jaime--thanks for the encouragement, but after spending close to 10,000 there, (tuition/plane/rent/food)i just can't see going on a chance again. especially since it will take me five years with my income just to pay for that. i did spend 6.5 weeks in a place i wasn't too crazy about, that's enough. i'd rather be someplace that i love.

sorry about the metro theft in paris. that's horrible. i know that the entire time that i was there, everytime i stepped into the metro station, they made announcements about theives being in the metro in both english and french (but not spanish strangely).

after being in spain and living where i did, i was already very paranoid about stuff like that. i can see how it can happen with someone who isn't as paranoid. i felt completely safe most of the time in paris, but again, i'm black, and i really think that helps in many of these instances because even though i was living in the red-light district, pigalle, surrounded by prostitutes, sex workers, and johns, and was asked if i wanted to smoke pot twice by strange men, i never once felt uneasy or at risk and was more often than not, as in madrid, as in the u.s., assumed to be the criminal risk.

oh...one of the funniest things i noticed about madrid is that when you drop change you can be almost assured that no one is going to bend over to pick it up and run off with it as they are all afraid that they are in the middle of a theft scheme themselves. quite ironic.

but i can't even imagine going to the embassy for another passport. how that must suck. it would definitely ruin my trip.