Barcelona to brighten your day!

I'M PRETTY SURE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS OUTFIT SCREAMS AMERICAN TOURIST

SAGRADA FAMILIA

Barcelona for Carnavales! Photos for now...

GAUDI'S CASA MILA

GROUP SHOT

EL BOSQUERÍA: LARGE MARKET
CANDY

FRUITS AND VEGGIES

EMU EGGS

MANGO PINEAPPLE JUICE
I don't care if this is the ugliest picture, I was excited about my juice!

THE BEACH

BEACH! Can you spot the nudist?

METRO REFLECTION

Valencia! and the Mediterranean Sea! Part 2

THE AQUARIUM
Flip Flop Fish

MICHELLE

DOLPHIN SHOW

SUNSET AND PALM TREE

Valencia! and the Mediterranean Sea! Part 1

SCIENCE CENTER

BRIDGE

ME

WE FOUND THE BEACH

FLAGS OF VALENCIA AND SPAIN

BEACH: note the mountains!

CAITLIN AND I

OUR HOMAGE TO THE USA: we had to...

MY HOSTEL

ORANGE TREES!

An overdue blog-post-marathon! (Feb. 25 - March 1)

After a tough week in class, I deserved a weekend in Valencia! I had 2 tests and a paper due this week and on top of all that, after a last minute decision to go to Valencia this weekend, my credit card company declined my card while trying to buy bus tickets because apparently I was trying to rent the whole bus...Don't ask. After already reserving my hostel though, I was nervous about not being able to get there! So I had a friend purchase the tickets for me and I paid her back! Problem solved the day before I was supposed to leave! I was also nervous because I was going with 2 girls who had a hotel and sort of do their own thing and I really didn't want to be left in Valencia by myself. But all was good! Here's how my weekend went!

Friday, Feb. 25: I woke up at the crack of dawn to walk to the bus station because my bus to Madrid was at 5:45 a.m. It was a little strange walking to the bus station while young people are out in the streets from the night before but that's just what they do here. I was a little nervous walking to the bus station by myself with all of the drunks out but I made it without having to call anyone or feeling unsafe at all. We got on the bus to Madrid just fine but I had realized I didn't print out my bus tickets because the night before, when I planned on doing that in the Center, KIIS took us out and bought us drinks instead. So when we reached the bus station (after a free Metro ride bc the ticket things were broken) I had them print out my ticket. I was worried but it wasn't a huge deal at all! We had time to waste so we sat in a cafe for a bit and walked around some but then it was time to go! I had 2 seats to myself on the 9 a.m. bus to Valencia which I was super happy about! Plenty of room to spread out! But there were 3 couples in front of us on the bus that were very loud and annoying. PDA is very common here, which sometime is sweet and it was very sweet to see how much they like each other but at the same time, I want someone's shoulder to lay my head on..NOT FAIR! But whatever, I fell asleep and wrote for this blog so sorry if this post is a little sappy. I was feeling philosophical this morning which I tend to do a lot but you probably already knew that. So, here goes:

Random UPDATES:
I love the moon here. It's so bright! I also love that it's feminine 'la luna' in Spanish and the sun in masculine 'el sol' It makes the moon much more graceful and more of a phenomena than just ;the moon' In Spanish it's more of a symbol. Like when it's depicted with a statue of Mary: if the moon is below Mary's feet, she is already the mother of Jesus, but if the moon is shown above her, she is pregnant. Interesting the things you learn while touring the cathedral with your 20th Century lit class. That reminds me, I miss the stars in the US. I know they're the same ones over here but where I am, only 4 or 5 can be seen at one time.
I'm also in a country that doesn't believe in anything 'to-go'. All I wanted the other day was a cup of coffee but I wanted to bring it to the Center. But no, coffee to-go doesn't really exist here. Also, 'to-go' in Spanish is 'para llevar' which means 'to wear' which I find funny because coffee is the last thing I'd want to wear in the morning! But 'para llevar' also means 'to carry' so I guess that makes more sense.

My taller with Jesus is going really well. An update on my art class! I'm really excited about how my art project is coming out! I keep meaning to take pictures of it after every time I go but somehow I forget. Otherwise, I'm sure they'd be up here.

It is getting a bit harder to be away from home. Yes mom, I know I'm not missing out on anything and I'm having a great experience here but it's difficult still! Especially when I'm hearing all about spring break plans that I'm missing out on. Sometimes all I want is a hug and space of my own. After 3 months, I still don't think this'll feel like home. Also, mom and dad, remember you were shocked to know I decided to do this in the first place!! :) and now look at me! I'm on a bus to Valencia being independent! Thanks for being proud of me and for helping me out! I'll be at the airport in 2 months with BIG hugs for you both!

This morning when I woke up, my senora had set out breakfast for me which was really sweet but all I have to say is that I don't know how I feel about drinking chocolate milk that has set out all night. We'll see how I feel later on in the day! They do that here though! They just set out whatever it may be: soup, milk (which isn't refrigerated anyway..don't ask me why. Neither are eggs) bread, margarine, marmalade..it's very strange! And I wonder why my stomach hates me...

Also, being here has shown me how possessive we are of things in the US. In the US we need our own plot of land that we can call 'ours' whereas here, they all live in apartment-style homes and have no real land of their own. It's probably something in American history that dates back to the very beginning of out country but still! And with whatever my suitcase could hold, I'm realizing I don't need all of the things I have at home. Now, I'm not going to go home and do a giant closet purge but I'm very surprised at how little I need.

Friday (continued after my bus ride rant of random updates) We arrived in Valencia's bus station without the slightest clue as to where we were or where to go. I figured we'd get the other girls checked into their hotel and then walk to my hostel however, they had no idea how to get to their hotel or how far it was from the bus station. Luckily, I had been emailed directions to my hostel so we start there, hop on the 79 bus after asking a few questions at the Information desk, then ride the 79 around the city. We went in an entire circle listening for the exact stop that my email had told me to get off at. That stop didn't exactly exist but we knew what neighborhood we needed to get off at, so we hopped off there and looked at the map at the bus stop to decide where to go next. Following the directions via email, we arrived at my hostel (despite the loose translation) Rassafa youth hostel was pretty nice. An old man names Jose ran the place, showed me where I'd be staying and where everything was. Turns out I had a 3 bedroom hostel room all to myself for the night! (Yes mom, I know you told me not to go anywhere alone...but it's just what I had to do) So after finding my hostel and changing into shorts, we decide to walk to the other girls' hotel. (luckily I had written directions on how to get there for some reason...) After much walking and getting lost once, we found it. (Let me just say, I knew how to read the map and I knew which way to go but this girl was convinced she's good at just knowing which way to go...WRONG!) So after getting turned around, we made it and checked them into the hotel which was actually quite nice (though I had to show them how to work the lights. It's not that these girls were dumb, I just knew I was right half of the time on this trip but no one listens to me!! It's scary how much I'm reminding myself of my sister while in Spain...[not a bad thing, Rach]) After checking them into the hotel, we went to walk around and explore Valencia which included finding the beach! (Which we also go lost...clearly not due to my lack of directional skills but probably to my lack of wanting to take charge and tell people they're wrong...very wrong.) So we did a lot of unnecessary walking today. Oh well. Our feet hurt at the end of the day and all we wanted was some good old fashioned American food and the girls were set on some TGIFridays so we finally found that and were able to sit down for a while. It was seriously the most amazing meal, too! Expensive and not at all where I would pick to eat in the States but it was heaven after a day full of bus riding and walking! After dinner, the girls walked me to my hostel and I goofed off on the internet all night.

Saturday Feb. 26: Today, I had breakfast provided by the hostel =] then checked out and walked to the girls' hotel! It was a very pleasant walk I must say! The Holiday Inn in Valencia has a baggage room so we checked their backpacks as well as mine for no charge! It was lovely not to have to carry around our backpacks! Later, we went to the beach to lounge around before going to the biggest and best aquarium in Europe! The beach was wonderful! The weather was in the 70s so it wasn't quite sun tanning weather but it felt so good in the sun, that I'm so excited for summer now, it's kind of ridiculous! After spending a few hours on the beach, we headed over to the Aquarium after getting a quick and cheap lunch. The aquarium was amazing! We saw fish from all over! It was better than any museum! Let me just say that! I wish we had time to go to the science museum too but after the dolphin show, the 'City of Sciences' closed. So, we ventured to the bus station to find a place to eat dinner before boarding our bus at 1 a.m. We found a HUGE mall and a place to sit and eat and east a few hours. At about 11, we decide we had overstayed our welcome at the restaurant so we walked to the bus station and found a bench to sit on. Turns out the luggage across from us belonged to a homeless man that was staring at us THE ENTIRE TIME! Literally, he did not take his eyes off of us. With the uncomfortable vibes, we decide to walk back to the mall and sit outside to waste more time but not across from strange men. We ended up finding some free internet to help pass the time then went back to the bus station with an hour until our departure. Unfortunately, we all had to use the restroom. I know I have public restroom fears already, but this place was the MOST DISGUSTING bathroom I've ever set foot in. Desperate times call for desperate measures tho, I guess. So we survived that adventure, luckily with plenty of hand sanitizer! Finally we got on our bus (with some sketchy looking people. I try not to be judgmental but I just simply would not feel comfortable sleeping next to some of these people) Thank goodness there were enough seats so that mot everyone could have 2 to themselves so I moved so I had 3 seats to myself for sleeping. Not a whole lot of sleeping happened tho. We arrived in Madrid and had to make our way to the bus station by Metro to get back to Segovia at about 5 a.m. Turns out, the Metro doesn't open until 5:30 a.m. and the first metro train doesn't come until 6:05 a.m. So more waiting around time.... Finally we get to our other bus station and there is supposed to be a bus at 7. There isn't and the place to buy tickets is closed...perfect. So another hour of waiting in the bus station until 8 a.m. for our bus to Segovia. I got back to Segovia at about 9:15 a.m. and took a much needed shower and started my day which was sleeping, eating, watching Friends in Spanish, more sleeping, then Cafe Colonial. It was an exhausting but pretty good day in the end!

Monday Feb. 28: Class starts back up! I got an A on my first paper, which I was PUMPED about! Walked to class in the snow after a weekend at the beach...talk about weather shock!

Tuesday March 1: IT'S MARCH! I'm so excited today is the start of March! I have a test tomorrow! And I'm traveling to Barcelona this weekend for Carnavales! (Friday-Tuesday!) It will be a blast and I'm excited to go somewhere different! However, I have a paper and a presentation due the day we get back so I'm going to need to get that done before I leave! So that's pretty much the rest of my week! Class and school work! Then Barcelona for 5 days! From here on out, this semester is going to go by so fast! We only have 21 more days of classes and I have 2 big weekend trips coming up. That's going to make days fly here. Then after our finals, we have 11 days to explore Europe and I will be going to London and Dublin with 3 other girls and everything for that is booked! It'll be a good and fast 2 months here! Here goes nothing!!

Fun stuff =]

My favorite ad here in Spain! (with english translation!)
COKE ADVERTISEMENT

Some awkward ads that come on during family lunch: Keep in mind, this is DAYTIME television!
IKEA
CHOCOLATES

Another of my favorites! I'm not sure if it's the hedgehog or the song that has captured my heart:
HEDGEHOG AD

A moment of my favorite show here: ...hello Mario Casas! ;)
EL BARCO

These live on top of the church next to my house:
STORKS

well, that's all for now! Maybe I'll think of some other vids for you later! Enjoy! =]

An overdue blog-post-marathon! (Feb. 14 - Feb.20)

Monday February 14: It's Valentine's Day! Yay! My letter made it to the United States, which I was super excited about. It was also a girl's birthday so everyone made plans to go out for drinks that night at Oso Blanco. It was going to be a good night but during dinner while eating, I started getting really nauseous. After dinner, I felt so sick so I didn't end up going out that night with the group of girls.

Tuesday Feb. 15: I woke up VERY sick to my stomach. I went to class and after not feeling so well, I decided I needed to go to the pharmacy to get some medicine because I simply did not feel good. It's tough to be sick here...even semi sick like I was. You can go to the pharmacy and get whatever but you don't get mom. I was pretty upset and my host family thought I didn't like the food but I just simply could not eat!

Friday Feb. 18: Today was a beautiful day in Segovia and I was feeling somewhat better so Teah and I decided to go for a walk to explore some of Segovia we hadn't seen yet. We went down by the river Clamores where there's a really nice running/walking path and if I had brought running shoes, I would totally run there but I didn't. :( But we walk and try to find the Jewish cemetery. We end up walking and finding a hill where there's a spot to take pictures of Alcazar! It was absolutely breathtaking! (And exhausting to walk up there but totally worth it!) After climbing the first hill, we walk to a hill next to it which was actually where the Jewish cemetery was. It was so neat to see the crypts and body shaped holes in the ground where the Jews were buried before being kicked out of Spain in 1492. We read about the Jewish neighborhoods and decided to walk across and try to walk the burial path backwards. When we reached the door in the city wall where they would carry the bodies, there was a lot of construction so we didn't get to walk all of the way up there but where we did get to, we found bones! Just like chilling...on the ground! I thought it was the COOLEST and sort of creepiest thing ever! There was the slaughterhouse there in the Jewish neighborhood back in the day so they were probably animal bones but still! They were old and very cool to find! After our adventure, we went home for lunch and then took a nap. Then after that, we decided to seek out this study room that is specifically dedicated for studying. They are rooms funded by the government for students here since obviously students can't study in the library! So to get there we walk through the Segovia cemetery and took this dangerous footpath down the hill but we ended up exactly where we needed to be! We found the study room and it literally was a room of tables. That's it. And it was so quiet I sort of wanted to band my head against the table because I'm the type of person that needs music or background noise to do homework or else I'll go insane. So we stayed there for a while and got some homework done, ventured to hang out at the aqueduct with some other girls before going home for dinner and going to bed.

Saturday Feb. 19: This morning, a group of us walked to the Segovia Museum in the rain! The rain part was not so fun but the Segovia Museum was free and somewhat interesting. I didn't see anything fantastic but it was neat to see how the aqueduct worked and was built and different artifacts that have been dug up from cultures here from hundreds of years ago. Other than that, Saturday was a pretty chill day. We wanted to go to Cafe Colonial for internet but both of them were packed so we went to this restaurant called Las Gallinas which was sort of neat and different. We spent some time there drinking cafe con leche, eating free tapas, and watching a Real Madrid soccer game on TV with the locals! :)

Sunday Feb. 20: This morning we got up early to walk to church at the monastery. This was a long walk and we didn't know exactly how to get there. We took this side street that had green tarps up for construction or something. Obviously, this was to keep people out but there was no sign so I convinced the people I was with to continue with this road. Then we reach another green tarp. This time, there was a sign and all I read was the first sentence saying the road was cut. I found a way around the green barricade and continued walking! Then we reach an entire long line of green barricades in front of the monastery and had to squeeze between this fence and a large rock to get past. Then I turn around and see the signs that say "NO TRESPASSING" I was convinced that these signs weren't on the other barricades but the girls I'm with informed me that they were but hey, we got to church right?! So we trespassed to go to church...it was quite the adventure! So we get to the monastery and read that it has been there since the 15th century (approx. 300 or so years before our country was even founded!) I was so impressed. We were able to view the inside before mass then were let into the church for mass at 12. The church was really neat! It was freezing though because of all of the rock used to build it and the lack of heating. So we froze during mass but the Gregorian chants that they still use were pretty neat! All of the brothers at this monastery are really old and I was honestly afraid one of them might pass while we were there at mass! They were all coughing something awful! And not to mention, the presiding priest kept messing up the prayers and everyone in the church was confused as to what to say during the Profession of Faith and everything. Very interesting but listening to the homily, I learned a lot about acts of love and forgiveness! I listened carefully to get something out of it! :) After mass, to get feeling back in our frozen feet, we walked along the River Clamores again, back to the part of town where we live. After lunch, we watched 2 movies in Spanish which is always fun! Then wanted to go out to Valor for churros and chocolate but it was PACKED! So we just went to the aqueduct bar for chocolate...which wasn't nearly as good by itself! It's so thick and rich, I couldn't finish it all. But it was a pretty good day anyway, got a shower, a head start on my paper, and went to bed at a decent time.