Barcelona was.......

MARVELOUS.

the trip started off with us making it to bush intercontinental just in the nick of time due to houston traffic. this turned out to be a blessing bc as it turns out, british airways overbooked out flight so they upgraded us to first class!!!   i know!!! the parents and i came aboard and were immediately greeted with hot towels, champagne and oj. the seats were awesome seeing as how they could be converted into a 6 foot bed!!! and there was a personal flip away tv, foot stool, toiletry pack, pillows, blankets, and headphones all waiting on the seat. they actually handed out menus and we were served a 3-course meal with steak and potatoes as the main course. but anyway to make a long story short.... first class is fantastic! then had to stop at London Gatwick airport where our flight was delayed so ended up in the vip lounge where i was able to shower and everything. did i mention how great first class is?? haha  

arrived in barcelona at around midnight. brother came to pick us up and busted out in catalan (the real spanish). it's so much nicer and more pleasant than the spanish we hear over here. so loud and harsh you know what i mean.... but anyway, the night we arrived was also the same night the majority of chris's fellow architecture friends had to catch a flight back to the US.

it's hard to describe all the adventures in the past week. highlights included hiking up to the famous park guell, visiting casa batilla and casa mila - all of which were designed by antoni gaudi, the most famous architect of barcelona. also visited the famous sagrada familia, also designed by gaudi - quite possibly the most beautiful church i've ever seen... and the largest too. the finished form will actually be only 1/16 th size gaudi originally wanted it to be and yet, it already towers over the city. you can pretty much see it anywhere you go as long as you're moderately high up. christmas eve... went shopping and sightseeing all day and on christmas day, went to another famous park, the arc of triumph, and had dinner at a nice restaurant looking out into a fountain. the nightlife....partying til 6 in the morning!! black sheep tavern. pitchers of sangria (very popular everywhere in the city). estrella damm beer. and of course, vodka with kas lemon soda... i know!! totally trashed by the time we got to the club at 3 in the morning can you believe it?!??! spaniards are hardcore. everyone drinks and smokes heavily. it's the city that never sleeps. authentic paella. tapas galore! always liked the clothes and shoes at zara and guess where it originated??? in barcelona!!! so there were zaras left and right... huge 3 story ones with zara women, men, kids, and even zara home!! omg i was in candyland. and it's not like the one store in the galleria where there's only some of their collections and all the small sizes are always gone.... all of their fall collections were in store and there were actually smalls left!! i was one happy bitch. there's 13 all together in barcelona and we managed to hit up half i think. haha... but anyway, speaking of fashion.... people were dressed very cute yet suitable for the weather. it seems like everyone in spain in pretty. the guys and gals are all tall, slender, and beautiful. no wonder since everyone walks and takes public transportation and the standard of living is higher and the spices and flavor is not nearly as fat-packed and calorie-loaded as here in the good ol' lazy USA. brother suggested we tell everyone who asked we were from singapore rather than the US since that's clearly better off. i bet they think we're all fat and lazy... and they're right to some extent. people over there live such a modest lifestyle and aren't nearly as wasteful as we are over here. and everyone recycles. and even the pickpockets aren't dangerous. if you catch them, they will nonviolently give you back you wallet or whatver they took from you. happened to my brother and alot of his friends.

i don't even know what else to say because there are way too many stories and i'm too much of a lazy american to type it all. posted an album on facebook. we must've taken well over 1000 pics from the trip and those selected 60 are only from my brother's camera. there's so much more from my dad's fancy digital camera i have yet to upload.

and now here i am. back to reality with my vacation winding down. sigh........... i have a quiz and two tests waiting for me when i get back. second semester starts on the 2nd!! can you believe it.... 8 am is the intro to cardiopulmonary whoop ti do. i have to fly out on new year's day....  wahhhhh however, that means i will have to party it up even more on new year's eve. hehe

new year's resolutions???

................................................

FELIZ NAVIDAD..... or as they also say here in Barcelona, BON NADAL my friends!!!

It's 11:46 pm on Christmas day here in Barcelona and in about 4 hours, the Doan Family will be leaving this beautiful city to head back to the states. I think it's only about 5:45ish in houston right now and families are just starting to get together for Christmas dinner. Wanted to type an entry exactly on the 25th to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! It's surreal being in a whole other country and celebrating Christmas away from the states for the first time ever.

Not gonna write about my trip until i have pictures posted. But what an experience!!! now i see why my brother said studying abroad this past semester was truly the time of his life. looking at pics from all the countries he's visited and meeting some of his friends over here..... im so jealous!!!

So yeah, hope everyone has an incredible Christmas as we begin to say goodbye to 2006 and helllllllllllo to 2007!! Haven't gotten the chance to spend time with anyone yet so cannot wait to see friendly faces before school starts again. but yeah.... see you guys when i get back home tomorrow!!

what a great thanksgiving break. albeit wayyyy too short for yours truly. my flight was on sunday night and it was right back to the grind that is medical school. on a brighter note, this is the LAST week of neuro!!! whoo hoo yippee hooray! by this time next week, we will be in the third day of endocrine... which is supposedly cake compared to neuro.

but anyhoo, had a great time in houston this past weekend and was able to see many familiar faces, especially my parents, relatives, close friends, and sisters. also got to share something cool with jade, who was also in town from san diego. we were supposed to do this 2 years ago on our birthdays and since we were both in town this time around, decided to go get another tattoo together like we planned. although the odds were against us, it was still made possible  will never forget it. (jade being totally freaked out about the possible pain while i was trying to reassure her since i went first and being a tad nervous myself) but in the end, we both kinda liked the pain hahaha i know! its true what they say... it really does become a sort of fetish.

not enough time was spent with my parents, although i will be able to spend quality family time with mom, dad, and chris in barcelona this christmas!! whoo hoo i am soooo excited, especially since my brother tells me about all the fun he's having in europe, how he visits a different country every weekend, how he saw leonardo dicaprio walk the red carpet in rome, and saw jake gyllenhal in a thai restaurant in berlin. soooo jealous! he's having the time of his life while im stuck in a cubicle most of the time and vicariously living a social life through the world wide web.

andrew spent thanksgiving with us which was great. it's nice that we still keep in touch. after all, he IS my backup in case we both dont get married within the next 10 years. haha jk.... ??

and lastly, i was wearing a tank top yesterday and some pple were wearing flip flops and yet today like RIGHT NOW... IT'S FRICKIN SNOWING OUTSIDE!!!! UNBELIEVABLE.... AND LEAVE IT TO TCOM TO STILL CONDUCT CLASSES AND MAKE US COME UP TO SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH THERE'S CRAZY SLEET AND SNOW OUTSIDE.

OKAY EVERYONE. THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, I WILL BE DONE WITH MY FIRST SEMESTER OF MED SCHOOL!!! WHOO HOO!!! SEE YOU ALL AFTER CHRISTMAS!! TAKE CARE.

-c h to the rizzle

ever feel like the wind was knocked out of you.... quick, painful, like ripping off a bandaid, except this one's over your heart. and damn, it hurts. never thought it would happen to me. and it sucks to be on the receiving end. it was so blatantly obvious from the look on my face. you'd be an idiot not to see it.

i never thought i could be made to feel like this. this one has got to be the worse. i dare to even say it..... EVER.

and frankly, this is something i never ever want to feel ever again.

no one knows.

i'm just gonna forget.

...............................and never want to talk about ever again.

so much i want to say. pain. HURT. tears. anger. acceptance.

moving on. and not thinking about it anymore.

regrets? HELL YEAH.

i've always been a believer in karma. and now, karma has slapped me in the face. i did it to him, and now another is doing the same to me. he's hurting because of me, and i'm hurting because of another. i'm turning 23 in two weeks. and yet, i feel like an absolute idiot. i think i was smarted in high school. smarter about the choices i made and the consequences i'd have to deal with. i haven't learned from my mistakes. cause hell, i keep on making them over and over again. and in the end, people get hurt.

and what a horrible way to be distracted right now. when i have killer exams coming up and all i can think about it all the drama i've caused. i feel so alone. i can't seem to talk to anyone. i don't want to talk to anyone. i need to be by myself. and yet, i so desperately want to be comforted. to be embraced so i can just cry my eyes out and wish i could take all these things back. regrets. regrets. regrets. i used to talk about having no regrets in my life.

up until now.

tried to type a new entry twice and both times got lost bc the wireless connection failed.

so third time's a charm i guess.

NERVOUS SYSTEM has started. two days = 350+ slides = one stressed out chrissy. how the hell am i gonna survive 6 weeks' worth of material?!??!!  

had a great weekend: keg and trash can punch (made by urs truly) at brad's, 8.0, dim sum with the family, scary movie night, and b's birthday at mainevent (on a sunday too how rebellious...) made for a fantastic weekend! i almost forgot i was a first year until i was rudely slapped back in to reality yesterday with 5 hrs worth of lectures and 2 hrs of gross anatomy lab. that and 3 hrs today make for one very unhappy class of 2010.

wish me luck guys! you wont be hearing from me until thanksgiving when you can actually see me in person!!! whoo hoo so make haste and make plans cause my ass will be there. i'm aiming to see everyone in the 3.5 days i have in houston. will be home on thanksgiving morning (fitting isn't it....) and will be there until sunday. yay!!! cannot wait for family, friends, and bellaire!!!

ok toodles. back to the books.

until thanksgiving my darlings!