Finals =death

There is one reason why i have not had a single spare second to blog and that is FINALS! they are destroying me. I am completely buried in work. Two huge research papers on top of 4 finals in one week ...not ok. Ive never felt this busy or overwhelmed..and im supposed to be ABROAD! I am a little angry..just trying to struggle through it all until Thursday when I am finally free and get to go home on Friday! Cant wait to see you all. This was my 5 min study break...back to the grind.

P.S. The trip with my momma in her words exactly: "perfect!"

Salzburger.

What an amazing weekend. It really could not have been more perfect. Gina, Kelley and I left Barca at around 4 and landed in Salzburg at 10:30 where we hopped in cab (we couldn't even contain how excited we were and I'm sure the driver wanted to kill us). As we drove through the windey, quiet streets the cab driver had to slow down for a tiny little hedgehog crossing the road. It was the cutest thing ever and we all freaked out about for like 10 minutes. Anyways, after saving a creature we continued on up to the Monchesburg where the Redlands castle is. The second we pulled in the drive way about 15 people came sprinting out the door and mobbed us before we could even pay for the taxi. It was like out of a movie and I don't think I have ever felt happier, tears were shed, big bear hugs were shared and lots of smiling. I didn't stop smiling until I went to sleep. So after the enormous love sesh I was pushed inside where I had to change freshen up and then head out to the bars with everyone. I can't even explain how nice it was to be surrounded by people I know, especially by about 20 of my good friends, it felt just like home. After a few yummy beers and several heart-to-hearts about how much we all missed each other we headed back to the house to snooze before Thanksgiving.

I woke up in the morning to the girls waking up for class (they have class in their house so they literally walk upstairs to learn, yea i was jealous). While they were in class I showered and anxiously waited till we could eat the food that I had been smelling all morning. We went downstairs at around 2:30 and feasted on turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy. The food was delicious and just what I needed. Since I couldn't be home, Salzburg was the perfect replacement. After eating waaay too much Lauren and I escaped the house for some much needed catch up time. We could have talked for days, it was so nice to have a huge chunk of time to just talk about everything. After a good 3 hours of chatting over some spiced wine we headed out to the bars again with everyone. This was the last night I would be with the group cause most of them were leaving the next day so we spent the night away in a cozy Irish bar, taking over an entire corner. It was perfection.

The next 2 days I spent with Abbie and Lauren wandering aimlessly around Salzburg. Its such a cute little town and I don't think it could be any more different than Barcelona. They are actually exact opposites. It was so interesting to see what they do on a daily basis and go to all the places they go and it was just so different than here, but in a good way. After basically eating my way through the city, visiting some of the touristy stuff and drinking a beer in a giant church Barcelona was calling us back to finish up the semester. We left at 7 am and were back in Barca by 11. I was sad, but i had the perfect weekend with the perfect people and was ready to get back to the daily grind. Finals are coming up and I will shortly be reunited with all of them again back in Redlands, can not wait! Buuut before that happens MY MOM IS COMING IN 3 MORE DAYS!! I wish you all could be there to see the reunion that will happen in El Prat airport, its going to be a sob fest, possibly more intense than when I saw her after my first 3 months in college. I honestly can not wait. I get my mom for 3 whole days in one my favorite cities, I will definitely blog after she leaves...its gonna be a good one! Anyways I'm exhausted so I'm gonna watch some CSI and hit the hey. All my Deltas have fun at Informal..don't die in the wilderness. To my Salzburg loves, thank you sooo much for such an incredible weekend. I needed it. Merry Christmas everyone!

When you can't sleep, blog.

As goes my life, I cannot sleep. Weird. Anyways, I thought I would take this moment of insomnia to catch up on my blog. These past two weeks have been ....umm....bittersweet, for lack of a more interesting word. My time here in Barcelona is coming to end and while there are so many things I love about this city there are many things I am ready to leave behind:

1. Paying for water

2. Paying absurd amounts of money for tiny amounts of product

3. Grumpy people

4. Grumpy people shoving me around on the metro

5. Grumpy people being grumpy simply because I am an American and like to speak English on occasion

6. Enduring 5 classes of pointless work where I am not trusted with my own grade and have to abide by an attendance policy

7. Having one type of food to chose from

8. Did I say paying for water?

9. Having to concentrate extremely hard just to understand where the bathroom is.

10. Not being home.

Except honestly for each of those ten things there 20 reasons why I love it here. Europe is like nothing I thought it would be. Every time I go anywhere I am blown away by its beauty. I wish I could go everywhere and see everything but I think I got a pretty good grasp of Europe and that is embodied in the word I have used over and over again throughout my past 4 months here... AMAZING. And of course Sevilla, Spain was no exception. As far as traveling goes I have not taken the opportunity to go to many places within Spain. So when Nickie's parents wanted to take a weekend trip with us when they came to visit we chose Sevilla. I am not sure what everone's historical knowledge of Spain is but Barcelona is located in the Catalonian region which is completely different from the rest of the country, they even speak another language, it has to do with the Romans and blah blah blah snooze fest. Anyways, Sevilla is the "real" Spain, that developed under Castillian rule and was really something to see. All of the architecture is Moorish (since thats who ruled that part of Spain forever..and Portugal too) and is extremely detailed and very "African" feeling with a ton of European influence. It was all extremely unique and really unparalleled to anything I have seen thus far. The cathedral was of course incredible with tons and tons of detail and was quite enormous. We also came across this insanely huge palace that the city changed into the government building. It had a moat and two spires on either side of it, it was really something to see. Also, Sevilla is built on either side of a river, we didn't cross to the other side often but the river was so picturesque. There were rowers and bikers and runners. Kind of the perfect honeymoon spot. It was all so quaint, the people were over the top friendly, if you looked lost they helped you and when you sat down to eat at a restaurant the service was prompt and the servers really wanted to get to know you. It was loverly and I would go back in a heart beat, especially for the weather. It was November 20th and it was 80 degrees outside, that didn't suck. Anyways, Sevilla definitely won me over, this weekend for Thanksgiving its off to probably the complete opposite of Sevilla and that is Salzburg, Austria where about 10 of my closest friends are waiting to share a nice big and hearty turkey feast in a castle on a hill with me. Its going to be very cold with lots of snow but its worth the trouble to spend a cozy weekend with the people you love. I am so excited to see them again. I leave Wednesday so this is probably my last update for the week. I can't believe I only have 25 more days left here. Its been such a blur. Congratulations to the active Deltas, I can not wait to see you again as sisters!! Love you all! and to Abbie, Holly, Lauren and LJ...get ready!!!

Prague Blog

Sorry I couldn't help the title...it rhymes. Anyways, what a great weekend. Although it was a little chilly Prague was incredible. I have never been anywhere that old. Gina, Jill (and her boyfriend, Zach) and I all flew in on Friday and got to our hostel at around 4 p.m. Our hostel was adorable. It was in a quiet part of town in the coolest old building. Gina and I were sharing a room with 10 other people who were all our age and all really cool. Most of them were studying abroad but a few of them were just visiting from other countries around the world. Even though hostels can be inconvenient and not the best situation you do get to meet a lot of people from all over the world.

Anyways, after we got settled we were starving so we headed to the nearest restaurant which happend to be Mexican, I know its stupid that we got Mexican in Prague but we were seriously dying. It wasn't bad but not the best Mexican food ever. The ambience was nice though. So we had an enormous meal there for pretty cheap and then headed into old town to check out the sites and meet up with other girls from our program. I thought it was cold in the day, I didn't know cold until the sun went down. Compared to Barcelona it feels like the Arctic. So, we shivered our way around the Prague castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral and across the Charles Bridge. My new favorite thing is to go site-seeing at night. Everything is so much quieter and beautiful at night. We were one of the very few groups there and got to soak it all up in quiet. When we wrapped up taking pictures we went into Old town square and in the square they have tons of little stands with really cheap, authentic food. I followed this amazingly sweet smell and came across a stand selling these twisty, cinnamon roll kind of deals. I can't describe it, but both Gina and I inhaled them in about 10 seconds they were that good. I'm guessing it is similar to heaven what those little boogers tasted like. After, gorging ourselves on the best item of food I've ever eaten we met up with the other girls and decided to try the infamous Czech beer.

We went to a karaoke bar and had a few brews. Weirdly, the beer was cheaper then water and that can be dangerous. But we were all exhausted and the karaoke was terrible so we headed back on the trolley to the Czech Inn, where one of our new friends decided to snore the entire night, that was fun.

Gina and I woke up early the next day and headed to Starbucks, again I know its stupid to have Starbucks in Prague but they just came out with the Christmas drinks there and I was really craving a toffee nut latte. After a delicious morning of warmth and coffee we headed off to see the cathedral and castle in the day time. When we climbed the bagillion stairs to the top we were just in time to see the changing of the guard and it was so funny. They were all decked out in uniform and marching together, I was giggling the entire time. Then we continued our way into the cathedral. I have seen the inside of I don't know how many cathedrals while I have been here but this one was insane. It was huge and seriously tall, there was stained glass everywhere and was just gorgeous. It was worth the whole trip, apparently it took 600 years to make and was finally finished in 1929. I think it paid off. I was amazed. After gawking at the cathedral for two hours we headed back down into the city and wandered around. We grabbed some lunch at a local bagel shop and shopped around. After escaping the cold and drinking a quick pint we were hungry yet again and had the weirdest experience ever.

On the square theres a bunch of little restaurants where you can sit outside and eat under heat lamps. After choosing a restaurant we were a little too cold under the heat lamps so we headed inside and sat at a table next to what we think was a family of three ( who knew we couldn't understand czech?). There was a man of about 65, a woman who we think was his wife and then a man who think was his son (this is all speculation). So the oldest man was extremely drunk and already making somewhat of a scene when we got there, but as the dinner continued he progressed into a belligerent mess. He was slamming on the table screaming things at the woman and being completely obnoxious. The manager came over and told him to calm down and he did for about 30 seconds until he grabbed his son to hug him and they both knocked over the entire table, with all of their food and dishes and beers and everything which all fell to the floor shattering everywhere. At this point it was just ridiculous but we couldn't look away, it was like a bad car crash. So instead of leaving they stayed and the manager called the police where they all talked it out. I can't exaggerate this story enough to tell you how dramatic it all was...probably because we couldn't understand a single thing that was happening. But the food was amazing and despite the unhelpful rude service we got a great show.

After that dramatic display of drunkeness the girls from our program and us decided we would go on a pub crawl. I know what your thinking, and no I did not end up like that guy in the restaurant but we watched other people get to that point. It was a good time and a really good way to meet people. I ended up seeing some girls I had met in Florence and meeting some guys who are studying in Barcelona also. After seeing two girls get in a physical fight and hitting 2 of the 4 bars, Gina and I were exhausted by 1:30 so we caught the trolley back to the hostel. We got a great night's rest, checked out and headed back to the airport to come back to Barcelona. It was quite an eventful weekend but the city was awesome. I wish I could have spent a few more days but I'm glad I went no matter how short of a time we spent because Prague is somewhere I am not sure I would have ever visited when I got older and I am so glad I got to experience how beautiful it is. This weekend is the last one I have to spend in Barcelona aside from when my Mom comes. Its crazy how fast this is all going. Its such a bittersweet feeling because I miss home so much but at the same time I don't want to leave Europe. But I have some exciting things coming up and I can't wait to see my mom! Anyways I have to go do some tarea (homework). Update soon!

Whew

After one crazy weekend wrapping up all the visitors we have coming to see us its nice to just relax. I can only do the Barcelona night scene so many nights in a row before I can no longer function in the daylight. I did not go to sleep before 4:30 this entire weekend and needless to say that can really screw up your sleep..which everyone knows I need a lot of to be a nice person. But it was sooo fun to have everyone from Salzburg come and see Barcelona. I know that it is very different from what they are experiencing in Austria so it was fun to show them a different kind of European city. We went out Thursday, Friday and Saturday going to all the big that were happening for Halloween. It honestly felt like everyone in the world was in Barcelona this weekend because Spain is one of the only countries in Europe that celebrates some form of Halloween. So on Thursday we went out to one of our favorite bars called Ryan's bar and then cabbed it down the beach to Opium, only we never got into Opium. There were sooo many people there and since Europeans don't believe in lines it quickly turned in a pit of pushing and shoving. So Mookie, Kevin, Gina, Jo and I ditched that idea and wandered around through the bars on the beach and called it a night at around 4am. On Friday I got about 10 hours of sleep, which was greatly needed due to the lack of sleep I had gotten the week before and then took some Hilary time and went shopping for a good 4 hours. Best 4 hours of my week thats for sure. That night was probably one of the most fun nights I have had in Barcelona. We all went out to Oveja Negra and got some Sangria and then headed to Catwalk and Shoko for the night. It was amazing. Shoko was a blast, dancing to techno and drinking some champagne with some of your closest friends...what could be better? At around 3 we headed to Catwalk and danced the night away to the usual 90's rap that we all love so much and finally wrapped the night up at around 6am. Probably one of my latest nights in Barca so far. Spent the whole next day cuddling in bed and snoozing but got up to grab some nachos at George Payne and headed to Chupitos and Broadbar for Halloween night. I was being a party pooper and didnt dress up but everyone else did. They take Halloween very literally in Spain. People were dressed up as zombies and looked all ugly and scary. Where in the states I feel like its just an excuse for girls to show some skin. Anyways Chupitos was packed as usual so Nickie, Gina and I headed off to find a different bar and we stumbled upon the cutest little place all decked out for the holiday. The bar tenders were awesome and they were playing the best spanish music. We hung out there for a bit, found the group and made our way to Broadbar which yet again was completely packed. We watched a Michael Jackson impersonator do Thriller and by 3:00 am and 50 similar techno songs later we were exhausted and hit the metro to go home. I hope all the Salzy people had a great time, I know barca can be a little overwhelming! But it was so great to have them all here.

I am definitely excited for whats to come for me! I have Prague this weekend which I can not wait for, then a weekend in Barca, then Sevilla, Salzburg for Thanksgiving, Mom visits, one more weekend and then I am homeward bound. Its gonna all happen so quickly. Its already November ahh!! Anyways I'm gonna attempt to go to bed at a normal time tonight..I'll update after Prague and I am finally done with all of my stupid midterms. Hope you like the remodel of my layout.

Buenas noches guapos!

Rollercoaster

This past week has been a series of highs and lows. It started out amazing with all the girls here from Redlands, I got to see Holly for the first time in we think 10 months and Abbie and Julia who I hadn't seen since May and of course Lauren and LJ. We got to spend a lot of time together but it was still sucha whirlwind I wish they could have stayed longer. We had a great weekend together with going out to Catwalk (a big club here) and watching them go crazy. They're all worried that when I come to Salzburg I'm going to be disappointed with the night life but I'm sure I'm going to be just fine. We went out to eat at this amazing Mexican restaurant called Catina Machita which was delicious. We also walked around the beach, showed them Las Ramblas and shared some pitchers of Sangria. Saturday night we went to our favorite bar, La Oveja Negra, and then went out to a lounge type club thing called Elephant. It was a definitely a good weekend, but on Sunday I quickly came back to reality when I had to tackle midterms.

I had one on Tuesday, my History of Contemporary Europe test which went pretty well I think. I had to answer 4 essay questions on a whole bunch of different stuff. On Thursday I had my Introduction to the European Union test which I am not so confident about. We had to write 2 essays and they were super complicated questions that our teacher hadn't even prepared us for, he's also not that great at English (he's Turkish) which didn't help me understand the questions any better. Anyways, I struggled through them and I think I made it out ok. Next week I have a Spanish quiz and then a midterm in my Democracy in Western Europe class which he gave us all the questions to so I should be fine there as long as I prepare. I'm very excited for them to be over. Especially because of all these distractions that have happend at home..I need to not be taking tests.

Anyways next weekend I'm headed off to Prague with Gina, Jill, Meghan, Kim and Hayley. Were staying at the Czech Inn (cute huh?). Its a hostel that seems pretty nice. I'm extremely excited to get out of Barcelona for a little bit. I just need a little change of scenery and need to stem this homesickness somehow. It so weird how some weeks I'll be soo happy and will be having such a great time and then other weeks I'm tempted to hop on a plane and go cuddle with my pugs. I feel like this is one of those experiences I'm only going to truly appreciate after it's over. I try not to get to wrapped up in going home, and seeing people from Redlands really helps but its getting harder and harder, especially with the holiday season coming up!

But this weekend is Halloween weekend and we have Mookie, Kevin, Grant and Jo all visiting us from Redlands for a few days. Last night we went to this little bar and attempted to get into Opium (a big club on the beach) but everyone in the world wanted to go there and so we didn't get in. Tonight were doing Shoko and Catwalk again, I'm pretty sleepy so we will see how it goes, I'm thinking I might stay in and rest up for tomorrow! Anyways I've gotten everyone up to date now so I'm going to rest for awhile. Missing Jackie! Good luck with the rest of your soccer season...so proud of you!

Parieee con mis amores

So I just got back on Sunday from an amazing weekend in Paris. The city was everything I was told it would, beautiful, charming and absolutely freezing. Nickie and I got there at around 10ish and checked in our hostel in the cutest little area called Monmarte. We were about a 5 minute walk away from Sacre Couer. Of course when we walked into our room everyone was sleeping, including the three guys we were sharing the room with ( a little awkward). So we had to fumble around the room to get into bed and I got the top bunk of the squeakiest bed ever. If i moved an inch it made the loudest nails-on-a-chalkboard sound that I'm pretty sure kept everyone awake all night. Anyway, the next morning we got up early and headed into the main part of town to go to the LOUVRE! On our way there we got a call from Lauren and LJ to meet them there. After about 45 minutes of trying to find them we met right outside the huge triangle in front of the Louvre, it was like out of a movie. I was sooo happy to see them. I was so distracted with seeing them we were having a hard to focusing on the Louvre so we went to grab some lunch to chat it up. We walked down the Champ d Elysses and found this packed little cafe where absolutely no one spoke English and as we quickly found out we really don't know an ounce of French. So after the struggle of a life time and some much needed Starbuckswe headed back to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa, the Sphinx, the Venus de Milo and all the good stuff.

Afterward we took what we thought was going to be a pretty short quick walk to the Eiffel Tower ended up being a good hour. But were really excited to see it. It was waaay bigger than I ever imagined. We took a few pics and went back to our hostel to rest up. Later we met up for dinner with Aidan (who Lauren's friend who they were staying with) and the girls. We had the classic French dinner with some wine. After stuffing ourselves we headed back to the Eiffeltower to see it at night, with yet some more wine. It was soo beautiful at night, way better than in the day and at midnight it sparkled! I'll put a picture of it at the bottom. We spent a good hour there and then decided to grab a crepe and call it a night....I already miss the crepes...a lot. Nickie and I headed back to the hostel and fell asleep the second our heads hit the pillow. We walked sooo much.

The next morning we got up early again and met up with LJ, Lauren and Aidan and he toured us all around the good stuff. We went to Notre Dame which was of course gorgeous and we got to go inside for free which was cool. The stained glass was incredible...but after seeing so many cathedrals so far in Europe it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it would be. We walked around and went to a holocaust memorial which was really touching, shopped a bit and then grabbed some lunch at the coziest, cutest little creperia. I had a ham, cheese, and lettuce crepe which was absolutely delicious. Then for the 3rd time we made the hike back to the Eiffel Tower so that we could climb to the top. After waiting in like for a good half hour we made the 668 stair climb to the second floor to take the lift to the top floor. Since I've discovered this fear of heights being on top of the Eiffel Tower was semi-frightening, but it was definitely worth it to see a 360 view of Paris. It is seriously the most beautiful city I have ever seen. We were freezing being all the way up there so we grabbed another crepe and headed back to the hostel for a shower. Later we met up again for dinner in this cute little restaurant district where we grabbed some italian food. I had mushroom ravioli and it was A-mazing. Apparently the French really know how to do Italian. After some tiramisu and a chocolate souffle we went to see the Arc Di Triumph which was yet again...gorgeous. I'm really running out of adjectives to describe Europe. But it is such a strange feeling to be in a place and see something you have read or heard about your whole life. It's so weird that now I can say I have been to the top of the Eiffel Tower or that I walked through the same Arch that Hitler did 50 years ago. Its just so surreal and there is nothing like it.

Anyway, after taking a few touristy pics at Moulin Rouge and grabbing a quick glass of wine inMonmarte we said our good-byes and called it night. Nickie and I wandered back through the streets home and got to see the Sacre Cour which is by far the coolest church I have seen yet, and got to soak up the cozy little neighborhood that is Monmarte. If i could bring my family and friends I would live in Paris in a heart beat. The city has such a cool vibe and the people were way nicer than they are made out to be...maybe its because were American girls...but they were all so accommodating and friendly. The buildings were incredible, however the cold would get to you. Coming from 70 and sunny to 45 and cloudy was quite a shock. But it was soo great to see LJ and Lauren, but I am spoiled and get to see them again this weekend! I even get to see Abbie and Holly. Can not WAIT to show them Barcelona, their going to love it! I will definitely update after the crazy weekend I am about to spend with them ...8 Deltas in Barca..going to be crazy.

I forgot to say that I went to a FC Barcelona game last night and it was waaay fun, except for the fact that we lost. We played this russian team that I can't remember the name of and we were definitely favored to win, but oh well. It was still such a fun experience, especially for my firstfutbol game, except I have to say that the fans weren't nearly as rowdy as their made out to be. Maybe its because it wasn't an important game, but I was kind of disappointed. Anyways I had a great time with Gracie, Gillian, Lizzie and Nickie and would love to do it again!!! Aaand more big news, my Mom is officially coming to see me in December, yay Mom!!!!

Blogger isnt letting me upload pics to I'll try again soon!