Hamburger Island

Conquered. We swam out to this island, claimed it to be ours, and christened it Hamburger Island.

This is the site of my future music video, and also the ideal dream property if I ever become homeless and have to live off the land. There are fish, berries, views, and lots of yachts and planes circling the parameter- perfect. All I would need is some wild cows for hamburger meat and I could open up shop for all the ocean traffic: tourists, pirates, scuba divers, Lost survivors, you name it.

I just need to find the island King who will order bags of money to be dropped from his private jet every few days. No worries Mom and Dad, the current economic crisis doesn't effect islanders.

Very exclusive: for membership details please inquire at the Western Port where the buoys will direct you to the island greeter.

A new day, a new beach

Please take note of the shirt: Mike Brown is my dad.

This was taken at a touristy beach (Palma is a popular vacation spot for German vacationers). As we were soaking up the sun and wading in the sand bars, a troop of German guys walked by singing German beer hall songs and wearing some sort of leiderhossen/soccer uniform combination. It was only midday but I'm sure they were drunk. I've learned that Germans like to socialize, with anyone, and will drink with anyone at any time of day. The idea is very friendly and open, but it can be disastrous. Say you are stuck on a train with some thirty-something year old German men and they begin pouring Dixie cups of wine for everyone, walking between all of the cars making jokes with each other and end up sitting with with you, in a small two-seater. Especially when you're not sure if they are normally accustomed to talking face to face with young American girls (leaving a mere inch between your noses) and saying "I love you" in broken, drunken English.

To finish, Germans are pretty cool, before they get creepy.

So en la Playa de Palma be warned of the German tourists (some teenagers were funneling beer at the beach- at NOON).

This is not real life

WE MADE IT TO PALMA! There are 8 Holy Cross students here each with their own spanish "madre" to take care of cooking, cleaning, and being adorable guides to the city. I am the 18th student my madre has invited into her home, so she has this down to a science- laundry bag on the back of my door, towels in the closet, food cooked freshly daily, water filtered in the fridge, and with my own keys I can be independent or hang out with her whenever I want. Yesterday, I met her family just outside the city at her daughter's house and we had some food and hung out on the back patio with their dogs. Today, I took a trip to the "country" part of the island with my friend and our two madres. We ate typical Mallorquin appetizers and then a huge dish of paella (yellow rice, peas, calamari, chicken) topped off with a Mallorquin pastry. I couldn't have asked for a better living situation with a sweet and very wise older woman who enjoys company and understands what it's like to have twenty somethings live in her house.

Yesterday was our first day and we hit the beach, Cala Mayor. Although small and crowded, it's faults were outweighed by the short bus ride and the nice sand and warm water. Many more beaches to come!
Last night we all went out along the marina where young people drink and socialize from midnight to dawn. The HC entourage shared cartons of wine, cups, and straws and walked along the water with the hundreds of other youngsters and started off the year with a bang. Meaning it was a success, because I arrived home safely to my madre's apartment at 7:30 a.m. after speaking spanish and walking around for 7 hours.

Bienvenidos a la vida Mallorquin! For more info about visiting the island

Super-milk

We bought "milk" in a cardboard carton at the local grocery store in Pamplona to eat with our American cereal (our only taste of home). Because the label on the box did not include the word milk, we read the ingredients which say that it is enriched with omega 3s and many vitamins- even better, right? But no. We bought this milk on the shelf, in the aisle devoted specifically to milk and baby products. There were so many kinds we figured the blue box looked safest, and bought three. After drinking it with our cereal, we liked it and made no efforts to further research its difference from our typical 1% favorite in the States.

Today, however, my room mate, Erica, googled "why does European milk taste different than American milk?" We found out that it is ultrapasteurized which gives it an extended shelf life, but shorter drinking life once opened. And thus the dilemma was solved and we decided that we were not drinking soy, goat's, baby, or whole milk. Good thing, because it's delicious and we weren't about to stop drinking it.