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last day in spain…

One last night in Seville, then it’s back home.

I was able to make it out to a bullfight last night which was cool. And by cool, I mean simultaneously exhilarating and revolting. I might have to go as a matador for Halloween, though. When else will I ever get to wear a frilly sequined outfit, weird hat, and tights? Wait. Nevermind.

I *finally* hope to go running this evening. It’s actually pretty hot here (~30 degrees Celsius), so I might wait until closer to dusk. I bet the city looks really nice at that time of night anyway. I’m sure it’ll be rough after over a week of non-stop coffee, tapas, ice cream, cous cous, etc. Oh, well.

Ugh. I can’t believe I have work on Wednesday…Better get out and enjoy the last hours of vacation!

in morocco (finally)

Arrived in Tangier this morning after enduring a somewhat hectic trip to get here. After a 4-hour bus trip from Granada to Algeciras, we arrived too late to catch the last ferry to Morocco. So we sought accommodations at the sketchiest place I’ve ever seen. So sketchy that I called my dad to tell him where we were just so *someone* knew…

After that it was waking up at the ass crack of dawn for the ferry; the actual boat ride was really cool. But we ‘forgot’ to get our passports stamped and weren’t allowed to disembark the ferry. So we waited an extra 2 hours for a ‘policeman’ to come back and do it. (When I asked him if he was actually a border patrol officer–he wasn’t in uniform or anything–he got indignant and walked away. *sigh*)

Then it was off to dump our luggage–I hope we see it again. (Kelley’s suitcase is a Sisyphian burden!) We were so pooped that we laid on the beach for three hours…and I don’t even like the beach. It’s Ramadan, so we haven’t found any places to eat yet; I’m hungry. Oh, and people only speak Arabic and French; I’m a bit rusty in both.

Off to see as much of the city as possible in the next 2 hours, then off to Marrakech via a 10-hour sleeper train. I’ve got tons of pictures from Madrid and Grenada but haven’t had the chance to upload them yet. Stay tuned…

(Oh, yeah, I’m sick with a terrible cold too. Traveling’s fun!)

madrid

So Madrid was fun and not at all boring and stupid like more than one person has told me before I went. So there. The food did leave something to be desired, though I’m not really a fan of Spanish cuisine in general (e.g., shellfish paella = yuck.)

I was able to make it to the Museo del Prado my first night there, which was pretty much all Goya, all the time. The Palacio Real was cool too. I can definitely pick King Carlos out of a line up now; I think I saw about 30 portraits of him. I was talked into going out to a salsa club on Saturday night (I know, I’m in Spain, not Cuba), but attempts to make me look foolish on the dancefloor were thwarted. One of these days, perhaps…

Our hostel was centrally located, so I was able to walk pretty much everywhere, which was enjoyable. All that said, I still liked Barcelona a lot better. However, I really can’t complain about spending a weekend here…Sure beats Hyattsville, Md.

on tap

Weekend agenda:

Action	Event	Odds
Ambulate	Run - I’m up to 15 (or so) miles for my long run.	90%
Conversate	Call brother with whom I haven’t spoken now in weeks	50%
Salsaficate	Orquesta Ashe at Duke’s City	33.3%
Spectate	Boston vs. Orioles - Go Sox!	100% (unless it rains)
Edumacate	Do homework	Exponentially approaches 10%
Undiscombobulate	Relax	0%

itchy

I have had this gross, blistery rash on my hands for about the last week. It has gotten progressively worse.

After waiting for nearly two hours yesterday morning–I actually fell asleep in the exam room–the doctor rushed in and out in under five minutes with a generic diagnosis of ‘contact dermatitis’ (I think it’s poison oak) and a prescription for a tapered course of prednisone. I rarely ever take prescription or over the counter medication, and it has made me a little nutty. I feel groggy and am having difficulty forming coherent sentences.

After researching it a bit online, I’ve found prednisone’s list of potential side effects amusing. Among the highlights:

• inappropriate happiness
• changes in the way fat is spread around the body
• loss of contact with reality
• rash

Fun stuff.

halfsies

2:06:56

tuneups and gelati

I did my final ‘tuneup’ for Monday’s half-marathon, which in turn is a tuneup for next month’s (!) MCM. (I hate the word tuneup. I just don’t think it’s apt for running…)

The route I ran was somewhat of a 5-mile loop around the neighborhood. It took 45:12, which is good for a 9:02 pace. I’m very pleased. I felt great and my new shoes are awesome. I’m a little nervous about Monday, but I’m hoping for the best.

Afterwards, I rewarded myself with gelato from Dolcezza, an Argentine gelateria in Georgetown. (Alliteration is a strong point of mine.) It was yummy, but they’ve got nothing on the Italians. I’ve heard that San Crispino in Rome is so good that someone once missed his flight home to stop there for gelato and was forced to pay a hefty upcharge for an alternate flight only to end up spending the night on the street outside of Victoria Station, because he had also missed the last bus/train out of London. So I’ve heard.

I wasn’t adventurous enough to try their end-of-summer banana hempseed praline flavor, however. Frankly it sounds gross. I settled for an admittedly tamer selection of dark chocolate and blackberry and creme.