Back in Time just a little

okay so I meant to post this before I went to Barcelona but obviously that didn't happen. I'm going to paste it in here anyway and you all can just deal with it....kidding...

January

Hello again!

Well, it’s the middle of week three and as the title suggests, time is flying. Not literally, as in I’ve been throwing clocks out the window or what have you but flying as in going so fast, it hardly feels like this is week 3 of my time in Europe. It seems somewhat silly that I look back but I do and I wonder what happened to all the time I thought I had.

Anyway, I thought I’d take some time to answer some questions I’ve been getting recently.

How are classes and what am I taking?

Well, classes are like any other class anywhere else I think. They’re in Spanish of course and the professors are really cool about speaking slower or making sure you understand something they’ve said. I’m taking five classes this semester as apposed to the seven I had last semester. They are as follows: Composition and Conversation 1 and 2, Culture and Civilization of Spain, Spanish Literature and Spanish Cinema.

How is the food?

Food is good. Oh, man is it good. I mean since I’ve come I’ve tried loads of new foods and there have only been two things that I didn’t like. Alicia (my host mom) makes something new pretty much everyday and I feel like a pig because servings here are HUGE! Some examples of foods that I’ve loved so far are, torrijas, tortilla de patata, churros con chocolate, flan, and so many many more that I can’t possibly name them all.

How is my host mom (Alicia)?

To tell you the truth, I think we get along really well. We laugh a lot and talk about everything. I’m sure it just takes time, but I’m not feeling the connection I had with my family in Chile. I’ll have to just keep going as I am before I for a concrete opinion but so far so good.

Temperature?

Right now, pretty much all of Spain is freaking out because it never gets this cold in January. We’re having temps in the 20s (Fahrenheit) and water in fountains is freezing. Everyone complains about it but there’s still no snow so I’m happy for the moment. If it snows, I’m going to be angry for sure.

Trips?

All the newbies went to Madrid last Friday (January 21) and it was great. It was really cold but it was cool. I thought I was going to panic because I don’t like big cities but this was great. We went to a couple parks and a market and La Plaza Mayor where there are people that act like statues until you get close or give them money. You can probably put Plaza Mayor into YouTube and come up with a million and one hilarious examples of what I witnessed. (I’ll put pictures below)

This coming weekend (January 28-30) I’m going to Barcelona with a group of us Americans. I plan to go see The Sagrada Familia along with other Gaudi works and maybe just stroll through parks taking pictures for no reason. I’ll be sure to bring extra batteries and keep everyone informed. Maybe I’ll even post from the hostel where I’m staying....

Pictures Of Madrid On Low Batteries...

Puerta de Alcala

Parque de Retiro

Where the king and queen went on vacation

Palacio de Cristal

Used to be like a greenhouse for the royal plants...mostly tropical

looks like a castle but its a post office

Plaza Mayor just as the sign says...this is like a giant open courtyard in the middle of some buildings

one of the many markets in Madrid

Palacio Real

translation:

Royal Palace

Temple of Debod

Ruins sent as a gift to Spain from Egypt

Don Quijote and Sancho Panza

This is what I've got for that trip....There are a billion more pictures but I try to limit because of the time it takes to upload them. I will show off all of my pictures when I get back. I promise.

Hello from Barcelona

Sorry its been a while. Life got a little crazy this past week and I meant to post more pictures for you all who don´t get to see the ones on Facebook. They were the ones from Madrid last weekend and I had answered some of the questions that you all have been asking but now I´m in Barcelona so I don´t have access to those pictures or the questions I had written.

Anyway, I´m having fun here in Barcelona. We´re staying in this great hostel and we went to see the Sagrada Familia and walked down the main drag with all the Gaudi houses and eventually Las Ramblas but we didn´t make it that far before it started to rain. Needless to say, hanging out in the hostel last night due to rain was not nearly as boring as it could have been.

I´m going to keep this short and sweet today because we´re getting ready to head out for another fun filled Barcelona day but I´ll be sure to post again on Monday at the very latest and try to get some pictures up here so you can see what I´m doing.

Lot´s of love to you all in that wintery white stuff. Hope you stay warm.
Un Saludo Grande

After a Week

Okay, so I've been here for a little over a week and I assure you I'm having a good time. I may be a little frustrated at times but in the end everything comes out just fine. Last week we went on a cultural tour of our home town to get to know the history  I took a ton of pictures...
this is a view from the Plaza de Cervantes of a monastery and part of the tower that's there. Cervantes was a great writer, know as the author of the world's first novel Don Quijote de La Mancha.

Here's another view from the plaza. Behind the gazebo you can kind of see the tower.

there are these trees that line the center part of the plaza. I think they're sycamore but I don't know my trees very well. I'm told that in the summer their leaves act like a roof of shade.

More trees and you can see some of the archictecure of the buildings here.

 This is the oldest university in the city. Inside it anyway, It was founded by a Bishop named Cisneros. They still had the decorations up from Christmas. Here is also where they will give the Cervantes Prize which is like a Pulitzer Prize for Spanish literature.

This is outside of the university. The chains are remnants of how the city was historically.Our guide said that there were two sets of laws in Alcala. One was of the universities and another for the rest of the town. Once you crossed this chained "fence" you were on university property and under university law.

This is where Cervantes is said to have been born. Now, its a museum in which you aren't allowed to take pictures. Basically, it showed how the house might have been when it was inhabited by Cervantes and his family.

Outside the birth home of Cervantes is this statue of Don Quijote. To his right (our left in this view) is a digruntled looking Sancho Panza but that picture didn't turn out very well.

I thought this was cool. It's a view down Calle Mayor where all the shops are and its a pretty historical neighborhood.

This picture won't rotate....sorry...anyway, this is what the street looks like when you walk down Calle Mayor. This street was originally constructed by the Romans as a trade route and this is what it looks like today.

And finally, one of the big cathedrals here in Alcala. Inside is beautiful. The ceilings are curving and the walls are adorned with pictures of the saints and things people have asked for from the saints.I loved being in there in the silence and the shear religious power that it holds is daunting. I wish I could have taken pictures inside to show you what I mean.

This is pretty much my Friday. Its kinda chilly here but the sun shines and it gets warm. No snow is the best part and everyone seems really great.

I hope you all are having fun in your white swirling abyss.

I'll write again soon. I'm planning lots of trips so lots of pictures will follow.

Besos!

Spain!!!!

For those of you actually followingg this blog, you'll know that I've been getting ready to come to Spain for a while now, so this is the post where I say I'M IN SPAIN!!!!

yeah you get the point.

Anyway, I haven't really done much. Classes started yesterday and everything's been a little crazy but crazy in a way that I can handle for now. Last night I bought my cell phone and an adaptor for my computer which has three prongs and the adaptor I had gotten for Christmas only does two. So yeah.... I also of course had classes yesterday and a tour of the Plaza de Cervantes (Cervantes is the guy who wrote Don Quijote the Man of La Mancha and is considered the father of the modern day novel).

Food is great so far, though Alicia keeps me so full I want to puke sometimes. Servings are HUGE here but everything I've tried is really good. If you get a minute look up TORRIJAS. They are seriously good and I think maybe my favorite Spanish food (up to this point).

Buses are crazy, I take one to get to the university. They get soooooooo packed full of people sometimes that its scary. Like today I thought I was going to get stuck on the bus because I couldn't get out at my stop. Thankfully there was someone there that was doing the same thing.

There is a mall walking distance from the university and its really cool inside. It remindes me of home and I think I even passed a Claire's when I went between classes yesterday (I had an hour and a half to kill).

Weather is wet. Sometimes the sun comes out for a few hours then the clouds come back and its raining and cold. At least its not snowing.

Haha Americans that have books to buy for classes! I've spent a total of... ready for this?... 6 euro (a little over six dollars) for everything I need for classes. Ha ha ha ha....now I have money to take a trip somewhere if I want. Somewhere warm and sunny? I don't know yet.

Oh! I live in a small appartment called a piso on the third floor. My room is smaller than a dorm and I might have had to share if more people came but becuase they didn't I don't have to share. It's an okay place though. I can sit on my bed an write and there are places to put all my junk. Its kinda cold all the time but I'm not going to complain because in the summer it gets hot and I don't know what spring will bring.

I think that's all I've got for now.
ummm....
6 hour time difference
Jet lag is horrid
I wish I were rich and didn't have to worry about money like some of the girls that came from BG as well.
Everything normal here.

Hope you don't get too cold in all your snow.
Besos!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hey guys!!!
I just want to say Merry Christmas!!!
I hope everyone is having a great time, enjoying family time or whatever it is that you're doing.
Love Peace and Happiness are my wishes for you this year.
May you have it wherever you are and spread these wishes as you travel the world.
Blessed Be my friends and Merry Christmas.

Failure to Launch?

I woke up this morning after a very eventful night of wanting to see the eclipse from a bedroom window on the wrong side of the house. Needless to say, that didn't go over very well but I did stay up that late thanks to the wonerful help of my friends who are silly beyond belief (notice that no names are mentioned because they know who they are).
Okay, so anyway, I woke up this morning and thought, "I'm going home tomorrow" but somehow the word home just sounded wrong and left a funny metalic taste in my mouth (or was that breakfast?). So, I thought about that again. "Tomorrow I move again," "Tomorrow I move on," tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow....Nothing quite fit so I shoved the thought to the back of my mind and went about my morning but the thought came again and I'm begining to wonder what I'm supposed to feel when I think about home.

Moving on to a happier topic,
School's out for Winter Break! It is for me anyway and Thursday marks the last day for my brothers. It should be interesting to be home by myself for a day. Maybe I'll make my way to the library or the school to say hi to cerrtain teachers etcetera.

I'm supposed to get my host family information this week along with my grades from finals. I'm really nervous about my grades but I'm sure that I worry too much for my own good anyway.

Last night I went with Grandparents Welly to a HHS Band/Choir concert up at the Huber Opera House and it was pretty cool. I was really taken aback when I figured out that there are like ten members to their high school band. They didn't sound too horrible either but I think the program could use a little help yet. The choir on the other hand, was absolutely amazing. They sang so beautifully that I was getting goose bumps. I hope that they continue to grow and produce such wonderful singers such as my cousin Jacob Sweet. I'm very proud to call him family!

I think that's about all I have for now without going on to tell you about the wonderful packing job I did on my car so that I could get all my junk home that I will need or want. I'm so very fickle sometimes about the stuff I have and sometimes it amazes me that my current life fits into my car so easily.

Okay no more sad thoughts. My trip to Spain is in a matter of weeks and I have to fit my existence into a single suitcase for three months! I could pee my pants I'm so excited for this trip! (but I've out grown that I promise).

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday no matter what you celebrate. Have fun with your families and take comfort in your time away from the daily grind of work while you have it!

All my love and Blessed Be

Yuck! Exams...

So today I'm coming to you live from my nearly empty dorm as I sit waiting for my next exam which happens to be at 8:00 tonight. On top of that, it's math and we all know how much I dislike that subject.

Anyway, I figured I would write a little post today to kill some time before that exam. I'm doing laundry tomorrow, and I've been studying like a mad woman for the exam that was this morning and now I will be studying more for astronomy which is tomorrow.

Yeah, this is boring stuff....

Friday's coming....
I will be going to my grandparents' Welly to hang out with them for about a week then I go home on the 23rd. I'm really excited to spend more time with them before I go to Spain.

9 days til Christmas Eve
22 days til Spain
Classes start on January 10th

I don't know what else I need to say today. I'm really not doing much besides studying and packing and basically hanging out here on campus.

I may post something new on Moving Beyond Reality so stay tuned for that. I've got a couple new things that I've been playing with to reduce stress of studying so maybe you'll get to see that and maybe not...I haven't made up my mind yet.

so anyway, I think that's it for today. I'll keep you posted as I can over break. For those of you who I won't see for a very long time, I wish you all the best.

Blessed Be!