"Normal Life"

I have been writing this blog for 9 months. That blows my mind. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that I'm in Spain or Europe, much less am leaving in a matter of days. I am so conflicted right now, and I'm not sure I'll be able to express it like I want to but I hope writing it out will help.

I am so ready to go home and get back to my "normal life", but I don't want to leave! I don't even know what I'm referring to when I say "normal life" anymore, My normal life for the last 9 months has been this. Speaking, reading, writing, breathing, eating, sleeping Spanish. I have invested so much time and effort and myself into this I'm really having a hard time figuring out how to go back to "normal life".

I think one of the most important things I learned this semester was how to be alone. My dad has always told me I have FOMS- Fear of Missing Something. And it's always been a huge source of anxiety and stress when I'm alone because I think everyone else is having fun without me. I've learned that I just need to make the most of that time because everyone else has things to do during the day, and we'll reconvene later. I actually went out for tapas by myself once, which I must say was pitiful and completely socially unacceptable, but I was so proud of myself! That was a completely foreign concept 7 months ago.

I've also become more convinced of why I believe what I believe. I was honestly worried I'd turn into some crazy hippie socialist who wanted to redistribute all the wealth and would expect the government to support me forever (dramatization) but I'm still the conservative christian kid who likes glitter and pink things. *Sigh of relief* I think I'm more open to other points of view and I'm able to talk about my viewpoint without being pushy or judgmental (and now I can do it in two languages!), but I think I'm better capable to stand up for myself and have a conversation rather than just get angry.

I will say, good byes are the worst thing in the whole world. If we played the Would You Rather game, I would rather... smell an athlete's sweaty stinky gym shoes while walking on fire hot coals with someone slowly pulling off my fingernails and each of the hairs on my head being plucked out one by one while a cat used my stomach as a scratching post and a small child hammered on my temples... than say goodbye ever again. I am so tired of saying goodbye to people I love. It just breaks my heart. And I'm so bad at it! I'm not a pretty crier, I'll be honest, my face gets all red and splotchy and I get really warm and rather than making noise when I cry the tears just leak out. It's pitiful. I've started just avoiding people as a denial stage, but then I feel even worse. And I'm sick of it. So no one can go anywhere. Ever. Sorry but you're stuck with me.

I have laughed, cried, listened, yelled, prayed, run, eaten, drank, slept (a little), danced, walked (a lot), drove (scary!), planned, cried (again), flew, traveled by train, bus, plane, car, and boat, cooked, tasted, planned (again), sun-bathed, written, talked, learned, discovered, explored, swum, prayed (again), planned (then gave up), prayed (let God handle it), procrastinated, joked, missed, and discovered.

Wow. What an adventure this has been. Thank you for following and supporting me through this. I couldn't have done it without all the encouragement.

Feel free to bring American food over and chat! Mostly steak. Or barbecue. Or any form of meat really. Or real breakfast food. Or an American accent full of American-isms. Or tapioca pudding, which I think is the grossest thing in the whole world but am strangely craving. Or real chocolate chips.
Holy moly I miss America!

The little things

It's been so crazy that I haven't been able to keep up with all the little stuff that's been going on! I've made some huge accomplishments with my spanish!

1. I read a full chapter book in Spanish! It was The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks. I've read it in english years and years ago, so I couldn't remember exactly what happened, but it was so good in spanish! I was very proud of myself. At first it was really hard and I didn't want to do it, but I kept slowly googling words until I figured out what was going on. Next on my list are the Harry Potter books. If you find them cheap on Amazon, let me know!

Shameless selfe. And I know the title is backward- I took the picture with my computer.

2. I watched TWO movies at the movie theater! In spanish! AND I knew what was going on! I was super scared at first and was worried I'd pay 10 Euro to sit through a movie and have no idea what was going on. But I kept up! At first it gave me a headache but eventually I got with the program. The first movie was the Cloud Atlas which was super good, I really want to watch it in English because I think there were some little things I didn't follow, but even in spanish I loved it! The other movie was The Great Gatsby, which regardless of language, I genuinely wish that was my life. I loved it. Leonardo DiCaprio will forever be one of my favorite actors and age has done good things to him. And all the glitter helped ;) I do have to wonder what's with the obsession with Leo and water... All I could think was "Jack! I'll never let go Jack!" Awkward...

This semester I really think I've gotten more of a handle on the language. I'm not where I thought I'd be, but I'm happy with where I'm at and how much I've learned. I'm coming into finals week so I'm really stressing out, but I realized today that I couldn't even have imagined doing this stuff last semester. Learning is fun!

Also, update: My parents and grandparents are currently in Paris! Travels went well and everyone is safe and sound! I pick them up on Wednesday and I can't wait!

Roaming Rome

Go to Rome. Go at some point in your life. It was a fabulous trip!

I'll give the short and sweet overview because this is going to get long I think, but there's two videos at the end that I highly encourage you to watch! --
We arrived on Thursday, after spending the night in the Madrid airport. I've done it two too many times and I will never sleep in an airport again. Ever. It starts out all fun and funny.. and then when you actually try to sleep, it's cold and hard and miserable... and not so funny anymore.

So Thursday, we did all of the 'free stuff'. We hit up the Pyramid, a pizza place, a museum, a gelato place, the Pantheon, a beautiful plaza, a pasta place (sensing a theme?), and the Spanish Steps.

Friday, we did the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine. Followed by another pizza place, the Spanish Steps (in the daylight), this pastry place with the best connoli I've ever had, and back to the beautiful plaza for pasta. We are officially on a sugar high.

Saturday, we did coffee with Nutella filled pastries, the Vatican, pasta, gelato, St. Peter's Basilica, the Castle, and finished our evening with the most expensive bottle of wine I've ever bought in the classiest plaza I've ever been in, and the best pizza place in all of Rome. Instant death by carbs.

We left early Sunday morning.

Ok for the details. Let's start with the priorities: the food. Holy moly delicious.

After checking in to our hostel on Thursday we were so hungry we were hangry. I barely remember how we got into the city center and we didn't speak a word to each other because we all knew it would be angry words of hunger mixed with bad airport hair and exhaustion. So we stopped at the first cafe we saw that advertised pizza.

We ordered a pepper, mushroom, and sausage pizza and had high expectations.
(I am now contemplating munching on Kelsey's arm while choosing a pizza. I honestly didn't care what kind we got as long as we got it fast.)
The pizza came.
It was terrible.
Ok, not terrible, but I will quote Kelsey to give you an idea: "This is like Digorno frozen pizza. Actually, this is worse than Digorno because I would rather be eating crappy Digorno pizza right now than this burnt frozen canned stuff."
I mean, we ate it and it was fine but Kelsey works at a pizzeria in Vermont and was genuinely offended. Like almost didn't finish her pizza offended.

Pitiful. Our first pizza in Italy was a total let down.

So we walked on, past some ruins and found a gelato place! And all was forgiven. It was fabulous. I think we were in the touristy area because it was good, but I feel like Granada has pretty comparable gelato.

Kelsey brought this book that was Top 10 in Rome and it had the top 10 of everything! From then on, we went by this magic book. That night, we went to a restaurant for the famous pasta, and I have to say, it was some of the best pasta I had all weekend. I think it's all the salt they use when they boil the pasta (just a guess, they wouldn't tell me). I had the spaghetti with bacon sauce and cheese.

The next day we started bright and early with the Colosseum. Our hostel which advertised "breakfast included" did not have breakfast, oddly enough. Actually, they provided the cereal- but no milk. And there was no coffee nor coffee maker. Great. On no breakfast, we headed to the Colosseum. Lunch was at a small cafe near there. Kelsey got a calzone and I got the pizza. It was a ton of food! The pizza was better but still didn't blow me off my feet. We're getting closer!

The calzone was like a pizza folded in half.

On a total impulse buy, Katie and I split some mozzarella balls. So good. Better than Applebee's good, and that's WAY good. They were creamy and had real, fresh mozzarella inside.

Then we headed to the Vatican to try to buy tickets ahead of time, but the office had already closed. So we started wandering and found this cute little pastry shop where Kelsey found some Connolis. I've never had one before so we decided to try them. Oh. My. Gosh. They tasted like love. They had maraschino cherries and dark chocolate and this white, fluffy vanilla whipped cream inside. I wish I would have bought them in bulk. They were delightful.

That night we headed to the Plaza Navona. We met a chef who said he would give us free white wine if we ate there. Naturally we said yes, is that even a question??

Katie was itching to try some Gnocchi with cheese sauce so she got her wish. It was super good. The only experience I had had with it was in the Madrid airport on the way home for Christmas and it was rather rubbery (airport food- surprise). But this was so good! I didn't realize it was made of potatoes so it has a different texture, but the sauce was great.

Kelsey and I got the lasagna and it was awesome. I'd rank it up there next to mom's ;)

This is our... ahem... rather attractive waiter.

Saturday we did the Vatican and than headed to lunch at another cafe. I got the regular spaghetti. Spaghetti and meat balls are actually not a "thing" in Italy. I couldn't find it anywhere!

This is our Lady and the Tramp moment.

We met and chatted with this girl in line for the Vatican and said we'd tried the gelato but it was pretty much the same as in Granada. She looked at us skeptically and said, "I'll meet you outside at 3. Be ready to get your world rocked." I mean, how could we say no??

She took us to this place near the Vatican actually. And for 3 Euro I got FOUR FLAVORS and it was as big as my face. People, this is unheard of. Chocolate, cookie, vanilla, and carmel. Seriously I almost had to lay down after eating it. It blew my mind. Gelato- double check. I am forever ruined.

It really happened. Please look back at the earlier picture of the first gelato we got. Pathetic. Where has this place been all my life?!

There are no words. Look at Kelsey trying to keep up with it!

We referred back to the book for dinner and went to THE #1 Pizza place in all of Rome. It was this little hole in the wall and could only fit about 20 people inside. We waited for an hour and a half but figured it would be worth it.

It was.

I got the mushroom and sausage. It was literally the best pizza I have ever had. Ever. Super thin crust with fresh ingredients. Wow. I don't think I can ever eat pizza again.

All 3 of us ate a pizza each. Oops. Hey, we walked a lot!

To end our trip, we found Plaza Fiori which literally means Flower Plaza. It was delightful. We bought a nice bottle of Rosé and hung out. I felt so cultured and classy!

Here are the REAL cultural things. This trip was full of "Life Moments". I was seeing things I remember studying in high school but never actually thought I'd ever experience!

We started Thursday at Trevi Fountain! It was magical!

Kelsey and I threw money in together. All of the money goes to support a supermarket for people in need around the city. It's about 3,000 Euros per day!

Then we went to the Pantheon. Life Moment. I remember learning about all these places in high school and thinking "Ok that's a cool building. Next." And now I'm here. Talk about using something you never thought you'd need...

We actually went to the Spanish Steps twice- once at night to see them all lit up and once in the day time to get some nice pictures. They are the widest staircase in Europe, and there are 135 steps. I counted. All of them.

On Friday we started at the Colosseum! Serious Life Moment. Honestly, I'm still geeking out about this one. I went in the Colosseum. I went in the Colosseum. I went in the Colosseum. Still not real.

This is what I learned:

• It is the largest amphitheater in the world.
• It seated 40,000-70,000 spectators.
• It featured gladiator contests and public spectacles like mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on classical mythology.
• The tiered seating showed the differences in class rank. Shows were free, but the seating plan was strictly enforced.
• They used lots of animals, but the one I found most important was the griffon. Which apparently exists, I had no idea! I thought they were just mythical creatures with glittery wings and sharp teeth from Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. It’s a real bird.
• Shows were put on and planned by a magistrate, much like a Gamemaker.
• Gross but fun fact- the blood of gladiators was mopped up with a sponge and sold because people believed that drinking blood protected them against epilepsy.

Naturally, we did a little photo op. If you want more funny pictures, check out the facebook.

We bought a grouped ticket for the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine.

We did the Palatine Hill next, and since we had no idea what we were looking at, I didn't know what to take pictures of. Honestly, there wasn't much to take a picture of anyway. But we later found out, myth has it, that Rome actually got its name from Palatine Hill. This is where the young boys Remus and Romulus were found by the wolf who raised them. They fought, Romulus killed Remus and hence the name Rome. The original Romans lived here. But honestly, there wasn't much of any buildings left.

Then we went to the Roman Forum. It used to be this grand meeting point in the center of the city, but now it's just ruins.

It was actually pretty cool to see how the city developed away from and around this area.

Sunday we went to the Vatican!! I had no idea what to expect going in. I was just super excited to see the Creation of Adam painting. We waited over an hour, but it wasn't so bad. We met this really nice girl in line who changed our lives with her secret gelato place.
The Vatican wasn't what I expected. (I don't know what I expected) But it was more of a walk through history and religions to see how Rome moved toward Catholicism.

Laocoon. The description is below the picture. But on a side note, I was extremely disappointed to find out that they left out this MAJOR character in the movie Troy. Hellooooooo Tom Selleck anyone?

This is Laocoon. The story goes that during the Trojan War, Laocoon, a priest of apollo in the city of Troy, warned the Trojans against taking in the wooden horse left by the Greeks outside the city. Athena and Poseidon, who were favoring the Greeks, sent two sea serpents which have wrapped themselves around Laocoon and his sons and are killing them.

The Belvedere Torso

This is just a marble torso but it is the most famous torso ever. There are many theories about the story behind it and who it's depicting, but we will never know!

The head of Sophocles.

Our walk toward the Sistine Chapel! The ceilings were just beautiful!

This is my favorite- 

So once we got in the Sistine Chapel I am already so overwhelmed by the history and how beautiful this place is, that I'm expecting the Creation of Adam to just blow me away and make me cry.

I missed it.

Just kidding, we were almost out of the Sistine Chapel and I was feeling very confused when Kelsey pulled out her book of magic and we started reading. The painting is in the middle of the ceiling, but it's very small. I was a little disappointed that the picture is my head was so over romanticized that I didn't even see it the first time, but once I figured out the layout of the paintings it was a pretty powerful moment. The banishment of Adam and Eve is there, the final battle from the book of Revelation, almost every story I've ever learned (and many I need to start reading up on!) were decorating the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel. It was so real. It made all of the stories come to life for me.

Then we headed to St. Peter's Basilica.

The view from the Dome.

There were chairs all set up because on Sunday they were celebrating something... Kelsey and I can't remember what it was! I think it was an inauguration of some people, which I know is really vague but we went over all of the times they've had outdoor ceremonies and they got all jumbled up!

The next sculpture I had no idea what I was looking at until I started Googling St. Peter's Basilica. This is Pietà which was created by Michelangelo. The description is below the picture, but holy moly! This is a super special, super famous work! This is the only work he ever signed because after he overheard someone give credit to Cristoforo Solari for making it, he added his signature to Mary's sash. He said he later regretted it and would never sign anything ever again. What a drama queen!

Four of her fingers broke off sometime in the 1700s as the statue was moved throughout the Basilica. They were repaired in 1736. But the worst incident was in 1972 when a geologist named Laszlo Toth ran into the Basilica and attacked the nearly 500-year-old statue with a geologist's hammer. Yelling "I am Jesus Christ," he took Mary's arm completely off from the elbow down, chipped a chunk out of her nose and damaged one of her eyelids. Since its restoration from the attack, the Pietà has been housed in a case of bulletproof acrylic glass. 

St. Peter's Basilica is famous for many reasons. Here are my fun facts:

• It is neither the mother church of the roman catholic church, nor the cathedral of he bishop of rome.
• It's where the disciple Peter is buried (supposedly his tomb is right below the altar). And while there is no solid proof, it’s said that during excavations in the 1940s they found the actual bones of Peter. However, there were no feet bones found oddly enough. But, theologists say that he was crucified upside down and rather than taking down the body appropriately, they just cut off the ankles and buried him.
• It's one of the largest churches in the world.
• There are 100+ tombs, which include 91 popes, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and Swedish Queen Christina who left her throne to become Catholic.
• All of the ‘paintings’ are actually mosaics!

Apparently there is a castle in Rome. Castle of the Holy Angel. We showed up about 10 minutes before it closed so we ran in, ran all the way up and around it and back out in under 10 flat. It was actually pretty cool! I was regretting not getting to go into a castle while in Europe but I did!

We had an awesome view over the river of St. Peter's Basilica and the castle.

We sat in Plaza Navona eating pasta with our red and white checkered table cloth, and suddenly a man playing an accordion showed up. Life Moment. We are sitting in Rome, eating pasta, with an accordion in the background, while the sunsets. What more could I ask for? It was like a story book.

Videos::

The next night we went to Plaza Fiori, which is where Caesar was killed and they burned people at the stake, but that fact aside it was the coolest atmosphere I've ever experienced. We sat with our 24 Euro bottle of wine watching the plaza come to life. Families came out, toy sellers came to entertain, dancers came, there was music.. it was so calm yet so full of life. I don't know how to put this into words. I started crying. Embarrassing I know, but in this moment I realized everything that I had experienced in the last 9 months. I don't know when sitting in a plaza in Europe became so normal everyday life that I didn't even think twice about it, but I had a moment. More than a Life Moment, it was an I Can't Believe This is Reality Moment. Especially after all of the things we'd seen in 3 days, I just sat there, in awe of everything I've been blessed with. God is so so so good.

I could not have asked for a better trip to end my semester with.

La puente

First of all, it's 95 degrees out today. I don't even know what to do with myself. All of the stores close for the afternoon- usually from 2 to 5 ish. So I'm packing and studying and finishing up some loose ends.

We didn't have class on Wednesday.. which turned into most students not going to class on Thursday also (I'm not going to say if I went or not!) as it was a Spanish holiday. Friday was Día de la Cruz - Day of the Cross and also the day for dancing. They played flamenco in the plazas and people either watched the dancers or danced themselves. I took a flamenco class, and I must say, I'm not bad. We went to this bar and I was dancing with this short little spanish lady and she said I'm pretty good! Add that to the - "Things I Didn't Know Were On My Bucket List"- list I guess. So Kelsey and I joined in and danced flamenco in the street!

Here are some pictures from the day.

This couple was tearing up the stage with their flamenco. It was just a couple that was standing in the crowd and was pulled up. I was hoping they would pick me! (KIDDING... but really.)

We walked up to get some lunch and these people were eating tapas off their horses. I have no idea who they were or why they were doing that.. but everyone acted like it was totally normal.

Since it was Día de la Cruz, there were crosses all over the city. These are the two we saw before it started raining.

The orange cross was done by the famous graffiti artist of Granada. No one has seen him, but word on the street is that the city hires him to put pretty graffiti around the city. His trademark is a clock gear.

Ok look at the backdrop. Now look at the bottom right corner below the kid's face- that's his mark.

This is a short video of the flamenco in a plaza. I have no idea why it turns white at the end, but it's still pretty cool.

Then we went to the beach on Saturday! I'm on the last few days that I can soak up some Mediterranean rays so I'm going as often as possible!

Well I'm off to Rome in about 2 hours. It's my last trip! I can't believe how fast the time has flown.

Happy Mother's Day all!

Lagos Round 2

I went to Lagos, Portugal... again. This group wanted a fun beachy weekend so I recommended this one. It was fabulous! The nice thing was, I did some different activities and there were new people so it was like a totally different trip.

The beach right outside out hotel.

The next two pictures go together- the first one is when the tide was in. I jumped off the giant rock in the middle and it was so exciting! Kinda scary at first, but a few other kids went first so I had an example. There were no rocks below it, but we could see all the way to the bottom so it looked like we were jumping into 2 feet of water!
The picture after it is low tide. It's so crazy what a huge difference there is!

Part 1: This is the rock I jumped off! It was so exciting!

Part 1.5: This is me being so proud that I climbed up there all by myself! (I'm sure you can imagine how coordinated and graceful I was.) So proud.

Part 2: The rock on the left (not the far left, but the second to the left closer to the beach) is the one I jumped off during high tide! It doesn't even look like the same beach!

We went to the End of the World for the sunset again. Except this time it was FREEZING and super windy! We got off the bus, took some quick pics and got back on! Check out my hair- so windy! So we watched the sunset from the back of the bus. Still an awesome and beautiful moment the second time around.

Right when we got to the hotel, we went on the Sangria Cruise. They put us on a huge sailboat and took us to these caves around our beach. I cannot express how beautiful it is here! Nor how clear the water is! It's teal. Teal, clear, and beautiful.

Our guide is behind us. He could drive a speed boat like no one I've ever met. Professional almost-rock-hitting-but-missing-just-in-time.

I knew the tour guides from the last 2 trips I went on with them and once again, they were fabulous! I got pictures with all of them and they were just a blast. Portugal round 2 was a definite success!

I go to Rome on Wednesday night for my last trip! I have 17 days until I pick up my parents and grandparents!! Holy moly this flew by. I still have a hard time believing I've been here for almost 9 months. That's a long time! I keep having these "Life Moments" where I realize that I'm standing in Spain dancing Flamenco in the street (which we did), or grabbing a Schwarma to go while speaking spanish to a stranger, or jumping on and off city buses like I own the place.

This has been such a blessing and a fabulous experience. But I can't get all sentimental yet! I'M GOING TO ROME IN 4 DAYS! It's not over!