So, I haven't done one of these yet, so I am going to give you some general thoughts that I have been having the past couple of days. Please, enjoy.
1) I have green pants envy.
You're probably wondering what this really means. I shall tell you. It means exactly what it says. I love green pants, and apparently so does everyone in Spain. My friend Leah coined this term and it basically means the more I see green pants the closer I am to buying a pair. I don't know what it is. I just love them so much, and Spain is so stylish that it just adds that much more of a "cute factor". Sheesh.
2) I have such a cool host mom.
My host mom's name is Puri. She is really cool. Even though I may not be able to have a full on conversation with her, we still understand each other pretty well. One night when she was teaching me how to cook a Spanish tortilla, she pulled out the big coke bottle and it had a little bit left. She asks if I want some. Of course I say yes. She says we should just finish it and keep it a secret from everyone else. BAM. Best friends. She also made me some really cute (green) earrings. Yeah, she's cool.
3) I don't like the rain.
I already knew this about myself, but the fact that it has been raining almost nonstop the past three weeks confirms my dislike for that form of the weather that much more. Yes, I know that it is necessary and what not. But still. Rain for weeks? Come on.
4) I miss my guitar.
I didn't realize how much I missed my guitar until I heard a song the other day and wanted to learn it on the guitar and play it. I mean, I play my guitar everyday when I am home. Note to self: bring some form of instrument on next international adventure.
5) I am so happy I came to Spain.
I can't tell you how many times I have to pinch myself to remind myself that this is reality. I knew I was supposed to come here and I am so glad that I did. It has been a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I would advise anyone who is considering study abroad to just do it. It has been amazing. And I'm not just saying that.
6) I feel so refreshed.
Coming here you really get to push the reset button and really just start over. I know that I will have to return home and go back to the "real world", but I know that this refreshing feeling will also come back with me. I am ready to conquer the next step in my life.
7) We serve an amazing God.
I can't tell you how many things have gone wrong whether it was with me or someone else I know. It can be anything from crazy big blisters to being allergic to mosquito bites and having to go to the hospital. In every situation, the Lord still provides and takes care of what is going on, whether we recognize it or saw it coming. He truly does care about what we're going through and isn't going to leave us hanging. I love that. Man, what a cool Guy. With that said, it is a two way street. Just sayin'.
8) I am so excited for Christmas.
Yes, I am one of those people who listen to Christmas music way before Thanksgiving and I don't care who knows it. To each their own. I do what I want, yo. But seriously, Christmas lights are beginning to go up around the city and the nativity scene stores are comin' out. I am so extremely pumped. Can you tell me you're not excited for hot cocoa, monkey bread, Christmas music, candy canes, family, and parties? Seriously. Also, all of you who can buy gingerbread oreos, go buy them right now and eat them in my honor. Please. Then write me a message telling me how great they are. I'm being serious.
9) The Civil Wars broke up.
I still can't get over it. I'm sorry. I am sad. Therefore, I need to vent.
10) I have the best family.
I mean, I know that everyone says that. But I'm sorry to tell you that you are wrong. I'm sorry. But seriously, my family is the coolest.
Until next time I come up with something, hasta luego.
I want to officially apologize for the amount of pictures that I am about to post. I hope you don't mind. But because you are reading this and spending the time to look at all this and what not, I shall give you a great song to listen to while you are reading about my adventure abroad.
You're welcome.
So, some of you may know that I went to Barcelona this past weekend. Some of you may not have known that. Either way, now you know.
Thursday morning, my good friend Leah and I woke up at 4:15am and began our journey to the north to Barcelona. Our flight left at 8:00am and we arrived in sunny Barcelona around 10:30am. We made our way to our Ikea hostel and then began our exploring.
Here is proof that we survived our first RyanAir flight.
Our first stop was Park Guell. Neither one of us knew what we were getting into, but I am glad we didn't. I love surprises. At first we hiked up this steep hill and when we arrived, we were given the best view of the entire city. Please take a look.
We were serenaded by street performers the entire time at the park. It was awesome. If you know me, you know that live music is one of my all time favorites, so it was just the cherry on top.
After that, we went back down to the city and explored a little bit more downtown. We saw some more of Gaudi's famous architecture. Here, take a look.
It is cool to see different style buildings. I kind of liked it. Barcelona is very different than Sevilla; not in a good or bad way, just different. To me, it feels a lot more European than Spanish.
After exploring some more, we decided to walk to the harbor to see the water, but by then, we were exhausted and decided to go to the grocery store to buy our food for the weekend and to settle in for the night. Leah and I had an awesome time painting nails, watching stand up comedy, and just being girls. I have really missed girl's nights.
In the morning, we went straight to the Sagrada Familia, which has been under construction for the past century. Gaudi started to build it and towards the end of his life, he focused solely on the Sagrada Familia. It is so incredibly different than any cathedral that we have visited thus far. It was amazing. You walk in and all you see are rainbow colors everywhere on the crisp white-ish interior. It is so "modern" compared to the other cathedrals in the country. I can't do it justice and pictures won't do it justice eithe, but it will just have to do. Please, enjoy. I know I did.
I absolutely loved it. Leah and I spent two hours there and we could have easily spent more. I can't wait to see it finished because when all the stained glass is put in, my oh my it will be absolutely breathtaking. And get this, on the top level, there is seating for 1,000+ choir singers. Can you imagine? Sitting in a rainbow filled cathedral hearing 1,000+ voices singing? Oh my word, that sounds awesome. We also climbed the towers (which was a tad scary) and saw the cityscape which was so awesome. I could talk all day about this place, but to spare you, I will move on.
After the Sagrada Familia, we decided to go up to the Olympic Stadium, which is on top of another hill. You can bet by this time our feet and legs were definitely letting us know that we were abusing them. But alas, we went on.
The olympic stadium is a lot smaller than we had expected and honestly, it seemed pretty deserted. There was a concert being set up in the stadium, but it wasn't anything too extravagant. I did like visiting it though. This is my third Olympic stadium. I am pretty proud of that, not gonna lie.
It was really fun to visit. But like the rule of gravity, what must go up, must come down. The same rule applies for climbing hills. So, we took the metro up to the top of the hill, but unfortunately, we had to climb down the hill. It was pretty because it was sunset and all, but still. By this time, we were definitely feeling all the walking. At any rate, we made it to the bottom and got ready for the Magic Fountains in the center.
The Magic Fountains are in Plaza de Espana. We got there around 6:00pm and decided we needed to sit and maybe get a Sprite or something (we all know I am absolutely addicted to Sprite). So, we were walking around the plaza and noticed that there was an abnormally large amount of people on one side of the street. Of course, curious one that I am, we walked on that side of the street to see all that was going on. We realized it was for an anime convention. I have nothing against anime or anything, but it was quite interesting to see the way that everyone dressed. I think I will leave it at that.
We went back to the Magic Fountains and there were so many people there ready to watch the show. Basically the fountains light up and change according to music that is playing. It was absolutely wonderful.
That night, we went back to our apartment and decided to cook some pasta. It was super exciting. A little back story, I decided that in my small backpack that I took with me to Barcelona, I was going to bring my head lamp in case we were faced with sudden blackouts. You never know when light will suddenly be gone. We must be prepared at all times. Do take note that my lovely friend Leah was very skeptical of my packing list (cough my head lamp cough).
Low-and-behold our power goes out in the middle of our cooking session. So, here is proof that I am a superhero and saved the day (in my SNU gear of course).
It was awesome.
The next day, we checked out of our hostel and decided that our last morning would be well spent if we went to the beach. So. We did. It was such nice weather too. We put our feet in and relished in the fact that we were standing in the Mediterranean Sea. No big deal.
It was a lot of fun and really relaxing. I just have to pinch myself everyday. Seriously.
After that, we decided to explore more of the city and it eventually brought us to this huge market. It had every type of food possible. We bought pineapple for $1euro. It was awesome.
Our next stop was the Barcelona Cathedral.
Wow. It never ceases to amazing me how intricate and enormous these places are. We also went to mass at the cathedral that night. It was such a learning experience.
After mass, we were hungry and because we were already checked out of our hostel and couldn't cook, we decided we were going to treat ourselves to some great food. So, we went to Hard Rock Cafe. I mean, who wouldn't go to the Hard Rock Cafe? We bought BBQ bacon and cheese hamburgers with fries and ranch. I haven't had ranch for 9 weeks. I nearly cried from happiness. You think I am kidding.
That night we had to go back to the airport which was quite the chore. In short, we were going to take the $5.75 euros airport bus that night but we couldn't find the bus stop. Go figure. So, we asked one of the city bus drivers and he said the airport bus doesn't run at night. We were so confused because we could've have sworn we understood the times on the sign. But we trusted in the bus driver.
We shouldn't have trusted him.
We got in a cab and knew that it was going to be pricey, but we had no choice, right? As we are driving to the airport, we see the airport bus at the bus station getting ready for a trip to the airport.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
We paid $25 euros. We're not bitter. I promise.
But seriously. Come on.
At any rate, we were there at 12am and our flight left at 6am. So, we listened to Hamish and Andy on their new app to kill time and it was awesome.
We arrived home at 8:30am and I finally crawled in my bed at 9:15am. It was glorious. Whoever thought flying out that early was smart, is not smart at all (aka me).
I had an amazing time with Leah and I am so incredibly blessed to have a wonderful friend to travel with. Honestly, she is awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better person to travel with.
The Lord is stretching me in so many different ways, but I shall save that for another post.
Oh man. We serve a wonderful God. I love it.
A couple little facts.
1) Here they call granny smith apples, Granny Smith Apples. Love it. Best apple I have had here in Spain. Beautiful.
2) I love that my Spanish name has an accent. So, taking this picture was extra exciting.
3) I miss you all. I am excited to see you and hug you and to hear all about your lives. I love being here though, not gonna lie. I just wish you could share all of these experiences with me. Seriously, how fun would that be?
It's been a few days since my last update. I will try to keep it short and simple today. Sometimes you just gotta keep it simple, y'know?
Let's go day-by-day shall we?
Friday:
My friends and I went to the cathedral here in Sevilla called the Giralda. It is a mixture between a Catholic cathedral and a Mosque. So crazy cool! Little random fact for ya, Christopher Columbus is buried here as well as his brother (no one knows his name, and no one cares). There is also a place where the survivors from the 234 men who went out on a world tour with Charlemagne came to pray after the major voyage. Only 18 men came back and they came to Sevilla and prayed at the Giralda. So, there is a place that you can see their actual location of where they prayed. Crazy cool stuff going on at the cathedral in Sevilla. I wish I could tell you all that I have learned there but I'll keep it to a minimum. We also climbed the 37 ramps to the top of the tower at the Giralda to get the most amazing view of Sevilla. That afternoon, Leah and I walked all around Sevilla exploring and shopping. It was so fun! That night, we attended a cultural event called, "El Noche en Blanco" which is basically the opening of stores, museums, and art galleries at night when they are normally closed. We ended up going to some ruins underneath The Mushrooms (Cetas). It was awesome. Mind blowing really. Here are some pictures to enjoy.
So I must confess something right now. It has been raining a lot this past week. And if you know me, I strongly dislike being cold and being wet. Especially at the same time. The rain has dominated me this past week. Not going to lie. Don't worry, I will get my revenge.
Now let's continue.
Saturday:
It started off as a normal college student day. I spent most of it studying at either Starbucks or a frozen yogurt place in my neighborhood that served awesome coffee. Here is proof if you don't believe me.
See, I was studying.
That night after hours of studying for midterms, we went out to go see some flamenco at one of the local spots. It was freezing outside and so stinkin' hot inside this room, go figure. So many people were there to watch and listen to the amazing flamenco. I can't express to you how amazing this is to watch and listen to. I love it so much.
It was awesome. After flamenco we went to this restaurant that had outside seating in a terrace. We decided to splurge and get a sprite and a dessert. I know, we are some crazy college students! I decided to get a coconut chocolate pastry but it was pink because it was going towards breast cancer. So, I thought, what an awesome thing! I get an awesome dessert as well as helping other people in need. Here is the restaurant's way to say thanks:
Innappropriate? Yes. Funny? Absolutely. Share worthy? You betcha.
Sorry Mom and Dad. I couldn't help but share this delightful thing.
Sunday:
I went to church which was awesome. I love getting connected in a local church. I also studied some more at Starbucks. Nothing too exciting happened that day really.
Random Days Throughout the Past Week That Don't Deserve Specific Day Shout Outs:
So, midterms were this past week and although they kicked my butt, I also had some awesome moments as well. I got to hang out with an amazing friend for an afternoon, have coffee with new great friends, take some cool pictures of sites around the city, have an amazing time with my host family, and attempt to be the next up-and-coming photographer. I love the iPhone.
I also must confess something. I went to Dunkin' Coffee. Don't get confused with Dunkin' Donuts. Although it is the exact same thing. I don't know why they changed the name. But it was awesome nonetheless.
Leah and I leave for Barcelona in just about 30 hours. I. Am. Pumped.
