I love Jet Lag

HOME! After a frustrating day at the airport [only for me, not the rest of the group of course :P] I've made it to Bethel College! Matt picked me up from Chicago and we stopped at the first Taco Bell we found outside of the city. I literally cried about it. I cried about a lot yesterday though. It's very overwhelming coming back "home" when home has been somewhere else for 6 weeks. After getting back to Bethel, Matt returned to basketball camps and I met Sara and Allison, my former roomies, for a classic Chili's night :] Then Sara and I slept in Heather's bed and now I have a full day of NOTHING for once in a very long time to try and get used to the time difference.

I forced myself to stay up late tonight. went to bed at midnight [6am Spain time] but woke up at 4am [10am Spain time] ready to start the day. I did lay in bed dozing in and out of sleep until 8 but i couldn't do it anymore.

But - before I post any reflections or thoughts on my trip as a whole, I haven't posted anything about Madrid :]

This is what Madrid had to offer:

-Reina Sophia and El Prado - two internationally known Art museums with many very very famous masterpieces.

-A park comparable to Central Park in NY. loved it.

-amazing food.

-bull fight... hated. every. second. animal torcher at its finest. first time i ever witnessed an animal being killed - witnessed 2 of them actually :[

-El Rastro - a massive flea market only open sunday mornings. pick pocketer's paradise, but i got nothing stolen and got some AMAZING deals on some great gifts for family and myself :P

-El Palacio Real - the royal palace. it's depressing we couldn't take pictures. there's no way to describe the rooms in that place. most amazing thing i've ever seen.

Monday was the last full day in Spain and it was spent in Toledo, a town just outside of Madrid.

It was an "assignment" that we had to find out way there with one other person, then navigate through the very confusing streets of the city to find 7 different sites. Chelsey and I did it together and managed to get everything done 3 hours before our train left to go back. So we did like the Spanish and took a nap by the river :]

Now I'm home. I'll reflect later. Maybe after the pains of jet lag wear off.

Hasta Luego!

El Tiempo Esta Pasando Rapidooooo

Estoy en Madrid! La ultima ciudad de mi viajeee.

I am in Madrid! The last city of my trip!

Here is what I've been up to :]

Barcelona day 2 [Tuesday]:

1. In the morning as a group we went to a museum about the history and growth of Barcelona as a city. It was prettyyy interesting. It is a unique city - they even have their own language called Catalan; a mixture of Spanish and French I think - but that's just what I heard :P

2. After the museum we had an open afternoon to work on our 5 sites to visit as part of the course requirements. Chelsey and I did that together and found some pretty awesome places with the help of a friend we met at the museum! Again... Barcelona is HUGE.

3. It was a busy day. And since Barcelona is a pretty expensive city we hit up the grocery store for a more economic means of eating - so we just ate sandwiches and salad for dinner in the hotel - where we continued to relax the rest of the night [which i was NOT happy about. BUT. couldn't go out alone. sad day.]

Barcelona day 3 [Wednesday]:

1. Went to Camp Nou. It is the stadium for F.C. Barcelona [and for anyone who does not know who that is, like my grandparents... haha. they are one of the best soccer teams in the european professional soccer league. some would say they ARE the best].

-we weren't going to go in. it cost 22 euros (about $35 dollars)

- we got there and both Brandon and Emily were like 'if you want to go in we'll go too!'.

-once i saw the beauty of the stadium... i couldn't say no. i'm so happy i didn't. amazing.

2. We toured through the whole stadium... seeing the museum portion with the history of the club and all their trophies - A LOT of trophies!], the press rooms, locker room, other rooms i don't know what they were for, and up in various locations in the actual stadium bleachers

3. The three of us went back to the hotel, packed up, and headed to the BEACH!

4. spent the whole afternoon laying in the sand by the mediterranean sea. yahoo. i am brown :]

Thursday [today!]: took one of the worlds fastest trains from Barcelona to Madrid. i couldn't really tell a difference in velocity though... we got to Madrid around 2:30, ate lunch, and explored.

I hate to report that another student on the trip with us will also be leaving early as she just found out her grandfather died; it was like her father though as she was raised and grew up with her grandparents. rough times :/

We are now heading out to dinner [9:45pm-we've truly adapted to the Spanish culture!]. maybe explore a little. then rest. another long, adventure filled day tomorrow!

Hasta Luego.

[4 full days left. wow.]

Burgos. Bilbao. Barcelona.

Salamanca: 4 weeks. La Coruna: 4 days. Burgos: 1 day . Bilbao 2 days. Barcelona 2 days down, 3 days to go. Then to Madrid: 5 days [with a 1 day excursion to Toledo]. Home.

Woah.

Here is a re-cap of Burgos, Bilbao, and day 1 of Barcelona.

BURGOS:

1. First, I hated it - on a scale of 1-10 it was a 3. I can't remember why though...

2. Then Megan, Allison, and I went for a dinner adventure and saw a really cute art fair - of course I loved it. Even got a few new ideas for headbands! The rating moved up to a 6.

3. Then we ate dinner at a place we thought could be great. My pasta was in a package they put in the microwave. Megan's salad was below average. The rating moved down to a 2.

4. Then the next morning we went to the Cathedral, second biggest in Spain. Burgos ended on the rating scale at an 8. The cathedral was amaaaazing.

BILBAO:

1. Loved. Loved. Loved. After we finished at the cathedral in Burgos on Friday the 8th, we made the 3 hour trip up to Bilbao and went to the Guggenheim Museum. Absolutely amazing. I cannot describe all the awesome and weird art I saw there. We spent almost 3 hours inside exploring.

2. Saturday was a FREE DAY! we all went to the beach [the Atlantic ocean]. I did a good hard workout on the beach, with many stares as it is so uncommon for girls to be doing any kind of sport, let alone working out. one person even said to me "excuse me, but I have never seen a 6 pack on a girl like that" .... thank you?

3. In La Coruna, there were people playing soccer all over the beach - in Bilbao, at this particular beach there were great waves so there were a lot of surfers. So cool.

4. Chelsey and I left later than the group and had a small mis-hap on the metro ride back... where we were sitting, we couldn't see the all the lights indicating the stations would stop at. We could only see up to a certain point, but didn't realize it. So we missed our stop by 3 after we noticed we had been arriving at the same station for about 10 minutes. We had to get off, switch trains, and ride back :] We didn't get to our hotel until 10:00pm. Didn't leave for dinner until 11:00pm. but then splurged and had the best meal of our lives. We wanted to hug the chef.

5. Sunday morning we started the long journey to Barcelona. I'll admit my ignorance to the geography of Spain - I didn't realize Barcelona was on the far east coast, on the Mediterranean. Finding out it was an 8 hour trip was quite a shock.

BARCELONA [day 1]:

1. this city is HUGE.

2. had to buy a 3 day metro pass - a new experience :] trying to learn how to read metro maps and travel around a massive city hasn't been too difficult!

3. we went to La Sagrada Familia - it's a cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi and the construction was started in 1882, and it's still not finished!! they are predicting to have it done by year 2025/2030. it was beautiful!

4. after we had culturally fulfilling lunch at Burger King :P

5. we then hopped back on the metro to go to Parc Guell - also designed by Gaudi. it was incredible. the park was much bigger than we anticipated - we were there for over 2 hours! Chelsey, Brandon, Juan, and I found a great spot that overlooked the city and out into the Mediterranean [a video is being uploaded on my facebook of my tour guide skills at this part of the park].

6. there was a little confusion with the other half of our group about meeting up so the four of us who explored the park went with Chelsey to find her Harley Davidson store to buy her boyfriend and herself a shirt - they collect them from around the world. Saying she was thrilled to have bought them is not even close to the way she felt :P

7. Tonight is Juan's last night with our group, so we'll be going out for one last dinner together- he is a guy from Singapore than joined up with our group after being with us at DILE Cursos in Salamanca. One of the girls in our group had to go home early - so with the extra space we invited him to come - but he needs to go back to Singapore. our group is now a puny 7 students, plus Scott, Maria, and their 3 kids.

Hasta Luego :]

[no pictures again. too slow of internet. bummer dudes.]

Full Speed Ahead

Wow. 13 days left. I am slacking in updating because we are on the go non stop. I finally have time to catch my breath and give a little update! We left Salamanca on Monday morning and I actually was sad to walk out my apartment door for the last time! We loaded a bus and spent 6 hours traveling [with a couple stops, one for lunch, so it really was a 4 hour bus trip] and made our way to La Coruna, which is in Galicia [they have they own language, it's basically spanish, but has some differences]. It is on the ocean. It is beautiful. It is my favorite place in Spain so far - I'll upload pictures later to explain why.

This post was supposed to be "the walk to school" with pictures of what I saw during my 20 minute walk to DILE. but. with slow internet that wasn't ideal [the pictures were loading for about 25 minutes without much completed] so. this is Coruna!

1. muuuuuch bigger than Salamanca. but way more beautiful :] but don't be fooled, I still LOVE Salamanca and have actually been missing it.

2. Monday when we arrived around 5:00pm we immediately went to the beach where we could look out into the ocean and see some beautiful cliffs and city skylines all around us. [we also saw the beach life of Spain. absolutely magical the way someone can feel so comfortable wearing so little :] and we thought America knew the meaning of freedom!]

3. Tuesday we had an excursion to Santiago to go on part of La Camina Santiago [the walk of Santiago] it's a pilgrimage. some people start the walk in France. we only did 5k of it [3 miles]. it's hard to describe in details - so you should Wikipedia it real quick since that is the most reliable source in the world and see what it's all about! We also visited the MASSIVE cathedral there and attended the mass service. We were then free to explore the city for a few hours and went to a couple museums.

4. Wednesday [today] we visited El Torre de Hércules and it was awesome :] the weather was a bit rude while we were making the hike up to the lighthouse that the romans created. we were able to see some original stuff from the building and then go up and look out across La Coruna. Incredible. Then Juan, Chelsey, Annie, and I took a little adventure to some rocks on the ocean. we could see the lighthouse from where we were and took some pretty nice photos.

5. we leave tomorrow morning at 9am to a new city called Burgos. There apparently isn't much to do there since we will only be there one night. but it's a new city with new things to see! [and unfortunatly write a paper about in spanish!]

i will have a lot of work to do when i get back, trying to write up my portfolio of journals and analyses, but it will be worth all the memories and new things i've learned while being in this country. i say i am ready to come home soon. but i know once i'm home i'll miss Spain "like i get paid for it" as a friend told me today haha.

Hasta Luego!!!

[i will try and post some pictures soon - but the internet at the hotel is too slow to load even one!]

Siesta

Tengo un topico nuevo para discutir. I have a new topic to discuss.

SIESTA!!!

Everyone loves a good nap. Especially Spaniards.

Every day, almost every business in the city [with the exception of a few grocery stores and food places] shuts down around 1:30/2:00pm for siesta and don't open again until 4:30/5:00 (i think... I haven't tried going anywhere at this time to know if that's when they actually open.. just what I've heard). This is so people can go home and eat lunch with their families! [remember.. lunch is 2:30pm here as stated in my last post]. It is a time to relax and recharge before finishing the day. Actual naps don't last more than 20 minutes for them. To them, anything beyond that is excessive and unhealthy.

It's strange. I come home around 1:30ish from classes. Waste time. Eat lunch at 2:30. and then think... well, now i have 7 hours until dinner. And nothing is open for 2 hours. It's hard for me to take advantage of the time to rest and sleep a little because at home I never have time for such nonsense. I'm addicted to being busy. I'm finally learning how to relax! I kind of like it. Sometimes I'm just bored :P

Update on other things:

-today was my last Tuesday class

-in 6 days we'll be leaving Salamanca to be cute little tourists in various cities in the north (madrid, barcelona, toledo, bilbao, burgos, and somewhere else....can't remember)

-it has been no cooler than 95 degrees every day. at 11pm the past few nights it's been 80. air-conditioning is a luxury. we don't have that. we live on the 4th floor !Ojala! [i wish!]

-our travel group has shrunk in size because one of the girls in our group is going home because her grandpa is dying. so we will now be traveling with 6 girls, 1 boy. that's small. but good.

-my hair is getting blonde. and longer. i havent used a hair dryer or any other electronic heating device for styling on my hair for 3 weeks. that's good.

-the other day at lunch, my host mom Antonia asked Quinn [one of the boys that also lives here, he's from New Orleans, is 15, and knows hardly any spanish] what he was studying to be [all conversations are in spanish of course]. the only word he understood was "estudias" which means to study, to which he replied "verbos". he basically told her he wanted to be a verb when he grew up :]

-tonight I am going to a spanish movie. hopefully it's better than last week's complicated story line. i wont even try and explain it.

thanks for reading friends! i hope you've been given some insight to the little world i've been trapped in for 3 weeks :]

pictures of the day:

La Catedral Nueva y Vieja - The cathedral (new and old) in Salamanca. I see this beauty every day. There was an original cathedral, then a new portion was added later, hence the name new cathedral/old cathedral. near one of the doors, you can see an astronaut :] i'll have to get a picture of it - when they were doing up-keeping work, it is common for the workers to add something modern as a type of signature. its very funny :]

This is the cathedral in Segovia. Amazing. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't go in... I think this day we went into the castle that was also in the city.

In memory of Joanne... we spent many afternoons in the park reading and trying to get a nice Spanish suntan :] I haven't been to the park to read since this little lady left!

Just because this picture is so awesome... The first week we went to karaoke Juan sang Backstreet Boys. Everyone loved it. The second week he sang It's My Life by U2 [I think...] and a group of girls loved him so much they got up and were his background dancers :] Good times.

Hasta Luego!

Espana es diferente que los Estados Unidos

For anyone who has never experienced the life of a Spaniard has missed out in some areas, but has not missed anything in others. This post is dedicated to opening eyes of a VERY difference culture that I can't say I particularly love... but at the same time I can't hate it :]

La Comida - meals

-Don't be fooled. It's not that great. There are a few "specialties" of Salamanca [one of them is paella [pronounced pie-a-uh]: a dish of rice, various seafood items, and eggs - anyone who's known me for 2 days will know i HATE eggs, so i HATE paella]

-breakfast is small; usually served around 8:00amish for us since we have class at 9:00

-lunch is served at 2:30pm. and is HUGE. [I cannot eat massive meals at once, I prefer five or six smaller meals a day]

-dinner is served at 9:30pm and is typically fairly large. again. I do not want to eat a massive meal and I do not want to eat a massive meal an hour before I go to bed and have food sitting heavy in my stomach all night.

-between lunch and dinner, between 4-6pm [after siesta, nap, which is 2-4ish] there is "tapas". this is a famous part of Spanish culture. its basically a snack. you can eat tapas any time. you can go to any food place/bar [and dont worry Christian friends, bars here are not where people go to get smashed, you can get more than alcohol at these places :P] and order tapas. you get a beverage of your choice and a small food item that fits in your hand basically. i got a deep fried chicken nugget looking thing that actually had cheese and ham inside - AMAZING. I do love tapas. a lot.

-meals usually only have one main item served. there is also bread to eat, like a baguette. there are no 'sides' as we like to have at home. for example, the other night for dinner we had a cheeseburger. it was massive. but it was the only thing prepared. maybe it's just my host mom but the only side we've had was a salad. and that's only happened twice in three weeks :] :P

En las calles - In the streets

-walking is life. and public transportation. but Salamanca is a small city so it's not unreasonable. coming from a city like Battle Creek, and probably many other cities around the US [with the exception of Chicago and places similar to that] it was quite a shocker when I had to walk 20 minutes to class every day. I have some toned legs :]

-People are NOT very polite in the street if they don't know you. Which here, nobody knows me, so to me they're all rude. When two people are walking towards each other on a crowded sidewalk, they expect the other person to move out of their way, so shoulders are often bumped. They don't say excuse me too often. It's strange

-Dogs 'use the bathroom' wherever they want. Like the sidewalk.

-Kids 'use the bathroom' wherever they want. Like the sidewalk.

-Old men in parks 'use the bathroom' wherever they want, like the bushes at the park.

-PDA [public displays of affection] are common. and beyond what would be acceptable in the US. I won't go into details, but it is pretty intimate ;] I'm used to it now - and by that I mean seeing it, not doing it :P

I'll keep it to just those two topics for today. Leave some suspense for the future.

I'll leave you with a couple pictures :]

The second weekend here we took an excursion to Segovia. This is the main thing we saw - one of the biggest and most impressive aqueduct systems made by the Romans ages ago that delivered water from a mountain down to the city as there are many valleys and dips between the water site and where the water was needed. It's about 20 miles long :] and VERY impressive!
In honor Joanne leaving to go work in a hotel in south Spain tonight, she gets a shout-out in the blog. We are dancing together while our friend Juan [not his real name but he is from Singapore and it's impossible to pronounce] sang Backstreet Boys at karaoke night :]
Our first weekend here we had an excursion to Avila [emphasis on the first 'A'] and say the "muralla" - the wall. it surrounds the city and was built after many battles between the arabs and christians to be in control of the city. There are even areas where massive doors once were that were closed at night to keep people from getting in to the city. we were able to walk along the top of the muralla and see BEAUTIFUL scenery both inside and outside the city.

This was also the first weekend, but before we stopped in Avila we made a quick visit to Alba de Tormes. This is most of the group up on "la castilla de Tormes" the Tormes castle. It's whole Bethel group plus Scott and Maria and their 3 kids. the two on the outside are Juan and Joanne, we adopted them into our group :]

que tengas un buen dia!

hasta luego <3

I have a charger. And smaller waist.

Por fin! i have a new laptop charger, thanks to the generosity of my mother, and can be more consistent with posts :]

as the title suggests not only do i have a new charger, i have a smaller waist. i'm sure this is from all the walking i do [20 to class every day, 20 mins home, plus going places at night, so at least 2 hours of walking every day, not including our excursion trips and tours]. but also, the eating schedule is soooo odd here. plus im doing workouts. so. anyone looking to shave off some weight... spain is the place for you :]

anyways -

Spain is better. Estoy aprendido mucho and tengo mas confianza en mi abilidad a entender espanol. [i am learning a lot and have more confidence in my ability to understand spanish].

Class and meals are 95% spanish. the 5% english is when i cheat and talk with other english speakers :P i can speak more fluidly and with a larger vocabulary. i can understand much easier when someone speaks to me. even my writing is getting better. Dad, the money was worth it :]

i've made a really good friend with a girl name Joanne from Scotland. she is in my class and we hang out every day. Sadly, she'll be leaving Friday to go to the south of spain and work in a hotel :/ i'm not sure how i'll carry on the last 3 weeks without my little pal :P

speaking of 3 weeks. i cannot believe my 6 weeks here is nearly half over. i have seen two beautiful cities other than Salamanca [where i live] called Avila and Segovia. both have 'trademarks' in the city. i'll make a 'pictures only' post soon and show you what i mean. one has a massive wall that looks like its from a fairy tale, the other has one of the largest and most successful/impressive aqueduct systems in the world, built by the romans.

this weekend we have no trips planned through the school so it will be a good opportunity to catch up on all the papers i have to write in spanish for my credits at Bethel [now that i can charge up my computer!!]

next post, i'll try and remember to post all the quirky cultural differences.

hasta luego! dios te bendiga!