A Festivus For The Rest of Us!

Ah Christmas. It's one of my favorite times of the year. That special time when I can make people give me gifts without feeling bad about it (not that I ever do). How could it not be anyone's number one holiday?
I kept expecting that saying of "it's better to give than recieve" to kick in, especially now that I'm an adult (yeah right),but to no avail.I'm still going strong with the mentality that nothing can top the feeling of seeing present after present with my name on it(even if my mom spells my name wrong, it's kind of a tradition in my mind though).
I get to open my presents at midnight on the 24th because that's what they do where my mom and dad are from, thank you Hispanic roots! That makes me feel slightly superior than everyone. This tradition is genius, I'm definitely not a morning person, no amount of anticipation would ever get me to wake up before 10, let's make it 11. So really I've lucked out, open presents at midnight, then sleep until 11, watch tv until my body has basically decomposed, and eat crap all day. It's really a Merry Christmas in the Noguera household.

A song dedicated to me

Last night I was feeling down and Katy Perry's song "Firework" came on. It's like she was basically saying I know you are hating Microbiology and boys but you're still awesome Nikki. Thanks Katy, I know you were thinking about me when you wrote this because you sing about everything I'm feeling right now. Plus she talks about the fourth of July, which is one of my favorite holidays, and she compares me to a firework, which she must know I love.




On another note, HP 7 was AWESOME! It had me stupefied.

Pumpkin Pasties and Licorice Wands

This is going to be a grrrreeat week my pee pees. Imagine my surprise when I realized HP 7 was in fact coming out this week. So on Friday Alexandra Thomas used her functioning ear to hear that Movin' 100.7 was giving away free Harry tickets at Albertson's. Too good to be true right? But, there some overweight guy sat with a table of tickets all alone. We both got two each to an even better showing than we already have. We are actually going with other people for once, so they're of no use to us. SO, if you happen to be desperately searching for some tickets look no further. I would expect all of my true friends to already have tickets, but no judging here, I wouldn't mind making a cool 17.50 off of you. So tell your wives, tell your kids, tell your friends.
Can't wait to put this on again, it's like Cinderella putting on her glass slipper, a perfect fit.

This is really starting to ruin my life

A window. Into my bedroom. That's right. I have this window that used to be covered by a lovely tree and shrubbery, but about two months ago my mom decided to trim most of the tree that gave me all the privacy I needed. Now I live in constant fear, everyday. The neighbors parallel to me/anyone who's driving by can see my whole life. Every dance, any nose pick, and even worse, every region of skin they want. I try to pull down my screen whenever I'm in an "exposed situation" but it would be like having a full time job trying to do that crap. I never realized how good I had it with that tree. It provided me a hiding mechanism when I didn't want to talk to someone asking for me at the front door, spying on my neighbors(i never really cared to do that but I would now if I had that tree), you know and other cool stuff. The worst part is that the neighbors have kids, stupid kids that play outside all the time. I'm thinking about moving into the living room until that tree grows back. Or the kids will just grow up faster then they expected.

Just when I thought tv couldn't get any better

I found another show to add to my dvr today, the buried life. Why didn't I think of this before? It's the coolest concept ever. Their tag line is "what do you want to do before you die?" but they say it with unnecessary pauses in between the sentence for emphasis, i kind of like it though. In case you've never seen it these 4 guys have a list of 100 things they want to do, and for everything they cross off their list they help some person accomplish one of their things.

So here's some of the crap I want to do in no particular order

1. Go skydiving

2. Get voice lessons/sing in front of an audience

3. Be in the middle of the wave pool at seven peaks(without drowning in case that wasn't clear)

4. Have an unplanned food fight(for a reference watch eddie's million dollar cook off)

5. Work as Jasmine at Disney World

6. Date someone that's out of my league

7. Learn parkour

8. Win a food eating contest

9. Give a talk at church without writing it

10. Have a dance battle like the end of Step Up 2

11. Go dog sledding in the Arctic

12. Drive across the country

13. Work with Tina Fey

So, what do you.. want to do.. before you die?

My struggle with them

You know, boys. Men if you will. Ok so not just any guy, I'm above average at interacting/not looking like a bone head with guys I look down on. It's the ones with the features that can make me sweat and lose my cool that I have trouble with. Every. single.time. I can go about ruining my encounters in different ways, but the results are usually very consistent.

Example 1: I'm walking down the hall with one of my friends looking exceedingly great at being a human. Talking, laughing, walking,you know looking like I've got things going for me. I make some comment to the friend and this hot guy intervenes looking all friendly and well ,hot.

Here's my thought process: here is some guy that's actually engaged you for an opening in a conversation with a great physique. You should give him some idiot one word answer so there could be no possibility for him to reply.

I don't need to go on do I?

Example 2: Never do I sit by any of the hot guys(only applicable this semester) in my classes. My brain thinks the exact opposite of any normal person. I'll just sit the furthest away from them, act repulsed by their presence in the class,and never so much as let a syllable slip from my lips to them. It makes sense at the time.

Example 3 (probably my favorite): Silence. Yes, that's right. Now usually in a social setting, this happens when the male in question has in my mind descended from a cloud. I should just be humbled that he was willing to be in the same party, state, country, solar system. This is my highest state of nervousness, brain function and body movements cease to exist. Thus, putting on the invisibility cloak over myself to the particular male goddess and even close acquaintances.

Don't think I want a boyfriend,but I do eventually need to improve some of my methods to eventually convince someone to be with me. Any tips would be appreciated.

Go Green or Something

This cruiser is my new best friend. Even though getting up hills makes me feel like I'm pushing the physiological limits of my little body,I still love every moment we spend together. Takes me back to the days when I decided to learn how to ride a bike at age 11, clearly the best decision I've made thus far in my life.

Summa Summa Summatime.

Any opportunity to shake my (although small but still there) booty is a good time for me. I went to a Zumba class with Dora today, and couldn't get enough of the salsa/dame mas gasolina music. I felt just like my girl Britney, and that is not a bad thing in my book.
On another note, my latin self is almost over the hill turning the big 21. This a big year for me, I have one last shot to get on the Disney Channel before it becomes pathetic. Some names that come to mind: Ashley Tisdale or the brother on Hannah Montana (he's like 30 in case you didn't know).
I shamefully started a twitter to try to win some Jonas tickets, nnlatin, still not sure I'm ready to have people read my secrets.

Yesterday was the first day it actually felt like summer to me, eating, having fun with people I don't hate, and games. I feel like nature is finally inviting me to come to the cool kids' party I've wanted to go to for months.

It's a good day to be Mexican

I found this picture today. Made me laugh.

Thank you for GEN-X and the Americanized version of your food.

There's no better way to celebrate your people than by having a party with a cliche pinata of a donkey with a sombrero,and salsa made at Harmons.

This may be slightly.. you know, the r word. So what who cares.

Happy Cinco!

Nerd Herd

I keep telling myself just one more. Seven hours later I still haven't showered, relieved myself, or spoken to anyone from my same species. I'm on a deadline to catch up with the latest season, and for those of you who know me, when I put my mind to something I won't give up until it's achieved. Sadly this successful attitude applies only to tv related goals.

He can come fix my computer anytime.

Livin' in America

Yes, it is true. Guess who's back, back again.
Land of the free, home of the Whopper.

Three months, 20 zits, and 5 pounds later I've returned to the homeland.

I've had to re familiarize myself with things I never thought I would have to

Such as:

Making a call/texting people back

The toilet flusher (they have buttons and they're on the top)

Watching television

Not eating delicious baguettes everyday

Having no where to go

Populations not speaking in Spanish

Having to serve myself food

Remembering that things don't include tax

Ugly, poor dressed boys

I know I'm complaining, but Spain was honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me. It just pointed out how boring and uncool my life was before all this.

Plus, how could I not have the best time ever when I got to go with some of the most genial girls I have ever met? Os amo mis Tias.

Nostalgic Pics (Insert Rascal Flatts song here)

Sorry this is such a sad post it's just that, I Miss you Spain.

My top fav moment of Spain

Many people go through their lives never getting the chance to meet his or her (in my case) number one celebrity. I'm ecstatic to say that on March 30,2010, I saw Selena Gomez with my very own pure Disney loving eyes. I was straight up trippin to say the least.

I shoved my little body through this crowd.

.

Spain's very own Disney 365! I'm not going to sit here and

say I didn't try to get in his shot countless times. I

saw a chance and I took it.

Of course the picture that I will soon laminate and

put in my bedroom.


Gracias for making my Spanish dreams come true Selena.

I do realize the creepiness of this post btw.

Las Fallas are on FIRE!

Valencia has a celebration once a year where they build paper mache floats that cost more than my life, and then proceed to burn them on fire. Las Fallas.

Before

After

Imagine the fourth of July, but even better. All day long explosions of illegal proportions would be going on, making me feel like I was in a war zone. Plus look at these delights that stared at me everywhere I went.

Rebecca and I became pyromaniacs with the firecrackers Landas bought us. We were acting like pre-teen boys as we tried to compete with the illegal fireworks some ten year old boys had.

Look at how cool I look drinking Valencian Horchata. (don't be fooled by my springtime shirt, it was actually pretty cold outside.) It tasted nothing like the Horchata I know and love, but being on this study abroad has made me eat and/ or drink anything in sight, in fear of never knowing when I'll have another meal again.

Again, I plowed through this Paella and was not ashamed that I looked desperately hungry, and even ate the snail that accompanied it. It wasn't that bad either, but that could just be the hunger talking.

Woke up at 6 am and didn't get home until 7am the next morning. As you can see, the end of our journey was not kind to us in the slightest.

A day in Retiro Park

The other day Meredit, Riley, and I had the opportunity to hang out and/or exercise at the hottest spot in Madrid. Pues nada, Check it out. Vale?

Naughty Norte

As if being in Spain weren't enough, we get to go on vacations within a vacation.


Our first stop of the trip was this little town called Coca, boy did we start off with a bang. Pictured above are the three boys that thought that taking a picture with them meant we wanted to have their offspring. They followed us around liked diseased little rodents, while doing explicit gestures expecting us to give ourselves to them. When that didn't work one of them flashed us with his crown jewel. Aren't we lucky?

We got to go to the cathedral of León, where they had some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen. Stay with me here, I'm thinking this could go in my master bathroom.

I know it doesn't look like much of a difference, but we went from a 4 star hotel ( the one with the bed I was actually willing to pose on) to a roach infested 2 star the next. The Hotel España felt like a Juvi, don't tease me with these upscale hotels just to get slapped in the face with a place that most likely gave me bedbugs.

Some of the highlights of the trip included eating at a kebab place that had the only delicious food in Burgos. We loved it so much we came back to Ali Baba not once, but twice. A little of it had to do with that fact that the owner had a slammin bod and he looked like a demi god. The picture unfortunately doesn't do him justice, but just trust me.

Dance party in the moldy hallway of our hotel. Included are the Holbrook kids shakin what Deb and Landes gave them, and music from a sole i pod touch that was easily drowned out from just talking.

I'll let the Catedral de Burgos do the talking for this one.

Useful tips for Madrid nightlife

1. Being American is like being the golden snitch. As soon as they hear those Anglo-Saxon words come out of your mouth, expect to be as popular as Obama or the McDonald's emblem. Don't ask me why, maybe they just know we are as superior like we already know we are.

2. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by the amount of beautiful men. Now this city is not for the frumpy people of the world, 8 out of 10 boys could be doing an Armani campaign at this moment. What are the Spaniard people doing to create such physically beautiful people? Unfortunately, the other 2 of the 10 boys will be ugly, but that won't stop them from creeping on you countless times, just because you happened to glance in their general direction for a split second.

3. Get ready to smell like sweat/smoke/sin/alcohol. I thought I had some idea of how to party, but apparently by small town ways are as conventional as the pony express. We got to Kapital around 12:30, a decent party hour most people would say. I guess we Americans have a different idea of late, most people didn't get there till at least 1:30. Just be aware if you want to actually see people at the club you should arrive no earlier than the time just stated. Another tip, If you want to look cool you HAVE TO dance with a cig in one hand, and your preferred alcoholic beverage in the other. I can't even tell you how many times I got burned by the end of a cigarette when I was dancing.

4. Have enough stamina to dance until 5:30 in the morning. If you leave at three you might as well not even show up. Luckily by that time you forget all about the fact that you feel like a homeless man that's been rained on. Side effects include: glazed eyes, incoherent thoughts, willingness to do anything for a bed, bad breath, and if you're lucky, a regretful decision.

5. Avoid looking like you've been run over by the end of the night. Even if you don't consume any liquor, you still manage to feel slightly hungover the next day. Don't expect to leave the house the following day, so you can burn your clothes and maybe get a toxic shower. Will I ever do this again? I've already picked out my outfit for next weekend.

Holy Toledo!

Iglesia of Toledo

Holy Toledo is right my friends. This little city looks like something off the Lord of the Rings, anyone who's anyone knows that that makes it legitimately awesome. We saw a bunch of beautiful churches like the one above, of course we couldn't take any pictures, but trust me when I say I'm pretty sure there was a handful of dead priests in some rooms that were "off limits." Did I mention the amount of gold that was used in the decor? A handful of that would make me richer than the sultan.

Sure history is important, but you can't pass up a torture museum when it presents itself before you.

There Meredith and I are climbing up to Mordor, and for your viewing pleasure a panoramic pic of Toledo in all it's beauty. We finished our frigid experience going into a panaderia that was known for its Marzipan. It was good, but our bambas con nata (heavenly cream filled pastry) was like eating a perfect fluffy white cloud in the sky.

I'm going to the dirrtty south tomorrow for a week, it's going to be tizight!

Did anyone catch my reference to a certain Disney movie? You'll forever have my heart if you did.