Ferrol Dinner English Club - February 2013 - Pulperia O Toldo

Wowsers!

I can't believe that this is the 4th Ferrol Dinner English Club meeting...

LOCATION: PULPERÍA O TOLDO - RUA SOL, 62

Here are some pictures from the meeting... 

All pictures can be accessed by CLICKING HERE

Feel free to tag, download, share, etc!

Do you know others who are interested in our dinner club:

Have them sign up here: http://ferroldinner.com

Just remember - this is primarily to practice fluency - so Intermediate 2 and higher!  =]

Sorry so short, I have class in an hour!  Si clase de espanol!  (^___^)

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

SpainTalk - 2013 Madrid Open!

Yes, I am a tennis freak.  

While I don't play at all, I can watch tennis all day, all weekend, all week, 24/7 without stop.  

This year, I will FINALLY be watching a LIVE tennis match.  

I have purchased tickets to the 2013 Madrid Open this March!!

I am super excited - while I will not be watching the finals week (its 10x the price), I bought tickets for the first week of play (basically Rounds 1-4). 

 However, I will still get to watch the higher ranked players at night!

For those you who want to join me on the fun... CLICK HERE

I bought all day tickets for Saturday/Sunday (May 4-5th) which is only 24€ for both days.

The next weekend was about 90€ for each day (semifinals and finals).

My favorite tennis player of all time is Venus Williams - because we were born on the same month and year... and I've just followed her tennis career.. I hope I get to see her play!

This will be my first sporting event in Europe!  

Unless you count the fact that I ran the Dublin Marathon in 2004.

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Put your $$$ €€€ £££ ¥¥¥ where your mouth is!

Aloha everyone,

For those of you that have known me for a long time, there are many things I am passionate about (currently my afternoon siesta - but I digress)... one of those things is non-profit organizations.

Most people say, yes - I want to help, yes I want to help... but it stops at that.

So... Put your $$$ €€€ £££ ¥¥¥ where your mouth is

and make a difference in someone's life...

One of my favorite non-profit organizations is Kiva - a microlending site... 

(you lend people $$$, and they pay you back!!)

CLICK HERE to learn more about Kiva!

I've made over 500 loans since 2007 to many countries all around the world.

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Friends and Family - SPAINTALK - Sending Packages...

Friends and Family,

Please do not send me anything.  I know you love and want to send me things of Hawaii and things that remind of me home, but to be honest, I want to punch a wall everytime I receive a notice from the Correos.

The postage system here in Spain is completely messed up.  Yes, F*****d up.  

I've received countless packages from all over the world (yes, i'm a shopaholic) but any packages from the United States must be held in customs in Madrid.

Then I have to complete a form, sign it, including a list with the things you have sent - I AM NOT PSYCHIC.  Needless to say, I am still fighting with ADTPOSTALES for a package that was received in Spain on February 6th.  YES, and I don't think I am getting the package anytime soon because apparently the documentation provided was not sufficient - SO they have to send another paper from Madrid to Ferrol, with a CODE, so I can then upload the documents online.

#FML.

Love you, but please don't send me anything, unless I ask for it.  

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

TravelTalk - SpainTalk - Palma Mallorca

Aloha everyone!

Whew - the next month - I will be blogging quite frequently... 

My semester as a student ends on Friday and I am going to take a semester off (as a graduate student!)

For those of you on Google+ you've probably seen most of these pictures as I like to post somethings while I am on the road... 

The weather this trip was FABULOUS!

WOW.  I literally wore a tshirt the entire trip (except the last 2 days in Oviedo - brrr).

I had a great experience in Palma... I was surprised that there were so many German people.  In Palma, I used a service called airbnb.com - since I couldn't find a couchsurfer to host me (for those of you CS members - let me know and let's hang out!)

In addition to having great weather, I actually ended up posing for a local clothing company - haha, I'll post those pics once they are ready... this was very exciting - but not my first time on television or in front of the camera... 

Actually, I was thinking of buying a video recorder (one with HD - at least 720p) because I was thinking of starting a weekly vlog (video blog) in Spanish... to practice my Spanish and talk about my experiences here... and also I thought it might be fun since I'll be traveling around the world this summer in Florida, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Eastern Europe.. .we'll see how that goes - I totally need more practice...

Anywho, what was I talking about?!  I am so sleepy... I didn't take a siesta today... and I am so behind on emails!  OMG... 

Ha ha, more pics to come - I actually don't have that many - due to the camera incidence and the iPhone incidence... #FML (not really - but ok).

Could I see myself living in Palma?!  I could because its a bike friendly place, but at the same token - I don't think I could be around all these tourists... 

Soller

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

TravelTalk - SpainTalk - Back from holidays

Aloha everyone,

I'm back from vacation. woot!  

I went to Palma Mallorca, Barcelona, Bilbao, Oviedo (and surrounding areas)...

This trip was great - experienced new places, new airline (ryanair), new accommodation (airbnb.com), stayed with couchsurfers, ate great food, explored new places, ate great food...

For those of you visiting Spain and only visit the big cities, you are missing out on what Spain has to truly offer.  No offense to people from Madrid and Barcelona - but these aren't my favorite places in Spain, then again, I like smaller towns...  =]

More pictures coming soon... (NOT too many, because my camera battery died - and I didn't bring the charger), so I asked people to take pictures of me with their phones and email it to me  =] HAHAHAHA

ALSO, I LOST MY IPHONE... yeah...

My borracho-ed, go-go, pole dancing stripper alter-ego came out... 

let's just say that I'm not one bit sad about losing my iPhone.

(if I left it on the bus - yes, but losing it while leaving my mark in Bilbao.. no)

My new phone... woot!  =]

More blog posts coming this week - 

I have 1 more week off, came back early to finish my graduate studies this week!

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Primero RT en español.

Yes, it is easier for me to tweet random thoughts than write a blog sometimes 

(considering that my thoughts are usually random)

Squirrel.  Gotta finish my midterm - Follow me on Twitter.

=P

Dos situación que no miras a otro persona: hombres vestuario y durante sexo

— hawaiiinsomniac (@hawaiiinsomniac) February 5, 2013

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

TechTalk - Spain is getting RIPPED off.

Random thought of the day... I'm suppose to be writing a paper right now about agriculture pollution, but I can't focus, so I thought I'd write a quick blog... (since its on my to do list) and I haven't written anything really in the past week... or two... or maybe even three - sorry crazy busy right now!

Anywho - here's food for thought.  Why is technology so expensive here in Spain?  Wow.

Here's one example - no, I am not buying an iPhone 5 (but theoretically if someone was flying to New York and wanted to make money - they could buy one in New York and sell it here in Spain) or two or three or four or five...

An unlocked iPhone in the United States? $649.00 + taxes = $707.41 = €518.50.

An unlocked iPhone in Spain? €669 (including taxes)

€669 - €518.50 = €150.50

So... even if you bought an iPhone and sold it for €600 - you'd still make over €80 for each one.

DISCLAIMER: check out going market prices on eBay.es, milanuncio, etc. to see how much you can sell an iPhone 5 for - also take into consideration eBay fees (if you're going to sell them online).

 Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.