Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Taking the plunge
Alright, folks! This is it! This weekend will be my first weekend since arriving that I will travel internationally...to MOROCCO of all places! Tomorrow night I'll take a night bus down to Malaga with some friends, and then our tour group will pick us up there and take us via ferry to Morocco. I'm pretty excited. My friend/co-leader Allison went to there with this same tour group when she studied in Granada last semester, so I have faith that my experience will be just as wonderful :) I will be sure to update everyone when I get back. In the mean time, enjoy your weekend...I will be in Africa! :)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Whew.
Hey friends. I should start by apologizing for my lack of updates over the past week- between midterms and my brother and dad visiting, I haven't had much time to write. Tomorrow will be the first time in almost 3 weeks where I won't have to use an alarm clock to wake up! :) And seeing as that I still haven't posted pictures from my retreat last weekend, get ready for a long update ;)
Like I said on Monday, the retreat last weekend was in possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my entire life (although I have a feeling I will be repeating that phrase a lot this semester). Loyola is situated right in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains. Seeing that I've lived in the middle of a city for 5 (now 6) weeks, the change of scenery was welcomed and very much needed. It's very easy to forget the beauty and gifts of natural surroundings when alarm sounds are common and public transportation is the norm. Anyways, here are a few pictures of the mountains. None of the pictures really expressed (I feel) Loyola really was, but these come close.
These are the Pyrenees Mountains! So beautiful!
The view looking out from the Loyola Basilica onto the rest of the property.
The opposite view from the picture above. Looking back at the Basilica, coming from the town we had toured.
The entire weekend was so relaxing and peaceful, and I was not particularly happy when I boarded the bus to go back to Madrid.
However, once back in the city, I was greeted by my dad and brother who were here for the entire week! Although they arrived, a little...umm..."unceremoniously" to my apartment on the first night (see previous post), things soon settled down and I spent a lot of time with them over the week. It was a little crazy also being my midterms week to try to balance time with them and time to study, but we managed to make everything work.
On Monday, I had class and they went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and the National Cathedral, which they both seemed to really enjoy. I met up with them when I was done with class, and we ate dinner and then I headed back to my apartment to study. On Tuesday, Greg came to classes with me and my Dad toured the Prado (apparently he got a personalized, 3ish hour tour just by himself. If you ask him about it, I'm sure he'd love to tell you everything) :) Tuesdays are busy days for me every week, having class from 9:30-6 and then my ESL class from 7-8:30. So by the time I was done with my day, I was wiped out. I took the metro back to the hotel and then my Dad walked me home. I had a really big midterm the next day, and just needed to study. Wednesday included another day of classes for me (along with my Oceanography midterm, unfortunately) and a day trip to Toledo for Greg and my Dad. My dad really enjoyed getting to know more about the artist El Greco, and I think Greg was impressed by the sword production there :) On Wednesday night they also met my host mom, Paloma. With my dad being a doctor and Paloma a nurse, they had a lot to talk about! And I also discovered that a lot of medical words are cognates in Spanish and English. The four of us hung out for awhile and then they eventually left.
Thursday night brought us to our Flamenco night. It unfortunately began with a slight glitch, as somewhere along the line our reservations had been made for Wednesday night as oppossed to Thursday. Fortunately, we were still able to be seated and enjoyed an amazing show. Seriously. The place that we went to is suppossedly the best Flameco bar in Spain and hosts the best dancers, meaning that it is bascially the best Flamenco in the world. Don't worry, I've included pictures.
Basically, there were 3 parts to the show. These 3 girls would come out and dance together, then a woman by herself, and then a man by himself. Inbetween the acts, the guitar players in the background would play or one of the singers on the side would sing. This was the first act. The three girls came out in these beautiful red dresses with intense red shoes, and flamenco-ed for us all.
This was the woman who came out after the 3 girls finished. Although this was actually her final performance, I took the picture because I liked the dress :) Flamenco dancers have to order special dresses along with special shoes to perform.
After the woman danced alone, the man on the right came and danced by himself. This picture is of the final act, when all three girls plus the woman plus the man came and danced. It was quite an amazing thing to watch. After the night was over, we took a taxi home and headed to bed to be ready for the next day.
Friday we spent all day together. We started our day by going to the museum Reína Sofía. I had really wanted to see the painting "Guernica" by Picasso bascially since I knew I was studying abroad in Spain. So I met them at the hotel at around 10, we had breakfast and set off to the museum. The first floor we went to had a lot of modern art, and I mean REALLY modern art. One of the first things they had on display was a 9-minute video of watching ice melt. Seriously. I could have done the same thing and made it worth about as much as it cost to make, but apparently this movie was a "priceless work of art." Go figure. Anyways, after we finished with modern art, we moved down to the second floor to see Guernica. The Sofía really does a good job of showing how Picasso led up to the painting of Guernica with different sketches and smaller paintings. The actualy painting is very impressive, and had there been benches to sit, I would have sat there all day. I stood there for about 20 minutes and then decided to move on, as the crowd was growing and we had spent about 2 hours in the museum already. After leaving, we tried to take a few pictures in front of the Sofía but it didn't quite work out.
Still a cute picture, just no sight of the Sofía. So my dad fixed the problem by taking a picture of just my brother and I in front of it.
You can tell that its the Sofía in the background because of the glass elevators.
We left the Sofía and headed back to Sol, the center of the city. We had a nice lunch, and then worked our way to the Chocolerteria. It was excellent, as always :) After chocolate, Greg wanted to look around a little more for a music store in Sol. We found a couple, but he didn't buy anything. I saw one of my favorite stores (thanks in part to the suggestion by Allison) Natura, and I bought some shoes. We left Sol and headed back to the hotel to relax for awhile. We ended our night at a bar next door for dinner, with several rounds of Gin (the card game), as is traditional for any Ambrose vacay :)
This morning I got up and ate breakfast with them at the hotel and saw them off to the airport. According to the Delta website, the took off ontime and are currently somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Everything seems to be going to plan :)
OK, I think that's enough for one day, haha. I should have more time to update this week with only 1 major midterm and a normal schedule. :) Love to all!
Like I said on Monday, the retreat last weekend was in possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my entire life (although I have a feeling I will be repeating that phrase a lot this semester). Loyola is situated right in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains. Seeing that I've lived in the middle of a city for 5 (now 6) weeks, the change of scenery was welcomed and very much needed. It's very easy to forget the beauty and gifts of natural surroundings when alarm sounds are common and public transportation is the norm. Anyways, here are a few pictures of the mountains. None of the pictures really expressed (I feel) Loyola really was, but these come close.
These are the Pyrenees Mountains! So beautiful!
The view looking out from the Loyola Basilica onto the rest of the property.
The opposite view from the picture above. Looking back at the Basilica, coming from the town we had toured.The entire weekend was so relaxing and peaceful, and I was not particularly happy when I boarded the bus to go back to Madrid.
However, once back in the city, I was greeted by my dad and brother who were here for the entire week! Although they arrived, a little...umm..."unceremoniously" to my apartment on the first night (see previous post), things soon settled down and I spent a lot of time with them over the week. It was a little crazy also being my midterms week to try to balance time with them and time to study, but we managed to make everything work.
On Monday, I had class and they went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and the National Cathedral, which they both seemed to really enjoy. I met up with them when I was done with class, and we ate dinner and then I headed back to my apartment to study. On Tuesday, Greg came to classes with me and my Dad toured the Prado (apparently he got a personalized, 3ish hour tour just by himself. If you ask him about it, I'm sure he'd love to tell you everything) :) Tuesdays are busy days for me every week, having class from 9:30-6 and then my ESL class from 7-8:30. So by the time I was done with my day, I was wiped out. I took the metro back to the hotel and then my Dad walked me home. I had a really big midterm the next day, and just needed to study. Wednesday included another day of classes for me (along with my Oceanography midterm, unfortunately) and a day trip to Toledo for Greg and my Dad. My dad really enjoyed getting to know more about the artist El Greco, and I think Greg was impressed by the sword production there :) On Wednesday night they also met my host mom, Paloma. With my dad being a doctor and Paloma a nurse, they had a lot to talk about! And I also discovered that a lot of medical words are cognates in Spanish and English. The four of us hung out for awhile and then they eventually left.
Thursday night brought us to our Flamenco night. It unfortunately began with a slight glitch, as somewhere along the line our reservations had been made for Wednesday night as oppossed to Thursday. Fortunately, we were still able to be seated and enjoyed an amazing show. Seriously. The place that we went to is suppossedly the best Flameco bar in Spain and hosts the best dancers, meaning that it is bascially the best Flamenco in the world. Don't worry, I've included pictures.
Basically, there were 3 parts to the show. These 3 girls would come out and dance together, then a woman by herself, and then a man by himself. Inbetween the acts, the guitar players in the background would play or one of the singers on the side would sing. This was the first act. The three girls came out in these beautiful red dresses with intense red shoes, and flamenco-ed for us all.
This was the woman who came out after the 3 girls finished. Although this was actually her final performance, I took the picture because I liked the dress :) Flamenco dancers have to order special dresses along with special shoes to perform.
After the woman danced alone, the man on the right came and danced by himself. This picture is of the final act, when all three girls plus the woman plus the man came and danced. It was quite an amazing thing to watch. After the night was over, we took a taxi home and headed to bed to be ready for the next day.Friday we spent all day together. We started our day by going to the museum Reína Sofía. I had really wanted to see the painting "Guernica" by Picasso bascially since I knew I was studying abroad in Spain. So I met them at the hotel at around 10, we had breakfast and set off to the museum. The first floor we went to had a lot of modern art, and I mean REALLY modern art. One of the first things they had on display was a 9-minute video of watching ice melt. Seriously. I could have done the same thing and made it worth about as much as it cost to make, but apparently this movie was a "priceless work of art." Go figure. Anyways, after we finished with modern art, we moved down to the second floor to see Guernica. The Sofía really does a good job of showing how Picasso led up to the painting of Guernica with different sketches and smaller paintings. The actualy painting is very impressive, and had there been benches to sit, I would have sat there all day. I stood there for about 20 minutes and then decided to move on, as the crowd was growing and we had spent about 2 hours in the museum already. After leaving, we tried to take a few pictures in front of the Sofía but it didn't quite work out.
Still a cute picture, just no sight of the Sofía. So my dad fixed the problem by taking a picture of just my brother and I in front of it.
You can tell that its the Sofía in the background because of the glass elevators.We left the Sofía and headed back to Sol, the center of the city. We had a nice lunch, and then worked our way to the Chocolerteria. It was excellent, as always :) After chocolate, Greg wanted to look around a little more for a music store in Sol. We found a couple, but he didn't buy anything. I saw one of my favorite stores (thanks in part to the suggestion by Allison) Natura, and I bought some shoes. We left Sol and headed back to the hotel to relax for awhile. We ended our night at a bar next door for dinner, with several rounds of Gin (the card game), as is traditional for any Ambrose vacay :)
This morning I got up and ate breakfast with them at the hotel and saw them off to the airport. According to the Delta website, the took off ontime and are currently somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. Everything seems to be going to plan :)
OK, I think that's enough for one day, haha. I should have more time to update this week with only 1 major midterm and a normal schedule. :) Love to all!
Monday, February 16, 2009
I can't think of a good title for this post
Hello friends! So, in the past 4 days I have traveled up to the basque country of Spain and welcomed my brother and dad to my new home! It's been quite an exciting weekend.
The Loyola Retreat was amazing...so, so great. I realized that I've been in the city of Madrid for the past 5 weeks and have seen very little of nature (minus the 3 days I was in Mallorca). It was so wonderful to be dropped off in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains and not have a computer or cell phone with me. I have trouble finding words to describe the beauty of the basque country...I will post pictures as soon as I upload them on my computer. My words won't be able to do it justice. Think "Sound of Music" mountain ranges with Ritz Carlton living conditions...yeah. Awesome. I met a lot of new people and got to really know the campus ministry and student life staff here at SLU Madrid- they are hysterical people! I don't think I have laughed so hard since I've been here as I did during the weekend.
We got home a little later than expected on Sunday night, and the plan was for me to call my dad and brother at their hotel once I got in and we would somehow connect afterwards. I get back to SLU at around 10:30, and my phone rings. My roommate Dominique tells me that my dad and brother are at my apartment right then and Paloma (my host mom) was freaking out! It was a little chaotic- I told them to go back to their hotel and I would meet them there. After getting slightly turned around at my Metro stop, I finally managed to arrive at their hotel, we called my mom in Philidelphia and then they walked me home. I got up this morning to go to classes and then hung out with them again afterwards. According to my brother, they went to the Royal Palace and the National Cathedral today, and were very impressed. They even managed to figure out the metro system by themselves! :) Tonight, we went to El Corte Ingles to buy me a backpack for Spring Break and a Spanish-English dictionary. Then we walked back to my apartment and I showed them where I live (Paloma wasn't here so they still haven't met her). We found a place to eat and then I finally came home at about 9 and I've been working on school stuff ever since...its my midterms week, so I'm a little stressed. ugh. But tomorrow Greg is coming to my classes with me, and I think my dad will tour some more art museums. Wednesday they are going to Toledo, and we don't have plans for Thursday or Friday! But it seems like everyone is having a good time and we all are excited for the week ahead!
With that being said, I need to get to bed soon...tomorrow is Tuesday, meaning I have class from 9:30-6 plus my ESL class from 7-8:30. AND like I said its midterms week. Yuck.
goodnight :)
The Loyola Retreat was amazing...so, so great. I realized that I've been in the city of Madrid for the past 5 weeks and have seen very little of nature (minus the 3 days I was in Mallorca). It was so wonderful to be dropped off in the middle of the Pyrenees Mountains and not have a computer or cell phone with me. I have trouble finding words to describe the beauty of the basque country...I will post pictures as soon as I upload them on my computer. My words won't be able to do it justice. Think "Sound of Music" mountain ranges with Ritz Carlton living conditions...yeah. Awesome. I met a lot of new people and got to really know the campus ministry and student life staff here at SLU Madrid- they are hysterical people! I don't think I have laughed so hard since I've been here as I did during the weekend.
We got home a little later than expected on Sunday night, and the plan was for me to call my dad and brother at their hotel once I got in and we would somehow connect afterwards. I get back to SLU at around 10:30, and my phone rings. My roommate Dominique tells me that my dad and brother are at my apartment right then and Paloma (my host mom) was freaking out! It was a little chaotic- I told them to go back to their hotel and I would meet them there. After getting slightly turned around at my Metro stop, I finally managed to arrive at their hotel, we called my mom in Philidelphia and then they walked me home. I got up this morning to go to classes and then hung out with them again afterwards. According to my brother, they went to the Royal Palace and the National Cathedral today, and were very impressed. They even managed to figure out the metro system by themselves! :) Tonight, we went to El Corte Ingles to buy me a backpack for Spring Break and a Spanish-English dictionary. Then we walked back to my apartment and I showed them where I live (Paloma wasn't here so they still haven't met her). We found a place to eat and then I finally came home at about 9 and I've been working on school stuff ever since...its my midterms week, so I'm a little stressed. ugh. But tomorrow Greg is coming to my classes with me, and I think my dad will tour some more art museums. Wednesday they are going to Toledo, and we don't have plans for Thursday or Friday! But it seems like everyone is having a good time and we all are excited for the week ahead!
With that being said, I need to get to bed soon...tomorrow is Tuesday, meaning I have class from 9:30-6 plus my ESL class from 7-8:30. AND like I said its midterms week. Yuck.
goodnight :)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The things we do for cheap travel.
Today I booked all of my tickets for Spring break!! I'm going with a group of about 6 or 7 (honestly I forget and lost count) and going to London, Prague, and Athens. Now, a normal person would read that and probably think, "oh, OK, so they'll fly from Madrid to London, then to Prague, then to Athens, and then back to Madrid."
Well, my friend, you underestimate the power of one way tickets with easyjet.com
This is what my Spring break schedule looks like:
Thursday, March 5th: Madrid to London
Friday, March 6th: London to Athens
Tuesday, March 10th: Athens to London
Wednesday, March 11th: London to Prague
Friday, March 13th: Prague to London
Tuesday, March 17th: London to Madrid
So we have 3 days scheduled to tour London at the end of break, but total I think we'll be spending about 5 days there with all of our transfers from one city to another. And the best part of all of this: in total, all of those trips cost under $300 USD. Word, easyjet.
Tomorrow I leave for the Basque country of Spain for a retreat with school. I'm looking forward to seeing a different part of Spain and also to see my dad and brother once I get back to Madrid! YAY!!!!!! :D
Well, my friend, you underestimate the power of one way tickets with easyjet.com
This is what my Spring break schedule looks like:
Thursday, March 5th: Madrid to London
Friday, March 6th: London to Athens
Tuesday, March 10th: Athens to London
Wednesday, March 11th: London to Prague
Friday, March 13th: Prague to London
Tuesday, March 17th: London to Madrid
So we have 3 days scheduled to tour London at the end of break, but total I think we'll be spending about 5 days there with all of our transfers from one city to another. And the best part of all of this: in total, all of those trips cost under $300 USD. Word, easyjet.
Tomorrow I leave for the Basque country of Spain for a retreat with school. I'm looking forward to seeing a different part of Spain and also to see my dad and brother once I get back to Madrid! YAY!!!!!! :D
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Not to worry, life is good.
So, it is possible that some of you might have heard about a bomb going off in Madrid on Monday. And yes, it is true, a bomb did go off in the Northeastern side of the city on Monday, which is not near where I live or where I go to school. The ETA, a terrorist group from Northern Spain was protesting Spain's installation of their version of a highway throughout where they (the ETA) live. This is the same terrorist group that bombed the metro in Madrid 4 years ago. Anyways, they called a Metro station 90 minutes before they set the bomb off and asked that the metro be cleared out; the bomb was situation near several metro stops. Apparently, their intent was not to kill anyone, just to protest the highway. It exploded and damaged several cars and part of the highway, but no one was hurt. People in Spain seem to be treating it very lightly, my señora didn't mention anything about it to us on Monday and its pretty much out of the news. But, just for all of your information, I am alive and was in no way, shape, or form affected by the bombing.
Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Madrid- the kind of day that, if I enjoyed running, would want to make me go for a run. Clear skies, 60 degree temperatures, lots of sun...perfect :) I just have my 4 classes tomorrow, and then on Friday I am going on a retreat with school to the Basque Country (país basco) of Spain, to the birthplace of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. I'm really excited for this, and I hope that it will be a great way for me to get away from the city and see a different part of Spain! I'm excited. The past few days have also brought a lot of travel plans my way...I booked tickets to go to Rome over Easter; Spring break plans that include Prauge, Athens, and London, and I think I FINALLY figured out a way to get my butt to Paris.
So yeah...not to worry, life is good :)
Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Madrid- the kind of day that, if I enjoyed running, would want to make me go for a run. Clear skies, 60 degree temperatures, lots of sun...perfect :) I just have my 4 classes tomorrow, and then on Friday I am going on a retreat with school to the Basque Country (país basco) of Spain, to the birthplace of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. I'm really excited for this, and I hope that it will be a great way for me to get away from the city and see a different part of Spain! I'm excited. The past few days have also brought a lot of travel plans my way...I booked tickets to go to Rome over Easter; Spring break plans that include Prauge, Athens, and London, and I think I FINALLY figured out a way to get my butt to Paris.
So yeah...not to worry, life is good :)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
More Mallorca pictures
So I forgot that I didn't put all of my Mallorca pictures up here, so here are the rest of them from last weekend.
Traveling friends! From the left, Brandon, Ally, and Caroline.
This was supposed to go on my last post. One of the reasons I loved Mallorca was because I could look to my left and see the ocean and to my right and see mountains. Love it.
The beach, about 5 minutes from our hotel beautiful.
The sunset we watched on Saturday night...
So after everything that happened over the weekend, from bus rides to sunsets, malls to cathedrals, I think this picture sums up everything...
Cartwheels on the beach...I'm blessed :)
Traveling friends! From the left, Brandon, Ally, and Caroline.
This was supposed to go on my last post. One of the reasons I loved Mallorca was because I could look to my left and see the ocean and to my right and see mountains. Love it.
The beach, about 5 minutes from our hotel beautiful.
The sunset we watched on Saturday night...So after everything that happened over the weekend, from bus rides to sunsets, malls to cathedrals, I think this picture sums up everything...
Cartwheels on the beach...I'm blessed :)
Thursday, February 5, 2009
This has nothing to do with Spain.
So, for those of you who follow my blog but don´t have a facebook (aka my mom) I wrote this yesterday and was so amused by it I thought I would share it here as well. Like I said, this really has nothing to do with my time here in Europe. Here are 25 random facts about my life:
1. I have an extra tooth growing in the bottom of my mouth that has been there for as long as I can remember. The dentist doesn't want to take it out because its stabilizing about 3 of my other teeth in my bottom jaw. And ironically enough, my brother is missing one tooth and has been since the day he was born. Go figure how that worked out.
2. I really do have an almost unhealthy obsession with the TV show Jon and Kate plus 8...in a strange way, it almost makes me want to have sextuplets. I brought season 3 with me here to Spain and have watched the entire season almost twice.
3. I watched this lecture on YouTube, and it might be the (if not definitely one of) best speeches I've ever heard in my entire life. You all need to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
4. My mom says I have preservative taste buds. This basically means that I really only like processed foods, which is not entirely true but pretty darn close.
5. I absolutely HATE bats (the animals). This stems from an experience I had in 7th grade, when I woke up at 2am in my room with one sitting on my head. I still don't know how it got in there, considering that both my windows and doors were shut. I ran out of my room and made my dad deal with it. I didn't sleep in my room for the next 3 nights.
6. There have been very few days where I haven't thought about Young Life in some capacity since I went to Rockbridge in July 2006.
7. When I am married and have kids, my first daughter WILL be named Abigail, called Abbie. My husband really has no say in this.
8. Before I have kids with a real life and a real job, I'll own a bull dog and name her Bella.
9. In the past 2 years at school I've lived with 4 different people: Taylor, Bridget, Leah, and Dominique.
10. My ultimate life goal is to have a significant impact on one person's life.
11. I only like reading if what I'm reading keeps my interest. Translation: the last book that I really read and enjoyed was Redeeming Love last Christmas and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the summer before that.
12. A nice, handwritten, thoughtful note from someone is one of the best presents anyone could ever give me.
13. I LOVE flowers...they make me giddy. Just ask Nick, Mary, and Colleen :)
14. I loved almost every second of high school and feel bad for people who had terrible experiences.
15. The past 3 times people have put needles into me (ie shots or bloodwork) I've either passed out or almost passed out. Once was because I didn't eat before I was giving blood (that was my fault) but then when I went to give my college shots I legit passed out and didn't know where I was when I woke up.
16. If I won a million dollars, I would open my own rehab clinic for teens.
17. Sunsets are quite possibly the most beautiful things on Earth.
18. When I was little I was obsessed with the movie Free Willy and wanted to be a whale trainer because of it.
19. I've been to over half of the 50 US states, and eventually I want to travel to all of them.
20. When I was 5 my family dragged me onto Captain Hook's pirate ship at Kings Island, and I've been scared of roller coasters ever since.
21. I wish I was better at art. I'm jealous of people who can draw/design things freely.
22. Reading blogs is one of my new obsessions. If you keep one, I will follow it.
23. I support all things created by Macintosh and Google.
24. After living in Spain for almost a month, I wished I lived in a city with better modes of public transportation.
25. This past weekend when I was in Mallorca, I asked my friends what they know for sure, in a bigger sense. So this is what I know for sure: that there is a God of the universe who created everyone out of love and compassion; that there are no bad people, only good people put in bad situations; that everyone in the world is capable of changing, and it is possible for one person to change his or her life.
1. I have an extra tooth growing in the bottom of my mouth that has been there for as long as I can remember. The dentist doesn't want to take it out because its stabilizing about 3 of my other teeth in my bottom jaw. And ironically enough, my brother is missing one tooth and has been since the day he was born. Go figure how that worked out.
2. I really do have an almost unhealthy obsession with the TV show Jon and Kate plus 8...in a strange way, it almost makes me want to have sextuplets. I brought season 3 with me here to Spain and have watched the entire season almost twice.
3. I watched this lecture on YouTube, and it might be the (if not definitely one of) best speeches I've ever heard in my entire life. You all need to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
4. My mom says I have preservative taste buds. This basically means that I really only like processed foods, which is not entirely true but pretty darn close.
5. I absolutely HATE bats (the animals). This stems from an experience I had in 7th grade, when I woke up at 2am in my room with one sitting on my head. I still don't know how it got in there, considering that both my windows and doors were shut. I ran out of my room and made my dad deal with it. I didn't sleep in my room for the next 3 nights.
6. There have been very few days where I haven't thought about Young Life in some capacity since I went to Rockbridge in July 2006.
7. When I am married and have kids, my first daughter WILL be named Abigail, called Abbie. My husband really has no say in this.
8. Before I have kids with a real life and a real job, I'll own a bull dog and name her Bella.
9. In the past 2 years at school I've lived with 4 different people: Taylor, Bridget, Leah, and Dominique.
10. My ultimate life goal is to have a significant impact on one person's life.
11. I only like reading if what I'm reading keeps my interest. Translation: the last book that I really read and enjoyed was Redeeming Love last Christmas and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the summer before that.
12. A nice, handwritten, thoughtful note from someone is one of the best presents anyone could ever give me.
13. I LOVE flowers...they make me giddy. Just ask Nick, Mary, and Colleen :)
14. I loved almost every second of high school and feel bad for people who had terrible experiences.
15. The past 3 times people have put needles into me (ie shots or bloodwork) I've either passed out or almost passed out. Once was because I didn't eat before I was giving blood (that was my fault) but then when I went to give my college shots I legit passed out and didn't know where I was when I woke up.
16. If I won a million dollars, I would open my own rehab clinic for teens.
17. Sunsets are quite possibly the most beautiful things on Earth.
18. When I was little I was obsessed with the movie Free Willy and wanted to be a whale trainer because of it.
19. I've been to over half of the 50 US states, and eventually I want to travel to all of them.
20. When I was 5 my family dragged me onto Captain Hook's pirate ship at Kings Island, and I've been scared of roller coasters ever since.
21. I wish I was better at art. I'm jealous of people who can draw/design things freely.
22. Reading blogs is one of my new obsessions. If you keep one, I will follow it.
23. I support all things created by Macintosh and Google.
24. After living in Spain for almost a month, I wished I lived in a city with better modes of public transportation.
25. This past weekend when I was in Mallorca, I asked my friends what they know for sure, in a bigger sense. So this is what I know for sure: that there is a God of the universe who created everyone out of love and compassion; that there are no bad people, only good people put in bad situations; that everyone in the world is capable of changing, and it is possible for one person to change his or her life.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Mallorca, ESL class, upcoming events, oh my!
OK! So I waited until today to give you all a full update about my weekend and my first ESL class so you all will have a wonderful, long post to read today! ;)
So, Mallorca...if you've been following my blog, you know that Mallorca is one of the Balleric islands off the East coast of Spain, famous for its pearl production. It also the home of Rafael Nadal, and if you followed the Australian Open you could probably guess that things were a little crazy there this weekend (translation: Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open and is from Mallorca, although not Palma where we were staying. Everyone was really excited that he represent the Balleric Islands so well). Anyways beyond pearls, there is not a whole lot to say about Palma. This time of the year it is mostly filled with retired couples and not very many young people. But it was a nice way to get away for a weekend and enjoy a different part of Spain.
I left my apartment at about 7:15 to get to the airport by 8 or so. We checked in with RyanAir and borded our flight with no problems. I fell asleep for the majority of the flight and woke up to our plane landing. Once we got through the airport and found our hotel, we walked around our part of the city to have lunch. We wanted to get into the main part of the city, and asked the lady at our hotel desk how to do it. She told us that any bus we get on will take us right into the city, so we got on a random bus and started riding. Not looking at which direction it was headed, we were soon forced to get off because it reached the end of its line after about 3 stops. So we had to pay again for about a 20 minute bus ride to get to the other part of the city. Word to the wise: jumping on a bus (normally) can give you a great view of a city or town quickly and spark your interest to go somewhere else later for a relatively cheap price (for us about 1 euro).
After taking the bus to the other end of the city, we found an old cathedral and toured it. It was really pretty, and it had this really cool outdoor fortress-type-thing around it. Of course I forgot my camera on the first day so I dont have any pictures. After the cathedral we walked around the town some more, found some gellato (SO GOOD) and finally after about 2 1/2 hours made our way back to the hotel. We stopped by a grocery store to buy some food first and then hung out for awhile in our room to nap and relax. That night we went to a bar right next door to our hotel and sat there and talked for awhile as well.
Saturday morning we decided to apply our same logic about public transportation to that day's adventures. Our goal was to find the contemporary art museum in Mallorca. We didn't know exactly where it was, but we knew it was in the city. We decided to get on a different bus to try to see a different part of the city. So we got on the #28 bus and started riding it for awhile. At some point, my friend Caroline decides its a good idea to get off and figure out where we are with our map. We get off, look around, and soon realize that we are in the ghetto of Mallorca. Like the 'hood. I sat down to figure out with Caroline where we were, and (according to my other friend Ally) in that short time she saw about 3 different drug exchanges. So we quickly crossed the street to get back on the bus to take us back in the other direction towards Palma where we were yesterday. We got out of the ghetto and eventually found a tourist office where we got directions to the art museum. The museum was just opening an exhibit about animation, and basically showing everyone how a story goes from a story board to a 3D experience. It was pretty neat. There was another exhibit by an artist that I don't remember, but he used a lot of natural elements in his artwork to show perspective very well. Afterwards it was time for lunch, so we rode the bus again (this time not getting stuck in the ghetto) and ate lunch, shopped (I bought a very European-looking coat. I feel much more like a native here in Madrid with it on) :) and then went back to our rooms. The rest of the day was spent hanging out on the beach or at the same bar we went to on Friday. It was a nice break from Madrid and a good way to get out of the city.
This is the cathedral that we visted on the first day...very pretty
This is ultimately why I loved Mallorca. To my right was the sea....
...and to the left was mountains. I was going to put a picture here, but for whatever reason it wouldn't work. I'll try to put some more up later, maybe when my internet is working better :)
BUT tonight was also my first ESL class! My friend Ally and I are co-teaching it, and it was a little difficult to plan a whole lot before hand because we didn't know how much English they spoke. We started the class by introducing ourselves, and asked the students what they wanted to learn. Topics included movies, food, traveling, furniture, politics (?), weather, and the environment. We started off by trying to explain movies but quickly realized that we don't know enough Spanish phrases about movies to explain something to them if they can't understand us. So we switched to food, which is always a winner :) We named different fruits, meats, and vegetables....trying to explain to 30 Spanish adults how to pronouce "vegetables" is no easy task- the 'g' is soft, the 'e' is silent, it is just crazy. But we got through it. We ended by playing pictionary with food names and then reviewed the alphabet before the left. I have a better feeling now for what they know and what they should learn, so I'm looking forward to next week.
That about brings you up to date! I don't have any plans for this weekend, which will give me a lot of time to rest and finally get over this cold that I've been fighting for like 2 weeks. Then the week after I'll be heading to the Basque country of Spain to attend a retreat centered around Ignatian Spirituality, which I'm really excited about! ANDDDDDD my dad and brother are coming to Madrid that weekend! It will be so wonderful to see a familiar face around here, and I really can't wait!! :)
So, Mallorca...if you've been following my blog, you know that Mallorca is one of the Balleric islands off the East coast of Spain, famous for its pearl production. It also the home of Rafael Nadal, and if you followed the Australian Open you could probably guess that things were a little crazy there this weekend (translation: Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open and is from Mallorca, although not Palma where we were staying. Everyone was really excited that he represent the Balleric Islands so well). Anyways beyond pearls, there is not a whole lot to say about Palma. This time of the year it is mostly filled with retired couples and not very many young people. But it was a nice way to get away for a weekend and enjoy a different part of Spain.
I left my apartment at about 7:15 to get to the airport by 8 or so. We checked in with RyanAir and borded our flight with no problems. I fell asleep for the majority of the flight and woke up to our plane landing. Once we got through the airport and found our hotel, we walked around our part of the city to have lunch. We wanted to get into the main part of the city, and asked the lady at our hotel desk how to do it. She told us that any bus we get on will take us right into the city, so we got on a random bus and started riding. Not looking at which direction it was headed, we were soon forced to get off because it reached the end of its line after about 3 stops. So we had to pay again for about a 20 minute bus ride to get to the other part of the city. Word to the wise: jumping on a bus (normally) can give you a great view of a city or town quickly and spark your interest to go somewhere else later for a relatively cheap price (for us about 1 euro).
After taking the bus to the other end of the city, we found an old cathedral and toured it. It was really pretty, and it had this really cool outdoor fortress-type-thing around it. Of course I forgot my camera on the first day so I dont have any pictures. After the cathedral we walked around the town some more, found some gellato (SO GOOD) and finally after about 2 1/2 hours made our way back to the hotel. We stopped by a grocery store to buy some food first and then hung out for awhile in our room to nap and relax. That night we went to a bar right next door to our hotel and sat there and talked for awhile as well.
Saturday morning we decided to apply our same logic about public transportation to that day's adventures. Our goal was to find the contemporary art museum in Mallorca. We didn't know exactly where it was, but we knew it was in the city. We decided to get on a different bus to try to see a different part of the city. So we got on the #28 bus and started riding it for awhile. At some point, my friend Caroline decides its a good idea to get off and figure out where we are with our map. We get off, look around, and soon realize that we are in the ghetto of Mallorca. Like the 'hood. I sat down to figure out with Caroline where we were, and (according to my other friend Ally) in that short time she saw about 3 different drug exchanges. So we quickly crossed the street to get back on the bus to take us back in the other direction towards Palma where we were yesterday. We got out of the ghetto and eventually found a tourist office where we got directions to the art museum. The museum was just opening an exhibit about animation, and basically showing everyone how a story goes from a story board to a 3D experience. It was pretty neat. There was another exhibit by an artist that I don't remember, but he used a lot of natural elements in his artwork to show perspective very well. Afterwards it was time for lunch, so we rode the bus again (this time not getting stuck in the ghetto) and ate lunch, shopped (I bought a very European-looking coat. I feel much more like a native here in Madrid with it on) :) and then went back to our rooms. The rest of the day was spent hanging out on the beach or at the same bar we went to on Friday. It was a nice break from Madrid and a good way to get out of the city.
This is the cathedral that we visted on the first day...very pretty
This is ultimately why I loved Mallorca. To my right was the sea....
...and to the left was mountains. I was going to put a picture here, but for whatever reason it wouldn't work. I'll try to put some more up later, maybe when my internet is working better :)
BUT tonight was also my first ESL class! My friend Ally and I are co-teaching it, and it was a little difficult to plan a whole lot before hand because we didn't know how much English they spoke. We started the class by introducing ourselves, and asked the students what they wanted to learn. Topics included movies, food, traveling, furniture, politics (?), weather, and the environment. We started off by trying to explain movies but quickly realized that we don't know enough Spanish phrases about movies to explain something to them if they can't understand us. So we switched to food, which is always a winner :) We named different fruits, meats, and vegetables....trying to explain to 30 Spanish adults how to pronouce "vegetables" is no easy task- the 'g' is soft, the 'e' is silent, it is just crazy. But we got through it. We ended by playing pictionary with food names and then reviewed the alphabet before the left. I have a better feeling now for what they know and what they should learn, so I'm looking forward to next week.
That about brings you up to date! I don't have any plans for this weekend, which will give me a lot of time to rest and finally get over this cold that I've been fighting for like 2 weeks. Then the week after I'll be heading to the Basque country of Spain to attend a retreat centered around Ignatian Spirituality, which I'm really excited about! ANDDDDDD my dad and brother are coming to Madrid that weekend! It will be so wonderful to see a familiar face around here, and I really can't wait!! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
