Success!

Yesterday, another great day in Spain. For starters, we did some group presentations in grammar class. One pair gave us 10 Uses for a Pañelo (scarf) including a toy for your cat (complete with demonstration!), a 'smacker' for when you're mad at your roommate, a sling for when you've 'smacked' your roommate's arm into a crippled mess, and more :) The other was a biography of Justin Bieber. Thanks to Brittney and Priscilla, I had Boyfriend in my head ALL DAY LONG. It got really old really fast, but I couldn't make it go away! Swaggy.

We finished a Madrid highlights walk - a great accomplishment. It's taken us all over the city for the past three days (some major sites and some others that I never would have thought to go see - some cool and some cooler) and taught us a bunch about cools puertas (ancient gates to the city), places like the old train station, cathedrals with crypts, the royal palace, gardens, plazas, a rope-swing jungle gym where I got a sick from flipping upside-down so many times (I think the fluid in my inner ear is thickening with my progressing age, oh no!), and more.

I found the shoes!!! Daddy got slippers here while on his mission. Wait, back story. My father always, ALWAYS wears shoes. All through my childhood he would get home from work and swap his dress shoes for sneakers. Then his curious children would ask where he was going. He was never actually going anywhere, just putting shoes on. This happened every day. But we never seemed to remember from one day to the next. Crazy kids. The only exception to this ritual was Saturdays or cozy evenings when he would wear his red plaid slippers, his Spanish work boots. I love the huge impression those shoes have made in my mind! He loved them so much he wore them out - a dark day for my childhood memories. Years later, his mission companion went back to Spain and got a new pair to send to my dad - yay! So fast forward to 3 years ago, I'm in Spain for Spring Break and I am looking everywhere for those shoes I love so much - so I can be just like my Daddy. Finally, we found a whole huge window display of them, but guess what? It's stinkin' Father's Day and everything is closed! Nnnnnnnnooooooooooo..... So basically, I have been waiting years and years for these famous slippers. Since I've been in Spain, I've peeked in the window of every single zapatería I've seen (honestly, there's literally one on every corner of every street of every city we have visited in this whole danged country!) to the point of driving my friends crazy. But the search is over! In Madrid yesterday, I passed the zapatería that is going to end years of waiting. It was closed when we walked past but I'm going back ASAP. I am so happy!!

To top it all off, after a 1,5€ dinner of bread and fruit from the mercado (I love baguettes!!) and some girl bonding in the park, I spend the evening in the basement of a bar listening to a group of flamenco artists. (If I ever figure out how to upload my videos, I'll post what I recorded there.) It was the coolest little intimate setting! Picture the coffee shop from the TV show Friends, shrink it to fit typical Spanish quaintness, and fill it with 6 or 7 buddies sitting around, jamming on guitars and a cajón (the box with a hole in it that you sit on) and their hands (to clap). I was dying! My life is so picturesque I can't even believe this is for real. Vale?

Let the balloon go.

iPod...gone. Sickenly stressful. Literally, I have been nauseated for the past 36 hours just thinking about it and grasping at straws to get it back. Next to my computer not connecting to the internet at home, it was my only way to talk to the group (via Facebook), my parents (via Skype), draft my blog posts, and more. I took it to the movie theater on Saturday (where we saw The Avengers) and it fell out of my pocket during the movie. I went back twice on Sunday (during and after a movie in the same sala) but no such luck. I retraced my steps, but it is gone. My life is over. I feel like everything I have done in the last 3 weeks has required intense internet connection. It was so perfect to not be tied to a computer (if I had one that worked) because I could just carry my iPod in my pocket and get updates from the group without being a zombie in my room, constantly on Facebook. Now I'm cut off. I only know about things if Caitlin tells me what everyone is saying. I have nothing to do while I wait for lunch to start. I can't Skype my parents before I go to bed. I feel like I just got stranded on an island and silenced by having my tongue cut out. 

Except.............I have a madre española who cooks me three meals every day and packs me pan tomate lunches when I go on field trips and cleans my bathroom and sweeps my bedroom floor and washes my clothes and irons my Tshirts and even my undershirts. I have an abono (bus pass) that gets me everywhere fast. I can take the bus around Alcalá, the train to Madrid, the metro around Madrid, the bus to the airport, and it's all prepaid and I never have to wait more than 10 minutes. I live in a beautiful, 500-year old city, in the most advantageous spot in town - a geographical oddity, if you will - it's 5-10 minutes from everything. I have a 36-strong posse, whose personalities mix and match on a dime to form smaller groups of the most exciting quality. I have free reign of the city - discotecas, cinemas, ice cream shops, museums, parks, paseos, hikes - here in Alcalá and in Madrid, and most everything is free. I am learning another language. I am functioning in another language (I went to the drug store the other day to get some anit-itch cream and they packaged it in tissue paper - I felt like I was back in It's a Wonderful Life at Mr. Gower's). I am taking siestas every afternoon. I am learning about the history of Spain from someone who spent her whole life here. I am living la vida española. I am in Spain. Who cares if I lost my iPod? All my pictures are on my computer. All my notes are in my blog or my journal. All my
music is on my laptop or at my parents' house. I have class every day and can make plans with my friends before I go home for lunch. I have an angel roommate who will loan me her computer to Skype my parents. I am having the most incredible experience of my life to this point. Do I really need internet to enjoy it? I think not. I'm about ready to hold this balloon in my hand, take one last big breath and let go, watch it fly up higher and higher, and then go on a Madrid Walk with a few cool kids. I don't need my iPod to enjoy Spain or anything else in my life. If it turns up, I'll be overjoyed. But if it doesn't, there's nothing stopping me from having the time of my life. Vale?

The City of Lights - The City of Love

I went to Paris!! Yeah, it happened. Just a weekend getaway with a couple of cool peeps (Caitlin, CJ, Holly, Annalise, Casey). I took detailed notes so I could come home and blog about EVERYTHING. But let's be real - I'm going to get bored just writing all of it, so there's no way I'm going to subject all of you to that. It'll be great to read in my journal later, like when I'm old and grey and want to peruse my travel logs. But for now, I'll spare you all the mundane details and skip to the cool parts, our points of interest.

General facts:
1. It rained the whole time. And if it wasn't raining, it was frigidly windy. But hey, if I'm going to be cold and soggy, why not do it in Paris? :)
2. Flying Ryanair is extremely stressful. They will take any excuse to charge you a 50-60 € fee for an over-sized bag, failure to print your boarding pass before you get there, smelling funny, etc. They are ruthless.
3. We stayed in a youth hostel - great experience, 3 snoring Aussies in the room, Peter from China..."obviously", party every night, nutella and baguettes and apple juice every morning - YOLO!
4. I felt like THE BIGGEST tourist ever, snapping pictures like an Asian. But ya know, everybody else was doing it... I've never really felt like a tourist in Spain since we go to normal places where regualr people live, but this was hardcore American touristing.
Anyway, we met Caitlin's friend, Casey (our resident Frenchman, tour guide, and photographer extraordinaire), at the bus stop and took off down the Champs-Élysées -- seeing everything from the Arc de Triomphe to The Louvre.

I climbed up the Eiffel Tower!! All 6 bagillion stairs to the mid level! There are not words to adequately express the view, the hike, the wonder, the fame. Gah!

I promise this isn't a food fable, but there was this quintessential French bakery. And the chicken sandwich and fruit tarts were unfathomably delicious!

The Catacombs - morbid but awesome. The cemeteries got too full and started causing health problems so the people voted to exhume all the remains from some of the biggest cemeteries all over Paris and deposit them in an empty limestone quarry. They started by simply heaping the bones in, but then somebody had the idea to organize it. So it's got an artistic and appealing pattern to it. Lots of bones and memorial stones with quotes about the balance between life and death. Kind of heavy stuff, but I'm so glad I saw it. (photo courtesy of Holly)

The Père-Lachaise Cemetery - where a bunch of famous people are buried. I got to see the graves of Chopin, Jim Morrison from The Doors (there's this tree covered in gum, pictured below, where people pay their respects by adding to it), and Oscar Wilde (funny story about that: It was closing time but Holly had to kiss his headstone to win a bet with her sister. Unfortunately, the security guard didn't think that was a good enough reason to not leave post haste and started screaming at us to leave. She struck fear in our hearts and we had to leave without the kiss. Never fear, she went back and got it the next day.)

The Galleries at LaFayette (on the Champs-Élysées) - the height of Parisian fashion. This mall was unbelievable. Really, Baby Dior? Prada and a bunch of designers' names I can't remember? A whole floor for wedding dresses? And (drum roll please) Ladurée - the most exquisite French treats you can get - macaroons. Wow! Worth every pretty penny I spent. Literally, I don't think I will ever eat anything so delicate and scrumptious again.

And, of course, McDonald's #2.

Sacré-Coeur and it's very modern stained glass. This was a cool contrast to all the ancient styles we've seen in Spain. Montmatre and it's super cute neighborhood - close enough to the city, but separate and quiet. The Moulin Rouge - I could not resist.

San Chapelle Cathedral - highest stained glass to wall ratio in the world. That was A LOT of glass.

Notre Dame - when I looked into the belfry, I could swear I saw someone scurrying around.

The Love-Lock Bridge - how romantic! Couples write their names and the date on a padlock, clip in to the grating on the bridge, and then throw the key into the Seine River below. Even better, while we were there, we saw a couple actually doing it. When they kissed, my heart broke - forever alone! haha ;)

The Orsay Museum or Musée d'Orsay - so much impressionism!! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I was in heaven for the whole 4 hours I was in there!! So much Monet, Manet, Renior, Degas, Van Gogh, room after room. If you folow this link, you can click on each room and see what was there - just in case you wanted to be jealous :) Yeah, I saw it all.

The Seine River boat tour - probably the worst €11,50 I've ever spent...oops. It poured, we got stuck on the open top with nothing but our umbrellas, and we'd already seen (up close and personal) every point on the tour. I don't recommend it unless you only have 2 hours in Paris and still want to see everything. Then, and only then, is it a good use of your resources.

The Louvre - Although, I almost liked the Musée d'Orsay better, you can't be in Paris and go there. I feel like it was more my thing. Despite the vastness that could easily swallow up a patron without a floor plan, we saw the big things in 2 hours - Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, The Winged Victory, some Michelangelo statues, and others.

After enjoying Free Museum Sunday at the most famous museum in the world, we grabbed some crêpes and high-tailed it back to the airport in time to catch the last chopper out of Vietnam. I mean plane out of Paris - those Ryanair guys stressed me out though. All in all, it was a great weekend in the City of Lights, the City of Love.

Things I learned in León

May 1 and 2 (photo courtesy of Holly)

At the Basilica de San Isidro (Patron Saint of Madrid)- he wrote an encyclopedia before the age of the moors. Many years later, they dug up his bones and brought them here to León. The romans wanted to claim this area because the mountain had lots of silver. So we see a lot of Roman influence in the buildings and art. A basilica = a church in shape of cross. A cathedral = a basilica that has a Bishop's chair. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but the library in the museum of the basilica has beautiful, old books! They even have some that are so old (from the first 50 years of print) that don't have a 'published-in-this-city-by-this-person' stamp! I was in awe.

La Catedral de León: with the exception of San Chapelle in Paris (which you will see later), the León cathedral has the most stained glass for how big it is. Last time I was in Spain, the cathedral was undergoing lots of construction so we couldn't go inside. Now, there's still some scaffolding on the outside, but we got to go in!

And with the help of Rick Steve's self-guided tour, I learned that the flying buttresses helped support the weight of the wall so they could make a larger hole and therefore a larger window.

Cool feature: the outside lights go off at midnight and the stained glass is lit from the inside. It was a little underwhelming, but novel nonetheless.

I saw a sign that was kind of like a real-life Google maps, telling me how long it would take to walk to different points of interest.

I really want a sundial in my future garden, like this one from the museum attached to the León Cathedral.

The most ideal day yet.

Today was a really great day. :) I started it off by hiking with Logan and Andrea through a 'campo' which reminded me of some of the trails at girls camp. There were pine trees, rabbits, squirrels, bugs, rocky paths where mountain bikers kept passing us, lots of hills and small mountains of clay. It was kind of overcast and there was an occasional breeze. Gah it was perfect!

From that, I came home to a breakfast of toast and marmalade, magdalenas, and the best fresh pear I've ever had. It was so perfectly ripe, soft, and sweet that I peeled it and then just bit into it like an apple. Mmmm :)

After a quick shower, I put on my dress and took the train into Madrid with a large group to do baptisms for the dead in the Madrid temple. That was amazing!!! I've only heard the ordinance in Spanish once before, in Texas. But this was something totally different. The Spirit was incredibly strong and reminded me that Heavenly Father speaks all languages. The love I felt there was so...thick and comfortable. Not to mention, the building itself is breathtakingly beautiful. I mean, wow. The simple, white, carved stone reminds me of all the cold cathedrals and castles we've toured in the past few weeks, only more pure and holy.

Then, to top it all off, during and after dinner I had some great conversation with our Chinese roommate, Naomi, and my 'madre española'. I felt really confident in my language skills, which I'm discovering is kind of a hit-n-miss thing. I got to learn some cool things about the Spanish government, monarchy, and the civil war; the climate in China, traditional roles of women in both Spain and China and lots of other great stuff. We laughed and joked about housemate interviews, which made me think of my upcoming roommate contract with Angela, and it was just awesome. Then Naomi left and Luisa and I got to have some one-on-one time. She told me how grateful she is to have Caitlin and I here, now. She's definitely a blessing in my life, and apparently I am "an angel in her house". I don't know about being an angel, but I'm really glad I'm here. TTFN

Burgos

April 29 - Beautiful countryside!! On the way to Burgos, we stopped in a lot of places. First on the map, a pueblo in the middle of nowhere where we hiked up a hill and found an abandoned castle (called Peñaranda de Duero) and an amazing view.

Coming back down the hill, there were some fascinating door covers - like rubbery cords that keep the flies out but let the fresh air in? I didn't actually ask anyone, so that could be way off.

Next stop, Santo Domingo de Silos - home of the famous singing monks who actually recorded a CD a few years ago. All I have to say is: goosebumps, chills.

On a different note, I bought a magdelena so I could use the bathroom (the only one I've had since I got here! actually no, that was remedied when I had one for breakfast the other day). Then I peeled an orange in one swipe, but Kjersten had issues and kind of hacked hers :)

Continuing on, we stopped to walk a trail mounted along the rock above a river that goes through a little valley. The only part of the name I remember is La Yecla. That could be the valley, the walk itself, the river, or just something I saw on a sign...whatevs :)

After that, we explored a small town with not much more to offer than a quaint church where Fernan Gonzalez was buried nbd. Also, I convinced the cute old man that we knew enough Spanish to get a tour of the museum in the cloisters and the back. And boy, was that so great! You're welcome, guys.

Here begins our foreign McDonald's experience (the one where we eat as many non-US french fries as possible). I haven't tasted this in over 3 years!

A quick run to Carrefour for Diet Coke and Oreo Milka bars (aka literal crack). I think we have an addiction.

The next morning, we visited the Catedral de Burgos where el Cid is buried. What a HUGE and FANTASTIC work of art and faith! Just....wow. I...yeah wow. Please see Facebook for all of the amazing stuff inside.

Segovia

I'm behind!! I don't know how this happened, but I have to catch up or else I'm going to be in over my head in the blink of an eye. Against my nature, I'll just write a few poorly descriptive posts about the past week to get everything up and then cover all future events and adventures in better detail, to my liking, as they happen. Deal? Good.

Okay, Segovia, April 27. It was a day trip to a super cute city that I totally remember visiting the last time I was in Spain. I even saw the bar (see right) where we used the bathroom. I still don't know how much that bartender appreciated 4 blonde Americans using the toilet without buying anything from him...oops. Anyway, here's the high points. TTFN

Roman Aqueduct - constructed between the 1st and 2nd centuries (A.D.) and fully functional until the 1930s or 40s when they stopped using it. The whole thing is made of stone, just stone. No cement, no mud, no clay, no nothing. The holes you see in each block in the first picture were for the 'crane' of pulleys that picked up each stone (like tweezers grabbing legos or something).

La Casa de Los Picos - used to be called "La Casa de los Judios" (House of the Jews), but when the Jews were expelled from Spain and the Christians came to rule, nobody wanted to live in a 'Jewish' house. So they put a new facade on and changed the name.

Intricate facades - to appear richer than they actually were (nobody wants their neighbors to think they're poor) and to personalize the government-gifted houses (it was an incentive to live in Segovia), they covered the outsides with stone, carved in beautiful designs.

La Catedral de Segovia - can you say Gothic? Almost. They didn't finish all of it at one time, so when they went to put on the main door, so many years had passed that the style had changed. Can you tell the difference?

El Alcázar - castle with inCREDible ceilings (unfortunately we couldn't use flash so all of my pics are blurry - but I'm sure you can Google it with this link), one of the inspirations for the Disney castles (Your thoughts, Angela?)

La Granja - palace with French-style gardens including a huge hedge labyrinth and a plethora of fountains. Also, the majority of las bovedas (the vaulted ceilings) were major works of art. Of course, my camera died so I don't have any pictures. Again, Google it! :)

Tocando la Puerta de los Cielos

My roommate, Caitlin, used this phrase yesterday and I decided to steal it. We were talking about how lucky we are to be here and how incredible this place is - from the people to the food to the culture to the city - we are literally knocking on the door of the heavens.

First day of class: pop quiz! Downside: 100 questions plus a paragraph about my piso. Upside: my teacher is probably THE CUTEST Spanish lady I've EVER met!! Seriously, she's classically gorgeous. I feel like we're in a movie, in a high school class, she's the recent college grad who all the boys are falling over. She's probably late 20s, petite, lithe, and has a spunky personality. She's got classy taste and total command of the class. Haha  I love it :)

We got lost in the city. Actually, we ended up taking the scenic route home from the mall (Alcala Magna) which boosted my pedometer through the roof, with a total of 24,000 steps for the day. I wasn't complaining because I felt totally picturesque wandering through the streets and looking at all the buildings, people, and small-town bustle.

Siesta was great. Then Lexi, Caitlin, and I went for a 2 hour walk about town and visited some of the historic buildings in Alcalá, including the cathedral and a few convents-turned-university/office. We watched a Real Madrid fútbol game with the local YSA group.

Best of all, Roark fixed my ordenador! Well, kind of. The problem is: I have Windows Vista. Enough said, according to Roark. Apparently, Vista does not support Netgear wireless routers and guess what router Luisa has! So I'll have to do all my picture posting somewhere else - school probably. At least I know I'm not just being tech-challenged :) As soon as I can find some time, I'll put up a bunch of pictures. I'll probably put most of them on Facebook so don't forget to check there too. TTFN

This is the life

So my laptop doesn't work. Great. I used Catalína's yesterday but I can't do that forever. It just won't connect to the Internet! Her laptop and my iPod work great, but my ordenador is just not seeing the wireless! Any suggestions?

Recap of today: Catalína and I slept until 1:30pm when our host mom knocked on the door saying "Buenos días, buenos días! Pues....buenos tardes." We asked what time it was and were so surprised! Good ol' jet lag. We showered and got dressed, just in time for lunch -- yummy green beans with ham and egg in them and literally THE best fish sticks I have ever eaten! Seriously, what are those things that I buy back home, if not fish sticks?? After lunch, we met up with the whole group in La Plaza for our orientation. I was expecting something more class-related, but we walked by the AlcaLingua building (which our little group found yesterday) and then took a tour of the main building and its three patios. Apparently, Alcalá is the very first university laid out like a city. Or maybe she said it was the first city built for a university. Something like that :) The chapel-like building at the very end had a super gorgeous ceiling painted blue, red, and gold with a crazy carved pattern. I'm so dumb though! I haven't had my camera with me for anything these last 2 days! Luckily, Catalína's been taking pictures and it's already in my purse for tomorrow. After the tour, I pulled out some Euro and headed to the heladería (ice cream shop) for the second time in 2 days :) when we were there yesterday, Catalína told the scooper they were going to be great friends because she was planning to go there every day. I thought he'd love the joke and be all for seeing such a pretty girl cada día, but he straight up told her not to or she'd turn into 'Gordita' (complete with pot-belly motion). Oh boy, gotta love these Spaniards. But don't worry, I only got a scoop of limón and one of frambuesa (raspberry) sorbet. Eating my helado in La Plaza in the afternoon sun watching all the passersby - the children playing ball, the viejos taking their paseos, the teens hanging out - this is the life. To wrap up the day, we had FHE with the local YSA group and the kid who's leaving on his mission in 3 days taught us a few Latin dances. Good times! Unfortunately, I have class tomorrow at 9 in the morning. BUT Luisa is going to make us breakfast, so all is good in the world :) So here I sit, in bed, listening to Catalína gasp at the book she's reading on her nook, hoping I can find somebody to make my computer work tomorrow, reveling in the thought that I'm in Spain! Yeah, no big deal. Except it's a huge deal. Just sayin'. TTFN

I made it!

Wow! I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!! There's so much to talk about and not nearly enough time. I feel awful that I slept through la cena. My sweet host mom, Luisa, even tried to wake me up but I was out, dead -- stupid jetlag. I landed in Madrid about 9:30 this morning and the whole group was finally assembled about 11:30. We rode a charter bus 40 minutes to La Plaza de Cervantes in Alcalá de Henares (my home for the next 6 weeks) where our host families picked us up. I live about 3 minutes (maybe 4 blocks) from the Plaza, which is super lucky and convenient. I unpacked my stuff and then lunch was ready for us -- a delicious "tortilla espinaca"(omletish with spinach and cheese cooked in) and "pure de patatas" (mashed potatoes with onion and garlic seasoning). At the end of lunch, Luisa's youngest son, Javier, and his friend, Juan, stopped by to visit. Oh. my.Gosh. That is probably THE most beautiful man I have ever seen! I was literally speechless. I kept stumbling over my words and I felt like an idiot! I really hope he comes around often :) After lunch, my roommate, Catalína, and I met up with several other kids from the program at La Plaza y just walked around the city for a couple of square blocks. We found a great little park with a zipline and sweet jungle gym, delicious ice cream, kebob, and a Walmart-like store called Carrefour -- you can get everything there! Then, we walked home and I started to check my computer when I totally passed out! Now, it's past midnight and I'm wide awake. Tomorrow afternoon is our orientation at Alcalingua (the school I'll be attending). I hope by then my body will be on the right time. So I'd better try to go back to bed :) TTFN