the E.N.D...wait? can we re-wind?

If i could have this experience over again, I would do so in a heart beat. Actually, less than that because i'd say yes without even thinking about where i would get the money or how much debt i'd be in at all.

Sevilla will always be my home. I will never actually leave it. I just hate coming to terms with the fact that I wont be able to walk over the beautiful bridge everyday anymore on my way to school. I wont be living in a city with more history in about a 10 foot block of cement than the whole USA.

My teachers here are amazing. They have helped me grow so much and made learning Spanish FUN again. I missed that. I missed being excited to go to Spanish class, any class for that matter. They relate to you and even though they have hundreds of students and those students come and go often, they still take the time to get to know who you are. I will never forget them.

The Directors at ISA were fantastic. I got close to many of them and it is very hard to say goodbye to them as well. It is weird knowing that im not going to be going into school and knowing who it is ill be able to say "hola, buenos dias" to in the morning.

I loved the closeness of our program. All of us had different friends, but when it came to hanging out in class or going out botellon-ing by the river, we came together like one big dysFUNctional family.

Don't get me wrong I am so excited to see my family and friends but truth be told, i wish i had stayed a whole year here. I don't have anything asside from my fam&friends that i need or care to go back for. I love being able to walk everywhere and look up and notice something i haven't noticed before. I like the place i intern at and I love the way of life here.

Lets play the word association game:
USA
Sevilla
WestFargo
St. Cloud
Triana

I don't know what you picked up from that, but for me it was USA=STRESS STRESS FAST LIFE STRESS, Sevilla=Sevilla.(meaning i think of alll the beautiful things here) West Fargo=where my family and friends are St. Cloud=kelly/where i go to school. Tiana=my bario.

It's hard to think about. And im happy to be going home but it hurts more that i know it will be a while before i get the chance to come back to Sevilla. Speaking spanish is an everyday thing here, at home, maybe if i speak up in class, then i get to say like 5 words but i dont have someone to constantly takl to me in spanish every single day to listen to the language on the streets, to hear the music in the streets, the flamenco dresses, the river, the real maestranza, the architecture...

anyway... im mopey, but i miss my family more than anything in the world and i am so happy to be going back and sharing my experience with them.

I have a hole in my stomach from the feeling i feel about leaving Sevilla.

Ill never forget this and ill be able to re-live it every time i look at my photos, but i will always miss it most when i think about it.

Sorry for the sappy post but its like ive been married to this city for 3 months, everyday, and now i have to leave it,,,

Now is the hardest part. I have nothing to take my mind off of this feeling. I dont have homework, or work or anything.

Something funny did happen to me this week though, I was awoken by a cockroach.. well Rachel, screaming about her having a cockroach in her bed. Jumped up ... woke up 'mom' ... scared her a bit.. end of story, she saved our life.

Who knew cockroaches could fly?

oh the things i learn in spain...

TQM/Hasta Pronto.

My Letters to- Twilight- Lizzie McGuire- When in- That julia roberts movie- angels and devinci code...etc...Experience

photos1  photos2

Ok everyone this is going to be a pretty big post so make sure your comfortable. Grab some popcorn, a cocktail, a water, anything and pull up a chair to hear or well.. read about one of the best vacations of my life...

THURSDAY-SUNDAY

  We flew into Barcelona really late on Thursday night and after a bit of searching, stress, high tension, phone calls, and a taxi ride, we found the apartment we were going to be spending the next 3 nights in. It was in the most amazing location: Las Ramblas. We were super close to the largest Market in Barcelona, St. Josep: La Boqueria. This market was phenominal. They had everything. The fish you knew were fresh out of the ocean because they were still alive and kicking... literally... and if it was possible, im sure the other meat would have been so as well. At the Market we walked around and picked up some fruit for breakfast which was SO amazing. After that we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and do some exploring! First we took the metro (which by now, isnt a problem for us anymore) and then walked a little ways to Park Guell (aka the Gaudi Park). haha... It was again, so beautiful. The park was filled with live. Music, flamenco dancing, and of course tourists among other things as well. At the park there was a view over some of Barcelona which was just so breathtaking in itself.

  After the park, we went back on the metro (because it was too far of a walk) to the amazing Sagrada Familia. It was such an eyecatching structure and it has such beautiful gothic architecture. This was one thing ive been dying to see for most of my life so i am SO greatful that i had the opportunity to do so. Here we met this guy who was telling us about this pub crawl-esq thing that night. Even though we were a little sketched out, he seemed like a good guy and that seemed like a really fun thing to do, afterall, we didnt know where to go out in Barcelona, so we gave him the 10€ deposit and got our tickets and his number and planned on meeting up later at the first club. Then we decided to hit one more big thing before going back to the apartment and went to Casa Mia. Obviously, as i stated before for everything i saw, it was amazingly beautiful and i again, am in awe at the structure of it.

  Madelon and I stopped back at the market on the way home to make Guacamole. It was SOGOOD. Then we went to meet up with the group. Yes, we did meet up with them. It was actually really fun! we got to see some really beautiful places. One of the bars called MiraBlau, looked over all of Barcelona. Since it was at night, it was very very pretty.

  The next day we didnt do much. Madelon and Britt went to the beach and Blair and I went to the Park in Barcelona. I like to call it the Hippie Park because well, obvious reasons, but seriously one of my favorite parks ive ever been in... go figure. It was beautiful. and there was a market outside of it and so it was just a really relaxing day. That night we went and watched the game (BCN vs Real Madrid) which was fun but only stayed till halftime because we had an EARLY flight.....

SUNDAY-TUESDAY

  We got up at around 4 am for our 6am flight. Figured we could take a cab & get there with plenty of time since it was so early. This ended up being the story of our lives for all of the traveling.(hahaha). We got dropped off at the wrong terminal so we had to wait for the bus there but OH, the bus doesn't start running until 5am. So we waited and waited, and then once we got to the correct terminal, we checked in and got a little lost finding how to get to security. The line at security was so long, just like our morning would have predicted and so we made a game plan to RUN to the gate. Long story short, we made it. Thank goodness. And were finally on our way to ROMA. It was so beautiful. We landed and got marinara pizza for breakfast (more normal than it sounds) and explored a little bit around that side of town. Then we caught the bus and went towards Madelon's friend, Kate's house where we were going to be staying. SUP VAD. yeah. Right through the Vatican walls and your first left is the street we stayed on. It was so cute. Little pizza shop across the way and a little cafe on the corner. adorable. That day we set our stuff down and went into Vatican City, yeah, strait up its own city. You would say it like "Vatican City, Vatican City" not even "vatican city, italy"-NO. The vatican has its own post office, and everything. Since it was palm sunday, there was a service going on which was really cool to see. HEY POPE. yep, saw him, got a photo. no big. Again, how much closer to God could i be? It was so amazing. We stayed there for a little while and then walked around Rome more to explore. We walked across the river and explored a few Piazzas (plazas). We also visited the Pantheon which was such an amazing place. I was obsessed. So breathtaking...and we ate, and ate, and had Gelato. OH did i mention we ate? But luckily we only had Gelato like 3 times that day. haha Not a big deal. We might have been a little obsessed with it at first but little did we know in Florence we would find the best best BEST Gelato in the world, literally.
  That night we went to see the Vatican at night lit up in all its glory and then walked about 30 minutes to this little neighborhood called Trastavere. Definitely the most "Italian" thing ever. The food was amazing and it was very very cheap. (we're talking 3 euro for a margarita pizza people). So we all drank wine and had a fun girls night and went back to Kate's apartment that night. The next day we were some serious tourists. We went and saw the Trevi Fountain. So beautiful and it was not even as crowded as we expected it to be so that was really nice. After the Trevi we had lunch at a little restaurant, and then proceeded to the Spanish Steps. That was really cool. hey tourists. All over, but it was still pretty to see. We had perfect weather every day of our vacation so i was so thankful for that. After the steps we went towards the Colosseum. Passed by a few ruins on the way, no big deal and some other really cool things. It was like walking in ancient Rome... except everything was broken. haha if that makes sense. SO COOL. The one thing about the Colosseum that was quite unfavorable were the crazy rock paths that they had. I fell almost. Not o.k. Then we saw the Arc de Triomph. Finally we headed back towards Kate's apartment again, after a long day of tourism. The final day in Rome, Madelon, Britt & I went inside the Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica. It was so beautiful inside. We also got to see the tombs of the passed Popes so that was definitely an experience as well. Then we started towards the train station on our way to Florence.

....Bored yet? I'm not but i lived it, so if you need, maybe now would be a good time to take a break, refresh your popcorn/beverage, and come back... Or you could just read on since there is just one place left of my Vacation and plus a little reflection of it all....

TUESDAY-FRIDAY

  Once we got to the train station in Rome, we kind of wandered around for a little bit. As per usual, this caused us to sprint towards our train to get on in time. Not a big deal because by now we just assumed that as normalcy. haha. Anyway, got on the train and 3 hours later we were in Florence. We walked to our hostel, Soggiorno Madrid. It was the most quaint, adorable, perfect hostel ever. The owner was such a cute little old Italian man. It was a Bed and Breakfast so we had breakfast every day and the bathroom was AMAZING (comparing with the previous ones, this was like made for the Pope, literally) It was closed enough to the city and far enough away for a quite night of sleep. Plus they had wifi so we could all stay in contact with our families. We got there late, so we went to eat supper and came back to sleep. which was so nice. The next day we got up and walked towards the city center and went to the Leather Market. Florence is famous for it. Cheap high quality leather= im there. We bought some stuff and then went to the Market which was really cool as well. Then we ate lunch, but since we didn't eat till later (which is normal time for Spain 330 or so) a lot of restaurants were on their form of "siesta". After lunch Blair and I went to explore more of Florence. We decided first to go to Vivoli, which has won Worlds Best Gelato at least 13 times. not a big deal or anything. and we ended up running into the TRL Italia awards. again, not a big deal, it happens all the time in normal life. So we stayed there for a few minutes and watched a few people sing and then proceeded on our hunt for the Gelato, Once we found that there is only one way to describe it and it can't be put into words. You literally are astounded as how amazing this Gelato is. You might think im kidding, but try it yourself. T.H.E B.E.S.T I will ever have in my life. NOMMMNOM.
  Then we found this piazza near the Uftzi aka worlds largest Renaissance art museum. It was beautiful. We saw replicas of a few things like the David among others, and then the main building in that Piazza was/is used for City Council/Senate. It was beautiful. So we walked around there for a bit and then kept walking, found like a Pinocchio-esq workshop, which was so cute. and then found Pizza Piti which is near these Beautiful gardens and things like that. We walked down to the river which was absolutly, again, i know, beautiful.
  The next day Madelon Britt and I rented  Bikes and rode round Florence (aka Frienze in Italian) and went up this hill to see the piazza de Michael Angelo. The whole bike ride was through this beautiful Park and so it was a very scenic route. Over Half way up we got a little hungry and stopped at this little restaurant in the mountains. It had literally the most AMAZING view ever. It was.. ok i can't even describe it without the words amazing or beautiful so you might get the picture.. oh PEACEFUL. just amazing. we made a new friend, his name was Vinchenzo. He was prob. like 2 or 3 and was so adorable. haha Then continued our Bike ride up to the Piazza where there was a FANTASTIC scenic view of the top of the city of Florence. Again, Breaktaking, this whole trip was and i have no idea how else to describe the state of peace i was in the whole time. We biked down and I took Madelon and Britt to the Gelato place and then we hung out at a cafe until it was time to go pick up our luggage from the Hostel, which so very nicely held it for us all day long. And onto the Train Station.


First we had supper at the first place we went in Florence which was cheap and so good. Talked, drank wine and just had a fantastic time. Then we all walked to the Station and tried to print out our ticket and, big surprise everyone, it wouldn't work. SO another dilemma. But obviously since this was bound to happen, we were prepared, asked for help and then finally asked a conductor of a different train if it was o.k. if we could just show the email we got on Madelon's phone to our conductor on the train and get on. "sure" he says "hop on this one".. "no sir.. we're going to Bologna".."yes, ok hop on. thats fine hop on".. "you stop in Bologna? our train isnt till 1030"... "yes, hop on go to 4"..."um.. ok!" AVE TRAIN. HELLO, these tickets usually START at like 60EURO  and here we are getting a 37min (as opposed to 1 hr) ride for 7 EURO. So comfortable. And honestly, LUCKY US, we got to Bologna just in time for the last bus to the Airport.


We slept, or "slept" in the airport that night which was obviously as bad as it sounds. I covered up with a towel, and slept on my clothes and had my arm around my suitcase, so i guess that means i laid down on the disgusting airport floor for 6 hours and then 'woke up' at 4am to check in and get to the gate for our plane back. Today has been the longest day ever. I feel like I arrived yesterday but nope, that was this morning. We didn't get to see any Processions of Semana Santa today because it has been Raining so much. Basically Semana Santa = Semana de Agua. Que Pena. i feel so bad for those who have worked all year for this day and then their procession was canceled. Grown men have came into bars crying because of it and I feel so bad. Not only for the fact that I will prob. not get to see any processions, but because of those who waited and do wait all year for this week and then this had to happen. Apparently it is a record for Sevilla.  Not a good one to have obviously, but a Record.




The entire trip i had has made me so grateful for what i have here, in Sevilla. I love it here so much and it will always be, and is like a home to me. Im ready to go home and see my family but the thought of having to wait so long to come back here pains me. Ive been thinking constantly of things i can do to come back and live here for a while again. It seems strange because ive leanred so much about myself on this experience but also ive gotten so attached to this beautiful city of Sevilla. I never want to leave so if any of the family feels like they want to move out here with me, let me know. :)


This week i have finals. Friday we take an overnight bus to the Madrid Airport and then Sat I fly home.
 It is hard to accept but I have to. I love Sevilla and I know i will cry on the plane home, but I am so excited to see my family again.

TQM/Hasta.

--** The photos will be coming soon, there are 500ish of them for me to upload so please be patient. :)

comming soon...

post on my Spring break in  Barcelona, Rome and Florence. :) Stay tuned. its going to be a long one.

The Fabulous Life of...

photos de Lagos!

First off, I apologize for not blogging for like 3 weeks! Ok, now that thats over, lets start with the fun stuff..


As you all know I went to Mallorca the other weekend and it was fabulous. Mallorca is a beautiful island and just so relaxing. The beach was fantastic the first day and the next day we hung out by the pool and then monday before we left we went back to the beach but it was CRazY windy so we just kind of hung out by the pool later that day too. HELLO TAN. :)


This last week was incredibly busy for me trying to start/finish/do all of my final projects plus the homework that was assigned.. whoever decided it was a good idea to give out a presentation, a 5-10 page paper, and still assign homework while i am studying abroad, made a mistake. I'm in a big fight with that rule maker right now. But the rough week was WELL worth it for the weekend that i just had.


LAGOS, PORTUGAL
Prob. one of my favorite vacations so far. I love this town. It seems to big but in reality it is just a really sweet chill 'brah' surfer town and i love it. The people are really sweet, not to mention good looking, i mean, obviously.. and Discover Sevilla did SUCH a great job again. I am so glad i can call myself an intern there. the people are so great. They are like a little dysfunctional family to me and I love them all.

The first day we got to Lagos and a bunch of us ISA'ers went to this 'private cove' that we had found. IT WAS AMAZING. I cannot stop gushing about this place. we all drank and laid out on the beach and tanned and played in the water, when it wasn't rocking us out of the ocean. Finally the tide came up too far and it was time we went back and got ready for our first night out in Lagos. DS had a party set up at Grand Cafe. Before we went there, Madelon and i went to this place called Casa Rosa. The people that worked there were so awesome. i mean, we made friends. hahah One of them was Benni's, a guy who works at DS, brother so that was kind of cool. The food was SO AMAZING and best of all, cheep. haha The party the first night didn't last long for madelon and I... to much beach time that day.. (and when i say beach time.. its obvious).

The next day we went on a Sangria cruise (all of ISA again together, like the usual because we're amazing and bring the party) seriously, the other programs had no idea how to have fun like we did. ANYWAY, the cruise was 2 hrs and you got as much Sangria as you wanted and we went and explored caves and Jumped off the boat to go swimming (no eme, no fishies bited my feet haha) and that was REALLY fun. After that we went to the beach and tanned for the rest of the day. HELLO TAN AGAIN. hahah

That night madelon and i went back to Casa Rosa because we loved it so much. amazing food again, and drinks.. and drinks... and.. then we went to the bar where DS was having the party that night. It was so much fun except there was SO MANY PEOPLE. that kinda sucked but I mean, what can you do. So i enjoyed the whole night there till around 4 in the morning.

The next day we went to this 'surfer' beach. It was so windy i couldn't be comfortable tanning but i still enjoyed being by the ocean. It was a gorgeous beach as well so deff relaxing (- the wind).

We got back to Sevilla at like 1030 Sunday night so i was super tired. This week i had to give a presentation in Business Spanish that i think went really well. Wed i have a marketing presentation and then Thrusday a Spanish culture and civilization presentation. then SPRING BREAK!!!

During semana santa (aka for me this vaycay is 14 April - 22 April) i am going to go to Barcelona, Rome, Florence, and Balogna. I cannot wait. I cant express how excited i am to go to these places with the girls. Madelon, her friend Britt, and Blair are going with me and it is going to be an adventure.

Got a fortune cookie today (class presentation dont worry i'm not eating chinese here) that said :

Next week will bring great fun and adventure

How much more serious can that be? Omen? yes.

I am too sad about coming home so that is all I am going to say. Not walking the streets of Sevilla everyday, and not being able to just hopping over to Portugal or going to any wonderful place in Europe is too depressing of a thought.

TQM/Hasta.