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 :)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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!
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