English anyone?

Hi!

Two weekends ago I was in London visiting some friends - I had an absolute BLAST with everyone! Also, I was stoked to be in an English speaking country for the first time since I left the US in September!  (I really like the word "stoked"...it really portrays the emotion well.  According to Urban Dictionary (which is obviously 100% correct - every time) ""stoked" - adjective - to be "stoked" is to be completely and intensely enthusiastic, exhilarated, or excited about something. Those who are stoked all of the time know this; being stoked is the epitome of all being. When one is stoked, there is no limit to what one can do.")  That word - stoked - sums up my weekend in London.  There was no limiting the amount of fun we had.

The trip started off...in the customs line at the airport.  Now, when I first came to Spain, they barely even looked at my passport...I don't even think they opened it up to the picture page before letting me pass.  But going to London for a weekend, now that's completely different.  I arrived at the customs line and read the signs (in English!) UK passports, EU passports..."others".  I got in the "others" line and watched as everyone else walked right through...2 planes went through before I did!  Finally I got up to the counter they asked what I was doing in London.  I replied "visiting friends".  His response - "who?"  Are you really that popular that you know everyone in London?  "Matt and Chris."  "What is their address?"  I don't know...I have never been to their house, I don't even know my address in Spain!  Told him that...I don't think he liked that answer very much, but honestly what was he expecting?  Then he asked me when I was going back to the US.  "August".  Well that is not what he wanted to hear...so then I explained the whole study abroad thing and finally he let me pass.  Good thing because Chris was waiting and starting to worry...and Matt was stressing about the £1 fee for parking.  Let the fun begin!

After making it back to Matt and Chris’s house, driving on the wrong side of the road, and the wrong way around roundabouts, I got settled in and we went out to dinner at the local pub for a true UK welcome.  That night we celebrated with our good friends Will Ferrell and Steve Carell in Anchorman – as to provide us with some obnoxious quotes for the weekend. :)

The next morning we drove into London to spend the weekend at their flat in the city.  The flat was in a really cool neighborhood; kind of boho-chic meets yuppie up-and-comers – I could definitely get used to the great farmers market and bakery they have.  We got on the tube and headed into downtown London.  The first stop was the Tower of London.  It was pretty sweet although we did not go inside because it was around £20 to enter...so we just walked around the outside and took some fun pictures.  We walked over to Tower Bridge, commonly mistaken for London Bridge – which is just a little ways down the river and a lot less impressive.  We made our way across Tower Bridge and to the Borough Market.  This was quite possibly the coolest outdoor food market I have ever been to, even rivaling Madison’s Farmers Market.  It is set under the railway viaducts near the foot of Tower Bridge.  We spent a bit of time wandering around the market and then made our way back to the river walk towards Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and The London Eye.  We walked across the Millennium Footbridge (also known as the bridge from Harry Potter) and tried/failed to go to the oldest wine bar in London.  (next time!)  

Tower of London

Happy Hands caught in the beginning stages:)

Borough Market

yay sunshine!

Globe Theater

Harry Potter bridge

"Thumbs up for the London eye and Big Ben!"

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day in London.  We started out the day in Piccadilly Circus, which is not actually a circus but more of a city square (personally I think circus tents would add a nice touch).  From Piccadilly we walked to Trafalgar Square and spent a bit of time taking fun pictures and watching the Olympic countdown clock.  (Only 529 days!!!)  After all the excitement from the Olympic countdown clock we need a bit of a break, so we walked past number 10 Downing Street which is really quite depressing.  The street itself is not very appealing and the giant fence and guards with machine guns don’t really help the curb appeal.  I would not want to live there.  Just down the street is Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey (which is where the Royal Wedding is going to be).  We decided we wanted to rent bikes with the bike share program in London and ride around the city a bit.  We rode past Buckingham Palace, through some parks, and towards Soho.  We walked through Liberty, which I am told is the Harrods for Londoners.  Then around Soho for a bit looking at all the great shops and having coffee at the best Italian coffee shop outside of Italy.  Bar Italia – definitely recommended.

Piccadilly circus

Trafalgar square

ummm yeah...

best photo of the weekend? 

yummm!  (Also my dad has never been there.  I have.)

My favorite alley

BIKES!

That was my last night in London, as we headed back to Matt and Chris’s house the next day.  But not before exploring the best farmers market ever, and spending the day sitting in the park enjoying another beautiful day in London!  That evening we had plans to go out to dinner for curry – because one cannot visit London without having curry.  The curry was great and thanks to Carol and Helen, it was one of the funniest dinners I have ever experienced.  Unfortunately it was my last night in London and I had to head back to Madrid the next morning.  I had a GREAT time in London and can’t wait to go back!  (Maybe graduate school??)  Thanks Matt and Chris for everything!     

The hairy sidewalk.

Hello!

I know, you are all shocked that I am doing more than 1 post in a week... But I have been working on homework all day...and really need a break!  Also, funny stuff has happened to me recently that I think you all will appreciate.

I will start with my professors.  I think they all try to confuse me because they know that I don't speak Spanish all that well.  One of my professors seems to think that I am from North or South Carolina...and asks me every class which one.  I think next time he asks I will respond with "central". 

My other class that confuses me, and I know you will all laugh about this, is in English!  Granted my professor is from Ireland...so even I have a hard time understanding him sometimes. (and I am the only native English speaker in the class!)  But last class he started out with this question for me: "Is your German boyfriend still here?"  What??  News to me, didn't know I had one of those. 

Also, something that I have noticed is that we have really strange neighbors...on both sides!  One of our neighbors is doing work on their house, and there is constant noise coming from there.  Now I know that this is not that strange, during the day time, but at night, around 12pm it always sounds like they are vacuuming.  Sure, that could be normal to vacuum at 12pm, but every night??  I don't think so...  Our other strange neighbors have a hairy sidewalk.  Yes, a hairy sidewalk.  I walk by their house everyday to get to the bus stop, and the sidewalk is covered in hair.  It looks like they shave their black dog outside...everyday.  I don't even know if they have a dog.  Maybe they are trying to keep away the armadillos...do they have those in Spain?

Well, that is all the strange stuff I have for now, hopefully more to follow...back to homework.
LOVE xoxo

Salamanca/Madrid and others...

Hello all!

Wow!  Last weekend was quite a weekend.  I went out on Friday night here in Madrid with some girls and we had a great night out!  I didn't mean to stay out all night, but all the sudden it was 5am and we were still dancing...oops!  We made it just in time to make the 5:30 bus and got home around 6am.  I went to bed for about 2 hours and then got on a train to Salamanca to visit Kara, a friend from Carroll.  It was great to see the city with a local ;) and awesome to get a bit of home here in Spain.  We went out all night in Salamanca, which is a really cool city because its filled with students.  (and great because its super cheap compared to Madrid - 5€ for a night out!!)  We met some really cool people, and had a crazy night.  Hopefully Kara will be visiting me in Madrid next weekend for some big city fun! :)

The week was like any normal week here for me.  Classes are going well...a bit harder this semester than last, but I think that is because I actually understand what is going on in class, therefore understand when we have homework and actually do it....I should go back to not understanding everything - easier that way.  Wednesday I went to El Escorial, a town near Madrid, with some friends.  It was FREEZING, cold enough to flurry, which is a big change from last week when it was almost 70F here! 

On Saturday we went into the city for a touristy day.  It was supposed to be rainy and cold, but as usual the weather men were wrong, and it turned out to be a nice day.  Most of what we saw was stuff that I hadn't seen already which was really cool.  I've lived here for 5 full months and there is still a lot I haven't seen!  So much I have to do still!!

We started out our tour at Las Ventas, the largest bull fighting ring in Madrid...don't worry, no bull fights - just photos outside. :)

Las Ventas

After Las Ventas, we went to the Temple of Debod, and Egyptian temple in Madrid.  I know, and Egyptian temple in Madrid...?  Apparently it was some sort of gift or something.  Its really cool outside, but of course we waited in line to go in, and its exactly what it looks like it would be, a stone room with nothing...yep, that exciting.

This is a picture of my host mom and I at the temple, different day - same temple.

Next we headed to the Palace to go in.  It was quite nice, I could definitely live there.  The best room was the Royal Pharmacy, which looked like it was right out Hogwarts potions class.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that room...I think I would have been deported or something for taking picture inside, but if you come to Madrid - definitely go in the Royal Pharmacy.

Sooyoung and I at the Palace

We spent the rest of our day in the Retiro Park.  Retiro is one of my favorite places in the city, and was great because all the cherry trees are blooming!  I can't wait until its a little warmer, and we can just go and sit all day in the park with a picnic and a good book...oh the simple things in life. :)

SPRING!!!

Well that is all for now.  Love xoxo

Yes, I am still here.

Hello all,

Yes, I am still here.  I know that I have been pretty bad about this whole blogging thing for a while (sorry), but you should all take that as a good sign.  I have been having so much fun that I haven't had time to blog!  Another reason, slightly less glamorous, is that because its my second semester here all of this is not necessarily new to me, so I don't even think about blogging it.  But I will try to be better about that.

On the last post I left off with saying that we were heading to Córdoba, which was great!  It was a really fun trip, and we did have great weather. :)  Córdoba has a very interesting and diverse history.  There was a mix of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures all living in the same city, resulting a very cool city.  We began the day with tours of all the important things with Encarna, the history professor who comes on all the trips with us, trying to educate us.  My favorite place was of the Mezquita, or Mosque.  It was absolutely enormous and very beautiful - definitely recommend it.  The day was great, and all the new students in the program are all really nice.  I do miss all the students from last semester though, we started it all together and its weird to not have them here...

Mezquita

I have been spending a lot of time making new friends, which is going very well.  (yay me!)  I even have a hard time deciding what to do sometimes because I have so many options...I know, my life is so hard. :p  But hey, friends are essential, especially when your family lives 4,192.97 miles away.  (that is the exact distance - I calculated it)  So, besides the new friend quest that I am constantly on, I have been going to classes and trying to explore new areas of the city.  Overall having a GREAT time, loving life, and starting to freak a bit that I only have 6 months left here ... yikes!  Better make the best of the time I have left, because I know it will fly by... :(

This last weekend I was in Sevilla, having a grand time.  I really enjoyed Sevilla, and again had great weather, at least for me it was great.  (The crazy Spaniards think its freezing...but I just keep telling them they don't know what cold is, go to Wisconsin in February, that is cold.)  Encarna came with us again, and after a few small morning travel issues, we were ready to start touring Sevilla.  We toured all the important things with Encarna and had a great lunch all together.  My favorite part was climbing to the top of the Giralda Tower in the Cathedral for the amazing views of the city.

The tower

The view

The other thing I love about Andalucía (Southern region of Spain) is that there are orange and lemon trees growing all over!  That is something we definitely don't have in Wisconsin.  Unfortunately they are not edible...not sweet.  :( 

Orange trees!

The rest of our time in Sevilla was spent walking around exploring the city, getting lost, watching weird flamenco shows, and I say weird because it was not a normal flamenco performance, it was a theater show - with a bit of flamenco thrown in there.  Very strange - we were all expecting some big ruffled dress, polka dots, something semi-traditional...no, it was weird.  So now I still have to see a traditional flamenco show...I better get on that.

Next on the travel calendar for me is a possible trip to Salamanca next weekend to visit a friend.  Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing a familiar face from Carroll! 

Love you all! xoxo

Paris/Ljubljana

Hello everyone!
Second semester has officially begun along with all the organizational problems they seem to attract here...welcome back to Spain.

Last week, before classes started, I took advantage of the time and went to Paris and Slovenia with Riitta.  We had a great time, although it was much colder than we expected.  The first day we arrived in Paris, we made our way to the hotel, which was conveniently located in the red light district about 5 min. walk from the Moulin Rough...excellent start to the trip.  We got checked in, and decided to explore a bit.  We made our way to the Sacré Coeur, and stopped in all the little shops along the way.  It turned out to be a really cool neighborhood, with lots of boutiques, and artsy little cafes.  That night we went to see the Eiffel Tower, and attempted to go up to the top.  It was very cool to see the Tower lit up at night, and the light show was great!  Unfortunately the top was closed, so we decided to try back another day. 
The next morning we went to the Louvre and other touristy things to be done in Paris.  Going to most museums in Europe is great (free!) if you have an official student ID and/or are an EU citizen under 25.  Many times only one of those would be valid, and of course it would be the one I don't have.  Usually I would say that I was from Spain, and whip out my official resident card, to get in.  Most of the time that would work - so we got into almost everything for free.  Which was good because we were paying an arm and a leg for everything, Paris is so expensive!
After the first two days in Pairs, both of us were a little unimpressed....all we saw was a dirty city, with unfriendly people, and overpriced everything.  That is until we went up the Eiffel Tower.  Unfortunately we were not able to go to the top, (because of course its closed in January!) but the view from the second floor is still pretty amazing.  It was there we realized why people love Paris. 
(Now I have something to go back for, the top of the Eiffel Tower.)

Sacré Coeur

Christmas tree?  Guess those crazy Frenchies don't realize that Christmas is over...

Do I look cold?  Because I was FREEZING!!!

 The next morning we flew to Ljubljana, Slovenia.  Many of you are probably asking, "why Slovenia?"  And that is a very valid question...we really had no idea what we were getting into, only that it was a cheap flight from Paris with a rumored 'Best Hostel in the World'.  The drive from the airport to the hostel was a little frightening.  There was absolutely nothing, it was like driving in Northern WI in the dead of winter...nothing.  Once we got into the city it was still scary....very post soviet union ugly buildings, gray, not inviting...What were we thinking!?!
Then we got to our hostel.  It was an old military prison, in the artist district, with really bright colors, and graffiti all over...sweet.  Once we walked in I knew we would like it.  There was great music, friendly people, and lots of community involvement activities going on.  As I mentioned earlier, the hostel was an old prison, and was converted by the local university art program into a hostel.  Each "cell" is now a room, that was individually designed by a local artist, and had a really funky vibe.  We went to the restaurant in the hostel to get some food, and were surprised at how cheap, delicious, and how much food you got for only 4 euros!  (great change from Paris and Madrid)
The city turned out to be great.  The downtown is located on a river, with a cute little downtown and a castle overlooking the whole city.  We had a great time walking around, shopping in the small boutiques, and visiting all the surprisingly modern/artsy/posh coffee shops that had amazing coffee for less than 2 euros!  I think we drank enough coffee in those 2 days to last about 2 weeks! 

View of Ljubljana from the Castle

Best meal ever, Goulash and home brewed beer yumm!

Hostel Celica

After saying goodbye to our new friends at the hostel we made our way back to the airport, after waiting about 45 minutes in the cold after the shuttle forgot to pick us up...and headed back to Paris.  We spent a few more days in Paris visiting all the things we had missed, and then made our way back to Madrid to prepare for classes to begin...

This is the first week of classes, and they are going surprisingly well.  I showed up on the first day with no idea what classes I was going to take or what I was even going to do for the day.  I found Susan and somehow we came up for a list of classes for me.  I went to the International Office to register, only to find a line of about 500 other students waiting to register...ok so the 500 may be a bit of an exaggeration but it was a lot!  I noticed that the woman who usually helps us was not there, so I asked someone and they said she would not be in until Wednesday.  I am not sure how one of the 3 people who works in the International Office can be gone the first two days of a semester when all the international students are arriving...but I guess that is just how the Spanish do it.  So I signed up for an appointment to register, and decided to just go to the classes anyways. 

Classes so much better this semester than last, I actually understand what is going on!  Still tweaking the schedule a bit, but a lot less than last semester!  I have met the other American students in the program and they are very nice.  I have also found that making friends this semester is a lot easier!  Probably because my Spanish is a lot better, but also because I just start talking to everyone.  I think its because I no longer have a security blanket of having a friend from the states, so I have to make new friends....probably should have just done that from the start...oh well - better late than never! 

This weekend its off to Córdoba - and weather.com is telling me that is should be a high of 59 and sunny. :)  woohooo!

French Family Vadeboncoeur

Hello all!
I know - Its been a while...  I have been in France for the past month with my family for the Christmas holiday.  It was really great to see them and we had a blast.  We spent the month in Châtel (portes du soleil region) skiing, visiting other cities, and bumming around.  Most of our time was spent with the crazy locals, and lots of visitors. 

Lukas was the first German to visit - and spent New Years with us.  We spent a lot of time skiing and goofing around.  It was great to see him - even though Hanna and I lost him on New Year's eve for a bit...not our fault though.  See you in Berlin Lukas!

Châtel

After Lukas came the rest of the Germans, Lisa's family.  They stayed for a week and it was crazy.  Not all of them speak English, and none of us speak German - so there was a lot of translating going on through Lisa.  It was quite funny - seeing what gets lost in translation, even though Lisa is a great translator!

hiking in Châtel

Montreux Switzerland

When Lisa's family left - we didn't know any more Germans to invite - so Meagan came!  Meagan currently lives in Luxembourg and spend a couple days with us.  We visited a lot of local towns with Meagan - and killed the car.  Good times!   She may look innocent - but don't let that fool you.  Meagan + Mom + Louise = Big trouble/Big laughs!  Had such a great time with her and hoping to visit her in Luxembourg sometime this year! 

meditation anyone?

what a view - good thing the pirate ship doesn't block it all

Giant fork!  Vevey Switzerland

Château de Chillon, Montreux Switzerland

After Meagan came Chris.  Chris lives in London and spends a lot of time with our family....mostly squatting at our house.  But we love having her anyways!  It was great fun - now I am looking forward to reciprocating the squatting at her house! 

the barf producing drive to Aosta Italy

Aosta Italy, great Pizza - views don't suck either.

That a girl Chris!

 And then there are the Grace's - those are the crazy locals I mentioned earlier.  A great family that we got to spend quite a bit of time with - and I wish we lived closer... We had such an amazing time - and a lot of it had to do with the Grace's.  I am looking forward to visiting them this summer to do some riding. :)

Christmas dinner

Dad's birthday - post chocolat mousse incident

that picture pretty much sums up our time in bars...

Chris, Ben, Hanna

Last day skiing in Verbier Switzerland with Lloyd

If I had to sum up my time in France in one sentence (maybe a bit of a run-on) it would be:
We skied, spent a lot of time in Switzerland, had pizza in Italy, got car-sick, went to the spa, broke the car, went to bars, ate at le Fiacre, finally got into the castle, went hiking, danced on tables, had chocolat mousse, watched a mountain bike race in the snow, sang the sound of music and had a kick-ass time doing it all!

As you can see from that sentence - It was a great vacation.  It was hard to come back to Madrid knowing that I was leaving my family and friends in France - to come back to Spain where most of my friends are leaving or are already gone... But it will be ok, I am much more proficient at Spanish now, so making friends will be a breeze! (fingers-crossed!)

End of the semester/Rome!

Hello everyone!

I am finally done with my first semester in Spain!  I can't believe how fast it went, and am very glad to have a second semester here. It was a crazy last week of classes, with a short trip to Rome with some friends.

We had found cheap tickets to Rome, Italy for Tuesday-Wednesday of this week.  We left on Tuesday after classes, and then came back late Wednesday night.  It was a very short trip, but we had just enough time to see all that we needed/wanted to see, and eat some GREAT food! :)  Of course you could spend a week in Rome and not see it all, but for having just one day of sightseeing - we saw a lot.

Tuesday evening we arrived in Rome and made our way to our hostel.  It was close to the main train station, so was very easy to find.  Once we checked in, got a recommendation for a restaurant, and a map of the city, we were off!  We first went to eat - pizza of course - which was amazing!  (after 4 months of Spanish food, Italian food was a very welcome change)  We decided to go to the Trevi fountain that night, and after getting a little lost - we finally found the fountain.  It was great to go at night because there was no one else there!  We spent a while there, taking pictures, throwing money into the fountain, and relishing in the fact that we were in Italy.  After we were frozen all the way through, we made our way back to the hostel, and went to bed excited for our busy next day.

Isabelle, Riitta, Marzia and I at the Trevi Fountain :)

The next morning we got up early, had a quick breakfast at the hostel, and headed toward the Vatican city.  Since we were close to the metro station, we decided that it would be easiest to take the metro to the Vatican.  Now before I came to Spain I was a public transportation virgin, I had no idea how to use it and got lost almost everywhere I went.  Now, I am quite good at it.  The Madrid public transportation is one of the best in the world,  or so I had heard, but had nothing to compare it to.  Now I do.  The Rome metro is really dirty, it is slow, the stations are ridiculous (it takes longer to find the exit, and get to it, than the amount of time one spends on the actual train) there are only 2 lines, and you cannot get anywhere in the city using it.  But we still managed to get to the Vatican and all around the city, although we walked most of it. 

Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel

Once we got to the Vatican, we went into the museum, which houses the Sistine Chapel.  After the museum we went to St. Peters Square, where they were setting up for Christmas.  We walked all over the city, and found some lunch - amazing pasta and coffee!  After lunch we went to the Colosseum and spent some time there.  This was a great time to visit because there were not a lot of tourists.  It was however freezing, so we took a lot of coffee breaks. :)

Inside the Vatican

St. Peter's Square

Colosseum

Yummm!

After more walking we made our way back to the train station and back to the airport for the flight home.  We flew Ryan Air which if you didn't know, they don't provide seat assignments...So people think they have to be the first on the plane so they can get the best seat.  This is ridiculous because 1. all the seats are exactly the same, and 2. everyone is going to get on, they have their tickets!  But regardless we got in-line right when we got there and waited for over 1 hour.  (the combination of running on Italian time and Spanish time means that everything runs at least 45 mins. late)  We didn't end up getting back to Madrid until 12:30pm and had to wait until 2pm for the night bus.  It was a great trip, and I hope to visit Rome again sometime.

The semester ended on Friday for me, and it feels great to be done!  I can't believe how fast the time went, but I wish it wasn't over.  I am looking forward to second semester, which is weird because back home no one ever looks forward to the next semester starting....I guess that is a good thing!

This weekend was crazy!  There were so many parties, celebrating everyone and their brother, and my friends guilt tripped me into going to most of them.  ("Ali, its our last weekend together, pleaseee!?!") What was I supposed to do...?  Anyways, it was really fun, and I will have relaxing time in Chatel, France with the family!!!  My flight leaves tomorrow morning to Geneva, Switzerland and I will spend the rest of December and most of January there with my family.  I am really excited to see everyone, and look forward to all the shenanigans starting tomorrow.

Keep watching for photos and stories of the "French Family Vadeboncoeur" Christmas in France.  :)