Home for the Holidays

Just wanted to tell everyone that I've made it home and I am enjoying it immensely! Some baggage issues - I still am missing one and had to wait in the airport way too long looking for it/reporting it - made it a little stressful, but it is so nice to see my family, my house, and the things I know. I'm having a good time driving around, eating delicious American food, drinking diet CHERRY pepsi (they don't have this in Europe), and relaxing in my pajamas. Unfortunately I am missing ALL of my jeans and ALL of my underwear because those are in the other bag... so it looks like I may have to go up to the mall today.

Leaving Alicante was quite the sad experience. Truthfully, I wasn't sad to leave my home-stay family, but it was the friends I gained that made the semester great. We had a final closing ceremony that was really nice and then a great group of people went out that evening to just sit around and chat and say good-bye. A couple of people definitely made me shed some tears when I said good-bye to them and I only hope I will get to see them in the US! It is amazing how close you can get to people in four months; the shared experiences and feelings of frustration at time and excitement at others.

I'll also miss speaking Spanish! Although I am still not perfect at it, I enjoy speaking it and always learning. In writing this I realized I wrote and had to fix over 5 words of my blog entry that I originally wrote in Spanish. I hope I get to keep working at it, although being in South Africa for the spring won't help and I think I already have a full schedule for senior year finishing up requirements that I have to do since I've been abroad. I am sure I'll have many times when it will come in handy.

There were definitely good and bad parts of my trip, but overall it was a great experience for me and I'll remember it forever. Studying abroad is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, something that is unlike normal traveling and allows you such an opportunity to really emerge yourself in a culture that you can't otherwise do. I'm really, really grateful to have had the opportunity!

Now it is time to enjoy the holidays and also to prepare myself for South Africa. I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As I did for Spain, I'll probably keep a separate blog for South Africa, but I will link it to this account so I will be sure to publish the link to it when I get around to creating it.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Enjoy being with your family! =)

tomorrow...

I am in the library and I am supposed to be studying for the final I have in two hours, but from what I've heard it is supposed to be pretty easy and I am doing really well in this class so I am not worrying about it too much. Instead I am sitting here with some of my good friends from Alicante and chatting as we realize how close our trips home really are. I finish my final at 3:30, we have our closing ceremony at 4:00, I go home and work on packing, maybe go out for a bit with some friends and have to leave my host-house at 5:00am to catch my 7:05am flight. I'll be back in the US tomorrow afternoon!

I've been really excited to be coming home, but in the last few days I also realized what I'll really miss about Spain - the friends I've made in my program. I'm so glad that some of us might have the chance to hopefully see each other again in the US, but it won't be the same and we won't have our common frustrations and experiences to share in our daily Spanish lives. I've been being very social despite my three finals this week and I am really glad of it because I know I would regret not spending as much time as I could with my favorite people in the program. We have to say our goodbyes today and I bet I will generate some tears. I think a few other students might by on my flight tomorrow, but not many, and even that will be over soon.

Hasta luego and see you all in the USA!

down to the low single digits?!

Sorry for not keeping you all updated. In the last week Spain has become almost like real school where I dive into studying and lose all touch with the outside worlds while I have papers to write and finals to take. I've been a bit stressed with papers in Spanish over 10 pages long... but I turned in the last one on Thursday and it felt great. I've got three exams left, one Monday, one Tuesday, and one Wednesday, but Thursday morning I will be getting on a plane on it's way to the USA. I'm so excited!

I was in Paris last weekend and it was great, but there was a lot of rain which was a bit of a downer. We had a really short trip - arriving late Thursday evening and having to leave on Saturday night - but we saw the big sites and enjoyed ourselves regardless. As soon as we got in on Thursday night we were dropped off near the Arc de Triomphe so we stopped there first, but it was already past midnight and we had to find our hostel before 2am before lock-out so we didn't have time for anything else. Our hostel was super cheap (21Euros/night - yay!) and pretty fun, bit it was not as cool as the one we got for Brussels. We were just happy the 5 of us were together in one room without any strangers and that they had a free breakfast in the morning.

Friday we started out by taking a free tour that was offered by our hostel. The Spanish group was a lot smaller so we decided that we should take the tour in Spanish. I was pretty happy because I understood it, but our tour guide was actually French and was speaking Spanish at her second language, so I am sure that helped. =) We walked around the Seine (the river that runs through Paris), saw the big basilicas, walked past Notre Dame, went by the Royal Palace and garden and checked out the outside of the Louvre (the huge art museum that hosts Da Vinci's Mona Lisa) and went for lunch with our group at a cute little sandwich shop. After this we took our first trip to the Eiffel Tower and had our own little photo shoot. ;-) We took photos near and far, in sepia, in black and white, and even one featuring a fake wedding proposal (we saw a real one later that night when we went up the tower!)

We headed back to the Louvre at this time because after 6 it was free for people under 26. It was rather packed, but we got to look around the see some paintings we knew, including the Mona Lisa. By this time the truth is we were really tired and just wanted to sit somewhere and get a snack. Regardless, we decided we had to add in a nighttime excursion back to the Eiffel Tower so we could go to the top and get a view of Paris at night. It was raining a bit and REALLY windy, but we got to go up and this was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. It was really scary going up - I don't know if i realized how high it was - but just amazing! As soon as we reached the top level (after riding two different elevators) we saw a man who had just proposed to his apparent girlfriend. It was so cute! We walked around the outside, feeling like we were about to be blown off the top by the wind, and got some great pictures. It was especially nice because there were more lights for the holiday season and the tower was all lite up too! We found some dinner around 11pm and then headed back to the hostel to rest up for the next day.

Saturday we started by just walked around the Latin Quarter a bit and doing some shopping. The Latin Quarter is a studenty area and it's fun to hang around in. We went back to Notre Dame after this so we could enter and take a look around. This church is not like anything else I've ever seen before! It was completely packed despite the weather (it was just about pouring on Saturday all day) and it certainly was impressionable. We were not very happy about being soaking wet so we didn't go far to get lunch - back to the Latin Quarter where we stopped for some Greek Gyros, a nice cheap option since all of our funds were running low. We had crepes after lunch (I got one with apple and cinnamon) and they were absolutely delicious!

After this we tried to go see Paris' Catacombs, but we just ended up lost and more wet than before, so we turned around and headed for the train station where we had to pick up the bus to the airport. Our plane was pretty late, but we made it back home safe and sound by around 2am.

This past weekend has been nice. I've got my 3 finals, but I have time to study and I really just want to spend time with the people here who I have become very good friends with and not be stressed out. There are definitely people here who I will miss a lot, but the good thing is that we can always meet up in the US again.

I'll try to write again before I leave on Thursday morning! Pictures aren't working right now so I will have to put those up later. Hope everyone is well and I can't wait to see everyone back home!

The countdown begins

So I have just realized I really only have two weeks left in Spain. I leave the 20th early in the morning and get home that afternoon (a 6 hour time change makes that possible). I am quite anxious about seeing everyone at home and getting to relax a bit. This last week has actually been stressful trying to get school work done while living in the Spanish culture (e.g. I have to eat with my family daily at a certain time regardless of my workload, I have to commute to school for nearly an hour every day, and I can't stay in the library past 9pm). I am enjoying traveling a lot, but it also makes things more hectic. This weekend I head to Paris (I am leaving tomorrow night) and I am super excited, but I have two papers due on Monday that I really have to get working on.

I've also realized that the fact that I am going to South Africa this spring has changed my experience here. I am so excited about going that I sometimes let it overshadow my experience and I think it is part of the reason I am rather happy about returning to the US. This isn't to ignore the fact that I've realized Spanish culture isn't really 'me,' but it certainly changes things. Regardless, all is well. Life is good and I am definitely making the best of this year!

I know it snowed in PA yesterday and that DC is getting it today and it certainly has me wishing to get back to see some powdery white stuff. I've got to say the weather is great here - high of 68 and sunny tomorrow! - but December isn't December without a bit of snow. Soon enough!

Back to paper writing if I can work up the motivation to write 10 pages in Spanish... ojala!

Belgium = Christmas!

I just had a really great weekend in Belgium. Unfortunately my time to write about it in my blog is very limited because I've got a big paper due in two days and another two papers due next Monday, all in Spanish.. a bit scary.

Regardless, we arrived in Brussels on Friday morning after a bit of an exciting flight which involved in emergency landing in Girona, Spain (everything turned out fine). We headed to our youth hostel which was really quite nice. We dedicated the day to exploring Brussels and I found it absolutely adorable. The smell of Brussels is amazing - chocolate, nuts, pastry shop - and our timing worked out perfectly - they just put up all of their Christmas lights and trees around the city. They had little stores all over that were selling Christmas things and special holiday food. If I can describe our experience in one sentence: "I put on 5 pounds of happiness this weekend!"

The city is perfectly old Europe - beautiful old buildings, huge plazas, cobblestone streets, but it has undergone it's own amount of modernization and has lots of new stores. We did lots of shopping and just walking around and exploring. We had some dinner and stopped at a tavern to get a taste of some of the infamous Belgium beer, but we headed back to our hostel early because we were tired from traveling and it was unfortunately raining quite hard. The night ended with us all soaked like wet rats after our walk back.

The next morning we got up early to take a train trip to a small city that is nearby, Brugge. Brugge is also adorable and reminds me of all things Christmas. It is interestingly known as the "Venice of the north" - it has canals throughout the city, but it doesn't quite have the same watery feel because it still has streets and cars, etc... We walked around exploring the plazas and old building and stopped for some sandwiches for lunch. Afterwards we took a boat tour on the canal which was a lot of fun and entertaining because it was done simultaneously in three languages by one very talented and peculiar boat driver. In the late afternoon we went to an ice show, which was awesome! They had amazingly intricate ice sculptures and even had two ice slides we got to ride down. They had an ice bar and a movie theater. Unfortunately it was wayyy too cold in there to stay too long. I think my toes were on the very of hypothermia.

We headed back on the train to Brussels to get dinner and go out in the evening. The bar we stopped at, Delirium, is famous in Belgium. It is guaranteed to have over 2000 types of beer available - the most commercially available in the world as written in the Guinness Book of World Records! We didn't drink much, but we tried some local beer and then some flavored - chocolate, cherry, peach and more. Who knew they made these kinds of beer? But they were all quite good!

Overall, I had a fabulous weekend. Belgium is really chill - no crazy partying - just time to relax and enjoy ourselves. We had to head home quite early on Sunday morning so we actually arrived in Alicante before noon. That was helpful for me because I have LOTS of work to do. Currently, I am greatly missing the warm feeling I got from sipping hot coco and snacking on waffles while walking down cobblestone streets with Christmas lights illuminating the way. Back to the library!

Back in Alicante...

So I had a great time in Barcelona, but I am now officially bombarded with school work and don't have much time to write about my trip. I will try to, but just wanted to give some warning that an update may be a while in coming. I am heading to Brussels for this coming weekend so that only worsens the prospects. Will write when I can!

3 weeks or so until the USA... wow.

Turkey Day in Spain

So it's officially Thanksgiving, although I doubt too many Americans have yet woken up unless they are maybe putting their turkeys in the oven. It's really making me miss home being here knowing that I am missing one of my favorite days of the year with my family and that I can't be there to help my mom cook and keep everything in our house under control when the guests come. Thankfully they gave us the day off of class and all of the Americans will be having a dinner together tonight that I believe is supposed to include turkey. Regardless, I am trying to not get my hopes up too high about how good the whole dinner will be. I'm sure it won't be nearly as tasty as what I am used to back at home! I just miss the feel of Thanksgiving, the beautiful fall we have in PA, the fact that Christmas is approaching and you can start listening to Christmas music from now on...

I officially now have less than a month left in Spain and it is going to be a busy one for sure. School is getting pretty intense and I've got papers to write, but I've got to balance that with the trips I've planned and enjoying my last month abroad. I also met another student here who is from Kenya so I can practice Swahili a bit and I don't want to miss out on that either. We are going to Barcelona tomorrow and I am really excited, but I still feel the longing for the comfort of home.

Anyway, I just want to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone and to enjoy your time together!

more of my parent's visit

Well I've had my chance to relax again after a weekend with nothing to do and I got a good bit of work done. I wanted to post the other pictures that I have from Alicante with my parents, especially from when we climed up El Castillo (The Castle) de Santa Barbara in Alicante.

These are from the first two days in Alicante:
out for dinner on the first night together

Plaza de Espana in Alicante

on the beach!

huge church in Alicante
dinner the next night

These next pictures are from the Castillo.

I think my mom wanted to kill me as my dad and I dragged her all the way to the top, but I do believe she thought it was worth it. It's quite beautiful and the view from above is great.


that is what we were facing...

and this is a view of old downtown Alicante from half-way up

my dad giving my mom a hand

We finally made it to the top!





a view of Alicante's main street at night

These other pictures are of the first day in Madrid. I couldn't post them earlier because I hadn't taken my uploader thing with me on our trip, but here they are!

the first thing we saw upon exiting the Metro in downtown Madrid


This is a picture from the Museo Thyssen. As I think I mentioned in my earlier blog, we found a picture from a painter from Wilkes-Barre in Madrid! que ironico...

The National Congress of Spain

statute in the Puerto del Sol

walking around Madrid during sunset




checking out a traditional spanish dance exhibition in the plaza


All that was left over after we devoured the churros... y ya esta! (that's it!)

Madrid, Part II

My parents are back home in the US now and I am back into my normal Spanish routine. I had a great time with them and we saw a lot of sites! It was so nice to have the connection from home here and to have my real parents to take care of me and spoil me. =) I'll continue with Saturday in Madrid...

We woke up pretty early and headed right over to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) after coffee and breakfast in a cafe near our hotel. We hoped on the metro once again and walked to the palace, finding some beautiful sculptures and gardens out front. We realized we'd have to wait in line for a little while to enter, but it wasn't bad and we were soon inside. We walked through the main plaza looking at the whole outside wall and entered up the main stairs that had a beautiful fresco on the ceiling and decadent statutes all around.


I think it kind of looks like the White House in that picture...



In the main stairway entrance.

view of Madrid from outside the palace


I unfortunately don't really have other pictures of the palace because it was completely prohibited to take pictures inside. We spent a good amount of time there and upon exiting, all of the people that sell things on the streets were around. My mom and I bought some pretty scarfs and then my parents, being gullible tourists, decide to get massages from the Chinese people who are outside the palace with their little seats and maps of the body's pressure points. Overall, the ended up getting ripped off, but so are dealings with shady street business people... My dad at least said his back felt better. (picture above)

After the palace it was lunch time so we headed on the metro to go across the city. Our plan for the day was to head to the big park (El Parque del Buen Retiro) and buy some bread and lunch meat to have a picnic there. After having a bit of an adventure in a store that was sort of butcher shop/pastry shop, we got our food and walked to a bench among all these beautiful trees in a nice grassy area to eat our lunch. The park was really diverse - some parts filled with natural trees and plants, another area had a big lake-like body of water with boats that had restaurants around it, and another area was filled with well-trimmed bushes lining the walk-ways in specific areas, making it all looked like a perfectly planned setting. Overall, it was really beautiful and relaxing... pictures!





After the park we walked a bit more through Madrid and headed for the Reina Sofia, a museum featuring all kinds of Spanish art. We walked past the Prado, Spain's most famous museum, but the line was HUGE and we had less time than we wanted.
The Prado

I really enjoyed the Reina Sofia, although I think my dad was a bit bored again. It helped explain some more of Spanish history and the Spanish culture that you can see today. Some of the art was a bit hyper-modern, but nonetheless got you thinking.

After the museum we met up with Catie, another girl on my program here in Alicante, and her mom. The two of them also spent the weekend in Madrid as her mom was visiting Spain. We found a good looking tapas restaurant and enjoyed some really good tapas together and a few beers. Catie and her mom are both super sweet (and super southern, they're from Memphis). By then it was past 10 so we walked around a bit more, but shortly after got on the metro to head back to our hotel.
Here is a picture of my dad on the metro.

Unfortunately my dad was almost robbed while we were on the metro by two guys who tried to take his wallet out of his back pocket, but he noticed as they were doing it and they went in the other direction. It left him a bit spooked, but what can you do.. it's city life. Our train for the next day was at 11am and because we were all pretty tired, we decided to just sleep in and take out time getting to the train station after we stopped for breakfast.

Getting on/inside the train:




It was a relaxing train ride back throughout the afternoon and we just took our time back in Alicante because I had two midterms to study for (one Monday, one Tuesday) and had to get myself motivated to go back to class.

I have more pictures from Alicante and from the beginning of our Madrid trip so I will post again soon to share them and talk a bit more about things in Alicante. For now, class. At least it is almost the weekend again...