Up Next: Ecuador and Peru

Italy and Greece

2009-05-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been so fun and exciting, and we have seen so many things...

ITALY

:::VENICE:::

I met with Jami and Kelly from Georgetown in Barcelona, and then we flew to Venice. It was a very beautiful city... the pictures can explain more than my words...

:::Grand Canal:::

:::Gondola:::

:::On our Gondola ride:::

:::ROME:::

After an overnight train ride, we arrived in Rome and were able to see all of the big attractions - Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevy fountain, Spanish stairs, Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. We walked a lot, and I really enjoyed Rome!

:::Getting ready to go on the night train to Rome:::

:::Colosseum:::

:::Inside the Colosseum:::

:::Outside of St. Peter's Basilica:::

:::Inside St. Peter's Basilica:::

:::Spanish stairs - of course we had to go after a whole semester in Spain!:::

:::Gelato break!:::

:::Trevy fountain:::

:::Pantheon:::

:::Athens:::

We met back up with Vanessa on our last night in Rome, and we all flew to Athens. We arrived late in the day, so we hit up the coffee shop for some caffeine before calling it an early night. We woke up early the next morning, and it was raining and kind of dreary, but we still made it to the Olympic Village (which is dilapidated and is in need of some major attention and help... but it was still neat to see!) and the Acropolis (Parthenon, old Greek ruins, etc.)

:::Olympic park in Athens:::

:::Parthenon:::

:::Aegina:::

The day before Kelly and Jami flew home, we all went to a Greek island about an hour and a half away from Athens - called Aegina. It was a very beautiful island, and we were so glad that the weather cleared up and was so nice for their last day in Europe.

:::On the boat on the way to Aegina:::

:::On the island:::

:::Santorini:::

The next day Vanessa and I got back on a 7 hour ferry to Santorini - another Greek island. This is also where one of my favorite movies - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - was filmed. It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!! The pictures cannot even begin to show how beautiful it truly was. You could stand in the road at places and look to the left and right and see the sea. It was also a good break after living in hostels. We splurged and stayed in a hotel/apartment which was really nice. Everyone on the island was very nice and helpful, and we got to do many interesting things!!!!!!!

:::Our hotel:::

:::The back porch of our hotel:::

:::Oia, Santorini:::

:::View from the top of the volcano:::

:::Riding a "taxi"... aka a donkey:::

:::What all of the beautiful buildings look like... white and blue... everyone loves UK colors!!! :) :::

:::The magical sunset in Oia:::

:::Red Beach:::

Now we are off to Romania, Austria, Poland, Barcelona, flight to Amsterdam, Detroit, Nashville, meet mommy and daddy!!!!!!!!! and back to Mayfield!!!! See you all soon!

The Netherlands and Germany

2009-05-01T02:10:00.000-07:00

Right now, I am just waiting to go on the next part of my adventure. I recently finished my last days in Barcelona. The first day back was Sant Jordi - kind of like Valentine's day, but the men give the women a rose and women give men books. It was absolute madness on Las Ramblas because there were so many people out going to buy flowers and books. I was not happy to leave this city for good. It has been my home for 4 months now and I was sad to have to tell Bibi and my roommate, Hannah, goodbye. I have mixed emotions because I am sad that the semester is over, but I am excited about the next 20 days of traveling and excited that in 20 days I will get to see my family! … and then it is on to the next chapter of my life… getting ready for medical school (MCAT studying,

MCAT, research at the National Institutes of Health and filling out a billion and a half medical school applications!)

So anyways, the last few days Vanessa and I have been in Amsterdam (aka Holland, The Netherlands) and Frankfurt and Köln (Cologne), Germany, and now I am sitting in a café about 5 minutes from the airport waiting on two of my friends from Georgetown so that we can go to Venice and Rome, and then meet back up with Vanessa to go to Greece.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam was very different than I thought it would be, and it gets the Most Non-Judgmental City Award. It was even explained to us that the city is not “liberal” as everyone says, rather, they let people express themselves and do not judge. Because of this, there are some crazy things going on in Amsterdam, but it also just makes it a very interesting city. While there we went to the Anne Frank House which was very interesting and educational, but also sad to see where the people in the book were cooped up for 2 years. After going there, I know that Auschwitz is going to be terribly depressing when we finally get there. We also went on a 4 hour bike tour through the countryside. This was funny, if only you could have been here, because I have not been on a bike in who knows how long – it has been years and years – but luckily I did not crash or get hit by a car. The city is absolutely packed with bikers (more than I have seen in my entire life combined), people walking and cars, so riding a bike can be dangerous if you don’t watch out! We got to see one of the few remaining family-run businesses that make wooden clogs and cheese, and we saw a working windmill.

:::All of the bikes on one of the streets:::

:::Anne Frank House:::

:::With all of the wooden shoes:::

Germany

Firstly, it has to be explained that we all have a “Stupid mistake budget” while here in Europe because when traveling and not knowing the languages you are bound to make dumb mistakes that you end up paying for. We booked a ticket to Frankfurt, only to find out that there is nothing to do in Frankfurt (Mistake #1) so we booked a train to Köln (Cologne) which was beautiful! We got to see the Rhein river and the most beautiful cathedral that we have seen so far (as the story goes, this is the cathedral that holds the bones of the three wisemen). We also had a fun time in the interactive Olympic museum (designed for 10 year olds, but V and I had a blast anyways!) where we got to sit in a Bobsled (which was exciting, considering we had just watched Cool Runnings two nights before). Then we traveled 6 hours to Hahn (Mistake #2) for our flights before realizing upon arrival that we could have just traveled for 2 hours total.. so we felt dumb, but at least we got where we needed to go!

:::The Cathedral that wins the award for the best cathedral:::

:::Playing in a bobsled:::

The Beginning of an Adventure: Northern Ireland, Ireland and Portugal

2009-04-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

As I am trying to wrap up my time in Barcelona -only today and tomorrow left :( - I don't have a lot of time to write, but I am going to put the highlights of the last week on here!

When I got back to Barcelona from Morocco and Semana Santa in Sevilla, I had finals week - the least stressful finals week of my life- and I got my grades... I passed! I tried to soak up my last week in Barcelona while continuing to make travel plans. At the end of the week one of my friends from school and sorority sister, Sarah was here. It was good to see someone from home and catch up about all of our study abroad adventures!

:::Sarah and I by the beach:::

Belfast, Northern Ireland

We flew to Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was beautiful, but there was not a lot to do - since we were there for such a short time - other than look at churches, gardens and other various tourist spots.

:::St.Peter's Cathedral:::

:::The last place that the Titanic was on dry ground:::

:::Queen's University:::

Dublin, Ireland

We took a bus to Dublin after 2 days in Belfast. We got there at night, so we just went to the touristy part of town to hang out for the night. Then the next day we walked all around Dublin to see the Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, old churches and the Guinness Storehouse - since it is probably the largest tourist attraction in the city- to see how it is made - and since I am a science geek... I thought it was pretty interesting! The next day we went on a tour to the coast of Southern Ireland - saw the beautiful coast, countryside and AMAZING Powerscourt Gardens.

:::Never know when you are going to find people from Spain and get to practice your Spanish!:::

:::St. Patrick's Cathedral:::

:::Looks like I must be Irish! Haha!:::

:::In Powerscourt gardens... (photo thanks to VGirl's artistic skills):::

:::Let's see how many times I can use the word beautiful... THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRYSIDE OF IRELAND:::

Lisbon and Cascais, Portugal

We flew to Lisbon, Portugal and walked around the city all day to see the town, cathedral and castle. This was a little more difficult than Ireland since they understood our Spanish, but we could not understand Portuguese. The next day we went to Cascais - a wonderful beach town - and layed on the beach and I got burnt and look like a lobster... but it was worth it. :)

:::Sao Jorge - Castle in Lisbon, Portugal:::

:::Cascais beach:::

Now I have two days in Barcelona then I am off to The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Greece, Romania, Austria, Poland... then USA.

My 21st Birthday and the surrounding week…

2009-04-12T15:28:00.001-07:00

Well my “Spring Break” was this past week because in Spain the whole week (Semana Santa – Holy Week) before Easter is celebrated, so stores close, schools are out, etc. I flew down to Sevilla Spain Thursday, April 2^nd so that the next day at 4 AM I could get on a bus to go to Africa. I went along with other students from my study abroad program and with students from other ISA programs in Spain and Morocco.

We arrived in Morocco, after a long bus ride and ferry ride across the Strait of Gibraltar, and stayed in a 5-star hotel – not American 5-star, but still very very very nice! (nice Spring break, huh?) and the next day we went on a tour of the city. The main part of the day we spent in the old part of the town – the Medina- where we went to an herbalist (which I had a great time in since I love learning about medicines of any type!), a rug co-op (where we got to look at SOOOOOOO many cool rugs, drink really good green tea, and, of course, buy the beautiful rugs), a leather tannery (they gave us mint leaves to smell to keep us from getting sick because the smell is so bad), and a weaving place (where they made the MOST beautiful fabrics!) In the Medina there are thousands of tiny streets – so small that cars can’t get in – the only method of transportation is mules and donkeys. That night we went to a traditional Moroccan show with music, belly dancing, and other stuff that I can’t remember –it was a long day!

:::The only mode of transport in the Medina:::

:::A really really REALLY old university:::

:::With the children when we stopped for a little while:::

:::Having a nervous breakdown after buying really expensive rugs:::

:::The tannery:::

We woke up the next morning and got back on the bus to go to the Sahara desert. After we arrived in Erfoud, we got in 4x4 vehicles to go to the desert since there weren’t roads that went out that far. We got there that night and just got settled into las haimas (the tents). It is crazy how cold it gets in the desert at night, so we all had to snuggle to keep warm!

:::On the way to the desert in the 4x4:::

The next morning watched the sun rise ---- BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, SPECTACULAR----- the pictures cannot even begin to show what it looked like that morning, and it was probably just as spectacular that we were able to drag ourselves out of the tent into the cold air at 5:30 AM! We rode camels, crawled/ran/walked/sunk-into-the-sand up a huge sand dune, slid back down the down, rode camels to a village, played with the African children, relaxed around our tents, listened to some African drumming while dancing with African children, got henna tattoos, listened to an African band that played at dinner and danced a little afterwards until 12 AM – April 7^th – my birthday!

:::The first thing I saw when I woke up - other than the roof of my tent:::

:::Photo shoot in the desert:::

:::Absolutely stunning - it's hard to describe with pictures and words:::

:::The beautiful sunrise continues:::

:::The sun:::

:::Drawing in the sand:::

:::Riding on the camels:::

:::Letting the camels take a break:::

:::The huge sand dune that we climbed - doesn't look that big in the picture but it was HUGE:::

:::Moroccan child:::

:::Henna tattoos:::

:::African band:::

On my birthday... Woke up the next morning early to go sit in the sand… it was a little cloudy, so I couldn’t see the sunrise as well, but it was still beautiful. Then we had to travel back to Erfoud by 4x4, then to Meknes by bus. When we got to Meknes we went to the Medina to go shopping there. The next thing that happened was really funny because Meknes is not a very touristy city, but as I was walking into a little store in the Medina, I saw someone with a jacket on that said Paducah, heard the southern accent, and found out there was a group of 4 or 5 people there from Paducah and the surrounding area – one of which was the father of someone who used to go to my church, but when you are from Mayfield/Paducah/Murray you can usually always find a common friend!

:::My 21st birthday:::

:::Vanessa, Hannah, Michelle and I:::

We traveled back to Sevilla where we encountered huge parades since the biggest festival for Semana Santa is in Sevilla, but we were so tired that we went to sleep. The next day we watched parades for most of the day and night and early morning because it is the biggest festival day in Sevilla. The next morning I met Jami and Kelly from my school at home, and two of their friends from Valencia, and for that day and the next we explored Sevilla – went in the beautiful and huge Cathedral, watched Parades, went into the Alcazar – a big palace with huge gardens, Torre del oro, and the local bull-fighting plaza.

:::Los nazerenos - the guys with the tall white hats:::

:::Sevilla Catedral:::

:::Jami and me in front of the big fountain in Sevilla:::

:::Friends from home - Jami & Kelly:::

:::Gardens in the Alcazar:::

:::Torre del Oro:::

:::Plaza de Toros:::

Yesterday I flew back into Barcelona. BiBi is not here… and it was weird being away from home on Easter. I am used to being with all of my family in Mayfield or Lexington… but I guess being away just makes me appreciate everything at home even more! I hope that everyone had a very blessed Easter!

¡Hasta Luego!

Before Spring Break...

2009-04-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

My family got to have the wonderful Cuban food experience…. And this is just an advertisement for all Cuban food places… if you ever get the chance to eat it…. You should… you will want to move to Cuba…

CJ accomplished his goal of the trip and tried Sangria in our favorite little tavern - La Oveja Negra - right off of Las Ramblas…

Montserrat – Vanessa, CJ & I hiked for 4 hours up a BEAUTIFUL mountain … Mom came too, but the fear of heights kept her near the monastery where she got to here the choir and take a little break instead of wearing herself out like we did…

When we got back from Montserrat, the Magic Fountain at Montjuic was going so we watched that for a little while before going to sleep and waking up early to go to the airport…

I discovered that I have not had an allergy to the cats, but instead BiBi’s house has been infested with chinches de la cama…aka Bed Bugs… Yuck!! that have been biting me… so they were in my room before I got here and I had no idea and the doctor didn’t recognize the signs… so since then I have moved rooms.. obtained a super cool (haha) Cow duvet cover… had fun moving the mattress (while wearing BiBi's aprons and plastic gloves) through the little apartment to throw it away… and been grossed out by the thought of the bugs…and my old room has been repainted (don’t know why, but BiBi thought this would help!) but at least they are gone now…

We went to the Broadway show La Bella y La Bestia - Beauty in the Beast in Spanish- which was so cool and such a great experience to have while in Spain….

2009-03-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

A lot has gone on, so this is my best attempt at an update! All is in chronological order starting last weekend---

:::Sitges -where the fiesta of Carnaval took place- except during the daytime:::

:::Sitges - a beautiful beach town- Vanessa, Hannah and I went to lay on the beach and read for the whole day!:::

:::The beautiful Mediterranean Sea - so peaceful and calming:::

:::2 of my friends from Georgetown came to Barcelona - Jacob & Jacob- so I tried to act as tour guide for a day:::

MY FAMILY IN BARCELONA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:::Day 1 - Park Guell:::

:::CJ, Mom and me at Park Güell:::

WISH YOU WERE HERE DADDY!!!!!

:::CJ at Park Güell:::

:::I surprised CJ with tickets for a FC Barça fútbol game:::

:::Day 2 - Mom experiences bliss in the form of a chocolate croissant:::

:::CJ experiences a semi-late night in Spain:::

:::Day 3 - Mom and CJ outside of La Sagrada Familia:::

:::Me, BiBi, Hannah:::

:::Day 4 - On the beach close to our apartment:::

:::Sangria & Paella - 2 Spanish specialties- by the beach:::

:::Day 5 - Mommy and me in the aquarium:::

Tonight - Cuban food

Tomorrow - Monserrat and Olympic Park

Saturday - Airport :(

This past week....

2009-03-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well there has been a lot of randomness in Barcelona over the last couple of weeks... or maybe just the last week... I tend to lose track of time here!

First of all, last weekend Hannah and I went to ride horses about an hour away from Barcelona. We went with about 15 others from our program. You would think that I would have ridden horses before since I live in Kentucky, but I had to come all the way to Spain to ride my first horse, and it was quite an experience. They gave us no instructions; they just helped us onto a horse and said "Vamos" (Let´s go!). My horse´s name was Piojo which in English means lice... beautiful name huh? So we start going, mine wouldn´t follow my commands, so I almost fell off. Once I finally thought I was okay, my horse started biting all of the other horses... it was only after I got off that I realized it had a metal chain around it´s mouth... and I think is was there for a good reason! But even with a horse that bit, I had a lot of fun!

Vanessa´s aunt and her friend also arrived in Barcelona over the weekend, so we found some new and exciting places to go. First we went to a labyrinth... which was cool and we only got lost for about 10 minutes!

As we were leaving the park that contains the labyrinth... we stumbled across another crazy thing in Barcelona... who would ever want to go to a park without finding a grammar garden!!!!!

That day we also went to Tibadabo which is at the top of a really big hill/"mountain" in Barcelona... at the top there is a theme park (which was pretty small) and a church which we climbed about a million stairs to get to the top and look out over the city. After that day, I can say that we are all officially experts in Barcelona transportation.... we rode the metro, train, funicular, cable car, elevator, escalators, walked up a million stairs... etc... basically it was a day of traveling.

Tuesday was a FABULOUS day! First off... it was Vanessa´s 21st birthday so we had to CELEBRATE!!! So to start the day off right we (Vanessa, her aunt, her aunt´s friend, Hannah, and I) had a picnic and naptime in the park... and since flowers have started to bloom... I spent about 15 minutes just trying to take pictures of them to remember the wonderful warm weather in Barcelona!

That night we went to eat Cuban food... and after that meal I decided that I would like to be Cuban... it was so YUMMY! and they told me that Vanessa´s abuela´s cooking is even better.... anyways... Vanessa had fun, we had fun, the food was good, and we were stuffed when we left... and Vanessa said I could be an honorary Cuban for the day which made me happy :)

And the last stop of the night... an authentic Irish pub... The Shamrock! We couldn´t celebrate Vanessa´s birthday (on St. Patrick´s day) without going and listening to Irish music and having cider!

This week has flown by! and I have now decided to stay in Europe for an extra week and a half to do a little more traveling, so I am very excited! Also, my mom and brother will be here in 2.5 days! So I can´t wait to show them around and I can´t wait to hug them! and send a hug back with them for my daddy :)

Questions for BiBi...

2009-03-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

So many things are weird when living in Spain... and although Hannah and I could ask Bibi these questions directly... we find that it is more fun to just make up answers and wonder about these things....

1. Why was there a radish in shot glass on the counter for 3 days?

2. Why do the cats meow all the time? and why is one cat cross-eyed?

3. Where does all the water go?... in the morning there is 8 liters of drinking water... by 20:00 there is none left!

4. Why are there nut crackers that don´t crack nuts?

5. Why does she act like she finds our food magically? ... she obviously buys it at the store!

6. Why does she have 2 cell phones?

7. Why does she go to visit her grandkids at midnight and not come back until 2 in the morning? Is there not a better time for this?

8. Does she work? What does she do all day?

9. Why does she wear a cap on her head while ironing that makes her look like an alien?

10. Why do we always see her cooking, but we have never seen her make our sandwiches? Is there a bocadillo fairy?

Just about everyday we find something else crazy in the apartment... needless to say... our host mom is quite a character... but I could not ask for anyone better to live with! She treats us like princesses!

Paris !!!

2009-03-09T04:51:00.001-07:00

This weekend was Paris... it seems like I have been traveling so much the past few weekends. I just got back to Barcelona late on Saturday night and it feels good to be home (or at least at my home away from home!) I was not sure if I would like Paris, and then I got there (after a flight in a very ghetto plane with a VERY loud group of high schoolers), and I absolutely loved it!!!! We walked for 11 hours on Friday and rode on a tourist bus for three hours, so by the end of the day I was tired! We did stay in a pretty nice hostel/hotel, so it was nice to go back and crash at the end of the day (after watching the Eiffel tower sparkle!!!!) The next day, we walked around for a few hours, but we more or less just explored the city. Also, three friends from Georgetown were in Paris, so there was a big group of us that met at the Louvre. I was so glad to get to see Jami again and also Peggy, who is studying in Italy. Also Vanessa's friend Jen saw someone who she knew at the Louvre, and she ended up being in the same sorority as me, so we, of course, had to take a random picture with a lion.

:::NOTRE DAME (but no hunchback!):::

:::A little chilly after riding on the top of the tourist bus:::

:::Arc de Triumf in Paris (which is in the middle of 12 roads, so the traffic was kind of crazy):::

:::Jami and I in front of the Eiffel Tower:::

:::Only one of my "doofus pictures" (me acting like this old man statue) at the end of the day, after 4 hours of the Louvre, when we were incredibly tired and acting a little stupid:::

:::Jami, Peggy and I inside of the Louvre (where I got to see Mona Lisa and a lot of other famous paintings and sculptures:::

:::The Louvre at night:::

The land of hidden treasures...

2009-03-03T03:33:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went to Oxford, England, where two of my friends (Sara and Jacob) are studying this semester. After a delayed flight and hour and a half bus ride, I finally arrived, and it was so good to see two people from home!

:::Jacob and I right before dinner:::

I went to their formal hall dinner on Friday night. They eat 2 meals a day 5 days a week in the hall where they stand and wait for the head table members to come in to the dining hall. Once everyone comes in, everyone sits down and is served. They had some traditions that I had never heard before. One of them- if you put a penny in someone's glass while they are holding it, they have to drink the whole glass right then (save the queen! since the queen of england is on the penny).

:::The back of our heads with glow sticks & Sara and I in the JCR:::

Afterwards, we went to the junior common room. Since it was the night that they announced the theme for the dance at the end of the semester, they had a belly dancer, music and glow sticks. They have dance parties aka "bobs" every once in a while after Friday night dinner.

::: One of the funny sayings on the wall of the cafe :::

:::Just being the classic tourist!:::

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to a cafe and then started our day of sightseeing! We walked around so I could see the city. All of the buildings were so old and so beautiful. Because of the university, it seems like a very academic town anywhere that you go.

:::Sara and I with ancient barometers & The Ancient Biomolecules Centre sign:::

Since we are both science nerds, and we both want to go to medical school, we went to the science corner of Oxford. We went in two science museums, and found some crazy places... like the Ancient Biomolecules Centre (What is this??? The first ever chemistry building??? Maybe... we are not quite sure). We found all of the different medical buildings, and as we were walking, we just had to talk about our future medical careers since we were being inspired by all of the science there.

:::Harry Potter land:::

We saw other various things, and then went to Christ's Church College to see where Harry Potter was filmed. It was packed with people, but I was so excited to see where it was filmed since I love the movies. The school, chapel and hall were all beautiful!!! I am so glad that there was good weather, too, so that we could see all of this!

:::Sara and I in Cafe Nero & The sign on the wall in Eagle and Child Pub:::

Sunday we woke up, went to a cafe and more or less had a lazy day. We walked to Jacob's house and watched two movies, and then walked back into town for dinner. We ate at the Eagle and Child Pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis often went.

The trip was so much fun! I was sad to leave, but I was so glad that I got to see my friends and Oxford!

Butts in Barcelona

2009-03-03T03:26:00.000-08:00

A while back I went to the Barcelona zoo with Vanessa and her parents to the Barcelona Zoo. I was so excited!!! I don't think that I had been to a zoo since I was 5!

It was funny because every time we got ready to take a picture the animal would turn around, so we felt like all we were getting a ton of pictures of butts... so I have included a few... and also some that we managed to take of the fronts of animals.

:::This was taken for everyone at Dairyman's because I know that you must miss the peacock that was there when I was really young!!!:::

:::The prettiest backside of an animal that I have ever seen! I had never seen a rainbow monkey butt before!:::

:::DOLPHINS! We missed the dolphin show but got to see the beautiful creatures swimming in their tank:::

:::Straight from the Jungle book....Shere Khan:::

:::My favorite animal... after frogs and Snickers (my puppy)... even though this beautiful zebra turned around as soon as I got ready to take his picture:::

Food... Funny times...

2009-03-03T03:16:00.000-08:00

So part of adjusting to a new culture is adjusting to the food... the good and the weird...

:::The fruit that the cats rub against... probably why I am still having allergic reactions:::

:::Bibi was sick so we had weird food for a week...I am sparing you of the sickness that you would feel if you saw the close-up photos:::

:::The biggest beans on the face of the planet:::

:::If you picked it apart the elements of this salad would seem normal... but all together... the Spaniards would say "¡Vaya lio!" aka chaos

Friends and Crazy Character

2009-03-03T03:10:00.000-08:00

When we got back from Switzerland last weekend Jami and Kelly (friends from Georgetown) were in Barcelona with two of their friends from Valencia. I was so glad that I got to meet up with them! We went to Olympic park (where we saw a "crazy character"... as we call them).

:::Jami and I in front of the Olympic Torch:::

:::Olympic Stadium:::

:::Crazy Character:::

Words cannot explain...

2009-02-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

CARNAVAL...

This is a festival that is like Mardi Gras... and also like Halloween... but unlike in the USA... everyone and I mean EVERYONE dresses up. We shopped a little late so we had to be creative and ended up going as the Pink Ladies (from Grease): New and Improved! The festival was on the beach, and there are simply no words to explain the chaos. There were more people there than I have ever seen anywhere. The beach was jam-packed!!! Since I don´t know how to describe all of the craziness of the night, I will simply let you see a few of the pictures so that you might be able to see some of what went on...

1. Vanessa and Me
2. Before the celebration began
3. Vanessa, Hannah and I with the incredibles
4. & 5. Just having fun
6. & 7. With some crazy characters

The land of chocolate and cheese...Switzerland!

2009-02-23T05:10:00.000-08:00

So this past weekend I got to go to Switzerland! The first day was kind of long because Hannah, Vanessa and I were super tired from not getting enough sleep... but the WONDERFUL Swiss Airlines gave us our first Swiss chocolate which helped to wake us up a little bit!

:::Our first taste of Swiss chocolate:::

:::The Alps as we saw them from the airplane:::

::: Vanessa in our hostel:::

Picture taken through the lovely hole in my sheet!

We walked around for a little while, found the big fountain in Lake Geneva and found a chocolatier (picture later). We also went to the UN building because we wanted to take a tour, but there was a major problem! It was closed to tourists because of a HUGE protest against the genocide in Sri Lanka... let´s just say I didn´t think we should stay, so after walking a little while and going in a pretty boring museum (old china museum... there is only so much dishware that I can see before falling asleep!) we hopped back on the free transportation and went back down to our hostel. Then we ate at a Kebab place, tried to be nice to the girls that stayed in the room with us, but they did not want to talk to us, and we went to sleep!

Day 2

:::Coffee in the morning:::
We started out with breakfast in our hostel, and yes, a total of 6 cups of coffee, 18 sugar packets and 4 glasses of orange juice were consumed by us before leaving the hostel. We figured energy would be good since we knew we would be walking around all day.

::: The city of Geneva:::

These pictures do not do it justice - it is impossible to explain how beautiful it was !!!

::: A weird street sign:::

There were many of these. This was one of the more "normal" ones. We decided that it means if you are a dad you must hold your daughter's hand while crossing the street - and yes note that it is gender specific.

::: Red Cross cartoon from the Philippines:::

We went to the Red Cross museum, and it was SO interesting. I didn´t realize how much history that it had. It was also very sad - they had letters that people had written to family members that the person would never see again and tons of pictures of children who had been left as orphans in Africa. The history was very interesting, but it was cool to see how far this organization has come through the years.

:::Beside Lake Geneva:::

We walked around... found more of the landmarks in Geneva, and then walked by the lake for a long time which was freezing!!! But it was very beautiful with the mountains in the background!

:::Swiss cheese for lunch!:::

Well maybe it wasn´t the cheese that you would think of as Swiss, but it was cheese from Switzerland! Plus, we don´t think they call our type of Swiss cheese by the same name because to them it is just ¨normal¨cheese ! :)

:::The Fabulous Chocolate Lady:::

:::Swiss Alps:::

:::Swiss hot chocolate...mmmmm!!!:::

After a long day - 9 hours of walking around - we ended with the most wonderful cup of hot chocolate that I have ever had!!!

Day 3

Wake up at 4:15 AM, walk to train station, get on train, go to airport, get on plane, arrive in Barcelona... and then later that day I was able to meet 2 of my friends from Georgetown, Jami and Kelly, because they were in Barcelona with 2 of their friends for the weekend.

::: Hannah & Vanessa at our favorite time in the morning -4:30AM:::

EL SOL !!!

2009-02-19T03:03:00.000-08:00

The sun was shining bright yesterday! The weather was so nice, and it just helped me to have a great day!!! So here is what my perfect day consisted of...

1. Listening to Jock Jams :) (Really old-school music that I have missed since I have not listened to it since 2nd grade)
2. Taking a test that was not too bad..
3. Talked on Skype to mommy!
4. Took a nap in the park with the BRIGHT sun shining down on me :D
5. Went to class ... got a test moved to a later date... so we will now be able to go to Sitges for Carnaval (similar to Mardi Gras) since we won´t have to study
6. Walked home
7. Sat on a bench and read a book
8. Ate a wonderful dinner prepared by Bibi
9. Finished Twilight... started New Moon (a series that I just started to read)
10. Went to 511 Bed (our new cafe that is named for the first 6 digits/letters of the code that allows us to use the internet) and talked to C.J. and Mom and booked a room for them to stay in when they come to BARCELONA in MARCH!!!!

Valentine´s Day in Barcelona

2009-02-16T02:40:00.001-08:00

I haven´t had the chance to upload my pictures yet, but this past Friday Vanessa´s parents arrived in Barcelona, so Saturday night we went to explore Barrio Gotico and went into the Harlem Jazz Club and La Oveja Negra (whose specialty is Sangria - red wine and juice mix). The Harlem Jazz Club was filled up and so was La Oveja Negra. Earlier that day Hannah and I went and found a public library, which we have decided is one of our new favorite places, so it won´t be long before we go back there. Then we went to La Pedrera (an apartment block designed by Gaudí) again. We went with a group from ISA a week ago, but half of it was closed because an undisclosed famous person was on his/her way, and we had to go back to see the roof, which is the coolest part of this building...pictures will be on here soon! That was about all that happened on Valentine´s Day here in Barcelona (In Barcelona El Dia de Sant Jordi which is when they celebrate - Valentine´s day is not really celebrated in the Cataluña region of Spain).

Busy ... and Laid Back

2009-02-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Life has been busy ...but not stressful :) so we will see how much of it that I can remember ...

Really super fun adventures that I have been on:

1. The Night Bus - so we were out late one night and the metro had alread

y closed, and we did not want to pay for a cab, so we took the night bus. We obviously didn't understand how the bus worked because Hannah jumped out when she was not supposed to, and the bus driver drove off with me still in the bus. Needless to say, I yelled "mi amiga!!!!" (my friend!!!!!) and he yelled spanish at me, so I yelled english at him until he let me off.

2. Girona and Figueres - It rained the whole day, but it was neat because we were able to see where the old "Roman road" was, and even though there is a new road on top of it, it was very interesting to see. We also got to see an old cathedral and bath house. In Figueres, we went to the Dalí museum which was AWESOME!!! The art was weird in a very good way. I can't even imagine what went through that man's crazy little mind, but it was super interesting.

:::Where the the road to Rome used to be:::

:::The real painting - smaller than you would think:::

3. Andorra - I didn't even know that this country existed before I arrived here. It is a tiny country in the Pyrenees that is very cold right now and very beautiful!!! Vanessa, Hannah and I got on a bus for three hours, arrived in Andorra, found a hotel and went and walked up into the mountains. Hannah also found 20 Euros floating in the street, so she bought tapas for us. The next day we took a bus to La Massana, where there is a place to ski. It was snowing, and the mountains were BEAUTIFUL!!!! We also spent a few hours in a café. Overall it was just a nice, relaxed weekend. I really enjoyed the break.

::: Just playing in the snow !!! :::

::: Oh so beautiful !!! :::

4. Secret Library - Everyday for the past couple of weeks when I walked out of my first class, I saw a library but couldn't figure out how to get to it. Hannah and I decided we would make it an adventure, and we looked everywhere for it, only to figure out that it is connected by a hallway to the library that we go to everyday to use the internet.

So as far as academics go, I have had a really stressful week. I went to my first week of classes and two of them were so difficult that I knew I would not pass them, but I had a hard time getting my classes changed. Finally, with enough pushing, I got them changed. Also, I have now completed my first two oral presentations in Spanish, and I was the first to volunteer, even though I didn't know I was volunteering... miscommunication in Spanish. Now all of my classes are really easy, and I enjoy them because they are so laid back. My language class has 7 people, and our teacher has become quite sassy - she now makes fun of us and calls us out when we say stupid things. I have a crazy professor for art, and every third day we don't have class, and we go walk around a museum instead. I also have a movie class where every other day we watch a movie. My favorite is probably my communications class. The professor is hilarious and sarcastic.

Other really exciting news in my life here:

- Hannah and I made another amazing discovery! There is a cafe less than a block from our house that has WiFi (pronounced Wee-Fee...which I always say wrong). We are also going to make a Java Rating Chart which will contain all of the cafes that we have been to and how good each one is depending on location, service, quality of cafe con leche, ambiance, etc. (This one rates a full 4 to 5 cups in all aspects except decor!)

- I met with my intercambio the other day for the first time. Her name is Montse, and she has always lived in Barcelona. We were paired up by the school because she is trying to learn English, and I am trying to learn Spanish. We went to a café, and we walked around the city, and she showed me the best places to shop. She is studying law, and she is going to move to Africa, after she finishes this year of school, for an internship with Unicef.

- I finally went to a fútbol game (aka Soccer). The games here are CRAZY!!! The fans are wild, but it was so much fun to watch. I have never seen creative footwork like all of the players had, not to mention that the fans do the wave, and everyone does it. I will definitely be going back.

::: The biggest soccer field I have ever seen :::

-Someone asked me for directions in Spanish, and I was actually able to respond with the right directions in Spanish.

10 Hours of Walking... and Feeling Better...

2009-01-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

So about a week ago, my friends and I have walked all around the city to see some of the main tourist spots.

Park Guell (which was designed by Gaudi)

Olympic Park

Montjuic

Torre Agbar

Mediterranean Sea

(which we touched and also stole a couple rocks)

We have also had some crazy weather. From what we have heard, Barcelona is supposed to have pretty calm weather, but the past couple of days there has been a lot of wind that has knocked down trees and other various things around the city.

I am also happy to say that I am finally feeling a lot better. I just finished the medicines that the doctor gave me, and I found Zyrtec and took it, and I am feeling a lot better. I still don't know what I am allergic to over here... possibly the cats or something in the air.

Top 10 Things I Have Learned... The Hard and Funny Way...

2009-01-25T13:11:00.000-08:00

1. There are no flamenco festivals... a lady tried to persuade us to buy flowers for the festival... that did not exist.

2. Don't walk down alleys at night... we were just looking for something fun to do, but ran into some scary people!

3. Don't pick the windiest day of the year to go to the top of a mountain.

4. Don't throw food to the pigeons... they will all fly to you at once... and you will feel like you are getting attacked.

5. Make sure you understand questions that are being asked in a different language before you respond... otherwise people will laugh at you.

6. Read labels before you buy products... or you will end up with the wrong thing.

7. Don't talk to animals in English... they will not respond. I never thought about the fact that animals only know one language!

8. Make sure you always have a map with you.

9. Ask how much stuff costs before you order.

10. Don't ever ask what kind of meat you are eating... you probably don't want to know what mystery meat is on your sandwich!

I am an excellent orange peeler ...

2009-01-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

Well... We have all been getting sick here, so I finally had to take a day and do nothing... and eat a lot of oranges to get some Vitamin C :) . My roommate and I are both sick, but we are hoping we feel better by tomorrow. We went out to a party for study abroad students and had fun but got home late again. Then yesterday, we finally met some other people...from other countries.Hannah and I went with the language exchange group from school to Villanova to go to a museum and festival (which ended up being a lot of horses in a parade, and while everyone else was excited to see horses, I just felt like I was back in Lexington). There were people from China, Germany, Singapore, Peru, Mexico, etc. Hopefully we will all be

able to stay in touch via facebook since all of us are

really excited to be here, and we were all just trying to meet new friends!

The First Week Is Over...

2009-01-16T12:24:00.001-08:00

My first week in Barcelona is now officially over. It has been a great first week, and I cannot imagine how much fun I am going to be able to have this semester. I already have some fun stories, too! Speaking another language is leading to some major misunderstandings. Yesterday I didn't understand what mi profesora was asking in class, and I definitely told her that I wanted to be single until I was thirty, when I was really trying to say that I thought the average age that people get married in Barcelona is thirty, so I got some weird looks, and realized that I was going to have to explain...in Spanish, so she probably still thinks that I am crazy, but I am okay with that!

Hasta luego!

Finally Here!

2009-01-16T12:22:00.001-08:00

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

I moved into my home-stay in Barcelona this past week after a few days of orientation in Madrid and Toledo. During orientation we got to see a lot of very interesting places including an Egyptian temple that was moved to Madrid, El Escorial (the place where most of the Spanish kings are buried), El Valle de los Caídos (where the dictator Franco is buried) and we got to go to a modern art museum and see many of Picasso and Dali's paintings. Orientation was fun, and we got to explore the cities a lot, but we also got to know others that were involved with the ISA program - there are about 50 of us in Barcelona.

Although orientation was fun, I was so glad to finally find out where I would be living so I could get to know the area. There was so much unknown, and I was ready to meet my host family and see where I would be going to school and living for 4 months.

We arrived last Wednesday late at night and met our host families. I live with a lady named Virtudes Real aka Bibi who is in her mid-60s. She does not speak or understand any English at all, so my Spanish is bound to improve! She cooks dinner for us every night, but a few nights she has not been there because shehas gone out shopping late at night. Most people here stay up very late- dinner is never before 8:30 PM, and it is usually more around 9 or 10 PM. There are also some sashes from beauty pageants in her hous, so we have not gotten the full story yet, but we think that she probably competed a while back. She also has a daughter, Jennifer aka Jenni, who lives in Barcelona that has come over a couple of times with her boyfriend. I also have a "roommate" that is from Massachusetts and goes to school at the University of Tampa in Florida. Hannah and I have our own rooms and just have to share a bathroom

The apartment that we live in is small, but comfortable, and it is only a few blocks from La Sagrada Familia - one of Gaudi's marvelous buildings. We also live near a metro station, but everything that we have wanted to go to has been within walking distance so far. My School, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, is about 25 minutes away and a good shopping area is also about a 30 munute walk. After we walk all of these different places, we participate in one of the most marvelous things ever - siesta time! I definitely think we should implement this in America. Afterall, everyone here stays out late and doesn't get a whole lot of sleep at night. The latest that I have stayed out so far is 5 AM- a lot of us went dancing where they played a lot of cheesy 90s music, but this would still be considered early for many of the lacals, but I am getting used to the schedule, and a lot of us are hoping while we are here we will be able to take salsa lessons, but that has not happened yet!

We also already took our Spanish placement test, and I was very excited that I got into the Advanced II level classes. I was nervous about it because I had to place in advanced in order to get credit at school. I started school today, and for the next two weeks, I will e in intensive language classes. Right now we are going 5 days a week for 2.5 hours a day, but after these two weeks, I only have class Monday-Thursday, and I am excited about the long weekends! The class doesn't seem like it will be hard, so that will be a good change of pace for me - very unlike all of my time-consuming Pre-med classes.

I am having a great time so far and cannot wait to see what else happens this semester! I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and we are going to get have many new experiences! Hope that everyone is doing well!

Love,

Katie

some of you have asked for my address, so I have included it:

Katie Boyd

P⁰Sant Joan 91, 6⁰ 4^a

^{08013 Barcelona}

^Spain