One of the students in our group posted this link to our Facebook page, and it is SPOT ON! After living in Europe I can definitely agree with all of these statements. Especially 3, 8, 13, 28, and 32.
Check it out! You'll get a little taste of the differences between America and Europe, and if you've traveled or lived in Europe before it'll take you right back to the time you spent there!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lucyh3/35-things-you-appreciate-about-america-after-livin-147h
Friday, June 28, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Adjusting
They told us before we left that coming back to the US after studying abroad is another big adjustment, just like going to a new country again. I didn't realize how true that statement was until I experienced it first-hand.
Obviously flying backwards over the time zones was a little weird, and so for the first few days I have been really off with my body clock. I didn't know when to be hungry, and I always seemed to be tired and could easily fall asleep no matter where or what position I was in. I'd try to stay awake during the day so I could sleep at night, and for the first three nights I woke up wide awake and hungry at 4AM (11AM Spain time). I've now been home for 5 days and my clock is pretty well adjusted. Another adjustment is the food. I'm used to eating big meals at 3pm and 10pm so that's obviously been a big change. Plus the food here is so different. The foods I'm craving I can't have, because we don't have them here. And I need to be careful with eating greasy American food because my stomach is not at all used to that.
It's also weird coming back to the USA and seeing all of the stuff we have. It's not that they don't have anything in Spain, they just live with a lot less than we do and it's kind of a nice happy medium between nothing and too much. All of the houses and buildings there are so small and here I feel like I have so much space! I can stretch out my arms in the shower again and spread out in my bed and sit up straight in the car. That's nice. It's been weird having my clothes back again though. In the last 6 weeks I've been living out of a medium-sized suitcase and had an extremely limited wardrobe. Coming back and seeing my full closet and dresser is mind-blowing! I feel like I don't need or wear half of my clothes so I'm going to dig through and find some to donate. Everyone here is so involved in their technology and everything as well.
Hearing English everywhere has also been a big change. We spoke English to each other when we were hanging out with our friends and stuff, but all of the signs and stores and people walking down the street were speaking Spanish. Everything we ever heard was Spanish so it's weird to walk down a street and hear someone else's conversation and fully comprehend it. I still think a lot in Spanish and sometimes mumble or speak to myself in Spanish while I'm doing something. It's hard to break out of that. Plus I love the Spanish language and find it beautiful, so I don't want to just stop using it now!
One last thing I just thought of that I've changed with is my phone. I got so used to not having it and not being able to use it that I don't really use it much now. I forget that I can! Haha. I leave it at home and don't think about it, or forget that I can text someone to hang out if I want to!
It's really nice to be back home in the States and be able to see everyone again. It's weird though because it feels like I've been dropped in the middle of everyone's summers and lives! Life is in the middle swing of summer here and for me it is just beginning. I also can't stand the humidity here! ICK. No me gusta. I'm slowly but surely getting around and seeing everyone, showing them pictures, and telling them all about my adventures. I need to get working on a photo book, but that just seems like so much work right now! I have tons of unpacking to do too, because I just dropped all of my dorm stuff in my room before I flew out to Spain so I have to unpack and deal with all that stuff in addition to my trip stuff.
As nice as it is to be home, I really miss Spain already! I just loved it there so much and wish I could have had a little bit more time afterwards to hang out and experience stuff without homework and school involved. A lot of the kids in our program stayed after and I kind of wish I had, just to experience more of Europe. I miss my host family, obviously, but we've kept in touch using WhatsApp and Skype. I think they really miss me because they're always sending me messages and asking me how I'm doing. I'm sure it's pretty quiet around their house without me! I also really miss my friends from our group! We spent so much time together every single day and now BOOM. I'm back here and haven't seen any of them at all. I also miss some of the food. Like rice and chocolate croissants and my host mom's lasagna and some colacao and the delicious fresh fruit. I know that I'll return to Spain one day though, because I loved it that much and want to be able to see so much more of the beautiful country!
But for the moment, I'm back in the good ole USA so if any of you want to visit me, let me know! I'd love to give you a personal account of my Avila Adventures!
Obviously flying backwards over the time zones was a little weird, and so for the first few days I have been really off with my body clock. I didn't know when to be hungry, and I always seemed to be tired and could easily fall asleep no matter where or what position I was in. I'd try to stay awake during the day so I could sleep at night, and for the first three nights I woke up wide awake and hungry at 4AM (11AM Spain time). I've now been home for 5 days and my clock is pretty well adjusted. Another adjustment is the food. I'm used to eating big meals at 3pm and 10pm so that's obviously been a big change. Plus the food here is so different. The foods I'm craving I can't have, because we don't have them here. And I need to be careful with eating greasy American food because my stomach is not at all used to that.
It's also weird coming back to the USA and seeing all of the stuff we have. It's not that they don't have anything in Spain, they just live with a lot less than we do and it's kind of a nice happy medium between nothing and too much. All of the houses and buildings there are so small and here I feel like I have so much space! I can stretch out my arms in the shower again and spread out in my bed and sit up straight in the car. That's nice. It's been weird having my clothes back again though. In the last 6 weeks I've been living out of a medium-sized suitcase and had an extremely limited wardrobe. Coming back and seeing my full closet and dresser is mind-blowing! I feel like I don't need or wear half of my clothes so I'm going to dig through and find some to donate. Everyone here is so involved in their technology and everything as well.
Hearing English everywhere has also been a big change. We spoke English to each other when we were hanging out with our friends and stuff, but all of the signs and stores and people walking down the street were speaking Spanish. Everything we ever heard was Spanish so it's weird to walk down a street and hear someone else's conversation and fully comprehend it. I still think a lot in Spanish and sometimes mumble or speak to myself in Spanish while I'm doing something. It's hard to break out of that. Plus I love the Spanish language and find it beautiful, so I don't want to just stop using it now!
One last thing I just thought of that I've changed with is my phone. I got so used to not having it and not being able to use it that I don't really use it much now. I forget that I can! Haha. I leave it at home and don't think about it, or forget that I can text someone to hang out if I want to!
It's really nice to be back home in the States and be able to see everyone again. It's weird though because it feels like I've been dropped in the middle of everyone's summers and lives! Life is in the middle swing of summer here and for me it is just beginning. I also can't stand the humidity here! ICK. No me gusta. I'm slowly but surely getting around and seeing everyone, showing them pictures, and telling them all about my adventures. I need to get working on a photo book, but that just seems like so much work right now! I have tons of unpacking to do too, because I just dropped all of my dorm stuff in my room before I flew out to Spain so I have to unpack and deal with all that stuff in addition to my trip stuff.
As nice as it is to be home, I really miss Spain already! I just loved it there so much and wish I could have had a little bit more time afterwards to hang out and experience stuff without homework and school involved. A lot of the kids in our program stayed after and I kind of wish I had, just to experience more of Europe. I miss my host family, obviously, but we've kept in touch using WhatsApp and Skype. I think they really miss me because they're always sending me messages and asking me how I'm doing. I'm sure it's pretty quiet around their house without me! I also really miss my friends from our group! We spent so much time together every single day and now BOOM. I'm back here and haven't seen any of them at all. I also miss some of the food. Like rice and chocolate croissants and my host mom's lasagna and some colacao and the delicious fresh fruit. I know that I'll return to Spain one day though, because I loved it that much and want to be able to see so much more of the beautiful country!
But for the moment, I'm back in the good ole USA so if any of you want to visit me, let me know! I'd love to give you a personal account of my Avila Adventures!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Professional Travelers
I'm officially back in the United States and back in my house in MN. It was so weird to wake up in Spain and go to bed in Minnesota. The miracles of air travel.
I had to get up really early on Saturday morning to get to the 6AM bus. It was really sad to see my room and bathroom completely empty and it looked like I'd never even been there. My dad drove me (and my friend Allison) to the bus with our bags and we got all loaded up. I wish I would have taken a picture of us all. There were about 10 of us in this bus/van thing, and our suitcases were taking up over half of the seats so we were squished in there with giant suitcases. Haha. I said goodbye to my host dad and was all settled in on the bus. Then Rico came up on the bus and walked over to me and gave me a big hug and said goodbye and wished me well for the future. I wasn't expecting that from him at all but it was so sweet of him. We told him he has to come visit us at UND in the fall. Haha.
We got to Madrid smoothly and everything went well at the airport. I was flying home with Ceceli, and at the airport we realized that Susan and Kassy were on our flight as well, but not sitting by us. Unlike my last long flight where I didn't sleep at all, I slept for almost all of this flight! I've been so sleep deprived I was just ready to pass out on that plane and I sure did! I slept about 6 hours out of the 7.5 hour flight.
Ceceli and I had some quality bonding during our traveling time!
I had to get up really early on Saturday morning to get to the 6AM bus. It was really sad to see my room and bathroom completely empty and it looked like I'd never even been there. My dad drove me (and my friend Allison) to the bus with our bags and we got all loaded up. I wish I would have taken a picture of us all. There were about 10 of us in this bus/van thing, and our suitcases were taking up over half of the seats so we were squished in there with giant suitcases. Haha. I said goodbye to my host dad and was all settled in on the bus. Then Rico came up on the bus and walked over to me and gave me a big hug and said goodbye and wished me well for the future. I wasn't expecting that from him at all but it was so sweet of him. We told him he has to come visit us at UND in the fall. Haha.
We got to Madrid smoothly and everything went well at the airport. I was flying home with Ceceli, and at the airport we realized that Susan and Kassy were on our flight as well, but not sitting by us. Unlike my last long flight where I didn't sleep at all, I slept for almost all of this flight! I've been so sleep deprived I was just ready to pass out on that plane and I sure did! I slept about 6 hours out of the 7.5 hour flight.
Ceceli and I had some quality bonding during our traveling time!
One last look at the beautiful mountains in Spain!
We landed in New York and then had to deal with US Customs. The US is so strict about everything and it really gets kind of annoying. We actually had to go through an additional security check in Madrid because we were flying to the US. In New York we had to go down, pick up our baggage, take it through customs, re-check our baggage, and then go through security again. So dumb. It took forever, but we made it through just in time for our next flight to Detroit!
The flight to Detroit was only about 2 hours, but when we got close to Detroit we had to hold in the air because there was a really nasty thunderstorm over Detroit. We were up in the air for about 40 extra minutes and were about to be sent to land in Lansing instead, but then they cleared another plane to land and it landed successfully so we got to go down. Luckily I had about a 2.5 hour layover in Detroit so the late landing didn't affect me much at all. It was really freaky flying through those dark clouds and lightning!
Then I finally got to my last flight--Detroit to Minneapolis. We left a little bit late because we waited for some people that were coming off of another flight that couldn't land because of the storm. On the flight to Minneapolis I was by myself and just planning to sleep some more, but I ended up sitting by a really nice guy and we chatted the whole way. He's the assistant basketball coach at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock and has done a lot of traveling because of his coaching and other things so we talked for most of the 1.5 hour flight. I landed in Minneapolis, just 15 minutes late, and then grabbed my baggage and found my mom outside in the car waiting for me. That all went smoothly and we went back to my Grandma's house for the night. I was super tired and ready to SLEEP some more! My body really didn't know what time it was as far as sleeping or eating, and I ended up waking up wide awake and starving at 4:00am. Haha. Ugh. We stayed there with her and had lunch Sunday and then drove back to good old Brooten this afternoon. (With a stop for ice cream at Red Onion of course!)
Hard to believe I'm back at home after being in Spain just a day ago. I texted my host parents through WhatsApp and they were happy to hear I'm back safe at home, but said they miss me already! Haha. I'll have to Skype with them to keep my Spanish skills intact.
I have done so much traveling in the past few weeks on so many different types of transportation! My passport has 6 stamps now and I've done a lot of things for the first time. I've really enjoyed all of the traveling and sight-seeing and can't wait until my next big fun trip! :)
Friday, June 21, 2013
Final Day
Wow. Today is my last day in Spain. It's hard for me to believe that six weeks has already come and gone. It feels like just a couple of days ago I was boarding my plane in Minneapolis, completely unsure of what was about to happen in my life. I have changed a lot in the six weeks since then, and I now find myself sitting here at my desk looking out over the Spanish mountains.
My bags are all packed, piled up on my bed. I really impressed myself. I was worried I was going to have to pick and choose things to leave behind or check another bag. I have my suitcase and duffel bag full now, but I still have some room in my backpack which is nice. They don't have a scale here so I wasn't able to weigh it, but I think I should be fine. I had plenty of pounds to spare when I came here and it doesn't feel that much heavier.
School was good. We watched a movie and then had to bid goodbye to our teachers and some of our friends. :( When I got home and we were eating lunch, I had tears in my eyes thinking about how this was our last meal as a family, and then suddenly Nuria accidentally knocked over the water pitcher and it went all over me and I was soaked. Hahaha! It was definitely a mood lightener and I needed that. Then this afternoon I did all my packing (as seen above) and then Allison and I did one last shopping trip. We got a few snacks and food to bring home, and a few more souvenirs.
Dinner tonight was just Nuria and me but that was really nice. She made bacon cheeseburgers, which we've never had, but they were SO good and we had a good conversation. Then she took me for a walk around the murallas and the city and we picked up Marta along the way and just walked and talked. Perfect ending to my final day.
We came home from our walk and sat in the living room and ate colored popcorn and hot chocolate. I was teaching Marta a bunch of fun string games like cat's cradle, witch's broom, Eiffel Tower, etc. and it was so cute and fun. She made us matching bracelets earlier today that are so cute. I'm gonna miss that little girl a lot. The look on her face when we said goodbye tonight just broke my heart. And she hardly ever comes to my room when I'm in here, but after we said goodbye she's come in here 3 times to ask me something. I think she just wants to see me one more time. I had to say goodbye to Nuria and Marta tonight because they're not going to be awake when I leave in the morning, and it was way harder than I expected. I don't even know the words I would use to thank them for everything in English, let alone in Spanish while I'm crying. Haha. For this reason, I wrote Jesus and Nuria a letter, and Marta a letter too. I'm going to leave them somewhere in the house tomorrow so they find them after I'm gone. I also gave them their picture frames today and they loved them. They're already asking me when I'm going to return to Avila and I wish I could come back ASAP!! After I came back from my shower, I opened up my suitcase and found a note from them inside. We both had the same idea I guess. It was so sweet and heartfelt and I am keeping that thing forever. I also got the sweetest goodbye email from my teacher, Rut today. It made me cry just reading it.
Now that I have my suitcases and everything packed up I'm getting more excited to come home. It's just the goodbyes in the middle that make this all so difficult. I'm getting on a bus to the airport at 6AM and my flight leaves Madrid at 10:25am. I'll be back in the US at around 1ish Saturday and back in MN at 8:31pm. Crazy how fast that all works. As sad as it is to leave everything and everyone here, I'm very excited to come home and see you all!!
My bags are all packed, piled up on my bed. I really impressed myself. I was worried I was going to have to pick and choose things to leave behind or check another bag. I have my suitcase and duffel bag full now, but I still have some room in my backpack which is nice. They don't have a scale here so I wasn't able to weigh it, but I think I should be fine. I had plenty of pounds to spare when I came here and it doesn't feel that much heavier.
School was good. We watched a movie and then had to bid goodbye to our teachers and some of our friends. :( When I got home and we were eating lunch, I had tears in my eyes thinking about how this was our last meal as a family, and then suddenly Nuria accidentally knocked over the water pitcher and it went all over me and I was soaked. Hahaha! It was definitely a mood lightener and I needed that. Then this afternoon I did all my packing (as seen above) and then Allison and I did one last shopping trip. We got a few snacks and food to bring home, and a few more souvenirs.
Dinner tonight was just Nuria and me but that was really nice. She made bacon cheeseburgers, which we've never had, but they were SO good and we had a good conversation. Then she took me for a walk around the murallas and the city and we picked up Marta along the way and just walked and talked. Perfect ending to my final day.
Now that I have my suitcases and everything packed up I'm getting more excited to come home. It's just the goodbyes in the middle that make this all so difficult. I'm getting on a bus to the airport at 6AM and my flight leaves Madrid at 10:25am. I'll be back in the US at around 1ish Saturday and back in MN at 8:31pm. Crazy how fast that all works. As sad as it is to leave everything and everyone here, I'm very excited to come home and see you all!!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Starts with Goodbye...
Today was our last day of school. YIPPEEEEE!! There's nothing that beats that last day of school feeling. Except knowing that I have to leave so soon!! :( I am not ready to go yet, not at all...
Here's a picture we took in my class today. We are the intermediate level, and there are 9 of us girls. We have a lot of fun in there and I'm really going to miss these girls and our amazing teachers, Rut and Berta. We spent 3 quality hours together every day filled with laughs, confusion, a little bit of learning, and a whole lot of fun.
Tonight was our big fiesta night at the school. All of our families came and Rico got up and talked for a little bit and the big showcase was our dancing. We have been practicing dancing all 6 weeks here and so now we were able to perform for our families and all of the teachers. We performed our big Sevillana dance in two groups and it went really well!! Shanna and I were really nervous beforehand that we'd forget a step or do one of the million weird things we've done in practice before. We survived and it went really well! One of our best times ever. My host dad recorded it on my camera for me so I'll have to show some of you guys when we get home. It's a pretty long video so I don't know if I'll be able to upload it on here. Maybe one day after I return. Some of the students danced Pasa Doble and Salsa after the Sevillanas, but we didn't. Rico, our advisor got up and danced the Pasa Doble with one of the other professors and it was so fun to see him let loose and be out of his shell!
My beautiful dancing partner :) Love you, Shan!
After the dancing each of the classes had their own little thing to do. The advanced class had dubbed over cute short videos with Spanish and so we got to watch their videos. Then my class went and we did "Me acuerdo..." The other day in class we all wrote a bunch of things that we remember from our trip here in Spain and so we decided to share some of them with everyone at the fiesta. Of course we played sad sappy music in the background and it was actually a lot more emotional than I thought it was going to be! I didn't cry but I saw a few of the other students from the other classes with tears in their eyes as they listened to us. We each shared three. It was hard for me to decide, but I choose one about running through the rain in the streets of Segovia, how I didn't want to sleep on my first day here and the bus ride even though I hadn't slept at all because I just wanted to see everything and be with the people, and lastly about our wonderful family dinners on Sundays. My family dinner one was the last one that was said out of all of them, and when we went back to our seats Vanessa (my cousin) grabbed me and I looked at her and she had tears streaming down her face. So did Raquel (her mom/my aunt) and my host mom too! Family is a HUGE thing here and the fact that I talked about our family dinners really meant a lot to them I think. Emotions were on a high, and then the other class presented. They had made a slideshow of a bunch of pictures from our trip and it was SO good. Shout-out to you, Kelli. That was an awesome slideshow. I had tears in my eyes throughout the beginning, but after the music got a little bit more happy during it I was fine. It was crazy to look back at pictures from the beginning and realize how much has happened since then and how much we've grown, individually and as a group. The final thing we all did was sing! Cristina (our dance teacher) had us work on a song for the last few days and we sang it for our parents. The verses were a little shaky but we can nail that chorus! Haha. It was about leaving and saying goodbye and I'm glad I didn't translate the lyrics before singing it at the fiesta because it's kind of sad too. I also have that on video if anyone wants to watch :) Then the program director came up and talked for a bit and presented us with our diplomas! It was really cool! We have amazing diplomas that are beautiful and from the University of Salamanca. Univ of Salamanca is one of the most prestigious universities in all of Europe so that's definitely going to be something to frame and hold on to. It was kind of fun to "graduate" again :)
After the ceremony we had some tapas and sat outside and ate. It was gorgeous outside and we took a bunch of pictures and talked and hung out. Then I had to say my first goodbyes and it was so sad! These next couple of days are gonna be rough, woof! I didn't think so, but it hit hard. A group of us were going to go to llao llao so I went over the my family to tell them and say bye and then Vanessa and Raquel said they probably weren't going to see me again before Saturday and so I had to say adios. The Spanish people here are so sweet and kind and always have such kind things to say. Raquel and her family were the first people I met here besides my family and have been around for many of my fun adventures here. I survived my goodbye with Raquel all right, but then when I got to Vanessa I lost it. She had tears in her eyes too. I walked back over to my friends then and they all got mad at me cuz I was crying which made them all get teary-eyed too. We all had it right on the border, just waiting to come out. We all went to llao llao together one last time and took a cute picture. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to all of these wonderful people. I couldn't have asked for a better group to have spent the last 6 weeks with...
Tomorrow is going to be such a bittersweet day! We have "school" but we're just watching a movie and then eating a picnic outside. I'll have to say goodbye to all of the teachers and wonderful people at the school, and goodbye to most of my friends too. So sad. Especially because I don't know if I'll ever see the students from EMU again. Gotta make the best of our final day in Spain. I also need to buy a few last minute things and pack my suitcase. I have barely started! AHHH. I have like 3 shirts in there, that's all. Crazy to think of how much thinking and planning went into my packing before I came here, and then look at me now. I just can't bring myself to do it.
Here's a picture of me with my grammar teacher, Rut! She is so cute and sweet and I'm definitely going to miss her.
After Shanna left my house tonight, I was talking with my family for a little bit and was pushing back the tears as much as I could. We weren't even talking about me leaving or sad things, we were talking about carpet.. CARPET. Haha. My brain was just emotional and I was thinking about how this is all coming to and end and I'm going to miss our late-night talks. I got tears in my eyes and then they said we had to stop talking or else I was going to make them cry again! Haha. That's gonna be a rough goodbye, that's for sure. I'm gonna stop thinking about it now. Today I printed off pictures for them and bought frames. I have one of me and Marta for her, and one of the whole family. It's going to be hard to give them the pictures without crying, but it'll be what it'll be. I'm really really going to miss them.
Time for this long evening to come to an end so I can get some sleep before the long day ahead of me tomorrow. My last day in Spain.............
Here's a picture we took in my class today. We are the intermediate level, and there are 9 of us girls. We have a lot of fun in there and I'm really going to miss these girls and our amazing teachers, Rut and Berta. We spent 3 quality hours together every day filled with laughs, confusion, a little bit of learning, and a whole lot of fun.
My beautiful dancing partner :) Love you, Shan!
After the dancing each of the classes had their own little thing to do. The advanced class had dubbed over cute short videos with Spanish and so we got to watch their videos. Then my class went and we did "Me acuerdo..." The other day in class we all wrote a bunch of things that we remember from our trip here in Spain and so we decided to share some of them with everyone at the fiesta. Of course we played sad sappy music in the background and it was actually a lot more emotional than I thought it was going to be! I didn't cry but I saw a few of the other students from the other classes with tears in their eyes as they listened to us. We each shared three. It was hard for me to decide, but I choose one about running through the rain in the streets of Segovia, how I didn't want to sleep on my first day here and the bus ride even though I hadn't slept at all because I just wanted to see everything and be with the people, and lastly about our wonderful family dinners on Sundays. My family dinner one was the last one that was said out of all of them, and when we went back to our seats Vanessa (my cousin) grabbed me and I looked at her and she had tears streaming down her face. So did Raquel (her mom/my aunt) and my host mom too! Family is a HUGE thing here and the fact that I talked about our family dinners really meant a lot to them I think. Emotions were on a high, and then the other class presented. They had made a slideshow of a bunch of pictures from our trip and it was SO good. Shout-out to you, Kelli. That was an awesome slideshow. I had tears in my eyes throughout the beginning, but after the music got a little bit more happy during it I was fine. It was crazy to look back at pictures from the beginning and realize how much has happened since then and how much we've grown, individually and as a group. The final thing we all did was sing! Cristina (our dance teacher) had us work on a song for the last few days and we sang it for our parents. The verses were a little shaky but we can nail that chorus! Haha. It was about leaving and saying goodbye and I'm glad I didn't translate the lyrics before singing it at the fiesta because it's kind of sad too. I also have that on video if anyone wants to watch :) Then the program director came up and talked for a bit and presented us with our diplomas! It was really cool! We have amazing diplomas that are beautiful and from the University of Salamanca. Univ of Salamanca is one of the most prestigious universities in all of Europe so that's definitely going to be something to frame and hold on to. It was kind of fun to "graduate" again :)
After the ceremony we had some tapas and sat outside and ate. It was gorgeous outside and we took a bunch of pictures and talked and hung out. Then I had to say my first goodbyes and it was so sad! These next couple of days are gonna be rough, woof! I didn't think so, but it hit hard. A group of us were going to go to llao llao so I went over the my family to tell them and say bye and then Vanessa and Raquel said they probably weren't going to see me again before Saturday and so I had to say adios. The Spanish people here are so sweet and kind and always have such kind things to say. Raquel and her family were the first people I met here besides my family and have been around for many of my fun adventures here. I survived my goodbye with Raquel all right, but then when I got to Vanessa I lost it. She had tears in her eyes too. I walked back over to my friends then and they all got mad at me cuz I was crying which made them all get teary-eyed too. We all had it right on the border, just waiting to come out. We all went to llao llao together one last time and took a cute picture. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to all of these wonderful people. I couldn't have asked for a better group to have spent the last 6 weeks with...
Tomorrow is going to be such a bittersweet day! We have "school" but we're just watching a movie and then eating a picnic outside. I'll have to say goodbye to all of the teachers and wonderful people at the school, and goodbye to most of my friends too. So sad. Especially because I don't know if I'll ever see the students from EMU again. Gotta make the best of our final day in Spain. I also need to buy a few last minute things and pack my suitcase. I have barely started! AHHH. I have like 3 shirts in there, that's all. Crazy to think of how much thinking and planning went into my packing before I came here, and then look at me now. I just can't bring myself to do it.
Here's a picture of me with my grammar teacher, Rut! She is so cute and sweet and I'm definitely going to miss her.
After Shanna left my house tonight, I was talking with my family for a little bit and was pushing back the tears as much as I could. We weren't even talking about me leaving or sad things, we were talking about carpet.. CARPET. Haha. My brain was just emotional and I was thinking about how this is all coming to and end and I'm going to miss our late-night talks. I got tears in my eyes and then they said we had to stop talking or else I was going to make them cry again! Haha. That's gonna be a rough goodbye, that's for sure. I'm gonna stop thinking about it now. Today I printed off pictures for them and bought frames. I have one of me and Marta for her, and one of the whole family. It's going to be hard to give them the pictures without crying, but it'll be what it'll be. I'm really really going to miss them.
Time for this long evening to come to an end so I can get some sleep before the long day ahead of me tomorrow. My last day in Spain.............
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The End
Well, now that I've kind of caught up on all of my happenings over the weekend, I can write about this week. I cannot believe I have come to this point. I only have 2 full days left here in Avila. This week is flying by but I just want it to last forever!
Monday I had 3 tests. It was insane. But it was nice to get those out of the way and now my homework load has dropped to pretty much nothing. I did really well on my grammar and literature tests, but my culture one not so much. Luckily, he's dropping our lowest test grade for that class and our day-trips and activities count for that grade as well.
Tonight we had a formal dinner at a country club here in Avila with 18 of us and Rico. It was fun to get all dressed up and go out to eat and the food was amazing!! I'm going to miss all of these people so much. I've made so many great new friends, and it's sad to think that I may never see the kids from Eastern Michigan again. It'll be weird going from spending all my time with these people to not seeing them again for a LONG while.
After the dinner my host dad came to pick Shanna and me up and on the way home he asked us if we'd gone to Cuatro Postes yet. It's a big monument on the edge of Avila of a cross surrounded by four posts, and it has an amazing view of the city. We said no but that we really need to go before Saturday and he decided to drive us up there right on the spot to see Avila by night. The view was absolutely incredible. Pictures cannot justify the view, especially because it's hard to get good pictures of lit up things at night. But the walls looked AMAZING and the whole area inside was lit up and gorgeous. We tried to take a million pictures, but not many of them worked out very well. It was a spontaneous little excursion but it was so amazing and so worth it.
I have so much to do in these next two days. We have our big end of the summer fiesta tomorrow night at school where our families come and we dance for them and do a few other fun activities. I also need to go to the mall and pick up a few things before I leave, get some last minute souvenirs for me and others, pack my suitcase, clean up everything, figure out my flight info stuff, and finish up school! Luckily for me, Rico said that Shanna and I don't have to take our final because we both have really good grades at this point. THANK GOODNESS. Who wants to take a final exam on their last day in Spain?!? Not this girl, that's for sure!!!
This time in Avila has truly been the summer of a lifetime and I have so many memories and moments I am never ever going to forget. I can't believe it's already coming to an end, but I guess it's time for this girl to come back to MN and keep on living my life in the states. I've changed a lot over the past six weeks and I can tell. It's going to be different living in the US after experiencing all of this, but I am excited to come home and see everyone and try to get back into the normal routine. It's 2:14am so I should probably get to bed, but I'll see you all SO soon!!
Monday I had 3 tests. It was insane. But it was nice to get those out of the way and now my homework load has dropped to pretty much nothing. I did really well on my grammar and literature tests, but my culture one not so much. Luckily, he's dropping our lowest test grade for that class and our day-trips and activities count for that grade as well.
Tonight we had a formal dinner at a country club here in Avila with 18 of us and Rico. It was fun to get all dressed up and go out to eat and the food was amazing!! I'm going to miss all of these people so much. I've made so many great new friends, and it's sad to think that I may never see the kids from Eastern Michigan again. It'll be weird going from spending all my time with these people to not seeing them again for a LONG while.
After the dinner my host dad came to pick Shanna and me up and on the way home he asked us if we'd gone to Cuatro Postes yet. It's a big monument on the edge of Avila of a cross surrounded by four posts, and it has an amazing view of the city. We said no but that we really need to go before Saturday and he decided to drive us up there right on the spot to see Avila by night. The view was absolutely incredible. Pictures cannot justify the view, especially because it's hard to get good pictures of lit up things at night. But the walls looked AMAZING and the whole area inside was lit up and gorgeous. We tried to take a million pictures, but not many of them worked out very well. It was a spontaneous little excursion but it was so amazing and so worth it.
I have so much to do in these next two days. We have our big end of the summer fiesta tomorrow night at school where our families come and we dance for them and do a few other fun activities. I also need to go to the mall and pick up a few things before I leave, get some last minute souvenirs for me and others, pack my suitcase, clean up everything, figure out my flight info stuff, and finish up school! Luckily for me, Rico said that Shanna and I don't have to take our final because we both have really good grades at this point. THANK GOODNESS. Who wants to take a final exam on their last day in Spain?!? Not this girl, that's for sure!!!
This time in Avila has truly been the summer of a lifetime and I have so many memories and moments I am never ever going to forget. I can't believe it's already coming to an end, but I guess it's time for this girl to come back to MN and keep on living my life in the states. I've changed a lot over the past six weeks and I can tell. It's going to be different living in the US after experiencing all of this, but I am excited to come home and see everyone and try to get back into the normal routine. It's 2:14am so I should probably get to bed, but I'll see you all SO soon!!
One Big Happy Family
Every Sunday we go to my host mom's parents' house for lunch. Nuria is one of 6 children and all of the children and their families come for lunch. There's usually around 20-25 people and it is such a fun time. They can be loud and crazy and boisterous but I've come to love spending time with them and look forward to every Sunday lunch. The uncles are funny and always ask Kelli and I questions or try to trick us with different jokes.
This past Sunday was our final big family dinner before we leave. Kelli and I were both sad that it was our final dinner. All of the family is so sweet and nice and I've grown to love them as family of my own. It was actually really sad to say goodbye for good to some of them as they were leaving. Some of them I'll see again before we leave on Saturday, but a lot of them I won't. I didn't realize how sad this is all going to be!! We bid goodbye to most of the family and then Kelli and I and our host moms and their parents sat around the table for a while and talked and looked at pictures. SO sweet. The Spanish people are so welcoming and accepting and will do anything to make you feel at home. I love the tight family bond that is part of the Spanish culture. They talk on the phone multiple times daily, are always at each others houses for coffee or tea, and obviously share a very special bond.
Here's a picture we got of most of the family on Sunday before we all left! A big bunch. It's like a big Thanksgiving meal every Sunday. They have given me so many memories and moments I will cherish for a lifetime :)
This past Sunday was our final big family dinner before we leave. Kelli and I were both sad that it was our final dinner. All of the family is so sweet and nice and I've grown to love them as family of my own. It was actually really sad to say goodbye for good to some of them as they were leaving. Some of them I'll see again before we leave on Saturday, but a lot of them I won't. I didn't realize how sad this is all going to be!! We bid goodbye to most of the family and then Kelli and I and our host moms and their parents sat around the table for a while and talked and looked at pictures. SO sweet. The Spanish people are so welcoming and accepting and will do anything to make you feel at home. I love the tight family bond that is part of the Spanish culture. They talk on the phone multiple times daily, are always at each others houses for coffee or tea, and obviously share a very special bond.
Here's a picture we got of most of the family on Sunday before we all left! A big bunch. It's like a big Thanksgiving meal every Sunday. They have given me so many memories and moments I will cherish for a lifetime :)
Barraco!
We spent our final Sunday night in Spain in Barraco. Barraco is a small pueblo village of about 2,100 people and is located right on the valley of the Alberche River. We went there to swim and enjoy the sunshine. Kari's family was going, and her mom is friends with my mom so she invited us to come too and then more people ended up coming too which was really fun.
Barraco is out in the mountains and is so absolutely gorgeous. We drove through it when we went to Toledo on Saturday.
Such a beautiful place to swim! Here we are with some of our family members who came with. Marta really wanted to come, but her allergies were really bad so they didn't think she should be outside more. The water was a little chilly at first, but once we got in it was fun. There were a lot of fish in the water swimming around though, and that was kind of freaky. We could see them through the water.
Barraco is out in the mountains and is so absolutely gorgeous. We drove through it when we went to Toledo on Saturday.
Such a beautiful place to swim! Here we are with some of our family members who came with. Marta really wanted to come, but her allergies were really bad so they didn't think she should be outside more. The water was a little chilly at first, but once we got in it was fun. There were a lot of fish in the water swimming around though, and that was kind of freaky. We could see them through the water.
They also had a little kayak rental booth. We thought it'd be fun to take out some kayaks and go exploring down the river so 6 of us students went out and my host dad and Kari's host dad. Our parents were telling us to be really careful because it's pretty dangerous because there's a strong current. We did okay though. Some places were a little rough, like under the bridge, but it was so fun. The view was absolutely AMAZING. We were literally kayaking down a river through a bunch of mountains. It was so unreal and breathtaking. None of us had our phones or cameras to take pictures with though, because we didn't want to get them wet in case of an accident or a big splash. (We did a lot of paddle splashing each other hahaha). So those views will just have to remain in my brain, but they will for a long time. We paddled out for a while and the group of us girls stopped and layed in the kayaks in the sunshine for a while while the boys continued on.
I had 3 tests the next day, but going kayaking and swimming was SO worth it instead of wasting the nice afternoon inside reading books. As we like to say, "You Only Spain Once!!" So we might as well do as much fun and crazy stuff as possible. We're running out of time!
I had 3 tests the next day, but going kayaking and swimming was SO worth it instead of wasting the nice afternoon inside reading books. As we like to say, "You Only Spain Once!!" So we might as well do as much fun and crazy stuff as possible. We're running out of time!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Toledo
On Saturday we took a day trip to Toledo. It's about 2 hours from Avila and was the capital of Spain for many years before Madrid became the capital. It is a city with a lot of history, and a LOT of heat! The forecast was for 95 degrees and it sure was hot! I brought 3 big bottles of water and felt like I was drinking it the whole day. My hair only stayed down for about the first 15 minutes of our trip. WAY too hot for hair on the shoulders!
On the bus ride there, Shanna and I were sitting together. We were just going to sleep, but then we started talking and the view out the window was GORGEOUS. Seriously amazing. We were driving through the mountains and we were both so mesmerized by the views. I didn't even pull out my camera for the first while because I couldn't take my eyes off the world around us! We decided to stay awake then and we studied for our tests a little bit and jammed out to Wicked music. WE LOVE TO SING! Sorry to anyone who had to hear us on the bus. It was really cool at one point when we were driving up in the mountains and listening to Defying Gravity. It was so beautiful. I wish we had mountains or something in MN or ND!
Here's a group of us girls in front of the beautiful city of Toledo! Hooray for summer in Spain!
On the bus ride there, Shanna and I were sitting together. We were just going to sleep, but then we started talking and the view out the window was GORGEOUS. Seriously amazing. We were driving through the mountains and we were both so mesmerized by the views. I didn't even pull out my camera for the first while because I couldn't take my eyes off the world around us! We decided to stay awake then and we studied for our tests a little bit and jammed out to Wicked music. WE LOVE TO SING! Sorry to anyone who had to hear us on the bus. It was really cool at one point when we were driving up in the mountains and listening to Defying Gravity. It was so beautiful. I wish we had mountains or something in MN or ND!
Here's a group of us girls in front of the beautiful city of Toledo! Hooray for summer in Spain!
We first went to a big plaza in the city and hung out, got a little food, and got maps. Then we went to a history museum. I wasn't really in the mood for a history museum at the time, but there were a few cool things in there. We moved through it pretty quickly but while the other kids were still looking inside we went and sat up on the roof of the museum where they have a super cute garden and the view over the city was gorgeous.
We stopped and ate our bag lunches and then headed to the Cathedral. We have seen so many cathedrals and churches while we've been in Spain, so a lot of people didn't really want to go, but I'm glad we did! This cathedral was very different from the other ones we've seen here and I really liked it a lot! It's a little different because Toledo (Castilla de la Mancha) is in a different province than Avila, Segovia, and Salamanca (Castilla y Leon) and so the structure and thoughts behind it are a little different. It was huge and had a lot more color. There was an interesting part of it in the ceiling. There was a big cut out area letting light in through a window. It was like a hole to heaven and was so cool. Shanna and I couldn't take our eyes off of it. There were little statues of angels and people and cherubs and a scene was painted and the light was shining in perfectly. It was so cute and so touching.
After the cathedral we walked over to the Jewish quarters to look around there. Then we had free time to shop and wander around the city. It was so deathly hot and we didn't really feel like doing much of anything, but we survived and eventually made it back to the bus. The bad part was that once we were on the bus, we were so hot and sweaty that it was impossible to sleep. I really liked Toledo though and it's definitely a beautiful city I'd look forward to seeing again one day!
Little Things
Now that the weather has been gorgeous, we've finally been able to go outside and swim in the pool!! Marta LOVES to swim and really likes that I'll go swim with her. I don't have any photos of that, but we have a good time. She loves doing handstands and I taught her how to do a somersault in the pool as well. I can't actually do one, but I could teach one! When I came home one afternoon she cutely asked me if I'd go swimming with her so she could go because Nuria was cooking and she can't go to the pool by herself. How can you say no to this adorable little face?!?! You can't... Haha.
After we went swimming on Friday, I went out with some friends to get hamburgers before the big fiesta in the park. I haven't eaten a hamburger in forever and it sounded so good! I didn't eat a normal hamburger though. It had a burger, ham, fried egg, bacon, and barbecue sauce! As weird as that may sound, it was super delicious and totally hit the spot. YUMMMM...
I didn't stay out super late at the fiesta in the park because we had our trip to Toledo in the morning, but it was a fun preview for Saturday night's fiesta. I'm really going to miss these fun little spontaneous things like swimming with Marta or grabbing burgers with friends. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while I still have them here! I'm currently "babysitting" Marta at the moment because Jesus is working and Nuria had to run some errands, but I'm enjoying the sister time! I won't have much more of it! She got a tablet for her birthday and so I'm going to download and set up Skype on it before I leave so I can still talk to them and see them when I return to the states.
Another fun little thing I did this weekend was make pancakes!! I stayed at Kelli's house (my host mom's sister is Kelli's host mom, so we're family sort of) on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning we made pancakes for her family. It's actually the first time I've ever made pancakes from scratch! It was a little difficult at first, but we made it work. They don't use measuring cups at all, but I'd brought some from the US and then we just guesstimated with the teaspoons/tablespoons. They also didn't have a metal flipper thing so we had to use a wood one, but it turned out. They were really yummy and her host mom and brother both liked them. I miss pancakes! They don't have maple syrup here though, so we had to eat them with peanut butter and nutella. I'm hoping to make something for my host family if I have time this week, but I don't know if I will! They are going to teach me how to make the Spanish tortilla one day though.
After we went swimming on Friday, I went out with some friends to get hamburgers before the big fiesta in the park. I haven't eaten a hamburger in forever and it sounded so good! I didn't eat a normal hamburger though. It had a burger, ham, fried egg, bacon, and barbecue sauce! As weird as that may sound, it was super delicious and totally hit the spot. YUMMMM...
I didn't stay out super late at the fiesta in the park because we had our trip to Toledo in the morning, but it was a fun preview for Saturday night's fiesta. I'm really going to miss these fun little spontaneous things like swimming with Marta or grabbing burgers with friends. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities while I still have them here! I'm currently "babysitting" Marta at the moment because Jesus is working and Nuria had to run some errands, but I'm enjoying the sister time! I won't have much more of it! She got a tablet for her birthday and so I'm going to download and set up Skype on it before I leave so I can still talk to them and see them when I return to the states.
Another fun little thing I did this weekend was make pancakes!! I stayed at Kelli's house (my host mom's sister is Kelli's host mom, so we're family sort of) on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning we made pancakes for her family. It's actually the first time I've ever made pancakes from scratch! It was a little difficult at first, but we made it work. They don't use measuring cups at all, but I'd brought some from the US and then we just guesstimated with the teaspoons/tablespoons. They also didn't have a metal flipper thing so we had to use a wood one, but it turned out. They were really yummy and her host mom and brother both liked them. I miss pancakes! They don't have maple syrup here though, so we had to eat them with peanut butter and nutella. I'm hoping to make something for my host family if I have time this week, but I don't know if I will! They are going to teach me how to make the Spanish tortilla one day though.
Climbing Las Murallas!
Well, this is my 50th blog post so I'm glad it's a fun one!! :)
On Friday afternoon, my family wanted to take me to climb up on top of the murallas (walls). You can't visit Avila without climbing the walls, right? Shanna and Emily decided to come with us too so it was fun to have a family/friend adventure and have photographers along so we weren't always taking selfies. The weather was ridiculously hot up there and we were dying, but the view was amazing and we got some great pictures. I wrote a little bit about this before, and it's pretty self explanatory, so I'll just share some pictures!
Seriously, just look at that!! How gorgeous is the view here?! It's like living in a castle.
The four girls! It was fun to have Marta along because she can always lighten the mood and is so dang cute!! She is really shy, but was actually talking and laughing and enjoying spending time with Shanna and Emily. I think she really likes them, and I know they love her too!
Mi Familia! We finally had photographers and were able to get a picture of the four of us. I think I might print this here and buy a frame and leave it as a gift to them.
On Friday afternoon, my family wanted to take me to climb up on top of the murallas (walls). You can't visit Avila without climbing the walls, right? Shanna and Emily decided to come with us too so it was fun to have a family/friend adventure and have photographers along so we weren't always taking selfies. The weather was ridiculously hot up there and we were dying, but the view was amazing and we got some great pictures. I wrote a little bit about this before, and it's pretty self explanatory, so I'll just share some pictures!
Seriously, just look at that!! How gorgeous is the view here?! It's like living in a castle.
We went around to another part of the wall and had my host mom take a picture! I LOVE this one :) Plus it has the gorgeous mountains in the background.
The four girls! It was fun to have Marta along because she can always lighten the mood and is so dang cute!! She is really shy, but was actually talking and laughing and enjoying spending time with Shanna and Emily. I think she really likes them, and I know they love her too!
Mi Familia! We finally had photographers and were able to get a picture of the four of us. I think I might print this here and buy a frame and leave it as a gift to them.
Classic picture of the murallas. Now I know where all those beautiful pictures online were taken!!
Hanging out in front of the walls with my girls! Can't believe we've been living here for almost 6 weeks and only have a few days left. We've definitely had the time of our lives here :)
Climbing the walls was so cool and fun. We only went about half way around because it was so super hot, but it'd have been fun to go another day when it was a little cooler and walk all the way around. Now I guess we are true Avila citizens!
Real Monastario de Santo Tomas
Okay, here goes! I'm going to try to catch you up on all of the things I have done over the past few days! It's been pretty busy, so I''ll try to keep these short and sweet!
On Thursday afternoon for our cultural activity, Cristina (our dance teacher) took us to see one of the monasteries in Avila. I've heard a lot about it so I was interested in visiting it. The area where we were at was a big piece of the Spanish Inquisition and over 69 million people were killed or tortured there. That is so many people and is crazy to think about.
Overall the monastery was a really neat thing to see and is a big part of Avila. And the weather was gorgeous so it was nice to walk around outside in the sunshine :)
On Thursday afternoon for our cultural activity, Cristina (our dance teacher) took us to see one of the monasteries in Avila. I've heard a lot about it so I was interested in visiting it. The area where we were at was a big piece of the Spanish Inquisition and over 69 million people were killed or tortured there. That is so many people and is crazy to think about.
We got to look around inside the monastery, at an oriental museum, and the church. The church was crazy big and really beautiful. They choir corrals were really cool and the back of every single seat was different! It must have taken forever to construct.
This was a tomb inside the front of a church. I can't remember his name, but he was the son of the queen and set to take the throne as king one day, but he died at the age of 19. So his mother had this grand tomb constructed for him and they built the big church around it.
Overall the monastery was a really neat thing to see and is a big part of Avila. And the weather was gorgeous so it was nice to walk around outside in the sunshine :)
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Quick Check-In!
I have been CRAZY busy the last couple of days. And this upcoming week is going to be even crazier! I feel like we are cramming so many things into this last bit of time here!!! I have taken a million pictures in the last few days as well, so I need to get cracking on those too!
I have 3 tests tomorrow so I need to get to studying, but I hope to do a good blog post or two with pictures sometime tomorrow!! I need to recap the monastery visit, climbing the Murallas, our day trip to Toledo, swimming, making PANCAKES, family dinner, and kayaking through the mountains!!
It is unreal that I only have 5 days left here. I have had the BEST days ever the last few days and I just don't want it to end! Now that the weather here is gorgeous, I feel like my summer has finally begun and I don't want to leave it behind!
I have 3 tests tomorrow so I need to get to studying, but I hope to do a good blog post or two with pictures sometime tomorrow!! I need to recap the monastery visit, climbing the Murallas, our day trip to Toledo, swimming, making PANCAKES, family dinner, and kayaking through the mountains!!
It is unreal that I only have 5 days left here. I have had the BEST days ever the last few days and I just don't want it to end! Now that the weather here is gorgeous, I feel like my summer has finally begun and I don't want to leave it behind!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Final Weekend
I can't believe this is my final full weekend here in Avila!!! I feel like I have so much to do and am going to be running like crazy trying to fit it all in!
Yesterday afternoon our group went to see the Real Monasterio de Santo Tomás which was really really cool. It was a much more fun cultural activity than just playing games or something, plus we got to go outside!! The weather was gorgeous.
Yesterday afternoon our group went to see the Real Monasterio de Santo Tomás which was really really cool. It was a much more fun cultural activity than just playing games or something, plus we got to go outside!! The weather was gorgeous.
Today was a super fun day. After lunch, my family wanted to take me up on top of the murallas! We've been planning it all week. Shanna and Emily came along too, so it was a fun family/friends adventure on the walls. I got some AMAZING pictures. The view was incredible and it was so cool to be up on top of the walls. I felt like I could see forever, and it made me realize just how little I am in this big world!! I have a ton of pictures, but I haven't been able to sort through them all yet. Here's one that was toward the beginning I'll put on here for ya. I'll upload a bunch more later. :)
It's like being on top of a castle.
It was SO SUPER DUPER HOT though. And being up even higher on the murallas and walking around was deadly. We were sweating and so overheated and drank our bottles of water really quickly. We only walked around on the northern half of the walls because we got way too hot. It'd be fun to go up another day and walk all the way around, but I'm just so glad I got to go up there and look over all of Avila. My host dad took us to a museum of the history of Avila afterwards too which was interesting to see.
When we got back home, Marta was begging to go swimming in the pool. Jesus thought the water would still be too cold, but there were a few kids in the pool and they said it was fine. So Marta and I put on our swimsuits and jumped in. It felt so amazing and it was really fun. She LOVES to swim and was doing handstands and somersaults galore. I was going to go out with my friends afterwards so I didn't want to get my hair all wet, so I just walked around in the pool a little bit and kept my hair out of the way. On Sunday I told her we'll swim for real and I'll play with her more :)
After that I went out with some of my friends for burgers! I haven't had a hamburger in so long and it sounded so good. I got a crazy burger! It had bacon, a fried egg, and barbecue sauce! (It would have had a bunch of veggies too, but I don't like them so I had it without.) Haha. As weird as that sounds, it was very delicious. After that we went to explore a big fiesta they're having in town this weekend for a little bit, but I'm planning to stay out at it more tomorrow night, because we have an excursion tomorrow and it's gonna be super hot and I want to be better rested.
So yes. Tomorrow we are going to Toledo! I'm really excited to see it, because I've heard it's beautiful. However, it's going to be SUPER hot again. It's supposed to be 95 degrees there tomorrow, and there's not much wind in Toledo. The streets are really narrow too so it gets really stuffy and humid. Should be quite the adventure. I really can't decide what to wear, because I don't think I'll be comfortable in anything! I'm debating a sundress, but I'm going to be all sweaty and gross so that won't really be fun either. Ugh. Gonna have to pack lots of water and sunscreen! We're hoping to find a pool there to utilize during free time. Haha. I need to go to bed for the night, but one day here soon I'll have to go through all of my pictures from the monastery, climbing the walls, and then Toledo! I'll have lots of pictures to upload.
One week from right now I'll be packing up all my stuff and preparing to leave my wonderful home here. AHHHH.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Abbey Road!
I know this is a little bit delayed, but I didn't have these pictures on my camera and I just now stole them from Abbey :) So here's a look at the four of us leaving our mark on Abbey Road!!
We look just like the Beatles, right?!
We had to have a little fun while we were there. This was SUCH a fun picture to take :)
We debated not going to Abbey Road since it was so far away from everything else, but I am so glad we made the decision to go! Definitely a highlight of the London trip and something I'll never forget :)
We look just like the Beatles, right?!
We had to have a little fun while we were there. This was SUCH a fun picture to take :)
We debated not going to Abbey Road since it was so far away from everything else, but I am so glad we made the decision to go! Definitely a highlight of the London trip and something I'll never forget :)
Single Digits!
Oh my gosh, I only have 9 days left in Spain!! It's so hard to believe that my time here has gone by so quickly, and that in just over a week I won't be seeing any of the people I've been spending all of my time with. It's also kind of crazy for me to think about the fact that next Saturday I'll be halfway across the world back in Minnesota. Airplane travel is crazy! It's definitely going to be weird adjusting to life back in the US.
School is starting to wind down now that we're in our last 2 weeks. I have my final exams for conversation/composition and my culture class on Monday, because the Spanish teachers need to turn in their grades to Rico by Tuesday. And then my final with Rico is on Friday, which is not cool at all. But next week will be fun then because after the finals we won't have any homework or anything, so we'll have more free time and will be doing fun stuff in class like Spanish learning games and learning songs and other things like that.
Yesterday was a pretty typical day at school. But guess what?! I wore shorts for the first time! The temperature yesterday was 86 degrees and it was super sunny and finally warm enough for summer clothes!! I had a jacket on at school, because it's pretty chilly in the building, but in the afternoon and evening it was total summer outfit! The weather here is gorgeous and is supposed to stay that way for the rest of the week. I can't wait! Except for the school part, it totally feels like summer :) The only bad part about it is the allergies! Now that it has warmed up we all seem to have runny noses, scratchy throats, and watery eyes. It's not as bad inside, but when the weather is this gorgeous I can't sit inside all day and just stare at it through the window! Haha.
When we walked back from Amalfi's it was dark out, and the plaza and murallas were so gorgeous. I've never been over on that part of town during the night because I try to avoid walking alone at night. So I was able to get some nice pictures. The skies were clear and beautiful and everything was lit up. We even saw The Big Dipper, which was SO cool because it makes you realize that even though you're across the world, you're still under the same sky :)
School is starting to wind down now that we're in our last 2 weeks. I have my final exams for conversation/composition and my culture class on Monday, because the Spanish teachers need to turn in their grades to Rico by Tuesday. And then my final with Rico is on Friday, which is not cool at all. But next week will be fun then because after the finals we won't have any homework or anything, so we'll have more free time and will be doing fun stuff in class like Spanish learning games and learning songs and other things like that.
Yesterday was a pretty typical day at school. But guess what?! I wore shorts for the first time! The temperature yesterday was 86 degrees and it was super sunny and finally warm enough for summer clothes!! I had a jacket on at school, because it's pretty chilly in the building, but in the afternoon and evening it was total summer outfit! The weather here is gorgeous and is supposed to stay that way for the rest of the week. I can't wait! Except for the school part, it totally feels like summer :) The only bad part about it is the allergies! Now that it has warmed up we all seem to have runny noses, scratchy throats, and watery eyes. It's not as bad inside, but when the weather is this gorgeous I can't sit inside all day and just stare at it through the window! Haha.
Finally rocking our shorts!!
The sunshine was so wonderful so we spent the afternoon hanging out in the plaza and a park enjoying the sunshine and breeze and eating some frozen yogurt. They have an amazing fro-yo place here called llao llao. They only have natural (regular) flavored yogurt but they have tons of fun stuff to put on top. Then we went to Amalfí's pizza again for dinner which was amazing like always. That place has such good pizza!! We got to sit and eat outside in a cabana type area which was really nice with the beautiful weather.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Nothing Better than a Spanish Sunset
Look at this absolutely beautiful sunset we had tonight. I can't believe I'll only get to see these beautiful mountain sunsets 10 more times...
Catching Up!
I've been really busy the last few days and haven't really had much time to update, so I'll give you a quick run-over of my last couple of days. Nothing very interesting has really happened. Haha.
SUNDAY.
I slept in until 11, which was SO nice. Especially after being up so late the past few nights. Noelia and Celia were still staying at our house for a while, so I played with them and I also helped Nuria with her English homework. She is taking an English course and her online activities are very similar to the Wiley Plus and Quia stuff we do at UND, but for English! It's pretty simple for me. Noelia was helping too because she's pretty good with English and she was having fun learning. I learned stuff too because when I was trying to explain things or translate them into Spanish, they'd help me phrase things correctly. Sunday afternoon we had our grand lunch with all of the family at Nuria's parents' house. It was really fun this time and the food was super good. The family is so sweet and nice and they love to ask us questions and see how we will respond to things. Another girl in our program, Kelli, lives with Nuria's sister Raquel, and so she's always at the family gatherings which is fun. It's nice to have another person I can talk to and actually carry on a good conversation with because when lots of people are talking at the same time, it's difficult to pick up much. So Kelli, her host brother (who is 19), and I hung out and talked after dinner and it was a fun family afternoon. That evening I went to Shanna and Emily's house and the 4 of us (Abbey was there too) curled up in their beds and watched the latest episode of the Bachelorette! It isn't broadcasted on TV here so we download the episodes and watch them on Shanna's iPad. It was a fun evening, but I had a LOT of homework waiting for me when I got back to my house. That is one thing I won't miss about being here is the classes and homework! Haha.
MONDAY.
Another day of classes. We officially just have two weeks of classes left! That's so crazy. Monday was a kind of long day. Classes seemed to take forever. In the afternoon we had an OPI session at the school and afterwards we all went to llao llao and got frozen yogurt. The weather has finally started to seem like summer here so frozen yogurt was a great treat. After llao llao Shanna and Emily and I came back to my house and chilled for a while so they could use the Wi-Fi to Facetime and Shanna and I wanted to work on our difficult lit homework together. My family was gone for the evening because Marta had a violin audition for something. We hung out for a while and then tried to crack down on our homework, but the drama we had to read was super difficult to understand so we worked for over an hour and then just gave up and decided to go to sleep. The pollen levels or something in the air are SUPER high right now and it's actually irritating me. I don't know what it is exactly, but my throat has been all scratchy and sore and icky. Luckily I brought some allergy meds with and that's helping a little bit.
TODAY.
I was super tired this morning, but as the day has gone on I've gotten more awake! I survived my classes of the day and after classes I had a conference with Rico about our experience here and our families, classes, etc. I didn't have much to say because I'm very happy here with almost everything. Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday (and today we saw them too), Emily and Shanna and I were in the computer lab at school and met a bunch of the girls from Illinois! There is another group of students from the US (Illinois) who are studying here at the same school we are and staying with families too. It was fun to talk to them for a little bit and see how they're liking the experience. All of their classes are on the second floor so I hadn't seen them before, but when we were in the lab it was totally obvious they were American and I'm sure we obviously were to them too. We just had lunch which was really good, and now I'm relaxing for a little bit and about to head over to Abbey's house so we can watch the next episode of The Bachelorette. I've never been huge into the show, but they love it and watching it with them so far has gotten me hooked on the season. After that I'll have lots of homework to do, so hopefully I can get started on it and not have to be up super late! The weather is gorgeous today finally, and it's supposed to be in the 80's the next 3 days. I can't wait!! FINALLY SUMMER.
SUNDAY.
I slept in until 11, which was SO nice. Especially after being up so late the past few nights. Noelia and Celia were still staying at our house for a while, so I played with them and I also helped Nuria with her English homework. She is taking an English course and her online activities are very similar to the Wiley Plus and Quia stuff we do at UND, but for English! It's pretty simple for me. Noelia was helping too because she's pretty good with English and she was having fun learning. I learned stuff too because when I was trying to explain things or translate them into Spanish, they'd help me phrase things correctly. Sunday afternoon we had our grand lunch with all of the family at Nuria's parents' house. It was really fun this time and the food was super good. The family is so sweet and nice and they love to ask us questions and see how we will respond to things. Another girl in our program, Kelli, lives with Nuria's sister Raquel, and so she's always at the family gatherings which is fun. It's nice to have another person I can talk to and actually carry on a good conversation with because when lots of people are talking at the same time, it's difficult to pick up much. So Kelli, her host brother (who is 19), and I hung out and talked after dinner and it was a fun family afternoon. That evening I went to Shanna and Emily's house and the 4 of us (Abbey was there too) curled up in their beds and watched the latest episode of the Bachelorette! It isn't broadcasted on TV here so we download the episodes and watch them on Shanna's iPad. It was a fun evening, but I had a LOT of homework waiting for me when I got back to my house. That is one thing I won't miss about being here is the classes and homework! Haha.
MONDAY.
Another day of classes. We officially just have two weeks of classes left! That's so crazy. Monday was a kind of long day. Classes seemed to take forever. In the afternoon we had an OPI session at the school and afterwards we all went to llao llao and got frozen yogurt. The weather has finally started to seem like summer here so frozen yogurt was a great treat. After llao llao Shanna and Emily and I came back to my house and chilled for a while so they could use the Wi-Fi to Facetime and Shanna and I wanted to work on our difficult lit homework together. My family was gone for the evening because Marta had a violin audition for something. We hung out for a while and then tried to crack down on our homework, but the drama we had to read was super difficult to understand so we worked for over an hour and then just gave up and decided to go to sleep. The pollen levels or something in the air are SUPER high right now and it's actually irritating me. I don't know what it is exactly, but my throat has been all scratchy and sore and icky. Luckily I brought some allergy meds with and that's helping a little bit.
TODAY.
I was super tired this morning, but as the day has gone on I've gotten more awake! I survived my classes of the day and after classes I had a conference with Rico about our experience here and our families, classes, etc. I didn't have much to say because I'm very happy here with almost everything. Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday (and today we saw them too), Emily and Shanna and I were in the computer lab at school and met a bunch of the girls from Illinois! There is another group of students from the US (Illinois) who are studying here at the same school we are and staying with families too. It was fun to talk to them for a little bit and see how they're liking the experience. All of their classes are on the second floor so I hadn't seen them before, but when we were in the lab it was totally obvious they were American and I'm sure we obviously were to them too. We just had lunch which was really good, and now I'm relaxing for a little bit and about to head over to Abbey's house so we can watch the next episode of The Bachelorette. I've never been huge into the show, but they love it and watching it with them so far has gotten me hooked on the season. After that I'll have lots of homework to do, so hopefully I can get started on it and not have to be up super late! The weather is gorgeous today finally, and it's supposed to be in the 80's the next 3 days. I can't wait!! FINALLY SUMMER.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Feliz Cumpleaños!
Saturday was my little sister's 9th birthday! Marta has been super excited for her birthday and been talking about it forever.
I spent Friday night at Shanna and Emily's house, and when I walked back home in the morning I saw Marta right away and she was so happy and excited that it was her birthday. The phone kept ringing with family members calling to say Happy Birthday to her and it was really cute. We hung out at home for a while and I taught her a few American card games. I also gave her a little birthday present. I got her a little pink bear keychain that says London on it while I was in London, a sheet of stickers (cuz she LOVES stickers), and I gave her one of each of the American coins!
Here's a picture from the family party. She asked me if I'd come up and sing Happy Birthday to her in English, so here I am singing to her. And Vanessa and Noelia kind of knew it too :)
We went out to the finca again to celebrate, but it was with the family this time instead of with her classmates. I knew quite a few of them already, but met quite a few new people as well and they are all very nice. We talked and hung out, ate lunch, and had coffee after lunch. Oh my gosh. You will all be so surprised and impressed by the food I ate there yesterday. I remember Nuria saying I might not like a lot of it because a lot of it had fish in it, but I decided I'd try some new things. We were all sitting around this huge table, like a grand Thanksgiving meal. There were tons of little dishes of things: Spanish tortillas, meat, chips, crackers, cheese, jamon cerrano, chorizo, bread, sandwiches, and a lot of things with fish on top. They all think it's weird that I don't like to eat fish, because they live right by the sea and grow up on fish. There was another woman who didn't like fish though! So I didn't eat any of those, but I ate the rest of the stuff and enjoyed it. Oh, I just remembered there was also octopus or squid or something. YUCK. It looked so gross. I didn't try that. After I was pretty much done eating, they were passing around some more interesting looking foods. Manolo handed me a bowl of something and said something about pig meat and it just looked like pork. So I grabbed a piece and put in on my plate and then he said ear. It's a pig's ear. I ATE A FREAKING PIG'S EAR. But let me tell you, that was NOT good. The meat part of it was fine, but the cartilage was so weird to eat! It was like hard and crunchy and the texture was killing me. It was definitely a forced swallow. Hahaha. I also ate a cow's tail after that. Which wasn't too bad! I just gnawed the meat off the bone, kind of like an animal myself. There was one more interesting thing like that which I didn't figure out what it was because I wasn't brave enough to eat it. Just looking at it was too much for me to do. I'd had enough cultural eating of the day. I couldn't believe how much they like those pig ears! They'd grab big forkfuls and shovel it down!
After a few hours I left and went to Shanna's. A bunch of the students ventured to a big gravesite/memorial thing here in Spain for the kings, but we were a few of the kids who had decided not to go so we hung out for the rest of the afternoon/evening. We took the bus to the mall to pick up a few things, and then came back to my house. My family was not home so we sat up in my room and jammed out hard core. We both love to sing and are always singing when we're walking around the streets, at school, on the bus, wherever we are. But it's hard because there's always people around and so it's hard to belt it out and just sing in public without driving people crazy. We sat on my bed and jammed out to songs from Wicked, harmony and everything, and it was so much fun. My family came home a while later and then Marta wanted us to play some of her new games she'd gotten for her birthday with her. Noelia and Celia (her cousins) were staying the night so they played with us too. Celia is only 4 and she's so cute when she speaks in Spanish. We played Jenga Boom!, which is like Jenga, except the base of it is a ticking bomb and when it explodes the whole thing tips over. Hahah. Kind of violently.
After that Shanna and I went out to meet a group of friends at Adolfo's and then we headed out to this big fiesta thing that was happening in the park. It's a big famous fiesta that's happening this weekend and next. Spain really loves their fiestas! It was kind of cold and icky outside though.
Overall I think Marta had a really good birthday and I learned a lot from celebrating with them and seeing the two different parties. They do things a lot differently here, but there's still so much joy and happiness in a birthday! Marta got a tablet (which I've been helping her figure out how to use), some clothes and shoes, quite a few games (Jenga Boom!, Rummikub, Monopoly), a new backpack, candy, headbands, lots of things. She also got a guinea pig from one of her friends! Haha. So we have a guinea pig now. Her name is Lola and she's really funny. She's pretty skittish, but gets better each day. I'll have to take a picture of her one day. Her hair naturally grows in like 5 different directions so she looks a little crazy sometimes.
Here's a picture of one of her cakes... The Princess Cake!
Today the whole family has lunch together again because it's Sunday, so that'll be fun! I have a lot of homework to do today as well so I better get started!
I spent Friday night at Shanna and Emily's house, and when I walked back home in the morning I saw Marta right away and she was so happy and excited that it was her birthday. The phone kept ringing with family members calling to say Happy Birthday to her and it was really cute. We hung out at home for a while and I taught her a few American card games. I also gave her a little birthday present. I got her a little pink bear keychain that says London on it while I was in London, a sheet of stickers (cuz she LOVES stickers), and I gave her one of each of the American coins!
Here's a picture from the family party. She asked me if I'd come up and sing Happy Birthday to her in English, so here I am singing to her. And Vanessa and Noelia kind of knew it too :)
We went out to the finca again to celebrate, but it was with the family this time instead of with her classmates. I knew quite a few of them already, but met quite a few new people as well and they are all very nice. We talked and hung out, ate lunch, and had coffee after lunch. Oh my gosh. You will all be so surprised and impressed by the food I ate there yesterday. I remember Nuria saying I might not like a lot of it because a lot of it had fish in it, but I decided I'd try some new things. We were all sitting around this huge table, like a grand Thanksgiving meal. There were tons of little dishes of things: Spanish tortillas, meat, chips, crackers, cheese, jamon cerrano, chorizo, bread, sandwiches, and a lot of things with fish on top. They all think it's weird that I don't like to eat fish, because they live right by the sea and grow up on fish. There was another woman who didn't like fish though! So I didn't eat any of those, but I ate the rest of the stuff and enjoyed it. Oh, I just remembered there was also octopus or squid or something. YUCK. It looked so gross. I didn't try that. After I was pretty much done eating, they were passing around some more interesting looking foods. Manolo handed me a bowl of something and said something about pig meat and it just looked like pork. So I grabbed a piece and put in on my plate and then he said ear. It's a pig's ear. I ATE A FREAKING PIG'S EAR. But let me tell you, that was NOT good. The meat part of it was fine, but the cartilage was so weird to eat! It was like hard and crunchy and the texture was killing me. It was definitely a forced swallow. Hahaha. I also ate a cow's tail after that. Which wasn't too bad! I just gnawed the meat off the bone, kind of like an animal myself. There was one more interesting thing like that which I didn't figure out what it was because I wasn't brave enough to eat it. Just looking at it was too much for me to do. I'd had enough cultural eating of the day. I couldn't believe how much they like those pig ears! They'd grab big forkfuls and shovel it down!
After a few hours I left and went to Shanna's. A bunch of the students ventured to a big gravesite/memorial thing here in Spain for the kings, but we were a few of the kids who had decided not to go so we hung out for the rest of the afternoon/evening. We took the bus to the mall to pick up a few things, and then came back to my house. My family was not home so we sat up in my room and jammed out hard core. We both love to sing and are always singing when we're walking around the streets, at school, on the bus, wherever we are. But it's hard because there's always people around and so it's hard to belt it out and just sing in public without driving people crazy. We sat on my bed and jammed out to songs from Wicked, harmony and everything, and it was so much fun. My family came home a while later and then Marta wanted us to play some of her new games she'd gotten for her birthday with her. Noelia and Celia (her cousins) were staying the night so they played with us too. Celia is only 4 and she's so cute when she speaks in Spanish. We played Jenga Boom!, which is like Jenga, except the base of it is a ticking bomb and when it explodes the whole thing tips over. Hahah. Kind of violently.
After that Shanna and I went out to meet a group of friends at Adolfo's and then we headed out to this big fiesta thing that was happening in the park. It's a big famous fiesta that's happening this weekend and next. Spain really loves their fiestas! It was kind of cold and icky outside though.
Overall I think Marta had a really good birthday and I learned a lot from celebrating with them and seeing the two different parties. They do things a lot differently here, but there's still so much joy and happiness in a birthday! Marta got a tablet (which I've been helping her figure out how to use), some clothes and shoes, quite a few games (Jenga Boom!, Rummikub, Monopoly), a new backpack, candy, headbands, lots of things. She also got a guinea pig from one of her friends! Haha. So we have a guinea pig now. Her name is Lola and she's really funny. She's pretty skittish, but gets better each day. I'll have to take a picture of her one day. Her hair naturally grows in like 5 different directions so she looks a little crazy sometimes.
Here's a picture of one of her cakes... The Princess Cake!
Today the whole family has lunch together again because it's Sunday, so that'll be fun! I have a lot of homework to do today as well so I better get started!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Mi Casa
I know some of you have been curious about what my house and room look like here, so I took a few pictures to share with you all! :)
Bienvenidos a mi casa!! Here's our little gate entrance to our house.
Here's one set of appliances in the kitchen. Microwave, oven, and washing machine. Yep. The washing machines here are really teeny and in many of the houses they are in the kitchen somewhere. You just open a cupboard door, thinking there might be dishes behind it, but voila! A washer.
Bienvenidos a mi casa!! Here's our little gate entrance to our house.
Here is our living room (which is called the salon here in Spain). It's a nice big room and has the TV and DVD player, a couch and coffee table, a little keyboard piano, the fireplace, and lots of space for playing games or practicing violin.
We also eat in the salon! The coffee table rises up to the sofa and that's where we sit to eat. It's genius, really.
This is one side of my bedroom! I have my own bedroom and it is located upstairs. I have a bed, wardrobe, desk and chair, and a nice big set of shelves. It's really nice and I have plenty of room for my stuff which is great.
Here's my bed! The beds here are really little, like smaller than twin beds, but they work :)
Here's my bathroom! It's also just for me which is really nice. It's very small, but it gets the job done! It's downstairs though, so I do a lot of running up and down the stairs in the mornings, but I am becoming more efficient as the days go by.
Now we have the kitchen!! My parents are very good cooks and my mom spends a lot of time here in the kitchen. It's quite a bit different than kitchens in the US, but it works!! It's also pretty small.
Here's one set of appliances in the kitchen. Microwave, oven, and washing machine. Yep. The washing machines here are really teeny and in many of the houses they are in the kitchen somewhere. You just open a cupboard door, thinking there might be dishes behind it, but voila! A washer.
Here is one of our outdoor/patio areas! This is the only little chunk of grass we have. When the sun is shining, it's so nice to just sit outside here and relax.
Last but not least, we have the pool!! We live in a gated community type place, and inside the housing complex we have a pool for the residents to use! I'm really excited to go swimming with Marta, but I don't know if it'll ever get warm enough!
Hope you enjoyed this quick mini-photo tour of mi casa! I really like my house here and it already feels like home to me :)
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