Greece: So Magical that "Thank You" sounds like "A Fairy's Toe"

I learned that "a fairy's toe" trick from a Canadian on the first day- since everyone in the tourist industry in Greece speaks English, they were so impressed when I said "A fairy's toe" at the end!

Greece = A good reminder that I don't speak Greek.

But I've never been to Greece before, and it was the best week ever- I LOVE Greece. The people, the weather (at least in late May/early June), the food, the prices... and Greece, since it's a little dangerous with the strikes/ riots and what not, has been suffering without a ton of tourists coming through.

And I went with one of my besties from Gonzaga (traveling with a friend always makes the trip so much fun!) Here was our itinerary, essentially stolen from a friend who went to Greece last summer:

Athens (1 night)

Hostels are great ways to meet people; we went adventuring with a Brit, a Wisconsin, a Syrian, and a French woman to different historical sights. For students (thank god!) most of the sites are completely free. We visited the Temple of Zeus (awesome), the Pantheon (AMAZING) and the Archaelogical museum. Also took an extremely dorky "Greek gods" picture in front of the Pantheon.

We took a 9 hr ferry that left at midnight to get to santorini- Naomi is a deep sleeper (lucky girl) but I, unfortunately, am not, so the trip was a little rough for me ;)

Our home for the night...

Then we went ISLAND HOPPING. (ps i love island hopping)

Santorini (2 nights- the famous island)

Two words: Villa Manos. The hostel was 25 euros a night for a suite with a kitchen with a beautiful pool outside and the nicest hostel keepers ever.

Santorini is gorgeous, with traditional Greek houses and lots of great restaurants. And Naomi and I took a one-day trip which included a drive to the top of the island, a boat ride in an old fashioned boat to the volcano and to some AMAZING hot springs (they were warm, yellow and smelled like sulfur), then a trip to see the sunset from the typical town (super overcrowded) of Oia. To get to Oia we needed to do a donkey ride. And donkey rides are surprisingly scary!!!

Amazing hot springs. Just a jump off the side of our pirate boat!

Ios (2 nights- the party island)

As an extremely drunk Aussie explained it to us, Ios is "30% Brit, 70% Canadian and 20% American". But there are a TON of Aussies on the island looking for work in the summer. Francesco's, the hostel we stayed at, has the reputation for the party hostel, and with reason. It was crazy.

Also we took a 3 hour trip off the main beach which involved kayaking, cliff jumping and snorkeling. Cliff jumping was so much fun! I have a small fear of heights so of course that means I am trying to jump from taller and taller cliffs, and this one was about 45 ft ;)

Our drunken Aussie wiseman ;)

Naxos (1 night- the quiet, boardwalk island)

We spent our last night island hopping on an island that I would very much describe as "family friendly". And Naomi and I decided to go all out for our last meal... which involved Greek salad, calamari (with eyeballs; yes, they were visible), red mackarel, mini ice cream and white wine... a LOT of wine. And the sunset seen from our table over the water was amazing...

Athens (1 night)

Returned there since we were both flying out of Athens International. Also witnessed firsthand a couple of problems Greece is experiencing, mainly the "lots of illegalness" part, as well as the "strike-so-bad-that-all-public-transportation-is-shut-down" part.

Moral of the story: Greece is my favorite place ever. Well, the Greek Islands, anyway. And such a fun adventure to have with a close friend !

Italia: Apparently I love Italian food.

Just not American Italian food. I've downloaded recipes to try cooking this summer but pumpkin gnocchi, tiramisu and fresh ITALIAN pizza are amazing (American pizza is good too, but man, gotta love the Italian crust...)

I went backpacking through some Italian cities with another student in my Madrid program, and really liked Italy. It doesn't hurt that knowing Spanish makes understanding Italian a litttttttle easier. BUT here's the places I went:

Milan: Why? It was the cheapest flight (50 euros for two people, one-way). Plus free room (travel buddy had a cousin). There's not a lot in Milan, though, except that the second night we were there was the eve of the Inter-Milan v. Bayern championship game and man, Italians love their soccer. I watched it from the Piaza di Duomo big screens and all I can say is THANK GOD Milano won, it would've been drunkenly scary to witness a loss. Lots of noise, fireworks, screaming and drunken football chants.

Lago di Como: Gorgeous day trip, there are such amazing houses around Lake Como. For example: for those of you who have seen the 007 Casino Royal, the house where Bond gets Mr. White in the end? That house? Yeah that's on the lake. Took a little cruise on it which was great, esp. with such nice weather.

Florence: Got to visit some friends in Gonzaga-in-Florence, which was great. Was only there one day, which is actually enough time when you move as fast as I do (slash don't really stop moving at all). My favorite place was the Piaza di Michelangelo, which has a gorgeous panoramic view of the city, as well as the Ufizzi museum (though you have to wait over an hour to get in!) Also if you need a hostel: Plus Florence has a good location, but it offers too many extras (plus more expensive- 3euros for a towel? Really!?) that are completely useless if you are not taking a real vaca there, like a pool (gross looking) and a "work-out center" (two treadmills).

Assisi: My favorite Italian town I saw. Most people are there to see the Cathedral of St Francis, and I was no exception (despite not really being religious, I do connect with a lot of the St Francis stuff, plus I had a class on him last semester so I knew a LOT about the paintings, monuments, history of the cathedral). Even if you are not interested in St Francis, it's a gorgeous town (dare I say quaint?) which feels more authentic than any of the other places I visited.

On the downside it's really far out of the way- a high speed train Florence > Rome is like an hour (?) but it's a 2.5 hr train Florence> Assisi then another 3 hrs to Rome. But what can I say, they never said a pilgrimage was easy.

In front of the Basilica of St Francis

Rome: The big one. I got to see an old friend which was great, plus he showed me a lot of cool stuff and taught me some Italian.

Saw the:

-Coliseum. Lots of tourists but there's a reason. It's awesome. Plus it's amazing to think about the history of the place. Though I've never seen the movie "Gladiator" (I know, I know, it's bad; I'll watch it soon!!!) you can imagine the epicness of everything going down in the arena.

-Palatine Hill/Roman forum. I liked this place better than the coliseum (it's right next to it, too) since it is a nice walk and even has the "Romulean huts", where Romulus and Remus were apparently raised. Pretty cool if you ask me.

-Vatican. I saw the pope. No biggie. But actually didn't enter; I remember from when my fam and I went how crowded the piaza was and honestly, I liked John Paul WAY better than I like Benedict. So there was little appeal to spend tons of time there (plus I didnt go inside).

-Sistine Chapel. Gorgeous building/paintings but expensive (8euros for a student! Double that for non-students) And you have to walk FOREVER to get to a crowded room where you see the actual chapel done by Michelangelo. I snuck a pick of the Adam/God painting, tho ;)

Coliseum!!!

Overall Italy rocks. And like I said... FOOD is AMAZING. People, for the most part, are nice, esp. if you put forth an effort (I always started off with "Parla inglese?" because I hate it when people just barge in with English, assuming everyone speaks it). Lots and lots of tourists, from every part of the world. And why not? Italy is a culture hotspot, an amusement park of history, and has some of the best food in the world!!!

Canary Islands! Some party people are old, some party people are young

So some program friends and I decided to take a celebrating-cuz-we're-done-with-finals trip to the Canary Islands, which is a territory of Spain but much closer to Africa. We stayed at Las Palmas (at the "good beach") on Gran Canaria, which is about a 45 min drive from the airport... turns out our beach mostly caters to Spanish retirees (ie limited English and very little nightlife.) (but lots of Bingo!) So as nice (and cheap) as Hostel 7 Soles was, I would recommend going to the other side of the island to Playa del Ingles.

The weather was bipolar: some days overcast, some days sunny (and apparently it is sunnier on the south side of the island? even though it's a pretty small island...) But do not let the overcast clouds/wind fool you! The last day was super overcast and very windy and since my front was nice and tan (read: burned) I decided to lay on my stomach and tan my back. I ended up with a very red lower back/upper thighs and sitting 3 hrs on the plane ride back to Madrid was a very painful experience.

On Tuesday night, when we went to Playa del Ingles, a British club promoter convinced us to spend 15 euros each on a club hopping night. Realizing only after that we would have no time to go home (an hour bus ride each way), change and return, we went to a bathroom, cleaned up as nice as we could, then went to a Perfumeria to make ourselves smell less "beachy".

The "Pacha night" had mostly German/ Swedish/ British people in attendance (I didn't even meet any other Americans). But some of these people were too young to be at a club... which wouldn't have been a bother if it wasn't for the "game" that I was invited to play by a club dancer (and I dragged the other two girls into it with me). The "game" was more of a "Striptease" by five random (all German?) guys, one of whom I seriously doubt was over 18 (so illegal?). Thank God my "partner" was at least in his early twenties, though his English sucked. Overall a very embarrassingly hilarious experience... and a veryyyy interesting night.

(i'm second from left, my friends Lindy and Kelsey are to the right)

Another note: all the signs, menus, etc. are in English (for the British tourists), Spanish and German. There were a LOT of German tourists there (Germany has pretty crappy weather, and enough $ to travel right now). I even got to practice some German with the club promoters and with a person in our hostel who was seriously confused as to which room was his... but mostly, my "practicing German" was reduced to a reminder of how bad my German sucks, considering how long I studied it.

Ah well. Anyway. Tomorrow (actually, in less than 4 hrs, as its past 1am here) I will be going to the airport for my 16 day backpacking trip through Italy (Milan, Florence, Assisi and Rome) and Greece (Athens, Santorini, Ios and Naxos). I try not to get online when traveling in order to experience more of the trips, so I probably won't update this blog until I get back to Madrid or, more likely, till I touch down in the States the afternoon of June 6th. (Well, I might not update it till after that date, gotta give me time to chill with the fam! :))

To all those who read this blog, thanks! It's always a pleasant surprise to see that people are interested in what I'm up to in Europe :D

End of my Madrid Program :(

So yesterday (May 14th) was the last official day of my program (ie my finals are now over!!!!). Some people took the group flight back to the US bright and early this morning. I still have a couple weeks left in Europe so I'm not that sad just yet (though it was very sad to see them go!)

I will still be updating the blog on the adventures I have in the coming weeks, though for 16 days I am living out of my backpack with limited access to computers (or showers for that matter) so from May 21st to June 6th I probably will not be posting any new things (maybe a short blurb? but no photos).

Anyway! Wrapping up the studying part...

Madrid is the perfect city for what I wanted to do: improve my Spanish (sorry Barcelona, Catalan not high on my list!), live in a big city (great nightlife and easier/cheap travel), experience Europe and just mix it up from my Seattle/Spokane lifestyle. I would recommend Madrid to anybody, hands down.

And USAC (University Study Abroad Consortium) was a good choice too... I'm not going to lie, I chose it because it was the least expensive, but that way I had more $ to travel. The staff here are amazing and the group I was with was sooo great. The program is small (30 something? maybe?) so you are still encouraged to meet new people... SMALL classes (which I usually love but it gets hard when you have a Spanish Narrative class with two other people and one of them never shows up!)

And I lived in a homestay- easily one of the best parts about Madrid; I really lucked out with my host family. My host "mom" (they are 30) is so sweet and girls' nights with her have been awesome. And my host dad is really cool too; super into Atletico Madrid and constantly teaching me new stuff about Madrid and Spain.

Some stuff I will miss about Madrid:

-The people (esp. my host family and my friends in the program)

- The schedule. It didn't actually take that much effort to fall into the routine (I don't sleep that much in the States, either :)) I will definitely miss dinner at 10pm, getting to the bars at 1am, clubs at 3am, getting home at 6 or later... but I don't think Spokane would be able to handle that lifestyle.

-Traveling: in Spokane you can't catch an hour long flight to Barcelona, Granada, Valencia, or take a longer trip to London, Paris, Lisbon, Morocco... and flying is relatively cheap (like I said, 20euros total for Valencia flying).

-Cultural differences/awkward confusions. Like the fact that the Americans STILL insist on getting "minis" (which are the huge sizes of drinks) for each person, rather than sharing them like the Madrileños do. Also, yesterday when making brownies for my host mom's birthday and needed to borrow an egg, my host dad said they only had fresh eggs, no hard-boiled, sorry.

-The excuse "Well when else am I going to do it?". Sometimes when I am on the border about doing something (usually cuz it costs $) I think "when else am I going to be in Barcelona/ Paris/ Madrid/ London, etc., etc.?". This is awesome but not the most financially responsible.

-Late night walks. Admittedly, this is something I do in Spokane, but I always have to be super vigilant and carry my pepper spray. Here there are ALWAYS people at between midnight and 6am, so I feel more safe (safety in numbers and all!)

-Rotating languages. The fact that I speak English, French and Spanish fairly well makes for much more interesting times (and actually I can kind of understand Catalan and Portuguese, plus some German from years of relatively unsuccessful Saturday German school). But Morocco would've been hard without my French, and I can help out a lot of tourists because usually we can find a language in common. American people are infamous for not learning other languages. Also last night when my friend Jess and I were walking to a bar a French guy behind us was petting her hair and saying slightly weird/gross things in French and so, obviously, she was upset, and I got do to a super dramatic 180o and admonish him in French. But then the creeper was super excited that I spoke French so I had to give a fake name, fake place of origin, etc. But actually on that note...

-Fake names. They get hard to keep track of (when I'm "Kira" I'm from California, when I'm "Juliet" I'm from Canada, etc.) but they come in handy when I'm in a squeeze. Like everyone says, you don't meet the good guys in clubs and bars.

-Adventures of newness. I went to a gay club last night (if you are in Madrid, check it out: Ohm"), and you know what? Probably one of my favorite clubs of all time. Better music and oh yeah, there was a guy in a tank top playing a violin. (there were a LOT of guys in tank tops. But it didn't hurt that I have never seen that many completely ripped guys in one place- those guys have the most amazing muscles/builds.) And this might sound bad but having a gay guy tell you that you are beautiful while passing you in a club makes me feel 2314543632 times better than when a straight one does. Cuz the gay guy probably actually means it, and has no prerogative ;) And!!! It's the only club where there was no line for the girls' bathroom, but a huge one for the guys'.

Some stuff I am really excited to go home to:

-People. Obviously. I miss my family and friends so much!

-Food! Spanish food is good and all but my favorite foods are Thai, Indian and Vietnamese, all of which are sorely lacking in Madrid (and a majority of Europe? good Indian food in London but...) And BUBBLE TEA. I know I have already freaked out about this on other posts but seriously, lack of bubble tea has affected my diet negatively- I've been eating gummi bears to compensate.

-Movie nights. I got to have a couple of them (Twilight in Barcelona with some Gonzaga friends, Pretty Woman in London with a friend from HS, and Enchanted with girls from my program here) but I will be stoked when we can watch movies on a TV instead of a laptop and have junk food ;)

-Gonzaga. I know this is cheesy but Gonzaga has really started to feel like home. The campus, even. I have spent my best days, longest nights and sunny afternoons with some amazing people over there... and I get to see some of them this summer! (for like a day but w/e)

-Ovens. I may not be a huge fan of cooking, but I do enjoy baking (usually from mix, yes mom I know, but sometimes from scratch!) and my host family doesn't have an oven (or a dryer for that matter). I miss that.

- My dog. She's pretty, and smells like home. (Actually I have missed the smells of home immensely.)

-Driving. I'm not one of those people who gets stressed out and likes to go for drives, but I still enjoy driving with friends, music, car-dancing, or just boring errand runs from time to time. Haven't been behind the wheel of a car since January...

-Classes in English. I missed both the classes part (yeah I'm a nerd) and the English part.

-Customer service. It kind of sucks that American waiters rely so much on tips to earn $, but I have gotten some HORRIBLE customer service here.

-My bed. There's a duvet waiting for me. And a pink stuffed elephant.

-Guilt-free texting. Every time I send a text here it's like, "oops! there goes another 12cents." I have free texting back home.

-The water (in Seattle). Both Madrid and Spokane are land-locked, so I get a little antsy to see the water sometimes.

-Good dancing music. I have started to legitimately hate house music. WHY do they not play Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart" in clubs here? It was like that song was written with my dancing in mind.

To wrap up, I want to share something that Dr. (Eric) Schmidt, my Ethics professor at Gonzaga, shared with us (some teacher's lessons really do stick with you!)

He asked us what we would be doing with our summers (this was last year, right before I started my internship with the Department of Commerce), then asked why none of us were going to Europe to travel/ backpack. For most of it is was financial reasons (why spend tons of money when you could make a substantially less amount of money?) But then when we figured the overall cost (incl. opportunity cost), he essentially asked, "When you are my age, with a wife, (a kid? I don't remember if he has kids), a mortgage, a job, responsibilities, don't you think you would PAY that $ just to have the opportunity to backpack pack across Europe?" (I'm paraphrasing)

And I can honestly say that that class changed my life, because I'm not sure if I would have been as dead set on backpacking across Italy and Greece without him. I'm putting myself behind credits-wise (will be taking 23 credits next semester) because I can't take some classes over the summer. When my business advisor (yes, I have two advisors) seemed upset that I was putting myself behind and would be taking an advanced Management class while taking the Finance prerequisite, I essentially emailed him, "Thanks for your concerns, but I need to do this. I've decided that my backpacking trip is worth all the extra suffering I will endure next semester." (And he understood, God bless him.)

Backpacking in Europe is a life goal of mine, and something I feel can only be properly done in a certain time in your life (sorry if I am upsetting/offending anyone): before kids, before mortgages and "grown up responsibilities", preferably before age 26 so you can actually stay in the cool places in Germany (age limit at some hostels there... plus it is CREEPY when older people are bunking next to you for the night!) Already I've planned most of Italy and some of Greece and I am so excited to be having these adventures!!!! And I definitely plan on doing more backpacking type stuff later in the next coming years (though it will be no longer be subsidized by my parents... SOB!). My parents went to Eastern Europe on their honeymoon and that just sounds so much more fun and memorable then Hawaii ... (no offense to the people who went to Hawaii on their honeymoons!)

Moral of the story: Europe rocks, Madrid rocks, USAC rocks, and living out of my backpacking for 24 days (though again, 16 days I am not coming back to my "homebase" of Madrid, the first trip is to the Canaries) is definitely, with 100% certainty, going to kick serious butt ;)

Madrid: Better late than never I guess?!

I am dumb in that there are no posts really about Madrid, just about stuff I do in Madrid which makes very little sense to someone who is just visiting.

My mom came out and visited me this past week so we did a LOT of tourist-y stuff I had been saving for her. These include (but are not limited too): Palacio Real, Bull fight, Flamenco, the restaurante El Botin, the Cathedral in Toledo (yes I went back to Toledo), etc. etc.

and yes, some shopping and Starbucks were there too ;) It doesnt help that we ate out every meal except one, i must've gained 5 lbs in one week... (but the restautante "Cocinado con dos fogones" near Plaza de Espana is one of my favorite places EVER! if you have time / are hungry for some amazing fusion food, definitely try to go there...)

Palacio Real: It's only 3.50 euros for students (with a guide) so it's a pretty sweet deal, and an amazingly beautiful building (also has 2,500 rooms!) definitely worth a visit, even if it's only for 2 hrs.

Bull fights: It's a slightly controversial tradition in Madrid (some animal rights groups oppose it, and I'll admit it was upsetting for me to see people get such pleasure from killing a confused and harassed animal). At the Plaza de Toros de las Ventas (beautiful stadium) there are shows practically every day with cheap nosebleed tickets from 4.80 euros. Six bulls ("toros") are killed by famous bull fighters ("toreros", though "matadors" is used in other countries as well), but there are lots of stages to the death: three novices go and exhaust the bull by making him run and attack flags, two men on horses spear the shoulder blades so he starts to lose blood, then more run and throw decorative spike things into the wound, and finally the torero stabs him. It's sad!!! We left at half time.

Flamenco: There are some traditional shows that run 30 euros + but we went to a "tablau" with modern flamenco for 10 euros (copa included). Beautiful! Not as sensual as tango but a lot "Sexier" than I thought. And the ending poses are so dramatic! The foot work and the use of the castanets is really impressive :)

El Botin: According to the Guiness Book of World Records, El Botin (near the Plaza Mayor) is the oldest restaurante in the world (1725). While I don't know how sure that is, I did like the restaurant itself, and we got an amazing bottle of wine (Tobia? I hope I can get it in the states!). Unfortunately the "specialties" of the house are mostly baby animals (suckling pigs, lamb, baby eels, etc.) and for a former vegetarian it was especially hard... I didn't really think about what it would mean when I ordered the suckling pig (which everyone recommends!), but I couldn't really eat it... it was so tender! TOO tender. And all I could think of was Wilbert II, the fetal pig I had to dissect in bio in high school...

Toledo: I already did a blog about this but I WILL say if you go there you NEED to go to the cathedral. it's expensive but gorgeous, with some FABULOUS paintings inside. Even better when the organ is playing (warning: if you bring your mother she may get emotional about how pretty the music is).

Another highlight (though not a tourist activity) was having my mom over for dinner with my host family. My host parents (they are around 30 so NOT "parental") were so amazing and prepared a great meal. My mom, when practicing her introductions to them in Spanish, kept referring to herself as my "wife" and not "mother", and when she did introduce herself she said "cansada" ("tired") rather than "encantada" ("enchanted"). So essentially she shook their hands saying "tired, tired". And then they brought out the homemade liquors (most of which I cannot drink, they are too strong or weird!) and my mother took 'em like a pro.

It was absolutely amazing having my mom here for a week (and not just cuz she took me shopping, bought me tapas and carried back a lot of stuff from Madrid for me :)) (love you mommy!)

London: Brits be crazy. Also, British prices be crazy.

So this past weekend I took a flight to London Gatwick and spent 3 nights with my long time bestie Raina, who is studying at the London School of Economics. And while most of my favorite parts involved people and not places, I can happily write about what I consider to be one of my best weekends studying abroad (also, by far the most expensive).

Raina had class so I adventured solo for a bit: I even went to King's Cross station to take a picture at Platform 9 3/4! (for you Harry Potter fans :)) Yeah it was dorky ... but it's okay if you are super jealous.

If I can recommend only one attraction for someone in London to see it would be the Tower of London. A bit expensive (14.50 pounds for a student, so $23?) but I was there for 3 hours and it was like Disneyland of British history. Which is completely insane- so many details and stories about tortures and famous deaths, conspiracy theories, insane royal problems, and the guide and hired actors do a fabulous job of making it all "come to life". Also the crown jewels are on display: the diamonds in those things are HUGE.

Plus it was the location of the infamous Annne Boleyn beheading. Apparently none of the men in my tour group knew anything about Anne Boleyn, except an adorable 9 year old boy from Cheshire. (ps I absolutely love British accents.)

Other things I saw, but only from the outside (everything is soooooo expensive): Westminster Abbey, the Eye of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, etc. etc. And explored Chinatown quite a bit, as well as Soho and Piccadilly Circus. So much fun! (even flying solo)

But like I said before, I was visiting Raina, and despite her classes and studying we had an amazing time. Friday night was definitely the more insane of the two nights: we went to a "End of the Year" Party for her program where I got to meet a lot of her friends, then taxi'ed it over to "Strawberry Moon". I won't go into too much detail but I will say that I at one point attempted to salsa dance to a Justin Bieber song. Also, 8 pounds covers the entry, with no free drink (that's unheard of in Spain...). The music was pretty good- absolutely no house music. But also... there is a stripper pole. And really, you only live once.

BFFF

Should note: I spent more money in 3 days in London than I spent in 5 days in Morocco (and that includes lodging in Morocco, which I didn't need to pay in England). So my credit card was gasping for air by the end.

The schedule in London is super different than that in Madrid. Brits drink right after they get off work, have dinner around 7pm or 8pm then go to a pub till 11pm, then clubs until 2 am or 3am. (This is my understanding, at least) So when the bouncer kicked us out of the club at 3:30am, I was shocked! That's usually the time we get in line to enter the clubs...

Also, British food, for the most part, kind of stinks. Exceptions include Fish and Chips and Scones. But they have amazinggggggg Chinese/ Thai / Indian restaurants, and since those are my favorite kind of foods anyway...

ALSO I FINALLY GOT BUBBLE TEA! twice.

Salamanca: Day Trip, University town

The University of Salamanca is the oldest university in Spain and the entire town is built around the university: the art is fabulous, prices lower than those in Madrid and apparently has a great nightlife (though I was only there during the day, as the day trip with my USAC program).

Took some random pictures of the Cathedral and other stuff in the city; it's a beautiful city to explore, though small.

Here's the outside of the Cathedral of Salamanca.

Our tour guide had some really cool things to point out: for example, the art from the Middle Ages isn't nearly as pretty as the art from ancient Greece or Rome, mostly because there was so much war and turmoil in the 1200-1400's that no one had time to create great work (with some exceptions?).

There are two little additions hidden on the architecture in Salamanca that are famous: an astronaut on the outside of one of the Cathedrals (at least I think it was a Cathedral) and then a frog sitting on the skull on the entrance of the University. It was fun searching for them!

Also, the 23rd of April was The Day of Books (death-day of Shakespeare and Cervantes, they even died the same year!) and it was cool to see all the book vendors. Esp. for a bookworm like me :)

Yeah, that's not what we like to call "PC"...

I don't even know if this is enough for an entire blog entry, but I just thought I would comment.

There are stores around here which have gas-station like food (kind of like 7-11), cheap-o clothing or cheap-o shoes, and they are run primarily by Asian people. So when you want to go to a store like this, Spanish people say, "Necesito ir al chino." (I need to go to the Chinese person's.)

Regardless of whether the person is Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.

Then there are an extraordinarily large amount of black people who will sell pirated DVDs or purse/ sunglass knock-offs in the Metro stations, etc. They are called "morenos" (browns) or "negros" (blacks) and I've heard some elderly people (one in particular, in Valencia) be extremely racist towards some younger black guys.

The "immigrant part" of Madrid is the area near Lavapies, which is kind of sketchy (every time I go there my host mom warns me) but is the only place with good Indian food so there you go. For those thinking about going to Madrid I definitely recommend checking it out, but more so if you are living in Madrid for an extended period of time... It has a lot of ethnic food hard to find anywhere else in the city.

On a sad note, there is no bubble tea. I have spent a ton of time wandering around Lavapies (not at night though, I'm not that dumb) and Nuevos Ministerios, looking for Bubble tea. While there is nothing on Google Maps if you type in "Bubble tea" or "boba" or "pearl tea", I found a blog written by a Taiwanese girl giving a bubble tea location... when I went there (and it took me over an hour to get there) it turns out the Chinese supermarket closed a couple years ago. Sadness!

But I will be going to London next weekend to visit my bestie from HS, and I KNOW they have Bubble tea there; my bestie has already scouted locations!!!

Katie a la valenciana

Valencia, being on the Mediterranean coast and a 10euro roundtrip flight away from Madrid, seemed like the perfect place to reunite with some of my fave people: Kara, my bestie from Gonzaga, and Lindsey, my bestie from my super tightly knit all-girl's high school. So we booked a hostel for two nights and spent the weekend exploring, visiting the huge beautiful "Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias" (we visited the Science museum, 6.38euros, over the famous Aquarium, 21euros, because we only had 2 hours), going to the beach, exploring, and eating more oranges than I have ever eaten in my life.

Valencia is known internationally for two things: paella and oranges.

Below is a picture of Kara with her paella de carne. There is no picture of me with paella because, of the six people eating at the restaurant, I was the only one to not order paella. (I'm sorry but the BBQ pizza just sounded soooo goooood.) But yes, paella is delicious.

"Agua de Valencia" is not, in fact, water. (Big surprise, I know.) Instead it is orange juice with champagne, vodka and sugar (though I guess some versions just have champagne and OJ?) But if you get fresh squeezed Valencian oranges, as displayed below, it is seriously the best drink ever. Mostly because you can taste the perfect amount of pulp... ahhhhh, heaven.

Saturday we decided to take an excursion to a city, Cullera, about 30 minutes by train outside of Valencia (5.80euro roundtrip) which I was told by the tourist information lady had a great beach, Playa del Faro. She was not wrong. It wasn't super busy (hot enough for us but not true summer weather just yet) and there were NO international tourists. Also. It is normal for women not to wear their bikini tops at the beach. Us prudish Americans did... for the most part ;)

There are plenty of historical sites in Valencia that I'm afraid we did a poor job of tracking down, but what I really needed after all the craziness of museum trips and running around from city to city and classes was a mini vacation with some of my best friends. And Valencia was perfect- the beaches of Alicante are apparently even better, but really, when you are hanging out and catching rays, the company is the most important part, isn't it? ;)

Dali Museum in Figueres

So, as mentioned in multiple other blogs, my second favorite painting of all time (after Fragonard's "Le Verrou") is Dali's "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening". Usually it is on display in my current hometown (Madrid) at the Thyssen Museum, but it is currently on loan to the Dali Museum (he designed the museum himself out of an old theater; it's the largest surrealist object/ building in the world?).

A normal person would probably wait for the painting to come back to Madrid in early May then pay the 5.50 Euro entrance again. Instead, on my second trip to Barcelona, I grabbed my good friend Naomi, hopped on the train (23 Euros round trip! and they didn't even check the ticket coming back! Rip-off....) to Figueres (about 90 minutes outside Barcelona) and go see the only thing that Figueres has to offer in terms of tourist destination: the Dali Museum.

To summarize, if you like Dali's work (which I do, that man was genius.)(also, insane.) then it is definitely worth the trip. We lucked out with the weather (the walk would have been miserable in the rain) and the Dali museum is a pretty cool destination (if still pretty crowded). I won't bore you with the details of all the museum, but here is the link to the Dali Museum in Figueres.

The two things I will post:

My second fave painting of all time. It was just so cool to be standing in front of it! :)

Here is a 3D art piece (if you can tell?). I am taking this picture from behind a lens that puts it all together, but really its a sofa-like pair of lips (about my size), a 3D nose, 2 pictures of city landscapes and a really weird surrounding wig?

Paris (and Nantes): Whoa, Deja-Vu.

Mkay so recap: I lived in St. Gemain-en-Laye when I was little (for 2.5 years) so that's where I learned French, and then junior year of HS I studied at the Sacred Heart school (called La Perverie) in Nantes (which is 2 hours by train west). So most of (all of?) this stuff I have seen before: Spring break was less about doing tourist-y stuff and more about seeing friends and familiar sights :)

I did NOT spend enough time anywhere: got into Paris at midnight on Monday, I went to Le Mans to see my old HS roommate (from La Perv) for 5 hours on Tuesday, continued on to Nantes where I stayed with a friend from La Perv (and saw many of my fab friends, some who even drove home to see me:)) and then spent Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon in Paris. While my highlights were seeing lots of old friends and visiting places from my childhood, here was my spring break in France 101:

Group of students I studied with at La Perverie!!!

Nantes, which is a beautiful city, does not have that much going on tourist-wise. I like it better that way, and people in Nantes are so friendly ! (Yes, Parisians do have a reputation for their... rudeness? coldness?) But it's a pretty big town/city with quite a lot going on. Passage de Pommeraye is definitely worth a look.

PARIS:

The Louvre

So the Louvre (for the under-26 crowd, I'm so glad I get to travel and still get discounts, etc.) is free. And beautiful. And has TONS of tourists. But I don't care because I got to see my favorite painting of all time. It's Fragonard's "Le Verrou" ("The Lock") and while the explanation of why I love it so much is fairly long, seeing the painting live is my #9 lifetime goal (that's a Top Ten Goal!! So a biggie!) When we turned the corner I literally gasped with excitement. SUCH a pretty painting...

LE VERROU!!! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The Louvre also has, of course, the Mona Lisa, da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks, a Delacroix collection, Michelangelo sculptures, etc. But you can read about it on the Louvre's website.

Effiel Tower: It opens at 9:30am, so GET THERE at 9:30am. The crowds get insaneeeeeee. And honestly, climbing it is 100 times more fun then getting in a cramped elevator, though that is the only way of getting to the third floor. But still, the best part of the 3rd level is the view, and the Eiffel Tower is the pretty part of the Parisian skyline anyway... Still. I remember climbing the stairs all the time when I was little. Then my brother and I would watch the movie in the little cinema on the first floor (mini- documentary about the history). And he would have a fit of joy when he saw the Superman clip...

Should mention: for students, elevator to the third level (which is actually two elevator rides) is 11 euro. Gross.

Miss Haley and myself after finishing with the Eiffel Tower.

Notre Dame

We got to go to the Notre Dame on Holy Thursday (Thursday before Easter, for those with little to no Catholic education ;)) which was really cool. Great weather, too. And the Notre Dame is the only place in Europe I've seen thus far that allows you to actually light a candle in remembrance of someone (though it is 2 euros, versus 20 cents to turn on the fake candle)

Beautiful day, gorgeous Cathedral.

Food

(Not a location, but it might as well be. I am positive I gained weight in France.)

I LOVE FRENCH FOOD. And they have sooo much chocolate in breakfast foods. Here was my breakfast in Nantes: (right to left)

Hot chocolate

Pain au chocolate

Sable de chocolate (it's really just a chocolate cookie)

And yes, I ate almost all of it. When buying the sable and the pain au chocolate, the woman at the boulangerie seemed to think I was ordering both for me and my friend ... so when Scott started to order his food, she got confused and said, "Oh I'm sorry! I though she [me] was ordering for the both of you!" I simply reassured her, "No, it's ok, I'm just fat."

Foods I didn't get to eat but would have if I had time: escargot (snails are yum), croque monsieur, moules frites, hot chocolate at angelina's (near the Tiulerie), quiches. etc. FRENCH FOOD IS SO BOMB.

Finally, my old home

St. Gemain-en-Laye is HOPPING, but with absolutely no tourists. It's a pretty big town, 20 minutes by RER outside of Paris, and on the Friday that I went there was the huge market, so it was super busy with all native French people. It was so weird being in the Monoprix I used to push my mini-shopping cart around in (it's weird what you remember), staring at the Chateau (now museum of archaeology) you used to run around inside, and though I didn't get to visit my old school (apparently it was shut down?), it was amazing to be in a place with so many memories. As a four year old, though, you really don't appreciate the fact that you are lucky enough to live in another country (next to what I consider to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world) and learn another language. So it was a truly beautiful experience getting to visit a place that, on more than one occasion (St Gemain and Nantes), I called "home".

Top right window in the picture... I think that was my parent's bedroom? And the living room was the other two windows on that level? Max and I had a bedroom on the other side of the building...

Hello Bilbao! You really like Abstract Art, uh?

SO! I had a free weekend. So I went to Bilbao with one of my friends, Devon, to see the Guggenheim and other fun things.

Our 5 hour bus ride left Thursday night from the Madrid bus terminal at 1:30am, depositing us in Bilbao before the sun rose. Since we had an hour and a half to kill we walked down to the river and went to see the sunrise behind the Guggenheim museum (which is just as cool as everyone says, Frank Gehry did a great job designing it!)

The Guggenheim had some really great pieces, and some pieces where you just kind of scratch your head and think, "Hm... my 11 year old brother could've done that!"

Here is the basilica up from the Casco Viejo (old city) where I accidently attended mass on Friday... it was a weird service? We just said the Padre Nuestro and Hail Mary over and over. Thank God my 7th grade Spanish teacher had us learn those... But it was kind of nice to have some time to myself in a church.

That evening we went out with another American and some Austrians (one who was living in Bilbao) and we had PINCHOS. Which are like tapas, as displayed below. This was the best thing EVER. Expensive, though, at 1.50 euro each :)

In the pic below: Fred the Californian, Devon my travel buddy, me, and Verena the Austrian. Marco, the one taking the pic, was our guide for the night.

The next day Devon and I joined a group of Spanish and French students on a tour through Bilbao. The most interesting part about the group is the fact that they defaulted to English, since most of the French students didn't speak Spanish and vice versa. But the tour included an hour long trip to the Palacio Congreso, a new-er 81 million euro conference center designed like a boat. It was gorgeous, below is a picture of the main auditorium (also boat shaped).

I know a girl studying in Bilbao right now, and as beautiful as the city is I think it would be hard to stay there for over a weekend... there's not a ton to do. But then again I guess it's like Spokane, where the tourist activities are a little bit limited but it's still easy to have a great time with friends.

Also hostels are growing on me... I am kind of a hard sleeper (okay, "kind of" is false, I am an incredibly bad sleeper) but I'm willing to sacrifice sleep in order to meet new people. Facebook has completely changed the hostel dynamic now; people who in past years would be "weekend friends" now exchange info so we can be facebook friends, even if we will probably never see each other again...

But I won't be in a hostel until mid April now, and I'm okay with that ;)

10 Ways to Tell Katie is 'Merican!

1. I am a fast walker. I walk quite a bit faster than the average American (like mother, like daughter), and the average American walks faster than the average Spaniard. This means I look like I am freaking out whenever I walk anywhere, since I can usually DOUBLE a Spaniard's speed. (Except in heels.)

2. I tend to smile. Not at particular people, but I sometimes smile absent-mindedly when I walk. So this means I creep people out, or look like I am interested in dating them. I mean to do neither, I just tend to be a particularly random-ly happy individual. I am slowly learning to NOT do this at night, when creepers are at their drunkedness and accidently mistake a light smile for a come-on.

3. Sometimes... I sing. Quietly and to myself, but you can hear it if you're close enough. Or I get a song stuck in my head and sing it loudly and encourage others to join in. Note: They usually don't. But that's okay. The most popular songs? "Tik Tok", "Love Me Tender", that song that goes "workin' that back, don't know how to act, slow motion for me, slow motion for me..." or "Parachute" (Cheryl Cole). Sometimes Switchfoot, if I did a lot of HW the night before. Anyway, this singing Katie stands out ;)

4. I dress/look like an American. All the Spanish girls are adorable, in their cute boots and matching purses and skirts or skinny jeans... I like my sweatshirt and converses. Also they wear quite a bit of make-up and do their hair, and I like to go au-natural in the make-up department (though I'll admit I wear more over here) and have a ponytail or sloppy bun. And not a "oh, I'm going to spray this bun and make it look cute and sloppy", but more of a "I have to go to school in a bit, Gosh darn it" bun. Exception: when I go out.

You would think the lack of effort would make the Spanish men ignore me, but instead it seems to point me more out as an American and I guess Americans are hot commodities? I get hit on more on the metro looking like a homeless person than when I dress up...

Bad! No make-up, wearing sweats and sweatshirt, with a ponytail. Do not do this!!!

5. I talk like an American. Not just in English, but louder. Noticeably louder. Americans are notorious for this, and I'm still a bit better then some American groups I meet on the Metro. You can TELL an American group.

6. I still get uneasy when people yell "Guapa!" You'd think that after having it EVERY MORNING from the garbage men I would get over it, but I always get flustered. And that is somehow encouraging to them, mostly because that means I acknowledge their existence.

7. I still go to Sol/ Gran Via. Tourist-y areas. But I think it's fun meeting other Americans and Brits and Australians.

8. I am a big arm mover. When I talk my arms tend to go all over the place. This is not something I see a lot of Spaniards do, at least not sober ones.

9. I thank people for stuff. Like the cashier at H&M, the person who hands out free newspapers at the Metro stops, etc. I suppose I could break this habit easily if I wanted to, but I would feel bad just without thanking someone. Same applies for "¿Que tal?" Usually you ask this of friends, but I ask my waiter, my teachers, etc. etc.

10. My dancing. That's self explanatory. I'm ok with it, apparently I'm still a fun dancer. I think it's because I laugh and smile a lot when I dance, and it makes me look like a fun person ;)

This is a candid picture, and look! I'm still smiling! (Like I said before! Smiling attracts creepers! I had quite a few, um, "fans" that night... and that is not a good thing at 3am!!!)

Need More "Dancing Queen", Less "Epileptic Dolphin"

Ha, I'm kidding. Really I'm not that bad a dancer. At least I hope not. But I am still super awkward on the dance floor, especially with an actual man dance partner.

SO there are two types of dancing (actually there are 2532323412 types of dancing, but I will divide them into two general groups): partner proper dancing and club dancing.

I will talk about them here.

Partner Proper Dancing

I really should copyright that title. Anyway. I have a Latin dance class on Monday afternoons with the awesome people in my program (and it is surprisingly evenly matched, boy-girl), and a Salsa class on Thursday evenings with one American and a bunch of Spanish people (of all ages, shapes and sizes).

The teacher in the Monday class is adorable. I definitely have a mini-girl crush because of how happy and sweet and cute-as-a-button she is. Also she is a great teacher- I am sometimes saddened by the knowledge that there is a very high probability that the best batchata (I have no idea how to spell that word and neither does spellcheck) or chachacha partner I will ever have (no offense to the boys! but you guys know how awesome she is). And it's really easy to feel comfortable with her leading; I think most guys underestimate how absolutely confused I can get. I need an aggressive lead or I tend to start leading by accident...

Only frustrating part of that class is we are spending so much time on the Sevillana. The Sevillana is danced in Sevilla on festival days. I am not going to Sevilla (sadly?) so it is wasted on me.

Thursdays class, filled with Spanish people (and more men than women), is a little more chaotic, a little faster paced, even though it is only for Salsa. I know the basic moves now... the Croqueta, the Giro de Rosca... though I will have no idea what to call them in the States, at least I'll know how to do them ;)

Some of the men are good dancers and some are not. But I prefer a bad dancer to a creepy dancer, of which there are always a few. I find it awkward to receive hand massages mid-dance or to have a stranger staring into my eyes without blinking from 6 inches away... and last week one dance partner (new guy) screwed up and attempted to blame it on my lack of Spanish when the teacher asked him. Definitely surprised him when I explained in detail what he did wrong. In SPANISH. Boo yeah, rude new guy with weird glasses.

Club Dancing

Without getting into the nitty-gritty, I am less a "good" dancer and more of a "fun" dancer when it comes to club dancing. For the most part I enjoying laughing with my friends than going one-on-one with a strange man in a club (Mom and Dad, be proud of your daughter). My favorite nights are ones like Saturday night, which I will outline here. Please keep in mind that I wanted to be home by 2am on Sunday morning.

11:30pm Meet up in front of the McDonalds at Gran Via, near the tourist-y/bar area is. We use McDonalds because (a) it is very very easy to find people there, (b) McDonald's are nice in Europe, and have great bathrooms, and (c) if we get bored we just watch the prostitutes pick up random guys, it's essentially red light central near there. I always have to go around 11:30 pm because my host fam eats dinner at 10:30pm, and it takes about a half hour getting from my apartment.

12am Head, everyone in tow, to a bar. 75% of the time this is El Tigre. El Tigre is mostly Americans but has good drinks (6euros for a Mojito which will keep you buzzed throughout the night) and comes with Tapas (appetizers, usually patatas bravas and tostadas but hey, we're not picky).

Some fab friends (Niki and Naomi) visiting me in Madrid, so of course I take them to El Tigre! We are holding the infamous Mojitos ...

1-2am Leave El Tigre and walk around Sol until a "club promoter" offers free entry and, sometimes, free shots. These places are never the big clubs (like "El Kapital" or "Joy") but I have more fun there anyway, when I'm not being constantly pushed against and can talk to my friends. On Saturday we went to the "Bourbon Club", which had 70's, 80's and 90's music playing. One of my friends started a limbo line which got a bunch of people in the club super excited, myself included. And singing along to "I'm Too Sexy", "Holding Out For a Hero" and Grease songs resulted in a lost voice for the next 24 hours. But dancing with good friends and good music is definitely a favorite past-time ;)

4am Either leave for another club, or (like me on a long day) head to Plaza de Cibeles in the center of the city to take the night bus home (or you can wait for the Metro to open at 6am...) Since I live relatively far from others in my program usually this is an interesting walk solo. I am one of the few girls who is not a prostitute walking alone at 4am. And you meet some interesting people at 4am downtown!

Here's what I tend to do after 3+ hours of dancing... take a break and sit on the stage while the next club dancers are getting ready ;)

Anyway. That's my summary of the two main dance events I get to partake in every week. Hope it was enjoyable and not scarring in any way.

(I hope I did not overly concern people with my last post, thanks to all who sent emails or messaged me ;) I really am having a great time in Madrid and in Europe, but it's always a little sad to think of life going on as usual back home and not being a part of it... and people in the program, I love you guys!! You have been such a great group of people, I couldn't ask for better)

The Blah Blah Blahs of Katie A's Mind: And it might be the muscle relaxants talking. But probably not.

To start off, I should declare: I am an extrovert. And not in the textbook way (more concerned with practicalities than inner thoughts), but in the social way. I (for the most part) try to surround myself with people, and deal with my emotions and thoughts through them. When sad I like to have someone to talk to, when happy I want someone to celebrate with. And when my friends are sad I'd prefer to be with them than to leave them alone, etc. etc. Studying abroad has somewhat messed with my extroverted ways...

What I really didn't realize while studying abroad is how much change a person goes through. And even harder to accept is how much change occurs back home with friends and family that I have no control over, and in some cases, I will have no knowledge of.

I did not know anyone in my program before coming here, and am the only person from Gonzaga (or Seattle). Fortunately I'm not the only person from Gonzaga in Madrid, and that makes it easier (thank god for miss haley). But really, I could've come to this program calling myself a different name, acting a different way, doing things differently than I do at home and no one here would be any the wiser. There is literally nothing holding me to be the person I was at home. And while some may rejoice in this, I think it's almost depressing. At the risk of sounding corny or whatever, it's nice to have some links to home, and links to who you are at home. I think it's one of the reasons I spend so much money and time traveling to see people from Gonzaga or from my high school. I suck at dealing with emotional turmoil while flying solo.

Unlike at Gonzaga, where most of my time is spent running from one activity or friend to another, I have a lot of alone time here. It's not that I want to spend it alone, but when you have to take a 30 min Metro to get anywhere and you don't live close to friends... you know. And I've done quite a bit of traveling by myself, which (truth be told) kind of sucks. And I'm looking at having to travel some solo this summer, too. But I guess that's part of the experience? At least it's becoming a part of mine.

Our program ends in less than two months, I'll be back in the states in about 2.5 months. And as much as I try to communicate over postcards and skype and facebook and email, I fear many of my relationships back home might change. There will be inside jokes I will have no knowledge of, and people will have, for the most part, evolved. (in some cases de-evolved?)

To those people I haven't talked to while over here? I won't be the same person. Already my religious beliefs, my view of the world, all of that, have changed. Maybe for the better? Or maybe not.

(please note this is my experience, not all your friends abroad have mental breakdowns and revelations or freak out that everything is changing back home. Also, as mentioned in the title, I am on muscle relaxants. They are strong. Also overly emotional for reasons that are TMI.)