Home Life

Well, it's been a while. I can't say I'm excited or that I have anything exciting planned but that's becasue I probably do have something up my sleeve and I just don't feel like sharing. Ha Ha ha ha!

yeah, so I'm blogging again just for the fun of it.
I have to work today but not for a little while longer.

I've been home for about two months now and at this very moment I am bored out of my brains but I've been keeping busy, or at least trying to keep busy. I'm working at the gas station again and it gives me something to do. I am umpiring as well and last weekend I did a tournament for 11 and 12 year old baseball in which I was one of the three umpires for the championship game, meaning that I've been recognized even if it is just a tiny little nudge.

Other than that I'm just hanging out really. Writing and watching movies.
I signed up for all my classes for the fall. I have 19 credit hours again 4 of which are french. Wait, I'm giving away secrets to the future......

I am hoping that this blog finds everyone well.
Blessed Be

Sleep Deprivation

Home again
Home again
Jiggidy Jig

Hello from back in my own house in my own room, sitting on my own bed....okay so I'm in the computer room, but none of you would have known unless I had said something.

Anyway, I'm home, I'm tired and very very very jet lagged... but it's all good. I start work next week and this week I'm going to try to get things into a rhythm that I can handle. No more getting up at four am and not being able to sleep any longer...

Umm.... Let's see....

Well I didn't tell you guys about the other half of my Spring Break, did I?

London was fun. I got to see lots of things from Westminster Abby to the Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park....of course I saw the London Eye as well and on Thursday I went to Stonehenge....which really is just a pile of rocks. The most spectacular part about Stonehenge is the fact that there is so much mystery surrounding it but other than that and the Druid I met there, it wasn't very exciting. I don't regret going though. I had to know for myself what it was like and now I can say that I have.

Friday I went to Manchester to meet Wendy, Paul, Lucy and Zoe. They're an amazing family that totally took me in and showed me a great time even though we only knew eachother through Deb and Tony who know Wendy's brother who lives in the states. We went all the way to Hadrian's wall on Saturday with a picnic lunch and everything. I was not expecting that and it was a wonderful break from feeling a little cut off from family. Sunday was Easter and they got me an Easter basket. I was so surprised and happy that I about cried.  I think I might have if I were any less awake at that point, but who knows.

So if you're reading this Zoe and/or Lucy, tell your parents that I had a wonderful time and that you have to come visit so I can return the favor. I wish you two the best of luck in your sports and I hope we stay in touch.

~

After Spring Break were some final exams to finish up and I got my grades by Thursday. Everything went wonderfully and I passed all of my classes. So now that my first year of college is over I'm looking back and wondering where all the time went.....
Was it supposed to fly by like that?

Well, to those of you who still have exams this week i wish you luck and I hope you do well. Then I hope you travel safely back home or wherever it may be that you are heading out of the dorms.... I'll be working, trying to pay for gas and save for books for next semester but it should hopefully all work out in the end.

Blessed be all!

Ireland, it's been a long five days...

So here I am back from kissing the Blarney stone, sitting in the common room of the hostel I'm staying at for one more night and reflecting on the stuff I've done these past couple days....
(I'll get pictures up as soon as I get back to Spain)

Okay, ready for this list?

Dublin: I got in Thursday night and crashed pretty much. I wrote a little sitting in the cafe of the hostel I was in which was named the Avalon House. I got up in the morning and ate breakfast in that same cafe. So Friday, out of the hostel and on to the street. I went to Trinity College first and passed the statue of Molly Malone, forgetting to take out my cammera until afterward.... Then I went to a Starbuck's and got a Chai Tea Latte (because I'm addicted) and then from there I went toward St. Patrick's Cathedral, stopping at Christ Church on the way.... I didn't go into St. Patrick's because they wanted 5.50 euro to go in but I sat outside in the sunshine in the park next to it. After a quick bite from a local market, (apple and a sandwhich which I watched them make for me on a warm from the oven bun plus I found a Dr. Pepper which they don't have in Spain and had to indulge), I toured the Dublin Castle which is really cool then I went wandering toward the Guinness Storehouse, getting lost only twice. I am finding that people are extremely nice and do all they can to help. I was asked if I wanted to be accompanied to the Storehouse so that I didn't get lost any further.... The Guinness Storehouse is way cool and you get a free pint in the skybar....Then finally to the bus station so I could head out to Galway....

Galway: Well, plans didn't go exactly the way I thought they would and I had to enlist the help of more Irish people to find a bed and breakfast to replace my other accomadations....it was a stressful night but I'm alive and a guy bought me a drink in the bar because he said that after going through the hell I had, I needed it.... I had a full Irish breakfast the next morning and took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher. They were so pretty and I'm still amazed that I haven't seen any rain (being in Ireland and everything).

Limerick: So after another night in Galway I got a bus to Limerick and met up with Nic Gareiss who's dad works with my mom. he was way cool and showed me around the University there. We also went to a gig where some of his friends where playing trad (traditional) music in a pub. I had so much fun! So if you're reading this Nic, Thanks for a great time!

Cork: I got to Cork on Monday afternoon, had to take a nap, then went exploring a bit... It's not a very big city and it isn't very interesting either. I stopped at a sandwhich shop for dinner and crashed again... Today, I got up and went on a day tour to Cobh, Kinsale, and the Blarney Castle where I kissed the Blarney Stone! It really isn't that spectacular but I did it and I'm happy because I've completed something else on my bucket list.

Tomorrow, I head to London. I have to get up and catch a bus to the airport at 6 in the morning but I'll be okay. I have a hostel for two nights in Westminster and I'll see Stonehenge on Thursday and head out of Victioria Station for Manchester Friday morning and meet up with friends of Aunt Deb and Uncle Tony for the weekend before heading back to Madrid and Finals week. I'll try to post again somewhere along the line and get pictures up when I get back to Spain.

Best wishes to all! See lots of you very soon!!

Taking the Northwest by Storm

This was meant to be posted a while ago. Sorry for the delay.

Hello all!
I've just gotten back from another adventure and man was it fun! I went to the Northwest of Spain called Galicia to a city called Santiago de Compostella Thursday morning and stayed there until this morning (Saturday) It was really quite the adventure seeing as I went alone and came back all in one piece. I wandered the old part of Santiago de Compostella on Thursday and got to sit in on a mass at the HUGE cathedral there. I even got to see some museums and sit in the wonderful sunshine just to watch people go by.

 These are the front steps of the cathedral...

 above the door

me in front of the cathedral

The next day I got on a tour bus and went on a tour of some places toward the south...little villages with tons of history, for example this place...

 That's a replica of the Pinta...you know the boats of Columbus's fleet...the Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria...

 These are ruins of a celtic comunity that existed a way long time ago.....

Me and the celtic ruins....I would have stayed there all day.

This is officiallly Portugal...a fort where I had lunch

Here's a random band that I found as I wandered the streets of Santiago de Compostella on the last night I was there. It was pretty cool.

Where did it go?

Time,
I'm losing my mind I swear because it was March just days ago and now I'm in my last month in Spain.
Oh jeez. my time is ending... and its so very sad.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long...nothing terribly huge has happened but I have been having a wonderful time here. We went as a group from BG to the north East of Spain. A part called Cantabria. It was so very pretty.

This is just one of the pictures I took while we were on the bus. It was so green I wanted to get out and just stay there forever. Obviously, that's not what I did but I thought about it...and I had dreams about it....

While there we stayed in this incredible old hotel that was a noble's house at one time. It was located in this tiny little town where there was like no one but us and the town's people. I loved it.
We went to the beach the next day and ran around like little children. Putting our feet in the water even though it was absolutely freezing.

Aren't my toes beautiful?
You have no idea how hard it is to hold your feet still in cold water until you try to take a picture of it.

 Here's a picture of the tiny town where we stayed from the balcony of my hotel room...the town is called Santillana del Mar, but it's not saintly, there's no ocean and it's not flat....

These are the beautiful shells that were scattered all over the beach...

This weekend there was a bunch of stuff to do here in Alcala for a sort of celebration called La Noche en Blanco. I participated in a flashmob in the town center and danced the macarena with a bunch of random people...it was a ton of fun. Obviously, because I was dancing, I don't have pictures of it but I'm going to get some from my friends so that I can show you guys what it was like.
The night before, it was a friend's birthday so we went to the gay district of Madrid and didn't get home until 7 am...it was soooooooo much fun and so great not to be getting hit on by drunk men.
Now, I should be doing homework, so I'm going to get that done and I'll try to write again next weekend after a bullfight and my solo trip to Galicia in the northwest of Spain.
Love and best wishes!

Trying to Keep You on The Same Page

Okay so here we go again....I'm trying to keep all of this updated but its so hard when I have so little time online. Sigh. Okay so I went to France this past weekend and it was definitely an experience. Not my favorite but I'm not going to judge just by what I've seen. French wasn't hard to understand but it was interesting to try to speak. I think for the French that I do know I did pretty good getting around and ordering food and everything. Next semester should be pretty interesting.
Okay so the trip....

We flew into Paris Thursday night and went to see Moulin Rouge just from the outside. Unfortunately, that's about all there is to see...

Afterward we went to the Catacombs. They are creepy and dark and filled with bones. My brothers would have thought that they were great but I wasn't so sure I liked them.

Name this Cathedral and win Twenty bucks....just kidding....

These pictures are all from and of the illustrious Notre Dame. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

This would be the Louvre...but unfortunately it was so expensive that we didn't go in....

The Effeil Tower where I got my gula-gula....long story short this guy made us bracelets and wanted us to pay for them....he got all of two euro out of me....

The beautiful Mont Saint Michel....an abby that sometimes due to the tides is an island.

There were really tiny streets in places...

Lots of stairs....

And views to die for.
All in all despite getting a cold I think I had fun in France and I'm really excited to learn more French and hopefully go back later.

2 weeks until Cantabria.
5 weeks until Spring Break
Seven weeks left on this adventure.

Man how time flies....

Good Bye February.

Well, I said I would post again with pictures but I got busy again. This whole not having internet in my house thing is really making me lose my mind sometimes. Anyway, I am going to put up some pictures from Granada now and then make another post to tell you about this past weekend which I spent in France!
Besos!

Alright I start my trip off with a bad translation....Pain in French is Pan in Spanish which means bread but everything else is in English so we found this hilarious.

This is the big cathedral where in one Capilla the Catholic King and Queen (Ferdinand and Isabella) are entombed. It is very pretty and very elaborate.

This is part of the military part of a castle in Granada. This bell signaled everything from attacks on the city to times you could water your crops. Now there is a special holiday when a handful of virgins ring the bell searching for their soulmate....

This is the palace where the royalty went to relax. It was done by the Arabic king and saved from destruction by a book written by Washington Irving

The beautiful beach at Salobrena. The water is cold, the beach is stone and the sun was shining.

Enough said.

A castle that served as a prison. there is more of it but I thought this picture was pretty good so this is what you get.

Saturday night we went to this place to see a flamenco show.

This is the flamenco show. Flamenco is one of the most well known dances of Spain and it is really hard to dance or play from the guitarists point of view...at least according to what I've heard.