Cosas Aprendidos

I have literally been holding back tears all day. I didn't realize that Spain, and especially Madrid, were going to have such a special place in my heart. I have absolutely fallen in love with this city, especially my neighborhood, and I am so upset about leaving. Though I miss my friends and family, it is very tough having to leave such a wonderful place. My house mom has been amazing, more than I could have ever asked for, and getting to know the culture of the neighborhood has given me insight into Spanish culture, and not from a tourist's point of view. I have gotten to see what life is like for the people of Madrid, with my host mom, and with some very generous other host families as well. I think that is why it is so hard to leave. I didn't just visit Spain, I lived here, and that is what has made it so special. I am never going to forget any of these people, and am incredibly thankful to have had this experience. It was so much more than I imagined, so much more than a classroom, so much more than just learning a language. I can't even explain the impact this summer has had, but I wish that everyone was able to have such a wonderful opportunity. The time flew by, and I wish there was more. I can say with complete confidence that I will return to Madrid, because I won't be able to stay away for long. On a lighter note, I thought I would do a list of things I learned here.

Probably not the most important things I have learned, but the things that are definitely going to stick with me:
Bebidas gratis: free drinks.
Croquetas are amazing.
Kalúa helado is heavenly.
Kapital gives out high quality bags.
Go to Gabana on a Wednesday.
Arriba, abajo, al centro, adentro.

Me encanta Madrid.

Viajes

The last week here has been packed with traveling and sightseeing. It was a blast visiting Valencia and Barcelona! I'm going to do a picture blog today instead of just writing about it.

Outside the science museum in Valencia, gorgeous!

Giant 3D model of a DNA molecule
nerdy, I know, but it was so cool!

Casually saw a chick hatch,
just the miracle of life, no big deal.

Aquarium! Starfish :)

Best dolphin show I've been to, it was amazing! 

Pingüino!

My walrus friend

Olympic Museum in Barcelona
This was literally the only thing related to softball in
the whole museum. Needless to say I was very disappointed.

Park Güell
Amazing mosaics by Gaudí throughout the park
I could have sat there all day 

View of Barcelona from Park Güell

El drac de Park Güell

Obsessed with this place!

Demasiado Divertido

So it has been a loooong time since I posted on here. I just haven't found the time (or chose to spend it doing other things) to write about everything that is going on. I have been so busy the past few weeks, and since the program ended yesterday, I finally have some time to sit and reflect. The weekend after Toledo, we had another day trip to Segovia. It was a nice trip to a beautiful city, but I have to say Madrid is still my favorite. The acueducto was very impressive! This provided the entire city with water way back in the day.

After a day in Segovia, I headed to dinner with Sarah and Erika. We were craving paella, but the restaurant only makes paella when they have reservations a day in advance! Keep in mind, this is a tiny, very casual place with most of the seating outside on a street in Madrid. Although originally very confused by this, the waitress explained to us that in order to make it fresh, it takes a day to prepare, and unless someone is going to eat it, they can't afford to cook paella all day, especially with the specific ingredients necessary. A little bummed, we decided to eat some croquetas (best tapa ever!) and then head to a place with more of a selection of real food because we were starving! We ended up at a really cute place down the street, with a hilarious waiter who kept sending his nephew out to speak english to us. We really enjoyed the family-run cafe and probably overstayed our welcome because they were playing whatever music we wanted and were just so nice. The next day, I went with Sarah and her host family to El Escorial, a small city outside Madrid. We saw a beautiful monastery there that has mostly been made into a museum. There was a beautiful view of the garden, and the place was very impressive. We then went to a nice restaurant, where Sarah and I split arroz con verduras, a dish very similar to paella, and it quenched our paella craving. The meal was delicious! 

The rest of that weekend was spent relaxing, and then after another week of classes, we headed to Rome! We left Thursday night, and the flight had announcements about the Italy-Germany game for the Eurocup. Italy won, so we concluded that it was because we were on the plane to Italy when this happened. We did a ridiculous amount of sightseeing, of which my classics concentrator roommate would be proud :) And obviously, we ate pretty well while we were there. I had some amazing gnocchi the last day, right before leaving, followed by the best tiramisu. It was a great end to a great weekend. However, this weekend left me questioning whether we had packed in too much fun. I barely slept, and upon arrival in Madrid, then studying for final exams, I contracted a cold :( As I write this, I am trying to cure myself so that I can continue to travel next week.  

Colosseum!

Vatican

We had to cover up to go into Sistine Chapel,
so Avia and I decided to act like tourists in our Vatican gear

Pantheon! Amazing, it was so impressive!

Following an amazing weekend in Rome, my Fourth of July was spent studying for finals on the 5th, sorry America :( After finals, we had a nice fiesta in the park outside our institute, and it was sad to see everyone go. Most people left today, but I am staying for a week to do some extra traveling. I realized that some of these people are going to be my friends for a long time after this program, and some I will probably never see again. I made some great friends here, and lucky for me, they go to Harvard, so I will see them again in the fall. I already can't wait for our Spain reunions, and yes, we already started planning them! And when I hopefully get over this sickness, I will be heading to Valencia on Sunday, and then back to Barcelona on Tuesday. I am excited to see Valencia, and very thankful that I get to go back to Barcelona. One weekend was not nearly enough time, and I have a list of things I still want to see. Spain is an amazing country, and I am so happy that I have been able to be here for this program. And what a way to get a citation! The past couple weeks have been packed with so many trips and probably too much fun, considering my body's response, and I am excited to spend an extra week traveling!

Tan Ocupada

Second blog of the day, beginning with my trip to Toledo. Actually, let's start the night before. Avia, Haley, Sarah, Rania, and I went to a Salsa club! It was SO much fun, we took an hour and a half class, then danced with all the regulars at the club. We liked it so much that Avia talked the teachers into opening a special three week class for us! I am going to take salsa classes twice a week for the next three weeks with nine other people from my program. I am SO excited! So after our fun salsa night, we went to Toledo for the day with the program.

El Catedral de Toledo

El altar en La Catedral
This was so beautiful! The picture really doesn't do it justice, the gold leafing and
all the beautiful colors in the scenes. It was amazing!

This is where the choir sits, the detail on these seats was amazing!

Oh, just the view as we were walking to the bus, no big deal

And the other side, so beautiful!

After we got back from Toledo, a couple of us went to Avia's homestay for dinner because her family was out in the country and said she could have a couple friends for dinner. We went to the grocery store and bought ingredients to make a whole dinner for ourselves. We had salad, pasta, and fruit with chocolate for dessert! Avia made some really amazing pasta sauce, and we all gorged ourselves until we were about to explode. It was so fun to just sit around the table with a couple friends and have a nice dinner. After dinner, we decided to finally discover one of Madrid's night life hotspots. We went to a club that everyone says you just have to go to when you are in Madrid, and we had so much fun! Sarah and I even got these really cute black and pink plastic fanny pack/purse things for free and are really excited to take it out with us in the future :) When we were waiting for the bus home, we met some people who gave us a good laugh with their English. They were native Spanish speakers, and were saying phrases in English that were hilarious! It was a great end to the night. When we got home, we basically only had time for a nap, since we had to get up at 7am to catch the bus for our second day trip of the weekend. Avia, Sarah, and I went to Avia's host family's house in the country, near Ávila, which is about an hour by bus. The oldest daughter of Avia's host family had her first communion, so the whole family was there. The land they own had four houses on it, and was the most beautiful place I have seen since I've been here. It was straight out of a movie, big, beautiful stone homes with gardens and a pool. The weather was perfect, so we sat outside all day snacking and chatting with the family. Everyone was so nice and we were so happy to be there. We even fell asleep for an hour when we were laying in the grass just enjoying the weather. The family was so welcoming, and we got a lot of practice with our Spanish! If there is a guy in this family my age, I am going to marry him immediately because I want to live at this house. It was amazing! We finally understand why Avia's host family is gone every weekend! After we got home, I headed straight to bed, because once again, I really needed some sleep (this is a very common theme in Spain). When I woke up, I met Sarah and some other people from the program at El Rastro, which is this giant flea market in Madrid with everything you can think of. It was so much fun, and I made some great purchases! When we were done there, Sarah and I were still in shopping mode, so we headed to Gran Vía, which is the name of a street with a lot of great stores. We again made some great purchases and found some really good deals. I even bought my first romper! So fashionable :) After we wore ourselves out shopping all day, we just needed to have helado! So we stopped at the first helado place we saw, which happened to be the same chain that they have right next to our homestays, so we were super excited! It is one of our favorites. After satisfying our appetites with helado, we headed home to get back to the real world and do our homework. Monday classes are never fun, but when we finally made it through, and after a trip to the gym, we headed to an Irish pub to watch España play in the Eurocopa! We had some appetizers and watched the game with some local fans close to our homestays, and it was a great game! Spain scored in the last five minutes, and beat Croatia. We are becoming big fútbol fans! After the win, we obviously had to celebrate with helado! So we headed to our other favorite place, Kalúa. This place has the most amazing flavors, and Eve, the best mint chip I have ever had!

Turistas Afortunados

I'm going to do two entries today because it has been so long, and I have been on two trips since my last entry. I went to Barcelona for the weekend, where we rented an apartment for two nights, and squished eight girls into an apartment that was supposed to hold six. College kids need to save money! We took an overnight bus and arrived at 7am, so we took power naps and headed straight to the beach. It was amazing to sit on the beach without a care, and just lay in the sun and enjoy being in Barcelona. After laying around the beach most of the day, we headed to a restaurant on the boardwalk where we sat outside in the beautiful weather and got sangria, a huge plate of seafood paella (most amazing spanish meal ever!), individual appetizers, bread, and dessert for 12 euros each. We were very proud of our cheap meal. It was amazing! Some of the group went back to the beach, but I headed back to the apartment with a couple other girls to start showering since eight of us were sharing one bathroom, no bueno. After I forgot to put sunscreen on my upper back, my fried skin needed to get out of the sun immediately. We went out for mexican food for dinner (weird to have mexican in Spain) because Alex's friend recommended it. We waited for probably an hour and a half, but had some really amazing burritos that made it worth the wait! Our planned night out was cut a little short when most of us were too tired to go anywhere but bed. We woke up Saturday morning and packed a ridiculous amount of sight seeing into one day! The pictures speak for themselves!

Plaza de España

The view of Barcelona from MNAC (Museu Nacional d'Art Catalunya)

Site of the 1992 Olympics

"Sport as you have never experienced it"

View from the Teleféric de Montijuïc, which is a gondola ride up the mountain
gorgeous!

Castell de Montijuïc

Castell de Montijuïc

Castell de Montijuïc

View from the top! This was my favorite place in Barcelona, I could have sat up there forever!
The view was amazing, you could see the city, the beach, the port, everything!

Fave place in Barcelona! I really want to live in this castle!

La Sagrada Familia
Un.Real. This cathedral was amazing. I could not believe the amount of detail
here! It can't even grasp the concept of designing this place, and then to actually
build it! It was just so amazing to see in real life.

Pretty columns and stained glass

So much detail! and a nice photo bomb in the red :)

Park Güell
We saw this on the last day and had to rush through so we wouldn't miss our bus
I really wanted to spend more time there, we didn't even get to see any of the cool parts,
I guess I'll just have to come back to Spain :)

View from Park Güell
Barcelona is beautiful!

After a very fun and exciting trip to Barcelona, and an eight hour bus ride back, I went straight to bed for some much needed rest.

Un País Precioso

Sorry I have not been keeping up with this very well the past week. Spain has kept me very busy. With classes, workouts, trips, y la vida de la noche, I barely have time to sleep! Before we left for Seville, all we heard was hace calor, meaning it was going to be very hot. I was prepared to fry, and was pleasantly surprised by how gorgeous this city was. I loved walking around and exploring the parks and landmarks. Instead of writing all about my trip, I'm going to give it in pictures, because I don't have the words to describe how gorgeous this trip was. 

El Catedral de Seville
A giant cathedral, gorgeous inside

Altar at La Catedral

Inside La Catedral

Alcazar, beautiful architecture with a lot of Muslim influence

La Plaza de España

This is where they are going to select the national soccer team!

I wish I lived here, you can't really tell, but the inside was absolutely gorgeous

Outside the train station, there is a Kansas City exit
Kansas is just so popular 

Back in Madrid, we went to a Real Madrid vs. Manchester United
charity soccer game. It was so much fun and Real Madrid won!

After an amazing trip to Seville, and a very busy week in Spain, I feel like I have really settled into my new home here. I don't have to take my map out everywhere I go, and I know how to get around close to my homestay, especially to the stores and helado places :) Madrid is an amazing city and now I feel like it's home :)