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Show (vavw. forumfortnightfy.com Study Abroad Column: 8. s i t "5 J t i i Gary Gonzalez Contributing Writer r ;ry hings in Europe are different. For instance lets look at style. .Back in Salt Lake I could throw on some ball shorts, a sweater, some sneakers, make my way to class, and no one would think anything of it. Unfortunately as soon as I stepped of the plane that option went out ' the window. , People here dont leave the house unless they are dressed to the nine. If you walk down the street in sweats or sneakers people just stare. Not subtly, either. , 7, J like you just drop They mean-mu- g kicked a dog into traffic. I felt like a zoo animal the first few days I went out long and boarding in my Nike high-top- s Unless youre looking fly enough to be in the next Kanye music video youre better off just staying at home and watching one. However, being the cultured young individual I am, I planned ahead and hit up The Rack before I left. I got kitted out with some button up shirts, a new jacket and most importandy, the skinniest of jeans. I cant explain the infatuation guys here have with man jeans but one thing is for certain; the slimmer, the better. They live for skin-nie- s. , s irt. Honesdy, at first it was hard for me to get on board with this. Skinny jeans make me think about my two least favorite groups and hipof people in the world; snow-brfirst time sters. Looking in the mirror, the nut-hugg- ? 3 cl ; ( lilt V-- y Jf J St ) W jSf f . 'i T 0. W iw&v tw ? if A I i u 4 - X ? ' vm n i O c U N . r 1 L v fVTl i , a 1 pfw ( 1 il i N vr V I ryt h ,V7riv f jJj y W ers of men, empires and civilizations. From n pt os I wanted to I wiggled into my fight myself. Nevertheless, I didnt fly 8,000 miles over the Adantic to let some mild discomfort and chaffing keep me from being the freshest looking American in Spain. So on my first night out, much like Liberace preparing for a recital, I crammed into those things one leg a time and hit the town. Last weekend I learned that not everything here is so different. It would appear that the ability of hot women to make guys act like morons is as alive here as in the States. It would be a sweeping stereotype to say girls have the inherent ability to make guys do dumb shit. However over the course of human history women have played a crucial role in the downfall of coundess numbers the Greek legend of Helen of Troy, Anne Boleyn of England and Wu Chao in ancient China, this is a subject that transcends time and boarders. Anyway, the best place to start my adventurous anecdote would probably be the list of things we were told not to do when out on the town in Europe: dont accept drinks from strangers, dont drink to much, dont get in a car with a stranger, etc, etc. Unfortunately I had a raging hangover the day we went over all this and the information didnt completely register the way it should have. ; Fast forward a few weeks and Im out in Spain getting to know a few cute American girls who are also studying abroad here. Now the nice thing about spending time with the Americans here is that the ratio of girls to guys studying here is about five to one. The reason Im telling you this is that is had lead to a total role reversal in the dynamics of going out. For the first time in , my life Im the one sitting back getting free drinks on the regular and letting girls vie for attention. An unfortunate side affect of this how-- ; ever is that on this particular night it led a to me accepting drinks from some female strangers, drinking too much, and at the urging of a cute blonde, getting car with some random Spanish stranger who was 0 rt going to take us to the most best party in if Malaga. About halfway through our drive in the ghetto of Malaga, homie decided that driving on the street was boring and took to the sidewalks for the last three miles. It was like the Italian Job except not cool at all. It was at this point that I started to realize that this was not a good situation. On the way back all the people who spoke Spanish in the car were laughing at the driver. Thankfully the blonde girl spoke better Spanish than I did. From the blonde girls translation I discovered the joke was that he had recently gotten his license suspended. By the grace of God, Allah, Chuck Norris or whatever youre into, we made it back in one piece. Upon exiting the car I may have had an emotional breakdown where I supposedly wouldnt stop yelling have you seen Hostel at the girl. Lesson learned. Location: Mdagi, Spain School Name: i University 'of Malqp Sfrv Leo Status: Single A, ? i |