santander

this weekend was just what we needed. We, natalie, tiffany, aubrea and I, went to Santander on a whim. We didn't know much about the place but it was MAGNIFICANT!!! we left on saturday morning and were able to have most of the day to explore. We stayed in a hostel that felt more like a cute little cottage. It was great location to town and transportation and had a very cute old couple running it. We unpacked and head out to the town. We ate lunch at a little cafe and then did one of the most memorable things ever!!!! we were able to use bikes, FOR FREE,and biked around almost the whole town, right along the beach. It was unreal. We took these paths that were seriously on the sand made out of wooden panels all the way up to this castle that looked over the ocean. It was beautiful. We passed a huge park and felt as though we were part of sound of music when they bike next to these beautiful trees and are singing. :) Soon we will have pictures to put up but just imagine feeling like your in a movie and then realizing, wait...this is real, IN SPAIN, with amazing friends!! WOW. on top of all of this, it was supposed to rain all weekend, but nope-we brought the sunshine up until the second we got on the bus home haha. Anyways, the biking was great and then we came back to the hostel, freshened up and found an outside dinner cafe. This worked out perfectly because after dinner all we had to do was walk next door for our choice of ice cream flavors Haha. We walked around town for a bit after and becuase it was halloween all the little kids were dressed up-it was precious. They don't do trick-or-treating quite yet but the costumes were pretty cool. All of a sudden we heard massive drums and people cheering, so of course we followed the crowd and it was somewhat of a mini parade of the human x10 sized dolls shaking and a shiming??? all down the streets with drummers in front of them. It was very cool to see. One of the things I have fallen in love with about Spain is that there is ALWAYS something go on to be part of but they never portray a feeling of busy busy busy but rather just casual fun. It is hard to explain but its just a relaxing eventful atmosphere and I LOVE IT!!! the next morning we slept in a bit because we don't have that opportunity any other time. We went on a walk and found some lunch and then decided to bike again. This time we took the bikes to the FREE ZOO!!! it was fun, we saw seals and penguins and lots of birds. The FREE ZOO was right next to the ocean so we also were rebels a bit and stepped over the fences to take some pictures. Don't worry, old spanish guys were doing the same thing but with their fishing polls haha. We then made it back in time to catch our bus and headed home just as the rain began to poor. We had a 30 minute stop in one of the pueblos on our way home and if it weren't for our umbrellas we would have been soaked, i know this becuase other people were haha. However, we made it home and slept safe and sound and today-monday, we have off of school because yesterday was a holiday-day of the saints. Today all the spaniards are with their families and go honor those in their families that have passed....at least so i have been told. This is just another example of how important family is here-it's amazing to see and I feel so blessed knowing that I have such a close family at home. I LOVE YOU MOM DAD KEITH AND KELL!!! !

soccer games, late nights, and film festivals-what a life :)

SO this past week was pretty crazy. We had cram cram cram session for our exams. Some people didn’t have a test and others had one, then there was myself along with a decent amount of other people who had two….on the same day….both with LOTS of information. We did however survive it and had a little celebration afterward. A bunch of us got tickets to a Valladolid soccer game-one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my life and I would love to continue going!!! We actually couldn’t find our seats that we bought so we decided to just sit where there were open ones….that just happened to be the standing section with all the routy young guys. WE WERE STOKED!!! We ended up standing the entire game, attempting to join in on the chants the guys were doing behind us and were just having the time of our lives. One of their cheers is actually humming the tune to yankee doodle dande which had us all cracking up!We won the game-and also learned a lot about faking being hurt on the field and inappropriate words to say to the players who do that haha!!!! Then were asked to leave because we were the last group in the stadium and they were turning off the lights.

We then got on a bus to come back into town and it was packed like no bus I have ever seen, it was a lot of fun though.I know that sound weird to enjoy being crammed on a bus but it was just funny. We continued from there to some café’s downtown and two of hannah’s friends from Italy came and met us so we showed them a good time. I was also fortunate enough to do a little Spanish dancing with some of the Spaniards that night and attempted to break our language barrier….it almost worked. I met a lot of new people from all over the world and we kept running into people from our classes which was neat because we don’t have that opportunity very often. Anyways it was a very fun night. Woke up this morning a little tired, but that is what spain life is about-coming home at 4 am and being able to function the next day. So today I woke up, went to class, came home did some work and had lunch and then went to visit my buddy who unfortunately has been in the hospital for surgery-don’t worry though, he is up and kicking butt!!! After that a few of us got tickets to the international film festival that is going on in Valladolid this week and WOW WOW WOW it was perfect. We saw a French film, in French with Spanish and English subtitles. When they were announcing the movie they had translators which I thought was neat, not to mention that this was not “movie theatre” but instead the red seats and theatre that you see on tv when people go see an oprah. The flim was very emotional, based on a true story, and touched us all. The night ended for me shortly after grabbing some tapas and then a cab home. Tomorrow morning we are off to Santander for some relaxation and peace time. I love you!

Bilboa and san Sebastian

What an amazing on the go trip we had-valladolid to bilboa to san Sebastian and back. We got into Bilboa Friday night and had quite an interesting time finding our hostel.We did however make it safe and sound and were given the opportunity of lots of pictures along the river. That night we decided a stay in girls night was in order….so we ordered in some pizza from pizza hut-we were pretty excited-and the best thing about it is when they delivered it to us it was in a dominos box!!! We found it pretty funny. That night consisted of catching up on each other’s main life events back home while we stuffed our stomachs with somewhat recognizable food. Side note: don’t get me wrong, I love everything about Spanish culture even the food!!! Its just refreshing having a taste from home. Anyways, the next morning we woke up and went to meet one of aubrea’s friends who is studying in san Sebastian-he met us in bilboa. We went to a little outdoor café and then migrated over to one of the coolest playgrounds ever!An hour or so later we managed to get to our main destination- the Guggenheim museum- which was really cool and contained a lot of interesting stories and techniques. My highlight of the museum was probably walking through these large rounded type alley’s-hard to explain but you can all go check it out. We played what I am going to call “echo game” throughout them-this consisted of making cool noises that would echo back cool too-I know I know you are all proud of our intelligence level at this point.Next we went to old town and checked out some shops and ate at a little local restaurant. We introduced paul, aubrea’s friend, to chocolate con churros and then headed back to the hostel for a little siesta. This however turned into more talking about life and next thing you know we were back on the town. We went to catch a tram that takes you to the top of the city and WOW what a view.

It looked over everything!!!!(there were detailed playgrounds up here too-spain might have an obsession). We went to a tapas bar at the top and then it began to rain-but the perfect rain…..not too cold outside and it is drizzling in a way that your clothes aren’t going to get soaked if you don’t have an umbrella. We took the last tram we could down and were off to find Mexican food. We did find it too!!! The only difference was that their burritos are maybe a fourth of burritos back home but still a fun experience. After dinner we went back to the hotel and enjoyed various items dipped in nutella which somehow led to choosing what kind of dogs we would all have, name, and be. It was a fun filled evening. The next morning we took a bus to san Sebastian and Paul showed us his home and the main places. We actually were able to see a wedding that had just ended which was unreal. Everyone was outside in this plaza that was surrounded be amazing buildings, the bride was the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen and everyone was dressed in a 60’s type outfit-VERY COOL!!! We were able to get some paella for lunch and went to ice cream after with our choices of around 20 crazy flavors.

We walked on the beach and up on some rocks that overlooked the ocean and although we were only there for a few hours, we loved san Sebastian. The trip ended while we got back on the bus to come home sweet home.

Hello everyone!! So the last few days have been incredible. Last weekend we were invited by one of the guys in my class to come to a bar and listen to some of his music. In addition, this music of his was playing at the bar because it was an Indian holiday, he is from India, and it was going to be a huge fiesta. Indeed it was. A bunch of us from cal poly went and we were all “blessed”, red dots on our foreheads and learned how they dance in India. It was an amazing experience-and the music was GREAT

This is just one example of the diversity we are able to experience on this trip. My Spanish culture class contains people from America, India, Afghanistan, Sweden, Germany,etc. so what is cool is that when we learn about a certain custom of Spain we all then get to share our customs in our country. Can you say amazing?!?!? We then meandered of to a place called su, where you buy beverages in liters and put deposits on the glasses. (that was just a side-note). The next day we went to Segovia and saw the aqueduct, alcazar, and definite Spanish streets. These streets were what I expected to see when I came to Spain, small-barely room for one car, little shops on the sides and cobblestone everywhere. One of our friends fathers was also visiting this weekend so he was able to join us in Segovia, Philip Payne.

After a day at Segovia we came home and went to another pub to watch the Valladolid soccer game, I left in the middle though because Natalie’s dad wanted to take us out to dinner. It was yet another very great experience. Her father is a missionary from Ecuador, which was very cool because we were able to talk about Keith teaching over there and more. Myself along with six other girls will probably all remember this night because we had very intense and deep conversations. For example ponder this: what would you say to the world, if there was a universal language, and you had fifteen minutes-what would you say to THE WHOLE WORLD? I really enjoyed it because it wasn’t a question that we are used to, there is no right or wrong answer or a formula to follow but it made you think about what you really care about and what is most important in the world-what does the world really need to hear about? Sunday was supposed to be our study day so we all got together at a café, but I for some reason had a hard time focusing-we still had fun though J Now it is the beginning to another week of school-I have two papers to write, two quizzes and a mid-term so cross your fingers for me. I am feeling very lucky to be having the life I am having!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some side notes:
-our tablecloth says chicken on it instead of pollo-my parents don’t know “chicken” unless I were to point at a picture lol.
-I learned how to eat baby lobster at dinner Sunday night….its still a big confusing for me.
-I had a conversation with my Spanish mom about relationships which she had some very good insight on.
-it is raining in Valladolid and we all look hysterical trying to fit under each other’s umbrellas.

weekend in NERJA!!

WOW. what a weekend we just had. Myself along with five other girls had the adventure of a life time.side note- Aubrea, Tiffany, Hanna, Dalia, and Natalie are the girls and are seriously amazing. we have already bonded so much and we are all extremely excited about how our friendships have strengthened in such a short amount of time. I can't wait for the next few months and for the next few years together in slo town. However, this weekend-Nerja we lucked out. Natalie actually has family down there and they were the nicest people ever. Pat was from Ireland and her husband Ian was from Scotland and were hysterical. They rented us two apartments in their building to stay in that looked out to the ocean, had a huge pool, our own beds, and a balcony-can you say perfection??? We were greeted by them picking us up from the airport in a bus taxi and telling us their life story. After unpacking at about 1am we sat around the table and were given pizzas along with various types of fish. AMAZING. then next day ian hooked us up with a paddle boat....out in the Mediterranan ocean....it gets better-it was a pink flamingo!!! haha. so yes we swam in the mediterranean and it was like a dream. We were also there during one of their biggest festivals so we saw so many girls dressed like flamenco dancers, they had a huge carnival going on and we went on a rollercoaster that let us look over the city. We also went to a flee market and lots of cool cafes and restaurants along with the balcon, which is one of the coolest views ever. I am hoping to get some pictures from the girls soon becuase my camera died. we were able to see the family tree of natalies entire life which was very cool because we realized not many friends get to experience that kind of thing. We said our goodbyes and took the lunches Ian made for us for the ride( they had hospitality i have never seen). The crazy part was that this was the first time they and Natalie had ever met so it was a very very cool thing to be part of.

anyways, we are now back in valladolid, after having to switch taxi vans and turning around and going from one train to the next-but it was so fun! our group of girls is so easy to travel with :) I think that hits the main points. I am now off to do some homework and get ready for the week. back to three huge meals a day, class class class and yet still being the most amazing thing i could ever ask for. Hope all is well.

wednesday october 7th

today i experienced my first rainstorm in valladolid and wow!!! it was awesome! :) only half of us had umbrellas and the rain wasn't stopping us from our plans at the museum. therefore we trecked it through the puddles and the car splashes and more. there is no longer such thing as a dry notebook for any of us. however, the museum was legit!!! we learned just about everything we would want to learn about the romans and their influence on spain-very cool stuff. i know have a paper to write on the roman influence due tomorrow as well as a paper about my opinion on evil. ultimately i tell you these things to express the fact that everything we are doing here is focused on our academics but it is very easy to be interested in. I am still loving my classes and our reading for the witch-hunt class is probably one of the most intriguing classes i have ever encountered. it may come as a surprise to most of you but i actually like doing the reading about various cases for that class.mom and dad, i know you guys are proud :) my mama and i had a good time today, i make her laugh a lot which may or may not be a good thing. Good because at I am making her laugh, but bad because she laughs at my lack of spanish. one of the things i had left out earlier is that the main place to hang out here at the night is called "the biblioteca" which puts a smile on all of our faces becuase it is a reminder of slo town.

other than updates on spain, i would like to say thank you to everyone who kept my family and wrightwood in their prayers. i am glad to hear things are looking up. i love you!

tuesday october 6th

Today is Tuesday. The last few days have been amazing. We went to Burgos this weekend and WOW, such a cool experience. We went into the most amazing cathedral, walked up to a castle to see the whole city and ate lunch on the castle stairs. We then explored and experienced their type of flee market….really cool stuff!!! Everything you find is hand-made, so of course I had to buy something….it’s a ring with a turquoise stone in it-BEAUTIFUL!!!! We also were able to be there during their medieval parade so we have tons of pictures of that too. We then went to the monastery after that and saw another view of the city but at this point we were a little worn out. Perhaps also it was due to the night before and the celebrations of one of the girls’ birthdays. Which, by the way, there is no such thing as sleep in this city-people are out and about until at least 5 having a good time and up by 8 or 9 ready for the day haha. Sunday we were able to sleep in though and then I went and bought tickets for this weekends adventure=MALAGA!!!! Yeah, I am so excited. I am going with 5 other girls and one of them actually has family over there so it is very convenient. Can anyone say free tour guide??? I can J other than that we have been going to school…..early morning for Spanish and late night for poly. All great classes. Side note, but still very interesting, we were able to watch policia in action too!!! Some guy was trying to get into a café and the lady told him he couldn’t come in, things began to get a little aggressive but in about 5 seconds, NO EXAGERATION, policia were there handling the situation. I found that policia also put on gloves before they touch anyone or anything in the place they are going. This is just another example of differences in cultures, but then again I don’t have many encounters with the cops so I could be wrong about them in the states. Some of the girls and I also have been talking about starting a bible study which we actually followed through on last night and it went really well. I am very excited about the support group I have here, inside and outside of the bible study, and have already created very strong friendships. I think those are the big points for now. Everything here is still more than amazing and I can’t wait to show everyone pictures when I get back. If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask me. Love you!!