Saturday, May 24, 2008
home again
I flew in last Sunday night around 9:30, and sort of to my surprise, my luggage made it too! I flew first from Madrid to New York JFK (8 hours), then from JKF to Cincinnati (2 hours), and then finally from Cincinnati to Appleton (1.5 hours). It was such a relief to finally be home and to be able to hug my family once more.
While I already miss things about Spain, I have re-adjusted quickly and am glad to be home. Again, thanks for all the support! :)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
El Fin (The End)
And then, I will be home.
This past Saturday Ashley and I went to El Escorial--a gigantic building that was built for King Phillip II in the 16th century, as he was very religious and sure that it was his calling to build a magnificent building for God. If I had gone there earlier in the semester, it still would have been cool, but I am very glad that I waited until I had a full semester of Spanish history behind me before I went to see it, as it was an incredible experience. To see the tombs of Kings that changed the course of Spain's history but also the course of the world's history was definitely something that gave me goosebumps. Even though it rained all day, it was a really cool experience and Ash and I had a lot of fun.
I now have my grammar, literature, oral expression, and history exams behind me, and this afternoon I will take the last two--European Union and Art. So far they've all gone really well, so I'm hoping to keep that up! Tomorrow I will be packing like crazy and returning to school for the very last time to check my grades, and then on Friday we have a graduation ceremony and party. On Saturday I will be in Madrid for the day to go to the Prado and the Reina Sofia Museums, and then spending the night in Madrid before my flight for the States leaves at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. I am due to arrive to the Appleton airport at 9:16 pm.
I am very excited to come home--to see all my family and friends, to eat on a schedule that I plan, to not have to carry my computer to school everyday, to watch TV in English and be back in the swing of things with US news. I am very sad to leave Valladolid, though. I have really gotten to know this city very well--I see the same people every morning when I walk to school, my host parents feel like my family, I can give someone directions (most of the time) if I'm asked. I will leave a part of my heart here, that's for sure.
I'd like to thank everyone who sent me cards or e-mails or packages while I've been here, or even those who've asked my family how I'm doing or have been reading this blog and looking at pictures. I really appreciate your care and concern, and am excited to get home and tell you stories in person! :)
There are some videos from France up in the "Some interesting videos" album, and there are some pictures of El Escorial up, too. I have a bunch of pictures from Valladolid, but I will probably put those up next week when I am back home.
El fin! Hasta LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS! :)
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sol y Playa
We learned in our geography class that
We (Katie, Ashleigh, and I) left
We got to
On Friday it was about 78 degrees and sunny—windy in the morning but calmer in the afternoon. We were at the beach from about 11:30 until 5:00, just lying out, reading, and walking along the water. We learned pretty quickly that you are in the minority if you are female AND wearing a bathing suit top! We were already aware that
On Sunday morning we got up a little earlier and hiked up one of the two “mountains” in
Our bus ride back to
The next two weeks will be relatively low key—I have my last four days of classes this week, and then I think I will go this coming weekend to El Escorial, the castle in which all of the kings of
Hasta luego!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Do Not Forget Tomorrow
I have now returned from my last big vacation of the semester—I have been at the
We took a bus from
On Sunday morning we walked to the Caen WWII Memorial, where we boarded the van for our tour. It was a really small group, just Ashley and I and then two younger couples from
Our tour covered everything (and more) that we wanted to see in
We then continued to the
We then continued to the two American landing beaches,
When we got back to Caen we went to the Caen Memorial Museum, which Ashley and I both agreed was extremely well put together—we learned so much and it really helped to clarify the questions and amplify the emotions that we had earlier in the day. One of the parts of the museum that really stood out was a section all about the letters that soldiers had written home, some from soldiers who survived and some from soldiers who had their letters delivered in the event of their death. The letters came from all nationalities, from the liberators and from the occupiers. All of these men were normal people with families, with friends, with lives that they left at home. It helped to again put into perspective the tragedy of war and how the lives of so many people in the world are affected by it. If I came to understand anything by the end of that day is that I hopefully won’t ever understand. Watching the footage of the soldiers jumping into the water, trekking up to those beaches, all I could do was hope with all I have in me that no future generations will ever know what it is like to fight a battle like that. We really enjoyed
On Monday we took the train to
Tuesday was a GORGEOUS day in
On Wednesday morning we got up and headed back to Notre Dame so that I could go up into the towers, and while the wait in line was long, it was definitely worth it. The view was amazing! After Notre Dame we walked to the Louvre, where I spent my last 2 hours or so in
It was such a great vacation—I think we found the perfect mix between educational and enjoyable, and therefore learned A TON while still thoroughly enjoying ourselves and having a relatively stress-free trip! I am sad that it is my last one, but also glad that I ended my major travels on such an excellent note. In less than a week—next Thursday—I will head to the North of Spain,
Monday, April 7, 2008
Irish Hearts Live Longest
So if I ever run away, it is safe to assume that I will be somewhere in
We were fortunate enough to have a tour offered through our hostel, and it was very affordable for us to go on an all day tour up the Eastern coast of
The tour took us along the costal rode, which passes through several of
We then made our way back to
On Sunday we traveled from
Monday, March 31, 2008
Back from Vacation
Once again, I have returned home to
I left
On Saturday morning I met Katie at the airport for our 7 a.m. flight to
After the Vatican, we went to the Colosseum, which was pretty amazing. I found it sort of funny that all of the ruins and famous sights in
On Sunday morning we were back to the
Thankfully shortly after that rainy ordeal, the rain ceased for a few hours and we were able to see the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. We were on a really good streak until we were at our last sight of the day—the Roman Forum—and we were caught in a relatively violent hail storm. By the time it was done, there were broken umbrellas EVERYWHERE, and we were ready to go back to the hostel and be warm and dry! Unfortunately we didn’t see hardly any of the Roman Forum, but the storm was an experience in itself.
On Monday we traveled to
On Tuesday afternoon we took the train to
Wednesday was a day of travel—we took the train to
We really enjoyed Barcelona—we had a very nice hostel, we went to the Picasso Museum, La Boqueria (a really cool market), the Chocolate Museum, the Olympic Stadium (which was probably our favorite part of Barcelona, even though the Olympics were there a good 16 years ago!), the Sagrada Familia (a church designed my Gaudi) and other Gaudi Houses, Parc Guell (also designed by Gaudi and very cool), and the FC Barcelona stadium (soccer, for those who don’t know!), where we saw Ronaldinho, a very famous soccer player in Spain. He was working with a trainer on the team’s practice field, and he smiled at us and we got pictures, so we were pretty darm excited.
Although we loved
I started classes again—and I only have NINETEEN days of them left! I have only 48 days left in Spain—19 days of class (no classes on Mondays, how nice), 13 days of traveling, 2 school excursions, a big paper to write, and a week of exams. Incredible, really, how fast it has all gone. And there’s still so much left to do! Unfortunately there is no longer internet in my house—I’m not sure if it will return or not, but at the moment it’s looking unlikely. I will get pictures (at least SOME pictures) up as soon as I can, but it might take a little while. I leave for
I hope that everyone had a great Spring Break and a very Happy Easter! Hasta Luego!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
What? It's already March 20th?
We have now been with our host family for almost three weeks, and we have quickly settled in and come to feel, once again, like we are at home. It was easy to love right away--we have our own bathroom, we are a lot closer to the center of town, and there is internet! But even after our great first impressions, we've come to realize the other great things about living here--the excellent cooking, watching the news during dinner and discussing important topics, and Edita and Julio's wonderful sense of humor and the genuine interest they take in our conversations with them. We decided pretty quickly that we were content staying here for the rest of the semester!
Nicar had his surgery two weeks ago, a week later than originally scheduled, and is now recovering at home. We visited them about a week ago and he was still in a fair amount of pain, but was at least finally out of a hospital bed. They had a doctor's appointment yesterday in order to find out what type of therapy or rehabilitation he will be having. We are very glad that he's finally at home and that the whole ordeal is close to being over with for them! We will be staying here with Edita and Julio for the rest of the semester, as it was a lot of work to move only one time! Plus, we will both be traveling every single weekend between now and the second week of May! We will continue to visit them, of course, and will miss them just as we'll miss this family when we go back to the US.
My spring break started last Friday, and while all of my friends took off right away, I have been in Valladolid all week. I went to some Holy Week processions with my host parents, slept a lot, walked around the city and explored, and really just relaxed and took it easy.
Today is a day of packing and cleaning, as tomorrow morning at 6:30 I will get on a bus and head to Madrid, and from there, to Italy! In Madrid I will be meeting Jody Krieg and a group of students from Wausau East--I am SO excited to see some familiar faces! I will spend the day with them and spend the night in Madrid, and then meet my friend Katie at the airport to catch our flight to Rome early Saturday morning. We will be in Rome until Monday when we will go to Florence, and then to Pisa and Cinque Terre, and then to Milan. From Milan we will fly to Barcelona where we will finish out our trip, returning to Valladolid via a 10 hour bus ride on the 30th. Ay! It will be busy, but hopefully, HOPEFULLY everything goes as planned and we will arrive back in 9 days with awesome pictures and all of our belongings still with us!
I will go to school for three days the week after that, and then on Thursday the 3rd I will be on a plane once more with my friend Ashley, on our way to Ireland! My host mom just laughed and rolled her eyes when I told her how soon I'd be leaving again! ;) But I can't wait.
Well, I have a lot of packing to do, but I thought I'd update after much too long to let everyone know what I'm up to.
Hasta luego! And Happy Easter! ;)