May 29th, 2010
Oh golly, met at Hotel Becquer at 9 am and made our way to Jerez. We visited the largest bodega(winery) in Europe known for their sherry wine. When we got there the first thing I noticed was the name on the building. It said "DRY SACK" of course being the immature little girl that I am I started cracking up and took pictures.. We then went inside and saw a horse show with a gorgeous brown and black horse. Check F*book later for a video!!! Then we got a tour of the bodega and learned how the age and stock there wine. The barrells are stacked 4 high and when they take wine out of the bottom barrell, they will add the newest wine at the top and trickle it down into the older barrells. The process was really interesting... BUT what was even MORE interesting was the tour guides accent. I felt like the biggest bitch ever.. I COULDNT STOP LAUGHING... hahaha... it was a German accent.. and he couldnt say his R's... poor guy had to say SHEWY WINE BAWELLS like every other sentence.. haha it was so funny.. I had to turn around so he couldnt see me laughing.. WOW.
Then we got to taste the wine. We were tasting 3 out of the 8 possible sherry wines produced. One of them was the so called "sweetest" of them all with the most sugar, one was a white sherry, and another was just terrible.. I only enjoyed the white wine.. the other two were way too strong and I couldnt even bare finishing them. OH WELL.
Hopped back on the bus and headed to Cadiz. When we got there we instantly saw the beautiful old architecture and gorgeous OCEAN of course!! We first stopped for some lunch. We all got ham and cheese sandwichs.. big suprise!! Ham is SO common here.. its like all thats ever on the menu for meat.. that and fish..ANYWAY... after eating we went to the supermarket. Carly and I bought sun tanner that was ORANGE.. annnnd court and lyssa bought sunscreen.. I should have stuck with them!!
We went to the beach.. and holy WOW I have never seen so many boobs in MY LIFE.. It was insane.. but sooo normal to them.. We walked far far away from all of the other ISA kids and found a good HOT spot in the sand by the gorgeous aquamarine colored water!! We baked in the sun all day and went and swam in the ocean for an occassional cool down.. Of course I got burnt like a lobster.. but its TAN now!!! =]
We decided to take the train back so that we could stay longer. We ended up leaving around 6 and found ourselves searching the city for some ice cream!! We found a candy shop and I got a delicious cone and the girls got these ice cream sandwich/popsicle concocktions. Went to the train station waited an hour for the train.. 2 of the girls first train ride EVER! How exciting haha. We got on and sat down by these bratty middle school spaniard kids.. I LOVE WHEN THEY THINK I CANT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR SAYING ABOUT ME.. so obnoxious.. They were making fun of how red I was haha. We moved for a while thinking no one would be getting on... we were WRONG. But we played a killer game of never have I ever and eventually had to move back by the brats cause we were in peoples seats.
We actually started having a conversation with them after they asked if I understood.. then they felt REAL dumb.. pretty funny. We talked about politics... how the one kid said he filmed porn movies.. YEA RIGHT YOU ARE LIKE 12... about Spanish and much more.. Ended up being kind of fun/funny. Got home took a taxi and pigged out on delicious pasta Senora made! SO GOOD.
Sunday May 30th
I DID NOTHING ALL DAY. ALL I DID WAS WATCH THIS PAST SEASON OF DANCING WITH THE STARS ONLINE... HOW FUN...
Oh but I did get to talk to every single family member I know pretty much on SKYPE! Including my momma, meryl, marian, my 92 year old grandpa, Irene, Gamra, Uncle Rusty, aunty nance, and even LILLY!!! How fun!!!
Ry & I also planned a bunch of fun stuff we are planning to do this summer!! Cant wait!!
Monday May 31st
Happy Memorial Day!! =] Had class today from 4-8. Beforehand lyssa and I went to the candy shop on our street again. I bought these starburst looking things, strawbs & cream and those twizzler swirly things! Yum!! After class the girls went and got ice cream at Hagaan Daaz. SO GOOD. Dulce de Leche.. like always was amazing. Dint take the tram home since we took it on the way to class when it was 97!!! Oy. Got home.. and had the BEST THING EVER HAPPEN TO ME!!! I dont know if you guys know.. but Ive been having the hardest time sleeping here. One because its sooo hot no air conditioning, 2 because a mosquito buzzes in my ear every night and gives me a new bite, and 3 the bed is soo uncomfortable. WELL!!!! I knocked out 2 out of the 3 problems!! Senora gave me a FAN!!! YAYYY! & a plug in mosquito repelent thingy!!! IM SOO HAPPY! Never been more grateful in my liiiife. I think tonight Ill have a chance to sleep well for the first time!!
For dinner we had an "italian meal" as Sandra called it. It looked like enchiladas, but had the same ingredients as lasgna pretty much! LOTS OF CHEESE THOUGH! So good!! I loved it. Also had some coliflauer(sp?) that was pretty good as well!! Goodnight Sevilla!! Buenas Noches! <3
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
8th Grade chillin'
I love this whole sleeping in dealy. Its ideal for a perfect day...everyday..all day.
Lyssa and I made our famous sandwiiches for lunch in the sandwich griller.. so delish. Wlked to class while sweating my ass off literally..
Class from 4-8. Tina, Court, Carly, Lyssa and I were planning on going to Sex and the City 2... but it has not arrived in Sevilla yet.. DUMB. Lyssa went home after class, but court carly , tina, jenna, chrissy, ellie and I all went out to have Mojitos!!
After mojitos, we came up with this great idea to live it up 8th grade still and buy wine and go drink somewhere. Haha only in Spain would it be wine of course..We went to Corte Ingles which is the shopping mall in Sevilla and we all bought our own bottle for like less than 2 euros. We then decided we needed to eat. A few of us stopped in this cute little shop and got this AMAZING tasting pizza bread.The other half of the crowd decided they wanted to eat somewhere else.
Court, Carmander & I decided to go to PlAZA NUEVA and drink our wine tha we bought. First we sat on a bench and watched people dressed in gowns and full suits passed by. Then we decided it would be a good idea to sit up by the statue of one of the past Kings of Spain. We were drinking our wine and having a fabulous time.
All of a sudden this guy on bike decides to come and sit by us... awkward? His name was Juan Ricardo Rosado Alvarez.. he was a creeper. He followed ud to the Metro station.. we thought we lost him and right when we got off the metro he was on his bike there waiting for us almost.. kinda scary. So I started being a bitch and we called a cab right away!! The incident that happened on the tram that only court and car saw when I whipped out my map had me almost in tears laughing. Im home finally after a long day!! Cant wait to tour Jerez tomorrow and taste their famous Sherry wine, and then spend the rest of the day on the beaches of Cadiz!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lyssa and I made our famous sandwiiches for lunch in the sandwich griller.. so delish. Wlked to class while sweating my ass off literally..
Class from 4-8. Tina, Court, Carly, Lyssa and I were planning on going to Sex and the City 2... but it has not arrived in Sevilla yet.. DUMB. Lyssa went home after class, but court carly , tina, jenna, chrissy, ellie and I all went out to have Mojitos!!
After mojitos, we came up with this great idea to live it up 8th grade still and buy wine and go drink somewhere. Haha only in Spain would it be wine of course..We went to Corte Ingles which is the shopping mall in Sevilla and we all bought our own bottle for like less than 2 euros. We then decided we needed to eat. A few of us stopped in this cute little shop and got this AMAZING tasting pizza bread.The other half of the crowd decided they wanted to eat somewhere else.
Court, Carmander & I decided to go to PlAZA NUEVA and drink our wine tha we bought. First we sat on a bench and watched people dressed in gowns and full suits passed by. Then we decided it would be a good idea to sit up by the statue of one of the past Kings of Spain. We were drinking our wine and having a fabulous time.
All of a sudden this guy on bike decides to come and sit by us... awkward? His name was Juan Ricardo Rosado Alvarez.. he was a creeper. He followed ud to the Metro station.. we thought we lost him and right when we got off the metro he was on his bike there waiting for us almost.. kinda scary. So I started being a bitch and we called a cab right away!! The incident that happened on the tram that only court and car saw when I whipped out my map had me almost in tears laughing. Im home finally after a long day!! Cant wait to tour Jerez tomorrow and taste their famous Sherry wine, and then spend the rest of the day on the beaches of Cadiz!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Just a day, just an ordinary day
Nothing too special happened today. Woke up at 10:30 got ready for the day. Lyssa and I found this FABULOUS candy store!!! Its called GoLoco!! GoCrazy!! haha I love it. Got some yummies. Also went to MAS (Grocery store) and got some pretzles for inbetween meals.
Class from 4-8, got a 96% on my first exam, NO BIG D
The girls met up after class, started walking along the tram tracks. Wandered into a shoe store, and this awesome poster store! I bought a beautiful poster with a flaminco dancer on it(im obsessed) in a YELLOW dress! Its goregous and only 6 euros. The proceeded to walk home
Decided what our plan for tomorrow was: After class, Lyssa, Court, Carly, Tina & I are getting some Tapas, and then going to see SEX AND THE CITY # 2!!! Best part is that its in english!!! Boom roasted.
Class from 4-8, got a 96% on my first exam, NO BIG D
The girls met up after class, started walking along the tram tracks. Wandered into a shoe store, and this awesome poster store! I bought a beautiful poster with a flaminco dancer on it(im obsessed) in a YELLOW dress! Its goregous and only 6 euros. The proceeded to walk home
Decided what our plan for tomorrow was: After class, Lyssa, Court, Carly, Tina & I are getting some Tapas, and then going to see SEX AND THE CITY # 2!!! Best part is that its in english!!! Boom roasted.
Doing it BIG, like Texas.
Wednesday May 26th, 2010
I slept in till almost noon today, felt AMAZING!!! Got ready & Lyssa and I went exploring to go to the grocery store, only to find it closed for ciesta already.. oy ve. We did find this INSANE shop though... Imagine IKEA mixed with a dollar store. They had anything and everything for super cheap! Maybe they should call the store Made In China? They have really cute shoes though for only like 10 euros.. I may go back for them.
Then we walked to class, OWNED our first exam, and watched a movie the rest of the time for our first class. Second class (lit) was very interesting...kind of... learned all about the middle ages! Wooo. He asked what era we would like to live in if we could pick and my hand shot up and I said when Frank Sinatra was alive. Hahah he said I made him feel old! Too funny.
Got out of class at 8 met court and carly in the lobby, went and got a glass of wine at this small cafe outside and shared some assorted croquetas! Mine tasted like stuffing or reminded of Thanksgiving somehow! Delicious. Took the tram to Prado got off and decided to meet there at 10:30 to go out for the first time EVER in SPAIN!!! Woooo.
Lyssa and I went home and had the most AMAZING tasting arroz con pollo EVER. Seriously so good. Pigged out, got ready. Lyssa looked super cute and borrowed my leopard shirt. We met the girls at Prado and took a cab to Calle Betiz. It is basically a street lined with bars along the Guadalquivir River. We told our friends Tina and Joey that we would meet them at this bar called Long Island. Welllllll like always, we somehow got lost and couldnt find it. We asked these grandpas where it was and they helped us find it. Also being the typical 'us' we got there right as he was unlocking the door to open it. The first thing I noticed when we walked inside were the WHITE SOX & BEARS banners he had on the ceiling! How awesome is that?! Annnnd he was wearing a Chicago shirt!!! Carly & I ordered a Long Island, Court got Malibu and pineapple, and lyssa got 1 euro Tinto!! woowoo. Whats with baretenders giving us Kahlua for free? Hhaha, we all had one round of that & learned the sweetest Spaniard chant EVER. This is how it goes: Arriba! Abajo! Al Centro! ADENTRO!!! haha for you English speakers that translates as: UP! DOWN! MIDDLE! DRINK! Court got a Long Island. Carly & I were deciding what to have next. We found this list of shots. It had the 50 states and a different shot for each state. We decided to do it big like Texas, and got a round of Black Absinth. Dont worry it wasnt the stuff that makes you see things haha. BUT it was absolutely disgusting and WAY to strong. We had to order cokes to mix it with because it was to much. It stung. We left after that because, TINA wasnt even there! Everyone else in ISA was, but no Tina! We decided to go find her! We went to another bar that was called Big Ben, again packed with ISA kids and Americans haha. Someone told us Tina was by Plaza Nueva which was way too far, so we decided to stay for a bit. Court Car & I took a shot of rum, and about an hour later we left.
Some how we got the party cab! Hahah this guy was hilarious playing american music and cranked it up all the way. It was so much fun! Got home & skyped with my boo =] Made my night even better. <3>
I slept in till almost noon today, felt AMAZING!!! Got ready & Lyssa and I went exploring to go to the grocery store, only to find it closed for ciesta already.. oy ve. We did find this INSANE shop though... Imagine IKEA mixed with a dollar store. They had anything and everything for super cheap! Maybe they should call the store Made In China? They have really cute shoes though for only like 10 euros.. I may go back for them.
Then we walked to class, OWNED our first exam, and watched a movie the rest of the time for our first class. Second class (lit) was very interesting...kind of... learned all about the middle ages! Wooo. He asked what era we would like to live in if we could pick and my hand shot up and I said when Frank Sinatra was alive. Hahah he said I made him feel old! Too funny.
Got out of class at 8 met court and carly in the lobby, went and got a glass of wine at this small cafe outside and shared some assorted croquetas! Mine tasted like stuffing or reminded of Thanksgiving somehow! Delicious. Took the tram to Prado got off and decided to meet there at 10:30 to go out for the first time EVER in SPAIN!!! Woooo.
Lyssa and I went home and had the most AMAZING tasting arroz con pollo EVER. Seriously so good. Pigged out, got ready. Lyssa looked super cute and borrowed my leopard shirt. We met the girls at Prado and took a cab to Calle Betiz. It is basically a street lined with bars along the Guadalquivir River. We told our friends Tina and Joey that we would meet them at this bar called Long Island. Welllllll like always, we somehow got lost and couldnt find it. We asked these grandpas where it was and they helped us find it. Also being the typical 'us' we got there right as he was unlocking the door to open it. The first thing I noticed when we walked inside were the WHITE SOX & BEARS banners he had on the ceiling! How awesome is that?! Annnnd he was wearing a Chicago shirt!!! Carly & I ordered a Long Island, Court got Malibu and pineapple, and lyssa got 1 euro Tinto!! woowoo. Whats with baretenders giving us Kahlua for free? Hhaha, we all had one round of that & learned the sweetest Spaniard chant EVER. This is how it goes: Arriba! Abajo! Al Centro! ADENTRO!!! haha for you English speakers that translates as: UP! DOWN! MIDDLE! DRINK! Court got a Long Island. Carly & I were deciding what to have next. We found this list of shots. It had the 50 states and a different shot for each state. We decided to do it big like Texas, and got a round of Black Absinth. Dont worry it wasnt the stuff that makes you see things haha. BUT it was absolutely disgusting and WAY to strong. We had to order cokes to mix it with because it was to much. It stung. We left after that because, TINA wasnt even there! Everyone else in ISA was, but no Tina! We decided to go find her! We went to another bar that was called Big Ben, again packed with ISA kids and Americans haha. Someone told us Tina was by Plaza Nueva which was way too far, so we decided to stay for a bit. Court Car & I took a shot of rum, and about an hour later we left.
Some how we got the party cab! Hahah this guy was hilarious playing american music and cranked it up all the way. It was so much fun! Got home & skyped with my boo =] Made my night even better. <3>
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wellllll, yesturday May 24th.2010
was the first day of classes. I placed into advanced SURPRISE! Haha not really, I wouldnt expect anything less..not to be cocky or anything but 15 years.. c'mon. Anyway My and lyssa are both taking culture & civilization, and literature from 4-8. We have Jaime for both of the classes. He is pretty cool, he sweats alot though.. kind of stinks up the class.
Yesturday the cuatro amigas ate at this cafe very close to our college. We ordered three things to share: one of my favorites tortilla de patata, croquetas de SOMETHING?, andd these shrimps wrapped in what seemed to be egg noodles or some sort of delicious crunchy and of course tinto de verano. Yesturday we had class from 1-3 nd then 6-8 but we changed it today from 4-8. Yesturday in our hugre gap between classes, lyss and I went to go attempt t buy bus passes for the 4 amigos while the other two were in class. We ended up getting EXTREMELY lost.. what a suprise.. Definetely got our work out in that day!!
Had a meeting at Hotel Ligeros? sp? Whatev/ Cique our director talked about sevilla and gave us our weeks schedule. We then had the worst tapas of our lives and decided to eat. We found a cut cafe/bar and ordered delicious nachos to share. They were cooler ranch doritos with cheese and hot sauce on top. AMAZING. A glass of tinto de verano that was NOT 6 euros, only like 1,50. hahaaa. We all ordered some sort of sanwhich or buritto. Not too bad. Lyss and I took a taxi back to Juan Pablo and passed out as soon as we hit the sheets.
This morning May 25th, 2010
I slept in till 9:30, amazing. Took a shower. Lyssa and I decided to explore the park right across from our apartment, la parque de Maria Luisa. Absolutely gorgeous. AMAZING architecture as always. It had gorgeous flower gardens, gazebo's and two museums. One of architecure, and another with costumes! We will be visiting those sometime soon! We walked around for a while, ventured up to this cute gazebo where a bunch of couples wrote their names and cute love quotes. I want to come back some day with the love of my life(you know who you are) and make our mark :]. Also they attatched locks to the bars on the gazebo with little love quotes and names engraved in those as well. The concept was beautiful and I enjoyed it very much!
We walked back home and I straightened my hair for the first time! Yay! Lyssa scared me cause she said that it might blow up... it didnt! We then treked it to class for the first time. We left at 12:20 and got there right at 1 when class was starting.. what an insanely long walk.
We had class until 8 and met court and carly down in the lobby. We went to Plaza Nueva and bought tram/bus pases for 10 times; 7,50 euros. We then hopped the tram and spoke with this adorable old woman about america and how court was the only one in search for a spicy spanish man :]. Once we got off the tram we parted ways and walked the rest of the way home. The walk wasnt so bad then!!
When we got home, Lyssa and I had some dinner. Tonight for dinner we had some of the leftover chicken that I already wrote about, and something similar to lentil soup! So delish!! I was brave enough to try a little taste(by sticking my finger in it, shh dont tell) of Gazpacho. Gazpacho is a cold soup in which is made up of tomatoes, tons of other veggies, olive oil, salt and pepper all blended in the blended. Its then chilled in the fridge all day. It wasnt THAT bad, but I could never eat it as a soup. Maybe with tortilla chips?! yumm. Anyways, thats my day! Goodnight Sevilla <3
was the first day of classes. I placed into advanced SURPRISE! Haha not really, I wouldnt expect anything less..not to be cocky or anything but 15 years.. c'mon. Anyway My and lyssa are both taking culture & civilization, and literature from 4-8. We have Jaime for both of the classes. He is pretty cool, he sweats alot though.. kind of stinks up the class.
Yesturday the cuatro amigas ate at this cafe very close to our college. We ordered three things to share: one of my favorites tortilla de patata, croquetas de SOMETHING?, andd these shrimps wrapped in what seemed to be egg noodles or some sort of delicious crunchy and of course tinto de verano. Yesturday we had class from 1-3 nd then 6-8 but we changed it today from 4-8. Yesturday in our hugre gap between classes, lyss and I went to go attempt t buy bus passes for the 4 amigos while the other two were in class. We ended up getting EXTREMELY lost.. what a suprise.. Definetely got our work out in that day!!
Had a meeting at Hotel Ligeros? sp? Whatev/ Cique our director talked about sevilla and gave us our weeks schedule. We then had the worst tapas of our lives and decided to eat. We found a cut cafe/bar and ordered delicious nachos to share. They were cooler ranch doritos with cheese and hot sauce on top. AMAZING. A glass of tinto de verano that was NOT 6 euros, only like 1,50. hahaaa. We all ordered some sort of sanwhich or buritto. Not too bad. Lyss and I took a taxi back to Juan Pablo and passed out as soon as we hit the sheets.
This morning May 25th, 2010
I slept in till 9:30, amazing. Took a shower. Lyssa and I decided to explore the park right across from our apartment, la parque de Maria Luisa. Absolutely gorgeous. AMAZING architecture as always. It had gorgeous flower gardens, gazebo's and two museums. One of architecure, and another with costumes! We will be visiting those sometime soon! We walked around for a while, ventured up to this cute gazebo where a bunch of couples wrote their names and cute love quotes. I want to come back some day with the love of my life(you know who you are) and make our mark :]. Also they attatched locks to the bars on the gazebo with little love quotes and names engraved in those as well. The concept was beautiful and I enjoyed it very much!
We walked back home and I straightened my hair for the first time! Yay! Lyssa scared me cause she said that it might blow up... it didnt! We then treked it to class for the first time. We left at 12:20 and got there right at 1 when class was starting.. what an insanely long walk.
We had class until 8 and met court and carly down in the lobby. We went to Plaza Nueva and bought tram/bus pases for 10 times; 7,50 euros. We then hopped the tram and spoke with this adorable old woman about america and how court was the only one in search for a spicy spanish man :]. Once we got off the tram we parted ways and walked the rest of the way home. The walk wasnt so bad then!!
When we got home, Lyssa and I had some dinner. Tonight for dinner we had some of the leftover chicken that I already wrote about, and something similar to lentil soup! So delish!! I was brave enough to try a little taste(by sticking my finger in it, shh dont tell) of Gazpacho. Gazpacho is a cold soup in which is made up of tomatoes, tons of other veggies, olive oil, salt and pepper all blended in the blended. Its then chilled in the fridge all day. It wasnt THAT bad, but I could never eat it as a soup. Maybe with tortilla chips?! yumm. Anyways, thats my day! Goodnight Sevilla <3
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Spain days 4 & 5
Yesturday we speant ALL day in the ancient city of Toledo. It was about an hour south of Madrid and was absolutely AMAZING!!! The architecture was of gothic decent and also had many castle looking buildings. So gorgeous!! We first took a panoramic bus tour of the city but so many of the streets were very small so we also took a walking tour. We saw an ancient sinogogue that was built by muslims so the architecture looked almost like Alladin. We saw the church of St. Tomas in which there wa sa wedding so we did not have much time in the actual church to explore. The courtyard around the church was extravagent and had a beautiful garden with orange trees and big gorgeous flower bushes. We then took a break in a bar ordered a water and went to the bathroom. We continued walking (mostly up hill) and through little streets and we went into a smaller church that contained "El Greco's" most famous and well known painting called The Funeral. It was absolutely beautiful. El Greco used to live in Toledo so this painting was the original still on the wall of this itsy bitsy church. It was amazing. After this we walked to the second largest cathedral in Spain, absolutely gorgeous. It was huge and towered way over everything in Toledo. The last super along with many other historic figures and gargoyles were carvered into this ancient and beautiful cathedral. After seeing that gorgeous land mark, we all met in the main plaza. We broke for lunch and ate at an italian restaurant. 5 girls split spinach tortellini, a sausage pizza, and PAELLA! My very first paella, which is a traditional spanish meal. It consisted of flavoresome rice, chicken, these HUGE bean things, and 2 different kinds of peppers. Absolutely delicious. We then did some shopping and got some ice cream. We took the bus back to our hotel; Hotel Beatriz. What an elegant and beautiful hotel. Ellysia and I shared a room with a humorous girl named Kelly. The 4 girls went down to the lobby to eat dinner. We had a round of champagne which was accompanied by chips.. how NOT very european.. At 9 pm when the buffet opened we ventured into the other room and sat down. What we thought was going to be super cheap ended up being 27 euros EACH... holy canoli... It reminded me of country club food but espana style. It was extravagent and delicious. I enjoyed the white fish, and also the chocolate covered strawberries. Yummm. We were offered a free round of beer, which tasted absolutely AWFUL. Spain knows wine... but beer is a different story.. blefhgh.
We then were jsut wandering and exploring...avoiding censors of course.. pretending we could go in the pool but it was closed.. sad day. We searched for internet all night but couldnt get it.. so we went and had a glass of wine at the bar downstairs. That made us extremely tired so we went back planning on sleeping
Then I check the internet and it was working... oy ve. I talked to my boo for a long time and it was wonderful end to a fabulous day : ]. Goodnight Toldeo!!
Woke up this morning and had breakfast in the same spot we had our extravagent dinner. I found this AMAZING yogurt that I love. Its Dannon Coco.. so damn good. Had that a pastry, pineapple juice, and a hard bolied egg.
Got on the bus at 9 headed for Sevilla. YAY!!! I slept for the first hour, and then the next 2 hours after that too. We stopped in the middle of NO WHERE, where appaently Don Quijote was based out of. We stopped at a cafeteria that could fit like all 130 of us. Disgusting food end of story, but got batteries for camera finally!! Yayy.
We arrived in Sevilla around 5:30. We met our host mom Sandra, who is everything Id hoped shed be. She is so nice and so welcoming. Did I mention gorgeous?! Her home is located on this small street. It is a very large apartment with YELLOW otlinging aroudn the windows, how perfect is that? She has a large living room with HUGE beautiful paintings all over her house. Her two daughters both live and work in Madrid, we met them very quickly as they had to leave to catch the train back to Madrid. We also met her nighbor, cant remember his name but he was funny. My spanish speaking has been going SO well so far. Ive understood everything theyve said even with their accents and cut off words. The language is beautiful, I want to learn to speak the language just the way they do. I will by the end of this session.
We has dinner tonight it was flattened chicken that was marinated in salt, pepper, and olive oil. (they use olive oil on EVERYTHING literally... like toast, sandwichs, EVERYTHING.) The chicken also had almonds on top, sooo delicious and savory. She also served a green bean cassorole with salsa mixed in. Salsa meaning olive oil, salt, pepper, and some little bits of something I dont know what it was. We ate jsut ellysia and I. She informed us that food would jsut be out and you can heat it up when you are hungry, they dont really eat together.
Tomorrow she offered to drive us to la plaza nueva where we will be meeting ISA, so that we can get an idea of where we will be walking. We are taking our spanish placement test tomorrow mroning and picking our classes! Wish me luck!
We then were jsut wandering and exploring...avoiding censors of course.. pretending we could go in the pool but it was closed.. sad day. We searched for internet all night but couldnt get it.. so we went and had a glass of wine at the bar downstairs. That made us extremely tired so we went back planning on sleeping
Then I check the internet and it was working... oy ve. I talked to my boo for a long time and it was wonderful end to a fabulous day : ]. Goodnight Toldeo!!
Woke up this morning and had breakfast in the same spot we had our extravagent dinner. I found this AMAZING yogurt that I love. Its Dannon Coco.. so damn good. Had that a pastry, pineapple juice, and a hard bolied egg.
Got on the bus at 9 headed for Sevilla. YAY!!! I slept for the first hour, and then the next 2 hours after that too. We stopped in the middle of NO WHERE, where appaently Don Quijote was based out of. We stopped at a cafeteria that could fit like all 130 of us. Disgusting food end of story, but got batteries for camera finally!! Yayy.
We arrived in Sevilla around 5:30. We met our host mom Sandra, who is everything Id hoped shed be. She is so nice and so welcoming. Did I mention gorgeous?! Her home is located on this small street. It is a very large apartment with YELLOW otlinging aroudn the windows, how perfect is that? She has a large living room with HUGE beautiful paintings all over her house. Her two daughters both live and work in Madrid, we met them very quickly as they had to leave to catch the train back to Madrid. We also met her nighbor, cant remember his name but he was funny. My spanish speaking has been going SO well so far. Ive understood everything theyve said even with their accents and cut off words. The language is beautiful, I want to learn to speak the language just the way they do. I will by the end of this session.
We has dinner tonight it was flattened chicken that was marinated in salt, pepper, and olive oil. (they use olive oil on EVERYTHING literally... like toast, sandwichs, EVERYTHING.) The chicken also had almonds on top, sooo delicious and savory. She also served a green bean cassorole with salsa mixed in. Salsa meaning olive oil, salt, pepper, and some little bits of something I dont know what it was. We ate jsut ellysia and I. She informed us that food would jsut be out and you can heat it up when you are hungry, they dont really eat together.
Tomorrow she offered to drive us to la plaza nueva where we will be meeting ISA, so that we can get an idea of where we will be walking. We are taking our spanish placement test tomorrow mroning and picking our classes! Wish me luck!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Spain days # 1,2,3
My first day in Spain- May 19th 2010- May 20th
After unpacking and repacking about 3 different times, I finally was ready to leave for the trip of a lifetime. It was adventure time in SPAIN!! My parents and Ryan dropped me off at O'hare. I said my farewell's and held back my tears. For the first time I felt very alone, but at the same time extremely independent and like I was my own woman embarking on a new chapter of her life. Of course I would be the 'normal' looking person to be swabbed in the security line.. happens almost always. After that.. it ws smooth travels. My nervs started to get the best of me once I was at my terminal 2 hours early. My dad called and advised me to go get a drink. I called Ry and sat down in a bar by myself and had myself a double cranberry vodka. I was good after that! Haha.
We boarded the plane and I got lucky with a window seat and a very friendly neighbor. Yuri a different study abroad director and I giggled the entire way there, well when we werent sleepign or eating of course. For dinner they served a shrimp salad that I was not brave enough to try, a rice/chicken/pea mixture, the cutest triangle of delicious cheese, bread, and carrot cake. I ordered a water and already noticed the absence of ice. I will miss ice.
8 hours later, we landed in Madrid around 7:40 a.m. I was so excited to finally be in Spain!!! Went through customs without a problem and claimed my baggage without a problem. According to ourr specific directions we were given from ISA, it said to meet them outside of baggage claim at terminal 1. Well I walked right otusid eof baggage claim and just kind of figured I was in terminal 1. I took a seat, and a girl sat down right next to me with an ISA luggage tag. Gina and I started talking, and after about an hour decided to go look for the ISA sign. There was no one to be found.. We then realized that we were definetely not in terminal 1. We then hopped on a bus and arrived at terminal 1 where we found a HUGE group of ISA travelers.THANK GOD! We then waited on a few more late travelers (one being my roomie Ellysia.. pronounced Eeelyssa.. haha) We got off the bus in modern town Madrid. Our hotel was down a very small coblestone street. It was called NH Hotel Lagasca.
This hotel is BEYOND fabulous. 4 star, and completely stylish. Our two twin beds were pushed together so we had superly awesome roomie bonding time. Once we got settled, we decided to go to lunch. We started walking around and found a cute cafe called Cafe y Te. We ordered the most delicious tinto de verano (fanta mixed with wine) and a ham and cheese panini. Something useful I leartned at this cafe is NOT to smile at anyone. Its rediculous I know, but just dont.. you look like an idiot American. The only time you smile at them is when they smile first.. which is very RARE.
We ventured back to the hotel passing up cute shops on the way and also some familiar ones like Sephora and the North Face. When we got back we decided we wanted to take a shorttttt nap.. which they advised us not to do. It turned out lasting around an hour and a half and was the BEST decision ever. At 5:30 I went on a bus tour and poor Lyssa was feeling sick. I sat across from my two newest friends Courtney and Carly. We got a bus tour of the central of Madrid including the Plaza de mayor and also El Palacio Real and much more. I ended up putting my sunglasses on and kind of started to feel my head get heavy and drop. I was falling in and out of sleep while court and car laughed at me.
We got back and I went back to my room to see if lyssa was okay. We then attended the mandatory meeting at 7 and received informative booklets all about everywhere we would be traveling times, a calendar, food places, and many more useful resources. After the meeting lyssa, court, carly, and I went to dinner at the most FABULOUS pizzaria in Madrid. Named Il-something? Our waiter Manuel was so adoreable and could speak Spanish, Italian, annnnnd English. The fab four ordered 2 margharita pizza's and shared them. We also split a half a bottle of a delicious Chardonnay. That night we all clicked and from being extremely delirious we laughed at the most hilarious things... guess you had to be there. Crunchies...jsut look at the window if you dont understand!...Man-U-elll? (southern accent) By the way.. all of my friends here are from down south and it is so cute! All the girls found out about my TERRIBLE cutting skills that night when I was attempting to cut through the cracker crust... pretty funny over all. After dinner, we headed back to Lagasca and decided we would try out our free 30 minutes of internet in the lobby. Lyssa and I split the 30 minutes and set messages to our families and our boyfriends. I didnt think it would be this hard to be away from the people you love! I miss them already.. Internet access is so limited here and electricity and water are used much less frequently than in america. After that we went to bed to cure our jetlag and because we had to be up at 7:17 (lyssa sets her alarm on funky numbers just like me!) Goodnight Madrid.
May 21st, 2010
Day #2 in Madrid
This mornign I woke up at 7:17 to straighten my hair, only to be warned by lyssa that my straightner may catch on fire. So I literally turned it on for about 20 seconds.. straightened my bangs and was done. I left my hair wild today. We went downstairs for breakfast at 8am and the amoutnof food and varieties were extensive and elaborate. I snagged some pineapple, kiwi, coco yogurt(which was amazing), a banana, this chocolate danish looking thing, and of course... ESPRESSO!! They didnt even serve regular coffee, just an espresso machine. I was in heaven. The breakfast was amazing, and lyss devoured her last bowl of cereal for about a month. They dont really do breakfast in Spain, especially Sevilla. It is usually just coffee and toast.
After breakfast we came back to our room to chill for a bit before our long day ahead of us. At 9am, we boarded a bus that took us to the largest art museum in the ENTIRE world; el Museo Nacional Del Prado. The fab four stuck together all day and received a guided tour from Carlos in spanish. We saw almost all of the orignales that were painted by “El Greco”, Goya, and Velasquez. My absolute favorite was probably El Greco and how incorporated el espiritu santo (what looks like a peace dove) in almost all of his paintings. After a two hour tour there, we headed over the royal palace of Spain; El Palacio Real. This palace has housed almost all of Spain's Kings and Queen's since a little before the 19th century. We walked about 2 miles to get there, but it was SO worth it. We received another guided tour from Carlos in spanish and saw the outside and inside of the royal palace. We saw a few of the many rooms in the palace, and boy were they extravagent. With murals on every ceiling, and gold lining all around it was an amazing thing to see. My faovirte room was of course “The Yellow Room” which is where the King would study, the porcelin room, and also the room where the thrown was.
After our tour there we were free to go for the rest of the afternoon. The four girls decided to go get our very first tapas in Spain. We walked to a small tapas bar and I ordered a two different tapas and water(sin gas, or without carbonation) I ordered a spread cheese with spicy sausage tapa, and a chicken with salsa tapa, they were both delicious, and the water just made it all that better. It was extremely hot today!! After tapas we started looking for a metro to take back to the hotel and stopped in a few boutiques on the way back. We got on the metro at plaza del sol and got off at Goya. Using courtneys gps on her iphone we managed to get extremely lost a FEW times. We gave ourselves our own tour of Madrid and saw a lot more of it than we wanted to. With aching feet and crabbiness we decided to stop for some helado. Court and I got dulce de leche, lyssa got strawberry and Carly got ferrero (chocolate ish) It made us feel better. After thinking we were going in the right direction for the millionth time, we just decided to take a cab. 4,10 euros later we were back at Lagasca. After a much needed very late ciesta 3 hour nap, the girls decided to go out for dinner. We walked up and down the main rooad by our hotel and decided eventually to check out the cute underground bar to see if they had food. We some how stumbled upon the most adorable little authentic restaurant/bar EVER. Our waiter Pepe, was so friendly and very helpful. He spoke pretty good english and told us what was good. Courtney and I split a meal called caraques de jamon (sp?), Carly ordered fried chicken and these AMAZING homemade fries, and Lyssa ordered un tortilla de queso(a toritilla in Spain is an omelete). Of course we ordered a pitcher oF Sangria, which was also quite amazing. After our second pitcher and some in depth conversation about alcohol, and Greek life, we decided it was time to go. Welllll Pepe thought otherwise. He informed us that a man would be coming in soon to play guitar and asked us if we would like to stay. We obviously said YES!!!! He brought us a round of free Kulua shots and we waited for the guitarist to come. This joke that Pepe told us will stick with me forever.. he said where are you from? We said el estados unidos (usa) and he said ME TOO, and then goes my parents are estas-dos-unidos.. you will only get that if you speak Spanish (ahem..Carly) haha it was too funny. Before long, the guitarrist showed up and started playing some authentic yet freaking HILARIOUS music. It was like a comedy show and a music show all in one. Around 1 am we decided we should head back because breakfast was at 8 and our bus to Toledo leaves at 9am. Goodnight & Adios Madrid!!! I wish we could stay longer...
After unpacking and repacking about 3 different times, I finally was ready to leave for the trip of a lifetime. It was adventure time in SPAIN!! My parents and Ryan dropped me off at O'hare. I said my farewell's and held back my tears. For the first time I felt very alone, but at the same time extremely independent and like I was my own woman embarking on a new chapter of her life. Of course I would be the 'normal' looking person to be swabbed in the security line.. happens almost always. After that.. it ws smooth travels. My nervs started to get the best of me once I was at my terminal 2 hours early. My dad called and advised me to go get a drink. I called Ry and sat down in a bar by myself and had myself a double cranberry vodka. I was good after that! Haha.
We boarded the plane and I got lucky with a window seat and a very friendly neighbor. Yuri a different study abroad director and I giggled the entire way there, well when we werent sleepign or eating of course. For dinner they served a shrimp salad that I was not brave enough to try, a rice/chicken/pea mixture, the cutest triangle of delicious cheese, bread, and carrot cake. I ordered a water and already noticed the absence of ice. I will miss ice.
8 hours later, we landed in Madrid around 7:40 a.m. I was so excited to finally be in Spain!!! Went through customs without a problem and claimed my baggage without a problem. According to ourr specific directions we were given from ISA, it said to meet them outside of baggage claim at terminal 1. Well I walked right otusid eof baggage claim and just kind of figured I was in terminal 1. I took a seat, and a girl sat down right next to me with an ISA luggage tag. Gina and I started talking, and after about an hour decided to go look for the ISA sign. There was no one to be found.. We then realized that we were definetely not in terminal 1. We then hopped on a bus and arrived at terminal 1 where we found a HUGE group of ISA travelers.THANK GOD! We then waited on a few more late travelers (one being my roomie Ellysia.. pronounced Eeelyssa.. haha) We got off the bus in modern town Madrid. Our hotel was down a very small coblestone street. It was called NH Hotel Lagasca.
This hotel is BEYOND fabulous. 4 star, and completely stylish. Our two twin beds were pushed together so we had superly awesome roomie bonding time. Once we got settled, we decided to go to lunch. We started walking around and found a cute cafe called Cafe y Te. We ordered the most delicious tinto de verano (fanta mixed with wine) and a ham and cheese panini. Something useful I leartned at this cafe is NOT to smile at anyone. Its rediculous I know, but just dont.. you look like an idiot American. The only time you smile at them is when they smile first.. which is very RARE.
We ventured back to the hotel passing up cute shops on the way and also some familiar ones like Sephora and the North Face. When we got back we decided we wanted to take a shorttttt nap.. which they advised us not to do. It turned out lasting around an hour and a half and was the BEST decision ever. At 5:30 I went on a bus tour and poor Lyssa was feeling sick. I sat across from my two newest friends Courtney and Carly. We got a bus tour of the central of Madrid including the Plaza de mayor and also El Palacio Real and much more. I ended up putting my sunglasses on and kind of started to feel my head get heavy and drop. I was falling in and out of sleep while court and car laughed at me.
We got back and I went back to my room to see if lyssa was okay. We then attended the mandatory meeting at 7 and received informative booklets all about everywhere we would be traveling times, a calendar, food places, and many more useful resources. After the meeting lyssa, court, carly, and I went to dinner at the most FABULOUS pizzaria in Madrid. Named Il-something? Our waiter Manuel was so adoreable and could speak Spanish, Italian, annnnnd English. The fab four ordered 2 margharita pizza's and shared them. We also split a half a bottle of a delicious Chardonnay. That night we all clicked and from being extremely delirious we laughed at the most hilarious things... guess you had to be there. Crunchies...jsut look at the window if you dont understand!...Man-U-elll? (southern accent) By the way.. all of my friends here are from down south and it is so cute! All the girls found out about my TERRIBLE cutting skills that night when I was attempting to cut through the cracker crust... pretty funny over all. After dinner, we headed back to Lagasca and decided we would try out our free 30 minutes of internet in the lobby. Lyssa and I split the 30 minutes and set messages to our families and our boyfriends. I didnt think it would be this hard to be away from the people you love! I miss them already.. Internet access is so limited here and electricity and water are used much less frequently than in america. After that we went to bed to cure our jetlag and because we had to be up at 7:17 (lyssa sets her alarm on funky numbers just like me!) Goodnight Madrid.
May 21st, 2010
Day #2 in Madrid
This mornign I woke up at 7:17 to straighten my hair, only to be warned by lyssa that my straightner may catch on fire. So I literally turned it on for about 20 seconds.. straightened my bangs and was done. I left my hair wild today. We went downstairs for breakfast at 8am and the amoutnof food and varieties were extensive and elaborate. I snagged some pineapple, kiwi, coco yogurt(which was amazing), a banana, this chocolate danish looking thing, and of course... ESPRESSO!! They didnt even serve regular coffee, just an espresso machine. I was in heaven. The breakfast was amazing, and lyss devoured her last bowl of cereal for about a month. They dont really do breakfast in Spain, especially Sevilla. It is usually just coffee and toast.
After breakfast we came back to our room to chill for a bit before our long day ahead of us. At 9am, we boarded a bus that took us to the largest art museum in the ENTIRE world; el Museo Nacional Del Prado. The fab four stuck together all day and received a guided tour from Carlos in spanish. We saw almost all of the orignales that were painted by “El Greco”, Goya, and Velasquez. My absolute favorite was probably El Greco and how incorporated el espiritu santo (what looks like a peace dove) in almost all of his paintings. After a two hour tour there, we headed over the royal palace of Spain; El Palacio Real. This palace has housed almost all of Spain's Kings and Queen's since a little before the 19th century. We walked about 2 miles to get there, but it was SO worth it. We received another guided tour from Carlos in spanish and saw the outside and inside of the royal palace. We saw a few of the many rooms in the palace, and boy were they extravagent. With murals on every ceiling, and gold lining all around it was an amazing thing to see. My faovirte room was of course “The Yellow Room” which is where the King would study, the porcelin room, and also the room where the thrown was.
After our tour there we were free to go for the rest of the afternoon. The four girls decided to go get our very first tapas in Spain. We walked to a small tapas bar and I ordered a two different tapas and water(sin gas, or without carbonation) I ordered a spread cheese with spicy sausage tapa, and a chicken with salsa tapa, they were both delicious, and the water just made it all that better. It was extremely hot today!! After tapas we started looking for a metro to take back to the hotel and stopped in a few boutiques on the way back. We got on the metro at plaza del sol and got off at Goya. Using courtneys gps on her iphone we managed to get extremely lost a FEW times. We gave ourselves our own tour of Madrid and saw a lot more of it than we wanted to. With aching feet and crabbiness we decided to stop for some helado. Court and I got dulce de leche, lyssa got strawberry and Carly got ferrero (chocolate ish) It made us feel better. After thinking we were going in the right direction for the millionth time, we just decided to take a cab. 4,10 euros later we were back at Lagasca. After a much needed very late ciesta 3 hour nap, the girls decided to go out for dinner. We walked up and down the main rooad by our hotel and decided eventually to check out the cute underground bar to see if they had food. We some how stumbled upon the most adorable little authentic restaurant/bar EVER. Our waiter Pepe, was so friendly and very helpful. He spoke pretty good english and told us what was good. Courtney and I split a meal called caraques de jamon (sp?), Carly ordered fried chicken and these AMAZING homemade fries, and Lyssa ordered un tortilla de queso(a toritilla in Spain is an omelete). Of course we ordered a pitcher oF Sangria, which was also quite amazing. After our second pitcher and some in depth conversation about alcohol, and Greek life, we decided it was time to go. Welllll Pepe thought otherwise. He informed us that a man would be coming in soon to play guitar and asked us if we would like to stay. We obviously said YES!!!! He brought us a round of free Kulua shots and we waited for the guitarist to come. This joke that Pepe told us will stick with me forever.. he said where are you from? We said el estados unidos (usa) and he said ME TOO, and then goes my parents are estas-dos-unidos.. you will only get that if you speak Spanish (ahem..Carly) haha it was too funny. Before long, the guitarrist showed up and started playing some authentic yet freaking HILARIOUS music. It was like a comedy show and a music show all in one. Around 1 am we decided we should head back because breakfast was at 8 and our bus to Toledo leaves at 9am. Goodnight & Adios Madrid!!! I wish we could stay longer...
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