My Weekend in Valencia!

There is yet another weekend in the books which has left with even more great memories though wind-blown and spinning from the speed at which it flew past me, yikes! Friday morning was not as brutal as I had prepared myself for and I think it was the excitement for what awaited me in Valencia that kept me awake for the virtually the entirety of both bus rides. I think I slept a total of 30 minutes out of two bus rides that were about six hours altogether. As we drove through Valencia upon our arrival we were somewhat disappointed because what we saw out our bus windows (rain and fog) were not really what we had in mind for our weekend vacation. Luckily that weather didn't last and instead we enjoyed 55-60-degree weather on Saturday and Sunday.

After settling in at our hostel which was conveniently located in the center of the city on Friday us girls walked around and shopped for four hours. Our marathon shopping adventure ended with a pit-stop at this great Chinese restaurant. Most of us were craving pasta, but after our delicious meal, we had zero regrets about our decision. After dinner we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night!

We went out on Friday with the boys and our first stop was a bar serving "diez chupitas para diez euros." It was a great deal for some, I on the other hand was still recovering from the shopping trip and lack of sleep that ten shots hardly interested me. Rather the thought of my nice warm bed in my hostel made me much happier. Therefore around 2 am or so Erinn and I went back to the hostel to rest up for the next day's adventures while the rest of the group explored what Valencia's night life had to offer.

Saturday was great. We woke up and went down for the hostel's free breakfast and then Katee and I went on a run through the city. It felt so great to run again (I haven't since the whole ankle fiasco) and especially in such a beautiful place with such gorgeous weather. After our run we showered and walked around the city again until the rest of the girls met up with us. We hopped on a city bus to check out the science museum. I will post some pictures by tomorrow, but the science museum was so cool...from the outside. We decided that it was a little on the expensive side and being the cheap college students we are we moved on to the next, much anticipated, not to mention free destination: The Mediterranean Sea! It was fun to be able to see the ocean and so awesome to be at a beach in January! We walked the pier and took wonderful pictures. Eventually we decided that it was getting a little cold and we were hungry and we found a cute little restaurant to try the famous dish of Valencia: paella. One can order seafood or meat paella and Michelle and I went for the meat which included chicken, rice, green beans, peppers and rabbit. After dinner the plan was to hit the town once again but after all of the walking and running I did that day I had close to no energy left! The four girls that shared a room with me decided to stay in. We drank wine, ate chocolate and had some great girl talk!

Yesterday (Sunday) we needed to be checked out of our hostel by 11 so we ate breakfast and packed up. It was nice because we were able to leave our luggage there as we went out to walk around the city once again. However this time instead of walking we posted up at a picnic table in the Plaza de la Reina and soaked up the Valencian sun for the next couple of hours, it was wonderful! After sunbathing for the first time in seemingly eternity we went back to the hostel to grab our bags and then on to the bus station where we would find that our bus wasn't anything short of luxurious! The buses that we travel by are coach buses and this one was two, but this one didn't have the regular chairs, no it had great big massage looking chairs that were oh so comfy! And it didn't end there, every third seat didn't have a neighbor because every row of the bus only had three chairs. Most of us had a multiple of three and were in heaven because we could lean up against the window to sleep and didn't have to sit by a stranger. It's the little things in life people! We arrived in Madrid around 7:15 from a bus that left Valencia at three with a 20-minute stop at a random bus station for snacks. We then needed to take the metro back to the bus station that would get us back to Segovia. We made the 8 o'clock bus just in time and we were all happy because we would make it home for dinner.

Overall, I had a great time in Valencia. Today here in Segovia it's a frigid 40 degrees (according to my father) but feels so much colder as I cannot seem to warm up. I am looking forward to the end of the week as it is supposed to warm up! I hear that it is very snowy back home and I would welcome any visitors that would like to escape the Minnesota snow for a trip to Spain, let me know! Until then though, stay warm!

Dear Time in Spain, SLOW DOWN! Love, Me

Hello! I hope those of you in Minnesota are enjoying your heat wave! I am headed to an even better heat wave here in Spain tomorrow, if you think 30 degrees is good, try 60, yay! Myself and 13 other study-abroaders are traveling to Valencia for the weekend. We must catch the four-hour bus ride from Madrid to Valencia tomorrow morning at nine. Therefore we are taking the 6:30 am bus to Madrid to Segovia. I love you all so much that I am forgoing sleep in order to keep you updated, you must be honored! Anyway we have a short one-hour trip to Madrid and then we need to pick up two of the girls that went there today to take care of some computer business and then Mediterranean Sea, here we come!

Last night our school hosted an American Fiesta equipped with the most stereotypical American food and music ever. Yep, you guessed it hamburgers, hot dogs...french fries and Gaga. We were able to mingle (mostly in English, unfortunately) and meet other students that go to our school. We haven't been able to meet many other students since our classes are only students from CSB/SJU. We exchanged a few numbers and made some more friends! It was fun meeting so many new people and eye opening as well. Every student that I talked to was at least bilingual and most of them were trilingual, and some even know four languages! I told my host mom that and she made sure to inform me that my school, IE University, is a internationally renown school and a very prestigious university. That's pretty cool I guess! Anyway, one of the girls that I met is from Valencia. Since I told her we were visiting there this upcoming weekend, we met this morning after my 9:30 class for coffee so that she could tell us all the city!

There is so much to do that I am excited about. Apparently many people travel via bicycle and she said that we should rent them and ride from our hostel to the coast. Did I mention I love to bike?! She also told us where all the great shopping and clubs are located. There is also a very famous science museum and aquarium in the city that she recommended we visit! Yay, I am excited!!

Also this past Monday I started my volunteer project teaching English at an elementary school. The students and teachers are absolutely wonderful and I think they will really enjoy having us in class. We need to speak very slowly though so that they can understand us--too bad I can't ask my professors to do the same. And while they're at it, try and lose their accents, too so I can finally understand what they are saying!!! So every Monday and Friday I go volunteer for about an hour each time. I also found out that this elementary school is the same one that both my host mom and her children attended. I think Sonsoles was really happy with that coincidence!

Well I hope you all will think of me as are climbing into bed tonight while I am already starting my day at a wicked five o'clock in the morning! I have a long day of travel ahead of me, but I am excited for the memories and subsequent stories that this weekend has in store for me (and for you all). In the meantime, please ask God or someone to please slow time because it is slipping right out from under me, thanks! Until next week, adios!!

Photos from Madrid

Palacio Real

Such cool looking buildings!

There were so many pretty parks around our hotel and the museums of the city.

The Prado Museum

Inside of the Reina Sofia. Pictures may or may not have been prohibited, oops!

The Madrid bus station. We will be using this connection many times throughout the course of the semester.

Madrid 1, CSB/SJU -$1000s

Wow it seems like forever since I left you all an update! Therefore bear with me, this may get long! Wednesday-Friday proceeded as normal because we had at least some form of class each day. We did discover a new cafe in Segovia on Friday that was super cute and fun. Yet another place to do homework, skype with friends from home and play cards with the group! On Friday, I also went to go pick up a care package that my American family sent me. I had to go all the way to the post office, but it was worth the walk for the stuff I forgot and to get something from home! Thanks mom and dad! That night I decided to stay in to prepare what was sure to be an epic night in Madrid the following day.

We were instructed to meet at the aqueduct at 8:30 am on Saturday morning. In the United States that seems like a reasonable time to start one's day. Here, 8:30 in the morning is a time where only a handful of people are seen roaming the streets and the newspapers haven't even arrived for the current day. Translation: way to early to be up! (On the previous Tuesday me, along with about half of the group booked a trip to Valencia which is about a 4-hour bus trip from Madrid. We have already calculated that we must catch the 6 am bus from Segovia to Madrid this Friday in order to catch our connecting bus trip. Imagine our concern after the struggle that was this past Saturday!) All 32 of us, Brian's daughter Carolina included made the 9 o'clock bus and we were headed to Madrid--problem free you ask? Absolutely not. Some people in our group didn't feel as if it was necessary to sit in the assigned seats on our bus tickets. That left some of us changing seats MULTIPLE times in order to accommodate the upset and early-rising Spaniards. Stupid Americans!

Once we arrived in Madrid we walked for what seemed like eternity! We saw much of the city as we walked from the bus station to our hotel which ever so conveniently happened to be on complete opposite ends of the city. It's a good thing I didn't sprain my ankle in the last week or anything. When we finally arrived at the hotel, Michelle and I went straight for the bocadillos (sandwiches), mine interestingly enough was a tortilla espanola in between two slices of french bread, interesting but tasty nonetheless, that our moms made for us and then straight to bed for a much deserved and necessary siesta. We were able to sleep for a couple of hours and then we had to meet up with the group again at 3:30 to head to the first museum, the Prado. The Prado is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world and displays the finest European art from the 12th to 19th centuries. The art was pretty great except for I really liked the more contemporary art that was on display at the Reina Sofia which we frequented today.

The night out in Madrid was fun, but there were only a couple from our group that made the esteemed 7:30 am return to the hotel (pizza in hand) while the rest of us pooped out around 4:30 or earlier. We went to a few American bars and then on to the Bourbon Cafe. The only reason I know the name is because it is still conveniently stamped on the palm of my hand. That's reassuring isn't it, mom and dad? In fact we are actually really safe and all of the guys on the trip are all very good at making sure that girls aren't alone and always get walked home. So last night was all right and most of us had little to no sleep under our belts at 10 am as we hiked our way to the next museum.

I really enjoyed the art at the Reina. There was works from the likes of Picasso, Dali, and Muro while simultaneously even more contemporary exhibits such as one room displaying hundreds of newpaper cover stories about 9/11. I would love to go back to the Reina Sofia at some point given more sleep and a clearer head. After the museum we made our second stop to a McDonald's of the Madrid trip. It was just what we needed to cinch our American food cravings. This McDonald's trip was unlike any other however. Madrid and big cities in Spain are known for having pick-pocketers. Most of us were thinking, pre-second-McDonald's-trip that we had been very fortunate that none of the group became victim to this horrible reality. Well that reality took a terrible turn for the worst as we were about to leave McDonald's. Luke couldn't find his backpack. He clearly wasn't sure how long it had been since he had last seen it so it was pretty apparent that it was gone for good. Unfortunately he was one of the few of us that brought his computer and he also had copies of his passport, and credit cards. All of us felt terrible.

After that grueling 30 minutes of searching, giving up and then trying to cancel all of his cards and such we decided that it was high time we got the hell out of Madrid. We found the nearest metro station and wasted no time, heading straight for the bus station with intentions of getting the first bus back home to our safe and cozy city of Segovia. Especially because I have such terrible luck during odd years, ;) I personally was getting very tired of always having to be so hyper-aware of where my belongings were at all times-I was ready to get back and not be on the look out for the next person that could rob me. We eventually made it back home by 5 pm. What a day!

Once I got home I was able to skype my family for a bit which was nice and then I took a siesta, of course! I needed to re-energize to prepare myself for THE Game as my fellow Packer-fan friends referred to it as and what would turn out to be a big, fat W for Los Packers (which is what the Spanish announcers call them). Me being a self-proclaimed "fair-weather fan" had a great time watching THE Game and especially the emotional reactions of my friends, which was quite entertaining considering the severity of their loyalty to THE Pack. Now I am finally in bed thinking that 8 am is going to come much faster than I would hope. Tomorrow I have only one class and I start my volunteering project at an elementary school, teaching english which shall be fun. Look for a picture update tomorrow! I hope you are all staying warm in Minnesota!

Yet another one of my crazy adventures

Hello friends and family! The rest of my Sunday and Monday were spent in bed babying my precious ankle with only minimal trips to the kitchen and bathroom. Teresa convinced me to skip my one class on Monday because she said she would rather have me take the first few days off and let my ankle heal properly instead of walking on it right away and suffering the consequences for the rest of the semester. She also diagnosed my ankle as not broken which I was incredibly enthused about. Thank you for all of your prayers, they worked like a charm! Anyway, I spent those days in bed spending way too much time on facebook and seemingly always awaiting the next meal. I thought that I was getting more used to the meal schedule, but apparently not! Teresa also suggested that for the rest of the week I take the city bus to class. Let's just say I had no idea what I was signing up for.

My mom, Sonsoles was very worried about my ankle and wanted me to obviously find the closest bus stop to limit my walking. The problem was she really had no idea how to navigate the buses so we spent close to two hours deciding that line 8 was "mas facil" (the easiest) even though I suggested that one right away. After dinner on Monday she drew me a map of our neighborhood to ensure that I made it to the correct bus stop and a schedule of the time that I need to leave the house in order to make it to the bus stop oh about 20 minutes before the bus arrives. There I was just waiting all by myself, but I guess it's better to be early than late! The bus ride took about 15 minutes, but since she made me take the early bus to make sure I was to class on time I ended up being 45 minutes early for class. We also decided the previous day that the bus schedule didn't give me ample time to come home for lunch and siesta so I planned to spend the entire day at school: 8:45 am-6:00 pm. After my afternoon class I decided that I wanted to hang out with my friends for a change and walked to a cafe to hang  out and plan our long weekend trip for next weekend. Needless to say my mom wasn't too happy when she found out that I walked home on my swollen ankle!

This morning was a little more interesting and Sonso's adamant concern that I begin my day unnecessarily early actually came in handy as I forgot to push the stop button before my school's stop. Luckily there was a cute old man sitting across from me that told me where the hell we were headed and how much time it would take to get back to my university. Therefore I ended up making a detour to a neighboring city, Zamarramala, just my luck. I was sort of freaking out, but I reconfirmed with the bus driver that we were in fact headed back the way we came and he said that I would be back in time for class, wheew! I couldn't afford to miss this class since I already skipped it one time this week! So I made it and we'll see if I ever take the bus again!

Right now I am hanging out with some of my fellow study-abroaders in one of these cool study lounges at my school while we wait for our meeting with our group in 30 minutes. We get to discuss our upcoming excursion to Madrid on Saturday which I am really excited for. However we need to be extra careful with our money there because pit-pocketers are everywhere. Last night at our favorite bar we even got a mini-lecture from the cutest bartender, Jesus! We go there all the time I think he really cares about us, how cute! Anyway I am going to head to class and then home for lunch and siesta the best part of the day! Catch ya later!

the curse of the odd year...

The last 24 hours have been interesting to say the least. Last night my host mom became very sick with the flu and her (alleged) boyfriend has been keeping a watchful eye. (I have yet to ask her who this mystery man is, but who else would give such vigilant around-the-clock care than a significant other?) So yesterday the goal of the day was to avoid the flu at all costs, however today that goal is much more difficult as I am bedridden myself.

Last night as most of you know the Packers played the Falcons? I'm not sure exactly, but that's not the point. The game was on at 2:00 am here because it was prime time at home. We were all at one bar dancing our hearts out until it was time to go to the next bar so that my Packer-crazed friends could watch their precious team move up in the playoffs. I must have got wrapped up in their excitement (or maybe the free champagne in the VIP lounge at the previous discoteca) because I felt it was necessary to race my friends to our next destination. Before I knew it I tripped on some small but  treacherous cobble-stoned steps and landed on the ground. This fall hurt more than your usual fall, but I was convinced that I was okay. I limped my way to the next bar trying to convince my friends, but most of all myself that I was fine. For the next hour or so I watched the emotional roller coaster that was last night's football game and then decided that my foot was feeling significantly better. Hindsight has clearly let me know that I was horribly mistaken thinking that I could walk let alone dance on my ankle. It's always so funny how hindsight can be so crystal clear, but reality so murky. So we headed on to the next bar. My foot hurt, but it seemed to be feeling better and better as the night (early morning for some) went on. Contrary to what you all may think, I did not continue drinking that night so I am unsure as to what was helping me with the excruciating pain that took residence in my ankle last night. Maybe I am still high in realizing that I am living in Spain and it is still only the beginning, YAYA!!

Anyway, I arrived home much later and to my surprise I found my ankle was swollen to the approximate size of a baseball. I started to get a little worried, but I knew there wasn't much I could do at that time of day and I hoped that a good night's rest would take care of the problem at hand. (or at foot. haha that one is for you dad!) Well, no it didn't. In fact it either stayed the same size or even grew in size since the night before annnd I could not even walk or put any type of pressure on it at all. Great, I haven't ever sprained, broke or twisted anything on my body until I get to a foreign country where cars are few and far between, awesome.

Since my host mom is also sick her mom came over this morning to take care of her. She had no idea what she signed up for since she was playing nurse all day between her daughter and I. They both wanted me to go to the hospital too however I was having none of that so I called Brian's wife who is a nurse and she instructed me to stay in bed all day and basically see what it feels like in the morning. I thought I would update you all on yet another one of my crazy adventures. Wish me luck with the recovery period and you'll hear from me soon I am sure! Luego!

This is what I see on my walk to school: the sun rising over the aqueduct. The SJU Abbey Church or Arboretum's got nothing on this!

At Oso Blano they only make an entire pitcher of Sangria and they make it right in front of you! 

Just hanging out playing cards at the aqueduct!

Photo op on our way home from school. 

Segovia at night with the Aqueduct on the left.

My room!

What a week!

I can't believe I have been here for just one week! I am becoming more and more accustomed to the schedule, (ie. lunch at 2:30 followed by a nap, dinner at 9:30, etc) the language and the life of this culture that it feels like I have been around for much longer! After my first day of school on Tuesday the rest of the week sort of followed suit. I guess their was a little bump in the road on Wednesday morning though. A bunch of us stayed out just a little too late especially for those that had our poly-sci class bright and early at 9:30! Let's just say it was a challenge to stay awake for that lecture. That day I was done with class by 11 and came home and alternated reading my homework for the study abroad class and falling asleep to my reading for my study abroad class. I needed sleep just about as much as I needed to finish my homework so it's all good! Needless to say I decided to stay in that night!

Since we technically don't have class on fridays, thursdays are our fridays and I love it! Tuesdays and Thursdays I have three classes which gets extremely long but I am understanding most of the lectures and discussions now which is very rewarding--my hard work is paying off!! After class on Thursday most of us went to our favorite bar/cafe here called Oso Blanco to have some drinks and play some cards. Thank God Santa brought me Phase 10 for Christmas because my group is loving it! Later we all went home to dinner and then of course met at the aqueduct at 11 to go out on the town. More of our group went out that night and it was great to be out with everyone. Before we went out that night, Kalleah and I stopped by a store by my house and I bought some purple pants, did I wear them out that night? Of course!! We went to a few different bars that night and discovered a new one called Penelope that we are planning on frequenting again tonight!

I stayed out pretty late on Thursday night/Friday morning so you could say that my lunch easily overlapped my breakfast. However I still had my chocolate croissant that my mom knows I love so much! We don't have class on Fridays however we usually have a walking tour at a certain location in the city. Yesterday we went to Alcazar, which is a castle in Segovia. (I finally figured out how to post pictures on here so I will get to that soon, promise!) The castle was very cool, but really cold. It's much warmer here than in Minnesota but I get a little too excited about the temperature difference and usually convince myself that I don't need a jacket and that a sweater will be sufficient. Note to self: I am always wrong! It looks nice out the balcony window, but it is much cooler than it looks! We toured the main level of the castle and then towards the end of the tour we climbed a steep steep spiral staircase with about a million steps to the top where we could see all of Segovia and the mountains in the background. Each day this city gets more and more beautiful! I made sure to take many pictures atop the castle so you can all pretend you were there with me!

Friday night we were invited to Christian's Art Exhibit. Christian is the man that organizes the host families and is not only a fabulous artist, but he is so nice! We chatted with him for a little bit as he told us about his contemporary art and sipped on some bubbly, how classy are we? Since the exhibit conflicted with dinner, some of us decided to go out to a restaurant for dinner. I have since forgotten the name of the place but I had this pork that had some kind of jelly sauce on top. There were seven of us at dinner and we basically just passed our dishes around so that everyone could sample the food. We had shrimp, calamari, salad, croquets and others that I can't remember. It was all so tasty! After dinner we headed back to Oso Blanco and hung out there for the remainder of the night. We played cards and chatted all night, I love this group of people!

I went home around 1:30 and was able to catch my sister on skype which was nice since I hadn't talked to her in a while. Even though I was falling asleep on her I think I may be convincing her that a trip to Spain is a really good idea especially because I have a couple of extra bedrooms in my apartment! The reality of that trip happening is still pretty far-fetched, unfortunately. I got a great night of sleep and then this morning me and a couple of other girls went to a cafe to work on our homework. Understanding the material is much easier while working in a group. After about an hour and a half of homework we decided that our hard work deserved a reward. Since Michelle is allowed to have friends over (which is not usually done here as most people go out to socialize) we hopped over to her apartment and watched an episode of the Bachelor. It was great to see some American television, let me tell you!

I think it's about time for my siesta. My mom is getting sick and hasn't been eating with me because she doesn't want me to get what she has so I think a nap is a great way to keep me healthy ;) and ready to shop later this afternoon with my friends. I hope you all are enjoying the copious amounts of snow that are right outside your windows and doorsteps! Hasta luego!

First day of class, check!

Hola todas! Today was the first day of classes and I had three, wheew! The first class was at 9:30 in the morning and me being the morning person that I am didn't see that as being an issue. Boy was I wrong! I must have slept through my alarm (which happens more often than I care to admit) and woke up at 8:57. Waking up 33 minutes before class may not have been an issue for someone that lives closer to school, but for me it was nearly impossible to make it on time because I live a good 25 minutes from school. Contrary to my thoughts while running the streets of Segovia at 9:20, I actually made it!! I also found out upon my arrival that I wasn't the only one to sleep in and there were also two students that strolled in 10 and 20 minutes late! Gracias a Dios!

My first class was History, Society and Cinema and our professor, Eduardo is great, but he speaks very fast! After my first class I had a 90-minute break to work on homework and such which was instead spent talking and hanging out with my friends. I think when we start getting more homework we may have to be a bit more productive during that time! My next class began at 12:30 and is the study abroad seminar taught by Brian Larkin, the CSB/SJU professor that is directing our program. This I think will be the most difficult of my classes here as we already have 50 pages to read in spanish by Thursday! We'll see how that pans out! After this class at 2:00 we all went home for lunch and siesta. I had lentil soup and fish and apple yogurt for lunch and took about a 10-minute nap because I had to be back to the aqueduct at 4 to go to my last class of the day: culture and art history. This class sounds fun because we take a variety of tours around the city to explore the art and history of Segovia.

A few friends and I then went to a cafe to grab some postres (dessert) and coffee while hanging out and doing   some homework. Now I am at home and I am all alone! My host mom is an actress and she has play practice tonight. I am already planning when my friends and I can go see her play! I must eat my dinner alone tonight, but that's ok! Also, since tuesdays are a big night to go out on the town I must do as the Spaniards do and comply so I will be meeting my friends at the aqueduct at 11 as usual! There are also two senior Johnnies that are here somewhat randomly so we are going to show them the city! All is well here except for the loads of homework being thrown my way, I hope you are all doing just great and not missing me too much!

Me encanta mi vida!

The first and second days in the city have been great! Yesterday, after dinner most of us went out on the town, it was a blast! Some of us even stayed out until five in the morning (not me of course ;) )! So "some of us" didn't get much sleep last night therefore today's siesta came in handy! Earlier this morning, we went on a tour of the city of Segovia with our professor from CSB/SJU, Brian Larkin. He showed us some shops for necessities that we may need to purchase and eventually we walked to the school. The walk to school from the centrally-located aqueduct is an additional 15 minutes or so which means that I have about a 35-minute walk in order to get to school. I am definitely the farthest from school, but I don't mind the walk!

After the much appreciated siesta this afternoon many of us met at a cafe to work on homework and hang out. It is very common in Spain to go out of the house to hang out rather than invite people in. It takes a little getting used to when I'm accustomed to having friends to hang out with all the time at my house, but we have fun at the cafes playing cards and admittedly talking in english.

Tonight I had something similar to pork chops, chips, cheese and bread for dinner. It tasted great and so far I have liked most of the food that my host mom has served me. My mom is allergic to gluten therefore she has special bread for herself however she also buys regular bread for me and I have a lot of it! The food is sort of difficult to explain but it's a lot of fruit, vegetables, bread/corn tortillas and cheese and of course dessert! Breakfast just like in the United States is my favorite! Here, she serves me a chocolate croissant, toast, fruit, orange juice and coffee (with lots of milk and sugar)!! Today for lunch I had a heaping pile of vegetables which were delicious and a think corn tortilla. So far so good in the food department!

We were supposed to start school tomorrow morning but orientation has been scheduled instead. That means I have one more day of Christmas break! I have orientation tomorrow at 11 and then I will be done for the day which will give me sufficient time to shop my little heart out! Hasta el tiempo proximo!

First days in Segovia

Where to begin! Yesterday Kalleah and I roamed the streets of Madrid trying to find a cell phone store to no avail. Well we found one but didn't give ourselves enough time to buy the phone and wait in line and such! After we got a little lost on the subways, but we eventually made it back to our hotel and then took a taxi back to the airport where we were to meet our group at 2.

Once Brian Larkin, our faculty director, arrived we hopped on a bus for Segovia! We were running a little early so when we got here our host families weren't there waiting for us. We walked around and got something to eat and then once our parents started arriving they took us home.

I spent my night unpacking and talking with my mom. It's just us two in our apartment, however she has two children. Her 27-year-old son lives with his dad and her 30-year-old daughter lives in Portugal where she works. She will be visiting in a few weeks! We had dinner and then I discovered that I have internet at my house which is very convenient! I went to bed by 11 and slept like a baby! This morning I slept much later than planned. I had a quick breakfast and took a quick shower and met some people from my group at the aqueduct at 11. We shopped and walked around. At about 2pm all of the stores close down until 5 for siesta. Most everyone goes home for the biggest meal of the day which mine was three courses! I was very full! We are all meeting back at the aqueduct at 5 to walk around some more. I am going to put some pictures on here and then get going! Love and miss you all! : )

Arrival in Madrid!

Hello everyone!
We (Kalleah and I) arrived to our hotel about 11 hours ago and finally have access to internet! I had three flights yesterday and the one from Washington D.C. to Madrid seemed to last an eternity! We arrived in Madrid at 7:30am, grabbed our luggage and headed for our hotel. There was a slight problem however because we didn´t know at all where we were going! We haphazardly climbed on a bus for 2€ and got off at the first stop which we found out later was the complete wrong end of town. I hailed a taxi which took us to our hotel and as we were booking our room we ran into a few of the boys that arrived yesterday. After we showered and freshened up, the boys or the ¨veterans as we called them took us to el centro via the subway which had shops and places to eat. El centro was decorated because we are celebrating tres reyes which is the celebration of the three kings. I will post pictures tomorrow to show you all! For now I am going to lay low until we go out in Madrid tonight! Tomorrow we must head back to Madrid to meet our group and from there head to the city in which we will be living: Segovia! I love you all and miss you like crazy already!