Well today was great, it was international free ice cream day for ben and jerry's. After spanish class thats what I did for about two hours. Get a gracious scoop, leave the store, go to the end of the line and repeat as many times as desired.

It was quite sunny today so ice cream seemed to fit really well. Later some of my friends joined me and aided in my ice cream hoarding. Then it was time for some good food at mastero churreo. Felicia is nearing her last days in madrid so we had lunch at her favorite spot.

After much time spent in the sun having lunch and some laughs with some friends we returned for on last round of ice cream before heading our respective ways. I returned home and relaxed for a while, music , guitar, the usual before the kids arrived.

Today was really hot, we decided that today was great for a water balloon fight. Miguel and I prepared most of the ammunition while Gonzalo and Sofia were at Tenis practice.

Before I tell you about the rest of the evening, I want to mention something about the kids, something i havnt done and really need to do:

Miguel-13
Oldest of the group, very funny. He is always singing, dancing, acting like a fool during class and the rest of the time. Really into futbol, loves real madrid and christiano ronaldo. Very self motivated and outgoing. Likes to explore the boundries of things every now and again; he thinks thats ok because with out doing some things life would be boring-which he is absolutely correct.

Sofía-12
Great, doesnt sit aside and let the two brothers boss her around. Loves to play tenis and is really into fashion. Very creative and likes to tell me jokes or things she has made up at the beginnings of class. Can be a little shy at times, like when she doesnt want to do english. But if we talk about something fun or something she likes and cant get her stop.

Gonzalo-9
Younger, most creative and expresive kids in the house. Loves to have fun, speak english, learn new things. Taken quite a liking to getting piggy back rides everywhere and setting the table. Really into futbol as well, lives to be outside and create new games. Always wants to do new things and always remember to remind me of things we are supposed to be doing(making muffins, pancakes, water balloon fights, etc)

We filled a good amount of balloons and filled the rest when Sofía and Gonzalo returned. This was soon filled with the normal riff raft the goes along with water, kids, and an immature adult.

We set off for quite the battle that I will remember for quite some time. Sometimes the balloons didnt break but made for good hunting and revenge. Miguel came out with actually the two best shots of the day. The first, I was chasing him down. He is quite a fast kids so it took some time to catch up. As soon as I got close he turned around and threw the balloon in a last ditch effort. It struck me so hard in the face it put me off balance.

Now for the second throw and something quite fantastic yet not the best. We were filling the last round of balloons after we had already extinguished our previous supply. Miguel made his small and wanted to make a bigger one. Ok fine with me. He wanted to throw it to the neighbors house but I said no to the street, we heard someone speaking. Miguel motioned, should i throw it? Well sure enough it goes over the bushes; you hear the water balloon break and someone yell coño(what the fuck in spanish).

We disappeared fast. This lady was furious she was looking in the yard, the kids had retreated inside and were looking out from the balcony and windows. Miguel made eye contact with a very upset woman. Irene either knew or saw this happened and went and talked with the lady. Not sure what was said and dont really want to know.

The kids and I just cant stop laughing about it, the fact that Miguel threw it, it actually hit the lady. This opened up a whole new window of things to talk about. Oh one last story that Miguel wanted me to share just in case anyone thinks its as funny as I did.

About a week ago Miguel was studding down in his room, he must put his whole brain process into it because of the next event that happened. He went to use the bathroom, the laundry bin was open which is quite near the toilet. Not paying any attention, starts peeing in the laundry. He said it was a good ten fifteen seconds before he realized what he was doing.

He didnt tell anyone right away. He waited until dinner time when it was just me and the kids. When he told me this I was only half paying attention and half eating. As soon as he got the the peeing part I choked on what ever I was eating at the time. We have had some good times and have been sharing a lot of stories. Things couldnt be much better

We Can Do It, We're Obama

Now I havnt heard something funny like that in a while since im apart from the US politics. But the hysterical part is that the nine year old here, Gonzalo said that to me. No I dont know all that they teach here but it must be pretty good if a nine year old knows the campian slogan for a president of another country.

With that said I feel like I havent been on here in a while so I need to catch up. Whenever im in Madrid(especially since it sunny) girls have been appearing everywhere. While Im not complaning about that in the least bit, but the amount of tube tops that I keep seeing kills me. A definitely have seen them on a lot more english speaking girls but many spanards as well.

Im not sure weather it the fact that they are incredible tight so it appears to be cutting off the upper torso of your body. They just haunt me and some reason I just cant stand them and they should have left with the 90's. Oh, especialy jean tube tops, quite repulsive on all levels.

Well in other news, the sun how been out in full force in Madrid and things have been nice. Its continually getting hotter every other day. This past weekened, well two days ago I went to Salamanca in the west of Spain. Very nice little town full of cultural. All the buildings appear to be hundreds of years old. It was very nice and I enjoyed it a lot.

Got to see some interesting things there, I was introduced so something that sound and smeels quite disgusting. Callimocho fifty fifty mix of cheap red wine and coke. Im usually up for trying new things; drinks, foods, adventures, naked activities, but this drink doesnt appetize me in the least bit.

No, Salamanca was great, sunny out the whole time, got to relax in the sun near a cathedral, got to see the work of students at the university.(They had to help design the school building, and for revenge for having to do it they put up a nice bit of man jackin' it. Great stuff, probably why kids are not incharge of a lot of things at their schools.

I will be posting pictures soon, great place, fun time but bed is needed now

La Ladrona de Mi Vida

I have returned and recovered from a great weekend in Granada. No set back, no troubles, just me and the beautiful city of Granada. I couldn't be happier. Granada is a beautiful city in the south of Spain. Its a perfect mix of nature, culture, and visually stimulating sites.

I arrived in Granada Friday afternoon after what I would call a very successful night in Madrid. It was Brittany's and Sheila's going away party. We went on a bar crawl which is a great way to spend a night. You pay the sum of 10 euros(the first time), I was upset about that until I learned that in every bar we got a free shot and drink deals, so rather good investment.

As you all now how a bar crawl works/night of drinking I need not to explain. A couple interesting affairs. We wound up at a transvestite bar, quite interesting and fucking terrifying at the same time. At the second or third bar I met a very nice bar tender. No that I think back on the night, im sure that the bar tender was laughing and talking to me because I was trying to hit on her in Spanish. Maybe not the best idea but it sounded good at the time.

After the whole night out, I made it to the bus station early that morning. Everything still in quite a haze, found my seat on the bus and passed out immediately on the seat in front of me. Didnt wake up until the bus came to a jerking stop at a rest area. I woke up and was immediately disappointed, I was still drunk and felt disgusting.

After another hours or so I finally arrived in Granada. Luckily when I stepped outside it was beautiful, warm and sunny. I opted to do some exploring before finding my hostel. Found some ice cream and a park and relaxed. I dont know if I have mentioned this before, if so to bad you have spend your time reading it again. THe display if ice cream here in spain in a completely unique art form.

Something about the display of colors, flavors, and well over all presentation. I turn into a drooling three year old who begs his mom for some. Best part is I dont have to beg anyone, I just accept the fact that I should experience every flavor in every store. Though Granada was a short trip, I believe I purchased eight ice cream cones.

Next travel to my hostel which is up a small street with local vendors and bars. It was so realiving to have a break from the juge city and see self run stores, handmade crafts and fresh herbs. One thing that caught my eye was the various hookah bars throughout the city.

If anyone every winds up in Granada stay at the Oasis Backpacker's Hostel. Such a nice place, friendly staff, set up well to meet others traveling and you receive a free welcome drink. After checking in, I proceeded to take another walk since I was being gifted with sunshine(It was supposed to rain all weekend).

I felt the need to get familiar with the city and to find little interesting things that can easily be missed. Luckily I know of one great way to do this, go get yourself completely lost and find your way back. One of the first thing that I stumbled upon was the mirador de San Nicolas.

This is a truly magical spot. You get to ponder on all of the best sites of Granada in one. You are directly across from the Alhambra witnessing it's absolute magnificence, stare at the Sierra Nevada hovering over the Alhambra in the background, view the rest of the city and all of it's surrounding nature.

This is were I spent most of my free time, sitting, watching, loving. Another plus is I always sat and listened to the locals play flamenco style guitar. Later I found out that its actually illegal for them to play and sell items in San Nicolas because they dont have a permit.

I found this out when the cops showed up and all of the locals grabbed everything and were gone in about two seconds.

Not much else happened this time around, I just got to relax and enjoy the views of a truly beautiful city, one that I could easily live in for many years. Wait thats a lie, I went to the Alhambra which is absolutely magnificent. I will post pictures for all you to ponder if you wish

Well things cant get much...oh wait they just did

Well its been a while since I last wrote and now its time for me to vent and calm the fuck down. Things for the most part were going relatively smooth. Im in spanish classes right now. They are in the morning which is perfect. They get me up early and into the city of Madrid.

This weekend Im going to Granada in the South of Spain. When I bought my tickets I thought I was going alone but it turns out that about for others are coming, so this should be fun. One relatively small upset is that its supposed to rain all this weekend. Not that big of deal and luckily I brought my rain coat.

Tonight will be a fun night, Sheila and Brittany leave Sunday to return to the states and since a good amount of people wont be here this weekend we are having a grand going away party night out in Madrid. Things should work out well, hang out all night and have fun and then catch my bus to Granada at 8:30 and get some shut eye. Ya for the most part things are looking up however I want to take this time to touch on a subject Ive mentioned before.

Luck, some people just dont have the bust luck with things. I dont know if its because they put themselves out there a lot so you have a greater chance of having your number picked out of the hat. Well a reoccurring theme in Europe is when I travel things must go wrong. No matter how hard I try, plan in advance, it always leaves my cursing loudly and self loathing.

Last Sunday I was buying my bus tickets from ALSA a bus company over here. Ive used them a couple times before and things have been fairly good. Well when I was buying the tickets, when I would push the finalize payment button the next screen would appear as an error. This happened multiple times, quite frustrated but still with a bit of self control I would make myself wait about twenty minutes between transactions.

I would be checking my bank account and my email accounts to see if the payment went through. I never received any confirmation emails, nothing. So after a couple hours I had to go teach english and finally after lessons and dinner I tried one last time. Finally success, the ticket appeared on the screen and I had received confirmation emails.

Feeling great relief I treated myself to extra hour of sleep that night. When I awoke I checked my emails to see if any of the language assistance had emailed me for plans for the day. I have new messages only from PayPal, an online service I use to purchase a lot of things.

All these messages say I have sent payments to ALSA. Goddammit, I checked my bank account and sure enough those transactions went through, however I still to this day havnt received any confirmation email.

Normally you could just cancel your ticket online, it would cost you nothing. Well since I used PayPal, the only way to view my tickets and change/cancel them is by using the locator number giving on the ticket. Great, I never received any of those tickets, nor emails so I dont have shit.

I have sent three emails to the company about this problem and still awaiting a single reply. Now Im gonna ask Irene my host mom to talk with the company and figure this shit out. I need it figured out because my tickets are for tomorrow, if I dont get it done today, I will lose all that other money. So now Im waiting for her to get home and hopefully come to some sort of conclusion with the conundrum.

If things couldnt get just a little bit more stressful, I was taking money out of the ATM on my way home. Same machine Ive always used and now I hate it. I went to withdraw money and entered my amount, pushed okay. It just went back to the welcome screen like always, gave me my card, but of course no receipt and no money.

Its not that I dont have money in my account because I do, I went inside and explained my problem, I gave her all of my information and she will look to see if thing are correct or wrong at the end of the day. She also suggested trying it again. So I did and this time it said it cant accept my card. This usually happens when you dont have sufficient funds in your account, which leads me to believe that the first transaction went through.

Now I wait til my bank opens, get in contact with them and try to figure all these problems out before class today and before I have to pack to leave for Granada. Ugh, hopefully some day soon Ill get a break from all this...

Ireland pt 3

Hopefully if I get my act together this will be the last entry for Ireland. Alright I believe we left off as I was going to the concert. Well this venue in the Queens University Student Union is hands down my favorite venue.

The venue is called the Speakeasy Bar, a bar on the second story of the student union and only accessible by one staircase. Walked into the room to a huge bar, average bar stage and lounge area. I was one of the first their but really surprised to see that no more than thirty people came to this show.

Everyone was just hanging out, getting a drink, and waiting for the bands to start; usual routine. I was itching to know who The Lawrence Arms where playing with because when I checked it was a mystery. Mystery's can either be good or bad; how Santa clause gets to everyone's house in one night-good mystery. Thinking about how much/kinds of information our government hides from us-terrifying.

These bands that played the show: Snitch, Leap for Leanin, Under Stars and Gutters and another band that I cant quite remember and its killing me. Anyways these are all local bands to Ireland who have been on the UK tour with Larry Arms.

All these bands where quite good, Snitch was sub par; nothing to special. Under Stars and Gutters were sweet as hell, and the others were quite satisfying as well. Then Larry Arms was up, I felt like I was six years old again going to the carnival for the first time. Ya all the rides were great but there was one that stood out above the rest. The carpet ride, anyone that has been to the missoula fair knows what im talking about. I had climbed the huge stair case and was anxiously awaiting the huge plunge.

There I was standing a foot away from the stage, from my dreams. Every song that they played was absolutely amazing. They put together such a good set, not much more that I could ask for. Well thats a lie, I would ask that the four kids standing next to me; screaming brenand's name, pointed, pulling on brendan, and other obnoious things the whole would have dissipated.

It's not that they were ruining the show, well actually a couple of times they were. If he would come close those kids would grab him and not let go, try to play his bass and cause accidents. Twice they caused brendan to smash into something, once the rail and the other the stage. The stage collision was bad, he was trying to get back up on stage when everyone was holding on to him, he had to jerk away from them, causing him to fall subject to the laws of gravity and smash at into solids at a velocity derived from the force of separation.

I felt terrible for him because he just had to give the kids a look and keep playing. However in that dramatic display of g-forces he dropped his pick which is now in my possession. There last song that they played was "Like a Record Player." One of my heart songs and one that many of my and I hold sacred. If things couldn't go any better I ended up with the set list from the show, meeting the band, getting pictures with them and hanging out for a bit.

If I were to do that trip again and would run into the same or more troubles on the next time around I would. It only cost me about $100 extra dollars to stay in Irland for another day, which in my case is an excellent trade off.

Now most of you think that this story has come to an end but its not over yet. After we finally got kicked out of the bar, I went and got some warm food to hold me over through the night. I had no place to stay and a plane that left at seven. After I finished eating it was a quarter til' 1. With no plans I headed to the bus stop, on the way to there I was stopped by a local gent named Neil. He was looking for his two lady friends in pink dresses. I had not seen them at all and felt quite bad for a while.

We talked for about a half hour about the US and all the people he knows there and visits quite often, he ended up giving me his number so that if I ever make it back to Ireland he would like to show me around the town. After impairing his search I headed off to the bus station which was closed. After asking a lot of questions I found where the bus's pick up. I waited for almost an hour and still no bus came for either airport(Dublin, Belfast International).

Well just fantastic, not much could go wrong now. I sat planning how long I can wait for the bus before I need to start walking. I knew the general direction and it would take a couple hours to get their. There is no way that I would take a cab because it would be over fifty pounds to get there and thats a huge waste of money.

Choosing to wait out the cold in hope for a bus at sat thinking; what would the immigration desk lady be thinking of me right now, possibly getting stuck in Ireland for a couple more days and the landslide of questions being thrown at me when someone said my name. It was Neil, he was getting a cab from the taxi service across the street from the bus stop.

He came over and chatted for a bit. He told me I might have a problem with going to the airport this early, Belfast has a no fly time from 2-6 and at least the city airport closes down. He offered me his house for a couple hours and then I could take a cab to the airport.

I didnt really want to go cause I would still have to pay for a cab which is a hundred times more expensive than the bus. Somehow through the arguing he must have figured that I didnt have money, he offered to pay for my cab back to the airport. Oh I left out one thing, he was looking to travel somewhere new in the US so he was glad that he met me so that he could go to Montana. Eventually he said, dont worry about me paying for things, you can just repay me by showing me around in Montana if I make it there.

Well that finally convinced me, it was cold as hell outside, no bus's had came and now I had a warm place to go for a few hours and a free ride to the airport. Neil was really nice, on the way to his house he was pointing out and telling me all about the buildings Belfast.

Back out his house he was real kind, gave me some food to eat; we sat and talked about things over beers for the next couple of hours. He told all about his life and how he worked in radio for many year and showed me footage of the radio show he did for Y2K.

It was really nice to sit and have a drink and relax for a bit before I needed to leave. Around 530 he called me a cab and we said our goodbyes. This flight was going to go smoothly, I was early to the airport, there was no delay, I had time to get breakfast and relax before the plane came.

Completely wrong, all that went well but as we were called up to board we were told the flight was delayed for around two hours because this plane was broken as well. For fuck sake, cant a kid get a break ever; I have such a long delay that I know miss my first bus back to Madrid. Easter is sucking ass this year, im gonna stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere for ever.

Finally the plane came, however I was a little hesitant to stay on the plane, right before take of the pilot announced that one of the engines wont turn on and they would have to start in manually before we left the loading dock. Great, what will happen next, will it shut off and not turn back on again in the air? Luckily that didnt happen.

We landed in Alicante(South of Spain), where I ran around lost trying to find the correct bus line to explain the them what had happened. Luckily when I got their they said that's fine, we have your name and you can just get on the next bus. Awesome, the easiest part of the whole trip. Luckily the bus arrived just on time at the transfer station that I just got the next bus into Madrid.

Now all that was left was to wait out the 8 hrs bus ride and arrive home. Finally at a quarter past midnight I arrived home, the family was all still up watching a movie. They were happy to see me and here some things about my trip. I was really tiered and went to bed because I had to get up for my first Spanish class in a couple of hours

Ireland pt 2

Ahh well I decided to say in Ireland for an extra day, now the problem was where to sleep. Since it was still raining balls I wasnt gonna just sleep outside. I started the search for hostel's. I had no idea where any of them where located because I wasnt planning to stay in one. All that I knew was that there were a couple signs that said hostel on them and pointed down the street.

I went to four hostels, all of them were full which wasnt a surprise since it was easter weekend. Finally I went to the last hostel that was about a half hour walk to the other side of the city. Thankfully they had a couple rooms. I bought my room, left the key at the desk and went to find a beer. The desk man told me where a good bar was, however I didnt find it, so I went into the next bar that I say, it was called Dubarrys.

I went inside and ordered a beer, the first thing I saw was a UFC poster with a date of a match, now I thought great, the average bro bar. The older gentleman next to me (Adrain) asked me if I was alright, I must have still been recovering from my mild heart attack. We started talking and he was very interested in me being from the US, he has only met a few people from there.

We kept talking more and he bought me my next round of drinks. He said that he was off tomorrow and would show me around the city. Great, it's so much better to see the city from a locals point of view because then you can get even more out of everything that you see. I was sold. Soon his friend Antonio came back into the bar. We talked for a while and he was up for showing me around tomorrow as well.

These guys were real nice, they ended up buying all of my drinks throughout the night. My uncle Scott once told me if someones being real friendly they probably want to fuck you. Sure enough that was the case. The next words out of Antonio's mouth were, "although all I want to do is take you home and sleep with you I cant because I have a boyfriend."

It took a second to register then I said, "What?" Now it was just like a movie I looked at the UFC poster and then to the next one on the wall and the next and so on. They were all of guys with their shirts off and posing. Then I turned and looked the other way looking at everyone, there are guys holding hands, walking around with limp wrists, and kissing in the corner.

God dammit im in a gay bar. I felt like a fucking idiot, I had been there for over an hour and hadnt noticed. I must be getting better at not judging people when I first meet them or something. Now my next job was explaining to them that I wasnt gay but this was the first bar I stumbled on and had no idea it was a gay bar. Also I would feel guilty as hell and like an asshole if I just left so I spent the rest of the night there.

Regardless of my sexuality, they were still going to show me around tomorrow. Antonio leaves to have a smoke and Adrian goes to the bathroom. I sitting alone at the bar when another guy comes up and says "Those men dont seem like you type, do you have a boyfriend?" Ah jesus, now I have to explain myself to another guy. It must have been hunting hour because after they both returned another guy came up and offered me a mixed drink. I declined this one just because I didnt see it poured and didnt want things to go south.

However I kinda regret it because it was a drink filled with absinthe, so that would have been fun. Now its last call, so we had another round. After we finish our drinks they go outside to call a taxi, I stayed inside where the bar tender gave me another beer on the house. A third guy came over and asked if he could take me home, he said I was gorgeous and he would be careful and asked for a kiss. I told him I wasnt gay and gave him a high five instead.

I went outside to see Antonio and Adrian, they were talking waiting for a cab, they went back inside and they guy who wanted to take me home came out and asked me again and if I was sure I want gay. I went back inside, didnt see Adrian and Antonio. The guy followed me inside, he bothered me enough that I didnt see Adrian and Antonio leave so tomorrow I was on my own and I took that moment to go back to my hostel.

I got back there and went up to my room, I was sharing a room with five other people, all Japanese and friends. I walked in and they were all watching a terrible Japanese action movie. I figured I would be nice and watch the movie with them. It was about an hour of absolute confusion. I dont know Japonese and missed a lot of the movie already so I had to put together the peices.

Woke up the next morning and left to find some breakfast. Found a very nice and huge breakfast bagel. The majority of my day was spent site seeing. I walked all around belfast taking tons of pictures and enjoying the sun. Soon it began to sprinkle so I went the Ulster museum. That was a sweet musuem. It was full of anything that has happened in Ireland. Cyrstals, meteroits, fish, birds, skeletons, old ass rocks, volcanos stuff, problems of Belfast etc. I spent a long time in there and it was way worth it.

I got a small snack and continued to site see around the city. I went to the bus station and asked when the bus taking going to Belfast International comes, she said all day, every half hour. Great, now that will be easy to get to the airport tomorrow. Unfortunately it started raining again, so I went the the Student Union, the downstairs of the venue, sat relaxed and waited for the show. This is were I got the first glimps of my idols, I watched them walked past me three or four times and became even more excited for the show.

Once again I need to go to sleep for class tomorrow. Tomorrow I will submit the last piece of the successfully unsuccessful, excitingly dull, coincidentally planned adventure

Well this post will be quite long because this weekend was full of a lot of interesting things, so I apologize in advance for those who wanted something short and fast to read.

The morning went fairly smooth, I was up early before my alarm rang, I was so anxious for this trip that I got but a few hours of sleep that night. Got all of my stuff together, had breakfast and left for the bus.

It was still dark out being that it was six in the morning, got on the bus and went to Madrid and then the airport by metro. Im glad that I got their real early because the first girl at the check in desk was off of her shift so she was not checking anyone in, just sitting their waiting for the next person to come. Waited in line for about twenty minutes before the next attendant came and then about another twenty minute wait to the desk.

Everything went fairly good for a bit from their, got on the plane, relaxed but couldnt sleep because it was to hot on the plane, and landed smoothly in Palma Mallorca. Unfortunately I had to leave security to check in for my other flight because of the way some airlines operate over here, however I had a hour and a half wait anyway so nothing to rush about.

I went to the check in the desk and the lady said, oh your flight has been delayed so you can't check in for at least and hour and a half. Ugh, I hate layovers especially when they become even longer than you originally anticipated. I went upstairs to the terrace and sat outside in the warm sun shine and ate a sandwich. It had just passed an hour and a half since I got into the airport so I proceeded to the check in desk.

This was a different lady then I had talked to before, I asked her if I could check in for my flight, she responded with, im sorry but check in time for this flight has already been closed sorry. So for about the next ten minutes or so I plead my case on how I was told to wait for an hour and a half until I can check in and it is exactly an hour and thirty five minutes since that point I dont understand whats going on.

She turned around and talked to the gentleman behind her, after they discussed it thankfully she checked me in and gave me my ticket. She said that I was very lucky because she never usually issues tickets after the gate is closed, because technically I would have missed my flight.

Went through security and waited for some time for my flight to get here. The plane was delayed because the one I was supposed to be on was broken and they needed to fly another one in. That was okay but then this plane was 50 minutes behind the delayed time, after we went through the gates, we had to stand in the loading terminal for twenty minutes while they resolved an issue with this plane.

Finally we got on the plane, in the air and of course my seat was broken and didnt recline and made a popping sound every time I moved in it. I was to upset and anxious to sleep. My plans where to walk from the airport to the metro station(forty minutes or so), ride the metro to Belfast Central Station and then walk to the concert. Also I needed to shop in Belfast for some people and now was fairly crunched on time due to everything.

Since I have arrived in Europe, well any country Ive traveled to, have I got such a shake down going through customs. It was about a half hour ordeal of me just answering question: What Im doing here, Where do I live, How long will I be in Madrid, was I in any other European Country's before Madrid, How Much Family I have back home, Questions about the concert-mini quiz on the venue, time, and groups playing, How much cash I have, How much I have in my bank account, What do I have in my pockets and backpack, How Im getting out of Belfast, What Airlines and so much more. I thought asking the lady if I needed a cavity search as well, but then decided she may have forgot that with all these damn questions, so I just let that one fade away in my mind.

I forgot to mention that when I landed in Belfast it started pouring, which kinda sucked due to my walking agenda. Luckily I found a bus from the airport that takes me to some bus stop in Belfast, the conductor said its about a fifteen minute walk from Queens University(which was across from the venue) from the stop. I arrived at the stop, which was really nice and had a small shopping center in it. Talked the information people at the desk got my coordinates and headed of towards the venue. Stopped along the way at a local food joint called Spuds. I will highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Belfast, really good food.

I only had about a half hour until the doors opened so I headed to find the venue, found it soon however there was one weird thing no one was there and all the lights were off. I couldnt figure out what the fuck was going on, I was freaking out and pacing in front of the doors. Finally I found a sign that had the times of upcoming events for the next weeks and read; "The Lawrence Arms Live Saturday April 3, doors at 8."

Am I that much of a fucking idiot that I completely screwed everything up. Well yes in some aspect, to justify myself I just check the website that I used as planning for this trip and it said The Lawrence Arms April 2nd Belfast, however there is a extra note now that says, "Sorry we didnt realized we posted the wrong date for the event on April 2, its actually the 3 of April. I booked my flight and ticket many days, about a week and a half before this notice was posted so now I dont feel to bad. However if I would have check back and on the Lawrence Arms myspace page after they posted their tour I may have caught that but that info just wasnt available at the time.

Back to the story, Im running around frantic trying to find an internet cafe to see if its possible to change my flights and consult my parents to see what their advice was. Luckily my mom was online, chances of that were slim as hell and luckily it things were kinda playing in my favor at the second. I was emailing her about twice a second and checking on routes home. She helped me out and said if music is that important to me I should go anyway.

Thats what I proceeded to do, however my funds were low in my checking account and I needed to transfer money from my saving. Now the computer wont allow me to transfer funds so I have to get back in touch with my mom and have her do it for me. I could change one of my flights but not the other and the only cheap thing was a 8 hour bus from Alicante in the south of Spain to Madrid.

Thats what I did and it cost me a little less than 100 to change everything. Which now that I think of it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a hear beat. I now leave you with this section and will update the rest tomorrow, I need sleep because I have school tomorrow, pictures are up on the website, some from belfast, concert, and real madrid soccer match