Well, I suppose all good things must come to an end. Stink on that. Mom and I just went out to dinner and are in the hotel. Time to pack my bags, sleep a bit, then head to the airport early tomorrow mornin. So strange! For a year and a half I have been planning this trip to Spain, this summer abroad, and not only has it finally come but now it is OVER. Surreal? I think Dalí would appreciate this weird feeling. I´m going to be honest - I´m not sure what else to say. So i suppose I´ll leave it at that for now. We´re comin home tomorrow (land around 5:30ish I think, and I´ll turn my phone on as soon as we do!), so I´ll talk to you then and can tell you about the rest of my adventures in Spain with my Mom. Have a great 24 hours... see you State-side!
Kelly
PS - thanks for keepin up with me on here! I´ll post an update/recap/pictures sometime soon.
sábado, 11 de agosto de 2007
jueves, 9 de agosto de 2007
¡Mi madre está aquí!
MY MOMMA IS HERE!!
Though not without considerable problems. She left KC on Monday, but due to storms her flight from KC to Newark was delayed, therefore causing her to miss her flight to Madrid. Between a lack of time and the forces of the world all allying against her, she was unable to communicate this "minor" problem to anyone, except for an email that she sent off to me. On the day I was to meet her at the airport I overslept, therefore leaving me with not enough time to check my email before throwing my things in my bag and fleeing the hostel. So while I ran around the airport, bag in tow, trying to locate her, I ended up missing our next flight (to Granada), although I still thought that she was on it somehow. After talking to the airline about getting a later flight, talking to the train company about taking a train, and making many unsuccessful phone calls to the bus station, I decided to head to the bus station and just get myself to Granada to meet her. On my way out of the airport I called Dad one more time, and luckily I called while he was on the other line with Mom. Thank goodness I didn´t leave the airport, let alone go to Granada!!!! I hustled over to her terminal and after a long and stressful morning I finally found her. We ended up going standby on a later flight to Granada, and since then it´s been smooth sailing!
Granada was awesome (but I´m biased - I love that place!). We had a great dinner in a really cute plaza, complete with street musicians, sangria, and a very Spanish kitchen staff ("no, you can´t have a small pizza, the kitchen decided to only make mediums today"). haha - it was a great end to that day!
The next day we headed to Sevilla and have done a lot - walked around the old Jewish quarter yesterday, had dinner on the river, toured the Cathedral, and saw a lot of the areas in which I spent a lot of time. Mom was amazed at how HUGE the Giralda is (that´s the tower that we have a smaller version of in KC). I´ve just looked it up, and it´s about 2.5 times the height of ours! We´re talkin BIG. So yeah everything has been wonderful, and we´re excited to have one more night here in Sevilla and then head to Barcelona tomorrow!
.... SEE YOU ALL SOON!!!! -kel
Though not without considerable problems. She left KC on Monday, but due to storms her flight from KC to Newark was delayed, therefore causing her to miss her flight to Madrid. Between a lack of time and the forces of the world all allying against her, she was unable to communicate this "minor" problem to anyone, except for an email that she sent off to me. On the day I was to meet her at the airport I overslept, therefore leaving me with not enough time to check my email before throwing my things in my bag and fleeing the hostel. So while I ran around the airport, bag in tow, trying to locate her, I ended up missing our next flight (to Granada), although I still thought that she was on it somehow. After talking to the airline about getting a later flight, talking to the train company about taking a train, and making many unsuccessful phone calls to the bus station, I decided to head to the bus station and just get myself to Granada to meet her. On my way out of the airport I called Dad one more time, and luckily I called while he was on the other line with Mom. Thank goodness I didn´t leave the airport, let alone go to Granada!!!! I hustled over to her terminal and after a long and stressful morning I finally found her. We ended up going standby on a later flight to Granada, and since then it´s been smooth sailing!
Granada was awesome (but I´m biased - I love that place!). We had a great dinner in a really cute plaza, complete with street musicians, sangria, and a very Spanish kitchen staff ("no, you can´t have a small pizza, the kitchen decided to only make mediums today"). haha - it was a great end to that day!
The next day we headed to Sevilla and have done a lot - walked around the old Jewish quarter yesterday, had dinner on the river, toured the Cathedral, and saw a lot of the areas in which I spent a lot of time. Mom was amazed at how HUGE the Giralda is (that´s the tower that we have a smaller version of in KC). I´ve just looked it up, and it´s about 2.5 times the height of ours! We´re talkin BIG. So yeah everything has been wonderful, and we´re excited to have one more night here in Sevilla and then head to Barcelona tomorrow!
.... SEE YOU ALL SOON!!!! -kel
sábado, 4 de agosto de 2007
The Lost Days
Okay, so I admit I really didn´t see much of Valencia because I feel so rotten. Kind of stinks, because it was the last new city I was going to see (from here on out it´s all repeats). But it´s ok, what I did see I liked and I met some cool people. This was the hostel with the least english speakers that i´ve encountered my whole trip. My first day here I hung out with a french girl, i talked a bit with an italian guy, and only yesterday did I come across another American. I spent a lot of my time with a girl from Australia, just walking around town in loops. It was nice.
Last night was fun - I had bought an apple at the market and had stolen the jar of peanut butter that my roommate in Barcelona was planning to throw away, and was really excited at the prospect of a good snack combining the two. I already knew that peanut butter is hard to come by, and that when you do find it it´s expensive, but apparantly apples and peanut butter is a totally american thing - everyone looked at me like i was crazy! the other american confirmed that it´s delicious, and we had a great time watching people try it. Olivia, the Australian girl, tried it and said it was good but weird. Then a couple of french girls i had met came in, and one of them lived in the states for a few months and fell in love with peanut butter, so she was really excited to see it. I gave her a piece, and then her friend, after a bit of hesitation, decided to try it as well. Her friend was so funny - her eyes got all big and she just kept saying "oh, it´s good! very good! wow, very good!" haha. i laughed. when i finished what i wanted to eat there were 2 pieces left and not a lot of peanut butter, so i gave the remaining pieces to the french girls and the jar as well and watched them later as they scooped out the remaining bits of peanut butter with their fingers. it was really funny. spreading the joy of peanut butter all over the world!!!
Last night was fun - I had bought an apple at the market and had stolen the jar of peanut butter that my roommate in Barcelona was planning to throw away, and was really excited at the prospect of a good snack combining the two. I already knew that peanut butter is hard to come by, and that when you do find it it´s expensive, but apparantly apples and peanut butter is a totally american thing - everyone looked at me like i was crazy! the other american confirmed that it´s delicious, and we had a great time watching people try it. Olivia, the Australian girl, tried it and said it was good but weird. Then a couple of french girls i had met came in, and one of them lived in the states for a few months and fell in love with peanut butter, so she was really excited to see it. I gave her a piece, and then her friend, after a bit of hesitation, decided to try it as well. Her friend was so funny - her eyes got all big and she just kept saying "oh, it´s good! very good! wow, very good!" haha. i laughed. when i finished what i wanted to eat there were 2 pieces left and not a lot of peanut butter, so i gave the remaining pieces to the french girls and the jar as well and watched them later as they scooped out the remaining bits of peanut butter with their fingers. it was really funny. spreading the joy of peanut butter all over the world!!!
miércoles, 1 de agosto de 2007
Hostels, anyone?
Hey all!
Well, a lot has happened. Last thursda we had our farewell dinner for the Barcelona study abroad program, and then we all moved out on Saturday and I said goodbye to everyone. It was sad, and it meant time for me to pack up and be on the move again! I decided to spend a couple of extra days in Barcelona, so after leaving our apartment I just took the metro across town and settled down in my hostel, and made friends immediately. the hostel life is SO much fun! this is the first time i´ve been doing it on my own, but there are so many people there that are also by themselves, and everybody wants to make friends, so it´s really a great environment for getting to know cool people. While I was in the hostel there there were very few Americans - lots of Australians and Canadians, as always!! The other night I went out to dinner with an Australian, a Canadian, a French guy, and a guy from Denmark. It´s so cool! I can actually distinguish between the Quebec accent and the french accent now - go me! And I got to impress a Canadian girl last night with my extensive knowlege of Canadian geography (I named all the provinces in order from west to east, with the exception of the last three, and included major cities in each. she was really surprised)! On the other hand, we were playing a game the other night in the hostal and the other American that was playing said that people had to name US states. It was first really funny when someone said "there are like 50, right?" and then was made even more amusing when, after 3 states were named, an Australian guy offered Philadelphia as his contribution, and when we told him it was a city not a state, he tried Chicago. I´ve taken to telling people who are not from the US that I´m from Texas, just because they know where that is before they know Kansas (and if they know Kansas it´s because of a certain movie. ah, i just can´t get away from Dorothy!). haha
So my last days in Barcelona were a blast, and now I´m in Valencia for a few days. When I was in the train station on my way here I was a little confused as to where I was supposed to go, so I asked a lady near me and she looked at my ticket and after realizing that we were sitting in the same row, she took me under her wing and led the way from there through the terminal, out to the platform, and on to the train. She was so sweet! When we arrived in Valencia and asked where I was going and after realizing that she lives close to here, she walked with me all the way here and even gave me her number in case I need anything. She was SO sweet! God is so good, providing people to look out for me all along the way! Plus, I got to practice my spanish while I was talking to her, which i haven´t really done in a while. She was great, and I hope that´s something that I can do for someone some day!
I suppose that´s all for now. Mom comes in a week and I´m SO excited to see her! Wish me luck in the meantime... talk to yall later, and SEE YOU SOON!!!
Kelly
Well, a lot has happened. Last thursda we had our farewell dinner for the Barcelona study abroad program, and then we all moved out on Saturday and I said goodbye to everyone. It was sad, and it meant time for me to pack up and be on the move again! I decided to spend a couple of extra days in Barcelona, so after leaving our apartment I just took the metro across town and settled down in my hostel, and made friends immediately. the hostel life is SO much fun! this is the first time i´ve been doing it on my own, but there are so many people there that are also by themselves, and everybody wants to make friends, so it´s really a great environment for getting to know cool people. While I was in the hostel there there were very few Americans - lots of Australians and Canadians, as always!! The other night I went out to dinner with an Australian, a Canadian, a French guy, and a guy from Denmark. It´s so cool! I can actually distinguish between the Quebec accent and the french accent now - go me! And I got to impress a Canadian girl last night with my extensive knowlege of Canadian geography (I named all the provinces in order from west to east, with the exception of the last three, and included major cities in each. she was really surprised)! On the other hand, we were playing a game the other night in the hostal and the other American that was playing said that people had to name US states. It was first really funny when someone said "there are like 50, right?" and then was made even more amusing when, after 3 states were named, an Australian guy offered Philadelphia as his contribution, and when we told him it was a city not a state, he tried Chicago. I´ve taken to telling people who are not from the US that I´m from Texas, just because they know where that is before they know Kansas (and if they know Kansas it´s because of a certain movie. ah, i just can´t get away from Dorothy!). haha
So my last days in Barcelona were a blast, and now I´m in Valencia for a few days. When I was in the train station on my way here I was a little confused as to where I was supposed to go, so I asked a lady near me and she looked at my ticket and after realizing that we were sitting in the same row, she took me under her wing and led the way from there through the terminal, out to the platform, and on to the train. She was so sweet! When we arrived in Valencia and asked where I was going and after realizing that she lives close to here, she walked with me all the way here and even gave me her number in case I need anything. She was SO sweet! God is so good, providing people to look out for me all along the way! Plus, I got to practice my spanish while I was talking to her, which i haven´t really done in a while. She was great, and I hope that´s something that I can do for someone some day!
I suppose that´s all for now. Mom comes in a week and I´m SO excited to see her! Wish me luck in the meantime... talk to yall later, and SEE YOU SOON!!!
Kelly
lunes, 23 de julio de 2007
Procrastination: it happens in Spain too
Hey all!
I'm taking a break from the project I'm working on to update this thing, and I thought it was time for some pictures!
The Magic Fountain - on weekend nights it has a whole show with music and lights and choreographed water - it's really neat!
The Magic Fountain againWe took a daytrip last week to Figuries, the town where Salvador Dali was born and where the museum that he designed for his artwork is located. After that we headed to Empuries, another small town near here that has some cool Greek and Roman ruins and a nice beach. Here are a few pictures from that!
Ok, so Dalis has some crazy stuff, but he's also got some REALLY cool stuff. Like this painting... what do you see when you look at it? Probably the same thing I saw - a naked woman walking through a doorway or something
now... here's what I saw when i held up my camera to take a picture of it...
Anyone else see Abe Lincoln? I was totally impressed :) And it was really cool because I definitely did a double take - I looked at my camera and saw Abe, then I looked back at the real thing and saw the lady again - I was so confused! It was a really cool effect... kudos to Dali :)
Yet another pretty beach in Spain - oh, and Greek ruins in the foreground (the Roman extension of the city is behind me)
Paddleboats with slides... need I say more?!
Brittany, Rachel, and Genevieve (roommates!) in the kitchen the night we all cooked and ate together.
Arc de Triumf (Catalan) or el Arco de Triumfo (Spanish) - either way, I walk by it every day on the way to school and it's very useful for finding our way home!Our whole program went to San Sebastian this past weekend and it was wonderful!! It's a small beach town on the northern coast of Spain, pretty near France. We actually saw a highway sign on the way there that said "Paris 8__ km" it was cool! I really liked the town of San Sebastian, and I had an AWESOME time there - I spent 5 hours on the beach again, this time going back and forth between playing frisbee in the sand and then swimming for a bit, then frisbee some more, and then cool down in the ocean. It was GREAT! I'm a little sore from running in the sand so much, but it was totally worth it! I was in heaven. Anyways, here's some pictures from San Sebastian!
Look what we found on the beach - WHOOOOOOP!! (The aTm, I mean... not AJ.)
AJ, me and Gerry are all Aggies... WHOOOOOP!!!
Sunset in San SebastianAlright, that's it for now... back to my project :)
martes, 17 de julio de 2007
Un dia en la playa
Well today was just about as great as it gets. My roommate and a friend and I decided to go to the beach today, and ended up stayin there for over 5 hours. It was amazing!! We laid out for a bit, then got in the water (which felt GREAT!). The waves were huge, so it was really fun, jumping with them and diving under them and trying not to get a mouth full of water :) Haha. After a bit we walked down the beach a bit and got some lunch, then headed back to the sand for more laying/swimming/siesta-ing. It was incredible!
This is a map of my part of Barcelona - see my apartment, and see how close the beach is? It's like a 20, maybe 30 minute walk from my door to the water. Can you blame a girl for skipping class to experience all that this city has to offer? Haha. It is summer after all!
Oh, and to whoever it may interest, I've got some pretty ridiculous tan lines. My watch, ring, and flipflops have all left their marks, not to mention how badly my swimsuit tanlines clash with my dresses. But I'd take this over being pale!!
One funny thing about the beaches here - there are people walking up and down the whole time with little coolers trying to sell you water or beer or pop or whatever you will buy, and they just walk by advertising what they have and it turns into a song: "colaaaaa, fantaaaa, aguaaaaa, cerveza beer" at one point i was laying there and it was like a song being sung in a round in stereo - essentially the same song at different points being sung by multiple vendors in all directions - a little bit irritating, but if you're on the beach and in one of those moods where nothing can take away your smile, it's rather amusing.
Ah, this is the life.
This is a map of my part of Barcelona - see my apartment, and see how close the beach is? It's like a 20, maybe 30 minute walk from my door to the water. Can you blame a girl for skipping class to experience all that this city has to offer? Haha. It is summer after all!
Oh, and to whoever it may interest, I've got some pretty ridiculous tan lines. My watch, ring, and flipflops have all left their marks, not to mention how badly my swimsuit tanlines clash with my dresses. But I'd take this over being pale!!
One funny thing about the beaches here - there are people walking up and down the whole time with little coolers trying to sell you water or beer or pop or whatever you will buy, and they just walk by advertising what they have and it turns into a song: "colaaaaa, fantaaaa, aguaaaaa, cerveza beer" at one point i was laying there and it was like a song being sung in a round in stereo - essentially the same song at different points being sung by multiple vendors in all directions - a little bit irritating, but if you're on the beach and in one of those moods where nothing can take away your smile, it's rather amusing.
Ah, this is the life.
jueves, 12 de julio de 2007
This is not America
Hello all!!!
How are things? Things are surprisingly boring here... I'm enjoying Barcelona, even though it's SO different from Sevilla. In Sevilla I traveled every weekend and here I'm not traveling at all until I go to San Sebastian next weekend with the rest of my program. It's nice to just relax - it's the first opportunity I've had to have a relaxing summer, so I'm taking this opportunity to refresh myself for my whirlwind August and the school year that follows.
The past couple of days a strange thing has happened to me... I've been craving America! It's been 8 weeks since I first arrived here in Spain, and this is the first time that I've really been really wanting some America - unlimited free refills with ice and a nice big free glass of water to go with, menus with a language i know and food i recognize, our definition of good customer service, jeans/tshirts/flipflops/ponytails (oh how i miss tshirts!), people fully clothed at the beach, public bathrooms with toilet paper, driving my car, my money actually being worth something (no more of the 1.40 exchange rate!), people NOT having mullets, guys having nothing to do with glitter and capris, watching movies, ranch dressing, functional doorknobs... oh and SO many more things. I miss America! I've missed these things the whole time I've been here, but just the past couple of days it's been really irking me, and I've been WANTING this stuff really badly. So last night we went to Hard Rock Cafe where everyone speaks English, and I got a really really good salad and ate some of my friends' fries with unlimited ketchup. They had pop with free refills, and LIMES for the first time. It sounds small, but it was really nice. :)
I hope yall are enjoying America - know that I miss you all - my friends and family are at the top of my "things in America that I miss" list.
How are things? Things are surprisingly boring here... I'm enjoying Barcelona, even though it's SO different from Sevilla. In Sevilla I traveled every weekend and here I'm not traveling at all until I go to San Sebastian next weekend with the rest of my program. It's nice to just relax - it's the first opportunity I've had to have a relaxing summer, so I'm taking this opportunity to refresh myself for my whirlwind August and the school year that follows.
The past couple of days a strange thing has happened to me... I've been craving America! It's been 8 weeks since I first arrived here in Spain, and this is the first time that I've really been really wanting some America - unlimited free refills with ice and a nice big free glass of water to go with, menus with a language i know and food i recognize, our definition of good customer service, jeans/tshirts/flipflops/ponytails (oh how i miss tshirts!), people fully clothed at the beach, public bathrooms with toilet paper, driving my car, my money actually being worth something (no more of the 1.40 exchange rate!), people NOT having mullets, guys having nothing to do with glitter and capris, watching movies, ranch dressing, functional doorknobs... oh and SO many more things. I miss America! I've missed these things the whole time I've been here, but just the past couple of days it's been really irking me, and I've been WANTING this stuff really badly. So last night we went to Hard Rock Cafe where everyone speaks English, and I got a really really good salad and ate some of my friends' fries with unlimited ketchup. They had pop with free refills, and LIMES for the first time. It sounds small, but it was really nice. :)
I hope yall are enjoying America - know that I miss you all - my friends and family are at the top of my "things in America that I miss" list.
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