Amante de Barcelona

Well... Ive done it  again people. I've waited nearly an entire week and haven't told you about my last adventure... Though it seems every day is an adventure for me in España! 

This week is our final week of the first month and it's been pretty busy. We've had two presentations, a group project (we had to record a video... I sang a Katy perry song ...in English. My class mate pretended to be Enrique Iglesias...), etc etc ... So needless to say... Busy week. 

But first things first... Barcelona... 

Ohhh Barcelona , dear, sweet, magnificent, wonderful, lovely, Barcelona! Me encanta mucho Barcelona. I know what you're thinking... How could you fall in love with the city that is world renowned for being one of the top 3 cities in the world for pick pocketing?? Well let me tell you, yo tenía mucho miedo over this just like every Typical American tourist would... But I was so overly careful that I never felt unsafe, minus riding on the metro, but even then... If You keep your travel wits about you.. No pasa nada. 

First off Trip started on a Thursday ... So I missed one day of class because we literally had a 7 hour bus ride from 11-morning time. Talk about awful. Riding by bus sucks ... Just FYI. We finally got there and I looked to Allie and said yay.. And she said... You know we can't check in until 12 right ???? And I literally thought I was about To fall over and die, because it was 8 o'clock and we had to find ways to stay occupied until 12. Allie and decided to go ahead and take a taxi to the hostel which ended up being SUPER dope (the generator, one of top 3 out of 50 in Barcelona... Just for future reference)...  Anyways super dope hostel but found out we actually couldn't check in until 2... So we locked our belongings up and did what girls do best ... SHOPPED ... And saw Barcelona too of course. I bought a swim top (pictured) and a couple of other things...

We decided we would hit up the beach later... So we literally did all of this for hours until we decided to have lunch and head back to the hostel for our rooms. 

Once checked in we showered and hit up the beach.... Beach life in Barcelona ... Is where it's at. Now we were also told to come back for the discotecas at night. We met a couple of guys from England (and Wales) pictured, and they invited us to hang out with them later that evening.

I was a tad smitten with the one from Wales ... so we decided we would check it out later. We went back to the hostel, got ready and headed back to the beach.  Allie and I are professionals with the metro system in Barcelona. I'd say we know it like the back of our hand. 

We went to Bestial... Met up with the guys ended up splitting up for the night...because I wanted to spend some time with the guy I was smitten with.. Allie took a taxi home... I ended up getting LITERALLY pushed to the road at 539 in the morning because I *sorry I'm a very blatantly honest person... Continue reading at your disgression*. I'm a make out girl. I don't have sex. I don't do anything sexual--- i will kiss you if we get along and we've just met ... That's as far as it goes , most men think I'm kidding or that I'm some sort of challenge or prize... They like to see how far they can really get... Sometimes its easy for me to scope these guys out... Sometimes I fall for stupid sweet lines and charming looks... Oh and did I say welsh accents ???  So this guy ends up wanting sexual pleasure ... Not my MO... He literally kicked me out at 530 AM in the streets of a city I didn't know. I had 9% battery life  left on my iPhone and had no idea where I was.. It was by the grace of a god higher than me that j made it back to my hostel that morning. I told the taxi driver that took me. "Tu has salvado mi vida". He laughed. I didn't. 

Anyways... So that's not your usual Friday night, but thank God I don't drink or otherwise I would have never made it. 

Allie and I hit up Parc Güell the following afternoon. Talk about struggle bus city. Getting to the top is so steep they installed outdoor escalators. I'm going to have to say this... Not even worth it. I LOVE GAUDIS work... Huge fan, but you know how you go to an overcrowded theme park and wait hours and hours to ride your favorite ride ??? Yeah ... Too many people in a small area trying to take a picture of the same thing. I got my picture with the wall though ... Which apparently, if you don't you weren't ever in Barca?? Did you know ? I didn't. Glad I got a photo. Allie didn't however so I guess that means she wasn't really there! 😂😂😂

Allie and stuck together all day.. We went back to the hotel afterwards had comida, met some really cool guys in the hostel cafe -- they were from North Carolina and backpacking through Europe! Very cool dudes. They invited us to Opium that night -- we told them we would go and meet them there. Boy do I love to dance. 

We got ready headed out for a night on the town. We had so much fun. Allie bumped into a guy from France on the dance floor and he invited us to the VIP section. We could see everything from there. Free red bull-- whatever we liked. That was fun for a while, but we decided to move around a little more and meet some more people . Discoteca dancing is so refreshing... It's nothing like bumping and grinding and dirty dancing. It's a lot of fun.  

We kind of weaved in and out of people all night had a really good time... Went home around 430. Passed out.. 

And never woke up in time on Sunday for Sagrada Familia. 

We have decided we will return.

I fell in ❤️ with Barca because it's so full of life --- I just wanted to stay there and continue exploring all of it.  

Other than that... I've been homesick for a couple of days. We don't realize how much we take for granted, like water for example. You pay for it everywhere around here. Unless in casa, in restaurants... You pay. 

I miss my diet from back home. Mostly I miss leafy greens: spinach, kale. I also miss my berries and Greek yogurt and carrots!!! 

I called my best friend and had a good cry session today. I also went to mcdonalds and had a cheeseburger. I tried not to be to hard on myself about it, but honestly it's the only food here that makes me feel remotely close to being home. 

I love you all.

xoxo

M. 

Allie and I 

Allie, the England guys, me

Cool giraffe statue in the city 

First night out in Barca

Huge plaza ❤️

Güell Parc 

With the wall. I was there. MIRA!!!! Look!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

PS. 

Really funny side note... People think Im from Spain all of the time. I mean.. Natives will ask me sometimes because I'm morena. :) however, this story really takes the cake... Allie and I were riding the metro to the beach one night around 130. There were tons of people from America on the same metro and they were all drunk and acting a fool. We decided that if they happened to speak to us... We would pretend we had NO idea what they were saying!!! Anyways one of the guys drunkenly bumped into me and began saying he was sorry. Allie and I acted like we had no idea what he was saying.. So he proceeded to say "LOW SI-EN-TOE" (I'm sorry in Spanish) -- I spelled it this way because he said it broken just like this, very loud, very slow. I proceeded to say in my best Spanish accent. "No pasa nada". He tried to continue to speak English to us and we looked at him as if he were retarded (basically insinuating we had no idea what he was saying) ... Then the little girls sitting next to me.. Obviously at a more proficient level in her speaking and understanding started asking us questions about where we were from... How sorry she was about their behavior. Allie and I were both actually able to pull off that we were Spanish... How I have no idea... But I guess Americans will believe anything if you're good enough. Thought you all would like to know. Very funny experience. 

Segovia.

Hello my friends,

It's been such a long time since we visited Segovia-- I've just been really busy enjoying myself this weekend in Barcelona-- which is probably one of the most fun cities I've ever been to. 

Segovia-- We took a day trip to Segovia as a whole group. This time we didn't have to stay together the whole time, which is nice because I find it difficult to travel in big groups. 

The first thing we saw when driving into Segovia was the massive aqueduct ---  It was used throughout the centuries and preserved in excellent condition. It provided water to Segovia until the mid 19th century. Now it stands as the city's most important architectural landmark.

After taking a few pictures of and with the aqueduct, we took a tour of the Segovia Catedral-- absolutely beautiful - pictures don't do it any justice. Then we moved along to El Castillo de Torre Alcázar, house to Los Reyes. We then took a trip down a ton of stairs into a field below the castle. The view was amazing. We chilled out here for a minute and took some fun pictures. I've found a great group of girls to adventure with while I'm here. The four of us stuck together during the day in Segovia. Catalina, Allie, and Rebecca -- "the curly crew" because we all have curly hair. 

We went to have ice cream in the plaza after the castle! First ice cream in Spain for Catalina and myself. There were some little boys kicking a soccer ball around the plaza and the ball came to me a couple of times so would kick it back to them. I kicked it one time and got the ball stuck in a tree. Pretty comical if you ask me, but even worse--- I forgot where I was for a second and ran to the little boy and said I was sorry and I would help him get it --- in English-- he didn't understand a word. Woops!!! We did eventually get the ball, after breaking a tree branch and nearly falling over-- but eventually all was well.

After playing in the plaza for a little while -- we had dinner at Restaurante Jose! I took pictures of the food- I had ternera stuffed zuchinni ( to die for) and bacalao, which is cooked cod- very popular dish in Spain. Dinner got a little crazy -- I was reminded once again, why sobriety takes priority in my life.

After dinner we were supposed to get on the bus and head back, but poor, sweet Rebecca got locked in the bathroom for 40 minutes! Apparently the lock malfunctioned-- weird. The restaurant owner finally called a locksmith-- got her out and then we headed home.

It was a really long day, but very worth it.

I have just now gotten to a point where I'm missing American food. There's so much bread, meat, cheese. I just want spinach and kale and fresh fruits.

More about Barcelona to come! I hope everyone is well!

Siempre amor,

M.

Standing next to the aqueduct

In front of the cathedral.

Selfie and the castle.

Having a blast!

And the castle! 

Curly crew!!! Rebecca, myself, Allie, Catalina! ❤️

Dinner! 😍

:)) dinner ! 

PS. 

Daddy if youre reading this... I love You so much! Happy fathers day!

xoxo

It's been a while.

Hola amigos,

I know it's been a while since my last post. During the school week there's just really not much exciting going on.

Anyways, this past Monday, we started our classes.  They placed me in a pretty low level, which kind of disappointed me at first because I have a really high vocabulary, and my grammar is good, BUT I am almost positive it's because I am so scared when I speak.  My fluency isn't good. I told my professors from back home and one of them simply said.... #trust. Ha ha, so I'm trusting the placement.

The classroom setting here is very different to back home. It's super informal. You address the teachers by their first names. Classes are interactive and fun. I think I could move up a level, but at this point I think it's in my best interest to stay.

I hung out with Paula, my house mamá's granddaughter, made some new friends. I also had a manicure and pedicure during the middle of the week with some of my girl friends here. That was really fun and SUPER cheap. 18 euros/20$ for a manicure and a pedicure.

So classes are Monday-Friday 9-130. I have comida everyday from 2-whenever at my house, go to the gym sometimes afterwards, and sometimes just take a nap.  We have light homework assignments thus far.

A part of our curriculum is fulfilling these activities that we do with the school for a grade. It's worth like 5% of your grade. I decided to go with this musical "Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar"for one of my activities. You guys, I don't know what I was thinking. I've never really been into musicals....and this one..was awfull...and FOUR HOURS LONG. So that was fun....We ended up not getting back until around 2 AM. Which sucks because I hiked all day Saturday.

Saturday :Karina, Brian, Logan, and me were fortunate enough to get connected with Pisa Montañas.  They are a group that goes on a lot of different hikes. Brian and Karina's house mom is a member and she set it up to where we could go on this 16 km hike through the Sierra de Guadarrama. Our hike started in El Atazar and ended in Cervera de Buitrago hiked a total of 5 hours and 30 and reached an elevation of 1400 m. I can honestly say...Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, because we all got cool t-shirts to go with our journey. I have so many awesome pictures. It was absolutely worth every minute. I made some new friends, learned some new Spanish slang, practiced my Spanish, got so see some beautiful stuff, and did something here that was a little off that beaten path (that a normal "tourist" wouldn't have the opportunity to do)

Also funny story. Met this really cool girl hiking Lourdes. She was obviously an expert hiker, full of energy, just really fun and exciting to be around. She referred to herself as a una cabra which means goat, because she kept darting from here to there as we were going down the mountain. I was telling everyone what she said and I accidentally said cabrón instead of cabra.... cabrón means bastard. Everyone laughed at me for my mistake, and Brian said, "that will be the first of many, and at least it wasn't worse"...but still...so embarrassed.

We didn't get home until 2 in the morning. I was exhausted. I threw all of my clothes into the dirty clothes hamper, put my pjs on, and crawled into my bed.

I just woke up and it's 11:41 am. All I want is a good cup of coffee. I'm not home sick in the sense of wanting to be home by any means, but I definitely miss certain little things about being home.


Yesterday was a really cool experience. I learned what to say if you get lost "del perdio al río" -- which means from lost to the river. Back before there were any significant land marks, the rivers were used to guide people in the right direction. I must have found my river four years ago. I don't ever feel lost anymore.


Until next time,

Mucho Amor,



M.

mani-pedi time 

results

Elena y yo

During intermission at the musical

BAMFs. :D

Joseph and Lourdes

Karina y yo

I should have done a pistol, Cally! Next time

action shot

Beautiful view.

Flores

Karina and I fell in love with this dog. We named him Pepe.

After our day long hiking adventure. We were tired.

The importance of Family

I think today's theme was family. Since I have been here I have noticed that family is very important in their culture.  The closeness, the love. My house mamá has been so sweet, so loving. They call it cariño here in Spain. Ella es muy cariñoso. Probably one of my favorite words. It describes her perfectly.

I told her last night when I got home that I wanted to go to mass with her this morning.  She seemed SO excited about it, and told me that there was a celebration tomorrow at her son's house for her granddaughter's very belated cumpleaños.  I was nervous and excited at the same time because I knew I would enjoy it, but I also knew, it would probably be overwhelming since Mamá is one of 6 sisters, and most of them would be there, including the son and daughter-in-law who speak Spanish.

We went to mass at 10 in the morning. The mass was very beautiful.  I had a hard time understanding it because the priest speaks fast.  I have made it a goal to have the prayers down before I leave.  My favorite part of the mass was definitely the singing. Hearing all of the songs in Spanish was so beautiful <3. Those that know me well, know I don't drink, and also know why I don't drink...I haven't had a sip in almost a long time now, and a couple of days ;).  Anyways, I was a little worried about explaining to mamá why I don't drink and why I wasn't going to take the wine, but for whatever reason, the church didn't give the wine with eucharist and I didn't have to even begin to explain.


funny side note: MISA is mass in spanish. They can't pronounce the SH in Misha-- so everyone in the family calls me Misa. It's so cute, and cool. So basically I'm just...Mass. 

After mass we had churros con chocolate.  MUY BUENO. If you ever have a chance....when in Spain....try them. tan rico. MMMMM. Besides all of that, the best part of the day was sharing stories and time with mamá.  She told me about her late husband. I told her about my brother.  Every time I am amazed at how much I am learning and understanding and really able to communicate on such a deep level in Spanish.  I can communicate emotions, and feelings. It's nice to be able to share with someone who you care for.  I won't put mamá's personal business out there, but she was very moved by the death of my little brother...she really could only say "que horror"-- and what else could someone say.

After churros and chocolate we went on a mission to find a castrada for the celebration later this afternoon. We went to one of my house ma's favorite pastelerías because she knows the family very well.  We purchased the castrada and returned to the house to get ready for the family celebration.  We left the house around 130. I rode with mamá and 4 of her sister's to get to the party.  I'm not going to lie, it was a little intimidating, but it made me think of all of the time's my siblings and I get together and over power the conversation when we have one new person hanging out with the five of us.

Honestly, it made me love and appreciate the experience so much more. God definitely placed me in the right home.  A mama with a huge family, a big heart, and an understanding of loss and triumph.  Her family was a breath of fresh air.  We enjoyed VERY authentic paella amarilla y paella negra.  Gosh was it good, way better than the paella we got randomly a couple of nights ago.  I met her 4 sisters, her daughter-in-law, her son, her two nietas, the parents of her daughter-in-law, and her daughter-in-law's grandmother who has 103 years, and Pablo-- the little girls Tio. Pablo knows a good bit of English, and the girls do, too.  Of course I automatically gravitated to the girls being 8 and 10 ---and we played with water balloons, put together a doll house, and went to the park.  Pablo helped me with bridging the gap sometimes, and we both taught and quizzed the girls on their English.  That was a really fun game to play.  I kind of loved it .....A LOT.

Carolta y yo

Con mamá

<3 darling.

<3

new friends.

After playing in the park with the niñas we got back to realize that mamá had left with her sisters.  They wanted to get back for the procession de corpus cristi, so I caught a ride back with her other sister that stayed behind. I was planning on going to the festival but ended up meeting up with friends from the trip on Calle Mayor.   I spent some time with them and then after Logan and I were walking to eat at this restaurant I've been dying to try.  We got there to find the cops searching 3 people up against the side of the building.  We hung around until we found out why the 3 people were being searched. It seemed like they might have been smoking weed, or hash outside (which is illegal). I'll post pics.

The cops were a lot of fun to look at, but I was starting to get really hungry so we went to the restaurant....and don't judge....but I definitely ordered a cheeseburger..and it was the BEST CHEESEBURGER I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE. I MEAN IT. Sorry I was too busy scarfing it down to share a picture with you. It was huge, don't worry daddy, I didn't waste it..Logan ate half of it. ;)

chris through the glass.

After dinner we went to the plaza...and I got my flower for the day.  It was a really good day, and I was good in it.  I'm thankful for memories like the ones made today, all of them, big small, and I'm proud of myself...for never giving up, always staying positive, and always surrounding myself with people that do this when I have trouble doing it myself.

tercera flor. 

Today I learned:
How important family is here.
How big my mamá's heart really is.
That kids are cooler than adults in the states and in Spain, myself not included because i'm obviously a kid.

I love you all big time. Classes start tomorrow morning, so I need to get some sleep.


Buenas noches de españa.

xoxo

M.

Toledo, Toledo.

I was so tired after a long day yesterday, which is the reason for not posting about Madrid and Toledo in the same post.  Plus, I'd really like for my readers to have an opportunity to absorb one post before trying to process a whole lot of information at one time.

Yesterday morning, that is 6 de Junio (6 of June)-- My friend Logan and I met at the estación de tren and purchased tickets to Madrid on the cercanias. The cercanias is a train that circles around the areas of the region of Madrid. (Madrid is a region, but there is also the city of Madrid, it seems confusing at first but it's really not once you are aware). We rode the circanias to Atocha, and from Atocha we purchased tickets to Toledo.  We were under the impression that a lot of other people from the group were already going to be there because the plans were to meet at the Plaza and go to the train station by 1030.  We never saw anyone from the group at the train station in Alcalá before leaving, so we assumed everyone had already left. I found out later...no one was coming until later that afternoon.

Anyways, upon arriving to Toledo,only about a 30 minute ride non stop, I hopped out of the train to find Logan( due to last minute ticket purchasing Logan and I were unable to ride together).  I found Logan outside of his coche chatting to two sweet chicas.  One from Canada and the other from New York.  We ended up hanging out with them most of the day. 

I can't describe how beautiful Toledo is in words.  It's very mountainous, and unique for it's architecture.  There are many historical sites here, and I wish pictures actually did this sweet little place justice.  I tried to take as many as possible, which you will see more through Facebook.  

Our first goal was to find the Greco museum/house so that we could tour it before leaving.  The picture of me piggy backing on Logan is actually NOT taken in front of the Greco, but the OFFICE of the Greco--- funny story behind this---but to sum it up, we thought we were in the right place and come to find out we were actually taking the way out of town and back to the train station. So we first took pictures, got lost, asked for directions, and then found our way.  There were many beautiful vistas on the way. 

We took photos in random places. There is a distinction in the Jewish quarter, I made sure to take pictures of the plaques in the ground. Toledo just has this spirit that makes you feel like you come from another time. Just something about it.  Logan and I also decided we found the most beautiful girl in Spain here in one of stores. ;)

Anyways we hung out with our friends at the Greco, stopped so they could have a late lunch, walked around for a bit longer, parted ways with our new friends, Logan bought a gift for his sister, and we went to a really neat baroque art display at the CC San Marcos. After this we walked the streets until we actually did run into the group that decided to come later. We took them to a really cool vista, grabbed dinner, and got our train back to Alcalá for the night. There was supposed to be a festival in Alcalá in the plaza de los santos niños, but we missed it because of our late arrival back in, so instead.....Logan and I decided to go to Bamby and have cafe solo and a pastry. 

a beautiful view of Toledo behind me.

Logan, sorry for my finger obstructing the view. I've been really bad about that lately. :\

Us with our new friends Shanay and Victoria.

We are all standing in La plaza mayor

Logan in the streets of the Toledo.

Outside of the place that we THOUGHT was El Museo Greco

Not the Greco lol

Our feet with a ceramic tile that has a menorah on it. These were found throughout the Jewish Quarter.

Very beautiful Street. Most of the main streets in Toledo are shaded with those big white canvas tapestries. Good thing too because Spain is HOT, hace mucho sol. Even with this, I still got a sun burn yesterday.

Kids will be kids. ;) I don't have the video of us both being kids, sadly

Logan and I. We found this view on our way to the Greco.

Absolutely beautiful, doesn't do it Justice.

A little garden I found walking along the streets of Toledo.

This statue (estatue) is at El Museo de Greco

A view from the Balcony of the restored house.

The garden of el museo de Greco

We got in trouble shortly after this because we were being total americans and sitting somewhere that people have to walk all of the time---when there are seats right around the corner...lolol

Just because i thought this was a nice spot to have a picture taken.

The distinction of the Jewish Quarter

The rotunda inside of the Museo de los artes baroques

The most beautiful girl in Spain...and us.

We saw UNA BODA (a wedding) in Toledo. I tried to get some good pictures.

my favorite pictures.

this is the view you see to your left when walking into Toledo!!! Very beautiful <3

Flores de Toledo. <3 

una puesta del sol hermosa. 

dos cafes solos (sin leche, sin azucar), con pasteles. 

I am so grateful to be here. 

I can't tell you that enough, so to all of the people who helped get me here, monetarily or just by being apart of my journey....Thank you. <3