April

So yesterday I took two hours, spilled my heart out and wrote an epic blog then it all deleted! Boooo so this is my new one. Time is going by so fast I cannot believe it's already the middle of April. We went to Portugal this weekend which was absolutely beautiful, but it was cold and rainy the whole time so we didn't really get to enjoy it. Last night I went out to this club here in Sevilla and met all these super tall basketball dudes. They were buying me drinks and I was hanging out with them all night and my friend told me after they were the DETROIT PISTONS! Whaaaaaaaat!? I got really excited when she told me, I was with them the whole night because they made me feel short and I liked it hehe.

I just got back last Saturday from my UK trip and man oh man was that amazing. But first I just need to get off my chest HOW EXCITED I AM TO GO TO ITALY!!!! I leave Thursday morning and I will be by myself for 2 days first in Rome! This will be my first ever solo trip. My friends that I'm going with have been to Rome before so I'm going to see all the tourist sites before they arrive. I already booked a 4 hour tour of the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica on Friday and Thursday I'm planning on seeing the Colosseum. I'm getting oh so anxious I can't wait AHHHH! Our plan is to do Rome Thursday, Friday, Saturday, then a day trip to Florence on Sunday. Monday we leave for Naples and the Almafi Coast, then head back to Rome on Wednesday and leave Thursday. We only have about 5 weeks left, which is sad because I'm so busy that I know it'll go by before I know it. And now I should probably rewind a little bit back to Morocco.

Morocco was absolutely beautiful. It was one of my favorite trips that we have done so far because it was nice and relaxing to have everything set up for us and not have to plan. It was me, Arielle, Belinda, Marielle, Sarah and Cari. We went with this all inclusive program called Discover Sevilla and they provided us with some of the greatest meals we've ever had. Probably every meal included some sort of cous cous and chicken. Every meal was a 3 or 4 course meal also. Here is an example of one of our meals!

The first day we went to Chefchaouen, which is completely made up of blue and white walls. We walked around the city all day and were taught how to bargain with the people as well. Basically any price they say you cut that by 1/4 and start bargaining from there. We went to a huge pharmacy and I got Moroccan tea, argan oils, meat spices, curry and cumin! It was all for only 25 euro too, so exciting! Morocco was a good bonding trip for all of us girls because we experienced so much together stress free. We went to a couple other cities and explored there as well, which is when I saw my first snake charmer! I really don't have too much more to say about Morocco just because it was so long ago now and the trip was so amazing that it's practically indescribable. Oh wait the camels! That was quite the experience. We got them at the end of the day when they were all pissed off and hatin life. The people treated them pretty badly too and we only rode them for about 2 minutes. A couple girls actually fell of the camel which was pretty scary.

                                                                      Chefchaouen

                                                            snake charmer in love

                                                               depressed little camel

Next was the United Kingdom trip. I only got to stay in London for one day, but it was ok because I'm not a huge fan anyway. The day we were in London we went on the London Eye and the Tower if London as well. I've been to London before so I've seen it already but it was pretty cool to be back. We got an amazing English breakfast and then fish and chips for lunch! The fish and chips were HUGE and one of the most well known places in London so it was legit. I actually left London early the next morning because I went to the hospital for my henna tattoo. I got black henna in Morocco and I didn't realize it was bad for your skin and I got a nasty reaction to it. If you're allergic there are 3 stages: red, itchy bumps in the shape of the henna, then blisters, which then turn into scars. I was at the itchy bump stage so I went to the hospital in Wales with Nain and Taid. By the way those of you who don't know they're my step-grandparents who I was going to visit. It all went away eventually but now I have scars in the shape of flowers so I can say I went to Morocco and was scarred for life, woo!

ooh dear lord

oh hey guys i'm in london!

So being in Wales was exactly what I needed; the perfect break to this crazy non-stop semester abroad! I was in need of a mommy figure so being with my grandparents was really nice. I got to chill and do whatever I want and be spoiled with food! It was really nice to see them because I haven't since sophomore year of high school. I got to watch tv and explore beautiful Wales with my friends and eat like a king. The homemade meals were delicious Nain is a wonderful cook. I miss them already I'm sad, they're so sweet :(  



stop being so gosh darn cute

beach in Fairbourne

So next was onto Dublin where I was to fall in love (with Ireland that is). Ireland is the one place I have visited that I could imagine myself living in. It was SO beautiful and all the people were the nicest I have ever met. The vibes in Dublin were just really good and we had a great time. This is also where I became obsessed with Guinness. I know right, me? Beer? The Guiness in Ireland is so smooth and creamy it was delicious! The food in Ireland was amazing too our first meal was Guinness and beef stew yummmmm. When we first got there it was hailing so we chilled in pubs and experienced our first live Irish band. The next day we did a walking tour, explored Dublin, and the Guinness factory. I loved the factory it was really interesting learning how the beer is made and why it tastes so different in Dublin than the rest of the world. We did a pub crawl that night too and got to go to a ton of pubs with live music and it was so fun I met a ton of people! Our last day we did an excursion to the Cliffs of Moher, absolutely breathtaking. We went on a tour and got to go to a family farm in the countyside as well as Galway and the cliffs. I wish I had more time in Ireland, it was pure bliss. I love it there and miss it already, I know I'm going to go back sometime in my life.

Dublin-dude who built the Titanic made this bridge

Cliffs of Moher

friend I made at Guinness-now I have a place to stay in Mexico!

todo tranqui on a farm





The traveling has begun

Dang, I can't believe I have not written in my blog in a month; time is going by SO fast! I definitely feel way more accustomed to the culture here and am starting to call this place home. Anytime we leave for a vacation or even just for the day, we miss Sevilla already. I have come to love and appreciate it to the greatest extent. It's starting to get really hot, it's supposed to be 76 this week I love it! I had my first botellon with Alexa the other day because it was so hot and we just had to live like the Spaniards do! So a botellon is where you bring bottles of tinto de verano (which is like sangria) and drink and hangout at the river. On Sundays people bring picnics and socialize in the park, which is what I did all day yesterday! It's so beautiful here and I'm so happy how much it feels like summer at the start of March. My spanish has gotten so much better mainly from meeting people at bars and clubs as well as ordering in restaurants. The bars are where I speak the most Spanish and realize how much I know! I discovered this a couple of weeks ago when Alexa and I went to Alfafa (plaza with popular bars), didn't know anyone, and met Italians who mainly spoke Spanish and Italian! Therefore, we basically had to speak spanish to them. I realized how fun it is to explore the language and test my skills (and I had a little more courage, hehe). I gained a lot more confidence from then on and always try to practice spanish when meeting spaniards, even if they can speak english. After all, isn't that what I'm here for?

Cadiz

Recently my entire apartment and I went to Cadiz for Carnival, which is the 3rd biggest Carnival in the world. We all got dressed up in crazy costumes with masks, feathers, spandex and vibrant makeup and boarded the bus with a ton of other CEA students. Cadiz is a town about 2 1/2 hours away on the beach. We didn't actually get to go to the beach because it is really dangerous at night there during the festival. So they drop us off in this foreign town at 1130 pm and tell us to meet back at the bus at 6 am. We looked around us and thought, "Oh dear lord what are we supposed to do now?" Hundreds of people were walking around aimlessly with their bottles and group costumes. We didn't realize people would be dressed up like Halloween so we felt silly, but we embraced it! Literally the whole night we drank our mixed drinks and walked around like crazy people. There were thousands of people everywhere drinking, wandering, playing music and yelling like a bird on crack. I have never been around so many people before so it was pretty overwhelming. We all wanted to go back at 2 but still have 4 hours so wandered some more! Not doing that again.....

                                                       yep, that pretty much sums it up

Amsterdam

So 2 weekends ago I had my first vacation all set up on my own; no exchange program, no parents,  nothing. Five of my roommates and I had our first trip to Amsterdam and Brussels. And let me tell ya this was the most chaotic, stressful, amazing and down right terrifying time of my life. Cari, Belinda, Alexa and I arrived there first and as soon as we stepped out of the train station were already in love with the place. It was so different from anywhere else I have ever been.  All the buildings were so quaint, tall, and narrow. There are canals everywhere with small bridges connecting the streets on either side. Everywhere was dark and dimly lit which gave it sort of a mysterious feel. All the people were amazingly tall and I felt so in place compared to Spain! Even the women were freakishly tall, white, and mostly blonde. The people were so beautiful and unique from anywhere I've been. Our first meal that night was a burger joint straight across from our hostel, which was amazing. And the dude who served us had dreadlocks, which made me feel more at home. We stayed in a hostel right there at the red light district. We obviously had to explore through there and it was really intense and kind of scary in a way. There are men everywhere crowding the streets and pearing through the windows. I really did not like it at all and felt uncomfortable walking in it. The streets are really dark with dimly lit red lights above the doors, which made it even more creepy and corrupted.

The next day Arielle and Marielle arrived and we did a lot of exploring and wandering into various coffeeshops. We had a free city tour through our hostel which I'm so glad I did because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.  It was sunny the day we did it so we got lucky because it was absolutely beautiful! All the buildings, the canals, bikes, everything was amazing. Our tour guide told us that 70% of the bikes in Amsterdam are in the canals from drunk Dutch people rolling them in! And there were still hundreds of thousands of bikes in the streets! Carazzzzzy. I felt bad for Arielle because she had been sick for a couple of weeks and got so sick in Amsterdam she had to go to the hospital! Poor little thing. We went to the Anne Frank house though and that was really emotional. Walking through it I couldn't help but tear up several times. I got to walk through the annex her entire family stayed in and her room. I saw the journal she wrote in, and I can't even describe the emotions I felt.

 Later on we got to do a pub crawl with a huge group and explored another side of Amsterdam I hadn't seen yet, which I loved! We met some pretty cool people and had the time of our lives. At the end we went to this intense club that felt like a rave and was 23 euro to get in! But we didn't have to pay :). The day we left Amsterdam I got to go the the IAMSTERDAM sign which was cool cause it's all famous and stuff hehe. Oh ya and the food there is basically stoner heaven, so it's all pretty crappy. They are all about asian food though and we had amazing Thai! There are these little desserts called syrup waffels, which are specifically Dutch and SO good! It's 2 flattened out waffles with honey and caramel in the middle YUM! Don't worry mom I got some for you and Carissa. And next was on to Brussels!

                                                                        creepy :/

                                                                 stoner people food!

                                                                  1st day-gloomy

                                                                    2nd day-sunny!

Brussels

This was a good break from the chaotic life of the Dutch! I loved the feel of Brussels; waffles, chocolate, and the best beer ever! I usually hate beer, but I've been trying to like it since I've been in Europe. And Brussels is the first place where I actually enjoyed drinking it. The first beer I had was a cherry Belgian beer and it was so good-yummy! We went to this reccomended bar that had "beer specialists." We walked in and a man comes up to us asking what type of beer we feel like having. We all said strong, but fruity, so out he comes with a platter of 4 different types of beer. I loved mine, it was for sure fruity (cause I could actually drink it) but it was still pretty alcoholic. These dudes are actually specialists because the bar is voted 10th best in the world!

We saw a lot of sites while we were in Brussels, which made me feel very accomplished. We had started the morning going to the best local breakfast joint and got our first Belgian waffles. Mine was a waffle with powdered sugar, bananas, and chocolate sauce! I died. We wandered the city, toured a cathedral, saw our first waffle truck, and saw the Mannekin Pis (that's literally what it's called.) It was pretty small and insignificant but it was at the street with all the waffle and chocolate shops, which was my favorite part; food. The waffles we had there were even better; greasy, sugary and delish. We toured a chocolate museum which was cool because I learned the development of it over the centuries as well as got a bunch of free samples! And I learned what is in each type of chocolate. They eat a lot of kebabs there too, so we went to kebab street and got some falafel kebabs for lunch.

That night we went to the most famous bar there, Delirium. There are about 4 of them all on the same street, which apparently has the best beer. It was cool because we hungout with the Irish and Cuban people from our hostel. Hostels are way more fun than I thought they would be. I met so many people all over the world on this entire trip, it was a nice break from just being around Americans and Spaniards. As soon as we arrived in Seville though from Brussels, we were so happy and ecstatic. I never thought I would miss it so much, but we did. We were especially grateful after being gone for so long.

                                                            Belgian beer+chocolate

                                                                            first waffle!

                                                               chiller at the waffle truck

                                                                           really?!!

                                                                        beer specialists

                                                               mannekin pis....cool

So this weekend we did a day trip to Gibraltar with our program which was pretty cool. Gibraltar is this British colony in the south about 15 miles from Africa. You can actually see Africa from the point overlooking the sea. It's where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet and is absolutely beautiful! It was raining, which was ok because I am just too blessed with lovely weather en Espana ahora. We took a tour on a tiny, broken down bus that lead us through the mountain and caves. Our first stop there were monkeys everywhere! These dudes had a mind of their own; jumping from car to car, stealing people's food, jumping on their heads. I loved them. We were told not to touch them or else they would bite us and we would have to get a shot, so I got scared to get too close. When we were with them, one kid was messing with them and getting a little too crazy when one of the babies bit him and he got 3 punctures in his hand-ouch. We explored these underground caves also which were interesting to see. My favorite part were the monkeys though, even though we didn't get to hangout long enough to get to know one another. The town was really cute with a ton of British flags and food! I got the infamous English breakfast, I've been missing breakfast being in Spain (hint hint mom).

look guys it's AFRICA!

                                                       chillin with a monkey...no big deal

                                                             the british have arrived

Sorry I have written so much people, I promise next time I won't take so long to write another blog! This weekend I am here in Sevilla and then next week I go to Morrocco! AHHH I'm actually going to Africa! Who would have ever known? Not me. Time is flying by like crazy, which is actually making me kind of sad. In 2 1/2 weeks I already go to London, Wales to visit Nain and Taid, and then Dublin! WHAT?! Weekend after that is Portugal, then Rome weekend after and then by the time I get back it's already May! Dat shit cray. Sorry family, but this is a saying we have repeated non-stop here. I had to say it.

The Adventure Begins!

So I have been here now for 2 weeks and I am already having the best time I could possibly have and it is just the beginning! I feel like I have known all my roommates for so long already we have all become really close. I have the best roommate Arielle, she's super awesome and tubular and I love her and all that jazz! I love it here because I am always doing something. During the day we have been doing a lot of exploring around the city. We went to the cathedral and Alcazar last weekend which were both beautiful. At the top of the cathedral there is a lookout tower with a view of the entire city. It's hard to even describe how beautiful this place is. Inside the cathedral is huge and has Christopher Colombus' tomb which I guess is pretty cool to say I saw. The Alcazar so far was my favorite monument it used to be a royal palace. The inside was beautiful with all these blue, yellow, and orange tiles. It's HUGE too with all these gardens and fountains. The gardens have different sections with one that is all orange trees, a labryinth, a fountain area with fish, and gardens with peacocks! Our schedule has been wake up around 10 eat breakfast and chill in the house or walk around, then eat tapas and sangria at 2, then explore some more and dinner at 10! Eating dinner late is still weird but we go out at 2 to the clubs and come home around 7 or 8 so it's pretty necessary. So far everything has been set up for us as Americans with the clubs and bars. There are these international promoters who let us in everywhere for free and buy us drinks. It's mostly Americans than creepy Spaniards so we are starting to drift apart a little and do more of our own thing. Like last night instead of going to the club we went and saw a flamenco show at a bar. School is super easy so far we've got it made here i love it. I am taking 4 classes: 2 classes monday and wednesday mornings and 1 at 5, then my flamenco class tuesdays at 5! So I have a 4 day weekend every week which is awesome! I want to tell everyone about my travel plans! So next weekend we're doing a trip with CEA to Cordoba and Granada which will be cool because I get to see Erika from Humboldt! And also Cari studied abroad there this summer and loved it. Btw Cari is one of my favorite girls in the world I love her she's so cute and we are doing all our trips together and realized we are the perfect match haha. Anyways Granada is known for free tapas with drinks so I will eat for freeeeee. The end of this month we are going to Amsterdam yay! The Holland flower festival will be happening while we're there so we're going to that and then taking a train to Brussels for some waffles and chocolate yum. Beginning of March we're going to Gibraltar to play with some monkeys and to the beaches in Spain with CEA. St. Patty's Day I'm going to Morocco!!! I can't believe I'm actually going to be in Africa I am stoked. It was a pretty good deal it's all inclusive at a 4 star hotel with food, riding camels on the beach, and exploring caves. The weekend after that I'm going to London then Wales to visit Gareth's parents for a couple days. And from there we're going to Dublin for a few days! I never though I would go to Ireland it honestly (sounds cheesy) feels like all my dreams are coming true. A couple weeks after that I'm going to Italy for a week ahhhhhhhhh!!!! Sorry mom I know you are sad I'm going first but I just can't help myself! We're flying into Rome and staying there a few days, going to Tuscany for a daytrip, then backpacking the Almafi Coast and ending in Naples. Italy is my life long dream so this trip will be amazing. Ok so you're probably all wondering about the Spanish language and the people I've met. Well let me tell ya, I am not very good at Spanish and it's a little difficult to communicate. I'm going to start practicing in the house though and Cari and I decided we're going to study during the days at the park in Plaza de Espana! I decided on weekends I'm going to hangout at the river and the parks all the time and practice Spanish and siesta in the sun with the girls. I really want to become fluent in Spanish, it may not happen here but I do want to in my life. My teacher told me your 2nd languae learned is the hardest and after that learning languages becomes a lot easier; so I have high hopes! My favorite class so far is teaching tongues. We get to go out into schools and teach kids of all levels english it'll be perfect for me to see if teaching is what I really want. What this blog comes down to is I am having the time of my life and I most likely will never want to go back. This is the life for me I feel, before I never wanted to graduate college, but now I can't wait to graduate and travel the world. I am going to teach english around the world before I settle down and become a teacher. I love always being on the move and having fun, if I'm not I get antsy so studying in Sevilla is perfect for me :)

this is me and my roomate Arielle, obviously she's supah cool :)

these are all the girls i live with it's crazy!

view from top of the cathedral

inside the Alcazar

Arielle and Cari!

First Day

I decided to start this blog today because it is my first day of being completely on my own in a foreign country! My mom left this morning to go back home after having a 2 week travel adventure. The past 2 weeks have been absolutely amazing with my mom. We started out in Paris and as soon as I stepped off the plane I had never felt so out of place in my life. I got off the plane wearing my humboldt hoodie and sweatpants and oh the looks I got from those high fashion Parisians. I had never been somewhere either where no one spoke english; it was the start of a countless amount of new experiences. We got to Paris and had lunch in which I had my first glass of legal wine! It's so different no one in Europe cards for alcohol-I like it hehe :). Paris was definitely gorgeous we went to just about anywhere you have ever heard of. The tour we were on went really fast seeing every known site in each city. I'd have to say my favorite place was the Louvre Museum because they had so many famous pieces of art I knew, like the Mona Lisa. Everyone in Paris wears black and is all fashionista and grumpy. The food there is very different as well! They eat a lot of pastries, cheese, bread, cheese on bread, and wine! We also went to the Moulin Rouge and oh boy was that interesting. Lots of topless women and cheesy men. It was a good experience to say I got to go to it though. After Paris we went to Loire Valley, Bourges, Lyon, and Nice. Nice was by far my favorite place in France. It reminded me a little of home. It's on the French Riviera about 10 miles from the Italian border and absolutely beautiful. We had the best Italian food ever; apparently Nice used to be a part of Italy so Italian influences were everywhere. Next to Nice we went to Monte Carlo which is the richest city in the world with a ton of yachts and billionaires living in it. Oh I almost forgot! In France wherever you go you have to say "Bonjour" when entering any place-including restaurantas, stores, gas stations, you name it (they hate you if you don't, and you don't want those guys to hate you). After France we went to Barcelona which was muy bonita! My favorite was Guell Park which has all the mosaics and the longest bench in the world. I experienced my first seafood paella here which was everything I had hoped and dreamed of. We didn't get to stay in Barcelona very long so I didn't see all the city. I also experienced my first flamenco show here. I didn't realize how emotional the dancers were I loved it. After that was  Madrid! Which so far was my favorite city at night; so many beautiful, historic buildings lit up. There were people everywhere too it was worse than disneyland+black friday+the zoo combined. After Madrid we departed from our group and left for Sevilla on the train. When I got here I was so amazed it is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It's always sunny, warm, and all the building are yellow and orange. And there are orange trees EVERYWHERE! It's a smaller city than Madrid and Barcelona, but the perfect size for studying abroad. The eating schedule takes a while to get used to. They don't really eat breakfast but if they do it's at 10, lunch at 2, and dinner at 10! Haven't gotten all the way to the dinner at 10 part yet but I'm getting better. Tonight I meet everyone in my group and tomorrow I move into my apartment! I'll be living with 11 girls it'll be a good change from living alone so we'll see how that goes. I can't wait to start my solo adventure. I feel completely happy and like I've found my place here.