¡La Bella Barcelona!

Woooo!

I'm back from my first ever solo self-planned trip, and it was a big success!!! I was in Barcelona from Friday mid morning until noon today (Sunday). It was my first time flying completely alone, first time staying in a youth hostel, and first time being in Barcelona- I think I pulled it off pretty well. I learned a lot about dos and don'ts of traveling: what is cheap an what is not, which type of maps and transportation to use, and what types of attractions I prefer.

Barcelona is a beautiful city full of art and culture. The streets are lined by architecture in a wild conglomeration of Gothic, art nuvo, and modernist styles. There are so many more bright colors there than in Madrid. However, the subways seemed to be much more dirty and dark, and I think there was more air pollution because of the haze, but all in all it was really beautiful.

So, I flew to Barcelona on Friday, and met up with a few other girls from St. Louis U. to check in at our hostel. We then immediately headed for the beach! My first time on theMediterranean coast was great! The weather was perfect, the water was cool, and the surf was really strong. We sunned ourselves, swam out to one of the wave break points, and played in the waves. Then we walked down to olympic pier and took a look at the boats and fun architecture. My friend Yanan and I ended the day by going to the Picasso museum and the church of Santa Maria Del Mar where we were surprised to find a black tie wedding in process. We sat in for a while and I told Yanan (who is Chinese) about western wedding traditions. It was really fun. On our way back to the hostel we got caught up in a big parade of fire-breathing dragons and Samba drum corps jamming along the Rambla, it was pretty amazing.

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famous beach sculpture---------The Iglesia Santa Maria Del Mar

Saturday Yanan and I got up nice and early and began by exploring the Boqueria, the largest open air market in europe. It was full of fantastically fresh fruits, butcheries with every animal part possible, and seafood stands where lots of things were still attempting to crawl away. We then walked up the Rambla to the Paissage de Gracia where many of the famous architect Antoni Gaudi's works sit enthroned. We saw his Casa Batlló and Casa Míla (or La Pedera), going inside the latter to observe the ingenious attic and wacky rooftop. We then hiked out to Gaudí's cathedral La Sagrada Familia, wich I found eclectic, strange and cool. Next was the famous Parc Güell that Gaudí Designed to be an artists' colony and general haven of crazy art people, however only two buildings were ever completed on the grounds. The park is home to many grotto-like walkways, cool mosaic designs on everything, and the longest park bench in the world (a winding horseshoe shaped monstrosity). I then rounded out the Gaudí marathon with his Palau Güell, downtown on the Rambla, but this was sort of a dud as it was mostly under renovation and I could only go into the basement.

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The still-living at la Boqueria--- Me at the Casa Batlló de Gaudí

Most of my late afternoon and evening were spent wandering the galleries of the Palau Nacional de Arte Catalan, which houses a HUGE collection of Roman art along with Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and modern sections. I was especially fascinated by the modern sculptures and paintings(mostly from the 1800s to 1900s) that focused on women. It was intriguing to me to see how each artist interpreted the female figure and to imagine who the woman was and what she meant to the person sculpting or painting her. I spent about 4 hours here, so I really think I got my 5.5oE worth out of that.

I then met up with a few other girls to eat dinner and then to go thee the Font Magic, a huge fountain that does light and music shows all weekend long. It was really beautiful, and me and the girls had fun experimenting with taking pictures of it. (Jamie also had a nikon DSL camera so we compared notes on shutter speed and other dorky things.) We had a lot of fun posing as silhouettes against the background of the fountain. As we went back into the center of town the Mercé festival was still in full swing, and we saw many street performers and free concerts in progress. Why don't we have cool stuff like that in the U.S. of A.?

Me at the Font Mágic!

Here's the quote from Wikipedia about Mercé (I'm too lazy to write it out):

La Mercè is the "most important festival" of Barcelona(Catalonia, Spain). It has been an official city holiday since 1871, when the local government first organized a program of special activities to observe the Roman Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy. (In Catalan, La Mare de Déu de la Mercè -- The Merciful Mother of God; in Spanish, La Virgen de la Merced -- The Virgin of Mercy.) Although the actual date of the holiday is September 24th, the festivities begin a few days before.

Finally, on Sunday, I had a little extra time (since I didn't have to catch the bus to the airport until noon) so I went walking through the Barrí Gótic (Gothic area). I saw the main cathedral of Barcelona: Catedral de Santa Creu, which happened to have ducks in its courtyard, for some reason. It also had a little chapel dedicated to Santa Lucia, who happens to be the patron saint for the day I was born... Made a mental note to google her. I also took pictures of the Palau de Musica Catalan, a famous concert hall with great fun architecture. As a whirlwind way to end my trip I did a fast as I could search through Parc Montjuic, looking for the 1992 Olympic stadium. I found it just in time to snatch a picture or two and hurry back by metro to the Hostel to check out.

All in all, I got to see everything I wanted to and more. I spent money, but not inordinate amounts. And I count myself successful as a whole. I made a list of the top 10 things i learned in Barcelona while waiting for the plane to Madrid, here they are:

1. Hostels are places with more amenities than camping, but many many less than a dorm room.
2. Speaking your language in a place where you feel intelligent, articulate, and well-understood is a very big luxury.
3. During 120lb girl vs. Mediterranean sea- The Mediterranean always wins.
4. When you trip, stop and see why it was that you fell so that you don't do it 2 more times and skin your knees like a 5-year-old!
5. Ignoring your tired feet and keeping on going is always the right decision (when traveling)
6. Where (>) means better than, cleaner, nicer, and generally greater: Madrid Metro > Barcelona Metro
7. Fish sellers look at you funny if you take pictures of their still-wriggling wares.
8. My level of irritability is directly proportional to how hungry I am (more than any other factor)
9. Apparently, if you get married in a UNESCO world heritage site church, random tourists can sit in on your black-tie wedding. (I did.)
10. If you wait long enough people will always get out of your photo frame! :)

Well, That's All I have for now. Longest post yet I think. Check out the rest of the pictures on Facebook (when it decides to work and let me upload them)!

I Love and miss you all! I wish you all could have been there with me!

<3

A

Art and Fun

Hello!

If you read my earlier posts you probably know that I'm in a few art classes while here in Spain: one on drawing one on design. I've been doing some work that I'm actually sort of proud of, so I thought I might just post it up on here and let you guys see it!

In my drawing class we have weekly asignments on top of the projects we are working on in class (which are charcol and very messy), but for these we get to do them with a lot more freedom of medium and subject. Last weeks was to make a "comic" or graphic story, using different viewpoints in each frame. I did mine about a daydream I've often had when walking home at night in the winter, through a certain plaza at Butler. It's fantastical and sweet, and I'm rather enamored with it. It's two pages, and in Spainish, so here's a vocab key:

El Ensueño = the Daydream
*suspiro*= *sigh* (I coundn't find an ontomopia for this in Spanish)

Biblioteca = Library

¿MH?= small sound of suprise (hopefully translated)

Fin= the end

So here are the two pages, you may need to view them bigger to be able to read it...

1 and... 2

I hope you think the story makes sense!

I also have just had an asignment for Design that entailed designing a logo for yourself that defined who wou are and what you stood for. I decided to make mine an upside-down heart (which is an idea i've had before) because to me it symbolizes unselfish love, or "agape", which is something I try to live my life with. I also put olive branches, because I believe in nonviolence and cooperation (as well as for it's biblical association with God's hope and promises). And at the bottom an 'A', for obvious reasons, and because it begins the words that I want the logo to symbolize. Here's a Jpeg of the logo:

I can't get the color to be quite right, it should be a dark purple, but whatever, you get the idea.

Well, there you have it! I'm going to Barcelona tomorrow, so watch for a post about that Sunday or monday!!!

I love you all, Take care!

A

The Beautiful Sierra Madrid, Among other things

Hello, friends and family!

This has been a lovely weekend, full of new experiences and interesting stories!

I went out salsa dancing on Thursday and enjoyed myself, while also feeling a little bit inadequate for my feeble salsa skills, minimal meringue experience, and absolutely no bachata knowledge.

Friday my host sister threw a party and I got to meet a lot of her friends and hang out with them for the night! I also got to hear some jazz in a little bar downtown, so that was pretty cool, though I missed dancing Swing more than I can possibly say.

Saturday night was the "Noche en Blanco". A Madrid arts festival that happens out in downtown with all the museums staying open and the botanical gardens, and live concerts (more jazz)! I think about half of the full population was out there on the streets. It was pretty cool.

Today, I went on a trip to tour around the Sierra de Madrid, the mountain range north of Madrid proper. It's really beautiful, with very old, but not very tall mountains. I'd really like to go back there to hike the area. We also went to see a medieval castle near the mountains called the Piedrazos (lots of big rocks). It was great!

This is the Medieval Castle, Castillo de Manzanares El Real.

These are the tallest mountains in the area, so pretty!

The Monastery in the mountains that we visited- very pretty.

See the full album on Facebook! It'll be a busy week, and I go to Barcelona on Friday, but hopefully I'll be able to talk to some of you I haven't heard from yet!

Love to all of you!

A

Things I've Learned So Far While Living In Spain...

Here's a fun little list for your amusement: the things I've learned during the past 3 weeks about life, the universe, and studying abroad.

1. Taking a deep breath, a nap, and/or eating something always helps in a stressful situation.
2. When linguistically in doubt, mutter what you think you're trying to say and hope somebody makes out enough to understand you.
3. The weather in Madrid is apparently just about as bipolar/manic-depressive as the weather in Indiana.... oh well.
4. Finding people who want to do exactly what you want to do is a lot harder than it sounds.
5. Don't go to the park alone after 8pm, or anywhere near dusk, the creepers will descend.
6. Americans are generally idiots when it comes to going out at night, reading maps, and communicating in foreign languages. Making an effort at it sets you apart from the pack.
7. While having your meals served to you and your bed made for you are great, living with a host family means even less privacy than living in a dorm.
8. Money goes away fast. No, I mean like really fast, like Roadrunner with Wiley Coyote on his tail kinda fast.
9. Mom is always the one you end up having a freak-out in front of, even when she's thousands of miles away.
10. Booking flights online is akin to Napoleon's conquest of Russia: success is doomed to be marginal at best.
11. Comfort doesn't always come in the package you think it will.
12. Walking the tightrope of what you want versus what is good for you is the greatest challenge in life, especially when you're not exactly sure which is which.

I'm going to the Sierra De Madrid on Sunday, and Barcelona next weekend, so stay tuned for more updates!

Much love,

A

Reina Sofia y Parque del Buen Retiro

I have just returned from a few hours out in Madrid, at the Reina Sofia modern art museum and the Buen Retiro park in downtown Madrid.

I took my old camera so that I'd have a few pictures but, it's definetly not as good as my new one. At La Reina Sofia, there were walls and walls of Picassos, in fact a whole wing dedicated to the Guernica and his practicing and plans for it. For those that don't know, the Guernica is the huge black and white painting Picasso did in memorial of the Spanish civil war and its atrocities. Above is a drawing he did called "study of crying face", or something to that effect. There was a lot of art based around the civil war, and some very graphic photography in a nearby gallery. I never realized what a modern war it was, with photographers capturing the whole thing. It made me want to read about the civil war and learn more about what happened. The Guernica is a fascinating painting, but really the whole subject is worth exploration.

Also very cool at the Reina Sofia was a temporary exhibit by an artist called Matthew Buckingham called "Time Proxies", it was a series of audiovisual installments and was very interesting. One room was completely full of what looked like the contents of an estate sale piled to the ceiling and in the center of it all was a little niche where a video was playing and you could sit on the wrapped up couches and listen to the little piece. It was about portraits and what portraits do, that they represent us, affirm our existence, demand that people pay attention to us, and allow us a window into each other than is otherwise forbidden. It was fascinating.

After spending about two hours in the Reina Sofia, they closed and I resolved to return another sunday (when it's always free). I bought a bocadillo(sandwich) of Tortilla Española (a potato-omelet ish thing that is the best effing stuff in the world) and carried it into Madrid's largest and most intricate park: Parque del Buen Retiro. This is a lovely space filled with broad walks and shady lanes accompanied by man made brooks and ponds. Its the sort of place you need to have all your family or a bunch of friends with you to have a picnic and then go rowing on the big pond. There is also a glass palace "palacio de crystal" and many ponds full of fish and ducks to feed. I would have loved this place as a child.

Also, since I had my camera with me, I snapped a few pictures of the area where I live on my way home. So you can catch those on facebook! I have lots going on this coming week, so here's hoping it goes well!

Love you all!

A

¡Toledo!

I've just returned from the beautiful city of Toledo!

I had a great time today, although a little stressful because of learning my way around the train station, and then navigating the city without a good map. But the trip was fun and I enjoyed it very much!

We took the Renfe Avante train, which gets to Toledo much faster than a bus. I really liked it because the Train is bigger and more comfortable than any plane and much faster than a bus. I hope I get the chance to take it more. The trip to Toledo was very short and cheap: 15 euros for round trip, and only a half hour on the train. I ended up going with people after all, even though I was planning to go by myself. My housemate Rachel and her friends Mary and Ellen both came and our mutual friend Neil.

When we got there we walked into the city which was cool because we got to see the medieval city walls and the alcazar, which was originally a medieval muslim fort, and then was converted into a palace when the reconquista came through Toledo.

We first stopped at the art museum Santa Cruz, which was not showing its usual famous Greco paintings, in favor of a collection by a modern artist (I was a fan, El Greco and renaissance art never really appealed to me). The building was beautiful though, as all of them were in Toledo.

Toledo is one of Spain's really excellent examples of the mixing of the three cultures of medieval Spain: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The Cathedral is all Gothic splendor as in many Spanish cities, but the city walls sport keyhole arches and the synagogues are all heavily influenced by Moorish architecture. (above is a Photo of the inside of the synagogue santa Maria La Blanca, which was a synagog converted to a church during the unification and then restored but still owned by a church, thus the mix-match name)

Toledo was also host to one of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish civil war, during which

Franco bombed it from the hills. There are still many places where you can see that reconstruction was done.

I think my favorite place was the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. It was where Isabella and Ferdinand were supposed to be buried, but when they conquered Granada back from the Moors, they decided to be buried there as a show of confidence in their intent to hold the south of Spain forever more. It's a really ornate place with a beautiful courtyard full of fruit trees and flowering bushes. Here's one of many pictures:

Toledo's high on a hill position also offers great panoramic views of the Spanish countryside. It was really beautiful. I found myself thinking on more than one occasion as I gazed out over miles and miles of serene vistas, "Maybe Spain just goes on forever... wouldn't that be nice?"

Well, If you want to see more of these places and all, go to my facebook! (There there are pictures that actually have me in them) They are actually really great. There is some great photography in Toledo.

Well, until next time, I'll try to stay low-stress and figure out more plans.-Traveling makes my head split sometimes!-

Love to all!

A

Itinerary! Who wants to help?

Hi Everyone!

I've been thinking a lot about my plans to travel in these last few days, and I thought I'd share my excitement for my plans with all of you and see if anyone has any suggestions about what to do or how to get there!

Here's my plans!

This Weekend:

A day trip to Toledo, home of Spanish sword making! Then a Sunday in Madrid at the Reina Sofia Modern Art Museum (home to Picasso's Guernica). Should be very fun.

Next weekend:

A day trip to the Sierra de Madrid Mountain range with my school group. Looking forward to the outdoorsiness.

Barcelona:

September 25th-27th

I expect to stay in a hostel and would like to concentrate on the art scene aspect of the city while i'm there. I don't have as much time as I'd like there, so I need to streamline my sightseeing.

Prague:

October 9th-12th

I'm having trouble finding cheap flights for this trip so the more free and dirt cheap things I can do while there, the better. Again, art and architecture are my main points of interest here.

Paris:

November 6th-9th

I'm so stoked to finally see the most famous place in Europe (or that's the way it seems). I know that I MUST hit the Louvre and the "Tour Eiffel", besides that I might need some suggestions for fun: window-shopping, and cheap good eating sound really good.

Brussels/Brugge:

November 27th-29th

I'm hoping for crisp fall weather to be the perfect backdrop for this trip. I have no idea what to expect from Belgium except beautiful cities and great waffles, and i'm not sure if I should stay in Brussels and take a day trip to Brugge or the other way around. (I have to fly into Brussels regardless) I'd like to get a feel for the culture of the place on this trip. Suggestions?

Italy Tour!

December 4th-8th

This is my longest trip and the one I am most excited to plan. I'm thinking I'm going to fly to Rome and then get an Italy 3 day Euro-rail pass and go from Rome to Florence to Venice and then fly home from Venice. It'll be a great adventure, I just hope I have the planning capacity to do it!

Well, that's the current plan. It's gonna take a lot of money, and if I have any left i'll probably just travel some more with it. Oh, and One of my classes has a Trip attached to it... It may actually conflict with one of these I realize... I don't know how that's going to turn out. I'll keep you posted! For now, though, let me know what you think of all this!

Love you all,

A

Traveling is Difficult!

Ok. I need to vent just a little bit about my problems with planning my travels while here. The thing is I have a list of places I really want to go, and only a limited amount of money with which to go there. Right now I am feeling a little stir crazy because all the people i've met here are taking off this weekend to go to places that I don't particularly want to go to, but I feel left out staying at home and going on like a day-trip by myself. I don't know how to be sure to get to go where i want and also be able to make friends and have people to travel with... Its just making me tired right now. It's so much effort to figure all of this out. Also, I really want to do some of the advanced latin dance class, but this makes it hard for me to travel with people who are able to leave on a thursday night instead of a friday night. I feel like I am the only one trying to ration my money and that everyone else is being very rash and flighty about thier plans, and i mean that's one way to travel, but i'd really rather know that I will have money enough to do what I plan to do later. It's not that I'm too cautious or too penny-pinching, it's just that I don't like to live for the moment, I like to live with the bigger picture in mind. I guess that is just something that is hard to communicate to my peers... Its a tough toss up. I don't really know what to do apart from try to do what seems right to me, for my travel plans... oh, well...

¡Segovia!

Hello everyone!

I just got back from my visit to Segovia, which is an ancient Roman city about an hour and a half north of Madrid. In the picture we're standing in front of the famous Roman aqueduct that brought water to the city over 2000 years ago. (pictured are myself, Ian, and Annie. All SLU visiting students.)

Segovia is really really beautiful and very historical. There are still remnants of the time when the time near the Inquisition when the Muslims and Jews where forced to leave Spain or convert to Catholicism. There are still neighborhoods where the "former" jews lived separate from the "former" muslims and the christian aristocracy. In fact, in the special neighborhood for the christians women deemed too beautiful were not allowed to live within the walls because of causing "temptations"!

The big attractions in Segovia, besides the Roman aqueduct and roman churches, are the Gothic Cathedral, and the palace or Alcazar. It has those small winding streets that are so characteristic of Europe, and is set atop a hill/cliff surrounded by two rivers which used to protect it from attack by other kingdoms before Spain was united by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Even with the unification, people where not all for becoming one nation. A hero from Segovia called Juan el Bravo was the leader of one of these resistance movements and remains famous to this day, even though the revolt was a failure and its leaders where executed.

The Alcazar claims to be Walt Disney's inspiration for the Disney logo, but i have heard this about several palaces, to me it was just really cool to get to go to the top of the tower and see out over all of Segovia.

You can see complete photo album on my Facebook page, but here are a few teaser images:

Annie and I outside the Alcazar

Segovia from the top of the Alcazar tower

Juan el Bravo, still remembered

Love you guys,

A

¡Decisiones, Decisiones!

The first few days of class have been interesting so far! I had to switch around a few classes, and there may still be some switching to be done. Sadly, my class on Spanish Romanticism had a pre-requisite that I didn't have and would have deterred my learning in the class, so i had to switch to another spanish class. Now i'm taking a shorter Dance class and right after it, a course in Spanish Culture and Civilization. It is also a 400-level so still very hard and all in Spanish, but i think that i can do it. Incidentally, I may just drop the Dance class and try to take the more advanced version that meets on Friday afternoons.- I really want to take this class, it is fantastic! I would learn more Tango, Salsa, and other cool things like latin jazz and at the end i would get to choreograph my own piece!- the only problem is that this would cut into my travel time because i would no longer have a full three-day weekend. I would leave on Thursday and come back Sunday. I think I can make this work though, because where else am I going to get this experience? But you all know me, I like to ask a bunch of people before i make up my mind about this sort of thing, so consider this me ask you what you think I should do? ( I can also take this class as an "activity" and go only when I want too, but then I have to pay 90 euros... which sounds, well, reasonable but a lot nonetheless.)

So, I just got back from going to sign up for information on extra-curricular activities. There is a theatre club, and they are putting on a play that i could audition for, but the thing is, I really want to do some other things too, and I'll be doing theatre the rest of my life- maybe now is time to stay away... dunno. Anyway, the things I really really want to do (with the School) are learn Soccer (Futbol), and do this advanced Dance class. That should leave me enough time to do the separate things I want to do, like go hiking with my host father, and go paint in the park. If i can fit in teaching English i will, but I don't know. Also, if I have the time and money, going on the school scuba diving trip and kayaking trip would be cool.

what do you all think? does this sound like a good plan? too much? am I crazy? (yes, we knew this.) But, yeah. Let me know your thoughts.- And if you don't have a google account to post on this with, get one! it's easy and there should be a link on my page somewhere.

well, I'm going out for Tapas tonight with the school, but not staying out late, because I have the trip to Segovia in the morning!

This is Arco De La Victoria, in Arguelles Neighborhood of Madrid. I live very near this famous landmark, like behind the trees to the right, in a building much like the brick one in the background.

!Hasta Luego!

[Until Later!]

All My Love,

A

First Days

So, in these past few days I've been going to Orientation at SLU Madrid. It's fine, but very basic. mostly time for us to meet the other students and make friends and contacts. I really haven't learned anything revolutionary yet!

My host family is headed by Marta Garcia de Dios, a very nice señora with ten grown children (three still living here at her house: Silvia, Jorge, and Beatriz). The food is excellent here. All light, lots of bread, salad with olive oil and vinegar, and rice. Jorge is very close to our age and has been giving us advice on where to go out and where the other students hang out, he's great! My roommates from America are Rachel from SLU in St. Louis, and Katie from Loyola Marymount in L.A. They are very nice and we've been walking the city together and trying to get over our jetlag...

I speak the most Spanish of most of the people I've met at SLU Madrid, so that's a bit surprising but fine. I'm doing a lot of translating in our house and helping people cope when we're out on the streets.

Well, the first day of school is tomorrow. I don't have classes on Friday, so it's also my last day of class this week. Friday though there are a few socials for the students, we can sign up for clubs and sports and then go out for tapas later. (Tapas are like little appetizers that come free when you order a drink at a bar- it's a very Spanish thing.) I'm thinking of joining the Photography club, maybe going to the Film club movies sometimes, and I'd like to join Soccer club so I can learn to play finally! There is also an opportunity to teach English as a part-time job and I think I'd like to do that if I have enough time, maybe just twice a week if I can. What do you guys think?

Well, today we went on a short trip to Aranjuez, an old palace south of Madrid famous for its gardens. It's where the Kings and Queens of Spain used to go for spring or fall. It was built by Francisco the second, I think, and expanded by Charles the 3rd- The first a Hapsburg King of Spain, and the second a Bourbon, if I remember correctly. It was very pretty but i forgot to bring my camera that morning so I don't have any pictures of my own. Here's one from the Internets ;) :

This is the palace itself. We didn't go inside.

This is one of the Gardens. They where beautiful, but full of mosquitos. It was not so fall-like today, but very hot and summer-y.

Fun Fact of the Day:

I learned today that the word for the animal "duck" in Spanish is "pata". Which I find hilarious because "Pata" is the word used for the feet of animals, like "paws" in English. So it's like the Spaniards are saying that the duck's feet are the only memorable things about them! It think it's adorable, but maybe i'm just jetlaged and slap-happy. I've never liked ducks that much, but now i'm just so enamored with the idea of their cute little feet, I smile just thinking about them!

¡Patas!

Anyway... So, I'm gonna list my clases on here, just in case you guys care...

Monday and Wednesday:

10-10:50am Advanced Oral Communication

2:30-5:15pm Drawing 1

Tuesday and Thursday:

10-10:50am Advanced Oral Communication

12:30-1:45pm Spanish Romanticism

2:30-5:15pm Latin Rhythms and Dance (Latin Ballroom)

6:00-8:45pm Design (art theory)

All of the above are in Spanish. Woot!

Well, I hope it goes well tomorrow! Take care everyone, I'll tell you next time i do anything interesting!

Much Love,

A

Intro!

Hello to all!

I've decided to start this blog so that i can let everyone see what I'm doing while i'm here in Spain. I'll post a few pictures and tell you about what I do that's interesting. You can let me know what you think, and give me advice on what else i should do!

So, essentially, here goes nothing.