Last week in SEVILLA

can't believe this is my last week in sevilla...only tuesday, wednesday, thursday and friday.

Tuesday was normal, class and class and had a quiz. I rocked my quiz ... see i study even when having fun. :)       i ended up packing tuesday night because couldn't sleep and everthing fits :)  yeah. i decided that wednesday will be my day to get gifts for the fam and the host fam.

Wednesday: had class and class but then shopping. I got gifts for the host fam just to say thanks for their hospitality. I really like my host family and I will miss them a lot. I have enjoyed my stay here a lot.

Thursday: had an exam then class..one more exam tomorrow then donzo. I got the gifts for my home at home home and i finally packed everything and yeah :) today was sad though because MJ is not going to be at the office tomorrow or coming to the airport with us so i was sad, because today is the last day i get to see her. she is great and such a sweetheart. I have a pic with her and Quique our other director. he will be at the bus tomorrow but not coming with us to the airport :( so sad. tonight i plan to give my host fam gifts and eat with them then grab a drink with friends tonight :)  tomorrow is a day of class class and waiting for the bus and running through a checklist in my head til im on the bus. im going to be sad tomorrow but i am also happy to be going home because i do miss the people at home and my AC and my puppies :)

until tomorrow

WEEKEND in PARIS!!!

PARIS!!!!!

Friday Morning I left to meet Jess at Hotel Bequer so we could grab a taxi and head to the airport and get on our flight to Paris. We met up at like 530am. The taxi driver drives CRAZY. he was like speeding way over the speed limit. We got there and we were impressed how fast we got there. WE were told to treat our trip like an international flight, so we arrived 2hrs before. We got to the airport and had to find RyanAir's desk to checkin and figure out gate but we didnt end up finding gate when we checked in at the desk. After check in we went to security and did that and then we had breakfast. I had some bread, oj and jamon. so did jess. It was filling and simple. we hung out and talked. We found out our gate about 45min before boarding so we went to the gate and waited in line. RyanAir has no specific seat for you so you get to pick your seats. Luckily we got there earlier than the others so we could get on plane quicker and get seats together. We both slept on the flight, because we were tired. The plane took about 2.5/3hrs. We got off and went to go see if Jerome was picking us up or we had to get cab. We were both hungry so we got something to eat before. I got an Orangina (french yummy pop) and a croissant filled with chocolate :) french croissants are more flakey and tastey than spanish one or american ones...they know what they are doing. We found Jerome and to our surprise, he brought us some treats too but I was full and didn't eat any of it...Jess did.

Jerome lives on a military base and it is in Versailles, not Paris. It's about 30/40minutes from Paris. He gave us a tour of the base and we met some of his friends when we went for lunch on the base. The spoke little english so we communicated a bit. After we ended up relaxing for a little, to have the food digest then we went on a "bike ride". i put bike ride in quotes because it was more of like a ride through all of versailles. We biked to the gardens of versailles and these bikes are not made for short people like me. after taking some pictures around the castle and gardens we then biked through the city itself. It was a lot of fun and a work out at same time. That night one of Jerome's friends came over and we had some wine and pizza and watched Dexter and Spartacus...spartacus is sick i need to finish season one and 2. :)

Saturday= Paris
We kind of got an early start on our day. We had breakfast then got ready for Paris. We went everywhere. We saw all the tourist sites and it was awesome. we went to sacre couer, eiffel tower, notre dame, louvre, arc de triomphe champs elysees. It was an amazing day with some great people. we ate at a good places and had some good wine and the food was amazing..my pics say it all :)  We learned how to take the metro and i think i am pro at it now and we learned some french and we tried our best to sound them out..it was all fun:)

Sunday: We ended up going back to Paris and do some shopping and have fun. We met up with Cesar and Jerome's sister and Cesar's aunt, uncle and cousin. We met them on the Champs Elysees to watch le tour de France...it was really cool. We had a lot of fun and it was super nice. After Paris, we went back to Versailles and relaxed. Jerome made some food, we had crepes for dessert and some wine :) and rocher ferrero chocolate and Spartacus. That is about it. we didnt do much. IT was a nice relaxing night.

Monday: we leave Paris :( the weekend flew and now i was sad to leave because Paris is one of my favorite cities. It's so pretty and the food is nom  nom and yeah. i love it.  We had our flight at 445 but Jerome couldnt bring us to the airport so we had to take the metro and a bus. We didn't get lost so that was good. We got to the airport and had bfast and lunch, we didnt eat at all til we got to airport, then our flight was delayed and such so  i sent a msg to my host fam. It took forever, we waited and waited. it was poop. once we got there, we ended up finding two seats in back of plane but that was ok because the crew opens the front and back exits for people to board and get off. We slept on flight and we got back to sevilla.  I got back to sevilla just in time for dinner then i crashed ...

Paris is amazing and if you have the chance to go...GO...i love the city and hoping next time i can have my loved ones with me :)

i KNOW....i slacked

why hello everyone....i know i am so sorry for not posting, things have just come up and i forgot and yeah...lemme up date you...

Sunday the 15th....I ended up going to alcazar. We went early so we could beat the crowds. I was told that we were going to leave by 9am, well we didnt leave til about 1030. Typical Spanish ways, but that's okay. Alcazar was GORGEOUS...took so many pictures of the gardens and the buildings itself. Eugenia was funny, she acted like a typical kid. It was cute. Alvaro, my host dad, explained to me the history of the Alcazar and the architecture....he is an architect so he can talk about it for days. He also mentioned that he worked at the Alcazar for a few years doing research and such. I found it interesting. After that, we walked around a little bit then headed back to the house. Back at the house we had lunch and relaxed nothing too exciting.

Monday 16th, Typical long day of classes :( Spanish at 9am and EU at 3:30. We were all gettin excited for Kayaking on Tuesday. I love kayaking and havent kayaked since my WVHS days in our pool...lol oh AP Swimming (that is what we called it) how i miss you. It was such an easy class.

Tuesday the 17th: KAYAKING DAY!!! before kayaking that night, I had class...i know boring but it is what it is. Kayaking was that night at 8pm. We hauled ass to get to the place we were kayaking. MJ, our director like sprint walked and maneuvered around people, i was impressed by this. I find myself able to do this but she has some talent. We finally got to the Kayaking thing and there was the option to do single and double persona kayaks. I did not mind either way. I ended up kayaking with MJ :)...man was it INTERESTING. let's say we weren't in sync  with one another for a for awhile and it was hard because we are really short/tiny people and yes we had difficulty. It was funny though. We were kayaking for about 3hrs. it was awesome. The people who ran the kayaking took pictures of us and we all had a good time. We were drenched by the end of the night and cold but it was a blast.  i loved it.

Wednesday 18th. again nothing too exciting just class as usual and it was hump day so that was cool, because that meant another day closer to the weekend. and for the weekend was going to be in Paris which is AWESOME!!!

Thursday 19th: just like wednesday meant another day closer to Paris and i am so excited.

Sabado

Well Saturday wasnt much. The day consisted of me looking over notes watchin the tourist in Spanish and that is really about it. Tonight went to go see what to expect when you are expecting with madi Jessica Clara and kaitlyn. The movie was funny. I understood most of it and also used my imagination. Cant wait to redbox it and see how much i understood. Tomorrow morning my host family and I are going to alcazar and pretty excited for it. Shall be fun just going to charge camera tonight. After that I will probably do more homework :-/ can't believe in 2 wks I am home in Illinois then after like a week I am back I. Michigan. Crazy!!!

Lo siento ... Jueves y Viernes

Sorry been busy and hot. Thursday was ok classes weren't bad. I signed up to go kayaking. I bought a really pretty dress that my mama said I needed to buy but I had to wait til after my class. I couldn't just leave my class to buy a dress. I went walking around with kaitlyn and Carrie. Asp watched the aristocats at my host family's house during lunch. Overall it was a nice day but very hot.

Friday today was good. There were hardly anyone in class because like everyone left. Most were going To Portugal. My plans were to relax and hang out. My host fam and I are going to alcazar on Sunday and that will be fun. Saturday is going to be of studyin for European union class and a movie with the girls. Tonight was fun madi Jess and I went to a flamenco show and went and got shisha ( hookah) and glass of wine and madi got a hot dog aka street meat lol it was a good night with great people and good convos. I'm gonna miss these girls and everyone else I have become friends with during my trip. Can't believe I'm going to be home in 14 days!!! This is cray lol

Hump day!!!

Well I slept like poop. Woke up at like 440 in the morning and couldn't fall asleep. I ended up going back to bed around 630. While I was awake I was on Facebook twitter and pinterest . I pinned a lot!!! I found some things that were cute or funny and shared then on the walls of my friends Facebook page. I then ended up callin asleep at like 630 and then woke up at 8 and still got to class by 850!!! That's some awesomeness right there. Well classes went well both easy and long. We had a debate in Spanish and it was funny and interesting. At 145 we had a tour of the cathedral. It is gorgeous and the 3 rd largest in the world!! It's so pretty inside. We also went inside the ghiralda which has 34 little ramps that are kinda a pain in the butt to climb but it's a workout legs and butt are gonna look good :-) lol it was nice I enjoyed it. I also found out that there is a kayaking outing on Monday next week that I'm thinking about doing its only 10 euro and it's at night on the river where u can see Sevilla lit up at night. Still thinking about doing it. Well that's all for my wednesday.

Tuesday

Well my tuessday felt like monday LONG!! Classes were classes. I just did some studyin then took a short nap because I needed it. Yesterday wasn't just long but productive. Productive because gettin some studyin done for exam that is now next wk. but I am gettin things ready for GVSU athletics. Plans for FanFest are in the works. Thank goodness I live in a world of technology idk what I would do without it. It helps me communicate with my fam and friend and to do tho things for work! Tomorrow we are takin a tour of the cathedral which I didnt do last summer session. I have camera and phone to take some pics.. Yay!!! Well I'll be back later to let ya know how my hump day is!

Monday no exciting

Like I said Monday was moday nothin to exciting just class and hw and class and read and that is about it. It is getting really hot again:-( missing my AC. Enjoying my time and like the new people! Til tomo

Tuesday hasta Domingo (spanglish i know)

Just wanna say sorry for not being on top of my blogging....things have been busy and I have forgotten to do this everyday. So here is a recap from Tues to Sun

Tuesday: new schedule.

Had class at 9am. I have class with a mix of ppl, some from summer 1, summer 2 and some others who are here with another school program. They are all nice and the professor is really cool. During the day, I did not do much, I am so happy that I can go back during lunch for meals, I can eat earlier instead of getting bocadillos every day. So I am a happy camper, minus walking back to class at the hottest time of day. Tuesday was just a really chill day, we are going to go all out for the 4th of July.

Wednesday= 4 of JULY!!! 

Well, we Americans in Spain celebrated our 4th of July with style. We pretty much rocked our Red, White and Blue all day. It was pretty awesome. We still had class and so I went to class and had a good time. Wednesday Night a few of us went to this Texan Saloon and had dinner and a few drinks. After, we met up with some other people from our program and got a drink at one place before going to this bar that had a shot for each state in the USA. I have become a fan of this beer called Desperado in Spain, it is beer and tequila. It tastes like cider to me. Well at the new place we had one and then since we were celebrating our Independence day, we took a shot for the state we are from. I took 2 though, one for IL and then I got talked in to taking one for where i go to school. Lemme say the IL shot is better than the MI one. Also at this place, there were all different banners and such of different FB teams, and schools. To my surprise I saw 2 GVSU triangle banners. One with the traditional GV logo, the one with the "V" inside the "G". Then I saw the Louie the Laker one too. I was so shocked that I took pictures of them just to have it. Almost  all the Chicago Teams were represented, Bears, Sox, Bulls, Cubs but no Blackhawks :(. And since they were there...i also took pics of them :) Yay Chicago Teams!!!! After we went to another bar because it looked like it had a dance floor. Well we weren't there long...it was too small for our group. We were there for a little before going to one that had a big dance floor. We were there for a while and we all danced and had a good time...both summer 1 and 2 and locals. 

Thursday; the day after....

Well I felt AMAZING...I really did. I was up early and was ready to take on my day. I did dress in comfy clothes tho because I didn't want to wear jeans and a cute top. Well, I was surprised at how many people showed up to class (especially morning class) there were a few who did not come but we can each miss 2 days and not get penalized.  Thursday was just chill, nothing big. Just an ordinary day at ISA office. I ended up staying in that night to just be with my host family. 

Friday= another ordinary day.

Nothing really happened in class...some people were leaving for the weekend to go see the Running with the Bulls. Others were going to Cadiz and Jerez (like i did in summer 1) and staying in the area. I really did not have plans I just wanted to relax. My host mom and I were discussing books, I have read a lot while being here :), i know i do read...weird lol. She recommended two authors to me and I wrote down their names and titles of books. 

Saturday= was HOT.

I ended up going out with a friend to this 3 story mall in her part of town. I bought some cute clothes and we had a really good time. We enjoyed the mall, then our lunch right by the mall then a nice convo in the park. We just talked about our class we have together and how we view things . We learned a lot about each other and we have some things in common. It was nice. I enjoyed my day. After, I got back I got ready to go out with my host family for dinner. We went to a nice tapas place and had about 5 different tapas. Fish, shellfish and chicken. It was all good. We then went to the club that they belonged to and walked through there and then got an ice cream. It was a nice night out with the family. After that I met up with Madi and Jess and we went out on calle betis. I wanted to hear bout how they liked Cadiz and Jerez. They enjoyed it. It was a nice evening out with them. 

Sunday=today...RELAXATION!!!

Today was a day of doing nothing but homework and reading. I finished yet another book and i did my homework. Nothing really exciting. I hung in my room and did homework but then I also hung out with my family in the salon and read. It was funny, my host parents and I were all ready while the two little ones were playing. 

To another week....usually same stuff to come but if anything exciting comes I'll post..Plans for weekend are to go to this amusement park in SPAIN...it is like a six flags. can't believe after today I am in the teens until im back home. 19days starting tomorrow. I have been learning a lot about myself, the culture here and of course spanish. I will be taking in the most out of these next few days. I do like it here and could see myself here maybe for a while working or something but i do miss my family puppies and friends and of course my AC and outdoor pool (Oakhurst North Pool I want to jump in you now)

Monday = New people for Summer 2

Well, ISA office was really quiet and sad. I miss my Summer 1 friends. Today was first day of classes, I didn't have my first class, because the new people had to take their language exam. So i had class at 3:30 with Carrie and Kaitlyn. The E.U class seams interesting and fun...there are only 8 of us so not to crazy.  I went shopping, because i needed to break my 50 euro, so I bought a cute dress for 12,99 euro..quite a deal because it was 25,99euro. I think I may wear it to my friends wedding which is in 1month 2days :) yay can't wait!!!! We also had dinner with the 12 new people for summer 2. We had some tapas and they were yummy. We mingled then Madi, Jess, Me Cheyenne, Carrie and two new girls , Kirsten and Stephanie, went out for a drink and we just had a chill night. Nothing crazy, because they were tired and it was along day for them.  They seem like a good group and that the 32 of us now will all get a long and enjoy the next few weeks together. I like the new group but do miss my friends from Summer 1.

Domingo = Viva Espana

well SPAIN WON the EuroCup!!!! Yay!!!

Madi, Jess and I went to this English pub which was right by my host family and we had dinner and few drinks watching the game. The Eurocup was Spain vs Italy. We were sitting at a table that was close to the italian fans...It was a intense game. Italy gave up pretty much after the 3rd goal maybe after 2nd. Spain did well and you could tell that they really wanted the WIN. I have pictures and videos that I will post on Facebook, soon. I have just been busy. After the win, we walked around a little to see the craziness, people were funny. AFter a little we went on own way and went back to our host house. I passed out that night...I am glad I could be in the country that won the eurocup...soccer is a big deal. The fans are so funny!!! yay ESPANA!!!!!

oops....sorry

Heyo, sorry havent posted in a while...been busy and not a lot of things have happened.

Wednesday = poop day lol it was because i was so hot and i felt terrible lol it happens BUT Spain played Portugal and SPAIN WON!!!!

Thursday was not bad, had a presentation and got a 93 on it so i was happy. After class we went out with the ppl who were going to be leaving because summer 1 was over. It was sad. Taryn, Cortney and  I went to this little place and got a drink. Taryn and I had Aqua de Sevilla and Cortney had a Gin Fizz. Umm, the drinks were not that good, but it is what it is. We met a nice English couple, we asked them to take a picture of us and we conversed a little. After Madi and Jess met up with us and then Jess, Madi and I went to meet up with Alli and Elise. Taryn and Cortney went home because they were gonna eat dinner and pack.  We wanted to go to this English Pub, but since the Germany and Italy game was on it was FULL. We went to the place next door and had a glass of wine. After that Alli took us to this cute little restaurant and we got a dessert and a nice drink. It was only 5euros not a bad deal. After that I went home because I was carrying some school stuff and didn't wanna haul it around with me.

Friday was sad day. I had my last presentation and my summer 1 friends were leaving. Next week is going to be weird because there is going to be like no one in the school. We are only having 8-10 new people come and there are 25 of us who are staying that already did summer 1 so instead of the 90 some we had now will have like under 35ppl. CRAZY.  Well we were supposed to meet for our marketing class but only Tyler and I showed up so we went to a cervercita with our Prof and talked and had drink. It wasn't bad. After I met up with Madi and Jessica for dinner then we went out for a bit.

Saturday was not bad, the weather was nicer. I slept in...which was nice. I watched the movie War Horse in Spanish and talked to my mom and phi. I had lunch with the family and then went out and met Carrie and Cheyenne at La Plaza de Espana. It was a lot of fun!!! We walked around took pics and walked inside the park. Clara, a friend from Malaga met up with us and her and I decided to go shop...for me window shop. I really dont wanna spend money at all until the end of my trip. I saw some cute things but didn't buy any.  After I just came back to the house.When I came back, my host mom and her sister-in-law, was at the house and they were watching desperate housewives. It was nice to see the show in spanish. After that, we ate dinner which was light just some turkey sandwich. Then my host mom and I watched another episode of Desperate Housewives. It reminded me of being home and watching movies with my mom and sis :) i miss them. They also invited me to go to the beach with them next weekend at their beach house they have, and I am excited for it because some of my friends are going to be gone on the Cadiz and Jerez trip. So it all works out.

Tonight is the final of the EUROCUP...VIVA ESPANA!!!! Going out with friends tonight to watch it :)

Compliments :)

so this tuesday i decided to wear a dress...because its so flippin' hott...well i did and i was still hot!! i did however got a lot of compliments from my friends saying that I looked cute :) that was so nice of them. It was nice and my tan sure showed off lol. I studied most of my day except for lunch and when walking to and from school. My exam went well...got stuck on one problem but i should be fine. It is official that my friend Jess and I are going to France :) yay Paris! so excited I cannot wait. end of July...weekend before im back in the states :) yay buddy. Summer 1 is almost over and I am sad to see my summer 1 friends go :( I know we will keep in touch and hopefully have reunions somewhere in US. Only 1 more exam, and 2 presentations then 1/2 way done :) so cool. Until tomorrow...which is hump day!!!!

MONDAY....:P

oh monday!!!!

Well almost had a heart attack because i lost the little piece that connects with my computer to charge it...and everything is on it. I freaked out and hauled my butt back to the starbucks i went to before class because i had to use the internet before class...well they lady at starbucks went through the trash and WE FOUND it...I was so grateful. I have to be looked after a guardian angel...so thankful. Most of the day was spent on doing my project for my presentation on Thursday. I have a test tomorrow for Marketing so I have been studying and will be studying all day tomorrow too..not that worried about it. Shall be easy. It was extremely hot today it reached well past 100 degrees. Craziness.  My monday was so so.....let's see how tuesday is.

Malaga Weekend

well 6am and 615am turned into 645am and me being rushed to make sure I had everything. I met Alli at the bridge and we walked to the bus station. When we got to the bus station, we saw Carrie and sat with her. Then Cheyenne, Elise, Madi and Jessica walked in. We got our tickets from Elise and waited by our bus stop. Well the bus was about 20-25minutes late and we were like "Where is the frickin' bus" but then it cam and we were pleased. We ended up putting the food and some of the bags that everyone had under the bus. I just brought my bag on board with me. I ended up sitting with Madi on our way to Malaga. They played a movie on the tv...an English movie but in Spanish. So we watched that and then just kind of stared outside the window for a bit. Some girls on the bus were well...LOUD and Annoying. We could hardly hear the movie (and we had headphones). People were staring at them and they still didn't get the message. The bus ride was about 2.5hrs. Not too bad. Once we arrived in Malaga...we had to find the local buses so we had to ask at information desk and we went to go find our bus. We had to take two buses to get to our hostel, The Melting Pot. We had a little trouble to figure out what second bus to take but we figured it out after asking locals...we were using our SPANISH (go us).

We finally arrived at our hostel, and it was really cute..Alli did awesome!!! We couldn't check in until 2pm so we left our stuff in a corner on the patio and went to the beach :) I had to rent a towel because I don't have a beach towel and then we went to the beach. We were right by the beach so it was not a long walk for us. The beach was so nice...i loved it :) We were there for a bit until 2pm. We kept getting into the Meditteranean Sea so we could cool off. It was freezing but it was really nice after. Around 2, we settled into our room...we were all together so that was nice. After we walked around a little bit and got some food for our dinner that we were making. We walked some more just to see what was going on but then we headed back to the beach. Around 6pm we all got ready and showered and into comfy and regular clothes. We met some really cool people at the hostel...they were from all over (France, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, Italy). We made friends, we all ended up watch the Spain vs France game and we were drinking together, chatting, smoking some shisha (to us USA people its Hookah). It was so much fun. We ended up going to some beach party after the game and we hung out with the locals..it was a good time...minus the walk back to the hostel..that was long!!!

The next day we had to check out at 11:30am. But our bus ticket back was not til later, so we were able to keep our stuff at the hostel and we each did our own thing. Cheyenne, Elise, Carrie decided to walk around and look around Malaga and the rest of us decided to go to the beach and get some more rays!!!! I LOVE the SUN!!!! Well Jessica left us a little early because she had a lunch date with one of the people we met...his name is Jerome and he is french. Really nice guy. We caught some rays and then Alli, Madi and I went to get some food at a little cafe on the beach. We had a lot of seafood, it was good. We also talked about lots of things and just had a good time. After we went back to the hostel and chilled. We played some cards, mingled with the people and just relaxed. It was a good time. Around 630 we all met up and decided to head over the the bus station so we could find out were we were going to be meeting the bus and yay. Instead of dealing with buses, we got two taxis. I love how the Spaniards drive...reminds me of those in Peru!!! Cheyenne, Carrie Alli and I were in one taxi and Elise, Madi and Jessica were in the other. Well our taxi driver took us to the right station while the other taxi driver took the other girls somewhere else.  When we finally got together. we got a small thing to eat because we knew we were not going to be back in Sevilla until late. Jessica and I shared something small and talked about her date and it was good. When we were waiting for our bus, we saw one of our new friends Tom...waiting for his bus to Lisbon.  We chatted with him then we had to board our bus.  I sat with Alli and we just ended falling asleep for whole bus ride. We got back to Sevilla around 12:30 and back to my host house around 1pm. It took awhile to fall asleep but i did. I had a great time in Malaga!!!!

Recap: Friday

Friday: wasn't bad. My classes were small. Everyone decided to go on vaca and left Friday. This was the last weekend before Summer 1 people leave. I went to class and was getting anxious for Malaga with some sweet girls. In my marketing class, Taryn, Cortney and myself went to class and it was the 3 of us. Class was nice, we watched a movie and went out with our Professor for a drink. Cortney was getting hit on by one of the waiters. He made her a paper flower and put a spain flag on her arm. Even tos Spain was not playing til Saturday. Our prof bought us two rounds then we all parted ways. It was nice, our Prof is nice and we talked a lot and about different things. After I went home and met up with my host family at the door. They were coming back from grocery shopping and I helped carry things in and we ended up ordering pizza for dinner. Mom and Dad you should be proud because I ate olives and mushrooms on it...i ate it. After that I just went to bed and set my alarms for Malaga...6am and 6:15am,,Cant wait for Malaga

Jueves

WELL!!! Thursday...was just an ordinary thursday with a quiz in my class and nothing much haha I was quite sleepy and did not get up when I set my alarm and slept in a bit more. It was so nice but I did not want to go to class. I am not sure if it's the heat or just my body telling me to sleep. Well i did go to class and then i slept in the library (2.hrs) on a very uncomfortable couch. I then walked back with Madi and Jessica and we talked a bit. I came back and ate some yummy food then after i went to go sleep. I was passed out for about 2.5hrs. I swear this week has been nothing but feeling tired. I woke up around 5:15 and headed to school. It was terribly hot so i got a small cup of limon sorbet and went to class. We had a quiz in my class and i did quite well. Now just gotta review for final and do project with Cortney and Taryn and Summer 1 is DONE!! Most of our class is going to be gone on Friday so we are going to have a shortened class and very few of us. This will be fun!!! Afterwards, I came back, at dinner with the fam and watched Portugal vs Czech Republic and Portugal Won. If Spain wins against France, Spain will be playing Portugal next.. Germany plays tomorrow and they are the favored team. We will see how it goes...i just want to be laying on a beach in Malaga...oh saturday get here soon!!!

Martes y Miercoles

So Tuesday and Wednesday....nothing really big happened...they haven't been as good as my Monday was but they were decent. Tuesday was just ordinary day and that's about it. We had the chance to visit Los Setas in Sevilla. They are called the Mushrooms because they look like mushrooms. These setas are built on top of an old market roman market which was turned into the medina after the romans and is today still a market.  The figure is all made out of wood. It's crazy because it looks like its metal. You can go to the top of it and see all of Sevilla. It is pretty cool.  We took tons of pics and had fun. After Madi, Alli, Jess and I went to go get something small for dinner. We ordered some tapas and shared and talked. They are nice girls. We talked about a lot, we are also excited for our trip this weekend to Malaga. Should be fun. It was nice then i skyped with Phi and we talked bout what i have been doin here and how the mitten is doin.

On Wednesday...I did not want to get up at all. I was so sleepy. I slept an extra 45 minutes..I really did not want to go to class BUT i did. We got out of class early because our professor had a doctor. A few girls and I went to the cafe down the street to get some coffee (they did i got OJ) and some breakfast. Since I slept in I didn't have time to eat. So i got freshly squeezed OJ and toast. It was good and simple. At 11:30 i met up with some other people from the program and we went to go learn Flamenco...i knew it was going to be interesting. I have no coordination at all...explains why i swam most of my life, i just have to move arms, kick (def work on technique) but just swim back and forth in a pool. It was fun...kinda of got it down. we are doing same thing tomorrow but I am not sure if i'll go. We will see. After our dance lesson I went back to the house and took a 45min nap before lunch and than a 2.15hr nap after...i was so tired. My host mom thinks it's because of the heat. It is really hot here. Around 515 I left for class ... After our Marketing class i wallked back with Alli and we talked and such. We saw a protest going on and we decided to walk a different way just to avoid chaos. I came back and we had a dinner....i ate really light because I really don't get hungry when its hot outside I'd rather drink water and chill.

Those are recaps from Tues and Today. Everyone have a good day.

MONDAY

Well... most mondays are usually blah...well today wasn't. I slept hard last night and woke up feeling refreshed! I got up and class went well, i participated and just chilled with Alli and Carrie after class. I then went shoppin with Jessica and ended up going shopping. We went to Louisa and I bought my 4th of July outfit lol 2wks before. lol We are all going out for the 4th of July American style here in SPAIN...can't wait. After shopping I went back to the house and relaxed ate some lunch and worked on my project. I got an email from ISA about having received a package and that was from Phi..he so sweet. I talked to my dad and  phi before i left to go to class. When I got to ISA i met with Elisa and she gave my package...it was kinda big. I went upstairs and opened up my package. Phi sent me some nom noms...just few a favorite foods like fruit snacks...which will help for my trip this weekend to Malaga. And a stuffed monkey for me and one for my host sister...Eugenia loved the monkey. It was a very thoughtful package!!! I will be sharing my treats with my friends :) Thanks Phi. After class I went back to my host family and we ate dinner and watched Spain vs Croatia game...omg Spain FINALLY scored after 88minutes of playing..yay!!! Thank goodness...so now it's bed time...good night...until tomorrow.

Weekend: Cordoba y Granada

Recap of FRIDAY: i was at the ISA office like all day...had two exams and think i did well. Not much happened. That's all

Saturday: Cordoba y Granada
We left Sevilla at 9am for Cordoba y Granda! I met Alli at 8:15ish am at the bridge and ended up walking with her and a bunch of other kids from ISA.  We got to the meeting point and just talked to everyone until we boarded the buses. We got on the bus and we were on our 2.5hr drive to Cordoba. On the way to Cordoba, I was reading my book and listened to music. When we got to Cordoba we go off the bus and went to go meet our tour guides :)! We met our tour guides at the mezquita (mosque) now turned into church. Our tour of this mezquita was not until later so we went on a tour of the city. We chose to have our tour in Spanish, so we can hear it and understand. We left our mezquita area and went through the streets of Cordoba. Our guide took us through some shopping streets and we went through this one street that is known as a romantic spot (it's romantic during the night) because of the flowers on the walls.  The little plaza that the path leads into, is quite small but pretty. The homes in that area are well up to 1,000,000 Euros, and fit up to 15 people in them...who wants to chip in and buy one ?!?! After we walked through the old Jewish quarters. Cordoba is a city that was influenced by the Jews, Muslims and Catholics.  We saw the older quarters and learned a lot about them. Man you can get lost when you are traveling these streets. After our tour on the streets of Cordoba, we went into the Mezquita. OMG!!! It was breath taking. The muslim was gorgeous...the way that the catholics kept the mezquita the way it was besides the center was amazing. I learned about this place through some spanish classes; and the information that the guide told us related to what I learned. the heart of ths mezquita was AMAZING. I loved the Catholic influence in the mezquita!!! It was amazing...wouldn't mind getting married at that alter one day (in my dreams...but a girl can dream...lol). It was so nice. The pictures of Cordoba are on Facebook...so check them out!!!  After our tour, we said thanks to our guide and went to get lunch. Madi, Morgan, Alli, Elise and I tried to find the others but we took the wrong turn to Subway (YES, there is a subway in Cordoba). We ended up going to this nice restaurant called El Olivo we had some fried calamari, swordfish and steak...we shared all of this. This did fill us up and we felt like we needed a siesta after! After lunch we ended up looking at some shops. I got some postcards.We met up with the others in front of the mezquita because we were going to be leaving for Granada. Cordoba is gorgeous!!! Now on to the 2.5hr bus ride to Granada

Saturday Later on!
We checked into our hotel, Hotel Melia. It was very nice :) and we got wifi :) My roomie for the trip was Aries...she was my rooms in Madrid and Toledo. She is a very nice girl. The rooms were nice too. When we checked into the hotel we had about 2hrs to spend as free time. The girls and I met downstairs in the lobby 20minutes after we checked in. We walked to Plaza Nueva (yes, there is one in Granada too). We ended up going to a nice place for tapas and a drink before our AWESOME Flamenco show! We each got something to drink and there were FREE tapas. Some were chicken and patas (potatoes) and some other one. We also ordered a seafood pasta for 4 of us to split, this was our dinner time because we would not get out of the Flamenco show til late. The flamenco show was amazing!!! Before the show we climbed this big mountain to see the Alhambra from a different view...omg...it was a WORKOUT!!! The view was amazing though. I also was able to get my name written in arabic and artistic. It was cool. After that long hike up, we went down to the show. The flamenco show was really good...i mostly took video of it all not pics but i did take pics. Afterwards, we decided to go out and find  a discoteca...well Taryn, Cortney Aries and I wanted to go and we walked around for like a good hour and we couldn't find it :( but we saw very pretty parts of the city. After walking for a while we met up with the others and some of us ere not ready to go to bed yet or we were tired. I went off with madi, alli, jessica and morgan to this bar...which was like a Mcfaddens on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. It was my type of place..we had fun people watching and such. We were there for about an hour then left and walked to the hotel, which was like 50ft away.

Sunday:
well we did not have to wake up til 9ish today...we did not have to meet until 11...latest we had to meet EVER. So i slept in til about 9am. I got ready and went down to breakfast. Arie and I sat together and had some breakfast...my tummy was feeling better so we at good. After we rested up in our room for 20 minutes then came down to the lobby. At 11 we met our tour guide for our tour of Granada. We had a very small group and again we chose spanish. We walked around...learned more about the city. We visited the cathedral in Granada, saw where los Reyes Catolicos were buried...the place was very interesting. After that we had time to explore. We explored a bit and shopped in the Medina of the old Granada. I bargained in the Medina for Jess...I was quite proud of myself :) We enjoyed our time and then we got hungry...with all the walking us girls go hungry. We went to a nice restaurant and got some food. Alli and I shared a veggie pizza, it was good. Jess, Madi, Morgan, Elise and Shelly got the Menu of the day, 3 courses (appetizer, main and dessert). and Bekah and Cortney shared a pasta. Taryn wasn't that hungry so she just got water. We had some good conversations at the table and enjoyed ourselves. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to relax before our trip to the Alhambra. We were all sittin in the lobby and I called my daddy and wished him a Happy Fathers Day...i event tweeted and facebooked it...and told him my present was to post pictures and blog...so that is what i am doing. I also skyped with Phi and we talked..it was good to talk and see him rather than on phone. At around 4:30, we loaded the buses to go to the Alhambra. The trip to the Alhambra was not long, but within those 15-20min i took a small nap...i was so tired from all the things we did before...walking. We got to the Alhambra and got into 4 groups of 30ppl. Our tour guide was Nacho...nickname for Ignacio. He was very nice. We were given an audio set so we could listen to what he was saying about the Alhambra. We first started in the gardens and they were gorgeous... you could see downtown granada and everything. It was an amazing view. We made our way to the summer palace and that was quite pretty. The Alhambra has been taken care of very well and there is still a lot to uncover, Nacho said. It is interesting to learn about the arabic lifestyle, i have learned about the romans and it's nice to hear some new things. The architecture of the Alhambra was amazing, so different. after the summer palace, we made our way to more gardens, then the old city within Alhambra. There are two hotels in Alhambra, and we saw the old medina. We were on our way to the main palace. The palace was HUGE. So many rooms and such beautiful ones too. we made our way through the entire thing and I could not stop taking pictures. I really enjoyed the Sultan's primary wife's quarters..it was GORGEOUS...loved it!!! Definitely a place where to go again!!! After our tour, we headed back to the exit. We had a 3hr bus ride back to Sevilla. We got some food, from the local vendor, a sandwich and such and then loaded the bus. I enjoyed myself in Granada very much and maybe will come during summer 2...who knows!!! Well I'm off to bed...GOOD NIGHT!!!

recap of past two days (yesterday & today)

Wednesday= perfect day!!! woke up to two txts from fam, a email from Phi and skype message from timmy all about OKC WINNING!!!!!!! yeah buddy!!! OKC all the way!!! i was just in a great mood all day!!! it was good..minus stomach pains that come and go but it was good. Just read my awesome book btw my classes and studied too. Have exams Friday!! nothing big happened, just hung out with friends and decided to scratch portugal from our plans and just head to a beach...nothing too exciting besides OKC winning...it really just put me in a good mood :)

Thursday: slow morning...did not wanna get out of bed or eat ..idk what wrong with my tummy since Morocco...i mentioned to folks and Alisa (director at ISA) and if gets worst then I should see a doc..hopefully gets better bc dont wanna see a doc. I just hung out more and did not read during my break because I had to study but during my break of studying i decided to write post cards. When I got back to my house I ate some yummy pasta with tuna red sauce and had water. After i read a little of my book and skyped with Phi...we talked for a bit and i was laughing because he was still groggy from waking up...that is what 6hrs time difference does...because he is waking up and i am half way through my day. we talked and laughed ...it was nice. I went to the school early to study more and chill. Class in the evening was fun, had good discussions and talked to Prof. Nano. (he is really cool) After we went to a bar to watch the Spain game (Spain won) and we had fun..cheering, making friends with locals and of course having some food and drink. It was a small nice place and we had a blast. We walked around and enjoyed each others compan and now im home ready to sleep and then get up and study some more ...have midterms tomo...but should be a breeze...wish me luck....;) adios

Martes

Well today was just like an ordinary Tuesday...same as monday with a few slight changes. I was feeling better and realizing that I am happy to be in Spain again. This morning Carrie and I went and got a pastry for breakfast and it was taste, but not as good as the French ones..it's the truth. I really did not want to be in my spanish class this morning because i slept so so and i just wanted to sleep more when I got up. After class, I was just reading my book and almost done with this one and then on to Fifty Shades of Grey book 3...gah...so good (i think). During my free time, we talked about going to Lagos and it be a fun thing to do but with not having many choices on getting there...it makes it difficult. If we took a long weekend it would work because then we could explore and have fun. We will see what we decide. Madi, Jessica and I went to get the schedule for the bus that goes to Lagos and on the way we stoppped for a drink and tapa...let's say it was the best decision...we went to a bar and got a bucket of beers (5) and a tapa for 4 euro...that is a good deal. The three of us just talked and talked about plans and what we missed and some random stuff...we are quite random sometime....well most of the time :). After I went back to my house and relaxed a little and read then had a really good lunch, it was a soup it was quite delicious and I usually don't like soup. After I read and played with the kids and talked to my host mom. After some time I called my dad and talked to him a bit and then i left to go to my night class. When I got the school, I skyped my friend Thuong...aka Timmy :) and we talked and such..he skipped class lol but it was good to see him and talk to him and to see what's going on back in adale. After my skype with timmy, we went to class and talked and conversed about marketing stuff...really exciting right...it's soso. After I asked my professor what he takes for when he goes to Portugal and he said the bus, and that it's 6hrs and that it would be best to go on a long weekend and not a day thing...which makes sense...he gave us some other alternatives and I will discuss those with my friends tomorrow. When I came back i put my phone phone (my personal phone) on the the charger because it was dead and then sat with the family in the family room and played and talked then we had dinner. Dinner was just some tomato, tuna and papa fritas and yogurt for dessert. Eugenia is so funny, im not sure how she is going to be when i leave in july. Im thinking that I might write her a letter (in spanish) and have her parents read it to her...not sure what i will put in the letter but something nice and sweet...maybe some advice...I find my host family a little bit like my family and it's nice...it helps me because im not homesick homesick...i do miss my family and dogs and friends a lot but being with the host family ...the one im in...a lot better to deal with the distance. Well im gonna finish my book and nap a little before i get  my LIVE link to watch the Miami and OKC game at 3am...WOAH...GO OKC....OKC ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!

First Day back in Spain!!

well after not being able to fall asleep til 2am this morning because I slept all day pretty much on bus I had a great day back in Spain

I woke up early because I was supposed to talk to someone...but someone (cough...PHI) was asleep...lol its all good. I was up and about and got ready. I went to go eat my usual breakfast but let me say my tummy wasn't even feeling that so I barely ate this morning. But when I got to the ISA school I was feeling better and got a little something with one euro i had. Class was fine...it kind of dragged on...i was wishing that I skipped but I didn't. I'm glad i didn't because that way I was able to hear what Bekah and Madi did over the past few days. We informed each other on things we did. It was nice to see their smiling faces :) I missed my friends. After I chilled upstairs in our "lounge" aka the library and read my book on my mama's ipad...so happy she suggested that I bring it :) . Mama always knows best! After my 2 hour break, Madi, Jessica and myself left and went to get a little somethin to eat, because we were starving. We went to a little italian restaurant and got some food, it was good and we just caught up. After I went to my house, I relaxed and played with the kids. We had some fish for lunch...i ate it...but i mean i dont like fish that tastes really fish...but I ate what was on my plate and yeah. After, I talked for a bit with Phi and he asked about my trip and I told him bout it. After I showed my host mom the photos from the trip and she enjoyed it. I continued to play with Eugenia and then I left for class. Once got to class, just talked and read some more. It was a pretty simple monday. When I got back from class, I played with both Eugenia and Cristina and then got ready for dinner. We had a salad and some nuggets for dinner...pretty light. We were talking about sports at dinner and watched some recaps of the Euro Cup and Tennis and some basquetball (idk why writing spanglish..sorry). Now just writing this blog and figuring out what to do for last weekend in Summer 1...thinking Portugal with friends...and beach...im liking the idea and it's not bad pricing for a weekend....hope everyone wants to go!!!!

until tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

OH...also trying to figure out how to watch the Miami Heat vs OKC Thunder game that is at 3am on Wednesday!!! Hope i find it on tv and people to watch with.....GO THUNDER!!!!!!!!!! ALL THE WAY OKC!!!

Recap of Morocco Trip

Woah!!! Morocco was quite interesting!

Day 1: Pulled an all nighter (even tho didn't have to study or anything; just to make sure i did not miss my alarm). I met Alli at the Plaza de Cuba bridge around 3:15...well i decided not to bring any electronics so i did not even know if it was 3:15am when I was at bridge...lucky me we found each other and legit powered walked to the hotel. The streets were not quite they were quite busy because Thursday was a holiday and people were out and having a jolly good time. We were like the firsts at the hotel and we chilled and waited til more came. Once we loaded the bus, we happily each had our own seats and we all fell asleep. We drove 2 hours to get to the ferry that was going to take us to the Morocco. When we got to the ferry place we met up with the kids from the Granada ISA. We had to get off our comfortable bus to join their not so comfy bus but we made new friends and had a good time. After waiting for a while on the bus then going inside the "ferryport" to get stamped and get our tickets we boarded the ferry. It was quite interesting inside...i was not picturing the ferry to look quite so nice. We explored the ferry a little then all sat down and passed out. So i really did not pay attention the ride on the ferry on our way to Morocco and did not see the Strait of Gibraltor. :( We ended up going to the sleep. After the ferry we took a long drive to our Fes Hotel..I was pretty much passed out the whole time. When we got to the hotel i was roomies with Kellie...we had about 2hrs til dinner so we went upstairs and passed out...lets say we slept pretty much through dinner....hahaha. we were able to eat but did not eat much. After we explored a little bit...aka went to mcdonalds with a few and checked it out...lets say its 2 stories and very clean. After we talked a bit with the others but we were all slap happy and ready to sleep.

Day 2: We needed to be up around 9 i believe so breakfast was at 8. well Kellie and I haven't been good with time and we ended up waking up 2hrs earlier then we needed to, once we realized it we went to bed. We were the first ones downstairs and ate some sort of pancake thing and some mini croissants. We had to bring all our stuff so we had our bags with us. This day was considered our first real day in Morocco...in the city of Fes. In Fes we had some cool tour guides that explained different parts of Fes to us. They were older and wiser of course. They were cool, we all enjoyed them. We checked out some fortresses and learned more about the culture. We also went to the Medina of Fes, which is the market. We went to specific places and saw a lot. We went to a pharmacy (where I bought a lot of goodies...all natural products), then a rug shop (never go, because you will be asked multiple times to buy one...thankfully i didnt), a scarf place (beautiful scarves and if had the money I'd buy it all) a silver place where plates and jewlery were sold (didnt buy because nothing caught my eye) we had lunch at a nice place and had some good food...different...but good. The medina was dirty thankfully i had closed toed shoes and was covered. After the Medina we made our way to Meknes...the other city we visited. When we were on the bus we watched money ball but i fell asleep...again lol....before arriving in Meknes we were informed that we could participate in a "Hammam" (google it if you would like to know what it is all about) and henna. What we ate for dinner that night was quite american...some chicken that to some looked like the shape of a squirrel and some hamburger meatballs and fries. Afterwards, we went to our own rooms and slept. The meds at this place were not as comfy as the ones in Fes.

Day 3: Well Day 3 was LONG!!!! I can't believe we all made it. We got up early, had some breakfast...same food we had in Fes and then we were off. First place we went to were the Volubilis Roman Ruins; that were about an hour away from our hotel. The ruins were gorgeous...I really enjoyed the visit. There is so much history and I feel like that is where our Sevilla group really got know each other and have a good time. We laughed and learned a lot and took photos and it was great. I enjoy seeing ruins from those who are no longer here. After we met our tour guide who took us around Meknes (the old parts) we went to the medina in Meknes...and i have to say I liked the one in Fes more even thought it was cleaner. I liked Fes more because I did not have to see cows heads everywhere...it was disgusting...i like ran through that medina fast so i could avoid smell and puking. YUCK!!! and Poor animals.  We also did a quick tour of the other parts in the Medina. We had lunch at the end our tour in the medina. The lunch we had was the same we had in Fes...it was good but I did not eat much because my tummy wasn't feelin to good. During lunch, we sat and ate with some girl from the Granada Group. They were nice. During lunch there was also a type of protest going on, and we watched from the balcony...it was cool to watch, but glad we weren't down there during it. After, we went and drove around then went to a water house. The water house was cool, it was like a fortress for those in the city to go to if they Moroccans were attacked from outsiders. The could live in the water house for 10years with water and food. There was a lot of history. We also checked out a mosque and a golf course. the Mosque was really cool, the people we passed when we were going in, were coming out of prayer and they were nice and smiled at us. The mosque inside was gorgeous. The golf course was cool, for the part we did see, I thought of my dad who likes to golf when I was there. The prison that was near the golf course was interesting, not like a jail I've seen before. After our long day of tour, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit before our Hammam. Around 5:45, Kellie and I met in the lobby with everyone to meet the locals who are part of the ISA Morocco for the Hammam. If you would like to know more about the Hammam, you can google it or ask me....let me just say...it was different, an experience that you should try because it's part of the culture and that my skin is SO soft now!!!! After the Hammam, we had dinner...it was PASTA :) and chicken with fries and veggies. I just had my serving of pasta and called it a night.

Day 4: well we left at 7am...earlyish. We all got together to eat breakfast...i didn't eat much because my tummy was eehh.. We got on the bus and pretty much all fell asleep all the way back to the ferry stop. We were all tired but all felt good after our Hammam. Once at the ferry stop, we had to get our passports and such ready for customs...which was nice and simple. Once on the ferry...we had Homework time... (for some of us) and we were all up looking out for the strait of gibraltar. we had some interesting conversations and just remembering everything we had gone through together on our trip. We also went outside of the ferry on the deck and took some beautiful pictures and we did see Gibraltar but no monkeys :( but it was cool. We went through some security again and then we split our groups (Granada and Sevilla) and went our own ways. The director of Sevilla was sweet and came to our bus to say goodbye to all of us. She is so sweet. We fell asleep on our 2hr drive back to sevilla. It was nice to have our own seat to ourselves. Once we got back, Alli and I walked back to together then split once reached plaza de cuba. When I returned, my host family was home and I said hello, then dropped of my stuff and hung out with them. I was able to catch the end of the Spain vs Italy soccer game...the game ended up being tied. My host parents asked how it was and what I liked and I told them. Apparently Eugenia missed me and she and I were playing and so was the little one Cristina. It was nice to see them. We had a light dinner and then said our good nights.

The trip to Morocco was definitely worth it and I enjoyed it. It was a great experience and I learned a lot and I am glad that I went with the people I went with. Something I will not forget.

Now off to bed....goodnight...also check out the pics on FACEBOOK!!!! until tomorrow or aka later today!!!!

Day B4 Morocco

WEDNESDAY...HAPPY HUMP DAY!!! well nothin spectacular happened just class as usual. and today was like our Friday because no class tomorrow or Friday because it's a holiday tomorrow. Yay!!! Classes were fun and not too bad...just thinking about what I have to do once I am back from Morocco. I am pulling an all nighter because I have to leave for Morocco at 4am...yes 4AM!!!! But meeting Alli at 3:15 so we can walk together so we are safe and yeah. Well after our classes a few of us decided to go get some Helado..ice cream...at the place where there as a cute waiter...well waiter wasnt there...its ok but ice cream was good.  I got home for Dinner and it was good....we had milanessa (peruvian dish...or as my host mother said a south american dish) with some veggies..it was good. I finished book 1 of Fifty Shades of Gray and now on book 2...cant wait to read it and finish book two once i get back from Morocco. Also today was good because I talked to my Mama and Daddy :) but no Becca :( it's ok i know she is working and having fun. I miss them so much and they are excited for my trip. I will be gone starting in about 45min til Sunday around 5. No electronics for me for 4.5days...crazy i know but it's ok.. Morocco shall be an EXPERIENCE!!!!! TIL SUNDAY!!!

oh TUESDAY!!!! lol

Well tuesday was just an ordinary tuesday nothing too exciting. I had class, relaxation/reading time and lunch at my host family's...lunch was amazing :) definitely a recipe to take back to the states. After lunch, I just relaxed and stayed at the house til about 5, when i decided it was time to head over for my 6pm class. I wasn't coming back for dinner. We all decided to hit up a restaurant that Taryn and I went to and then we were going to get a drink. We decided to get drinks on Tuesday, because Wednesday was going to be more chill, because some of us were leaving for Morocco. Well, let's say our evening was eventful...we had a good time. It was nice to just hang lose and just do whatever and not worry. I had a local drink called Cucano and Taryn, Cortney, Alli had Agua de SEvilla which was AMAZING then others had Sangria (Bekah, Shelly and Cortney) Red Wine (Madi) and Tinto de Verano (Jessica) We sat down and had a good time then went to another place with some music but it wasn't hopping, so we ended up getting discounted drinks :) yay go us...instead of 7 euros we paid 5 (well a few of us ...thanks to me:) ) We did not get back late...normal Spanish time 1/130. It was a school night. lol It was a must needed girls night!!! Yay Tuesday

Recap of Sunday and Monday

Sorry for not updating y'all I've been busy. Well Sunday I slept into about 10. Iate breakfast and relaxed with everyone. Around 12 taryn called me to inform me of the plans. Well at 12:45 we were going to meet I front of the cathedral so we could attend church at 1. We had a little bit of a hard time to figure out the entrance for mass was but we found it! The service was similar to what I am used to because it was a catholic service only difference was that there were no music ( which I love in mass because I like to sing) and another obvious difference is that it was in Spanish. It was nice I picked out a few things thar I understood in the readings and gospel but very little ( priest talked to fast). After mass we walked around a little and headed towards la plaza de España. On our way there we saw a huge crowd around this little car that was decorated with Spain's national futbol logo and colors. Shelly was in awe and we took a pic of her and car, the car was In front of this very nice hotel, which is where the team was staying. We took a different way to the park. We found a nice spot where we decided to eat our bocadillos. We talked and when we were all done we walked around the park. After we went to the little kiosks by the plaza and looked. Taryn ended up getting a guitar for her cousin... It's cute. We left the park and walked around and got an ice cream. We then met Beth and walked around more. She wanted ice cream so we went to An ice cream place. We got she water and she got ice cream. Our waiter at this place was cute and very nice to us. He had a nice smile. After we talked about what to do the coming week. Well we couldn't so we decided to part ways. I got back to the house and met my host sisters padrinos ( godparents they were nice). After a while we set up for dinner and then we watched the Spain vs chine soccer game. It was pretty boring because nothing really happened at all. I went to bed and slept really well. Monday was just an ordinary money... Class chill lunch relax class dinner and relax. Lately I've been too tired and think its because the sun takes too much out of me. until my Tuesday is over !!!

Jerez y Cadiz

So yesterday we had an excursion to Jerez y Cadiz.  WE had to meet at the hotel at 9am. So I got up early and met Alli by the bridge so we could walk together.On our way to the hotel, we met up with Quique (one of our directors) We got there pretty early and Alli and myself joined Scott (from Tenn.) for a coffee. Well, weall know that I don't drink coffee,but I went with because Alli wanted something to eat and it's also a nice way to know more people.Scott is cool and nice and very TALL!!!He towers me and like everyone else. After our coffee time, we went back to the corner to meet the others. We saw Bekah and Shelly, I called Taryn to see where she and Cortney were and they said they were close. Unfortunately, they could not make the trip. We tried to hold the buses off as long as possible but we couldn't Since they couldn't go, we are thinking a bout going another time when we have a weekend free. Our first stop was to Jerez, it took about an hour so i napped. I was sleepy. When we arrived to Jerez, we stopped at a winery (bodega), it's called Williams and Hubbert. They make Sherries, Brandy and Cognac. We had a tour of the winery and learned a lot. I understood what the lady was talking about because of my AWESOME Beverage Management class with Allison. We also saw some Equestrian Show; the horses were gorgeous. We did that all before we tried the Sherries. It was all fun and we all enjoyed it. When we tried the Sherries...some people at the table where we tried them, were lets say taking the sherries as shots. I wasn't impressed. But they can do what they want. I liked the dry and medium dry ones, the other was was too sweet for me. I went to the gift shop and there we could try spirit taht was similar to baileys...it was called Crema de Alba. We also tried a Caramel Whiskey. They were quite tastey. I ended up buying 3 things from the winery to bring home so my family could taste them. I hope they like it. After Jerez, we went to Cadiz. CAdiz is the capital of the Province. Cadiz is in the shape of a peninsula, it is covered by three sides of water. It is said to look like old havanah in cuba.  We made two stops in Cadiz, one for those who just wanted to go to the beach and the other was to see the cathedral and climb the tower. some got off at first stop but the others like myself, stayed on. We climbed the tower and man it was a hike...it was just a stone bath...no stairs. Though my legs and glutes hurt walking up and i got kind of dizzy, it was well worth the climb. It was gorgeous once we reached the top. We took tons of pictures and i was in love with the view. After we saw the view, we went to see inside the cathedral and then walked around. We saw some markets and Scott came with us. WE walked around then got a snack, i just got something to drink because I ate my lunch. After that we went to the beach and and layed out and I went into the FREEZING cold water...but it was refreshing. As it got closer to six, we packed up and headed to our meeting point. We then got on the bus and headed back to Sevilla. I did not fall asleep on the way back which was nice because I got to see what I didn't before. When we arrived in Sevilla, we departed ways and went back to our families. I got back to the apartment and cleaned up then relaxed with the host fam. WE had a nice salad for dinner and yogurt. We watched the news for awhile and talked. I think each of us are opening up more to each other because we talk more at dinner so that's good. Yay!!! Today (sunday) I have plans to relax, go to church, eat in a park and relax and do homework not much but ill let you know how it goes.

TGIF

TGIF!!!!! It's Friday!!! last day of classes and beginning of the weekend!!!! Tomorrow we have an excursion to Jerez and Cadiz and they have planned stuff for us...I cant wait. Some of my friends who are doing the summer 2 chose to skip out on this one and go in Summer 2 instead. I didn't I was too excited so I will be doing the Cordoba and Granada excursion in July sometime.  Today I woke up kinda late, because I did not want to get out of bed. I just showered and ate and walked to school. TODAY was HOT!!!!! I swear I drink tons of water and pee like every hour...gah craziness!!! Well at least I stay hydrated!!! I attended class and after that I wanted for Madi and Cortney, Jessica and Bekah; because we were going to shop down some streets. I just went with them until I went to have lunch with my host family. While I was waiting for the chicas, I was reading my awesome book on iPad and just relaxing away from the heat.  Around 1, everyone was out and we went shopping...for me it was window shopping. There are a lot of cute stores. When it got closer to 2, i decided to head back because I wanted to be there for lunch. For lunch I had some spinach and cream dish with rice...it was delicious and then I had an apple. I ate with my host dad and relaxed. We watched the news for a bit. I was also able to finish my book. Yeah..now on to book # 2 that I have. When my host mom came back we talked a bit about yesterday and just relaxed and I played with the kids. I left around 5pm because I had to go get medicine. I have like a cold and it sucks...im not sure if its because everyone in spain smokes everywhere and all day (that is a joke about all day but they smoke a lot) don't they know that smoking kills.  Well anywho I got my medicine and took it ASAP...i started to feel better and after a few days I shall be. I met up with Taryn, Alli and Cortney at the school because we have class at 6pm. Alli is in a different class but we hang out before we have to start. Class was fine, we just talked about our project nothing much. Afterwards, we all decided to just go home and relax and not do anything. I came back before my host family did and I started my new book...Book 1 of Fifty shades of gray. It seems like a good read. For dinner we had a Spanish Tortilla, some pate and chorizo and queso then a yogurt for dessert. It was good; no complaints. After I watched part of a movie with my host parents and it was in spanish but with american actors but I never seen the movie out in the states before. It was good (for what I did watch) I left early because I was tired and I have to get up kinda early tomorrow for excursion. There are NEW pics on Facebook...I'll add the ones from Jerez and Cadiz when I get back or on Sunday!! look out Jerez and Cadiz...it's gonna be a good time!!! Beach Sun Friends and much more!!!

Salir con Espanoles

HOLA!!!! well yesterday (Thursday) was a very very long day!!! It is definitely tough getting back into the swing of things after you have a day off the first week of classes. I got up around 7:30 to get ready for class and then i had spanish class. It's kinda hard being in class at 9am and have to wake up from dreaming and thinking in english and trying to do all that you can with spanish in class. I dont think I could survive if I did not have Bekah or Madi in class. After class, I ended up chilling there for a bit, and I read and did our homework that was due today. I waited because Bekah Madi Jessica and I walk the same way together to where our homes are. We all went home to our host family to eat some lunch. Since I have lunch at 2:45ish I just ended up hanging out with the little girls and played with them and also read my book. It was nice just nice to kind of relax and not do anything. When my host father arrived, we had lunch. We had a seafood pasta dish, I did not eat a lot and feel sick. The dish was really good, a little spicy but I like spicey. After that I just hung out with Eugenia and around 4:45/5pm I went to go meet Cortney so she could get her book for class. I met up with her then her and I met up with Taryn Alli and Shelly at the ISA office, because we all have class. We were talking bout the activity we had last night which was called "salir con espanoles" which means go out with the spaniards. We really did not know what to expect but it was fun. As we were waiting in the Plaza Nueva, for the spaniards to arrive, we met Madi, Jessica Carrie and Bekah and just talked. There was some sort of scavenger hunt going around with the high schools or colleges idk, but we ended up taking pictures with them because they asked us too...and the reason i said scavenger hunt is because they were dressed up in weird outfits but had like all these activities to do for it. We were like why not, we are not goin to see them again. After awhile, the Spaniards came, and we met a few of them and half of our group went to Plaza San Salvador and the others went somewhere else. The group that I was with went to the plaza and met more and the social thing to do in san salvador is get a drink. so everyone had like a sangria or cerveza in their hand. The guys I met were nice but the girls i met were really genuine. They really tried to get to know who we were and I did use my spanish and the guys were kinda of awkward (at least to me) but some of them weren't and we had a good convo...i then met some girls and some members from my group of ISA students and we decided to go get tapas by the cathedral. It was nice and I used a lot of spanish. Afterwards, I exchanged my spain phone number and gave them my facebook name so we can keep in touch this summer. Taryn and I then found the rest of our group and we were all kinda tired but Madi and I decided to go get a glass of wine and we went to a little cerveceria and we talked a lot and learned more about each other and had a good time then it was time for bed!!!

No school today!!!

So my Wednesday  was nice... I slept in a little.. Until 10. I had breakfast and then showered and got ready for my day. After I showered my host mom invited me to go out with her, the kids to go and meet her aunts and nieces for a little break. I was all for it because it would be nice to meet members of their family a d mingle with locals. I met them and my host mom and her cousins had beer and myself and the two nieces had a pop... I had coca cola light and they had coca cola. I just hung out there and poole watched and listened to their conversation just to see if I could understand. The nieces and I played and listed to the little girl Eugenia  and they asked me some questions and I answered. They seemed nice and I will probably see them again. As I was people watching I noticed that a lot of people smoke here more than USA it may because we have laws that ban it or something...I know it's part of the culture but at same time don't they know it can kill you. After we had the drinks we said our goodbyes and we went back to the apartment. I helped my host mom with lunch and set the table. I brought my iPad out to write my blog yesterday and I had Eugenia sit next to me because I showed her the pics of my family and pups on it. Her mom told me that Eugenia wants a dog so bad. She is really cute. For lunch we had a chicken Ina tomato sauce with some fries and bread and some fruit. I didn't eat a whole lot but enough to fill me. After lunch I made puzzles with Eugenia and we were having fun that I lost track of the time and was late meeting with my friends to go explore. I met with bekah alli taryn Shelly cortney and we met nick on the way to the plaza España. We first wanted to see if we could see the thumb of San Fernando the patron saint of Sevilla. But we couldn't the church was closed. So we stopped in the little stores that were open and just walked along the river towards plaza España. Man it was HOT!!!! We were all hating  the heat and wanted shade. We walked through this park to get to the plaza España. The park was nice and shady for us to rest from the sun.  We saw a little kiosk and I got a water and some go some cold icees. The plaza España is gorgeous so pretty. We took pictures of the fountain the whole  plaza the tile bridges and everything. We were there for a while. We took pictures on bridges in front of the plaza and fountain from different angles and random shots lol. There were little kiosks in the plaza and the girls bought some gifts. I didn't because I'm still going to be here til July so I can look around then remember where I found things and get right before I leave. Taryn was really funny on what she wanted to get...it was cute. We then rested in a small part of the park with shade and running water into at fountain. We felt like our feet were gross so we ended up getting into the fountain which was only 1 inch deep and it was refreshing on our feet. We then left and walked back to the cathedral. We wanted get food so we went by the university of Sevilla.on our way there we saw a big tree that looked like a smaller version of the tree at the animal kingdom in Disney world ... Except it didn't have animals carved into the roots..we took pics. We found a nice restaurant that was cheap. I got two tapas... A thing of chorizo and papas with sauces. It was good. The others got a mix of tapas paella and a sandwich I wasn't that hungry so I didn't get much. Cortney and alli got a sangria that was delicious and it had a ton of fruit pieces! After that nick went home for lunch and us girls walked a bit then sat in front of the Spanish bank because it had a little statue and talked and people watched. It was nice and relaxing and then we all no parted ways and walked to our houses. Sevilla is so pretty at night I was taking pictures. Today ( Thursday) I have class and  there is an event called  salir con los españoles  tonight and we are all going so I won't be with my family  for dinner but I will be for lunch and more before I have my class at 6 tonight. I will let you  know how my Thursday goes in next blog. I'll be posting more pictures on Facebook tonight 

Primer dia con mis clases negocio y español

Clases en SevillaWell today is the day where I had all my classes that I signed up. I am taking intermediate Spanish and international marketing. My international teacher Nano is cool. My teacher for Spanish seems nice her name is María José she reminds me a little bit of my tía gutti they share similarities in the face. Maria Jose is from Galicia , which is up in northern Spain. Class was fine, I have class with Madi and Bekah. Bekah and I sat together and we had an activity to do and we meet a girl from Kansas city and one who is from France. The girl from France shares the same name of my cousin.... Clemence! I found it interesting and then I asked her if she new where Brittany was and she knew. The first day of class was not bad pretty simple. After class I met up with Shelly and went to the bank and went to buy two notebooks for each of my classes and 2 pencils. We then returned to the isa office i paid the rest of the money for morocco. I'm excited for that. I then went to the library on the 2nd floor ( which would be considered the 3 floor to us Americans) and hung out with alli and relaxed as i waited for Madi and Bekah to get done with class. We decided to walk back in the same direction to our house so no one would get lost. When I got back to the house I ended up cleaning up a little because It's so HOT here but then I did my spanish homework that I got...it was Pretty simple but had to think about it. Lol after we had lunch. I ate with my host dad in the family area and watched the news we talked a bit about sports because the sports news was on. We had some kind of fish soup and a Asian stir fry and bread. It was good. It definitely filled me up. After that I went to go meet with Taryn and get our school book. We walked around too and got it. We ended up chilling at the office before class. Cortney came and we talked and asked each other how each others day was. Well cortney got lost like 3 times..poor thing I felt bad...I wouldn't wanna be lost but it can very easily happen. After our class we had our meeting for morocco. Lemme just say that morocco is going to be interesting... I'm excited but it is going to be interesting. After that we were hungry and decided to go some where to eat. We found a place that had Mexican and it had pizza. I just got a small tapa to share with the others to try and a bocadilla because I wasn't that hungry I was full from lunch still. Dinner was hilarious we definitely had a good time!!!! We laughed a lot and learned more about each other. After dinner we went somewhere else and met up with Alli and got a drink there we laughed more and had fun and took pics. There are pictures posted on Facebook so check it out! After our drink we talked about meeting after lunchtime to explore and have fun tomorrow. Can't wait to see the city on our day off because we don't have school tomorrow because it's a holiday. Until tomorrow. ( well today since its Wednesday right now in Spain and its 11:40am.) til I post about my day and our exploring.

Primer Dia en Sevilla

Pues (well) my first day in Spain was quite eventful. I woke up around 7:30 and got ready. I left the apartment about 8:15am and headed to the Plaza Nueva. I brought a notebook, and my purse with camera, money and iPad because the ISA office has internet so if I had a break in between class I was going to go on it. I took the same route I took there, minus going the other direction. It was such a gorgeous day and I knew it was going to get HOT!!!. As I crossed the bridge, I met up with Ally by chance before we crossed the main street to get to the Plaza Nueva. We walked together and talked about the family we are staying with. We saw the beautiful scenery and once we reached Plaza Nueva we met up with the others. We all came from different directions, there are about 8 different ways to get to the Plaza Nueva. We all then followed Quique (another director) to the ISA office to go take our placement test. I was a little nervous for the placement test but in my head I was thinking that it was going to be fine. The classrooms at the university are small and fit about 20 students. We were handed the exam and we had 40minutes and 80questions to answer...which was similar to the practice exam on my student portal account. The exam was not too bad, there were some questions where I blanked out and thought it could have been one of two answers and then there were some that I knew what it was and yeah. I freaked out a little on the last page because time was almost up but i finished. After that we all were in the main lobby of the ISA office discussing the exam and discussing what we thought of it and where we would be placed. Before we left to part ways, we were told to return at 1:45pm to get our schedule. We all then took a small walking tour of Sevilla with Quique and saw where things were and such. After a few of us wanted a cafe (not me because I don't drink coffee) to get something to drink and light to eat. We went to a cafeteria and each got something small, because we were not that hungry. We then walked around the streets and looked at shops and window shopped.  We decided to go see the cathedral, on our way to the cathedral we saw people protesting about something...it was kind of loud and annoying and I thought it was disrespectful to do it in front of the cathedral but that is me. We walked into the cathedral and the alter was gorgeous and the details inside were quite pretty. A few of us talked about going to a service and I believe we are going to one this Sunday. We then left the cathedral and walked around some more. We sat by the First Spanish bank and chilled, we people watched a bit (which is always fun, wherever you are). We saw gypsy women handing out rosemary and we kept our distance from them. WE walked around more before we headed back to the ISA office to get our schedule. Once we got to the office, we kind of cooled off (the office has AC...yay). Getting our schedules was interesting, it took awhile but we were patient. Some had class right at two so they went to class and the rest of us went to do what we wanted. Cortney and I decided to go sit somewhere and get something to drink and eat the bocadillos that our host family had given us. It was nice, because I go to know Cortney a little bit more and where she lives and such. When we were at lunch we were aproached by people hwo begged for money and we ignored them because that is what we have been told to do so we did. I feel bad but at the same time when you give into them, they will ask for more and more. Once we were done with lunch she and I walked around and then Taryn called me and we met up with her and walked more and met up with Shelly and Bekah and explored. We had class at 6 (myself, taryn and cortney and bekah and Shelly had one at 4), we found a Flamenco Museum which was just down some side street by our ISA office and we looked around and saw that they give English tours on Thursdays and we also found out that if we wanted to, we could take a flamenco class (we all want to do it) Once we got back to the ISA office, we decided to chill around there and kinda relax so we went to the 2nd floor and looked at the library. Taryn and I looked at books of Morocco, because we are going there next week and Ally then met up with us there. WE were relaxing and then I called my family (the ones who live in IL) and Phi and talked to them for a bit and texted Becca, Phi, Timmy. It was nice and peaceful. When it got closer to 6, Taryn and Cortney and myself decided to see if our international marketing book was in the library and it was so we looked through it, we met our teacher a little bit before we started class. Once it was 6 we entered the class and sat down. Our teacher's name is Alfonso Osuna but we can call him Nano (like the iPod nano...that is what he referred his name to...lol) We took attendance and did small introductions, learned about him and he actually atteneded CMU (Central Michigan University) for undergrad and grad school...interesting). WE went over rules and what is expected of the class. He told us funny stories of examples of what not to do after teaching for 14 years. He is a funny guy and it seems like I will like his class. After class, all the students with ISA Sevilla had to meet up to go to a meeting at a hotel and a reception/ welcome dinner. We (Taryn, Cortney and I) met up with the other group of girls we have been going around places with and we talked about our day and what we did and how class was then we left the ISA Office around 815.The hotel was kinda far (like i mentioned my legs and glutes are gonna look good...lol). Once we were at the hotel, we went into a conference room and listened and such; it was mostly about the insurance and the activities to come up this week. Not long and not boring, quick and simple. We then headed to the hotels pool for the welcome dinner, we had some tapas de mariscos and paella con mariscos and pollo...some traditional spanish food. We sat together as best we could at a table that fits four and there were 6 of us at one table. We mingled with others and the directors and then decided to leave around 10ish pm. We took the same way we got there because it would be simple and none of us wanted to walk along because we are not yet familiar with the area.  Taryn and Cortney went off their way and the rest of us (bekah, madi, jessica, ally, shelly and I) headed towards the other way. Sevilla is pretty at night with all the lights and such.  We talked about plans tomorrow and where to meet up and such and then we each departed ways. Shelly was first to go, then the rest of us went one way for awhile then Madi and Jessica went another way. Ally and I walked Bekah to her bridge that she needed to cross and Ally and i walked to our bridge that we needed to cross then went our own way. I was the one who suggested to text or call each other to let us know that we each made it safe to our own house and we did...go us for not getting lost!!!! Tomorrow i have two classes and a meeting with a lot of free time. I have a class at 9 and 6 so I  will be having lunch with my host family and maybe a siesta then meeting with some of the girls before class around 430 then class and a hang out with the girls after our morocco meeting. Busy and full day! Hasta manana!!! Buenas Noches

Host Family and Sevilla

After lunch we still had a two hour drive to Sevilla (my final destination). As we got closer, I was getting nervous to meet my host family, I wasn't sure if they would like me or if I would like them. We arrive like 15 minutes at our stop where our host family is to meet us and my stomach was churning; i was really nervous, I wanted to curl up in a ball and rock (that's what i do when I am nervous). Once I got off the bus, I saw a tall, tan man with a cute little girl on his side, and right then and there I knew that was my host family. I retrieved my luggage and waited for MJ (one of the directors) to call my name. She called my name and I was right, the tall, tan man was my host father and the little girl was my host sister. I met them and gave a kiss on each cheek (which is a common in Spain) and we went to the car. The little girl was really cute, she helped my pull my small carry on. We then got into the car and it was quiet for a bit then started talking. I talked to my host dad about me and where I am from then the little one started talking to me about Hello Kitty. It was about a 10 minute drive from our pick-up spot to the apartment. Once arrived to the apartment, I met my host mother and the other little girl (another host sister) again I gave a kiss to each one on the cheeks. My host mother showed me her room and I set my luggage down. I have a bed, night stand, wardrobe, bathroom and a small desk. It's cute. After I put my luggage in my room I went to the family area and sat with the family and gave them gifts, that I had brought with me for them. They enjoyed their gifts and were thankful. We then started talking in spanish about me and what I like to do and I asked questions about the rules, when lunch is and etc. I was polite, and used the best of my spanish I could. They said that they could understand me and that with words that I do not know how to say, I just explain what the word is. It's kinda nice to think to explain because it helps me to remember what the word is. After about an hour/ hour and a half, I decided to unpack my things. I told my host family that I was going to meet up with some friends from the program to find the Plaza Nueva, because the next day we would have to meet there in the morning to then go take a placement test for the spanish class (eekk haven't taken a spanish class for a semester). I ended up meeting up Shelly at the Plaza Nueva around 730ish/745; I was going in the wrong direction of the plaza for about 5minutes before I realized it but I found it. My walk to the Plaza Nueva is gorgeous, I pass by the third largest Cathedral in the world, also the place where Columbus is buried. There are nice stores down the street and it's about a 15min/20min walk; so not too bad. With all this walking; in Madrid, Toledo and now Sevilla, my legs and glutes are gonna be firm and look good. LOL. . As I was waiting for her to get to the Plaza Nueva, I met up with the guy I was talking to at lunch...his name is Brady and he is with the St. Edwards program, him and his roommate Bradley were looking for the ISA office and I thought it would be a good idea to go and I suggested we wait for Shelly; so we did. Once Shelly met us at the centro de la Plaza, we also met up with two other kids, John and Nick. We all went on an adventure to find this office....you can get so CONFUSED!!! I ended up leading for a bit since I am good at directions (most of the time) but the little side streets on the maps do not show up on the map that I was given so I was getting frustrated and let someone else take the role of me ...lol. I did not end up finding it because I had to hurry back for Dinner at 9pm. I returned to the apartment around 8:50pm. I cleaned up a bit and asked my host family if they needed help; but they didn't so I ended up sitting with the two little girls in the family area. We had burger meat, that was friend a little with breading about the size of my palm, some jamon (ham) and cheese and a yogurt for dinner. In Spain, lunch is the biggest meal. At dinner we ate and had a nice conversation and watched the news. I was able to understand the news and I asked questions about Sevilla and they asked me questions about Chicago and the States. It was a nice conversation and not too long. When it was getting late, I helped clean up the table and then said good night and pretty much passed out. I made sure to set two alarms to get up and shower for my First Day in Sevilla with meetings and classes...wish me luck!!!