and said... Jacob, look at that! We laughed about it for a second, and started talking about it. Well... His friend was up at the bar ordering a coffee. His friend went back and told him it was not a public computer. Well... By then, he was in the middle of ordering plane tickets! So, I let them finish... He probably used it for about 20 minutes all together... They were so apologetic and the friend kept thanking me and apologizing in Spanish. They ended up buying me a coffee... So hey... Maybe I should rent this laptop out for often eh? haha.

I started reading Bono: In conversation with Michka Assayas last night. Good stuff so far. Even just reading the Introduction and the foreword by Bono was incredible. Another book on my radar is The End of Poverty, by Jeffrey D. Sachs. Sachs has a proposed solution for ending poverty in our lifetime. I will try to steal it away from Jacob a bit while I am here and relay anything good I find.

Tagged: Santiago, The Road

The Old City... Photo tour...

:: service ::

I loaded a bunch more photos...

Last night was a huge holiday... San Juan. I don't know all the reasons they celebrate, or what all the traditions are... But I can tell you this... People who enjoy nightlife know how to party... And here in Santiago de Compostela... They enjoy nightlife. Seriously... Bri (a summer intern here in SdC) and I were out late!! We had dinner at "Latino Bar," Matt's favorite place here in Santiago.

I took a bunch of pictures, and even a video or two last night, but I left my camera in my room... So I will have those up later. For now, enjoy the new additions of the old city. It is the historic part of the city. Terra Nova is right on the edge of the old city, and I am staying in a Hostel on the other edge. Hostal Linares.

Here is a typical day in Santiago...

Wake up and have breakfast... 9am - 12noon.
Do some stuff... 12noon - 3pm
Lunch and Siesta (seriously, stuff is closed)... 3pm - 5pm
Do some more stuff... 5pm - 9pm
Have dinner... 9pm-11pm
Hang out, have drinks and tapas... 11pm - ??

Ok, obviously... If you had a job... Or classes, you would have to fit those in some place. Shops close during siesta... But cafes/bars/restaurants stay open.

Spain won yesterday in El Mundial (the World Cup), so people here are pretty pumped.

** I make no claims to the spelling of things in Espanol. **

Santiago... Ahhh...

:: The Road. ::

I arrived in Santiago a few hours ago... This city is vibrant. Alive. This would be a good place to live and die. For now, I am just visiting and having some coffee.

I got the photos from London uploaded. So check it out by clicking on the badge in the sidebar, or you can view a slideshow of the photos here.

Thanks Jacob and Tania for putting me up here in Santiago. More on that later...

WorldCup tonight! US vs Ghana! ole ole ole!

London

I made it to London.

Pictures soon... It too expensive for me to take the time here to upload them.

You guys rock.

Keep prayin.

WOW.

I can't believe it...

But, we have cleared the Russian Government. My passport is in transit to me at this very second.

Estimated delivery
Jun 20, 2006 10:30 AM

Thanks for praying everyone. I am going to try and send a quick blurb later tonight as an email to everyone.

!!!

Now, I have to finish packing!! AHHHH!!

Down to the wire...

I have been terrible about updating.

There is no easy way to say that, its just true. Things have been happening so fast over the last couple of weeks, and well... I've been... Busy.

Here is the short version. I should have already had my visa paperwork taken care of and should have had my passport back in my hands by today. After all, I leave tomorrow. However, there has been a HUGE delay with my 'letter.' To travel to Russia, you first need to be invited, with a letter of invitation. Then, you submit an application along with the letter. Things take weeks to process. I was expecting to have the letter on Friday, and with rush one day processing (think: expensive), I would have had my passport back on Saturday. Well, my couterparts in Russia have pushed for me, since it didn't arrive on Friday, and I now have the letter.

I have a shot at receiving my passport back in time. I need to be leaving Tucson tomorrow between 9 and 10 am, if my passport in available in time... I could still receive it by 10:30am, and it would be a mad dash to the airport in Phoenix.

I am pretty much ready to go other then that... My room is mostly devoid of furniture, and I will need to spend today getting things ready to go. If I don't get to see you before I leave, I'm sorry... But then again... It's only 7 months... I'll see you next year. :)

New Life Russian Tea, 7pm.

Okay... Okay... I know, this should have been up sooner, but it wasn't. I'm sorry.

Tonight, the New Life Russian Tea is still happening. The reason that I have not posted about it is because I was short of the details.

Tonight. 7pm. Cindy Peterson's house. I know she has contact most of the people who were interested in coming. However, if you are in Tucson and would like to join us, please feel free to drop by. Where is the house you ask? I have no idea.

I hope to have directions by the time I am off of work... So leave me a message on my cell phone if you would like to drop by and when I know, I will call you. My phone is 214-228-1001.

My official last day at Starbucks is June 14th, so if you need a coffee fix and want to see me, you best do it before then. I work today, then not again until Wednesday (Thanks Sherie!) but, then I work everyday Wed - Sun mostly closing shifts next week. Yay.

So call me (or Cindy, if you have her number), and please come tonight. Thanks.