Last travels in Europe

Hello again. I hate to say it, bit it is almost time to start counting down the time til I come back to the United States. But, I do have a couple more trips left to finish up here. As you may or may not know, it is my birthday on Saturday, and that just happens to be the day I will be traveling all over the world...literally. So, a group of five of my friends and I are going to Prague, but we have a 10 hour layover in Zurich, Switzerland, so we are going to see Zurich for free, in a way. But first I should tell you how I am getting there. Our flight leaves at 6:40 in the morning FROM MADRID. Therefore, we have to take the overnight bus from Sevilla to Madrid. The only thing is that we can´t take the 11 p.m. bus friday night because we don´t have enough time to get from the bus station to the airport, so we have to take the 6 p.m. bus and sleep in the airport. We could find a hostel or something, but everyone voted ´no´ so we wouldn´t have to spend money. So, then we arrive in Zurich at 10 a.m. or so and look around there for 10 hours, then take a plane to Prague. Then I spend four days there and return back to Madrid, take a bus to Sevilla, then leave the next day to go to Scotland. I will be in Scotland for six days. After that, I have two days of classes, then my friend Molly visits me for the weekend, then finals week and I come home. So really, there is no time left here. I will definetely miss it, but it will be nice to come home and see the new house. So just a little FYI, this could be one of the last entries I make here...but don´t fret, most likely if you arew reading this, I will get in touch with you somehow and tell you stories and show you the millions of pictures I have taken. So, until the next entry or when I see you back home!

Bullfight

Hello everybody! Last Sunday I went to my first bullfight. It was quit an experience. We went free with our program, so that´s why I went. It was very interesting because the matadors are mounted by horseback and they kill the bulls that way. There are three matadors and they each kill two bulls. They first bull they tried to kill didn´t go so well, it seemed like they struggled to kill him and the bull was just suffering, so that made it a little sad to witness for the first time. But as it went on, it seemed to get better. What happens is that the bulls just get too exhausted and they end up collapsing and dying. I don´t know, it was a very weird thing to experience, but it is so big here in there culture. Especially in Andalucía because even some parts in northern Spain don´t agree with bullfights. So, that´s about it. I took some cool pictures though. I loved being in the atmosphere in the bull ring, it really was like a whole bunch of fans at a baseball or football game, they would cheer and whistle and stand and applaud, it was really interesting.

Italy

Hello. As you may or may not know, I just returned from Italy, where I visited Florence, Pompeii and Rome. What an awesome trip. I was there for five days and we spent the first night and the next day in Florence, took a train to Pompeii for a day and Rome for two days.

We didn´t do much in Florence. The famous Statue of David is there in a museum, but the line was three hours long and therefore, we didn´t see the Statue of David. That would have been a fun thing to see because looking at art for me is fun, but when I see something famous (like the Statue of David or the Mona Lisa) makes art that much cooler. Otherwise, Florence was a beautiful city, although it was lightly raining all day, we weren´t too disappointed. So we went to this palace that had a whole bunch of modern art, so we were there for a few hours.

Then we took the train to Pompeii. Two of the girls I was with really wanted to come here and see the dead people. Way back in history (about 79 A.D., ut don´t quote me) a huge volcano erupted and wiped out this little village, and now the ruins are there to visit in Pompeii. They have these cast moldings of humans and you could still see the expression on their faces from their reaction to the volcano. It was really sad if you though about it. But that´s about all there is to do in Pompeii, so the next day we headed to Rome.

I definetely had the most fun in Rome. The first night we wanted to find the Colosseum, so we wandered around Rome and found it. It looked so beautiful all lit up at night. And it was so cool to see from down the street and it was just peaking through some buildings, it was awesome. For me especially, you know what the Eiffel Tower looks like, the Colosseum, the Vatican, the cathedral in Sevilla and you never think you will be able to see them in real life, but it really is amazing. We took a few pictures of it at might and after that we ate some gelato, really amazing ice cream. We pretty much ate that everyday after we ate out pizza or pasta. Italy definetely had the best food of all European countries I have been to thus far. But really expensive.

The next day in Rome, we went to the Vatican. We waited in line for two hours to see it and the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing, ut we didn´t realize there was a museum there too, so we were walking through this museum in the Vatican, and every room we entered that had artwork on the ceiling, we asked ourselves, "is this the Sistine Chapel?" We did that about 50 times before we actually saw the actual Sistine Chapel. It was hilarious. We weren´t allowed to take pictures, but everyone else was, so I started to. Then all of a sudden, a voice come on over the loud speaker and says in eight different languages "it is prohibited to take pictures, video recordings and smoke" or something like that. So I accidently took some pictures of the ceiling, eventhough it was prohibited...but, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, right??? After all that, it was like 3 o´clock and we left and ate some lasagna and salad and I told the girls I was with that I wanted to walk around the Vatican from the outside to take some pictures. Thank God I said that because when we got to the main courtyard, we had to enter through security and we were finally there. We realized there were all these chairs set up, so we asked a security guard what was going on. He said the pope is coming. I thought to myself, "maybe I heard wrong" so I asked him again, I said, "Pope Benedict is here?" He replied, "Yes, he is saying a mass for Pope John Paul II." At that time it was about 4 o´clock and the mass wasn´t til 5:30. I wanted to stay, of course, but the other girls I was with weren´t catholic, so I didn´t think they would want to stay, but surprisingly they did. I was so excited, so I saw the Pope. Rome was fun.

That´s about it, pretty much everything went the way it was supposed to, and I saw the Pope, the colosseum, ate tons of pasta, pizza and gelato. Only two more trips left for me, Prague and Scotland. I have two weeks of school, then 12 days of traveling, then two days of school, then finals week, then I come home. So this semester is wrapping up, really sad, but I have definetely enjoyed my time here. I will try to keep you all posted as much as possible. Thanks for reading!!

Paris..is this a joke?

Hello, I Just got back for France three days ago and it was awesome. There were so many things that went wrong, but the trip was awesome. First of all, it rained for two of the three days we were there, but that didn´t stop us from seeing anything. My friend Molly from high school is studying in Barcelona and she met us in Paris, but we both didn´t realize that there are two airports in Paris, so we flew into different airports, which wouldn´t have been a big deal if I hadn´t lost her phone number, so we left the airport to head for the hotel and we ran into Molly on some random street in Paris, so that was pretty fun.

Then we went to the Louvre Museum, which is free for people under 26 with an ID, but of course I didn´t have mine...but she let me in anyway. Then we went to dinner and spent about 20 € each, which is a lot, but what can you do? Then we saw the Eiffel tower, which we went in the line and we were in the wrong line. We wanted to be in the line for the elevator, but we were in the line to climb the stairs, but we weren´t going to wait in another line in the rain. Also, it was so cloudy and foggy that when we got to the top, it was like we were stuck in the middle of this huge raincloud, and we couldn´t see the view of all of Paris, but that stuff happens.

Then Sunday, we woke up at 9:30 and were heading for Versailles, and we noticed the clock in the lobby of the hotel and it said 10:30...who knew that they had daylight savings time in Europe??? What the heck?? Oh well, we made it to Versailles where we spent two hours and half an hour of that time was in line. So, we didn´t get to see everything there. But...we are leaving for Italy tomorrow and we are going to be more organized. I will keep trying to post blogs and pictures, but just remember, I will have all these pictures plus mucho más (much more). Thanks for reading!!

Extremadura

Hello again, I just got back from Extremadura, a province in Spain next to Madrid. We stayed in a monestary and toured it, that was pretty cool. It seems like every trip we go on, there is a cathedral or something holy we have to visit, which I don´t mind, but I know some people in my program always complain. Haha, oh well. We also climbed this moutain thing. Yes, a mountain. We started at one side of the mountain, walked up for five miles, made it to the top, walked down five miles and made it to the town. It was such a small town that when our program arrived with 40 students, we probably doubled the size of the town, it was so small. But it was an awesome experience nonetheless.

I hope I can put up some more pictures, it is so hard to keep up on this, my journal, emails, facebook....there are so many things to do and so many people want to know about them...which I love, but it´s really hard. Plus, anyone who reads this will probably see the millions of pictures I have taken when I get home. I can´t wait for that day! ´Til next time...

Segovia

Segovia was a fun little city, it was so different being in a smaller city in Spain, because I live in Sevilla and have been to Madrid and Barcelona, and also Málaga, Córdoba, Granada and Cádiz, so Segovia was so simple and relaxing. First, we came from the train station, and we made our way to the aquaduct. That was so awesome. I first saw it between some buildings and I got so excited. I took a lot of pictures. Then after that, I think we made our way through the Plaza Mayor and the calle real...I think??, then we went to the Alcázar. That was so much fun. We went to the top of the tower and I was such a beautiful sight from up there. We also passed by the cathedral there, that was a pretty big cathedral, I really wasn´t expecting to see that big of one. We also walked down this one street, I don´t remember what it was called, I would have to look at my map, but then we took the road up leading to the university. We took pictures there, so there are some with the university in the background. We spent about eight hours there.
The traveling part sucked. We took a bus at 01:00 in the morning on Friday, slept like an hour until we got to Madrid at 08:00, then another two hour train ride to Segovia. Then, we left Segovia at 6, another two hour train ride to Madrid, then our bus left at 00:00 (midnight) and we got back to Sevilla around 06:30. then I went to bed from 07:00 to 15:00. So, it was a tiring trip, but totally worth it. I think I took about 100 pictures, so I can´t wait to come home and show you.

Barcelona

Hello. This past weekend our prgram brought us to Barcelona. It was the best weekend I think I have had so far. Barcelona is filled with so much history and things to see and do. When we arrived on Friday, we went around the city on a bus tour that showed us the most popular things to see in Barcelona. Then Saturday and Sunday morning, we had free time to go around the city and look at the things we wanted. It was a good thing my friend Molly from high school is studying in Barcelona because she helped me so much with the metro...and it was good to see a familiar face.

I spent the whole weekend with Molly and I got to see all the things I wanted to when I was iin Barcelona. First, we saw the parque Güell, a park designed by Gaudí, a famous architect born in Barcelona. We also saw la sagrada familia, which is this huge cathedral designed again by Gaudí, but he died before the construction was finished, so they have held construction because I think there is a slight arguement about whether it should be finished by another, or left alone by what was done by Gaudí. I could be making all this up, but I think that is what is going on. Also, I saw the plaza de España, which has this amazing founatin that changes patterns and colors at night and is set to music and is a huge performance. It was breath-taking, I can´t explain it. I also went down to Port Olympic and to the Olympic Stadium. I definetely recommend to anyone to visit Barcelona at least once in their life, you won´t be disappointed.

Travel

So, things have been pretty busy here...but that´s a good thing. Yesterday, I went to Málaga, which is on the southern coast of Spain, and spent seven hours on the beach. It was so amazing, people were so impressed with me that that wasz the first time I had seen the ocean, so I guess it was a big deal. I certainly enjoyed myself though. We had a day off from school because it was Day of Andalucía, so everything in Sevilla was closed for the day. Also, I am going to Barcelona tomorrow for the weekend. This trip is put on by our program, so the flight and the hotel was included in our initial tuition cost. We are going to see the most famous sites in Barcelona, and, lucky for me, I have a friend from high school studying there, so we are going to hang out for the weekend. It will be so nice to see a familiar face, so I am very excited. And, I officially have three trips planned for my own. March 23, 24, 25, I am going to Paris, France for the weekend. I am going with three girls and that should be pretty fun. Then the following weekend, the same three girls and I are going to Italy. We are flying from Sevilla to Florence and are going to spend one or two days there, take a train to Pompei, I guess there is an interesting story about that city so that should be fun to visit, then taking another train to Rome and leaving from Rome to Valencia, Spain then spending a couple days there. That trip should cover about 7 or 8 days, I can´t count right now. Then, April 12, 22, 23 and 24 I am going with a group of five to Prague, Czech Repubilc. I am super excited because 1, I am traveling with a fun group of students, 2. it is my birthday, so I am very excited for that weekend. And last, Lagos/Lisbon, Portugal where I will meet my friend from Barcelona there and spend six days there. OOohhhhh, that should all be a blast. My family is working out great and my classes are awesome, I am really enjoying myself. Thanks again for reading!

Last Weekend

Hello, sorry it´s been a while, but I have been busy. Last Friday, we took a day excursion to Cádiz, which is on the southern coast of Spain. Everyone was so shocked to hear that I had not seen the ocean/never been on a beach before. I told them I have seen a beach, jst not on the ocean and everyone was shocked, I guess I just keep surprising them because this was my first time on a plane and my first time out of the country, but I am not ashamed...just all new experiences. It was a beautiful day at t he beach and this Wednesday, since we have the day off from school, a group of students is going to Málaga, another city on the southern coast, to spend the day down there which should be fun. We are taking the bus, which costs about 25 €, so that might be fun. It certainly was realxing down there in Cádiz, so I hope I have just as much fun in Málaga.

That´s about it for now, nothing new. The family is good and the food is good and Spain is fun. I guess that´s all there is to it.

Another day in Spain

Hello All, I hope everyone is having a splendid day. Spain is still going great! I love all my classes, my family is super nice and the weather here is amazing ;) I had to change one of my classes, I can´t take the Arabic Influence in Spanish Lit anymore, there weren´t enough students to keep the class open. Probably because that class was extremely difficult and all the students in this program probably wanted an "easy semester." So instead, I am taking another Lit class titled Spanish Lit in the 19th and 20th century. Not bad so far.

Sorry I haven´t been adding pictures. I would love to because I have taken almost 500, but the computers here are so slow and don´t have some of the same programs to upload pictures as we do in the United States, but hopefully I can use someone´s laptop and sneak some on here.

Tomorrow we are going to tour Sevilla a little bit. We are going to visit the torre de oro, which is like a tower that I believe was used to keep the cities gold back a long time ago. I don´t really know and could be making all this up, but that´s what I heard from someone. I am very excited to go because I pass by this tower everyday on the way to the University when I cross the bridge. It is so beautiful to see this tower next to the river. We are also going to visit the plaza de toros, where hopefully, I can attend a bullfight later in the spring.

I am constantly thinking about all of you, I hope these blogs are good enough, and hopefully with the pictures you can see what I am talking about. I do keep in touch with friends from school via facebook, and some even email me, so that is always a nice surprise. Thanks for reading!!

School, school, school

Well, I am halfway done with my first week of classes and they all seem to be going well. I have one class on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12-2, and three classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays fron 3-5, 5-7 and 7-9...yuck. But the good thing is that all my classes sound interesting. I am taking Spainsh Contemporay Cinema...aka, we watch movies, Arabic Infulence in Spainsh Literature, Cervantes: Study of Don Quijote and Flamenco, not learning how to dance, because I don´t know how, but rather the history and the meaning behind the dance. They all seem pretty interesting. And of course, Fridays, NO SCHOOL!!!!! You know what that means...time to travel! I don´t have many travel plans yet, but this weekend our group is traveling to Granada to see La Alhambra, which I guess is just beautiful, so I can´t wait til we get there.

A Couple More Days

Well hello, I finally got a chance to get some pictures on here. I am really excited to share some of these with all of you. I have been to Madrid, Cordoba, Toledo and Sevilla and I have only taken about 300 pictures so far. Every city has been so beautiful and interesting.

So Monday, I start class. Haha, I have had a long break, but I am really excited to start going to the University, it will fill up my day a little more. It has been nice to have time to adjust to the city and my host family, but I am definitely ready for classes to begin. We have a placement exam tomorrow just to make sure we can comprehend the Spanish language, so hopefully I´ll pass....Just kidding, I´ll be just fine.

Update from Spain

Hello all, I am still here is Spain and having a blast. This wekk, our group has been getting familiar with the city and with our families, it´s been so much fun. We start our classes on Monday, which I can´t wait for. It´s a beautiful city here, but I need classes to start.

Well, that´s about it, kinda boring, but hopefully next time I add something on here, I can add some pictures so everyone can see what I see everyday!

The First Days in Spain

Spain has been treating me well so far. The first couple days we went to El Escorial, Toledo y el museo de Prado. All the places have been exactly what I expected. It is one thing to read about it and look at all the artwork in the textbooks from school, but when you can see it in real life and experience it, it really is breath taking.

Tomorrow we head to Cordoba to spend some time there and then to Sevilla. I will meet my host family and have one more weekend off, then take a placement exam and start classes on February 5th. Well, I think that is it for now...

One More Day

Hello...one more day til I flee the country. Things have been hard here the last couple days, but now I think I am ready. I have never had a doubt or a second thought about going, so that makes me feel more confident.
Still have to pack a little, just have to decide where to put the random crap. I am a little nervous for the airport, but that should be a piece of cake...or piece of pie, whatever you prefer. Well, that's about all my plans for the day...so this time tomorrow I will almost be heading to the airport...Can't wait!!

This is the first time I have made my own webpage and I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. Hopefully I can get the hang of this before I leave so I can easily download pictures and stories about my adventures in Spain.
I am only counting down the days until my flight leaves....now only 4 more days til I will be in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport heading for Chicago, then Madrid. Going to spend a couple days in Madrid looking at cites there, some museums, the plaza mayor, meeting the other students in my program, then departing for Sevilla where I will be living for 4 months. I would say I am about 90% excited, 10% scared, not nervous, scared. Once I am in Madrid I know I will be fine. Not nervous for school or classes, living with a different family, only for flying by myself, but I know I have nothing to worry about! Well, I am going to go to bed...until next time!