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.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
last week before Christmas!!
Its so hard for me to imagine that it is going to be Christmas in a week, the lack of snow has completely thrown me off! I only have two days before I am off to Romania for two weeks! I cannot even express how excited I am to see my friends, I can't believe that I have not seen them for over 3 years. While this is going to be my first Christmas away from home, I am so excited to be able to spend it with my dear friends.
The last week has been pretty busy for me, I have been trying to finish up as much as I can before I head off for Christmas break. Somehow though this weekend ended up being incredibly full. On Friday night, I got together with my Spanish friends for a pre-New Years celebration- all the students of Madrid gather in Port de Sol and when the clock strikes twelve you have to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds- it is incredibly hard! I couldn't do it :) Then on Saturday I went to the movie Twilight with some of my girlfriends and a birthday party in the evening. Then to wrap up the weekend, a group of us went out for dinner at a Cuban restuarant, I ate so much food- I couldn't even believe it.
I only have two more days of class which is so nice- Then tomorrow night, I'll be heading off to the airport. My flight leaves at 7:45 Friday morning, but the metros aren't open early enough, so I am going to camp out in the airport until my gate opens- I have a feeling it will make for an interesting evening!
I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy spending our Savoir's birth with your friends and family.
The last week has been pretty busy for me, I have been trying to finish up as much as I can before I head off for Christmas break. Somehow though this weekend ended up being incredibly full. On Friday night, I got together with my Spanish friends for a pre-New Years celebration- all the students of Madrid gather in Port de Sol and when the clock strikes twelve you have to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds- it is incredibly hard! I couldn't do it :) Then on Saturday I went to the movie Twilight with some of my girlfriends and a birthday party in the evening. Then to wrap up the weekend, a group of us went out for dinner at a Cuban restuarant, I ate so much food- I couldn't even believe it.
I only have two more days of class which is so nice- Then tomorrow night, I'll be heading off to the airport. My flight leaves at 7:45 Friday morning, but the metros aren't open early enough, so I am going to camp out in the airport until my gate opens- I have a feeling it will make for an interesting evening!
I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy spending our Savoir's birth with your friends and family.
Monday, December 8, 2008
weekend in mallorca
I hope that all of you had a great weekend! My friends and I took advantage of the long weekend and spent it on the island of Mallorca. It is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean and at this time of year a very comfortable, with temperatures in the uppers 60's. Even though it is by no means as cold here as it is in Wisconsin at this time of year, it was a great chance to get some sun and just relax!
We stayed in the city of Palma, and spent Friday exploring the city- we visited the Cathedral there. For those of you that are art fans, we got to see the mural painted by Miquel Barceló, a Spanish painter who actually painted the murals in the UN as well. It was extremely beautiful. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the water and playing in a park. We stuck out as Americans since we decided it would be fun to play on the playground equipment, but it was well worth it!
Saturday we traveled outside of the city to visit the Caverns of the Dragon. It is one of the largest caves and home to one of the largest underground lakes in the world. We weren't exactly sure what to expect before we got there, but it was absolutely mind blowing walking through them.
We also traveled outside of the city on Sunday to visit the village of Port de Soller- we were lucky and arrived before most of the tourists so had the village to ourselves. They have a scenic train we took there that brings you in through the mountains and gave a great view of the village just as the fog was rising out of the valley- it was breathtaking. We climbed to a look out point and had an amazing view of the Mediterranean, it was one of the most calming experiences I have had yet this year. When we returned to Palma we walked up to a castle there that also gave us a beautiful view of the city of Palma. That night I actually ended up going to mass by myself in this ancient cathedral. I had tried to get in all weekend and finally found the doors unlocked last night! It was one of the most memorable experiences I have had yet I think. I was sitting in this freezing cathedral (it was colder inside than outside!) and experiencing a mass that has been going on for centuries in the exact same place. It was mindblowing.
We were so blessed with the weather we had. When we woke up this morning we found it was raining and were glad that we were missing it, and all we had to do today was fly back to Madrid! Now we only have 2 weeks until Christmas vacation!
We stayed in the city of Palma, and spent Friday exploring the city- we visited the Cathedral there. For those of you that are art fans, we got to see the mural painted by Miquel Barceló, a Spanish painter who actually painted the murals in the UN as well. It was extremely beautiful. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the water and playing in a park. We stuck out as Americans since we decided it would be fun to play on the playground equipment, but it was well worth it!
Saturday we traveled outside of the city to visit the Caverns of the Dragon. It is one of the largest caves and home to one of the largest underground lakes in the world. We weren't exactly sure what to expect before we got there, but it was absolutely mind blowing walking through them.
We also traveled outside of the city on Sunday to visit the village of Port de Soller- we were lucky and arrived before most of the tourists so had the village to ourselves. They have a scenic train we took there that brings you in through the mountains and gave a great view of the village just as the fog was rising out of the valley- it was breathtaking. We climbed to a look out point and had an amazing view of the Mediterranean, it was one of the most calming experiences I have had yet this year. When we returned to Palma we walked up to a castle there that also gave us a beautiful view of the city of Palma. That night I actually ended up going to mass by myself in this ancient cathedral. I had tried to get in all weekend and finally found the doors unlocked last night! It was one of the most memorable experiences I have had yet I think. I was sitting in this freezing cathedral (it was colder inside than outside!) and experiencing a mass that has been going on for centuries in the exact same place. It was mindblowing.
We were so blessed with the weather we had. When we woke up this morning we found it was raining and were glad that we were missing it, and all we had to do today was fly back to Madrid! Now we only have 2 weeks until Christmas vacation!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
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