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End of the semester…wow it’s already here? Am I really all packed up right now getting ready to go to Italy and then off to Greece? I don’t feel like I am actually saying adios to Sevilla…well I guess I’m not saying goodbye, more like see you later. But wow, I am sure going to miss this place! I am going to miss Carmen SO much and her family and the friends I have made here, and the culture, the amazing buildings, everything! Although I am sad, I am excited…this experience gave me a new look on life. I appreciate everything I have so much more and look forward to everything when I get back!
So let’s do a bit of a recap…the last time I wrote was about Feria…which feels like months ago! The week after Feria was filled with studying, and hanging out with friends, walking around, taking pictures of the city, laughing a lot and just enjoying our time. The weekend after Feria (April 30th) was amazing! Well actually the weekend started on April 29th and wow, that night was amazing! We had our last intercambio meeting and I when I went I was really thinking I would go for a bit and then go back home…but did I? OH no…Instead we went and drank Agua de Sevilla, Agua de Kenosha, and Agua de Fuego…which I must add, IS NOT WATER! They are drinks, and they are very very good! Anyways, after taking a million and a half pictures we went to Buddha, the three story club, and danced our night away! Instead of getting home around 12 I got home around 4:30am whoa. Hahah GREAT NIGHT THOUGH!
The following day I just bummed around, hung out and relaxed and tried to study a bit! Kelsey and I stayed in and had a low key night considering the night prior was the complete opposite of low key! The following day I met up with some friends and we went on a hunt for these pillow covers I really wanted to get…but we couldn’t find them, so we went to Maria Luisa Park and hung out with a couple other people…it was A LOT of fun! After not studying at all I decided I’d better start considering I had a final on Monday! So I went back, did a bit of studying and then got ready for the night! We went out to a tapas bar called Levies…it’s an amazing place! It’s kind of funny because where it’s located there are like 4 other restaurants with the same name! The reason is because the plaza is named Plaza de Levies…which I have no idea what that means, but it works! Anyways, we ate some amazing food and then were going to go back to the house till someone brought up the idea to go to a Flamenco show…so we changed direction and off we went to Carboneria! Ah I love Flamenco, especially considering I know how to dance it now! I look forward to taking my family there when we return! After Flamenco we went back to the house.
The next day I met up with Kalee and Ryne and went to try and get those squares again, but after walking 100 miles and still not being able to find them so I went back and cracked down on my studying. After studying for a couple of hours it was time for Kelsey’s birthday lunch! We were planning on going to this great restaurant near our place, but it was insanely busy so we went to a Chinese restaurant! It was VERY good…I was pleased considering I haven’t had Chinese this entire year! After lunch we went back and studied! The following morning I woke up bright and early, not only because I had a final at 8:30…it was my roommate’s birthday! A few days prior I had bought balloons and made a card so I put those balloons and sign in the bathroom considering she is a very light sleeper and was able to sleep in that day. So at 7am I was blowing up balloons and studying at the same time! My final went great and afterwards I did a bit of shopping around and then off I went to have lunch with our senora and Kelsey! We went to the place we had wanted to go to before, and AH it was so good! The name of the place is Cigala de Oro and ah it has the best Solomillo al Whisky….yum! (Which is like meat in whiskey sauce, but it’s so much more than that!) Anyways, we ate there and had a great time (like always)! After birthday celebration we went back into study mode for a while and then had another b-day celebration with Carmen and her daughters! It was a lot of fun! We all hung out and sang Kelsey Happy Birthday (in Spanish of course), and then we played with her granddaughters with the balloons! And after dinner we ended up meeting up with a group for mojitos! Overall very successful day!
The rest of my week was filled with studying, and taking finals, and packing, and buying, and sleeping, and taking a million pictures! My finals all went very smoothly and I think I did pretty well with all of them! Thursday night, May 6th, we had a fiesta with everyone in the school and it was pretty sad. Just about everyone was leaving tomorrow morning but not me, Kelsey, Ryne and Molly! After hanging out with everyone and taking a million and a half pictures I left with a few people and got some churros and chocolate! The following day was filled with planning, and figuring out travel plans. There was so much to get done, time was a ticking….and I look back and wow, I really have had an awesome time :]] and more great times are on their way!
![Me on my camel named Abraham :]]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1njofaQBy1qafac8o1_500.jpg)
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![Yayy I got a new camera!! Now I don’t have to worry about not getting amazing photos of Italy, Greece and of course Sevilla!!
What a great gift to myself :]]]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l1hter0Cgk1qafac8o1_500.jpg)
Yayy I got a new camera!! Now I don’t have to worry about not getting amazing photos of Italy, Greece and of course Sevilla!!
What a great gift to myself :]]]
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Well as I am sure you can tell I loved the trip, I cannot believe I was lucky enough to experience it! No worries everyone I was only sick that one day and then felt great the next and still am feeling great! I was nervous because I know people who went before and were sick for a week afterward….and I didn’t want to be sick on my two weeks here! Yep you heard me right…I only have 13 more days in Sevilla…and then I am in Italy/Greece for 8 days…meaning I AM GOING TO BE HOME IN 21 DAYS!!
Ah I finally finished my African update…now what is going on in my life now?!? Well right now it’s Feria, which is a weeklong festival where they celebrate the art of Flamenco. AND I LOVE IT! As all of you know I am taking a Flamenco dancing class, and for the most part couldn’t stand it…but now I am SO glad that I took it! The past three nights I have gone to the Feria fair grounds and had a blast! I danced Sevilliana (a type of Flamenco), laughed with friends, eaten churros and cotton candy, drank the Feria drink (Rebuitos: apple wine with sprite), danced some more, took pictures (well not on my camera considering its broken :[[), rode the Ferris wheel and tonight I am going to go see the fireworks! It’s like a carnival but Spain style, it defiantly has gotten me excited for the State/County Fair!! This weekend is my second to last weekend here in Sevilla and let me tell you, it was a great one!
Well this week I am going to start prepping for finals, and getting things done! Also I will be doing my last minute shopping and ahh just enjoying myself! I love Sevilla, I really do, but I must admit…I love you all so much more!!!
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BLOG THREE!
April 20th:
We woke up pretty early the next day to get a head start on the day considering we had a pretty packed schedule…and the best part was that it didn’t include the bus (well only for a bit)! We got on the bus at 9 and were off for the Medina! A Medina is a shopping center for the town’s people, and here is where you bargain for everything you get. The one we went to is the largest one in Morocco so we were under strict rules to stay in a group and not to wander off. In order to stick to their word the guides never stopped counting us…it was kind of a relief! Also another thing they told us was that we had to wear conservative clothing…no belly shirts and no cleavage at all. We were told this for the entire trip, but it’s hard to do that when it’s boiling hot in Africa…but they made it a big point to us that we had to wear conservative clothes that specific day.
So we get into the Medina and wow, it was exactly like the movie Slum dog Millionaire. The amount of people, the kind of shops they have, the dirt, the smells, everything. I felt like I was in the movie. I must admit it was not the best feeling… Anyways, the group I was with went into numerous places! We first went to the leather factory. There we saw how leather was created along with a store that held everything! It was all surprisingly expensive so I didn’t buy any…but that’s okay with me nothing really popped out at me. After the leather factory we went to a spice shop…ah it was so cool! They had everything in there! Things like Viagra roots, face cream, fish spice, lip balm, everything! I bought my mom some AMAZING tea and my dad some anti snoring medication :] well I guess that gift is more for my mom than him! But anyways…after the two visits everyone was getting pretty hungry. We went to a restaurant where we had an interesting salad, some great sweet treat, and a decent meal…with all the smells of the medina I wasn’t really in an eating mood. One fun thing during lunch was that I got to buy a Fez, which are the red hats with the black tassel on top! Like the monkey wears in Aladdin! So I bought three…not really sure who I’m giving them to, but I’m sure I will have no problem finding people! After lunch we went to a rug factory where rugs are made, we actually got to see one being made! Did you know that each rug takes 2 women about 2 months to make! Crazy right?! But the only thing I don’t like is that they get paid pennies for their work…the people who sell them charge an insane price and they didn’t even do the labor. So with that, I didn’t buy one. I did like a lot of them though! After that we went to a scarf store where they sell and also make scarfs! We got to see how they were made…it’s pretty cool! We also got to go to the upper part of the store that had clothing! Kalee tried on an outfit and they tried to get me to try one on but I wasn’t having it haha…oh well! After we went to the stores we got do some SHOPPING!!! Ah I have never felt so successful shopping…not that I bought a ton of things but you work for what you buy! Bartering was so much fun! I loved it, I wasn’t very good…but Kelsey is amazing at it! In the shops I got a couple great gifts and I am so excited to give them! Oh a random fun fact: I have decided I am giving myself 100 Euros to spend on…ME! So that’s pretty exciting for myself, haha! Anyways back to Africa, after we were done shopping we went back to the bus and went back to the hotel. There we ate dinner (which I was totally sick of the food they have in Morocco), and then our guides had a little surprise for us! Well I didn’t get to actually see the surprise but I went down for the party that they threw for us and we got a round of drinks for free…which I wasn’t feeling well so I gave mine to my friend. Eventually I just wanted to go to sleep and my stomach started acting up so I called it a night. I left everyone and went to sleep. Well after a little bit I suddenly really wasn’t feeling good at all. I woke up a few times in the night time and felt worse with time. I finally knocked out for a bit…
April 20th: Travel day
Well let me tell you I am glad I was sick the last day, but it was extremely inconvenient considering we were on the bus the entire day. This day wasn’t too good, just travel and sickness…but I sidetracked my brain with reminiscing the amazing 5 days I had just had!
I was one happy chica….and still am!!
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BLOG TWO!
April 18th:
Well 5 am came far too quickly and the people were knocking, talking, and trying to wake us up. I almost didn’t want to get out of bed…not that it was comfortable by any means, I was just tired. But I finally climbed out of bed and put my tennis shoes on (which let me tell you, was a horrible idea) and off I went! So I start walking up the dune thinking it wasn’t going to be hard at all and it was just the opposite! I wasn’t even 1/4 the way up and my calves were burning!! With that, I decided half way up was a perfect place to watch the sunrise! So Kelsey and I sat there and enjoyed the amazing scenery. Once the sun had risen we made our way down the dune…and it was SO much easier that going up! So we got a few snap shots of the oasis and went to go get ready for the day! Right when we were ready it was suddenly time to go onto the camels! So me being my genius self decided that I should get something that can go around my wrist to hold my camera. So I get a string from a blanket and think that it’s going to hold it. Well as I am getting up onto my camel, the string…breaks. Meaning I JUST DROPPED MY CAMERA UNDER THE CAMEL INTO SAND! Yep, you guessed it…it broke. SUCH a bummer, so for the rest of the trip I have to get the pictures from other people’s cameras. Thankfully they were all really nice about it, they’d let me take my own pictures every once in a while…so I got lucky there! No worries, I am going to go check out how much it costs to fix it or even may buy a new one here…not really sure yet! Regardless there is no way I am going to Italy and Greece without a camera!!
So we started our TWO HOUR journey on camel to our next hotel, and wow I was beyond sore. I had bruises on my pelvic bone and everything! People say that camels are like horses…oh no, they are not at all! Camels move side to side so you constantly need to hold on very nice and I had to keep readjusting to get comfortable. But I am not complaining…it was an incredible adventure! The sights were beyond breathtaking, the contrast between the sand and the sky was priceless…it was just like the movies! We got to the hotel, and everyone was starving, but no worries breakfast was waiting for us! Well we inhaled our breakfast and then got into our swimsuits! We laid out by the pool for a couple of hours and wow, it was SO hot! I laid out only from like 10-1 and wow I was toasted! It was so nice though, very very relaxing! I cleaned up and then went for lunch! After lunch we went on a desert village tour! We walked around 2 miles to get there, and ah it was horribly hot! I wish I would’ve brought my turban to cool my head down! Eventually we got out of sun and were walking in the shade…along their irrigation system. With their irrigation system, there were frogs swimming, little bugs crawling and people were washing their clothes and feet in it. We walked a bit more and came upon the place they get the water out. They use big containers (similar to detergent holders) and have a mesh filter they use to “clean” their water. These little girls, probably 6-9 years old walk out here guiding a donkey to fill up water for their family…wow I really have taken for granted the easy access we have to water. This trip has definitely taught me that I have taken a lot of things for granted! After walking about an hour total we finally made it to the village and the only thing that was there were adobe houses (made of mud and straw) and dust, oh and more dust. It was a ghost town, I don’t know if people were just gone for the day or what, but I think I saw maybe 10 kids and a couple of adults…it kind of made me nervous! After the tour we made our way back to our hotel and ate dinner! Then after dinner everyone on the trip got together and partied! Molly and I shared a bottle of wine and we just relaxed, laughed and took pictures! It was pretty fun! We stayed out till like 2am and I was exhausted…so when I hit the pillow I was out like a light!
April 19th:
We all woke up, got ready and packed at the same time! We rushed off to breakfast, ate the amazing croissants and sweet treats they had along with the amazing fresh orange juice they had! After we ate we got our things together and brought them to our 4x4 Jeep! We rode in the jeep for about an hour and then got to the hotel we had stopped at earlier on the trip! We had about an hour to relax and lay out by the pool till lunch was ready. Kelsey, Molly and I grabbed our books and sat in the shade with our feet in the pool…it was very nice! We had a great lunch and then got back into our great bus for a 7 hour journey back to Fez! During the trip we stopped a couple of times, one at this very pretty valley and had a bit of a photo shoot! Thank goodness the views were so pretty or I wouldn’t have been able to handle the bus ride! Once we got to the hotel we were all sick of the bus and rushed off there without looking back for a second. There was dinner ready for us when we got there, but it was so late I wasn’t in any mood to eat, instead I hopped onto their computer for a bit and then just went to bed.
To come: I am submitting the next/last Africa blog right after this one! I just want to be able to show you all the pictures :]]
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Hello! Ah I have been so anxious to tell you all about my amazing times I had in AFRICA! Alright so considering we did SO much there, I have decided to break it up into three different blog entries. So each one will be on either one two or three days depending on how much I did on each day!
BLOG ONE!
April 15th/16th:
Ah I could not wait for the morning to get there, we were going to be getting on our bus at 4:45 am and I seriously could not sleep. And when I did sleep I was just dreaming of riding camels, and climbing sand dunes…but eventually I knocked out for like 20 minutes and all of a sudden our alarm was going off and we were up and going! We had packed everything and set out everything we needed the night before so we didn’t have to rush around in the morning. We gradually made our way to the bus and got on for an amazing 2 hour trek to Tarifa. Once we got to Tarifa we had to wait in the port for an hour or so till the Ferry was ready. Then when it was we all got on the Ferry and wow I had never been on one before! SO MUCH FUN! Kalee, Tim and I went up onto the deck and had SO much fun, we laughed and played like we were ten years old, not caring what anyone thought of us. We posed as Rose did on the Titanic and made fun videos of us swaying back and forth. As you can see, and I’m sure you all already knew I would, I LOVED THE FERRY! The Ferry ride lasted about an hour and then we hopped off and were in AFRICA!!! And wow let me tell you, the smell hit me like a wall. The entire culture was completely different, not only could you see it by what they were wearing but how they were acting, the smells, the scenery, everything! Once we got off we got to exchange our money! Which was 11 Durham for 1 Euro…aka a GREAT EXCHANGE RATE! For the US dollar it’s 8.5 Durham for 1 US Dollar. Once our money was exchanged we hopped onto the bus and got going on our wonderful FOUR hour bus ride (you think that’s long…it’s only the start!) Finally around 12:30 (Morocco Time) we stopped for lunch in Rabat. There we had an AMAZING lunch! It’s called Pastilla and it’s kind of like a pastry but has chicken in the middle of it! It’s topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar and it was great, plus it was extremely filling!
After we were all stuffed from lunch we went on a tour of two well known places in Rabat: Museo King Mohammed V & The Kasbah. Before going to those two places we saw their cemetary they have. If you look closely at the picture you can see that all the headstones are faced in the same direction. That is because they are all facing Mecca. Interesting fact: every 100 years they flatten the ground and start fresh…can you imagine that?! I don’t know how I would feel about that, anyways, I just found that rather interesting. Okay so back to the tours, the first place we visited was the Museo (Museum) there we saw guards on horses, guards at each entrance and hey I even posed with one! We walked around and stretched our legs (and stomachs) and just hung out taking in the new culture in front of us. We were there for about a half hour and then had to get on the bus to go to our next stop. We hopped onto the bus and off we went to The Kasbah. The Kasbah is a little place that has a garden, cafe, and living quarters. Before we got off the bus we were warned about the people doing Henna. There are women walking around with syringes filled with henna and they try to come up to and grab your hand. With that we were told that we have to keep our hands in our pockets and just say La Shukran (No thank you in Arabic). Well I didn’t have any issue with the women instead here is where I turned to take a picture of the living quarters and suddenly a boy jumped into my picture. I didn’t think anything of it and just laughed and took it, well bad idea. The boy followed me for about 10 minutes trying to get me to pay for the pictures I just took of him. But I didn’t have any money…it was very sad. Then was the first time I felt like I was a part of the movie Slum dog Millionaire. Finally the boy left me alone and we just kept walking, we stopped and enjoyed some sights of the ocean for a while and hopped back onto the bus at 4pm. We got to our hotel at 8:30pm and were exhausted. Yes although we didn’t do much besides the bus ride, we were all still very tired. We ate and then knocked out.
April 17th:
7am came WAY too early and we were up and going and down eating breakfast. We checked out of our hotel and climbed into our amazing bus for a 8ish hour journey to Merzouga (aka THE SAHARA DESERT!) We stopped for an amazing lunch about halfway thru! There we had a great buffet of Arabic Food: coos coos with steamed veggies, lamb, chicken, oranges, raisins, amazing bread, yumm SO GOOD! We enjoyed that, had a couple photo shoots and off were again! Everyone was getting extremely excited considering we were in the countdown to being in The Sahara Desert. Around 6pm we all got out of our bus, bought turbans (mine is red with camels on it) and hopped into our 4x4 JEEP! In my jeep was Kelsey, Kalee, Molly, Tim, and Robbie (A friend we had made). In the jeep we busted out the speakers and my ipod and blared Disney songs. It was SO much fun! We rode, or should I say flew, for about an hour and a half till we were on the brink of The Sahara Desert!!!
As you know we couldn’t take Jeeps into the Desert, and walking was out of the question….yep, you guessed it we rode CAMELS!!!! Ah was I in my glory or what! I named mine Camella and wow was she a tall one! I was the first in the group to get up and I did that because I knew I wouldn’t go up otherwise. I held on for dear life and my wrists were clenched to the point of it being painful to let go! We rode the camels for about a half hour!! It was dark out so the only way we knew where we were going was by our guides, Berbers, who directed the camels…I have no idea how they knew where to go considering it all looked the same! Regardless, we made it to our Desert Oasis! There we demounted from our Camels and headed off into the Village for tea and relaxing! I changed into my hippy pants and we got settled to have dinner. After dinner we all huddled around the fire and The Berbers played the drums. Eventually people started getting up and dancing and so I decided I would too…when will I ever be able to say I danced in the Sahara?! So around 11 I was getting really tired, so Kelsey and I pulled our mattresses out of our tents and under the stars. We layed there and talked and saw like 10 shooting stars, it was mind blowing. I had never seen the sky so vibrant! I wish I could’ve taken a picture, but it wouldn’t do any justice to what I actually was looking at. I finally decided I’d better flip over considering I was going to be woken up at 5 am to watch the sunrise :]]
Yep, all the traveling in the bus was totally worth it. I am definitely living the life :]]
TO COME: Sunrise on sand dune, 2 hour camel ride, desert hotel, desert village tour, jeeps, Fez, Medina, and more….
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Hey everyone! I hope you all are doing well on the other side of the world! Well as I was packing up my bag for Africa I realized that I didn’t update my blog about an event I loved…a bull fight! On April 9th (I know it was a long time ago, sorry for the delay!) Kelsey and I went to a bullfight and I was so nervous to go…but I loved it! It was great having Kelsey there with me considering she’s already been to one before and knew what everything about it! We ended up going to a cheaper one that only cost like 15 Euros; usually they are like 35+ and sometimes get up to like 150 for the cheapest seat! The reason it was so cheap for us is because we went to one where the matadors weren’t professional. I mean they were good obviously or they wouldn’t be fighting…but they still needed some practice. Also the bulls were smaller…but still weighed like 450 kilos…which is like 992 pounds….imagine having that run at you! Regardless of how much we paid we got killer seats, we had these two guys next to us who were helpful but the guy right next to me was a hardcore chain smoker…so that was annoying but I just breathed in the opposite direction. They laughed at us whenever we (or I should say I) flinched and covered my eyes (which was often). Ah it was pretty intense during some times…like when one of the banderilleros (people who put the pretty sticks in the bulls back) fell backwards and just about got trampled! Kelsey and I both covered our eyes and looked away haha, I think she may have a gotten a picture, but I was too nervous. The first three bulls (there are six) I was pretty nervous and flinching at everything…but by the fourth I was pretty comfortable with it. I am so glad I didn’t go by what everyone was saying and not go…I mean I am only in Spain once…I HAD to go! Well after the bullfight Kelsey and I went to go get some dinner…Kabobs, YUM! They are SO good!
Well that is the main thing I wanted to talk about, other things I did were things like going to a hippy fest (which was pretty sweet), hangout by the river all day long soaking up the sun, oh and not to mention making a ton of amazing memories:]]] I’ve come to realize I am pretty damn (sorry for the language) lucky. I have an amazing family, friends people would kill for, and a life that is beyond imaginable!
I wanted to make this one short and sweet, I will be updating very soon about my past six days in Africa! It will be a long one and I wanted to make sure I touched on my bull fight and put pictures up of that! I miss you all so much and hope everything is good with each and every one of you reading!
MUCH LOVE FROM SPAIN!
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Hello world! I have finally taken the time to write! Alright so last time I wrote I was just getting ready to go to Lagos Portugal…AH it was AMAZING! The entire trip was perfect; it was just what I needed! I’ll give you a play-by-play!
So we left Monday March 29th, at 7:30am and were on the bus for a wonderful six hours. Thankfully I bought a neck pillow the prior week…I would highly suggest people to buy one! We finally get to Lagos and walk to our hostel, the walk was kind of up in the air considering we followed the weirdest directions! Anyways, we walk up to the wooden door and are like hmm is this safe? It was a rickety old door that looked pretty sketchy…but we sucked it up and knocked three times like the directions told us to. They open the door and it’s this surfer guy with dreads and I was like ‘okay, okay this can’t be horrible.’ So we walk in and it’s SO cute! There was a great living room, small but perfect kitchen, and three bathrooms…and everything was so clean! The dreads-man (Jamie) was awesome and his girlfriend (Ellie) owns the place too and she was super nice, she is actually from New Jersey so she baked us some American treats! I cannot remember the last time I had chocolate chip cookies! Ah they were great! So we get situated and head out to wander around! Jamie gave us directions to the beach but we got mixed up and kind of got lost haha so we turned around and came back to the hostel. We grabbed some money and went off to the grocery store! We got a bunch of fresh veggies, pasta, pizza, breakfast stuff and it was PERFECT! When we were going to the store we found out where the beach he was talking about and once we brought our food back we made our way to the beach! We just hung out and people watched…it was 6ish so we weren’t really in the swimming/tanning mode! But there were a bunch of people just playing games and hanging out…pretty cool! So after the beach we went back to the hostel, cuddled up on the couch and read/watched AMERICAN TV! It was so relaxing and the great thing was for the entire trip the girl I went with, Bri, and I were on the same page! We ended up going to bed around 11:30 and we woke up the next day around noon!
So Tuesday we got up and the weather was perfect! We packed up our lunch, made our sandwich and cut up veggies, and off we were to the beach! We beach hopped and just enjoyed the weather and soaked up the sun! After the beach we were exhausted and went back to the hostel, hung out there, made our dinner and stayed in again hanging out with our friends we made who were staying at the hostel. One girl is from Edina, crazy right?! They are studying in Barcelona, Spain and were just vacationing! They were super chill we just hung out and talked the night away! Well till 11:30 came up again, and we decided to go to bed haha!
We woke up the next day around 12 again and did the same thing! It was kind of cloudy so we
walked around more than laying out, but it worked out! We were planning on going snorkeling so we walked to the marina to get information about it. Well they told us that snorkeling wasn’t the best idea considering all we would see would be wrecks and not many fish…so we changed our plans! We booked a sailing trip for the next day! After we booked it we walked around the town did some shopping and relaxed! That night we decided we had to get out and see what the nightlife was like. So we made dinner, and then got ready! We left the hostel around 10 and just bar hopped! We met so many random people from all over Europe! Some from Germany, Ireland, London, Holland, and random other places! Although I loved relaxing, it was nice getting out! We got back to our hostel around 2 and set our alarms for our sailing adventure!
We woke up with plenty of time, and just relaxed and ate breakfast. We then packed up our lunches and headed out the door! As we were walking we ran into this kiosk, one we had looked at prior, and they had these cool hippie pants (the pink/red/blue/colorful pant’s I’m wearing in some pictures)! We had seen so many people wearing them, they were starting to grow on us…we decided it would be our cool thing from Lagos…so we both bought a pair and ah I love them! My friends are going to back there and I am going to have them pick up a few more! The sailing trip was great; it was perfect weather…not a cloud in the sky! With the sailing trip we got to get off the boat and go into a smaller boat where we got to go into the caves and see the rock formations up close. It was super cool and I am SO glad we went! After the sailing we went to beach and relaxed the rest of the day away! We got back to our hostel and just hung out, cleaned up and got ready for our one dinner date we were going to go on! Our hostel had told us about this Mexican restaurant called The Green Room…so we went there and it was great! We got killer nachos and a huge burrito! After dinner we got into our PJs and hung out, I read for a while and passed out, I was exhausted! Who would have thought sleeping on beach would make you more tired!
The next day we did some shopping, walked around and kept complaining that we didn’t want to go! But more people were starting to show up and we actually decided we came during the best time! We hopped on bus and we got back to chaotic Sevilla! That night I stayed in and skyped with my family (I got to see my Aunt Susan and Cousin Wendy along with her family…so that was very cool!) I also talked with a couple of friends and just relaxed! It was great! The next day Kelsey got back from her trip with her family and we hung out and just watched a movie together that night…it was very nice catching up with her!
The next day as you all know it was Easter….and let me you, being home on that day would have been SO much better! I had a bit of a breakdown in the morning, but then talked with my parents and felt better. I went out with a couple of friends for Easter Lunch and it was fun. We got Kabobs haha, very Easter-like right?! Then I got to Skype with my family again for a longer period of time and it was bittersweet. My brother still did the whole Easter egg hunt, so I asked if they could put the computer in the living room so I could see him trying to find them! Well, let me tell you, I WAS LOVING IT! I told him were pretty much where every egg was! It was such a hoot! Although I wasn’t ‘with’ my family I was! And I will always remember that :] Overall, it was a good Easter.
The next day at school I got a package from the Easter Bunny! Wow who would’ve thought he would come thru the mail! Hahah, my mom didn’t tell me dad about it so it was a surprise to my dad that I got something in the mail too! It was perfect! Speaking of packages…the yesterday I got one from ALPHA PHI! Yes, my sorority sent me an Easter package, and in it was candy, sunglasses, a t-shirt, snacks, an egg decorating kit, along with 50 cards from each one of my sisters! WHAT A WONDERFUL GIFT! I was beyond excited when I got it, I miss each of them so much and feel SO honored that they thought to do that for me. Oh and about Alpha Phi, I am going to be the mom for the new girls! I know a lot of you don’t speak sorority talk so I will expand…Each semester we have new girls who join Alpha Phi. With them we need someone who is there to teach them everything about our amazing organization…and now that is going to be me! I am SO excited!! As you can see life is pretty amazing :]
Well I told myself this was going to be short…hah who was I kidding! I only have 38 days left, wow can you believe that? It felt like yesterday I was like I have 100 days left…where did the time go?! I miss each of you so much and although I love it here, I am SO excited to see everyone! Oh, I almost forgot…I decided I am going to make a Spain Recipe book! The food here is so different I don’t want to forget about it! That’s what’s new with me!
As for what is coming up for me…I am going to a bullfight tomorrow night (kind of nervous…but excited), hanging out this weekend, and then next Friday I am off to AFRICA for six days!! WOW WOW WOW I am SO excited! Yep like I said earlier…life is pretty amazing! Here is much love from Spain!!
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My weekend was GREAT!
Recap! Right after I wrote the last post Kelsey, Senora and I went to dinner for Senoras birthday! And let me tell you, it was perfect…well besides the fact that she wouldn’t let us pay for anything! She is priceless! So as you know Kelsey and I bought her flowers earlier in the day and I James Bonded it into the house so she wouldn’t see them. So right before dinner Kelsey and I gave her the flowers and she was SO happy! She loved them and hugged us like 10 times, kissed our cheeks repeatedly and then insisted we needed a picture! Which I am glad she did because now I have a picture of us three! Well after we got out the door we walked to restaurant and as we were walking she hooked both of us on each side of her arm and we walked all three linked to the restaurant. I still cannot believe how lucky I am for being housed with her; she is such a great woman and is an amazing senora. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I didn’t live with her! Her daughter showed up to dinner and then we went out for icecream after! SO GOOD!
The next day I had school, which drug out more the normal considering it was the last day before SEMANA SANTA (Easter break)!! That night I went out with some friends and had a great night, very exciting! I woke up the next day to an empty bed next to me :[[ Kelsey was off to Madrid to be with her family! It’s weird her not being here! No worries she will be back on Saturday! So Friday, Bri and I went grocery shopping, and got fixings for trail mix…ah SO SO good! Although it’s a bit expensive, it’s totally worth it! Then we went back to put things away and then met to walk to the river! We laid there for a while and just talked…it was SO nice! We then went back to our places around 5 and relaxed till we met up again at 9 for dinner! We met up with a bunch of people for tapas, a placed called Duplex, and ah it was SO good! Then after dinner, which was around midnight, I was exhausted and we just went back and I went to sleep!
Saturday morning I woke up and went on a run/walk around the city and found a few new cool things! I love just going in random directions! Then I met up with Bri again and we laid at the park for a few hours and well let me tell you I LOOK LIKE A TOMATO! Yep, I fried and I didn’t wear any sunscreen! I didn’t even think how I was in a different climate and the equator is so much closer! Well now I will forever wear sun screen! It’s so bad I have little blisters on my shoulders…no worries they aren’t horrible, but they scared me enough! Regardless of the sun burn, I had a great day! We took a break and I got to Skype with Tamara and the kids, which was a great time! I ate lunch and then we walked all over Sevilla…haha not really, but we walked a lot! We went to two places I have never been to: Plaza de España and Maria Luisa Park. I will definitely be going back to both of those places, they were beautiful!! We then went out to dinner again and we went to a place called Levies….YUM and cheap! I will for sure be taking my family there when we come back to Spain! Once again I was exhausted and came back after dinner! When I was back I got a burst of energy and got a few things done! I made little cards for my senora considering today is her actual birthday! I took the cards and put them in the kitchen! Hiding some in the fridge, microwave, and door haha along with placing Feliz Cumpleaños through the kitchen! She really appreciated it when she woke up this morning!
Well now I am packing up a storm for tomorrow, getting things charged, making sure I don’t have any homework, and not to mention staying OUT of the sun! I am SO excited to get on the bus tomorrow morning at 7:30am for LAGOS! Hope all is well with everyone!
Much love from Spain :]]
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