HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Benidorm was quality and pics will come soon. Back in Murcia for New Years Eve!

Watch this if you have a sec. It´s my roommates commercial he made for Chevy and if he wins the contest, it will be played during the Superbowl. Gracias

http://chevroletroute66.mx.msn.com/#/video/1350969827001/13384.EGAN2VIQNQAUL2BS

Yesterday I went to a small beachtown with two teachers from my school: Pedro and David. David has an exhibition of Belenes, nativity scenes, there at the church and we went to see it. Belenes are so much more common in Spain than in the U.S. It amazes me how much the people here are kind of obsessed with Belenes. They are literally everywhere you turn. I think that it is good though, just so different from what I am used to. I will post pics later because right now I am about to go to another beach town, Benidorm, for the next couple of days. Adios!

So I still have not recieved my residency card. When I turned in my papers, I was told that if I did not recieve a letter in two weeks saying that they needed something else, everything was fine and I would recieve my card in about  month. That was eleven weeks ago. So I figured I would go by the office and see what the deal was now that I had some free time. After talking with three different people with three different answers, I figured out that I did not have my card because they needed another paper from me. One very important fact is that I did not know this because they did not tell me. And they weren't going to tell me. When I asked the lady if this would be the last thing I needed to turn in she said, "I don't know." Oh Spain...

Just saw on Facebook that another friend from college passed away on Dec. 23. We had some Spanish classes together and he would always check in and make sure everything was going well in Spain for me. R.I.P. Asa. Prayers for you and your family. You inspired me more than anything else during college to be a better speaker of the Spanish language.

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

I got this from a friend. I don´t know where he found it though. Enjoy!!


Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa, 
Not a creature was stirring -- Caramba! Que pasa? 
Los ninos were tucked away in their camas,
Some in long underwear, some in pijamas,
While hanging the stockings with mucho cuidado
In hopes that old Santa would feel ...obligado
To bring all children, both buenos and malos,
A nice batch of dulces and other regalos.
Outside in the yard there arose such a grito
That I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito.
I ran to the window and looked out afuera,
And who in the world do you think that it era?
Saint Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero
Came dashing along like a crazy bombero.
And pulling his sleigh instead of venados
Were eight little burros approaching volados.
I watched as they came and this quaint little hombre
Was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre:
"Ay Pancho, ay Pepe, ay Cuco, ay Berto, Ay Chato, ay Chopo, Macuco, y Nieto!"
Then standing erect with his hands on his pecho
He flew to the top of our very own techo.
With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,
He struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea,
Then huffing and puffing at last in our sala,
With soot smeared all over his red suit de gala,
He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos --
For none of the ninos had been very malos.
Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento,
He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento.
And I heard him exclaim, and this is verdad,
Merry Christmas to all,
and Feliz Navidad!

Christmas break is here! No more classes until Jan 9th.

University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt broke NCAA rules by paying his coaches out of his own pocket. He just gained more respect from me. Go Dawgs and Go Richt! Here is the article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/35476/the-audacity-of-mark-richt

Sad to hear about the passing of a friend that I went to elementary school with. It is amazing the number of people that I know under 30 that have passed away over the past three years. Rest in Peace Aubrey. Thoughts and prayers for your family, especially your little girl.

Sepia (cuttlefish), prawns and salad for lunch. The Medieterrenean diet.

I'm having issues uploading my pics to Facebook but I put a couple pics up on Flickr. You can see them on the right side of the blog under the borrowlenses.com ad. These will have to do until I post the rest on Facebook.

Just spent an hour talking to the librarian about movies and the NBA. Now it is time for class with these crazy little 5 yr olds.

Day three was a chill day. Walked around a bit and went to a mall that is close to the house where I am staying at. Night plans included walking around and going to see a comedian who turned out to be pretty good. Last night was also the big game between Madrid and Barcelona. Barcelona won and we got to see everyone celebrating. There is this one fountain where everybody celebrates each Barca victory and we just happenend to be there right after the game ended. Pics and videos will be posted tomorrow, maybe. Now it is time to head to the airport. Back to work, my short vacation is over.

Day two was another success. Got to see and go in the infamous Sagrada Familia as well as visit a little beach town that is about 30 mins outside of the city. I took a bunch of pics so I will try to get them up asap.

I had good first day in Barcelona. Pretty much spent the entire day just walking around. It was a holiday so there were a ton of people out.

I am heading up to Barcelona tonight! Pics and stories to come next week.

Yesterday, one of the teachers from my school gave me a ticket to go watch Murcia's basketball team play. I've been wanting to go see a game so that made me happy. And I got to go for free so even better. They ended up losing but it was good to see some basketball finally. It also made me miss playing and now I want to go play. I enjoyed the game and I will definitely be going to see at least a couple more games. Overall, it was a bad weekend for my sports teams. North Carolina (NCAAB), Georgia (NCAAF), Detroit and Cincinnati (NFL) all lost.

Another quality video from my roommate Cal. The kid has talent.

\\http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOzKdZI24dk&feature=g-user

Here is the link to my old pics from my first two adventures in Spain.

http://community.webshots.com/user/jamal424

Today my Georgia Bulldogs will play for the SEC championship. So, like every other Saturday, I will be proudly wearing my red and black.  Two months have passed now and everything is going quite well. My school is full of nice people and the students aren’t too bad either. Earlier this week, the lady in charge of the program I worked with the other years here sent me an email asking if I wanted to work some extra hours at another school. I obviously said yes and I will begin working in January. I’m quite happy because this means more money!

This year I am also enrolled in a Spanish class. We meet twice a week for 3 ½ hours. It is quite intensive considering what all we have covered in just two weeks of class so far. There are only five of us so that makes it even better. Over the past few years I have wanted to actually study Spanish again because four years has already passed since I graduated from college.

Next week is our first break in December and Wednesday night I am flying to Barcelona to see some friends and I will fly back on Sunday. I haven’t taken any pics in a while so I’m excited for my first trip with my camera.

Hope all is well with everyone!!