Goodbye Salamanca, Hello San Diego

 This past week was insane, with all the finals..but it was all well earned, as I just found out I got all A's.Saying goodbye to my Salamanca family has been the saddest thing I've ever experienced. Waking up this morning back in California, it feels like I dreamed the entire thing. Right when I was adjusting to the routine of things, I'm now forced to adjust back to reality.

Spain has been a blast, but now sitting at home in Cali I've begun to experience culture shock. From the strange faces smiling at me, to the nicer customer service, I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed the Spanish lifestyle. I sat down for a family dinner at IHOP in Los Angeles, annoyed at the waiter who kept coming back, interrupting my conversation, to see if we needed ketchup, napkins, refills, etc. Instead of asking for the receipt, my mouth kept saying "La cuenta, por favor.." it was a good thing he spoke Spanish...this morning, I took my dog for a run, and felt comforted by a familiar phrase "Buenos Dias" from a Mexican neighbor.

Sitting here in my living room seems familiar, but yet, at the same time, it seems brand new...I know I've been in this position many times before, but my mind, my body, my soul, and my heart are working now more than ever in order to make me feel at home. I didn't realize that being "at home" would feel so different..I didn't really know what to expect, rather...but as my parents begin their barbeque for my welcome home party, familiar smells and tastes get me back into the swing of things, ready to eat good chicken and cow meat...none of that JAMON anymore! :)

Barcelona

I can't believe it's already the last week! I'm still having mixed emotions, but now they're leaning towards excitement for home! Salamanca has been a blast, and travelling has been exhausting..but I'm ready to be in an area where I can travel without getting lost.
Semana Santa was fun in Barcelona :) A few of my friends and I left to Arenys de Mar, a small town on the coast of Barcelona, Wednesday night at 8PM. We arrived in Arenys de Mar around 6AM the next morning, without a clue of how to get to our hostel. We eventually got there, though, at 8AM, by asking multiple people if we were going the right way on the metro. Our hostel was located right on the beach! It was beautiful. Thursday, we decided to stay in Arenys de Mar, spending most of our time at the beach. Friday, we went straight into Barcelona, right after our amazing, free breakfast, made by the owner of La Lluna (the name of our hostel). La Ramblas were beautiful, but most of the stores were closed for Good Friday. We didn't see much that day, or any day, that weekend. Instead of being tourists, we decided to skip out on La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's house, etc. and just mingled with the locals. We had a good dinner at Hard Rock Cafe on Friday. Afterwards that same night, we wanted to go clubbing. We knew the metro closed early, but we figured we would party until it opened back up at 5AM. Turned out, our train didn't leave until 6:50AM..or so we were told. We slept in the metro station for about an hour until it arrived. When we got on, we noticed subtle differences, but we were so exhausted that we just hopped on. About 40 minutes later, we were woken up on the train by one of the workers asking to see our tickets. The ticket we showed him was apparently for the one we thought we were on..instead, we were on our way to France! And without our passports! After getting off and scoping the area, we knew we were on the wrong train because we were in the middle of a rainforest, when we should have been by the beach. Around 9AM, we were safely back at our hostel, just in time for breakfast (and a nap!) But we had to be out by noon, so the nap didn't last too long. We took the metro back into La Ramblas. We soon realized that a tradition in La Ramblas on the Saturday of Semana Santa was for the boys to give the girls roses, in exchange for a book.
The weekend went by fast in Barcelona, but being by the beach was so relaxing. Now, back in Salamanca, I'm ready to end the last week, get the exams over with, and be back in San Diego!

Going into week 9. That means 2 weeks left. Crazy. I feel so dumbfounded, not knowing if I should be excited to go home, or sad to leave. My emotions are going insane right now. Just thinking about going back into the states, not able to ((legally)) drink, where I can't walk around at any time knowing I'm completely safe or have 3 course meals with wine; I can't see those old couples hand in hand, knowing relationships and the family virtue are still kept treasured; unable to call a friend at 5am knowing he'll gladly run around the city until randomingly finding me because I don't know where I am; not able to have a reason in the first place to be outside at 5am..without a curfew because of the typical, Spanish nightlife..2 weeks left. Excited to go home, and sleep in the comfort of my own country, own home, own bed...where I can easily jump into the car at 3am, drive to JackNtheBox, knowing it's still open, and grab those 2 crunchy tacos with all the grease and the Soy meat and hot sauce splashed all over it..if I wanted any type of fast food out here that actually tasted like fast food, I'd have to take a bus for two hours from Salamanca to Madrid, and a metro train for 20 minutes, between the hours of 10am and 8pm, for the only Taco Bell that exists, in a building labeled "Mexican Food"....Only 8 weeks have passed and I can easily tell that Spain has its priorities straight, while America on the other hand...doesn't.

This past week, we went to the bull ring. Unfortunately, we didn't see a real bull fight, but we were taught basic moves and how "artistic" it is. Some art, watching a bull die, slowly, painfully..I guess. We also visitied Segovia and the inspiration to the Disneyland castle (although, our art teacher says it's actually somewhere else) It was beautiful. This upcoming weekend I'll be going to Barcelona! Can't wait :)

Roma, Italia

I'm beginning to surprise myself with how much this trip has changed me in more ways than one. And it's not even something I can put into words on a blog because it isn't as concrete as one might think. In simple terms, everything that I miss about the people from home has now become a part of who I am. To try to give an example, I'll use my best friend from home, Debbie. Things that she is no longer able to share with me, emotionally, I have begun to take over, in order to fulfill the hole that is there while in Spain. I'm starting to become similar to her, in the way I talk and the way I behave. It's weird. I've noticed the same thing with other people from home as well. 

Little things about Spain that are different from home have become closer to my heart: the way pizza is delivered on a motor scooter, put in a small trunk on the back; the way that not all driving lanes are marked, yet people still know where to drive (for the most part); the way we have to hang our clothes on a line outside to dry them; the way mothers walk their children to school early in the morning before preceding to work...I've begun to anticipate the day we fly back to the states, but the more I think about it, the more I realize how much I'll miss Spain, regardless of the fact that there's no InNOut or that Taco Bell is considered Mexican food to them...

I've come to appreciate my Tuesday nights with my roommates, staying up until nearly 4AM to finish our art work, since it's all due Wednesday at 9AM..it's become tradition to have snacks on the table and the video camera ready for those silly moments...all while criticizing our teacher for giving us so much art homework knowing that we're only beginning artists and can't make it as perfect as she does even though it's our fault for starting it the night before it's due when we've had an entire week to do it...I love when we all get to the point where we just say "Fuck it" and rush the rest of the drawings, just to go to class in the morning and hear her say "Oh this is amazing" to the three assignments we did in 5 minutes flat...but yet the ones we spend 2 hours on, she says "This is okay but I think you need to redo it.." I honestly love it. We get so many laughs out of it. And we've all become so much closer because of it. I <3 my roommates. 

Now on to Rome...for the past three days, I've been in Roma :) So beautiful! We went to the Colosseum...and...um...honestly, I don't remember the names of the other places. No matter which block we were on, there was something to see. My first gelato consisted of banana and coconut flavors, which Malibu Coconut Rum drizzled on the top!! Amazing :) :) I ate tons of pizza and pasta. Oh and I think I saw the most beautiful men I've ever seen in my life. And the police officers are gorgeous as well. Even the old men had my attention. I was amazed. Definitely reconsidered where I want to meet my true love =P  But besides them, it was a fantastic weekend, lots of smiles, lots of history, lots of gelato/food...I'll be going back. And for now, I'm ready for my last weekend in Salamanca coming up because after that, Barcelona, and then, back to Cali..

Madrid :)

Coming up...This weekend in Madrid :)

This week was super hectic! I had a paper due Tuesday, an art midterm project due Wednesday, and two other midterms on Thursday. I didn't go out all week, just to get everything in on time. I've gotten my grades back already though, and surprisingly,  I got all A's! :) It wasn't as stressful as I imagined it might be, but it was a definite change from previous weeks. Staying in every night allowed me to get caught up on sleep. It's weird how there's only a month left and I still feel exhausted from the first plane ride. All this travelling gets tiring, but I can't complain :)

This weekend I went to Madrid with my bestie, Amanda :) We left Friday morning and were greeted with a kiss per cheek by her aunt, Shannon, and her friend, Maria, who are both in their twenties. We went to Maria's house and she made us pasta! So yummy...later that night, Amanda and I went to the Matt and Kim concert. I can honestly say that that moment at the concert was the happiest moment I've had this far in Spain. It was my first concert, and I enjoyed every minute of it. We took so many pictures :) There were so many people there from all over the country. The rest of the weekend, we just shopped and relaxed. It was a must, considering the week of midterms we had just gone through. Now I'm ready to begin my 7th week! Can't believe how fast it's going...

So since my last update, nothing much has happened here in Salamanca. The last day in Paris was amazing, aside from the police giving us a ticket :) See, what had happened was, we decided we would try to get through the metro, all the way to Disneyland, without purchasing the correct ticket (it was 8 euros!)..we had been doing it everywhere else, and we didn't think there would be security at Disneyland because we had gotten away with it before..Well, we were wrong. The security guards came up to us when they (and we) realized our tickets weren't letting us through. Luckily, instead of charging us 25 euros per person as they usually do, they charged us 50 euros for all four of us. Sad and confused, yet still laughing, we paid the money to get through. Disneyland was fun. We didn't end up going into the park, but we did the Disney Walk..we watched a couple performances, ate at McDonald's, bought a couple souvenirs, then headed back home.

Around 10PM, we headed out to the cafe that we had went to the first night. The owners who worked there brought us a ton of fries when they realized we had eaten ours, along with a bottle of champagne! So sweet..we took a picture with them, and promised to send it once we got back home (still have yet to do so, but it's on our priority list!). They also brought out about 6 different sauces for us to try with our fries. Pretty much amazing...whoever says the French don't like Americans is wrong in my eyes. Everyone we met was super sweet and always there to lend us a hand. Leaving Paris didn't sadden me...I was excited to be back home in my own bed...

Now I'm getting ready for my first set of midterms..I have two on Wednesday, one on Thursday, and a paper due Tuesday...yay. But I can't complain..as my mother keeps telling me, "You're in Spain, Bitch!"

Today, Spain, tomorrow, Paris!

This week has by far exceeded my expectations of this trip! I always knew I would travel, but to do it so soon, and so impulsively, is insane! At the beginning of the week, my roommates and I decided we would go to Barcelona the upcoming weekend. But when we went to buy our plane tickets, we realized that Paris was the same price! So of course, here we are, in Pehr-ree. :) It's been such an amazing weekend. Unfortunately, the entire trip here has been nothing but complications. But somehow, someway, God has lead us in the right direction, and every problem was quickly solved (the taxi ripping us off, not knowing how to figure out the metro, arriving at the deserted apartment with no key or anyone there to let us in the gated entry...) Of course, when you're in Paris, all your problems seem unimportant :)

Our apartment is amazing! It's like a mini condo, two bedrooms and full bathroom downstairs, kitchen, living room, and half bathroom upstairs..feels so good to be living in Paris for a couple days. The first day, we went to the Louvre (art museum), where we saw the Monna Lisa painting! The next day, we traveled to the Eiffel Tower! Such beauty! We were lucky enough to see it before and after the sunset :) We also went to the cemetery that day, to see Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde..my roommate loved every bit of it, and we were all there, to share the experience with her. Not sure what's in store for today, maybe Disneyland, or the Arch, or maybe just sharing a Crepe in the midst of locals and tourists. Weird, but I'm actually missing Salamanca right now, excited to go home tomorrow morning :) But it's been a great experience, and I can't wait to travel to Italy and Greece sometime soon!