la extranjera

Welp, after a seemingly endless flow of oceanography preparation, I finally did it. The test is over! Cellllllllllebration! It was a little different than I was expecting, but nothing too challenging. I think I’d have to do pretttttty terrible to not get a good grade in the class. I’ll tell ya it sure did feel fantastic to throw my papers in la basura, though!

Soooo… now it’s FRIDAY! Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday; everybody’s looking forward to the weekend; partyin’ partyin’ fun fun fun! (If you don’t get this reference, good for you. You haven’t wasted four minutes of your life on the terror that is Rebecca Black) But seriously, tonight is Spormal! Yee-haw!! I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to work trying to get tons of kids together for pictures and shenanigans that involve traipsing around Madrid, but we shall see!! It’s going to be a great night with the Madrid clique anyhow!

Now, I haven’t complained about Mercedes’ cooking in awhile (at least not on my blog), but tonight’s meal deserves a shout-out. We walk into the kitchen and see three huge plates full of green mush that could be likened to baby food. Welcome to lentil puree, ladies and gentlemen. Yummmm. Okay, so it really wasn’t THAT bad once you got over the look… and the texture… and the taste. Good thing we’re outta here in a few days!

Well, it seems that I’ve got a weekend of Spanish (essays) and sunshine ahead of me. Last weekend in Madrid. I don’t even wanna think about it! I’m gonna live it up and keep the fiesta going til Wednesday morning..

Thursday in Italy was probably the group favorite. We went to a place called the Cinque Terre, which is a series of five small cities on the coast of the Italian Riviera. The five “lands” are Monterosso al Mar, Vernazza, Corniglia, Maranola, and Riomaggiore, and they are absolutely beautiful. It seriously has to be one of the prettiest places on earth, and it is easy to see why it has been so well-preserved and undeveloped. 

Although it is possible to hike between the five cities on your own, due to recent landslides (and map issues), it is difficult. Therefore we signed up for a tour, which picked us up on a bus in the early morning from Florence. After about a two and a half hour bus ride we arrived at the first of the five cities. We then hiked from the first to the second, and then took a train from the second to the third. In the third city we were treated to a delicious traditional Italian meal of pesto pasta and a variety of fishes- YUM! After lunch we embarked upon the long part of our journey, the hour and a half rigorous hike from the third city to the fourth. It was definitely a challenge keeping up with our tour guide, who effortlessly mounted huge rocks and seemed to bounce down the rocky cliffs. Along the way we saw olive trees, huge cacti, and lots of beautiful Italian wildlife. Needless to say, I was pretty tired by the end of trek. In the fourth city I treated myself to some scrumdiddlyumptious strawberry, lemon, and coconut gelato (kind of like sorbet), and enjoyed the beautiful pier and ocean view.

 We then took a train from the fourth city to the fifth, where we were able to enjoy a beautiful sandy beach and the city’s unique gift shops. From the fifth city we took a water taxi back to the first, quite a relaxing and rewarding experience. As beautiful as each of the cities looks from the inside, there is no way to describe how incredible they appear from the water. Each little town is full of cute and colorful buildings, quaint churches, and charm. I could see myself living there…

Finally we returned to the second city where we took a stroll down the famous “Lover’s Lane,” a narrow pathway that winds around the mountain and is supposed to be a romantic walkway for lovers… of course my friends and I held hands the whole way…

Seeing the Cinque Terre is quite possibly my favorite thing that I’ve done this entire semester. The little cities were just so full of character, and it felt incredible to be outside hiking between them and enjoying the surreal view. This is a MUST-DO for anyone traveling to Italy. I cannot even describe how glorious it was. I’d love to go back at some point in my life. 

Friday was a pretty lazy/peaceful day in Florence. We woke up pretty early so that we could get in line at the Academia to see Michelangelo’s “David,” which turned out to be a good idea as the line quickly grew very long. Mr. David is quite a vision, and his beauty has not been overrated. (Neither has his perfect derrier.) 

After our tour of the Academia we took yet another walking tour of the city, and eventually hiked our way back up to the hostel, where we stopped at the Piazza Michelagelo- a lookout that offers the best view of Florence. It’s quite breathtaking, if I may say so myself. 

The rest of the day we hung out on the hostel terrace, which also provided a great view of the city. It was so nice to sit and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, fresh air, conversation with friends, pizza (of course), and books. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so at peace… For staying in tents, our hostel wasn’t so shabby after all. 

Wow! I can’t believe I’ve been gone from my blog for so long! It seems like forever ago that I was packing up and leaving Spain for the beautiful Italy. So there you have it- if you didn’t pick up on my oh-so-unsubtle hints last post, I can now reveal that my friends and I spent the last ten days in Italy for our spring break. It was truly an incredible trip, and I have so much to write about! It’ll probably take awhile to record it all, so you’ll have to be patient with me. Here goes…!

The girls and I finished packing Thursday afternoon, then headed to the airport for our trusty dusty EasyJet flight to Rome. Because we were spending ten in Italy, we decided to check two large suitcases between the seven of us- we usually just bring our backpacks as carry-ons. First obstacle of the trip- both suitcases weighed over the allotted 50 pounds, so we had to work to cram extra weight from the suitcases into our carry-ons and onto our bodies. It was definitely a struggle, but we managed to get everything on to the plane- phew! Obstacle #2: Our flight, which was supposed to leave at 4:55, was delayed an hour and a half after two gate changes. Eventually we took off and landed though… journey part one completed. After picking up our bags we called the hostel to warn them that we’d be checking in a little late. The seven of us stumble out into the dark and rainy night in search of our first bus. After asking a few strangers we found the bus to the center of town. We then stopped briefly for a to-go pizza dinner in a tiny joint by the metro station. This is where the fun begins! The directions to our hostel required us to take a bus, an underground metro, an aboveground metro/tram, and a shuttle. Well, not a single one of those buses was easy to find, the metro line we needed was closed due to a strike we were not aware of until after lugging our newly-deemed “Big Mamas Bessie and Bertha” up and down several flights of stairs, strangers had no idea how to help us and sent us on a few wild goose chases, the bus stops were unclear and twice did we stumble off of one with the Mamas only to realize we were wrong and clamber back on… Well, I can’t really describe to you the hilarity and pathetic-ness of the whole situation, but I can tell you that our flight landed at about 8:30 and we didn’t make it to our hostel until 12:45. Our last bus literally dumped us in the seemingly middle of nowhere, on the side of the road in a field, where we had to call the hostel and have one of the employees come pick us up in a van… Well, I guess that’s what we get for booking 11 euro/night “tents” through Hostelworld.com…

Our backpacks were just a little full… Grace is expecting any day now

Bottom line is, we did eventually make it to our hostel- praise Jesus. My roommates and I were not put in a tent after all, but in a pretty normal dorm room. The other four girls were assigned a trailer/mobile home which was pretty darn funny. We can’t complain too much though- we had beds and hot showers, and at that point, that’s about all we needed. After a long day of school and travel, we all collapsed into sleep. 

**Okay, so I know that this post doesn’t tell you anything about our trip other than getting there, but telling you about Day 1 in Rome is going to take up some space, so I want to save it for tomorrow. Hint- it’s all about the Vatican!**

On a completely unrelated note, I only have three more days of school, and then finals.. eeek!!  

Well, I’m sitting in my 11:00 class right now and there are exactly seven of us. Big turnout. My teacher’s talking about the same thing that she has for the past few weeks. Spring break just can’t get here soon enough!!

Yesterday I went on a little adventure. My goal: to see the school play. The result: fail. I had class until 6:45, and then I grabbed some dinner at Super Sol before hopping on the metro and getting off at Metropolitano. I had directions and a map and thought I was prepared. Well, it turns out the theater where the play was to take place is in a very obscure location and is pretty unheard of. I probably asked ten different people including a police officer, a guy with an iPhone, an English-speaking girl from SLU I’d never met, and several college students for directions, but no one was really able to help me. I ended up walking around the city for a good hour, lugging my heavy backpack up and down hills in the blazing hot sun. I actually made it to the street where the theater was supposed to be, and still couldn’t figure out where it was! By 8:00 I had somehow walked myself around in a circle back to my school metro, which I decided to just get on, give up, and go home. Sigh. It’s a shame because a few of my friends are in the play and I really did want to see it. Ah well, what’re you going to do?

But enough of my sob story. Here’s the list of things I have missed and am looking forward to in America:

1. Family

2. Boyfriend

3. Friends

4. Free water refills at restaurants

5. Free bathrooms in public places

6. Dr. Pepper

7. Mexican food

8. Peanut butter, pickles, pretzels, bagels, barbecue

9. Driving

10. Hanging out at the Daily Grind

11. Target

12. Fresh fruit and vegetables

13. My own bed

14. Lucky

15. Going to Lacledes (questionably so)

16. Working on a play whether onstage or off

17. $()roR!tY fUn!

18. Working out in a gym- with real weights

19. Live television

20. Going to the pool

21. Sitting in the grass in SLU’s quad

22. Real libraries

23. Summer vacation

24. Pedicures

25. Reading the newspaper

26. Regularly attending Mass

27. Concerts

28. My hair straightener

29. Quality gum

30. Cooking

31. The UK Arboretum

32. Hawaiian Ice

33. Going to sporting events

34. My bike

35. REAL FOOD. 

Ciao bella… I’ll see you in ten days!

Today’s just another beautifully sunny day in the neighborhood. Our spring break starts tomorrow (or Friday for those poor unfortunate souls), and you can feel the excitement in the air. The number one question this week: “Where are you going?” The number one answer: “Italia.” Now I’m not at liberty to disclose where exactly in the world my friends and I will be for the next ten or eleven days, but I can tell you that I’ll be eating a lot of pizza, pasta, and gelato. And possibly seeing a huge ancient ruin or two… (Eek I’m so excited!!) 

So yes, I am psyched about my spring break plans, but I have also come to a horrific realization. I will be home in less than a month. As in, KENTUCKY home. Noooo!!! Sure, there are a lot of things and people that I miss from home, but I’m just not ready to come back! This semester has absolutely flown by. It’s the middle of April already- really!? It feels like just yesterday I was dropped off at Mercedes’ doorstep and informed that Wifi causes cancer… It’s just sad to think that never again will I be twenty years old and studying abroad in Europe. **Tear** This has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I regret that it is already coming to an end. I know that my bank account is screaming “Go hommmmeee! You have no moneyyyy!” but my heart is yelling “Stay in Spainnn! See the worlddd! Live your youthhhh!” Alright, so that may have been a bit dramatic, but c’mon. The USA just doesn’t cut it anymore. Madrid is mi casa now.

And so in honor of my nearing departure (and whining), I have compiled a list of things from Spain that I will miss:

1. Retiro Park

2. Living across the street from an ice cream shop

3. Starting class at 2:30pm

4. Traveling around Europe on the weekends

5. Digestive cookies

6. Tienda Verde hot turkey and brie sandwiches

7. Staying out until the 6am metro

8. Playing in Mercedes’ museum of a house

9. Having my laundry done, dishes cleaned, and room straightened every day (Mom?)

10. White chocolate Kit-Kats

11. Bullfights

12. Real Madrid insanity

13. Sleeping in a bubblegum pink bedroom next to Dani Trout

14. Tapas and sangria at The Golden Cock after class

15. The beautiful architecture of Europe

15. Merengue, tango, bachata, and salsa

16. Soaking up the sun in the quad

17. El Corte Ingles

18. Museums galore

19. Jumproping in the lobby of my apartment building

20. Oranges from Mercedes’ bathroom window

21. Fat Spiderman in Plaza Mayor

22. Seeing Mercedes’ breast

23. Spanish children

24. Theme nights at Joy

25. El Mercado de San Miguel

26. Sol and Gran Via

27. Playing “beauty parlor” and dyeing Lexi’s hair

28. “Saliendo” at midnight

29. Going to class with kids from around the world

30. Being told daily that I am guapisima by Rose

And the list goes on and on… I realize that I listed a lot of foods which is ironic since I always complain about it, but hey, I’m a hungry girl. I become very emotionally attached to food. Tomorrow I’ll provide a list of things I’m looking forward to in America! 

Hasta luego

(I’m sorry that this post was a day late. My family came in to Madrid yesterday, so I spent my free time snugging them.)

I’m baaaaack! This past weekend I got to go with my oceanography class to Alicante, a beautiful beach city located on the Mediterranean. It was a fantastic trip. It was hands down one of the best trips I have been on this semester, and I miss it already!

After sharing a few tapas with my friends on Thursday afternoon, I  left with my class at 2:30 on a good ole Yolcar bus for Alicante! We arrived at the Hotel Masa at about 8:30 and after a quick check-in and fresher-upper, we enjoyed a lovely multi-course meal in the hotel banquet hall. It was so cute- white tables, lots of elderly locals, a beautiful ocean-view… my friends and I decided that we were livin life, and proceeded to talk about how lovely our Mediterranean “cruise” was. I ordered mussels and sea-bass, which was super delicious, but also super delicious because the fish came out whole. Head included. I decided to name mine Carl before diggin in. My friend Gretchen and I finished the night with a little Pearl Harbor, then promptly passed out. 

We woke up early Friday morning and headed down to the Alicante Marina. We got to watch some fishermen bring in the day’s catch- a variety of little fishes- and then we toured the inside of a WWII submarine! We all live in a black submarine…

For the next three hours or so we spent time on the water switching between kayaking, riding dinghies, and laying out on a cruiser. It was absolute bliss! The weather was absolutely incredible and it felt amazing to be enjoying the ocean from boats. We also got to watch the marina workers release a turtle that had been rescued back into the ocean. He was all the way from Florida and so cute! From the way he was angrily flapping his arms when they held him up like Simba though, I’m pretty sure he was not enjoying all of the attention! 

After a lovely lunch in the sun of bocadillos, they gave us some free time to lay out in the sun. Of course we all got FRIED, but soaking up the rays was so worth it! We all felt so lucky that laying out was part of a mandatory field trip. Score! After our sun-siesta we went to the Alicante fish auction, where every fisherman’s daily catch is laid out on a conveyor belt and bid on by local restaurants, grocery stores, and the like. It was pretty amazing to see how quickly the bidding happened, and even more amazing to see how expensive some of the fish cost- some of the grouper went for 25 euros per kilogram!!

In the evening we returned to the hotel for a delicious buffet dinner. Looking for a fun finish to the night, my classmates and I made our way down to the club in the basement of the hotel where we danced the night away to Spanish music with the locals. I’m pretty sure some of the older people thought we were insane when we all started screaming to “Waka Waka”, but they were just tickled pink when we whipped into our dance-class-mode and pulled out some salsa and bachata moves. Chicka chicka yeah! Groovin and movin the night away to Spanish music was the perfect ending to a great day in Alicante. 

Hola, Tumblr! Okay, so first order of business- I just cannot ignore all of the recent UK success. Yeah! GO CATS!! To all of you UK haters out there- step off. The Cats are here to stay. I couldn’t have been happier last night. I may or may not have cried…. FINAL FOUR BABY! It was a beautiful moment. 

But enough about that. Ya’ll don’t follow me for sports updates, do you? Let’s talk about my weekend trip! This past weekend I went on a school field trip with my Hispanic Culture and Civilization class to Granada and Cordoba! I was just so excited to escape to the warm weather of southern Spain that it didn’t really matter that it was an educational trip. I’m actually pretty worn out from the wear and tear of traveling and gladly held up my wrist to be dragged from sight to sight by an adult. It was sooo nice not having to worry about catching a plane, passports, sleeping in the airport, arguing about where to go and when, dealing with cranky travel buddies, finding a hostel… It was lovely to just be led. 

Our adventure began at 8:30 Friday morning. Well, that’s when it was supposed to begin. My friend and classmate Adam went to Kapital on Thursday night, overslept, and completely missed our bus. Oops. We waited at school for an extra 20 minutes or so, but then decided to leave without him. It turned out to be a good decision because he slept in until 12 and then realized that he missed the bus and had to book a new bus ticket to Granada. What are we going to do with that child?

Anyways, after a five or six hour bus trip we arrived in Granada, the beautiful Spanish city that is located at the bottom of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. We checked into our NICE (our teacher insisted we get 4 stars) hotel, then freshened up and began to explore the city. Our class reunited at the Cathedral, where we had a three hour guided tour around some of the city’s best sights. We saw La Capilla Real, where lie the bodies of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (cool!), The Royal Chancery, the gorgeous Granada Cathedral, the Madraza university, and much more. 

We were given free time that evening, and I went out with Dani and our friends Brittany and Zach for some souvenir shopping and absolutely delicious dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. We also spent some of the evening exploring Granada’s main street, Gran Via, and even found ice cream for one euro! Exhausted, Dani and I finished the night by cuddling in our hotel (!) room, reading, and watching “Raising Helen” in Spanish on TV….ahhh living the dream…