¡Gracias por todo España!

So ladies and gentlemen, the end has come. Time to say goodbye to this crazy but lovable country. 

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity and for the friends I've made and the professors who been there and my host mom, who, while there were some up and downs, turned out to be great. Four months truly is a long time, and it's starting to hit me how I truly have learned to make Spain my home. 

I suppose the thing I will miss most, above all, is walking. First of all, walking is a free activity. Also, it is healthy and lets your mind process your thoughts. Walking makes me feel active and useful. Now, sure, anyone can walk anywhere. But, in the states, you have to "go on a walk", unless you don't have your own car. It certainly seems impossible to go anywhere without a car in Seattle. Being in cars is isolating and you have to make an excuse to leave the house, like an errand, or whatever. Furthermore, Valladolid is beautiful!! There are fountains and tall old buildings. I still havn't exhausted every nook and cranny. 

Secondly, I'm really gonna miss my café con leche. It's so perfect!! Small, cheap, tasty, just the right amount of coffee. 

Thirdly, I'm gonna miss tapas and my host mom's cooking. Never thought I'd say that, but she's learned my favorites, and even though after every meal I feel like my stomach is being punched repeatedly, I'm gonna miss the Cocido and Paella real bad. 

Finally, and this list could continue for a while, I'm going to miss talking in spanish!! It is fun and keeps life interesting. Everyday you learn something new, a new phrase, whatever and you can feel yourself improving. I just don't want that to end! I want to keep improving. I'm glad I'm taking a spanish class at Mac but it's not as fun...

All that said, I can't WAIT to get me some Sushi, some Mexican, not be using the Euro, and never eat bread again. 

Truly, it's time to leave. There is nothing left for me here! All my friends have left, school is done, I'm broke. There is no other option. But, traveling sure can be addicting, no matter how exhausting. It's like constant mental stimulation. Always new smells, sights, people, languages. It's hard to get enough. Plus, this has been a great excuse to avoid "real life", aka, thinking about where my life is going, what I SHOULD be doing, etc. But, at the same time, I need to get back, refreshed and europ-fied. 

I think,  if I were to summarized what I've learned about myself, (this feels a bit like a reflection essay for my classes in school, gross), it would come down to a few basic things. I believe I've learned how to adjust when things go wrong (better at least). Traveling forces you not to freak out when things do not work. Second, the world ain't so big! Yes, its scary, but you truly can go anywhere and make it work. It's possible to live anywhere as long as you are willing to give up certain things. And finally, relating in another language certainly opens up your eyes. You never knew how dumb you could sound until you really live somewhere where they don't speak english. Makes you think twice before judging others in the same situation. 

I feel like, I am, if only a little, more independent and more relaxed. I hope these things work in my favor later. 

I do not regret one penny I spent (mostly). Everywhere I visited was incredible. My favorites, by far, where Sevilla and Amsterdam. Absolutely beautiful. (I went to Paris, Amsterdam, Sevilla, Madrid, Lisboa, Córdoba, Granada and Barcelona) If I could go anywhere else in Europe it would be London, Greece, and Germany, but I still got a little time. 

Well, I suppose that's it. Today is very sad and lonely, just me and my packing. But, as I've learned, change is inevitable and goodbyes never get easier, but each time you do it you realize something new. 

Hope to see all of you soon in the U. S. of A!!

Send love to the travel gods...

Grace

Barcelona, my last hurrah

Barcelona was my final trip and even though it was a tight squeeze financially, I am glad I went and got to see the city. It would've been a bit heart-wrenching to leave Spain without seeing Barca. 

It was quite an adventure getting to and leaving Barcelona to say the least. 

We had to bus it to Madrid, then Metro it to the aeropuerto which took a good 3-4 hours. Our flight with RyanAir was peachy. However, the airport in "Barcelona" was in Girona, which is basically France and about an hour, 12 euro, bus ride to the city. So. Then we got to Barcelona, tired, hot, and confused having no clue how to get to our hostel. Finally, 3 hours later, we took the farrocarríl to the right stop and hiked up the MOUNTAIN to our hostel. Hot and exhausted, we were ready to hit up the "pools". So, we put on our swim suits and followed the path. But, we only found a deserted field with three dirt filled kitty pools and an abandoned building. AWESOME. We got an early dinner and had an early bedtime.

Friday was beach day. We walked and walked and walked to reach our final destination, but when we finally did, it was worth the wait. The weather was fantastic and we spent close to 6 hours soaking in the sun, tops optional. After a nice little Italian/Spanish lunch we invested La Rambla and the market for a while before heading back to our mountain-side hostel. When we got back to the hostel, we discovered that the majority of us were burned to a crisp. All we had the energy to do then was take some painful showers, and lay in our bunks, crying. And put on lotion. 

Saturday was sightseeing day. First we took the Metro to Sagrada Familia. It was beautiful, but the most exciting part of the stop was almost being robbed! It was a three man operation involving two pairs of keys. But, Kate was on her game and caught them before they could escape with Allison's purse!! Go Kate. 

After Sagrada, we spent a lot of time trying to figure out the, in my opinion, poorly planned metro system, to try and get to Parc Güell. Many arduous hills and metro stops later, we got the the park, which was beautiful, but maybe not quite worth all the hiking. The last part of the day we investigated plaza Grácia, saw all the Gaudí houses, shopped at H&M (whoops!), and after some burgers and salads, headed back to the hostel, exhausted. 

Sunday was a bit taxing. Mostly because RyanAir screwed me and many other people by charging 20 euros for not printing out my boarding pass?? Not cool. But, we all finally made it home. Even Allison, who bought tickets for the wrong bus and got home super late. 

It was vale la pena, most definitely. 

This next week is my final week! Gotta pack, do my finals and say goodbye to Valla. It will be bittersweet and probably a bit traumatic (I hate change). But, I'm excited to get back to the States, see Bill, and maybe start earning some money??? Soooo poor. 

El Sur de la Península (Spring Break)

Bueno Días,

I'm back! It was a long, beautiful, sometimes painful trip, but I survived. I'm going to attempt to re-cap a bit but 12 days is a long trip and I'm sure many scintillating details will be left out so this doesn't become a novel-like blog entry.

So! Thursday, Katie and I went to the airport at an outrageously early hour in Madrid, only to sit in the hospital for, some, 6 hours waiting for our easyjet flight to lisbon. During this arduous time, I noticed two blonde girls eating tomatoes as if they were apples, and I wanted to throw up, but did not. Easyjet was not too shabby, very orange, and we arrived safely in Lisboa at our hostel, happy and tired. The hostel was pretty slick, decorated in a very IKEA over the top modern decor. We mostly just crashed on thursday, after a nice little italian birthday dinner for Katie in the Barrio Alto, but were awoken late in the night, like 2 or 3 am, but the other 6 roommates, all guys, one of whom was a crazy old british guy who entered the room cursing and yelling. Real cute. 

Friday, we did a bit of grocery shopping, clothes shopping, and I tried to track down my friend Claire who I know was staying in the Barrio Alto. We finally found her in her hostel after hours and hours of walking and worrying, and Katie and I had a interesting "Portuguese" meal. My dinner was literally a piece of beef, a sunny side egg face up on the beef, french fries (unsalted, of course) and lettuce. Interesting. 

Saturday we took the train/tram to Cascais (sounds like CasCas) which is a small beach town down the coast. It was so pretty! Cute little down, lots of white buildings, bright blue water. We soaked up the sun and had Indian food. It was awesome. That night we meet up with Claire in the Barrio Alto for a great little dinner (healthy too!!!) of salads, pasta, and Claire got octopus. Go claire. We went out to get a few drinks (not for Katie the Kidney of course) at this little american style jazz bar, which was great, but the drinks were not delicious. Gin Fizz?? Gross. More like cherry cough syrup. 

Sunday, we did the beach thing again accompanied by Claire and her friends from Walla Walla. It was nice, but not quite as warm. Then, Sunday night, Katie and I saved a buck and made late night tomatoey cheesy pasta in the hostel kitchen. Also, we ate salad. That was amazing. We did sooo much walking in Lisbon up and down Barrio Alto, so we were beat.

Monday was the scary bus day. We were horrified when they told us we had to put our food in the storage area, but it turned out we got a rest stop, so it was alright. The Best part of the 8 hour bus ride by far was watching Speed, starring Keanu Reeves in english. It changed my life. 

Sevilla was  a mad house when we got there, with the processiones and all the semana santa hub-bub, but we found our hostel and grabbed some tapas at Carmela (The best spinach garbanzos ever). While wandering around, all of the sudden Katie and I found ourselves trapped by people on all sides. We looked down the street and heading towards us was a procession of black hooded men, carrying candles and crosses, and banging drums. Pretty scary. We took lots of pictures. So that was out first Semana Santa experience. 

Tuesday, wow. I can hardly remember. We went to the Alcazar, which is the old Muslim palace. This might have been my favorite part of Sevilla. The gardens were stunning with the palm trees, the fountains, and the muslim/arabic style architecture. And, it it all smelled like oranges. After the Alcazar, we rested a bit, then went to see Plaza Espana and found the symbol of Valladolid. Most excellent. That night, we tracked down Katie's friend Molly and her friend for a tapa and some sangria. 

Wednesday was Córdoba day. We got up really early to catch our train. Córdoba was very cute, Katie bought shoes. But, over all, mostly only centered on the cathedral/mosque asa source of tourism. But, the cathedral was well worth it, and even thought Katie was tired, it was a nice day. 

Thursday was the last Sevilla day. We spent it with Molly and Aleesha (sp?) wandering around down town and snacking on tapas. It was a beautiful day. However, I was coming down with a cold, so Thursday night was pretty mellow.

Friday was miserable. I woke up feeling like the Swamp monster, filled with mucus and very unhappy. The train was long and we were tired and finding our hostel was a drag. Plus, I took some cold medicine which knocked me out. I just barely shoved some soup down my throat then colasped in the hostel. 

Saturday, we got up really early, AGAIN, to go try and score Alhambra tickets. I felt even worse than the day before, and this was Katie's last day of kidney infection antibiotics, so you can imagine. After waiting in line for a good 2-3 hours, we just barely got tickets for 5:30. We decided, against all odds, to try and see a little more of Granada before 5:30. So, we went to this great lookout point and saw some of the caves on the top of the hill. It was all really cool, but I felt like death personified and Katie's back hurt, blah blah. Finally, we went to the Alhambra, and even tho we both wanted to die and were miserable, it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Completely spectacular. Katie  and I stumbled/half crawled back to the scary "funky backpackers" (soooo sketchy), ate some shitty chinese, stalked up on Activia and OJ and fell in our beds. 

Sunday, was the climax to a week gone progressively worse. Katie had chills all night and a fevor. I was just praying we could make it back to Valla on all 3 trains before she had to be hospitalized. We just barely, barely, got back in a enough time for her to be picked up and taken to the hospital by her host mom.

So!! It was tons of fun, but really sickly and a bit scary at the end. 

Now, I need to rest and do homework and recover. Only three more weeks left in Spain. Time is a fickle mistress. 

Besos

Grace

Trouble in Paradise

Wow, today really should win a prize.

First, I realized I'm like broke. And , in two days I'm going on spring break. Fun.

Then, my host mom's foot got infected and she can't walk. 

Then, a bird crapped on me, which was very appropriate. 

Then, I have too much homework and a test tomorrow. 

Basically, I'm having a hard time. My head just keeps spinning cause I'm so worried about money. It's not like I can't survive to get back to the States, but when I do I'm sooo broke and expenses keep coming up. It truly feels AWFUL to have to ask for money from my parents, especially when I know they don't really have it. I keep thinking, maybe I should try to go into Advertising and try and make some Real Money, cause money pressures always just drive me crazy. I obsess and worry, like 24/7, which doesn't help anything. Sometimes I think if I could just relax I could solve all these things, but I'm totally incapable. Anyway, the monsters in my head are working overtime. My prayer is that i can solve the money issues and enjoy my spring break, my last little splurge before I must try and rebuild my life, my finances, get in shape, etc. Send me good thoughts!!

Grace

Flamenco and Cooking!

Yesh, 

Training from Valladolid to Sevilla and back is intense! but worth it. Sevilla is beautiful. Oh my god. Can't wait to go back for spring break. All the buildings are so colorful with their yellows and pinks with white trim. And even the food's better cause it's got more spice then up north. 

Friday I got in and wandered around the city with Dad, grabbed a beer and a tapa. It was really nice, like 80's, Friday. Mom and I did some shopping, but came up short.  Friday night we took a long walk around the city as a  family before grabbing some more late night tapas and Sangria. I fell in love with this one tapas bar that served espinacas con garbanzos (tasty cheesy spicey spniach with garbanzos) and these patitas en crema de queso picante which were basically potatoes with a delicously creamy, spicy, cheese sauce. YUM. I ate there for every meal except breakfast. 

Saturday mom and I got up early for a cooking class. First we went to the market and she gave us a little run down on spanish cuisine, mostly different meats and how they are eaten. Then we went back to her gorgeous apartment that has a spactacular view of Sevilla to start cooking. It ended up being mostly mom and I watching cause she was a bit scattered, but it was really interesting!! We made green olive and almond tapenade, gazpacho (YUM), roasted (and sherry blanched)  eggplant and peppers and cooked artichoke hearts with olive oil and garlic. I certainly had never learned how to peel an artichoke before, so that was neat. Then the last coarse was a type of seafood rice dish with monkfish, sepia (cuttlefish), rice, herbs, and homemade fish stock. You stick the whole thing in the oven with a clove of garlic and then bake it. It was tasty. Finally we learned how to make orange flan, which was awesome. Now I know how to make flan. Sweet. 

After a short siesta, me and fam did a little more shopping then went to a spectacular Flamenco show in this old, very muslim influenced, building. 

However, this morning, I forgot to set my alarm and missed my train!! It all worked out, but it was very ironic cause I was having a nightmare that the world was ending and then I woke up, and it kinda felt like it still was. The panic just continued into waking life. But, I slept most of the way home on the train, so it's all good. 

I have some pictures, but really most of them are on Dad's camera, so that will have to wait. 

Can't wait for spring break!! Ooof, so much traveling! But really fun. 

Besos,

Cocido y Tarea

One of my absolute favorite meals that my host mom cooks is this delicious garbanzo soupy thing. For a while there, I thought I was special. Turns out, this is a very common Madrileño dish called Cocido. Basically, it consists of a noodle filled, meaty tomatoe-y broth. Then you added spiced garbanzos, carrots and potatoes. Finally, you add the desired meat. Usually your choices are chorizo, pork belly, beef and/or chicken. My host likes to make it with rellenos also, which are essentially small bread crumbs patties with seasoning. It is tasty. 

Otherwise, I've just been working like a dog, trying to get all my work done before Sevilla. I'm trying to run more and enjoy Valladolid while I still have some time here. I do feel like I've noticed an improvement in my Spanish. It seems I can understand it without effort and my conversational skills have improved. 

I do miss Bill, but I'll be home soon enough, which is both happy and tragic. 

Madrid and Parents

Hola hola,

so, I am back in Valla. It's been while. mostly, the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of homework in preparation to travel. I got set into a bit of a routine. Wake up, eat yogurt, school, lunch, run, nap, walk 2 miles, drink caffeine, homework, walk, skype, bed. But, as of this last weekend, and for the next month each weekend will involve much more adventure and less sleeping. 

My parents got in Thursday to Valladolid. The craziest part of the whole visit for me was visiting my host mom at our house and translating back and forth between host mom and real parents. I was all flushed and needed a few beers to keep up. They kept wanting me to say things that were impossible to translate. But, it ended up being a really good test of my spanish skills. I took my folks to the mussels tapas bar which they seemed to really like and on a few of my favorites walks around town. My parents were a bit foggy cause they ahd not adjusted to the time schedule, but we still had a good time.

Madrid was great. When had to spent a lot of Saturday napping, but eventually we made it to the Reina Sofia and then out for some great tapas around Puerta del Sol. These were hectic tapas bars even for me! Saturday night Madrid tapas is a frenetic experience. But, very tasty. I really liked the shrimp and the gazpacho we ordered...

Sunday was accidently dedicated mostly to shopping. We also decided we had eaten enough bread and ham, and found a tasty Indian restaurant. I thought I was gonna cry it was so delicious. Spices? Taste? Amazing. The big event of the day was the Madrid Real game at 5. It as really fun to be in such a huge stadium and around people who really understand soccer. We had a great time, even tho Madrid pretty much stomped the other team. 

So, here I am on Monday and I'm pretty zonked. But, there is no time for rest because I've got a paper to write and alot of homework to push thru if I'm gonna be carefree in Sevilla next weekend. After that, it's spring break in Lisbon, Sevilla and Granada. Then maybe Barcelona. Somewhere in there I need to maybe do finals, papers and presentations. It's madness. But so worth it. 

Here's to hopefully not getting any illnesses and finding some extra energy. 

¡Hasta Luego!

Grace

More foods news

Two new dishes. 

Yesterday I had this great pumpkin soup or Sopa de Calabaza. It's made with pumpkin, potatoes, milk, onions, and cheese. YUM.

Second, today we had an interesting lunch. It was a sunny side up egg. Then you take white rice (The arroz blanco is a dish in itself, with oil and herbs) and put in on the egg. Then you pour the sauce over the rice. The sauce had what looked like baby squid in it and the sauce was blackish. I looked it up online and its called chipirones en su tinta or babysquid in their own ink.  Basically, like every spanish dish, you mop the whole thing up with your pan. It was pretty good!

Friday I'm gonna go for tapas to a places that only serves mussels or mejillones. I can't wait!

Above is a picture of a mussels dish. 

Burgos and Belching

Buenos Días,

I hope that everyone reading this is well, whether you be in rainy Seattle or burn-your-face-off cold Minnesota, or even Ellensburg. I havn't updated in a while, mostly because nothing groundbreaking has occurred. Also, I think I've hit this new Spain phase where I'm now realizing I live here and have made it more of a routine. The good part about that, is that I'm comfortable and it's easy to find things and get them done. Bad news is that with routine comes complacency and even boredom. Part of that is because last week I had midterms, which where pretty easy, but then, right after completing my 3 tests, I had dive right into 3 new 7 page papers. 

Then, last Thursday, I was suffering from some pretty bad stomach pains which continued until yesterday. I think I had some type of very mild Gastritis because I constantly had this pulsing ache, my stomach was all gurgling, and I was burping like 24/7. It was pretty cute and attractive. I have like the weakest stomach ever, it sucks. 

So, pretty much I've been in my room drinking menta poleo, which is this great mint stomach-fixing tea in Spain, reading and writing about the Spanish Civil War, sleeping, and looking longingly at the people on the streets outside my window.

That's why Saturday was a nice change. This was class trip number three. I was initially un-excited about this trip because Burgos was supposed to be freezing and my tummy was being all weird still. But, Burgos ended up being nice and sunny and the cathedral was pretty incredible. However, I was an idiot and did not bring my camera inside (???) so I missed that boat. Also, we got to take the train. I love the train!!! I could have sit reading on that train all day. I love looking out the window and seeing spanish plains. Plus, there is this very calming atmosphere on a train, like someone is whispering to you while you are asleep. I was pretty damn happy just reading in the sun  and popping Lindt chocolates I bought (they are soooo good) on the way home. 

The typical food of Burgos is Morcilla (here comes the food portion..). Morcilla is a big black sausage filled with rice and chilled pig's blood. I've tried it once before in my house. But, to my horror, I heard Carlos talking about how it had been in the fridge too long and was probably spoiled. I don't think they thought I understood. I did!! Oh, I did. But, it's actually pretty tasty. Katie ordered some in Burgos and we got all freaked out cause there was a baby pig in the window and the visual association ruined our appetites. 

So here I am in Valladolid. It's a beautiful Sunday morning and I can see all the old Spanish couples shuffling off to church or to buy fresh bread out my fourth story window. It's nice because I've done  most of my work so maybe I can go for a run or a walk today and just clear my head a bit. Maybe grab a café con leche. I could even go bother the peacocks in Campo Grande....

I think the weather is going to warm up soon here. Yesterday when I was walking home from the train station I could see a few cherry blossoms and the birds were all a-twitter. The air was warming.... Exciting.  

Well, I'm off to write some more about Quiroga and death. The best. 

¡Besitos!

-

Segovia

This weekend has been really nice because even though traveling and staying in hostels is fun and exciting, it's also exhausting. So it was really nice to have a weekend in a steady location with regular sleep and good. Friday was a great mental health day. I slept in, ran, did some homework, hung out in the sun in plaza mayor (it's getting warmer!!). 

Saturday we got up really early for the bus to Segovia. The bus ride was terrible! Apparently in Spain they do not know how to build roads and had these round-a-bout things every few miles. Plus we went through lots of small towns with narrow bumpy roads. I felt pretty sick. 

But, Segovia was quite pretty. Maybe not quite as impressive as Salamanca, but the church was pretty and tower was cool. I paid extra to climb the tower which was an excellent thigh work out. The highlights of the trip for me was the mountains, which were stunning, and the roman aqueducts which are built entirely of stone without any kind of cohesive keeping them together. Apparently they were still functioning up until the 70s!! Way cool. 

Then Saturday night I hit the town with mis amigos. It was really weird cause about 20 students, Japanese, Spanish and American showed up at Mike and Shelby's apartment which made the night more interesting. 

I would say it's another lazy Sunday, but I got mid-terms this week! So, I guess I kinda gotta hit the books and drink a lot of cafe and té negro. 

No more big trips planned for a bit, but I'm excited for my parents to come visit in a few weeks!

Onthaal aan Amsterdam (Wecome to Amsterdam)!

Hello again. 

I hope you didn't miss me too much, but I was just having so much fun in Amsterdam, I just havn't had the time. Oh my god, it's so nice to be too busy for the internet. 

So, yes. The trip went off without a hitch. We had to leave really early to get to Madrid, but the flight was fine, and getting to our hostel was pretty easy also. 

Friday night when we got in, we were pretty beat, so we just had a calm dinner in town. Amsterdam at night is really fun. There are lots of strange neon signs and lots of people in the streets. there is also in the center of town an ice rink which blares Justin Timberlake. Katie and I found the food hotspot, lined with every type of food imaginable just off of Liedensplein and decided to grab some Thai food which almost bought us to tears of happiness. 

Saturday we got up around 8am and hot some free breakfast at the hostel which consisted of bread slices, cheese, salami, plain yogurt, and tea. It was pretty plain, but still an amazing change from the shitty spanish breakfast muffins we all hate. First item on the agenda on Saturday was the Van Gogh museum. The line was a bit tiresome, but we both loved wandering and enjoying the gorgeous artwork. I particularly love museums because people (usually) keep quiet and it allows me (one) to have a little reflection and peace of mind. Movies have a similar effect, but the movie itself is usually loud which disrupts your own sense of mental calm. 

After a delicious and nutritious vegetable filled lunch (Katie and I had been dying for some green food) we decided to rent some bike's at Mike's Bikes, which, like all the bike shops, was uber hippie/stoner. Because I'm a tiny person, I had to get the special pink bike, which was probably made for kids ten and under. But it's cool. I rolled with it. 

The biking thing in Holland is crazy. There are tons of bikes everywhere, and many designated bike lanes. However, the rules seem tedious and there are also many cars and trams occupying these small paths.  I was afraid for my life once or twice because my biking skillz are sub par. So, in order to relax a bit, Katie and I biked over to Vondel Park which was quite stunning in the midday sun.  Biking was probably one of my favorite activities of the trip, except that my butt was pretty sore the next morning. That night, we, with great difficulty, finally decided on Mexican restaurant for dinner. So many delicious choices! None of which were fried. Happy and full, we thought we might try out the bar scene. Unfortunately, the night resulted in us leaving a pretty fun bar because of this dirtbag/creeper who wouldn't just let us be! Sigh. We thought we left all those guys in Spain. It was alright though, because the night life in Amsterdam is a bit sketch and we didn't really know what we were doing. Clearly. 

Sunday, we headed out to explore the Red Light district, a must for tourists, but only really during the day unless you truly are interested in purchasing a prostitute. Katie and I weren't. The only downside is the "red lights" were pretty hard to see at noon. Also, the women in the windows were pretty appalling. Feeling adventurous, we decided to try and reach Central Station and the waterfront. We made it, but got lost on the way home. I think we walked at least 10-15 miles. We definitely had to get a nap. Sunday night we sampled some AMAZING greek food and got a drink in the hostel where we met this crazy belgian guy. He seemed nice tho and had a girlfriend, which was good. 

Monday, the last day, was a slower day. At about 11, we headed across town to see Anne Frank's house then grabbed some fresh pizza. We might also have done a bit of unnecessary shopping. Later that day in the hostel, we ran into Belgian kid again, and asked him if he wanted to grab some Indian with us. He ended up being hilarious. His english was really good, but according to him, almost 100 percent of it he learned from movies. I could never do that. Later we went to an Irish pub and then a silly dance club (It was a Monday night..). Belgian guy got down!! It was hilarious. He was so skinny too. We may have been laughing at him most of the time, but I don't think he caught on. Plus, he ordered a blue lagoon (blue liquor and 7-up) which was extra silly. 

Tuesday we got up way too early to catch out 10 am flight.

I already miss Amsterdam! Such a cute city with friendly people and great ethnic food. The energy in Holland is much more calming than Spain also. But, I love Valladolid and am glad to be home. I am not looking forward to midterms coming up, however. They should be pretty easy, but it can be hard to study here with limited internet access/hours, etc. Hopefully I will get my pictures up soon. 

Sending love from across the pond!

Salamanca

Salutations from the Peninsula, 

This week has been a little emotionally up and down, but fun. I know I'm not supposed to complain but Four year anniversaries and Valentine's without your boyfriend in sexy Spain can get cha down. 

Saturday my class got in a bus at 9:30 am for Salamanca. The bus ride was only about two hours. Salamanca was very pretty, much prettier than Valladolid. The sandy-red stone, the cathedral, and the plaza were stunning. Plus, the weather was great so me and my classmates enjoyed some much needed relax-time in the sun, sipping some sangría. Salamanca is a university town and has one of the oldest universities in Spain. The tourist kitsch is this frog sitting on a skull on the front architecture of the university, so all the shops sell these goofy skulls with frogs on top. I guess the symbolism here is (according to Sergio) is that the green frog represents lust, and so in order not to fall into sin/death the idea is that we must devote ourselves to our studies (okay?).  I did not buy one. The other spectacular site was the Church of San Martín which had some pretty incredible ceilings and paintings (more on facebook album).

Currently I'm sitting at my desk enjoying a lazy Sunday in Spain. It's really nice out so I might go for a run. Although, I get really annoyed with all the strange looks. I would love to kick a ball around, but there is no space, no ball, and no one to do it with. Mom sent me this great/kinda silly Zombie War book called "World War Z" that is way fun. Nice change from the intensive Hemmingway, Faulkner load in school. It's well written, it's not supposed to be ridiculous necessarily, I just get a huge kick out of the gory zombie "war" scenes. 

I'm really pumped for Amsterdam this upcoming week. It'll be great to get more than a weekend, like Paris, to explore the city and the sights. Also, I'm close to booking my spring break which  is going to be a week and a half split between Lisbon, Seville, and Granada. It's hard watching my money dissolve into thin air at an alarming rate, but I do think it's worth it. Sometimes I need to live a little. 

Ciao! More to come..