Internet blocked in Egypt

Hey Everyone,

Please spread the word that as a response to people working towards democracy in Egypt, the government has SHUT DOWN access to internet and mobile phones.  Find out more information from this video.

Angela!

Can you help dad figure out how to comment on my blog?  He only knows how to email me all of his responses...

Dad really likes Skype.

Blackout

Second blackout at my flat in less than a week.  I am the only one with a flashlight (Thanks Dad).  The only things that are working are the TVs.  It must be some kind of media conspiracy.

In other news...
I've gotten a few more classes this week to fill some gaps in my timetable.  Hopefully a few more will filter in so that I can start paying my student loans :P  Good thing I went to grad school so that I could run away and be a vagabond.

The most unceremonious significant moment

Part of the reason that I want to stay in Spain is access to universal health care.  In the U.S., I didn't have insurance.  Even if I did, I certainly would not have been able to afford all of the medical transitioning  that I need.  Chest surgery runs upwards of $10,000.  


This morning I had my first doctor's appointment in Barcelona.  I was so nervous because I was going in to ask the doctor about tranny treatment and my Spanish isn't so good.  My stomach was churning and I thought I was going to spew everywhere.  The doctor was middle aged with a shock of white hair.  He was tall and had giant hands.  His office looked like....an office.  I felt like I was going in to ask for a mortgage.  I couldn't stop staring at his massive hands clicking away on his seemingly tiny keyboard on top of his giant desk.  
     "Estoy nervioso y no hablo mucho castellano" I said.
     "Entiendo.  Nerviosa.  Dime."
     "Soy transgenero...tengo un cuerpo feminina...feminino...pero entero es masculino."
     "Vale.  Se siente así desde que eras pequeño?"
     "Si."
That was that and then he gave me an appointment for an endocrinologist.  Now, I'm not sure if that means I've bypassed a psych evaluation or not and I'm not sure about what has to be done for surgery.  All I know is that I see my endocrinologist on February 9 at 12:45 pm.  

New photos from Tres Reis

Check out my web album on the left for new photos and videos of the Tres Reis celebration in Girona!

Care Package Extravaganza

After waddling home from the buffet at Wok Dao, what should be waiting at my place but more things to eat! Thanks family for sending me the best care package ever!!!! I am still trying to learn enough Spanish to navigate the post office here so I can send you some goodies.

NYE 2010

New Year's Eve was pretty fun even though I didn't have a hot thing to kiss this year.  I was with Italians the whole night which is always fun.

Around 6 pm I went to my friend Giovanna's place for dinner and drinks.  She had a ton of people visiting.  I was the only American and there was one Spaniard and everyone else was from Italy.  Duke came, of course, and was showered with affection.  They were all incorrigible and could not stop giving him treats.  The little bastard was spoiled rotten and consequently had diarrhea the next day.

After the Italians, I ran over too Plaza Catalunya to meet Reina and her beau.  The Spanish New Year's tradition is to eat 1 grape per second for the first 12 seconds of the new year.  I failed horribly at this.  First off, the grapes I was sold were not the seedless New Year's grapes...they were gigantic globe grapes with seeds.  Second, half of them were inedible and squished.  No regrets, however, as this made for an even funnier first time attempt at this tradition.

Next was food.  We were all a little hungry so squirmed through the crowded streets until we found an open tapas place.  Everything was fried and covered in oil, per usual.  We all went home after that at about 2 am.

As soon as I got in my pjs and snuggled under the blankets, my Italian roommate called and coerced me into coming out again. I shuffled over to the Hard Rock Cafe half asleep.  We wandered around La Rambla for a while, hung out at a café, then headed over to Raval again since she and her friend were hungry. We ran into another Italian from the first party of the night at a kebab place and he took us to a bar that was open until 6 am.  They had a DJ playing American rock fro the '50s.  The music was good, the people were beautiful, and the drinks were free, but I was spent and we headed home around 5:30.

Needless to say, Duke and I laid in bed all of Saturday and vegged out on Rome.