I have put off this last post from my trip in Spain because it means that it is over. I have been back in the U.S. for about two weeks now and it feels like I was in Spain just yesterday.
The last day in Spain was so wonderful! We woke up a little before four and hiked up to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. We walked for about two hours by the light of the moon/ cell phones until we reached the top of the highest peak in Alcala. We could see lights for miles and enjoyed taking in the world before its inhabitants woke up. As the sun rose, it was the BEST feeling! It was so beautiful and I never wanted to leave the mountain. When we walked down the mountain we made a little breakfast stop for churros and coffee. That afternoon our mom came home and took Megan and I shopping at a nearby mall. It was so fun to spend time with her for our last day there. We had been looking for a flower shop our whole time there to get her flowers and at the mall we found a stand that sold them! She made a little bathroom stop and when she did we got her some flowers and hid them awkwardly in our bag. It was obvious we had them in our bag but we still wanted it to be a huge secret.
That night before we went out we gave our mom the flowers. If I could accurately describe how precious she was when she saw them I think I would get teary eyed. She kept saying "They're beautiful! Are they real?! Roberto come see!" It was so cute because we asked her if she had a vase to put them in and she did not know if she did. I think it was her first time to get real flowers:) She has the heart of gold and I miss her so much!
The rest of the night was spent dancing. We danced until four in the morning, until we were delirious. The next morning we woke up early to make the trek to the U.S. I'm back but I will never forget all that happened and all that I learned!!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
And it just keeps going
Germany had to be broken into multiple posts, because who wants to read a fifty page blog about someone else's life? Hopefully you do because here it goes:
The second day in Germany we tried to go on this tour known as the "Three Country Tour" (hence my post about 7 countries in 5 days). Well, unfortunately they were full and so we could not go. So instead, we went to the gorge! When the bus pulled up to the stop for the gorge we looked out and saw this huge ski jump and a building that said Olympiahaus. We immediately got excited and ran into the building saying "We found it and we did not even know we were looking for it!" (This quote sums up our Germany trip in a nutshell). After pretending like I was back in Memphis doing the ski jump on my friend's Wii Fit, we found out that this spot was the stadium for the 1936 and 1940 Olympics; it is also a candidate for the 2012 Olympics! To think that I could be watching the Olympics this winter and know that I have been there is an unreal experience. We took a trolley up to the top of the mountain and walked around in the beauty of the Alps. I should stop here to say reason #1 why I love Germany: the people. They are all active and many of the older men wear traditional dress. I have a picture of a man in his 70s who was hiking the mountain in overalls and carrying walking sticks. We found this little restaurant that overlooked the edge of the mountain and split a Schnitzel for lunch. It tasted like fried chicken so of course we all approved and felt more at home. Southern pride.
Once we reached the bottom of the mountain we hiked the gorge: a huge waterfall/ mountain region where you could almost touch the blue greens rapids as you walked along the dark corridor of the mountain. We scooped up water from the river and drank it straight from our hands (it was so fresh that some of us put the water in our water bottle for later). Once we reached the end of the gorge we began to hike up a mountain. We did not know where it lead so to be honest it was rather miserable. Until... and this is a big until... one girl from our group stopped in the middle of the path and said "Guys. Do you know what we are doing right now? Were HIKING IN THE ALPS!" Considering this was one thing we really wanted to do we laughed that we did not realize it sooner. Also, our mood completely changed and we ran up to the top!
Day Three: This day was funny because I truly felt like I was in a movie. It almost felt like the movie "Are we there yet?" because one thing after another happened. We wanted to go to this famous castle that Walt Disney based Cinderella's Castle off of. It takes all day so we reserved a good twelve hours of out time for it. Well....we missed the bus by five minutes. The castle is about three hours away so we waited for the next bus to come, but it did not. Since we cannot read German we read the schedule wrong and realised that the next bus did not come for another two hours...whoops. We decided that we still really wanted to go so we went into the Main Plaza to kill two hours. There I found this quaint tea shop. It smelled so good in there and the woman was so friendly, I considered asking if I could have a summer job there (joke...kind of). When we finally got on the bus we all sat together in the back...for about ten minutes. It was not long before our total of 7 hours sleep from the past two nights caught up with us and we fell asleep all over the bus. It was great until the bus driver had to come wake us up and told us to get off at a stop in the middle of nowhere to change buses. The middle of nowhere is not a phrase I use often, I just do not like the way it sounds, but there is no other way to describe it. We got off and saw a little stand selling drinks, two men on motorcylces, and a cat. The end. Thankfully German people are compassionate because we were a little stressed about what could happen right about now. But then the next bus came and took us to the Castle stop.
The Castle was quite an experience because when we got there the next tour was in two hours and we only has one and a half before our next bus came. Keep in mind that if we missed this bus we would miss our connecting bus and therefore sleep outside the cafe in the middle of nowhere, miss our plane, and be stuck in Germany for who knows how long. Not to mention the final exam was in two days. So with all of that stress and frustration to make us see the castle we decided to make the most of our time there. The woman at the ticket booth looked at us with disgust when we said we did not have time to for the tour; she was amazed that we would actually disgrace the place with our minimal presence. Deciding to skip the tour, we wanted to see the outside at least so we ran up the hill. What was supposed to take 30-40 minutes to hike according to the sign took us 7 minutes. Everyone laughed at us as we power walked passed the horse-drawn carridges but no pasa nada. When we finally made it to the top we went across this bridge that spanned a huge waterfall and looked out over the castle. The bridge was made of wood and there were so many people on it that you really couldn't move. I must admit tumbling to the ground below entered my mind multiple times. After getting all the pictures our memory cards could hold we literally ran back down the mountain to catch our bus. As we ran down we made up our own story of what was in the castle to tell everyone back home. In reality the castle has a room of solid gold and no single wondow or door is alike. According to our story: the kids' room has a slide because it is two stories and we slide down it into a pool of diamonds after we slept in the canopy bed of rubies...extravagant? too ridiculous? Maybe, but remember we were running on little sleep and adrenaline from our power walk. Our group split ways for a bit (some to the bus stop, others to the WC). The WC costs money by the way, that's one way to save water. When the people from the bathroom got to the bus stop, the bus was already loading and almost full. Knowing that we would miss our connecting stop and be stuck in Germany if we did not get on this bus, we ran up to the front and hopped on in front of everyone. You could say everyone hated us but we could not think about that at the time. Thankfully all went well and we ended up back in Garmisch (the town we were staying in). But, I must back up the story a bit to tell you reason # 4567 why I love Germany: the people (again). We were waiting to get in line at our changeover bus and there was a huge group of women in their 70s-90s. We let them get in front of us to board and they began rattling off in German and smiling really big. We just awkwardly smiled and laughed as if we had a clue what they were saying. Once the women were on the guy behind us (an American) said, "they said you were very nice girls"... thank you for the translation American Amigo! Also, our final stop of the night, an older woman came up to the stop and I asked if she wanted to sit in my seat so she would not have to stand. When I say asked I mean made grunting noises and pointed to my seat, but you get the idea. She began to talk quickly in German as I smiled and did not respond. She then said something along the lines of "Oh you do not speak German", when I told her I spoke English her whole face lit up. When she realized we were from the US she said in the little English she knows "you beautiful girls" and "My daughter. Florida. Ten years." She was the most precious woman I have ever met because she then began to try to talk to us and had the BIGGEST smile on her face. When she talked to us, she would lean in about 2 inches from our face to talk, such a cutie. Also, anytime there was silence, she would nod her head up and down with a big smile and squinty eyes. I love this woman and want to be her best friend, basically.
The rest of the trip was traveling back home. One thing I love about Europe is that you will meet people that have traveled from all over and they are all anxious to help others (we are all always confused so when someone does know what is going on, the unspoken rule is that they inform the rest). One man on the train was from the US and we helped each other get to the airport.
For all of you hopeless romantics out there, eat your heart out: On the bus was an old married couple that were backpacking. They sat in two different rows because their bags were so big but the man would keep turning around to wink at her or caress her face. They were probably in their 70s, maybe 80s. They were reason # 28273 why I love Germany. Lesson to learn, if you get the chance, PLEASE visit this country. Oh, and don't forget to take me with you.
The second day in Germany we tried to go on this tour known as the "Three Country Tour" (hence my post about 7 countries in 5 days). Well, unfortunately they were full and so we could not go. So instead, we went to the gorge! When the bus pulled up to the stop for the gorge we looked out and saw this huge ski jump and a building that said Olympiahaus. We immediately got excited and ran into the building saying "We found it and we did not even know we were looking for it!" (This quote sums up our Germany trip in a nutshell). After pretending like I was back in Memphis doing the ski jump on my friend's Wii Fit, we found out that this spot was the stadium for the 1936 and 1940 Olympics; it is also a candidate for the 2012 Olympics! To think that I could be watching the Olympics this winter and know that I have been there is an unreal experience. We took a trolley up to the top of the mountain and walked around in the beauty of the Alps. I should stop here to say reason #1 why I love Germany: the people. They are all active and many of the older men wear traditional dress. I have a picture of a man in his 70s who was hiking the mountain in overalls and carrying walking sticks. We found this little restaurant that overlooked the edge of the mountain and split a Schnitzel for lunch. It tasted like fried chicken so of course we all approved and felt more at home. Southern pride.
Once we reached the bottom of the mountain we hiked the gorge: a huge waterfall/ mountain region where you could almost touch the blue greens rapids as you walked along the dark corridor of the mountain. We scooped up water from the river and drank it straight from our hands (it was so fresh that some of us put the water in our water bottle for later). Once we reached the end of the gorge we began to hike up a mountain. We did not know where it lead so to be honest it was rather miserable. Until... and this is a big until... one girl from our group stopped in the middle of the path and said "Guys. Do you know what we are doing right now? Were HIKING IN THE ALPS!" Considering this was one thing we really wanted to do we laughed that we did not realize it sooner. Also, our mood completely changed and we ran up to the top!
Day Three: This day was funny because I truly felt like I was in a movie. It almost felt like the movie "Are we there yet?" because one thing after another happened. We wanted to go to this famous castle that Walt Disney based Cinderella's Castle off of. It takes all day so we reserved a good twelve hours of out time for it. Well....we missed the bus by five minutes. The castle is about three hours away so we waited for the next bus to come, but it did not. Since we cannot read German we read the schedule wrong and realised that the next bus did not come for another two hours...whoops. We decided that we still really wanted to go so we went into the Main Plaza to kill two hours. There I found this quaint tea shop. It smelled so good in there and the woman was so friendly, I considered asking if I could have a summer job there (joke...kind of). When we finally got on the bus we all sat together in the back...for about ten minutes. It was not long before our total of 7 hours sleep from the past two nights caught up with us and we fell asleep all over the bus. It was great until the bus driver had to come wake us up and told us to get off at a stop in the middle of nowhere to change buses. The middle of nowhere is not a phrase I use often, I just do not like the way it sounds, but there is no other way to describe it. We got off and saw a little stand selling drinks, two men on motorcylces, and a cat. The end. Thankfully German people are compassionate because we were a little stressed about what could happen right about now. But then the next bus came and took us to the Castle stop.
The Castle was quite an experience because when we got there the next tour was in two hours and we only has one and a half before our next bus came. Keep in mind that if we missed this bus we would miss our connecting bus and therefore sleep outside the cafe in the middle of nowhere, miss our plane, and be stuck in Germany for who knows how long. Not to mention the final exam was in two days. So with all of that stress and frustration to make us see the castle we decided to make the most of our time there. The woman at the ticket booth looked at us with disgust when we said we did not have time to for the tour; she was amazed that we would actually disgrace the place with our minimal presence. Deciding to skip the tour, we wanted to see the outside at least so we ran up the hill. What was supposed to take 30-40 minutes to hike according to the sign took us 7 minutes. Everyone laughed at us as we power walked passed the horse-drawn carridges but no pasa nada. When we finally made it to the top we went across this bridge that spanned a huge waterfall and looked out over the castle. The bridge was made of wood and there were so many people on it that you really couldn't move. I must admit tumbling to the ground below entered my mind multiple times. After getting all the pictures our memory cards could hold we literally ran back down the mountain to catch our bus. As we ran down we made up our own story of what was in the castle to tell everyone back home. In reality the castle has a room of solid gold and no single wondow or door is alike. According to our story: the kids' room has a slide because it is two stories and we slide down it into a pool of diamonds after we slept in the canopy bed of rubies...extravagant? too ridiculous? Maybe, but remember we were running on little sleep and adrenaline from our power walk. Our group split ways for a bit (some to the bus stop, others to the WC). The WC costs money by the way, that's one way to save water. When the people from the bathroom got to the bus stop, the bus was already loading and almost full. Knowing that we would miss our connecting stop and be stuck in Germany if we did not get on this bus, we ran up to the front and hopped on in front of everyone. You could say everyone hated us but we could not think about that at the time. Thankfully all went well and we ended up back in Garmisch (the town we were staying in). But, I must back up the story a bit to tell you reason # 4567 why I love Germany: the people (again). We were waiting to get in line at our changeover bus and there was a huge group of women in their 70s-90s. We let them get in front of us to board and they began rattling off in German and smiling really big. We just awkwardly smiled and laughed as if we had a clue what they were saying. Once the women were on the guy behind us (an American) said, "they said you were very nice girls"... thank you for the translation American Amigo! Also, our final stop of the night, an older woman came up to the stop and I asked if she wanted to sit in my seat so she would not have to stand. When I say asked I mean made grunting noises and pointed to my seat, but you get the idea. She began to talk quickly in German as I smiled and did not respond. She then said something along the lines of "Oh you do not speak German", when I told her I spoke English her whole face lit up. When she realized we were from the US she said in the little English she knows "you beautiful girls" and "My daughter. Florida. Ten years." She was the most precious woman I have ever met because she then began to try to talk to us and had the BIGGEST smile on her face. When she talked to us, she would lean in about 2 inches from our face to talk, such a cutie. Also, anytime there was silence, she would nod her head up and down with a big smile and squinty eyes. I love this woman and want to be her best friend, basically.
The rest of the trip was traveling back home. One thing I love about Europe is that you will meet people that have traveled from all over and they are all anxious to help others (we are all always confused so when someone does know what is going on, the unspoken rule is that they inform the rest). One man on the train was from the US and we helped each other get to the airport.
For all of you hopeless romantics out there, eat your heart out: On the bus was an old married couple that were backpacking. They sat in two different rows because their bags were so big but the man would keep turning around to wink at her or caress her face. They were probably in their 70s, maybe 80s. They were reason # 28273 why I love Germany. Lesson to learn, if you get the chance, PLEASE visit this country. Oh, and don't forget to take me with you.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Blue Eyes and Old People
The title says it all: basically, I love Germany in its entirety.
For the long weekend, four of us decided to take a trip to a different European country. One of the girls has a father who was in the Army and since there is a US army base in Munich, Germany we knew we would have a place to stay. What we did not know is that we would fall in love with the people country and its people. Funny thing about Germany is that pretty much EVERYTHING went wrong (Ill explain in a bit), but the magic of this country was that we were always so amazed with plan b that we could be seen smiling at (almost) all times.
When we booked our tickets we noticed that we had a 7 hour layover in Geneva, Switzerland. In our minds this was the most wonderful thing in the world, 7 hours to explore a country (from 12am- 6am...why this made sense in our minds I have no idea, but no pasa nada). When we arrived in Switzerland, they gave us swiss choloate as we walked off. I do not like chocolate, but decided "hey, when in rome...or geneva"....it was so wonderful! Since we were the last ones off the plane they pretty much crammed the remaining choloates (about 20 big sized ones) into our bags. We walked into the airport and realized, we cannot possibly do anything here tonight but why not ask anyways? Information desk workers awkwardly looked at us as we tried to find something to do (p.s. Switzerland has four national languages...English is kind of the fifth). We eventually realized that if we were in the US we would never assume exploring a city in the middle of the night was ridiculous (you could say we thought that anything is possible in Europe). After an extensive tour of the airports best sleep spots, we found a place in front of a watch shop in a secluded corner of the ground. Our backpacks served a dual purpose as pillows as we slept on the cold, hard tile. In total we probably got about one hour of sleep but we did not care, this is the magic of Europe (or the magic of college girls who have never traveled before, probably the latter). The next morning around 5 we got up, brushed our teeth and were ready for Germany!
The flight to Germany was wonderful, the prettiest sky, the nicest flight attendants ever (more free coca cola light? don't mind if I do). And then... it happened: I looked out the window and for miles was the greenest grass and cutest cottages (alliteration not intended). When we landed we went to Dachau (the oldest concentration camp from World War II). It was a truly humbling experience to walk where the prisoners walked and enter the buildings where they suffered. We saw a tour guide that spoke English so followed him around and he was so knowledgeable and respectful. It truly was a life changing and unforgettable experience. At the time it was raining and we were tired from little sleep so it definitely set the tone for the tour.
I feel as though this blog needs a short recess. Until tomorrow, hasta luego.
For the long weekend, four of us decided to take a trip to a different European country. One of the girls has a father who was in the Army and since there is a US army base in Munich, Germany we knew we would have a place to stay. What we did not know is that we would fall in love with the people country and its people. Funny thing about Germany is that pretty much EVERYTHING went wrong (Ill explain in a bit), but the magic of this country was that we were always so amazed with plan b that we could be seen smiling at (almost) all times.
When we booked our tickets we noticed that we had a 7 hour layover in Geneva, Switzerland. In our minds this was the most wonderful thing in the world, 7 hours to explore a country (from 12am- 6am...why this made sense in our minds I have no idea, but no pasa nada). When we arrived in Switzerland, they gave us swiss choloate as we walked off. I do not like chocolate, but decided "hey, when in rome...or geneva"....it was so wonderful! Since we were the last ones off the plane they pretty much crammed the remaining choloates (about 20 big sized ones) into our bags. We walked into the airport and realized, we cannot possibly do anything here tonight but why not ask anyways? Information desk workers awkwardly looked at us as we tried to find something to do (p.s. Switzerland has four national languages...English is kind of the fifth). We eventually realized that if we were in the US we would never assume exploring a city in the middle of the night was ridiculous (you could say we thought that anything is possible in Europe). After an extensive tour of the airports best sleep spots, we found a place in front of a watch shop in a secluded corner of the ground. Our backpacks served a dual purpose as pillows as we slept on the cold, hard tile. In total we probably got about one hour of sleep but we did not care, this is the magic of Europe (or the magic of college girls who have never traveled before, probably the latter). The next morning around 5 we got up, brushed our teeth and were ready for Germany!
The flight to Germany was wonderful, the prettiest sky, the nicest flight attendants ever (more free coca cola light? don't mind if I do). And then... it happened: I looked out the window and for miles was the greenest grass and cutest cottages (alliteration not intended). When we landed we went to Dachau (the oldest concentration camp from World War II). It was a truly humbling experience to walk where the prisoners walked and enter the buildings where they suffered. We saw a tour guide that spoke English so followed him around and he was so knowledgeable and respectful. It truly was a life changing and unforgettable experience. At the time it was raining and we were tired from little sleep so it definitely set the tone for the tour.
I feel as though this blog needs a short recess. Until tomorrow, hasta luego.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
To be continued...
Picking up where I left off last time, Barcelona was wonderful and the sites were beautiful! The feel was similar to that of NYC, in that it was a big city that could be a little too big for me at times but then wonderful two seconds later. Highlights of Barcelona: 1. there is this mountain that you can take a tram up to and look out over the entire city! You are so high up that if you sit a certain way on the wall you literally just see clouds. 2. the dancing (Ill explain this in a bit) 3. the fountain (it is a huge fountain with multi-colored ligths and music from the 90s.... gotta love the throw back to the "good ole days")
The dancing: In front of a cathedral there wasa small group of musicians playing a certain song. All of a sudden people came from the crowd and began dancing in a circle, same steps same hops same motions. It was the most amazing thing Ive ever seen. The idea that people of all ages would know this same dance, it transcended generations and just made my heart skip three beats! Since my days of high school dance team I have been OBSESSED with dancing of all kinds, so to see cute old woman who could barely walk holding hands in a circle and dancing from their childhood just truly amazed me.
Other news from Barcelona: I finally saw all the sites that I have studied about since high school. It was exciting to actually see them in person and not try to imagine what they were like from a little thumb nail in a McGraw-Hill textbook.
When I arrived home it was so refreshing to be back in Alcala. I missed my Spanish family and talking in Spanish. Barcelona is such a tourist city that as soon as the vendors realised I was American, they would talk in English (I cant believe I stand out that much...I mean just slap an I <3 NYC shirt on me and we would be set).
The next day I met up with Bethany (a girl from my high school that goes to BYU but is here in Alcala for the summer). Can you please sing "It's a small world after all" with me? Thank you. It was so wonderful to get to spend time with her and hear all about her experiences here and back home. It was like having a piece of home here in Spain.
We have made more trips back to the mountains and river, but here is the story I find most entertaining. Our Romanian friend, the stud, has been hanging out with us lately and he took us into some caves in the mountains. The first one was small and cold, it was so refreshing after being in the hot hot heat here. (Thank goodness for the fan in our room). We then walked up the mountain to another cave but...um well... it caved in. Ironic yes? By that point all desire to go caving left me, I mean I loved being cold but trapped in a cave, not really my thing. We decided to go back to the river, which on a hot day reminds me of the redneck yacht club. There were men washing their hair in the river and I saw quite a few "honky tonk badonk adonks". Ha, but in all honesty it was so cold that we loved getting covered in the muddy water and who knows what else.
Site to see: Toledo. It is a good day trip from where I am staying and is a beautiful town. They have hills and small streets that have sheets and lamps hung from the roofs to give you shade. I definitely quoted Pride and Prejudice a few times while I was there and pretended like I was living in the days of horse drawn chariots and such. We took a little rest stop in front of this church where a wedding was taking place. The groomsmen were wearing shiny grey tuxedos and the women had shiny dresses as well. When the bride came out she was so beautiful and happy that I do not think she was TOO bothered by the extensive number of tourists taking pictures of her.
Our second trip to Madrid was even better than the first! We saw the Prado Museum which was the coolest thing I have ever seen! Then we went back to our favorite place... THE PARK! This time we go a little lost and came upon a rose garden that has colors I didnt know existed. Can you say Secret Garden? For lunch we went to a Ham Museum. Before you start picturing carvings of President HAMilton and Porky Pig, it was basically a resturant with pig legs hanging from the ceiling, really yummy. We went to a bullfight at night. I was incredibly excited to go but if you take all my excitement and turn it in the opposite direction, that was how I felt when I left. I respect that it is a cultural tradition but many people in Spain do not support it, and with good reason. I was picturing Harry Potter against the dragon in the Wizard Cup but it was basically eight matadors hiding behind walls and occasionally popping out to confuse the bull. The bull gets stabbed a bunch of times before it slowly falls to its death. It is a slow process and even though I have grown up around hunting and hunt myself, I definitely consider it animal cruelty. My advice is not to go see it, there are six bulls so if you do not like it the first time, you get to wait around for five more slow and painful (to watch) deaths.
I always like to end on a light note, so consider this: I am about to commence project 7 countries in 5 days!!!
The dancing: In front of a cathedral there wasa small group of musicians playing a certain song. All of a sudden people came from the crowd and began dancing in a circle, same steps same hops same motions. It was the most amazing thing Ive ever seen. The idea that people of all ages would know this same dance, it transcended generations and just made my heart skip three beats! Since my days of high school dance team I have been OBSESSED with dancing of all kinds, so to see cute old woman who could barely walk holding hands in a circle and dancing from their childhood just truly amazed me.
Other news from Barcelona: I finally saw all the sites that I have studied about since high school. It was exciting to actually see them in person and not try to imagine what they were like from a little thumb nail in a McGraw-Hill textbook.
When I arrived home it was so refreshing to be back in Alcala. I missed my Spanish family and talking in Spanish. Barcelona is such a tourist city that as soon as the vendors realised I was American, they would talk in English (I cant believe I stand out that much...I mean just slap an I <3 NYC shirt on me and we would be set).
The next day I met up with Bethany (a girl from my high school that goes to BYU but is here in Alcala for the summer). Can you please sing "It's a small world after all" with me? Thank you. It was so wonderful to get to spend time with her and hear all about her experiences here and back home. It was like having a piece of home here in Spain.
We have made more trips back to the mountains and river, but here is the story I find most entertaining. Our Romanian friend, the stud, has been hanging out with us lately and he took us into some caves in the mountains. The first one was small and cold, it was so refreshing after being in the hot hot heat here. (Thank goodness for the fan in our room). We then walked up the mountain to another cave but...um well... it caved in. Ironic yes? By that point all desire to go caving left me, I mean I loved being cold but trapped in a cave, not really my thing. We decided to go back to the river, which on a hot day reminds me of the redneck yacht club. There were men washing their hair in the river and I saw quite a few "honky tonk badonk adonks". Ha, but in all honesty it was so cold that we loved getting covered in the muddy water and who knows what else.
Site to see: Toledo. It is a good day trip from where I am staying and is a beautiful town. They have hills and small streets that have sheets and lamps hung from the roofs to give you shade. I definitely quoted Pride and Prejudice a few times while I was there and pretended like I was living in the days of horse drawn chariots and such. We took a little rest stop in front of this church where a wedding was taking place. The groomsmen were wearing shiny grey tuxedos and the women had shiny dresses as well. When the bride came out she was so beautiful and happy that I do not think she was TOO bothered by the extensive number of tourists taking pictures of her.
Our second trip to Madrid was even better than the first! We saw the Prado Museum which was the coolest thing I have ever seen! Then we went back to our favorite place... THE PARK! This time we go a little lost and came upon a rose garden that has colors I didnt know existed. Can you say Secret Garden? For lunch we went to a Ham Museum. Before you start picturing carvings of President HAMilton and Porky Pig, it was basically a resturant with pig legs hanging from the ceiling, really yummy. We went to a bullfight at night. I was incredibly excited to go but if you take all my excitement and turn it in the opposite direction, that was how I felt when I left. I respect that it is a cultural tradition but many people in Spain do not support it, and with good reason. I was picturing Harry Potter against the dragon in the Wizard Cup but it was basically eight matadors hiding behind walls and occasionally popping out to confuse the bull. The bull gets stabbed a bunch of times before it slowly falls to its death. It is a slow process and even though I have grown up around hunting and hunt myself, I definitely consider it animal cruelty. My advice is not to go see it, there are six bulls so if you do not like it the first time, you get to wait around for five more slow and painful (to watch) deaths.
I always like to end on a light note, so consider this: I am about to commence project 7 countries in 5 days!!!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
When in Spain
Roses are red, violets are blue, if you don't watch your step, you'll step in dog poo. Classy? yes. When we first arrived in Barcelona, the aroma of ammonia filled the air as we walked into the place we were staying. If there was one thing about Spain that I never expected, it would be the dogs. Most are abnormally large, wonderful for those days you miss siesta time because you can just ride the dog around like a horse (joke). I think I was most shocked by the lack of a leash law. Owners will be walking a few hundred yards away from their pet and the dog WILL follow them. It is like nothing I have ever seen, if dogs were that well trained in the US, I doubt I ever would have gone through that awkward"terrified of dogs stage". That being said, there is also an exorbent amount of "surprises" on the sidewalks.
When we first arrived in Barcelona for the weekend it was around 12 am. Perfect time to go explore the city without a map, right? Ha, well after about three hours of wandering around in search of the place we were staying I quickly learned two things: the night life in Barcelona is pullin' an all-nighter (we had plenty of people to ask for directions even at 3 in the morning, and when we did get home, the club near us had a line out the door at 4 am) and I learned that the right pair of shoes is the difference between walking can be fun and pulling a move from the movie SAW and cutting off your feet.
The next morning we woke up and went to this outdoor market. It reminded me of a scene from a movie where the hero runs from tent to tent in order to escape the bad guy. There was beautiful jewelry next to dirt covered VHS copies of Snow White, ironic yet WONDERFUL. Since I was thinking when I packed for the weekend trip that "backpacking" meant literally wearing your backpack at all times, I had not packed a purse. So 2 euros later, I put my little wallet in this bright yellow gaudy purse (it's actually pretty cute but you get the idea). The one thing I loved so much about the market were the books. There was one tent that had mounds of books and was continually bringing in more as we looked around. I instantly found the one thing I wanted from Spain (an antique Bible in Spanish). I cannot begin to explain how excited I was to hold this whole new way of looking at the Word.
After the market, we went to La Sagrada Familia, a beautiful church. The detail in the architecture was so intricate that you could spend your whole life looking at it and find something new. One thing I liked about this building was that it is continually being worked on and has not been finished. In the words of Meg Ryan from You've Got Mail "It's a tribute to the city, the way it is constantly changing" and getting more beautiful.
I hate to stop this blog post right in the middle of my story, but my roommate's computer needs battery fast. I was told not to bring your computer to Spain but as much as I use hers I wish I had. Consider this as one of those newspaper stories, like Dandelion Wine, you get a little each week. In the next post I will tell you more about Barcelona, seeing Bethany Dorius (high school friend) in Alcala...can you sing It's a Small World with me?.... and the bullfight I'm going to tomorrow morning (if tickets do not run out...fingers triple crossed).
That's all for now! Except this, K Norris, you were right; the other day a woman sat next to me on the bench when she could have sat somewhere else. Very sweet!
When we first arrived in Barcelona for the weekend it was around 12 am. Perfect time to go explore the city without a map, right? Ha, well after about three hours of wandering around in search of the place we were staying I quickly learned two things: the night life in Barcelona is pullin' an all-nighter (we had plenty of people to ask for directions even at 3 in the morning, and when we did get home, the club near us had a line out the door at 4 am) and I learned that the right pair of shoes is the difference between walking can be fun and pulling a move from the movie SAW and cutting off your feet.
The next morning we woke up and went to this outdoor market. It reminded me of a scene from a movie where the hero runs from tent to tent in order to escape the bad guy. There was beautiful jewelry next to dirt covered VHS copies of Snow White, ironic yet WONDERFUL. Since I was thinking when I packed for the weekend trip that "backpacking" meant literally wearing your backpack at all times, I had not packed a purse. So 2 euros later, I put my little wallet in this bright yellow gaudy purse (it's actually pretty cute but you get the idea). The one thing I loved so much about the market were the books. There was one tent that had mounds of books and was continually bringing in more as we looked around. I instantly found the one thing I wanted from Spain (an antique Bible in Spanish). I cannot begin to explain how excited I was to hold this whole new way of looking at the Word.
After the market, we went to La Sagrada Familia, a beautiful church. The detail in the architecture was so intricate that you could spend your whole life looking at it and find something new. One thing I liked about this building was that it is continually being worked on and has not been finished. In the words of Meg Ryan from You've Got Mail "It's a tribute to the city, the way it is constantly changing" and getting more beautiful.
I hate to stop this blog post right in the middle of my story, but my roommate's computer needs battery fast. I was told not to bring your computer to Spain but as much as I use hers I wish I had. Consider this as one of those newspaper stories, like Dandelion Wine, you get a little each week. In the next post I will tell you more about Barcelona, seeing Bethany Dorius (high school friend) in Alcala...can you sing It's a Small World with me?.... and the bullfight I'm going to tomorrow morning (if tickets do not run out...fingers triple crossed).
That's all for now! Except this, K Norris, you were right; the other day a woman sat next to me on the bench when she could have sat somewhere else. Very sweet!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Muy bueno
"I had the best day with you today." Shout out to Taylor Swift for this quote that describes the past two days here. Honestly I would have come to Spain just to experience the past two days.
First of all, I love my Spain Mom. She has such a carefree attitude and her favorite expression (and now mine and Megan's) is "no pasa nada"... direct translation doesn't really make sense but it basically means don't stress, it's no big deal, I do not care...kind of all wrapped into this phrase of relief whenever my roommate and I say "lo siento" (Im sorry), which we tend to do a lot. My favorite time of day is around 9 p.m. because we get to have dinner with Mama and Roberto and talk about our day and learn more about each other's lives. This is the only time we see her all day because she goes to work early and is taking a siesta when we get home from school. Mama is hilarious! Always talking about the cute boys and how if we want to stay out all night no pasa nada. It's the antithesis of life in the States so we are still getting used to this care free attitude. In class today, my teacher said that Americans live to work but in Spain they work to live. It really is something that I am not used to but it is really relaxing. Never before have I felt that if I did not take a nap I would be judged, at school it is the other way around. Anyways, all this to say, Mama is teaching us to cook. Last night we made pizza from scratch (crust and everything) and then we had coca cola light (diet coke) as a treat for making our own dinner. It was a great experience because she really wanted us to learn and enjoy every aspect of life like they do here.
Also, my class in school is wonderful! It is full of people from all over the world: Australia, China, Germany, and the U.S. The other day we had a partener exercise where we learned about someone else in our class. I was paired with a girl from China. The only thing we have in common is that we know Spanish and so it was so neat to see how a language can unite people. She is adorable (her Spanish name is Juana) and she covers her mouth everytime she laughs and it just makes you want to take a picture and give it to someone having a bad day.
When Megan and I were in the Plaza yesterday we were talking in English. I kept noticing out of the corner of my eye a man in his thirties that was staring at us and wearing sunglasses. First thought: this is bad news bears, we are in a foreign country and he wants to rob us or something. Second thought:...well I did not have time for that one because next thing I knew he walked up to us and said "Hello. May I practice my English with you." We spent the next hour talking about his passion for theater and how our trip has been going so far. It was so precious, my heart stills skips a beat everytime I think about it (ha, lesson to learn from this: I'm ridicuous). Now we have decided that we will try to meet up with him a few times a week to practice our second languages. I heart Daniel the Spanish actor.
Also yesterday (busy day), a group of us went into the mountains and hiked! When we got to the top we could see for miles... all the way to Madrid! It was beautiful. Also at the top was our new Romanian friend, who, for lack of a better word is a stud. He told us that he runs down the mountain all the time. (Background info: This mountain is VERY steep, we crab walked down this mountain that he runs..silly Americans). I did not know much about this mountain before we hiked it and so wore chacos. Big mistake because they kept slipping off my feet and so I climbed up and down the mountain barefoot. (Mom, tell Carson that I worked out the natural arch of my foot, he should be proud. Long live the debate about Five Finger shoes.) At the bottom of this mountain, we had to cross a river that had a small waterfall type embankment. It was hilarious to watch everyone almost fall in the water until it was your turn to go, because then the joke was on you. But, no pasa nada, it was freezing and served as an ice bath for our tired feet. Perfecto.
One quick tip: if you study abroad to Spain, get a roommate. Megan and I have gotten to be good friends so quickly because we rely on each other and talk all night about Spain and back home.
After this long Positive Polly blog I should probably mention the two negative things about Spain: their milk is warm and chunky (not a fan) and they are not friendly in the streets. A life growing up in the South has taught me that you always smile and wave at people you do not know in the streets. And when you are in the store, the main purpose is not your shopping list but to make new friends. Here people look at me as though I am from another country when I wave *ironic*.
Interesting fact about Spain: they are very family oriented. Children go to school in the same place they grew up. The idea of going to University away from home is unknown to them. Mama was very surprised when I said that Mississippi State is three hours away from my house because in her culture I should be living with my family while attending school and not moving out until I have a family of my own and can buy an apartment.
"That's all folks."
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Vale
Hello from Spain!
I cannot believe I have already been here for half a week, loco. It has been such an adventure from the beginning and I must say that I love everything about Spain.
I live in an apartment with a sweet woman and her twelve year old son and with my roommate Megan. So great! Mama is the kind of woman you would expect to see in TV shows because she is sweet, loves to talk about how perfect Spain is, and LOVES to talk about boys. Every night she tells us "to go out and meet cute boys, because Spain has the cutest boys...the boys in the south are the cutest, but also the north, well basically everywhere". Sometimes we make up stories about our nights out just so she will smile real big and get excited!
Living here has definitely been a humbling experience because the people here are very conservative, if they don't need it, they don't have it. It's very different from the United States in that regard and shows me how much we have that we don't even realize. Megan and I are really fortunate because we have a fan in our room, there is no air conditioning. Also, the hours are so different. I will see little kids and strollers walking the streets at midnight or later. The funny thing is that I do not really see it as strange because a night owl such as myself wants people to stay up with them when they aren't tired at night, now I have a whole city to join me:)
This weekend a group of us went to Madrid and it was "everything you want and more". Ha, but in all honesty it was a great trip. We saw the Palacio Real and went to different parks. At one park, a few of us went exploring while the others took a siesta and we found this gorgeous park with the prettiest trees and flowers and hidden ponds. We pretended like it was our own secret garden and of course skipped to the broccoli looking trees. After something that beautiful we just knew that the Botanic Garden would be even better! Sadly a let down. There must have been a drought and the entrance guard overcharged me (silly american). Perhaps I am just stingy and prefer a secret garden gratis.
Esto es solo un poco. I am at a loss for words now because my brain is in Spanish mode so sorry if this is jumbled and full of Spanglish (Adam Sandler would be proud).
I will leave you with two things: As much as Americans say "ok", Spanish speakers say "vale". Do you understand? Vale. And, it is impossible to disguise yourself as a foreigner... I have tried many different ways but they just know...speaking English in the streets doesn't help though, ha.
Adios amigos, it's naptime.
I cannot believe I have already been here for half a week, loco. It has been such an adventure from the beginning and I must say that I love everything about Spain.
I live in an apartment with a sweet woman and her twelve year old son and with my roommate Megan. So great! Mama is the kind of woman you would expect to see in TV shows because she is sweet, loves to talk about how perfect Spain is, and LOVES to talk about boys. Every night she tells us "to go out and meet cute boys, because Spain has the cutest boys...the boys in the south are the cutest, but also the north, well basically everywhere". Sometimes we make up stories about our nights out just so she will smile real big and get excited!
Living here has definitely been a humbling experience because the people here are very conservative, if they don't need it, they don't have it. It's very different from the United States in that regard and shows me how much we have that we don't even realize. Megan and I are really fortunate because we have a fan in our room, there is no air conditioning. Also, the hours are so different. I will see little kids and strollers walking the streets at midnight or later. The funny thing is that I do not really see it as strange because a night owl such as myself wants people to stay up with them when they aren't tired at night, now I have a whole city to join me:)
This weekend a group of us went to Madrid and it was "everything you want and more". Ha, but in all honesty it was a great trip. We saw the Palacio Real and went to different parks. At one park, a few of us went exploring while the others took a siesta and we found this gorgeous park with the prettiest trees and flowers and hidden ponds. We pretended like it was our own secret garden and of course skipped to the broccoli looking trees. After something that beautiful we just knew that the Botanic Garden would be even better! Sadly a let down. There must have been a drought and the entrance guard overcharged me (silly american). Perhaps I am just stingy and prefer a secret garden gratis.
Esto es solo un poco. I am at a loss for words now because my brain is in Spanish mode so sorry if this is jumbled and full of Spanglish (Adam Sandler would be proud).
I will leave you with two things: As much as Americans say "ok", Spanish speakers say "vale". Do you understand? Vale. And, it is impossible to disguise yourself as a foreigner... I have tried many different ways but they just know...speaking English in the streets doesn't help though, ha.
Adios amigos, it's naptime.
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