first week of classes!

On Monday morning (Feb 7), I woke up around 10:30, since I didn’t have class until 1 in the afternoon. I love having only on class on MW at 1! It’s like having an extra day of the weekend! My teacher is so nice and very funny. We spent most of the class going over the syllabus and then we played a guessing game based on appearances. After class, I had lunch. And I skyped my mom and later Cory. It was so relaxing.

Sadly, Tuesdays aren’t that much fun. I had 4 classes. The first one was at 8:30am.  Kristin and I were walking to class and someone threw glass at up from a window. It wasn’t the greatest start to the day. I had three classes in a row (8:30- Grammar, 10:00- Civilization and Culture, and 11:30- Literature). And they are all in Spanish, but it’s only the Literature class that is hard to understand. Then at 1, I went on the computers at school, since I had to wait for Kristin (she’s done at 2:30). Then we went home for a quick lunch. We only had 30 minutes. Then I had my History of Spain class at 4. After our last class, Kristin and I started to plan our Semana Santa (Easter Break) trip. Our trip to Morocco also got cancelled since it is so dangerous there.

Class on Wednesday wasn’t too interesting. We learned about holidays (they were very strange, like throwing tomatoes at people). But at least it was only one class! I wrote my speech for Corli’s wedding. And I skpyed my mom. It was a pretty boring day.  

Thursday classes were also long and boring. But once I finished it was the start of my (busy) weekend. On the bright side, I learned how to finally open the door to our apartment. Kristin and I booked our Semana Santa flight to Zurich and our hotel.  Sarah left to go on her 10day vacation to Amsterdam, Prague, and Dublin. Then senora told us we were going to have 2 15-year old boys from Italy staying with us for a week starting Sunday.

On Friday, the CEA took us to Ronda, one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Spain. We had to meet everyone at the CEA at 8 to walk to the buses. We left Granada around 8:30. Kristin and I talked until we made a 30 minute stop in some random town halfway there. We slept for the next half of the ride. And got to Ronda at 12. And all we were able to see when we stepped off the bus were mountains. Our tour guide, Armando, took us all around. We saw a bridge, museums, mountains, and so much more. He told us that Ronda, 200 years ago, was the city where all of the rich people in Spain had summer homes. If I were alive 200 years ago, maybe I would’ve met my plastic surgeon. We ate our bocadillos that senora made us in a little gazebo that overlooked the mountains. Then we went shopping for a little bit. Ronda had lots of rebajas too, so I bought boots (which I needed after my boots broke in Italy) and a scarf. We went back to the gazebo and tried to tan since it was such a gorgeous day. We got back on the bus around 5:30 and got back around 8. We ate some dinner and watched Tangled on ch131.com.

Italy !!!

So I know I am extremely late updating this, but honestly I had no idea where to even start. But now I have a 4-day weekend to figure this out. Yay! I love long weekends.

I last left off the night before our Italy trip. So that Monday, I woke up around 6:30 to start getting ready. The night before, our senora made us bocadillas (Spanish sandwiches) and we made ourselves peanut butter sandwiches. I packed all my last-minute stuff (the sandwiches, my hair straightner, and some other random stuff). Kristin and I met Angie at the Correos at 8:15 to take a city bus to the bus station. We got on our 3 hour bus to Seville, and I was able to sleep. Then we ate lunch at a park near the bus stop. And took another bus to the airport. But we got to the airport at 3, and our flight didn’t leave until 7. Our flight was actually on time (which is amazing considering the last plane we took ended up being over 2 hours delayed. When Angie booked our tickets with RyanAir, she got us priority seating. Since RyanAir doesn’t have assigned seats, we got to pick wherever we wanted as soon as we got on the plane. And priority seating got us on the plane first. So we got right up front. The Italians on our flight were very entertaining. They sang when the plane took off and when it landed (ps we landed in Rome over half an hour early, so I officially love RyanAir). We took a bus that literally dropped us off right by the hostel. Our room had 6 beds, and the theme is orange and green (even the plants were orange and green).  It was close to 11 by that time, and we were all exhausted from traveling for the whole day.

On Tuesday, I woke up around 7. One thing I hate about the doors in Italy (really just the hostel doors though) is that they are hard to unlock. So I was locked in the hostel’s bathroom for about 10 minutes. The hostel gave us breakfast tickets at a café next door. We each got a cappuccino and a croissant. We were actually is Ciampino (which is like a suburb of Rome), so we had to take a train to Rome and the Metra to the Colosseum. The Colosseum was amazing! It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! It was so amazing to see it after hearing about it in school forever. Luckily, there was like nobody there so we didn’t have to wait in line for tickets and taking pictures were no problem.  We then were going to the Synagogue, but it was a little difficult finding it. But there were many nice people who helped us. It was beautiful, and I learned a lot. But I wasn’t allowed to take pictures. Then we went to the Pantheon. It wasn’t much of anything, kinda disappointing. The Trevi Fountain was next. I threw in 6 coins (one coin means a return to Rome, 2 is finding love, and 3 is getting married). So hopefully, I get all 3! We got lunch next at a restaurant right next to the Trevi. I got margherita pizza and chocolate gelato. Then we saw the Spanish Steps. The Steps weren’t that great, but when you kept climbing up higher, there was a pretty view. Sadly, it was only 2:15, and that’s all we had planned for the day. So we just randomly walked around Rome. We went to lots of plazas. Then we went back to the Trevi Fountain since we wanted to see it lit up. Then we went back to our hostel. We went to a nearby restaurant. I had ravioli and wine. Then we came back and slept.

The next morning I woke up feeling kinda sick. But after drinking a bottle of water, I felt a little better. We took the train and Metra again and arrived at Vatican City. All the buildings were pretty, but since I’m not Catholic, it didn’t mean much to me. We went to St. Peter’s Square, the Basilica, Vatican Grotto, Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. Then Angie wanted to go to the gift shop, and it was there that I realized both soles of my shoes were falling off. And my feet were killing me. So, it wasn’t easy walking around the rest of city. But we got to the main train station, and got out rail passes authorized, and hopped on our plane to Florence. The hostel was okay. In some ways it was nicer than the one in Rome and in some ways it was worse. We got dinner at a nearby café.

Thursday, my feet were still really hurting and I felt even sicker. We started off the day going the same café that we had dinner at the night before. Then we somehow went to the wrong museum (we were trying to get the David of Michelangelo statue). We got to the right museum, and the statue was amazing. There were so many details (veins, wrinkles, and dirt). Then we went to the duomo (another church). On our way to Ponte Veccio (the bridge), we looked at some shops (I really needed new shoes), but everything was too expensive. The bridge was really pretty. The view was amazing with the river and mountains. We went to a pharmacy, and I bought medicine and band aids. Luckily, they both helped, but the medicine made me really drowsy. Which was bad, since we were going to the Piazza Michelangelo (it’s like a 50 minute walk up this huge hill, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open). I wish I wasn’t knocked out, since the view was absolutely breathtaking. Then we walked back down and took our next train to Verona. It took 3 trains to get there. Our first stop was so quick that we needed to run to get on the train. And the second stop was confusing (we need to be at Terminal 3 west, and there was a 3 West, 3 East, and 3 Central. And no signs. We ran to that one too. We made it to Verona and ate McDonald;s at the train station. The hostel (actually a bed and breakfast) gave me no directions except for being near the Arena. So we asked so many people and no one heard of it or the street it was on. Luckily, one nice guy GPS’d it for us. And we found it. We were all so mad about it and were ready to rate it low. But the second we walked in, a dog greeted us. And the owner was very nice and funny (and Angie’s new hubbie). He told us all about Verona and where to go. And to buy Verona passes (so we could save money). We watched the Cosby Show and were excited since we knew Verona would be more relaxed and we could sleep in.

The first place we went to in Verona was the Arena. It’s like a mini Colosseum. It was really cool. They have concerts there. And of course, we had to write ADPi in the sand. Then we went to Juliet’s Tomb (p.s. Romeo and Juliet are real people [as are their families] but the story isn’t real [they were never in love and Romeo is actually from Vencienzo]). It wasn’t really what I imagined, but it was interesting to see. Then we went to the place I was most excited to see in Verona: Juliet’s house. After all, I loved Letters to Juliet and some scenes were filmed there. But it was definitely different than the movie. There was graffiti all over the walls and no one was putting their letters in the wall like the movie. But I saw the balcony right away. We went inside and went into lots of different rooms. The rooms were supposed to look like the older Romeo and Juliet movie (and I wish I watched it when my mom rented it from the library, then I would’ve appreciated it more). But it was still really cool. And there was a computer room to write letters (actually emails) and learn about Romeo and Juliet. We went to the gift store, and I bought gifts for my parents and Cory & Carli. We tried to find Romeo’s house, but we never found it. Maybe it’s because Romeo isn’t from Verona, therefore there wouldn’t be a house. But it was on the map. Honestly, none of cared too much about it though. Lastly, we went to the amphitheater/ museum. On the top, there was a balcony and we overlooked all of Verona. And we took pictures near the river (every city in Italy has pretty rivers). Then we went to the train station to get our tickets for the train to Venice for the next day. I was a little sick and didn’t feel like going out for dinner, so we got food from a grocery store (which was a good plan since it saved a lot of money). And we watched the end of Glee and Secret Life. Then House was on. And it was in English! And after House was 2 episodes of Grey’s. Also English!! I was so excited to watch Grey’s.

We woke up early Saturday to leave for the train station. Our train left at 9:15. When we arrived in Venice, it was cold and cloudy. The first thing we did was take a gondola ride. It was so cool and the water was so pretty. It’s weird, because nobody has cars in Venice (we legit saw police and ambulance gondolas). Then we went to the Rialto Bridge. It was really pretty. And San Marco Pier, it was huge and we were hungry and everything near the Pier was expensive. But we ran into three girls from ISU. So we stopped and talked with them for a while. Then we finally found a place for lunch. And the sun finally came out, so we got some gelato and stood on the bridge. The view was gorgeous (the sun hot the water at the right angle). Then we took a 5:27 train to Rome. We played MASH on the train. We got to our hostel (the same one from Monday and Tuesday) around 9:45. We went on the Internet to see our schedules (MW is one class from 1-2:30 and TR is 4 classes [8:30-1 and 4-5:30]).

Sunday we checked out of the hostel at 10, which we were not happy about, because we all planned on sleeping in until 11:30, since we didn’t have to get on a bus to the airport until 1. But we couldn’t, so we ended up walking randomly around Ciampino, before we went to the bus stop. It took us to the airport. And the line for check-in and security were super long, but we got through pretty quick. We got first row on the airplane, so we had lots of legroom. Kristin and I watched The Office and NCIS on her iPod. The flight took a little over 2 hours. We took a bus back to Granada (luckily we made the 8pm bus). And we took a taxi to our apartment. We got home around 11:15. I Skyped home for a while and unpacked. And I uploaded my pictures to Facebook, and got ready to start classes.

And that was my amazing trip to Italy. I loved every part of it!!! I hope I get another chance to go back. But if I don’t, I’m glad to have all of these memories. Thanks Mom and Dad for giving me this opportunity.

During the day on Sunday, I just stayed in. It was super cold outside (it even snowed a little)! Around 9, Kristin and I left to meet up with a bunch of other Chicago people to watch the Bear/Packer game. We were all supposed to meet at Hannigan and Sons, but Kristin and I went to the wrong bar. We finally made it to the right bar around 9:40. It was very upsetting when we lost, and I think there were a lot of Packer fans too, so there were lots of mixed emotions. We went to Kabob King (which is more like a pita sandiwch and some sauce than a kabob). It was really good (I think its the DP Dough of Granada). We got back around 1am.

On Monday, 2 of our senoras sisters came. They ate lunch with us, made us dinner, and spent the night here. The CEA took us to Carmen de Los Martines (which is a garden). It was really pretty. There were also lots of peacocks (... and cats). Kristin and I bought peanut butter (it was super exciting to finally find it). Right after, I skyped with my mom and Lauren. And Jenn. And later Jackie (who brought her computer to the ADPi house, so we were able to skype with Brittany, Eryn, and Kristie.

In class, on Wednesday, we watched a musical. It wasn't very good, but that's what made it funny. I spent a while skyping Katelyn, Meagan, and Corrine. On Thursday, I bought my Taylor Swift concert tickets for Madrid. I'm really excited for that. We also printed out our boarding passes for ITALIA!! After class, Kristin and I went for frozen yogurt. It was delicious! Then we came back, and I skyped with mom and Unce Al. Afterwards, we went SHOPPING!!! Every store has rebajas, which are REALLY REALLY REALLY big sales. I bought gym shoes (for hiking which we planned to do Saturday, but  rained so its postpones until February). And a cardigan, t-shirt, and shirt. Then we got dinner at Kabob King (I think the workers there thought we were hilarious). Then I studied for my final for the next day.

I was EXTREMELY relieved to take my final for the intensive class. It seriously was the worst class ever (after economics... and american diversity). I actually did really well on it. Our Taylor Swift tickets came (Spain has super speedy delivery). Then I made a list of things to pack for Italy and started planning a little bit of our Easter break. Our senoras niece came and made us hamburgers and french fries.

On Saturday, we woke up around 11:30 (which is seriously the earliest we have ever woken up on a Saturday) and went to the bank. We also went shopping to buy a last few minute things for Italy (conditioner, Special K bars, travel-sized bottles, and a small purse). We stayed in and watched lots of I Love Lucy on youtube. Senoras niece made us pizza for dinner (its been nice to have kinda-American food).

Today, Kristim, Sarah, Angie, and I went to mass at the Cathedral. It was really pretty, but we thought it started at 1 and it started at 12:30, but we might have been in the wrong room.  It was really pretty. Then we bought a lion gift for the ADPi house and postcards. And we went to Dunkin Coffee (I think its a branch of Dunkin Donuts). We each got coffee and a donut. Kristin and I are packing for Italy, and now were meeting Angie for frozen yogurt.

 

This time, tomorrow, I will be on a plane to Italy!!!!!

Week 2

On Tuesday, we had an academic meeting after class (which was probably the most boring class yet). We talked about the classes we were taking in February. Luckily, I am taking all the classes I needed (Written and Oral Production, Grammar, Spanish LIterature, History of Spain, and Latin American Civilization and Culture). After the meeting, Kristin, Anna, Melissa, Karina, and I went to Haagen Dazs for icecream. It was REALLY good (I had choc choc chip).It was so weird to be sitting outside in the middle of January eating icecream and NOT freezing.

Wednesday was the 1/10 of the way done mark! Kristin woke up with a fever, so she didn't go to class. It was the first time I had to walk anywhere by myself, so it was kinda weird. The school is kinda in a shady part of the city (kinda like abandoned alleys). After class, I Skyped with mom for an hour, which was really nice (her laugh is really comforting). We didn't really do much that day. We watched the Office for a few hours.

On Thursday, we had a tour of Albayzin, which is like the Arab quarters of Granada. I think we were all told we were going to get Arab tea there, so everyone was really excited, because it was cold out (Albayzin is really high up, so its way colder than the rest of Granada). The walk up was soooo tiring. We had to up tons of cobblestone steps. It seemed like the amount of steps were never ending, but when we finally made it to the top, we were met with the most gorgeous view.

                                                                        (the view at night)

Afterwards, Kristin, Angie, and I went to get tapas with 5 other people from the CEA. If you order a drink, you get free tapas. I ordered a Tinto De Verano (it's like a Sangria, but its red wine, sprite, and an orange). It was a lot of fun, and there was this dog that stayed by our table the entire time.





Then we went to the grocery store. I think the one thing that we both REALLY REALLY REALLY want is peanut butter, and I'm pretty sure they don't sell it here. But they do sell Special K bars, but not the same type or flavors like they do in the US, but its still good I guess. Maybe my mom will send me some Special K Strawberry Fruit Crisps =]

On Friday, class went by super fast, which was really exciting!!! Kristin, Angie, and I met up to schedule everything we want to do while were in Italy. We did this in a restaurant where we ate churros con chocolate. Then we went shopping, and I bought a headband, 3 rings (they all came together), and a necklace. Our senora wasn't home for dinner, so Kristin and I got dinner at Sancho, a cafe restaurant right next to our apartment. Then we met up with Sarah and her friends and went to the discoteca. It was soooo much fun! I had vodka and fanta. We stayed there until 3:30 and then we found a sandwich place in the mall, which is like the Jimmy Johns of Granada (we all LOVED it!!!) We go home a little after 4. It was a fun night!

Today was a more relaxing day. I went to bed around 5 am last night, and Kristin and I woke up at 11 to go to the bank to use the ATM. I had trouble with my debit card, but I finally got my money. Then we got back around 12, and we went to sleep again (we only got like 6 hours of sleep). I planned on waking up at 2, but in reality, it was 3:50 when we woke up. Then I skyped with my parents. It's basically been a very relaxing day. I think we're staying in tonight and just watching TV.

12 days!

It's so weird to think that I've been gone for 12 days now! This week basically was only school. We are in class for four hours a day (for me it's from 10-2) for 5 days a week. Luckily, it's only for 3 weeks, and I'm already a week done. Yay!!! So I finally made my first purchase in Spain. I bought boots (because I'm an idiot and wore new shoes around the city so I'm in need of comfy shoes) and a new bracelet.

            

On Friday, Kristin, Angie, and I decided that all we wanted was American food. So we went to Burger King. It cost about 10 US dollars, but it was definitely worth it.

 Friday night we went to a bar and a discoteca. The bar was so crowded, I think there was just really little space to stand. We had a round of some type of shot, and Kristin and I both had mojitos. They were really good. It was SOOOO exciting to have my first LEGAL drink.

Then we went to the discoteca around 1:30. In Spain, the clubs don't open until 1am, and when we got there, it was pretty empty. More people showed up around 3:00. The discoteca was called Mae West and was in the mall. It cost 10 euros to get in, but you get 2 free drinks. They put a lot of alcohol in their drinks here. But I couldn't taste it, so I had 3 there. We left around 4am, which is really early in Spain.

On Saturday, Kristin and I slept in until 1. When we woke up, our other student, Sarah, was already here. She goes to UofI. The three of us walked around the shops here. Then Kristin and I met Angie and Anna at the movie theater (also in the mall near the discoteca) to see La Turista (The Tourist). It's a good thing Kristin had already seen it in English and was able to explain it to me before we got there. It was good, even though I could barely understand half of it. They have lots of movies there. Like all American movies in Spanish. They have Tangled (which we totally need to see), Little Fockers, Love and Other Drugs, and so much more. 

Sunday, Angie, Kristin, and I went to Church. We also went to a little cafe.

It was really cute. I felt very European. Then we just hung around the apartment for the rest of the day.

Today, we had school again. Which wasn't fun, since I knew that everyone in the US didn't have school since its MLK day. After class, we planned some more weekend trips, and found an awesome deal for the Sound of Music tour in Austria. Not much has happened since.

Finally Made It!

So I wished I could've written in here when I first arrived or some other time in this past week. But we didn't have internet. I think we got it figured out now though =]
So starting on Wednesday, my parents and I got to the airport around 11:00 and saw Angie right away and Kristin a little later. It was really hard saying goodbye to my mom and dad. We left them at the security checkpoint, but I forgot to give my mom my phone and had to go back over to them. Security was very easy, and the three of us got lunch. Our plane ended up being 3 hours delayed. Kristin and I sat next to each other and Angie was a few rows behind us. I wasn't able to sleep, but we watched the Office and I played Sudoku. We arrived in Frankfurt around 8:45am and we had missed our connecting flight to Madrid. We had to go through security again, but my money belt went off and I had to get patted down. It was kinda scary. We met 2 other girls from ISU that were going to Granada and we all had seats near each other. I slept for the 2 hour plane ride. Then we had to leave the Madrid Airport and find the train station which was a little difficult. We took 2 trains just to get to the Madrid bus station. Our bus left Madrid at 4:30 and we arrived in Granada around 9:30.  Kristin and I got a taxi to our apartment where we met our host family. Our senora and her son are really nice. We were pretty tired and went to bed, but I had a hard time sleeping. It was so quiet, and I kept thinking that without internet, I wouldn't be able to talk to my friends and family.

Friday was a lot of fun. We met all the other ISU students and walked together to orientation at the Center de Lenguas Modernas. The CEA also took us on a walking tour of Granada and to get us cell phones. However, Kristin and I got lost a few times trying to find our way to the CEA meeting spot and our apartment. In total, we spent close to 6 hours walking around, plus we had to wake up extremely early.

Saturday and Sunday were kinda boring. On Saturday, Kristin and I were exhausted from the day before and jetlag, and we didn't wake up until 3:00pm. We ate lunch at our house and then went to an Internet Cafe. We were there for 3 hours! It was great being able to talk with my friends and family. I loved hearing my parents' and brother's voices. On Sunday, Senora, Kristin, and I went to church (I was very confused since I've never been to church before and it was in Spanish). We came back, ate lunch, and Kristin and I relaxed in our room. We watched the Office and I played Sudoku for most of the night.

Today (Monday), we had to take a test in the morning to see what Spanish level we place in for our intensive class, starting tomorrow. We took a double decker bus sight seeing tour. We saw some amazing sights! Granada is beautiful. We came back to our apartment, and finally figured out the Internet. Yay!!!!

It's already 12:30am now and we have classes in the morning. But be sure to check back soon!!

 

1 day!

I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'm not ready at all. I don't want to say goodbye to my home and my parents. I just want to get the goodbyes over with and land in Spain. I am really excited though! Packing was the most difficult thing ever!  1 bag at 62 inches and 50 pounds does not fit 5 months worth of stuff. Hopefully, I have no troubles getting it all on the airplanes and the bus. And hopefully our apartment has a ramp or an elevator since we live on the second floor... As excited I am to go to Spain, I'm already really excited for May 25th. I will have all the memories, but be home with my friends and family =]