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
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
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 :)
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