Here I am, sitting in my room on New Years Eve dreading to write this final post. I can't believe I'm already home. The last week abroad was bittersweet; filled with hugs, goodbyes and TONS of packing. I managed to fit everything I came with and then some in my luggage without having to pay extra. That's a true victory right there! Nonetheless, the 12 hour plane ride back wasn't too bad. I was sitting next to a girl who had studied in Madrid but didn't learn Spanish....Don't ask me how.
After the plane ride I was greeted by my wonderful family and we headed home for a delicious dinner together. As soon as I opened the door to my house, I ran to my room and jumped on my bed. It felt so good to be home. My first week home was mostly consumed by catching up on sleep and fighting terrible jet lag. I still haven't gotten over it yet. But, I did have time to spend with my family and friends before the semester starts again. Instead of boring you all with a long post about how awesome study abroad is, just do it yourself. Yes sometimes it's scary, hard and you feel alone, but there's nothing like it. It's so rewarding because of the experiences you have and the people you meet. Plus, you have a new city to call home. But one of the most important lessons you learn is to enjoy the little moments in life. Everything you need is around you, just open your eyes because you don't really know what you have until it's gone. Happy New Year! :)
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Again, let's ignore the fact that I haven't posted in like 10 days. Life happens. Actually, most of the reason I didn't post was because I couldn't! I didn't have my laptop on my last vacation and have been finishing final projects since I got back. Kelly and I left for Granada on Friday (December 4th) and landed with just enough time to get into the city, meet up with Olga (who took a 12 hour bus ride, God bless her soul), check into our hostel and make it to the Alhambra in time for our entry. Unlike the rest of Spain, the Alhambra is the only place you have to be super punctual because if not, you'll miss your entry and there goes your money. The weather was FANTASTIC. So fantastic that we were all walking around in our t-shirts while everyone else was wearing winter coats, hats. gloves and scarves. On our way into the Alhambra we even got stopped by a security guard asking us where we were from that we weren't cold. She looked like she was about to go sledding in -20 degree weather while we were in our t-shirts. It was pretty funny. Anything I can say about the Alhambra would not be enough to describe how beautifully captivating, detailed, romantic, and gorgeous this place is. If only I was rich enough to have a palace like the Alhambra. Well, we can dream can't we! Check out the pictures! Besides the Alhambra, there's not much else to do in Granada except explore neighborhoods and visit little sight seeing things. We ended up doing a ton of shopping and exploring the next couple days before we went to Sevilla! Our 3 hour bus ride to Sevilla was actually not that bad, seeing as I slept for 2 hours out of the 3! We arrived and were automatically amazed with the scenery and theme park like walk to our hostel. Thanks to my expert navigating skills we managed to get to our hostel within 10-15 mins. We stayed at La Banda Hostel and it was more like a hotel than anything! It was really great! Sevilla was a lot more touristy than Granada but I have a lot more history on it since we went on a tour with our hostel. Me-dee was our tour guide and he was absolutely awesome. He had so much energy and made learning about the history of Sevilla much more entertaining than just pointing this out an talking. Instead of boring you with the day to day activities (mostly because I can't remember what happened on what day) I'll share some interesting facts along with photos from Sevilla! As promised, here's the little facts! -A metro can't be built in the center of Sevilla because everywhere they dig they find Roman ruins! -The highest temperature in Europe was recorded in Sevilla at 53.9 degrees celsius. That's more than 129 degrees fahrenheit! -Bull rings weren't always circles, they were actually squares and the bull ring in Sevilla was the first one to change! -Bull fights are fixed. The bull is kept in complete darkness at least 24 hours before the fight, drugged, beaten, and sprayed with chemicals (to make them scratch their legs). When it comes out onto the ring it is speared and slashed with "banderas" that have little knives on them. This is where most of the controversy from bull fights comes from. Poor bulls :( -Flamenco is NOT Spanish, it's actually Gypsy. Las Sevillanas is the traditional Spanish dance. -There are 36,000 orange trees in Sevilla, mostly for decoration though as their fruit is pretty sour. -Charles II is what happens when you interbreed for 9 generations. He was really ugly. If you don't believe me here's a picture. And remember, painters altered their paintings to make them look better! -The University of Granada actually used to be a tobacco factory. -Plaza de España was part of 20th century exhibition created by Spanish government officials to attract more tourists and generate more money for poor Spain. It's a half circle because they ran out of money. -A lot of movies were filmed in Plaza de España including Star Wars Episode 2, the Dictator, Night and Day, etc. Well, I'm entering my last week in Spain and I'm sad to be leaving the place I've called home for the past 4 months but I'm very excited to see my family and friends back home! I'll be back in the U.S. on Sunday, which makes this week finals week. Because I'm awesome I was able to power through most of my final projects and finish them early so I can enjoy my last week here!
Until next time! Obviously, I haven't posted in over a week and that is because I've been too busy (lazy). Instead of doing my usual daily posts I'm just going to touch on the most important aspects of my week since most of the time I was either doing homework or deeply invested in binge watching Gran Hotel. Since coming to Bilbao I have transformed into a master procrastinator, something I'm not very proud of. I stall as much as I can to do my homework but somehow, in the anxiety that comes with procrastination, I am able to power through vast amounts of homework at one time. Thursday (Day 84) was Thanksgiving day, which turned out to be one of the hardest days since I've been here. Well, kind of. I woke up that morning 5 mins before my only class of the day and reasoned with myself that it would be pretty pointless to try to get ready and go to class. Instead, I spent my morning talking to Bobby while I was working on creating my study guide for International Business. Most of my day was consumed by Netflix and Facebook. Not good, but sometimes you just need days like that. A running goal of mine has been to finish my final essays/projects early so finals week I won't have much to worry about. After writing a sentence of my Econ final paper, I was distracted by talking to family back home. I also spent quite a while with my conversation partner, Silvia. Before I knew it, it was time to leave for the CIDE Thanksgiving Dinner. I was fortunate enough to be able to walk only 10 mins and arrive at the restaurant. The entire program was there, even some teachers and we all sat around round tables awaiting our food while reminiscing of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions. Our dinner started off with a Crema de Calabza (Cream of Pumpkin Soup), followed by turkey with stuffing and dessert. Of course, there were 2.5 portions of hot bread! Everything was really great and much more than anything I expected! This past weekend I slept ALOT! It was really nice to be able to catch up on some sleep.
Friday I went out shopping with my friends Kensie and Jasmine at the mall for a while. Black Friday here definitely is different than in the States. No one is punching or pushing anyone else and the sales aren't more than 25% off. It was nice to walk around the city though and see all the Christmas decorations. Later that day we met up with Kensie's conversation partner at the only cupcake shop in Bilbao, Mami Lou Cupcake. I only planned on buying one but my stomach persuaded me to try two, a caramel cookie cupcake and a strawberry cheesecake cupcake. First, the frosting was AMAZING. Hands down awesome but, a little excessive with the quantity. The cake of the caramel cookie cupcake was pretty dry and was not impressive, especially since I paid 2.60 euro each. The strawberry cheesecake one was a little better but not good enough to redeem the place. Other than that my weekend was pretty uneventful. I went for some walks, spent a lot of time watching Netflix and talking to family back home. On one of my walks to the park I saw a peacock! So that was pretty cool. :) Day 78 - Before I start talking about Friday, I'll catch you up on the rest of Thursday. After class, I went home and found my clothes still hanging on the drying rack outside. I had no choice but to panic for a few minutes before I rationally told myself to just figure out how to get them down. I took the essentials and literally threw everything into my suitcase (without even folding it!) and ran out the door. I waited 25 mins for the next bus to the airport and hopped on. I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and met up with my friends. The flights to Krakow went smoothly and we even saved money on food because they gave us sandwiches! On the first flight to Munich I ate a chicken and feta cheese sandwich and from Munich to Krakow I tried the cheese sandwich with zucchini and eggplant. They were both really good! By the time we arrived at our hostel it was around 1 am, luckily it was close to the train station. We all decided to wake up early the next morning to explore the city and headed to bed. Friday morning started with a free awesome breakfast provided by the hostel and a walk to the Old Town of Krakow. There we found a "free" 3 hour tour around the city. (It was "free" because at the end you pay how much you think the tour guide deserves.) Our tour guide, Damian, was a historian and gave a great tour that included information about the buildings, history, culture and even great places to eat! After the tour was over, we had about an hour to spare before the next tour in the Jewish Quarter started so we stopped at a pizza/kebab place to get a quick bite to eat. I was speechless because my beef kebab was amazing! Even better, it was less than $3.50 in USD. I really love the pricing in Poland. Everything was sooooooooooo cheap. I almost cried. I should have studied abroad in Poland. The 2.5 hour tour of Jewish Quarter was shorter than the first but just as interesting. Damian was our tour guide again and showed us different synagogues and explained the history of Kazimierz. Unfortunately, the sun set around 4pm so even though it was still the afternoon it felt like it was 9pm by the time we finished our tour. Since we were only a 10 minute walk away from Schlindler's Factory we stopped by to check out the plaque that Kelsey's school put up on the outside. On our walk back to the hostel we bought a Chicken Zapiekanka, which is basically like a pizza sub with a ton of different things on it. We shared it between the 5 of us as a snack before our free dinner at the hostel. Our dinner was a nice spread of chicken, beef, potatoes, pasta, and salad; everything was delicious. Since the kitchen was too small for everyone to fit, we all ate in the living room and mingled with the other people. Most were from Australia but there was also a couple from Canada. We stayed down there for a while talking before going to bed. Day 79 - Our day started with a 6 am alarm and a race to catch the bus to Auschwitz. I realized too late that I left behind my hat and gloves and had to sprint back to get them. I made it to the bus with 2 mins to spare! Our 6 hour tour at Auschwitz started with a cold and rainy day. It was an unreal experience and there are barely any words I can put to describe it. We were shown the life of the prisoners, walked the same path, imagined the experiences together and even had an opportunity to enter one of the gas chambers. That was intense because if you looked at the walls you could see the scratches on the walls. In some of the buildings they had exhibits that showed different valuables once belonging to the people who had lost their lives. Rooms full of pots, pans, suitcases, clothes, shoes, children's toys, even human hair, which was used to make carpets for German residents. BLAH. Just writing about that freaks me out. After 3.5 hours at Auschwitz our tour guide gave us a break where we stopped at a cafe and shared Pierogi's as a snack before moving on. Our next stop was Birkenau, (aka Auschwitz II or Auschwitz-Birkenau), mostly a women's camp but the biggest concentration camp. We were taken through the selection process and walked along the path that many children and elderly did, except our final destination wasn't a "shower." Everything about that visit was powerful and despite the fact that it was depressing, it was an amazing experience. Many people were trying to discourage me from visiting Auschwitz because "it's not important" and "spending time in a nicer place like Paris or London would be better." I'm glad I didn't listen to them. It was an experience I will never forget. After catching the bus back to Krakow and taking a pit stop at the hostel, we ventured out for souvenir shopping at a market followed by dinner. Lauren remembered Damian's suggestion for authentic Polish food at a restaurant called Grandma Rasperberry's. It was decorated really cutely and there was even a man playing piano! I ordered a bread bowl of Goulash and it was amazing! The rest of the night we all relaxed in the common room of the hostel. Day 80 - Instead of getting up early with Joe and Kelsey to visit the cathedral, Matt, Lauren and I slept in. We packed our bags, ate breakfast and headed out to the airport to catch our flight. Of course, the airport was tiny and we went through security within 5 mins, which gave us plenty of down time. Unfortunately, our flight to Munich was delayed an hour which caused us to miss our connecting flight to Bilbao. We were reassigned seats for a connection to Bilbao from Frankfurt. After waiting 4.5 hours in Munich we boarded our 30 min delayed flight to Frankfurt. On the flight to Frankfurt we were freaking out because the layover between our flight to Bilbao was only 20 mins. Needless to say, we ran off the airplane, sprinted across the airport and made it to our gate with a couple mins to spare. Of course, that flight was delayed too and when we landed in Bilbao we had to run out of the airport to catch the last bus to the city at midnight. By the time we all got home it was around 12:30 and were exhausted. At least they gave us snacks on the flights... Day 75 - Tuesday was pretty normal but I had a lot of homework to catch up on for class. I tried my hardest not to procrastinate but I think I was pretty tired from my trip and decided to blow off most of my time napping and procrastinating. I also stayed up pretty late catching up with Julian.
Day 76 - Much like Tuesday, I told myself I would do work but didn't really. I went to class in the morning and instead of working on homework took a 3 hour nap. I woke up, ate linner (lunch/dinner) and ran to my afternoon economics class. We ended up getting out early and I met with my conversation partner for a little bit before going home to power through all my homework and getting ready to leave for Poland. Day 77 - Tonight at 6:30pm my plane takes off for Poland, but I have a problem. My host mom still hasn't finished with laundry and I don't have anything but shorts and t-shirts left; not ideal clothes for Poland in November. After class, I'm going to run home and I'm praying my clothes will be on my bed. If not, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to throw my things into my suitcase and run to the bus stop, catch the bus and catch my plane. I'm actually kind of worn out from traveling, especially after the terrorist attacks this weekend. I can't believe I only have one more month left here. It's gone by SOOOOOO fast and despite the fact that I miss home a lot, part of me doesn't want to leave. This vacation is one of my last but it's not going to be all smiles. The main reason were going to Poland is to visit Auschwitz, a not so happy site. Also, it's our last trip together as a group (Joe, Matt, Lauren, Kelsey and I) but I'm glad to be with them again. SO MANY MIXED EMOTIONS!!! I'm looking forward to seeing a completely different country though. I'll make sure to update when I get back. :) Day 70 - As you might have probably guessed from the title I'm in Paris right now with Jeshua. All day I've been so excited to get here and I even ended up leaving my marketing class early. I made it to the airport with plenty of time and took a quick cat nap on the plane. Our arrival was a little goofy because we landed on the runway at 7:30pm but didn't end up getting to our gate until 7:50pm. CDG is a gigantic airport! You need a bus or train to get in between terminals and it's super confusing. Luckily, Jeshua knew where to go for the most part and worked together to get to our Airbnb. Our place is conveniently a minute away from the metro and we had to use a couple codes to get into the place. It was kind of a complicated process but we figured it out! After we settled in and checked out the place, we left our stuff to grab some dinner. Jeshua found a couscous place called L'abribus, just a 5-10 min walk away from our place. It was amazing. We order beef and chicken couscous and it was ready surprisingly quickly. My first thought was that it had to be microwaved or something but the meat was really tender and not overcooked at all. I don't know how they did it but props to them. By the time we got back to our place it was pretty late and we decided to plan out our next few days here. So far, I love Paris (for the 3 hours I've been here). It reminds me of Bilbao and Chicago a lot and it makes me feel like home. It's also great to see a good friend and explore a new city together. P.S. I wrote this on Thursday but for some reason the entire weekend the website did not want to let me publish my posts. Day 71 - Our day started at around 9 am with Jeshua's alarm with really no concrete plans in mind. Our rumbling stomachs took us down the street to a wonderful cafe where we had the biggest breakfast of our lives. For 15 euro we ate a half a baguette with butter and jam, a croissant (a pan au chocolate in my case), a cup of coffee (hot chocolate for me), a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and a giant ham and cheese omelet. It was delicious. ESPECIALLY the hot chocolate. It was made with really chocolate so I had to stir the bottom once in a while but it was the best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life. If there is one thing I could take home from France it would be that hot chocolate. After our huge breakfast, we waddled to the metro on our way downtown. Instead of transferring to another train we decided to go up and check out the neighborhood where we ended up finding a little flea market where "real people live." It was definitely a different part of Paris. Even though we bought unlimited metro passes, we decided to explore this neighborhood more and head downtown at the same time. We ended up walking pretty far, discovering little things here and there and even finding a palace! It was a nice way to explore a new city, instead of just going to tourist attractions. Although, those were fun too and eventually ended up seeing most of them unintentionally. Because the lines were so long to get into the Norte Dame and Eiffel Tower, we decided to do them later in our trip. (In hindsight, that probably was not the greatest idea...) By the time we got back to the apartment we were completely exhausted. After resting for a bit, we ventured out to the grocery stores to get some food for that night and the next few days. Dinner was well received with delicious pork chops, peppers and salad. Instead of going out that night like we had planned, we decided to stay in and thank God we did. Friday night while we were still in the room listening to music and talking to Bobby and Eli, we found out about that terrorist attacks. It's weird how despite all of the sirens we heard, we didn't think anything of them. I received a message from my friend Joe asking about the attacks and that's when I looked at the news. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes after the first suicide bomb by the stadium went off. I think it was one of the weirdest and scariest situations I've ever been in my life. I was completely safe in the apartment but I was more worried about all the people who were out including our Airbnb hosts. The entire night we sat awake constantly checking the news. More than 100 hostages taken inside the theatre. 20 people confirmed dead. 50 people confirmed dead. Police are storming the theater. Over 100 confirmed dead. State of emergency. Borders closed. Flights restricted. Another attack. More sirens. A lot of anxiety was rushing through all of us. The decision to text my parents and tell them not to check the news but to know that I'm okay. Keeping calm because I knew nothing would happen to me. Our Airbnb hosts didn't get back home until 3:30 am, they told us they were only 200 meters away from one of the shootings. I don't know how but eventually I was able to fall asleep. Day 72 - Saturday we didn't worry about setting an alarm because we weren't sure if we could leave the apartment or not. While making breakfast our Airbnb hosts assured us it would be fine to go out but warned us that most things would be closed. We did a lot of sight seeing that day, which was very heartbreaking because we couldn't even get inside gardens. Everything was closed. There were surprisingly a lot more people outside than I would have thought. It was almost as if nothing had happened. If it weren't for the constant sirens, I wouldn't have known anything happened. Around the corner from our apartment was a beautiful cemetery, so we decided to go there first. Each grave had a little "house" on top that had an altar and kneelers to pray. Some graves were from the 1700's, some were small, some were really impressive and some were completely unique. The cemetery was so big they put in little street signs at every intersecting walk way, which for the amount of people buried there makes sense. Imagine trying to go visit your relatives and not remembering where they were buried. After the cemetery we made our way downtown to sightsee, making our first stop at the Louvre. Of course, we couldn't go inside but it was nice to see the outside. We wandered our way around the city, thinking that at least the gardens would be open. HAH. No. Oh well. I understood. I wasn't mad; it just gives me a reason to come back. The Eiffel Tower was closed as well but I'm pretty sure I made my way onto a news station because I was frolicking behind one of the reporters. By the end of the day, there was not much else we could do so we went home and made dinner. Later that night we went out for a walk and after 10 mins found one of the restaurants with bullet holes in the window. Someone had spray painted a frown underneath it. There were flowers, candles, news reporters, and people praying. In that moment there were no words to describe the atmosphere and even sitting here now writing this I can't explain it. We stayed there for a while to pay our respects before heading home. Day 73 - We ended up staying up super late on Saturday so Sunday we didn't wake up until 1:30pm or so. By the time we made breakfast and got ready for the "day" even though we ended up leaving at 4pm. I mean, it's not like it mattered anyway because everything was closed and we had already done most of the things we wanted to do. (Or better said: Seen most of the things we wanted to do.) We found a basilica on top of a hill where you could see most of the city and we were allowed to go inside even though mass was going on. It was gorgeous. I lit a candle and prayed for the victims and their families to represent that even in dark times there is still a light. We left the basilica and found the sun setting, a beautiful moment for pictures. Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe. It was a pretty cool site and we ended up walking down the street finding a closed Christmas market, a palace and a beautiful walkway toward the Eiffel Tower. Before we went home, we bought crepes. Mine was pretty good filled with nutella and bananas but super expensive. From what I saw the entire time I was there though, the price was pretty typical for crepes. Day 73 - We spent our last morning in Paris watching the second democratic debate with Bobby and Eli while packing our suitcases and getting ready for the day. Even though the Luxembourg gardens were closed, we still went to see the outside. We wandered around the area, finding a comic book store, the University of Paris and ended up at the Norte Dame. Since we didn't get to go inside the first day we decided to take advantage of the short line and explore inside. First, it was HUGE. Second, SUPER OLD. Third, INSANELY BEAUTIFUL. Obviously they had done restoration work but they did a really great job. We spent a while there before eating our last meal in Paris at a restaurant. I ordered a ham and cheese salad with Beef Bourguignon. Both were great and the waiter supplied us with unlimited bread. I also stopped at a bakery to pick up some very expensive (but totally worth it) macaroons. We headed back to the apartment to pick our our suitcases before we made our way to the airport. I thought it was going to take us a lot longer to get there and we ended up arriving with a couple hours to spare. Oh well, I'd rather be early than late. Despite the fact that we were super early I almost missed my flight because they didn't display the gate on the screen until 15 mins before boarding and luckily I heard the final call over the intercom. I ran to my gate and found a big line so I wasn't too worried. While I got out my passport, another final call was made and I realized I was at the wrong gate. I ran out of line and across the way, to be one of the last people to board the plane. THAT was scary. I arrived in Bilbao about 2 hours later, waited for the bus and walked home. I was welcomed home with hugs from my host brothers saying they were very worried about me. I felt very loved. :) Despite loving Paris, it was good to be back home and I really did not expect to miss speaking Spanish, but I did. We talked for a while about what happened before I caught up with my family back in Chicago and went to bed. Day 68 - Tuesday was a good day because in the morning I found out I got an A on my Spanish test! Go Patricia! Too bad I'm not taking that class for a grade. On my way to International Business I went to the cafe at school to satisfy an unavoidable craving for a napolitana. I've blogged about them one of the first days I came here. They're kind of like chocolate croissants and heaven. They are super addicting and I hope I have enough time to try making them here before I go. I ended up getting out of class early and decided to take a siesta since I was falling asleep in class. Two hours later I woke up...I have no control. I was able to yet again power through my homework even things that weren't due until next week because I'm leaving to Paris on Thursday! I'm meeting Jeshua there and I can't believe we're going to be there for 5 days! Hopefully I won't have a lot of homework due on Tuesday because my flight doesn't get back until late Monday night. Day 69- FINALLY! I AM CAUGHT UP WITH MY BLOGS! I hate being behind but blogging while on trips is nearly impossible because I don't have time and I don't want to take my laptop around everywhere. After class, I came home and chatted with Jeshua while finishing my econ paper. I made pasta for lunch but it didn't come out as great as I thought it would. Oh well! I had pasta and it's Wednesday, that's all that matters. My economics class got out early today too so i had just enough time before bed to finish all of my homework and pack for Paris. Now that I think about it, I didn't really do much exciting things but I'm excited for Paris! Don't worry I'll try to update over there but I can't make any promises! Day 65 - My day started with some breakfast from a bakery that one of Matt's friends suggested. It was just off La Rambla and specialized in quality products (aka expensive) that were good. Since lunch in Spain is later than in the US, I unintentionally carb loaded by trying the veggie focaccia, a lemon muffin and a cheese brioche. The only thing I wasn't really fond of was the cheese brioche. After breakfast, we headed to the Sagrada Familia only to find out that tickets were sold out until 2pm. Yay for not planning! Instead of waiting there for 2 hours we headed to Camp Nou, Barcelona's soccer stadium. That day I made sure to wear Julian's Messi jersey because taking it to the stadium was one of the only reasons I went to Barcelona. Joan Miro park was next on our list but my first impression was that it wasn't as pretty as I thought. As I walked in further (like every other park) it was beautiful. There were a ton of palm trees everywhere and there was even a "garden hallway" with flowers all around! I spent a lot of time there just relaxing and enjoying the scenery before we headed to Plaza Catalunya. I wasn't surprised that there really wasn't much to see in the plaza. We stopped for gelato to eat up (literally) some extra time before we could enter the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is hands down my favorite basilica. Compared to the other churches and cathedrals, Antonio Gaudi made the inside very simplistic. If you look at the outside of the basilica you would assume that the inside would be very similar but its not overwhelming. I don't know how to describe it but it's simply complex. The pillars on the inside represent trees in a forest and if you look closely at the ceiling you can see the leaves of the trees. We paid an extra few euro to be able to go up one of the towers, which was pretty cool. The entire basilica is being constructed solely by donation; just the way Guadi wanted it. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's completed. By the time we left the Sagrada Familia my feet were exhausted and even though I had skipped lunch, I wanted to prevent a headache and stopped at a fruit market for snacks. Until we went out for tapas, I spent most of the time relaxing in the hotel and talking to Julian before he went to work. After searching for what felt like forever, I finally found a really good tapas bar called Sensi. Even though it was expensive it was worth it because all of the other tapas bars were catering to tourists and it was hard to escape the over priced bars. While at the bar I ordered a Vermut because the tourist map said it was a typical wine that was flavored with fruit (now that I think about it maybe they meant sangria...). It turns out it's basically a sweeter version of an old-fashioned. It wasn't bad but I was definitely looking forward to a sangria type drink. I guess that's my fault for believing a tourist map. Lesson learned. Day 66 - Sunday morning I did not want to get out of bed but when I finally did, I stopped at the bakery across the street for breakfast. The first place we visited was Mountjuic, which used to be a Jewish cemetery converted to a fortress and then a prisoners "castle." It only cost 3 euro to get in and it was pretty cool to see. After we got back down the mountain we headed all the way across the city to Park Güell, which was another hike up. It was definitely worth it for the views and being able to see Guadi's house. When we got back down we stopped by a cafe for lunch but it was pretty expensive since it was really close to the park. The food was average and the entire lunch only took us 30 mins! That's so unheard of in Spain but I think here they cater to tourists more, which is sad because you lose so much of the culture. After our quick lunch we headed to the Piccasso Museum and stood in line for an hour to get in for free. I loved the museum but there were some parts that were a little strange. I noticed throughout my trip that most people in Barcelona don't really speak Spanish. Everything is in Catalan, then they'll speak to you in English and then Spanish. The entire time I was there I was speaking Spanish and I threw so many people off it was ridiculous. They would stand there in shock and not know what to say. Even when we went to the bar for tapas, the bartender kept speaking to us in English even though I spoke solely in Spanish. Eventually, he was stopped and said, "Wait, you speak Spanish really well!" Day 67 - Monday I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4 am to make it to my 7 am flight. I went to bed early the night before so I got plenty of sleep but I still managed to knock out for an hour on the plane. I woke up at the perfect time in the middle of my slumber to catch a beautiful sunrise. Life goal complete. I hurried off the plane to the bus stop but unfortunately missed the first bus to the city. Another one came about 30 mins later and I ran into class 40 mins late. (Don't worry I told my professor I would be late).
After class, I made my way home looking forward to my roasted vegetables but apparently Ignacio liked them so much he left only 2 pieces...Thanks... Luckily I had the leftover pasta which was absolutely delicious! I productively powered through all of my homework, figured out my class schedule, sent post cards and made food, even while talking to Bobby and Eli! After my afternoon class, I registered for Julian's and my classes, made dinner (eggplant pizzas again! woo!), met with Lyuda for Enactus, and sat in the Enactus meeting! Day 63- Thursday I had my Spanish midterm, which was a lot easier than I thought. Looks like all that studying paid off because I was the first one to finish! After I got out, I attempted to use my time to figure out my schedule for next semester but ended up talking to friends. I'm freaking out a little because I don't know if I'm going to graduate on time. The stress of being back home is already getting to me. I also started applying for internships and jobs but so far they all want me to wait until I get back in the US to apply. On a happier note, in my International Business class today we watched a documentary made by 4 college students who spent a summer in Guatemala living on $1 a day. It was very eye opening and I felt kind of bad because these families don't know where their next meal is will come from while I am frustrated that I can't do everything I want. After the documentary, my teacher gave us a website where we can loan money to families in the form of small amounts called micro financing. I instantly made the connection with Enactus and thought this would be a great way for us to have an impact by loaning some money. We could even do awareness events, it will be awesome! Hopefully, everyone else agrees. If you'd like to help out visit: kiva.org I left my marketing class a few minutes early to have enough time to go home, pick up my suitcase and head to the airport. Again, getting to the airport was a breeze and we arrived with plenty of time. The flight to Barcelona went by really quick because I spent the entire time writing; besides it's not like an hour is a long time. We navigated our way through the airport, took a bus to the metro and arrived at our hotel within 45 mins. We invested in 4 day metro passes to be able to use the metro as much as we want while we were there. In order to get our money back we would have to use it 10 times. Not too hard. After we settled into our room we headed out for dinner at a "Mexican style" restaurant. The food was good but nothing compared to Asadero back home. The rest of the night we used the free map that we got from our bus ride to the city to pin point all of the places we wanted to visit before we went to bed. Day 64- Thursday night before I went to bed I remembered that Matt snores like a train so being in the same room and getting sleep didn't seem possible. As I expected, every couple hours I woke up to a roaring snore. Instead of waking up at 8 like I was supposed to, I woke up 40 mins later to recover some of the sleep I had lost. We spent the morning getting breakfast and exploring the Gothic Quarter, stumbling upon the market I wanted to go to. It was cool but I liked the market in London a lot better. Since we had so much time there we didn't have to worry about seeing everything in one day and could take some time to explore. We walked along La Rambla and then visited the Museum of Illusions. It was pretty cool but the lighting was awful and made some of the pictures come out with hotspots. Check out the pictures! We also saw the cathedral and the Picasso museum but decided to wait until Sunday to get in for free. On our way to the park we found a place to eat for lunch. In an effort to embrace Catalan culture I ordered a traditional pasta dish, portions with veggies and potatoes and flan. When my first plate came I was greeted by pasta with clams. Instead of returning it (because I don't like seafood) I swallowed my pride and ate as much of it as I could. It was good; I just couldn't stand the taste of fish. Luckily, I had delicious bread to cover up the taste. The second plate couldn't have come sooner and it was so delicious. The flan was okay but not the greatest. After we paid for our food the waitress offered to show us the private dining room they had for parties downstairs. It was absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a place to keep in mind for a huge fancy dinner party. The park reminded me of the one in Madrid and so far Barcelona hadn't impressed me too much but once we walked more inside and found a beautiful fountain, I was in awe. There's just something about parks that I love. I spent most of my stroll through the park thinking about back home and how much I miss everyone. If only they were all with me sharing in the experiences, everything would be much better. The shocking thing is that I don't have that much time left here. Most of this month I'm going to be on some of my last vacations os the weeks are going to fly by and before I know it I'll be in the Bilbao airport heading home. It's kind of crazy to think of but I think it will be bittersweet. After the park, we headed to the beach, which was beautiful. Never in my life would I have thought I would be able to walk along the Mediterranean Sea while the water splashed against my feet. By the time we made it to the hotel we were both pretty tired and relaxed for the rest of the night. Since we were still full from lunch we decided not to go out for tapas. I'm glad because because that meant I could shower early and turn in for the night.
Day 60- Monday the usual with classes. I used most of my afternoon to finish the second economics paper and any other homework I had. Earlier that morning my host mom had changed her mind about making lunch for me and said it would be easier if I just made all my meals for myself. I am totally okay with making my own meals because now I can start working on losing all the weight that I gained here. I set out to continue a similar routine I started back home by accurately measuring my progress every week. Hopefully, I can achieve my goal before I go! After class this evening I decided to go on a walk to complete my 12,500 step goal. Matt joined me and we walked along the river by Deusto until we happened upon a park. I was too excited and was desperately looking for swings only to find out there were none. The unique obstacle I had to climb/tightrope on to get to the top of the slide made up for it though. Many times I thought I was going to slip or mis-step, fall through and then get chopped in half. Luckily, I was skilled enough that I was able to avoid such a tragedy. After pretending I was a princess, flying an airplane, and experiencing something that vaguely reminded me of teacups, we continued with out walk along the river. Since it was dark out all the lights made the walk that much prettier. We stopped on the white bridge and just watched the tide go out until we were tired and went home. P.S. I didn't blog Monday night because I was studying from my marketing midterm. Day 61- Tuesday morning I made myself a hearty egg sandwich for breakfast; a rare occurrence in Spain. Instead of packing myself a lunch I just packed some carrots because I ate breakfast pretty late. My marketing midterm was pretty tricky but I think I did okay on it. By the time I got home I was pretty hungry so I decided to start cooking my dinner: Eggplant Pizzas. I know it sounds weird but it was really delicious! Essentially just replace the bread with an eggplant slice! After dinner, I went to my room and did homework until it was time to go to bed. Day 62- Wednesday consisted of the usual routine with class in the morning and at night. I spent most of the time in between class studying for my Spanish midterm that was on Thursday and packing for my trip to Barcelona with Matt. For lunch I whipped up some green beans with garlic and a salad. After 2 months of being veggie deprived, most of my meals are centered around veggies. I LOVE IT. For dinner, I made a poor women's version of Chicken Broccoli Alfredo because I didn't have heavy cream so instead just topped it with shredded cheese. Delicious! Of course, it was nothing like if I made it at home but with what I had I'd say I did a great job. While making my dinner, I decided to roast my zucchini, red pepper and eggplant for lunch when I got back home on Monday. (Also, that way they wouldn't get ruined.) I left the pan on top of the stove to cool while I worked on some homework. Ignacio came home and asked if I could teach him how to make the eggplant pizzas. I told him they were really easy to make and only took 1 hour from start to finish. He looked pretty disappointed and said, "Isn't food in the U.S. made much faster than that?" I explained that 40 mins out of the hour the dish was in the oven but in my house 1 hour to make dinner from start to finish (including cleaning) is really fast. It seems to me that they are more of Rachel Ray cooks than Chef Ramsay. I say that because almost all of their cooking methodology is to do things quicker. Example: They will microwave a potato to cook it instead of boiling it. I'm sure this probably has to do with the fact that electricity is more expensive here but still. Anyway, to each his own but I prefer Chef Ramsay. He asked if he could try the roasted veggies because they smelled good and of course I told him yes. As I was falling asleep in bed later that night I suddenly remembered I forgot to put away the veggies. I ran to the kitchen to discover they had already been put in the fridge and I also noticed only half of it was left. Well....I guess my cooking is just that good! :) |
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