Hello all!
Things are starting to wind down here, I just took my first final and will have four more to take next week, but then I´m finished!
We had a long weekend, the past weekend, so I had the chance to go to Ireland! It has been incredibly hot here the last couple of weeks, so a cool, rainy weekend in Dublin was great! I spent Friday just walking around the city, I got to see Trinity College and the two big cathedrals. I also toured the Guinness factory, so I now have all kinds of random facts in my head that I will most likely never use again!
When I booked the trip I knew that I wanted to attempt to see where my family is from in Ireland, so after I little research, I found out we are from Offaly County, which is where I ended up spending Saturday. Needless to say there isn´t a whole lot there, but it was still such a unique experience to have. I just spent the day wandering around the main city of the area realizing that I decended from someone that probably walked down those same streets.
Sunday ended up being quite the experience for me, I decided to go out to Howth, a small village about 20 minutes out of Dublin. It´s a same port town and extremely beautiful. Howth is known for not only its port, but also hiking around the area. So I decided to be brave and follow the trail.... I did good for the first half, but somewhere along the way I got a little lost! And then of course because I was in Ireland, it started to rain- definitely not the high point of the trip :) Needless to say, I ended up on the edge of a golf course. I could see the village on the other side and decided that since I was cold and wet, I didn´t care about getting hit by golf balls too much, so proceeded to walk straight across the course and found a coffee shop to escape the rain and warm up in.
It ended up being quite the weekend, and I am so glad that I went, although now I am a little behind on my work, it was totally worth it!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
April
Hello all!
Sorry its been so long between posts, this month has seemed to get away from me! The first week of April was my midterms, which was a very stressful time! Although I did very well on my exams which makes all the stress seem worth it (or at least mostly worth it!) And my spring break started right after I finished exams and with it came my mom and my youngest brother, Sawyer. It was so great to see my family and have some time off of school! Even though we were on the go the whole time they were here.
We started off by going to Athens for a couple days. It is such a beautiful city and going up to the Acropolis was unbelievable. I had never realized how big everything was in ancient Greece until I was standing right next to things! It even made Sawyer look like a dwarf, which was a welcome change for my mom and me.
After that we headed to Cairo, Egypt. My mom knows a teacher from Lincoln that now teaches there with his wife and they were kind enough to let us stay with them. I´m not sure how we would have made it without them putting up with us, changing our money and finding our tour guide. Our guide was fantastic, she took us to all the major monuments and without her we never would have been able to see everything we did. It was most definitely a cultural experience, most of the time it felt like we were worlds away from what we call normal. I still cannot believe I have actually seen the pyramids, let alone climbed down into one! I think all three of us could agree it was not an experience we will forget very soon!
We returned back to Madrid for a night, then the next morning we were off to the south of Spain, although it was slightly depressing since it wasn´t that sunny and warm out. We first went to Granada, then to Sevilla. Both cities have amazing Moorish aquitecture, most famously at Granada´s Alhambra. We moved much slower once on this part of the trip, just wondering through the cities and visiting old cathedrals and castles.
After my family left I jumped back into school again, although we did take a program trip to the western side of Spain two weekends ago. We went to the province of Extremadura, it has a very different feel than the rest of Spain and it was nice to be traveling with my friends and experiencing it with them. This is the part of Spain where most of the Conquistidores came from.
I´ll be sticking around Madrid, pretty much for the rest of the school year now, which ends in May. It is going to be even more busy than April I think- I have lots of papers to write and exams to take. Although after that is finished I´ll be able to start my summer of fun!
Hope all is well back home
Sorry its been so long between posts, this month has seemed to get away from me! The first week of April was my midterms, which was a very stressful time! Although I did very well on my exams which makes all the stress seem worth it (or at least mostly worth it!) And my spring break started right after I finished exams and with it came my mom and my youngest brother, Sawyer. It was so great to see my family and have some time off of school! Even though we were on the go the whole time they were here.
We started off by going to Athens for a couple days. It is such a beautiful city and going up to the Acropolis was unbelievable. I had never realized how big everything was in ancient Greece until I was standing right next to things! It even made Sawyer look like a dwarf, which was a welcome change for my mom and me.
After that we headed to Cairo, Egypt. My mom knows a teacher from Lincoln that now teaches there with his wife and they were kind enough to let us stay with them. I´m not sure how we would have made it without them putting up with us, changing our money and finding our tour guide. Our guide was fantastic, she took us to all the major monuments and without her we never would have been able to see everything we did. It was most definitely a cultural experience, most of the time it felt like we were worlds away from what we call normal. I still cannot believe I have actually seen the pyramids, let alone climbed down into one! I think all three of us could agree it was not an experience we will forget very soon!
We returned back to Madrid for a night, then the next morning we were off to the south of Spain, although it was slightly depressing since it wasn´t that sunny and warm out. We first went to Granada, then to Sevilla. Both cities have amazing Moorish aquitecture, most famously at Granada´s Alhambra. We moved much slower once on this part of the trip, just wondering through the cities and visiting old cathedrals and castles.
After my family left I jumped back into school again, although we did take a program trip to the western side of Spain two weekends ago. We went to the province of Extremadura, it has a very different feel than the rest of Spain and it was nice to be traveling with my friends and experiencing it with them. This is the part of Spain where most of the Conquistidores came from.
I´ll be sticking around Madrid, pretty much for the rest of the school year now, which ends in May. It is going to be even more busy than April I think- I have lots of papers to write and exams to take. Although after that is finished I´ll be able to start my summer of fun!
Hope all is well back home
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
all roads lead to rome
hello everyone!
I hope everything is going well with you all, I know I have been having a pretty good couple of last weeks! The only damper on my fast approaching spring break are the two midterms I have to take this week! But my mom and youngest brother arrive on Thursday so I can't wait for that, it will be a nice reward for after exams to be sure.
Although I was lucky enough to have a visitor not too long ago. My friend Ashley came during Madison's spring break to visit me and it was so great! We spent a couple days in Madrid but most of the time we were in Rome, since I had a long weekend. I think it will be an experience we will not soon forget. We had a chance to see all the big things in Rome, from the Vatican to the Colosseum to making our wishes in the Trevi Fountain. It was quite the experience to see places I have been fascinated by ever since I first learned about them. While all the big things were amazing to see, I think my favorite one was a small church we never would have found had we not been looking for it- in fact we were standing around the corner from it and didn't even realize it as first- the church that was built over the prison that held the Apostles Peter and Paul. It was almost eerie to walk into the prison. We were overcome with the gravity of their situation and persecution they underwent. I know it put my own life into a harsh perspective.
We also attempted to take a day trip to the island of Capri to visit an amazing cave called the Blue Grotto, but that turned out to be a very bad idea since the weather was terrible and we got stranded without a bus further in the island in the rain and wind. It was for sure a bonding experience though and we are now starting to laugh about it!
Still though I think my favorite part was having one of my dearest friends with me and having the chance to catch up with her in person! Although it has made me slightly more homesick :)
I hope everything is going well with you all, I know I have been having a pretty good couple of last weeks! The only damper on my fast approaching spring break are the two midterms I have to take this week! But my mom and youngest brother arrive on Thursday so I can't wait for that, it will be a nice reward for after exams to be sure.
Although I was lucky enough to have a visitor not too long ago. My friend Ashley came during Madison's spring break to visit me and it was so great! We spent a couple days in Madrid but most of the time we were in Rome, since I had a long weekend. I think it will be an experience we will not soon forget. We had a chance to see all the big things in Rome, from the Vatican to the Colosseum to making our wishes in the Trevi Fountain. It was quite the experience to see places I have been fascinated by ever since I first learned about them. While all the big things were amazing to see, I think my favorite one was a small church we never would have found had we not been looking for it- in fact we were standing around the corner from it and didn't even realize it as first- the church that was built over the prison that held the Apostles Peter and Paul. It was almost eerie to walk into the prison. We were overcome with the gravity of their situation and persecution they underwent. I know it put my own life into a harsh perspective.
We also attempted to take a day trip to the island of Capri to visit an amazing cave called the Blue Grotto, but that turned out to be a very bad idea since the weather was terrible and we got stranded without a bus further in the island in the rain and wind. It was for sure a bonding experience though and we are now starting to laugh about it!
Still though I think my favorite part was having one of my dearest friends with me and having the chance to catch up with her in person! Although it has made me slightly more homesick :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Carnival!
Up until this last week, I had always believed that warm, sunny weather in February was a myth! Well no more, this last weekend especially was absolutely beautiful! That proved to be a major bonus for me this weekend because I have a friend visiting and walking around Madrid in nice weather is much more enjoyable.
Classes ended well last week, my schedule is all straightened out now and things are starting to have a rhythm to them. I´m still enjoying my classes too, which is a big plus!
My friend, Adam, arrived on Friday night, and will be in Madrid on and off until Sunday. It was so nice to have a visitor come to see me, especially someone from home! Adam is studying in Florence this semester so we figured we were too close to one another to not visit. Saturday we spent in Retiro park, basically the Madrid equivalent to Central Park. By far the funniest thing we did was rent a row boat and row around the little man-made lake they have there. We just spent the rest of the day walking around the park, which was a ton of fun. Then that night, the Carnival paradewas going on so we stayed downtown and watched that. For those of you that don´t know, Carnival is the huge party they have here before Lent starts, people dress up in ridiculous costumes and the streets are full of people! It was so fun to see how into it some people got, there was a whole family dressed up like cavemen that decided to fight the dinosaurs that came through during the parade! It made for an unforgettable evening.
Sunday was a pretty calm day for us, we went to the palace here in Madrid. It was something I hadn´t done yet, so it was new to both of us! It was pretty cool to see a palace that is still in use in present day, the king doesn´t actually live there, but its used for a lot of royal functions. Then the rest of the day we spent walking around the center of the city and the shopping district.
It was nice to have a relaxing weekend before starting the week off again, basically on my Mondays and Tuesdays I am going from 7:30 am to 9 pm, so its a little tiring. I´m still teaching English, and its going really well, I have great students and am having a blast teaching them! The rest of this week is pretty calm for me, I´m thinking that I´ll get a head start on all the work I will have to do, although the weather is so nice I might be tempted away to go outside and enjoy it.
Classes ended well last week, my schedule is all straightened out now and things are starting to have a rhythm to them. I´m still enjoying my classes too, which is a big plus!
My friend, Adam, arrived on Friday night, and will be in Madrid on and off until Sunday. It was so nice to have a visitor come to see me, especially someone from home! Adam is studying in Florence this semester so we figured we were too close to one another to not visit. Saturday we spent in Retiro park, basically the Madrid equivalent to Central Park. By far the funniest thing we did was rent a row boat and row around the little man-made lake they have there. We just spent the rest of the day walking around the park, which was a ton of fun. Then that night, the Carnival paradewas going on so we stayed downtown and watched that. For those of you that don´t know, Carnival is the huge party they have here before Lent starts, people dress up in ridiculous costumes and the streets are full of people! It was so fun to see how into it some people got, there was a whole family dressed up like cavemen that decided to fight the dinosaurs that came through during the parade! It made for an unforgettable evening.
Sunday was a pretty calm day for us, we went to the palace here in Madrid. It was something I hadn´t done yet, so it was new to both of us! It was pretty cool to see a palace that is still in use in present day, the king doesn´t actually live there, but its used for a lot of royal functions. Then the rest of the day we spent walking around the center of the city and the shopping district.
It was nice to have a relaxing weekend before starting the week off again, basically on my Mondays and Tuesdays I am going from 7:30 am to 9 pm, so its a little tiring. I´m still teaching English, and its going really well, I have great students and am having a blast teaching them! The rest of this week is pretty calm for me, I´m thinking that I´ll get a head start on all the work I will have to do, although the weather is so nice I might be tempted away to go outside and enjoy it.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
My journey to a galaxy far, far away... and one not so far away
This last week has been such a whirlwind, I´m glad it is finally over. Last weekend I had to finish up some papers from my first semester classes still, so needless to say it was fairly uneventful. I was hoping that after I did that though, I would have some time to relax while me new classes, started- unfortunately not! The way my schedule worked out this semester I have four classes Mondays and Tuesdays and only one Thursdays and Fridays. And while its nice at the end of the week, the beginning is a little stressful! I´m excited about my classes though, I´m taking a lot of international relations courses and also an art class where we actually go to the Prado museum and learn about the art in person. My new classes are going to be a ton of work, which will not be fun but I am truly interested in all the topics, so I think that it will be a good semester!
My big excitement from last week though was going to the Star Wars exhibit that is in Madrid right now. I went with four of my American friends on Wednesday and it was exactly what I needed after my long days. The exhibit is basically costumes and props from the movies, which was pretty amazing to see. I think that we were more excited to see this exhibit than most of the Spanish things we go to. Seriously, when we were walking in, we were jumping around like little kids we were so excited!
This weekend was also special for me because I finally got to visit a friend I met while working at the camp in Romania, we hadn´t seen each other in five years! So I spent the weekend with him, in Castellon and Valencia. Luckily for me he has a car so he showed me all the great spots! We had the chance to go up into the mountains and to a castle and the beach all in one weekend! I still can´t believe after all this time we finally had a chance to get together!
Luckily for me, the tough part of my week is done now, with the exception of work tonight. And this weekend I have a friend from Madison visiting me from where he is studying in Florence, so I´m sure that this weekend will be a special one as well!
My big excitement from last week though was going to the Star Wars exhibit that is in Madrid right now. I went with four of my American friends on Wednesday and it was exactly what I needed after my long days. The exhibit is basically costumes and props from the movies, which was pretty amazing to see. I think that we were more excited to see this exhibit than most of the Spanish things we go to. Seriously, when we were walking in, we were jumping around like little kids we were so excited!
This weekend was also special for me because I finally got to visit a friend I met while working at the camp in Romania, we hadn´t seen each other in five years! So I spent the weekend with him, in Castellon and Valencia. Luckily for me he has a car so he showed me all the great spots! We had the chance to go up into the mountains and to a castle and the beach all in one weekend! I still can´t believe after all this time we finally had a chance to get together!
Luckily for me, the tough part of my week is done now, with the exception of work tonight. And this weekend I have a friend from Madison visiting me from where he is studying in Florence, so I´m sure that this weekend will be a special one as well!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
January!
Sorry it has been so long, January has been an extremely busy month! I only just finished the majority of my finals last week and still have one more to go this week. The whole having a three week break really through me off, I'm so used to having finals finished before Christmas vacation, this year it was like being back on my high school schedule again! But I'm pretty sure I did well on my exams and I'm feeling prepared for the one I have on Wednesday.
Other than studying an insane amount though, I've been hanging out with my friends when we have the time. I didn't realize what a family my group of friends had become for me until I was back in Madrid and spending time with them. I'm so lucky that I have a solid group of friends here, it makes the whole experience so much better! This weekend actually was a special one, some girls I went to high school with were in town for the weekend and I also found out I have another friend studying here for the semester from high school, so we all went out together, which was so much fun! It was like we were having our own little Central party, all the way in Madrid, Spain. It makes it so much easier to not miss home when you have the chance to see old friends.
For those of you that have been asking, my friends and I schedules our return flights this last week, so July 16th I will be back in the states. We're going to travel for the better part of June and until we leave in July, so it is going to be an exciting summer!
I hope you all have a great Sunday, its snowing again here, so maybe we'll finally have the snowball fight we've been talking about!
Other than studying an insane amount though, I've been hanging out with my friends when we have the time. I didn't realize what a family my group of friends had become for me until I was back in Madrid and spending time with them. I'm so lucky that I have a solid group of friends here, it makes the whole experience so much better! This weekend actually was a special one, some girls I went to high school with were in town for the weekend and I also found out I have another friend studying here for the semester from high school, so we all went out together, which was so much fun! It was like we were having our own little Central party, all the way in Madrid, Spain. It makes it so much easier to not miss home when you have the chance to see old friends.
For those of you that have been asking, my friends and I schedules our return flights this last week, so July 16th I will be back in the states. We're going to travel for the better part of June and until we leave in July, so it is going to be an exciting summer!
I hope you all have a great Sunday, its snowing again here, so maybe we'll finally have the snowball fight we've been talking about!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
my white Christmas!
I hope that you all had happy holidays with your family and friends. I know that I will not soon forget my Christmas holidays from this year. I got back from Romania a couple days ago and I am so glad I had the chance to go there for Christmas. While I missed my friends and family so much, I got to spend it with friends I hadn't seen in over 3 years. It was so amazing to see that friendships can last over such a long period of time and space.
I spent from the 19th to the 3rd with my friends, Anca and Carmen and their family. I can't even express how excited I was to see them again. We spent most of our time just spending time together and talking. We had a lot to catch up after so many years! I was also blessed because quite a few of my good friends live in the same town so I got to see them and catch up as well. When I had been in Romania the previous times, almost all of my time had been spent working at the camp. It was nice to be able to experience the everyday life of my friends for an extended amount of time. I ate to much authentic Romanian food- I had forgotten how much I had missed it!
Christmas was pretty quite, we went to church Christmas Day. Christmas Eve we went caroling, which was something I hadn't done for some time and it was a lot of fun even though it was cold! It even snowed for Christmas, only making things better- it is one of the things I have been missing in Madrid. For New Year's we spent the night at the church with other youth, with fireworks, games, friends and so much food!
Other than that though, my vaction was pretty low key, spending time with friends, there was a girls' shopping day- which I guess ended eventfully since we got stuck in the broken down train for over 2 hours on the way home!
As always my time went way to fast, although I did get a special surprise today. There was a mini snow storm in Madrid! It was probably one of the sweetest things I've seen here- everyone went out to the street and stood out in the snow. It hasn't snowed here in years, it was so great to hear little kids getting so excited. Even though it didn't stick, I still got a little bit of real winter right here.
I spent from the 19th to the 3rd with my friends, Anca and Carmen and their family. I can't even express how excited I was to see them again. We spent most of our time just spending time together and talking. We had a lot to catch up after so many years! I was also blessed because quite a few of my good friends live in the same town so I got to see them and catch up as well. When I had been in Romania the previous times, almost all of my time had been spent working at the camp. It was nice to be able to experience the everyday life of my friends for an extended amount of time. I ate to much authentic Romanian food- I had forgotten how much I had missed it!
Christmas was pretty quite, we went to church Christmas Day. Christmas Eve we went caroling, which was something I hadn't done for some time and it was a lot of fun even though it was cold! It even snowed for Christmas, only making things better- it is one of the things I have been missing in Madrid. For New Year's we spent the night at the church with other youth, with fireworks, games, friends and so much food!
Other than that though, my vaction was pretty low key, spending time with friends, there was a girls' shopping day- which I guess ended eventfully since we got stuck in the broken down train for over 2 hours on the way home!
As always my time went way to fast, although I did get a special surprise today. There was a mini snow storm in Madrid! It was probably one of the sweetest things I've seen here- everyone went out to the street and stood out in the snow. It hasn't snowed here in years, it was so great to hear little kids getting so excited. Even though it didn't stick, I still got a little bit of real winter right here.
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