Finishing up Valladolid (and hopefully Spring break!)

Hola chicos, 

So Friday was our graduation ceremony at the Plaza de Santa Cruz.  Everyone got called up and given a diploma and shook hands with a school official.  Afterwards there was tons of picture taking, as well as some tables filled with food.  After awhile people started drifting off in small groups, until I was one of the last ones left, so I went home too.  I didn't really do anything that afternoon, but that evening a small group of us (the majority that was still left in Valladolid) went out for Doner Kebab one last time.  Yesterday (Saturday) I started my packing.  I've made some good progress so far, but I've got some work ahead of me before my dad shows up tomorrow.  I did take some time off from packing to go meet up with Rut, from my Bible study, and we went to a cafe and chatted for awhile.  She had choir practice at the church I go to, and she invited me to come listen to them practice, so I did for awhile.  I came back home, ate supper, and packed a tad bit more...but now it's time to return to my adventures over spring break.

The following day I went out to Wawel castle in town with the guy from Canada, Dave.  I took everything with me, and just went to the train station to meet up with Brenna Dee, my traveling buddy.  Once she arrived we went to get our Eurail passes validated...turns out no one in the city of Krakow knows anything about Eurail passes, because we couldn't find anyone who knew anything about validating them, even though you can buy them for Poland.  We got a ticket to the border, and were told to talk with the people in the Czech Republic.  After that fun adventure we went back into the center of the town, where we picked up some lunch at the market and wandered around for a bit.  Later, we went back to the train station and waited for our train to show up, which we rode to the border, where we tried talking with the people there.  They also had no idea what was going on, but thankfully they let us on anyways.  

We finally arrived in Prague the next morning, and asked all around the station for the location of the Eurail aid office, which according to the booklet we had received was around somewhere.  We eventually realized that it was at a different station in Prague, so we walked over to that station, only to be told that it was at the first station we were at, turns out the booklet is wrong.  The lady was nice enough that she called the number for us and found out the exact location for us, so we hiked back and finally got our passes validated.  We dropped our packs off in some security lockers and took the metro into the town center.  I went into a cathedral, and then we both went into this castle on the top of the hill overlooking the city, and checked out a museum about the area and a basilica.  After stopping for a Starbucks drink, we continued on and bought some food for lunch, which we ate on some famous bridge.  We proceeded to walk around the town, then went and bought some food for supper, which we ate on the front steps of a museum before heading back to the castle/hill to take some night shots of the city.  We returned to the train station and waited until our train to Austria.  One of the guys in our train compartment happened to be from the same home town as Brenna Dee; small world!  

The next morning we arrived in Salzburg, Austria, around 10 in the morning.  We moved into our hostel, and then headed into town and grabbed some lunch.  On one side of the city is this big hill, so we took an elevator up to the top, and explored the trails up there, as well as some ruins

 of some old fortifications.  From the top we could see the mountains we would be going to out in the distance.  We went back to the hostel for a little bit, then we went out to the Mirabell gardens, which is suppose to be related to "The Sound of Music" somehow, but I'm not sure how.  After that we stopped by a store and picked up some food for supper, then went back to the hostel to eat.  After dinner Brenna Dee had to work on a computer, so I started playing cards with some girls I had heard speaking English, so I got to hang out with them for a while before watching part of "The Sound of Music."  As I was watching it, a girl came up to me and asked me if I could help with her computer because it wasn't connecting with the internet.  As we were talking I found out that she was a student at UW-EC too, and was studying abroad in Germany for the semester!  It was pretty late by that point, so I went off to bed.  

The following day we took a train to the town of Innsbruck, the home of the 1976 Winter Olympics, and we explored the town for a bit before heading back to the train station.  We decided to take a different route than we had orginally planned, and were able to leave slightly earlier than planned.  We got to the town of Interlaken, Switzerland alittle after midnight, only to find out that there were no more trains, and that the station was closed for the night.  Whoops.  We walked through the town a few times to stay warm, and around 1 AM decided to go into a casino we had walked past a few times, since nothing else was open and we figured they would have heat.  The lady working the front desk was nice and didn't make us pay the 5 franc cover fee since it was so late.   I played my first casino game (slot machine), but I didn't win anything because I didn't know what I was doing (all of the instructions being in German didn't really help any).  It wasn't really a big deal though, because I only spent 2 francs the whole time I was there (under 2 dollars).  When the casino closed we went back over to the station and sat down and played some cards, before actually falling asleep for awhile.  Around 4:40 a station worker came biking up, but when she saw us waiting there she wasn't very happy and told us to leave (I think she thought we were homeless bums).  We started getting our stuff together, and I decided to ask her what time the station opened.  I'm pretty sure she didn't speak any English, because she started freaking out in German, and the only thing I understood was she was going to call the police or something, so we got out of there in a hurry.  We walked up and down the town once more, and then it was time for our train (6 AM), which took us to the city of Lauterbrunnen, but I'll write about that another time.  My dad gets here in a few hours, so I better finish with the packing!

Coming to an end

Hello again, my life has once again been quite crazy, but I find myself with some free time, so I'll (try to) post about what's going down and the end of spring break.  

I'm officially done with everything over here, this past Monday and Tuesday were finals, and we just got our grades today.  It's so weird to think about, the time has gone so fast and yet so slow at the same time.  Other than studying, I've been busy with goodbyes (sad day).  On Sunday our church had a going away party for us, which was a lot of fun, but sad at the same time.  I'm blessed in that I'll get to go to church again this Sunday, but I think I'm the only one.  They sang us some songs, had pictures, videos, and food.  A couple of us also sang "Grace Like Rain" for them.  Tuesday was our last Bible Study, so we met at our bar/cafe one final time for our study.  A few of them didn't have anything going on that Wednesday because of a holiday in Valladolid, so we made plans to get together.  The following day we went to the "beach" (the water's not safe for swimming) and had a picnic lunch and played frisbee.  It was a beautiful day out, and a blast to just relax and hang out with friends.  That evening we went to a bullfight, my first one.  I'm not really a fan of blood and whatnot, but it was a good experience, even if we were sitting in the sun (cheapest seats!).  We've all gone out these past few nights, going to Doner Kebabs, hanging out, playing darts, fun stuff like that.  We've got our "graduation" ceremony tomorrow, and then almost everyone is leaving Valladolid.  A majority are heading straight home, a few are traveling, and I'm hanging around til Sunday, when my dad gets here.  We're go

ing to travel for a week, then head back to the states, where I'll have 2.5 days at home before camp starts up.  Ok, it's time to catch up more with spring break.

So, after spending the night in Portomarin, I got up and eventually caught a bus to Lugo, a city I knew nothing about.  When I got there I wandered around until I found a 12 Euro single person hostel room (let's just say it was 12 euros for a reason...at least it had a lock, so I felt safe).  I went out and explored the city, and found that there is an old roman wall in the middle of the city, which also marks the more touristy part.  I spent most of the day just relaxing though, because I was still sore from the Camino.  The following morning I got up nice and early to catch the 9:30 bus, only to find out that it was only on the weekends, so I waited around the station for an hour and a half.  I got to Santiago around lunch time (in Spain that is) and found a 10 euro hostel room.  After dropping off my pack I went out around the town, and then went to the Cathedral of Santiago, the ending point of the pilgrimage.  While I was there I saw the crypt where they think the Apostle James and two of his disciples are burried, and sat through part of a mass.  I then went for a walk through a park nearby, where there was a Christian group holding activities for kids and doing surveys a

nd such.  I volunteered for a survey, and afterwards the kid invited me to the meetings they were having all the week in the evening.  I was looking over the invitation he gave me when I realized that my watch had gotten messed 

up, and it was actually Thursday and not Wednesday, and that my train to Madrid left that night!   Thankfully I realized this a few hours before my train left, so I was able to get to the station with time to spare.  I got on my train, and went to bed (it was a sleeper car, so I had an actual bed that was about 6 feet long, when I stretched out flat my head and feet were touching).

I didn't actually see anything in Madrid, other than the metro and the airport, where I waited for several hours.  While waiting in line to board I heard the two people in front of me speaking English, so I starting talking with them.  The plane ended up being an hour late, yet somehow we only arrived 30 minutes behind schedule.  When I got to Milan I realized that since I hadn't booked this hostel, I forgotten to print off directions and my phone didn't work in Italy.  The people I had met in the airport had forgotten their directions too, so we went to a nearby hotel, and thankfully the worker was really nice and got directions for us.  After taking the metro to the right part of town I walked to the hostel and checked in, where I met 5 others from my school who happened to be in Milan at the same time as me.  We chatted for awhile, and then all went to bed.

The following morning the others left to continue their trip, and I moved my stuff over to another hostel for the day.  I got there too early to check in, so I left my stuff there and went out.  I ended up going to the Leonardo Da Vinci Scienc

e Museum, and got to see some of his drawings, and learn about things like glue sticks and televisions.  I went back to the hostel after that and talked with my new roommates for awhile, and then went out to a castle in town, followed by an aquarium (not as cool as th

e one in Lisbon, but free!).  That night I just chilled in the hostel and talked with one of the owners because she was from Spain, so I was able to practice a little bit.  The following morning I got up early and took the metro to the airport, where I waited for awhile before boarding my plane to Krakow.  After the plane landed they made us all get on a bus to take us to the terminal, which ended up being less than 30 feet away.  I took a bus into town, and was lucky enough to find my stop on the first time around (I had no idea how to say the name) and found my hostel.  I got checked in, and walked into the city center.  Since it was Easter Sunday, I went to the basilica, and thought about going to a service, but realized that I wouldn't understand anything.  There was also a market in the city center, so I bought a waffle-like thing with whipped cream and sprinkles (really good!) before heading back to my hostel.  I met the guys staying in my room (one from Canada and one from Australia) and we hung out and played some cards before going out for supper, where we found a really good meal for really cheap (I love traveling to places where the dollar is actually stronger).

Well, I think that's good for now, so I'll write some more tomorrow or Saturday.  Until then!

Long overdue (otherwise known as the beginning of spring break)

Hey everyone, so I realize this is a little (or a lot) late, but I've finally got free time again, so better late than never, right? These past couple of weeks have been insanely busy, what with spring break, regular homework, school excursions, and a ten (Spanish sized) page research paper, but with the paper out of the way I can get back to this. In this post I'll share about the first half or so of spring break, and write the rest another time, so this doesn't get too long (yeah right).

For those of you who don't know, the Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage with the main route starting in southern France and going to Santiago de Compostela, a city in the northwest part of Spain, with the destination being the cathedral de Santiago de Compostela, where they think the remains of the Apostle James and two of his disciples are located. I walked with Erin, Ian and Eric, and we started in the town of Ponferrada, 200 km from Santiago. Not long after we got there we met this young woman from Germany, Vicky, that was just starting too. She had came by herself, so we invited her to walk with us, at least for part of the time. We set off the following morning around 8, and ended up walking for 29.3 km the first day, and we stopped in this little town called Pereje. While we were at the albergue (hostel for pilgrims on the Camino), we also met these two guys each with one of their children, from Murcia, staying at the same place, and they showed us these elevation charts they had of the Camino, so we could see the hill that we would have to tackle the following day. We decided that we would walk to a small town a few kilometers past the summit of the hill, and just hung out and got ready for bed.We were in bed by 10, for the first time since I've been in Spain, haha.

The next morning we were up at 6:30, because you want to get as much walking done early in the day before it gets hot, and to make sure you get a spot at an albergue (more of an issue during the summer). The first couple of hours weren't too bad, the path followed the road weaving amongst the hill through the valleys, so it was pretty flat. Eventually we reached the hill, and started up. It was tough and it took quite a while, as we had to go up over 1000 meters in elevation. Vicky and I stopped at this little village near the top, and she went into a bar to get a bottle of water. While she was there she also found out that the albergue we wanted to go to was closed for renovations, so when we caught up with the others we decided to just wait and see how we were feeling after reaching the top before making our decision as to where to stop. We finally reached the top and the path more or less leveled out; the view was beautiful, we could just look back and see all the hills and valleys that we had walked through up until then. As we walked along the top, we also crossed over the border from Castilla y Leon to Galicia, and not long after that we came to the village. Vicky decided to stay there for the night because she had a lot of bad blisters, but the rest of us decided to go another 9 kilometers to another albergue. We set off, and it was brutal. Both Erin and I weren't feeling too good, and the path involved several big inclines that really slowed us down. We finally got to Alto de Poio after walking a total of 31 km. It wasn't actually a town, just a bar with an albergue in the back and a hostel across the street. The albergue there was the smallest, dirtiest, and coldest one we stayed in the whole time, and we had to buy something to eat from the bar because there was no grocery store for kilometers.

Day three was the most miserable weather-wise, it sprinkled or rained pretty much all day so some of the paths were pure mud. We had to walk up a hill that was pure mud, and I thought for sure Erin or Ian were going to fall and slide all the way down because they weren't using walking sticks like Eric and myself, but we made it up. Later on in the day we had to walk through some small hills, and it was so foggy you couldn't see more than 15 ft. in front of you. Eric walks faster than Erin or I, so soon we lost sight of him. We figured he would get a little ways up, and then stop and wait for us, but after 1/2 hour we still hadn't seen him. Even after we finally got out of the fog we couldn't see him anywhere, so we just kept walking, hoping to find him. I think we walked 15 km or so without any big breaks because we were looking for him. We finally found him at the town of Sarria, waiting for us. We went to the public albergue in town, and got some beds. Us guys went out shopping for some supplies and some food, and we went back and made a ton to eat, it was sooo good after a hard day of hiking. All in all we went 32 kilometers that day.

Day four was my last day of hiking, because I only had 2 1/2 days to walk 113 kilometers so I could catch my train down to Madrid. The walking was fine; we actually had to get off the Camino at one point because there was a herd of cows coming down the path and there wasn't room to go around them. Only in Spain (or Wisconsin I think). We also stopped at the 100 kilometer marker, and took our picture by it. I stopped in the town of Portomarin, after walking 23 kilometers, but the others went on because they didn't have to catch a train as soon as I did. I went to the albergue, and went out to get some food. When I came back, I found one of the guys from Murcia and his son Jorge playing cards, so they invited me to play with them. We played some American games, and then Nico, the other dad, came back to the albergue with his daughter Maria, and we all played a Spanish card game with a Spanish deck. When they found out that I was by myself, they invited me to eat supper with them, so that was really cool just getting to hang out with them. We hung out a little bit longer, and then it was time for bed.

Alright, that's good for now, I'll post some more later on this weekend, so talk to all of you later!

Only one week til break!

Hello everyone, sorry I'm running late again, I don't even have a good excuse like studying for tests or anything like that this time. The rest of last week was pretty laid back. Two Thursdays ago was Father's Day in Spain, so we didn't have school. Because of this, a lot of people skipped school on Friday to go traveling, so there were only 3 of us in class, so we played games in two of the classes, pretty relaxed. The weekend as a whole has very low key, I didn't do much other than go to an outlit mall and regular mall, church on Sunday, and a friend from church's concert. The concert was really fun; I ended up being the only American that went, so I hung out at the concert with one of the girls from our Bible Study. Afterwards she introduced me to a few people, and then I went to Burger King to eat some dinner, and as I was eating, the people I had just met came walking in! They invited me to sit with them, so I got to hang out with them and practice my Spanish.

The past week was normal, didn't do anything too exciting, just school and school work, with Bible Study (always a high point of the week) thrown in. Friday night I went out to Pizza Hut with some friends and had some nice greasy pizza, and then a few of us went to a supermarket and split some ice cream. I made sure not to be out too late, because today we had an excurision, and had to leave at seven in the morning. The bus ride was about 3 hours both ways, so I was able to get a little sleep there and back, as hard as that is for me on a bus. They don't really make seats for tall people. We went to Las Médulas, an old Roman gold mine. This trip was quite different from our normal ones where we go see cathedrals and castles, but it was a good change. We did a lot of hiking, including up a big hill (everyone was dying on the way up), and got to go into a few caves. Going up the hill was tough, but the view from up top was amazing and worth it in my mind. I'm going to put a picture or two up, but they don't really do it justice. I went out with friends tonight, but came back early so I can get enough sleep for church tomorrow. Ah yes, also, we have our time change tonight, so I will once again be 7 hours ahead of everyone back in the states.

Just in case you haven't heard yet, my parent's sold our house and are going to move before I get back. Well ok, I did know about this before hand, but I still think it sounds funny and makes for a good story. We're going to stay in/around Eau Claire, but at this point haven't found anything. Well I better get to bed here, so have a good night and enjoy the pictures!

Portugal and then some

Hey everybody, I'm home from Portugal and am starting to get back into the swing of things. Last week was tests, tests, tests. I ended up having 6 tests and my oral expression dialog in 4 days, along with regular classes. I also finally got a backpack, a nice red and grey one, from the Corte Ingles. That store is ridiculously huge; one could live in a Corte Ingles and wouldn't have to leave for anything. I'm not complaining this time though, since I got a pack. On the way out of the building I was telling a story to Kari, so she was looking at me. Unfortunately, at that same moment one of the security posts in the door way decided to jump out in front of her, so out of the corner of my eye I saw her run full-on into the post and heard a loud thud. Thankfully she was fine, and just couldn't stop laughing, even though it left a mark on the side of her face for a few days. The price to pay for finding a pack I guess. A couple of us Americans have gotten involved in a Bible study with some of the University students, so we've met twice so far (meeting again tomorrow). It's nice to be involved in a study again, even if there is a language barrier. Not knowing a lot of the specific words makes it kinda hard to go deep sometimes, but I have faith that God will teach us what we need to hear.

After all of the testing, I met up with Elizabeth, Steven, Kim, Brittany, and Liana (all from UW-Stevens Point) at the train station around 10, and then we caught a train to Madrid (my first time on a train), and got to the Madrid station around midnight. From the station we took the metro over to the airport, where we camped out for the night/morning. While we were waiting there we ran into some other students from our school who were flying out of Madrid as well, so they camped with us for the night. I ended up getting an hour of sleep (the tiles aren't the most comfortable things I've ever slept on), and then our flight left around 6 AM. The flight was uneventful, I slept for another hour and woke up shortly before landing. After taking a bus to a stop near our hotel we wandered around for a little while before we found it. When we got there, we found out that we couldn't check in until 2 PM, and it was around 8 (Portugal is in a different time zone, so we gained an hour on our way over). Thankfully they had a place to store our bags, so we put all of our stuff and got organized. We stopped by a shop next door and bought these passes that gave us free access to any tram, metro, bus, or elevator in Lisbon for 24 hours. We walked around for a bit, and tried to find a beach. I think we might have found a small one, but some people were filming a movie there so we couldn't go on it. As we were walking along, we actually had people try to sell us drugs! They would just walk past us and hold out their hands and offer it to us and we were just like what in the world? Why are they trying to sell it to us of all people? I think over the whole weekend that happened 6 or 7 times. Eventually we hopped on a metro and went to the Gulbenkian art museum, where they had works by artists such as Monet, Manet, Rembrandt, and others. After walking through the museum we explored the gardens around the outside, and we actually all fell asleep for a while sitting on a hill in the sun. It was so nice out, the temperatures were in the 70s while we were there. Once everyone was awake again we took the metro to the other side of town to go to this big aquarium where they had a huge tank in the middle and four smaller tanks (with different environments), as well as a ton of even smaller tanks with specific species. Overall it was a pretty cool place; they had some really interesting looking fish there, the kind that you hope you'll never run into in the wild. After that we walked around a little bit more, and then tried to head back to the hotel. We got some groceries, and then got lost. We had no idea where we were going, and eventually asked for directions (something we did a lot that weekend). Once we were able to find someone who could speak a language that we could understand (none of us knew any Portuguese) we were able to find our way home. We ate, and just chilled in one of the rooms before heading off to bed.

After 10 hours of sleep we finally got up and got ready for the day. We got our passes renewed at the store, and headed to the coast, where we caught a ferry to a town really close by. Once there (after struggling to figure out the metros there and getting some help from a lady who lived there) we bought a pass for the metro and took it to go see a 100 foot tall statue of Jesus on a 200 foot tall platform. It is so big you can see it from Lisbon. After getting off at the wrong stop at first we found our way over to the statue and got some really nice pictures. From the statue we also had a great view of the 25 de Abril bridge (see the second picture), a bridge that looks like the Golden Gate bridge, except bigger. After checking out both of those we got some ice cream, and then decided to find a beach since we had heard there were some good ones nearby. We ended up walking around for at least an hour and a half through various barrios before giving up and taking the ferry back over to Lisbon. Once we were back we took a train along the coast to a different part of Lisbon, where we visited the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (a monastery where Vasco da Gama is buried). From the monastery we thought we could see the tower of Belem, the icon of the city, so we walked over to the tower, only to realize that it was actually a different tower. After taking some pictures of the other tower we saw the real tower of Belem further down the coast, so we headed over there, only to find that it had just closed. However, in front of the tower there was a little sand; we finally found a beach! A few of our group put their feet in, but I decided to just stick my hand in because it was so cold. We took the train back and jumped on the metro, only to find out that when Elizabeth had renewed her pass the guy had messed up and given her the wrong one, so she had run out of times she could use her card, and you needed them to get out of the metro. When it was time to get out, I swiped my card and she went through ahead of me. We didn't move fast enough though, and I ended up making it about half way through before the plastic gates tried to close on me, so I had to squeeze through them, ouch! We went and ate at a restaurant, and then headed back to the hotel to play cards and hang out before heading to bed.

Sunday we got up and tried to find our way to the aqueduct in town, but failed, so then we tried to find our way to the airport. After half an hour of failed attempts to find a bus that would take us to the airport we finally just got taxis to take us there (my first time in a taxi). We found our terminal and settled in to wait, when I noticed that the guys sitting next to me were talking in English, so I started talking with them and found out that they were from the states and were studying at a university near Madrid. The plane ride was fine until close to the end, when we ran into a bunch of turbulence. In case you didn't know, I don't like heights, and related to that, don't like flying, so that part was less than fun for me. Let's just say I had a death grip on my arm rests. We landed safely though, and took the metro back to the train station, where we ran into some more people from our school while waiting for the train.

School again today, but our teachers were pretty laid back today so it wasn't bad. Katie J., a friend from school who's studying in Sweden, came down for a few days, so I got to see her today (and will probably some more this afternoon), so that was really cool. Other than that there's not that much going on this week, just some planning for spring break and hanging out today outside since it's so nice out. Hasta luego!

Overdue

Hey so sorry that I'm slacking over here (it's been over a week since I last posted); I've actually been kinda busy over here (that and I've been lazy too, but we won't talk about that one). Last week wasn't as busy, the only really exciting thing I did was mail out a bunch of postcards (thanks to Katie's help), and went to a couple of stores, including a candy store. I finally bought a bunch of random Spanish candy, something I've been wanting to do for a while now (the candy has been gone for several days by now, it was tasty).

Last Saturday we went on another school excursion, this time to Salamanca, about an hour and a half away. We split up into groups for a tour of city, and saw a church, the Plaza Mayor (which was pretty big), and the University. The University of Salamanca is the 3rd oldest university in all of Europe, so it was cool to see it. Also, on one of the buildings there are a bunch of carvings, and on top of one of the skulls there is a small frog. If you find the frog supposedly you will pass all of your tests and graduate from college. Our teacher pointed it out, so I'm not sure if it's still valid, we'll find out soon enough. We then had some free time, so we went and ate and just walked around the city. There were groups of Spanish guys dressed up, who I think were going to go practice for San Fermin, or something like that. The people I was with had their picture taken with one of the groups (I was the one taking the picture so I didn't get in on that). We also got some ice cream from the Plaza Mayor; sitting in the store the ice cream looks better that any I've seen in the US, and it was pretty tasty. After that we also went to the Catedral Nueva, which isn't as big as the one in Sevilla, but it was still cool. They even had a relic inside, some priest's arm. After the Cathedral we had some more free time(=more walking around) and then we boarded the bus and headed back to Valladolid. Apparently I fell asleep on the way back.

This week I've really been working on figuring out my spring break plans. I'm pretty sure for the first part I'm going to do the last chunk of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage in Northern Spain. After that I'm trying to figure out the best way to get to Poland to travel with a friend through Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland before flying back out of Milan, Italy. Part of the planning includes buying hiking boots and a hiking backpack, so I've gone out several times this week searching for those with a few friends. Thankfully Kari is knowledgeable in hiking backpacks, and has kept me from buying any lousy packs. So that has been keeping me busy, along with the fact that next week we have midterms (7 classes worth of tests in 2 or 3 days, I can't wait) so I've been doing a little bit of studying for that. Tonight I'm going to eat supper at a Mexican restaurant in Valladolid with some of my new friends from the private university in town, so I'm looking forward to that. Well I better get going, I'm meeting a friend to get bocadillos so we can take a picture for Chico, so I'll write again soon (hopefully it won't take me as long this next time!)

Eric and I posing as El Ciego (blind man) and Lazarillo from Lazarillo de Tormes, which we learned about in Literature, look it up! This is probably my favorite picture of me so far in Spain.

Carnaval in Sevilla

Hola todos, so I just got back from Sevilla last night, and it was a great trip. It was also the first trip that I've planned and gone on with a small group (in this case one other guy, Bobby) so I was really glad everything went pretty smoothly. We had been talking about traveling together for Carnaval ever since our original plans fell through, but we didn't actually decide to go for sure until last Monday. Even with only a week to plan, we were able to get bus tickets and a cheap hostel, so it was all good. We left at 11:30 on Friday night, and rode the bus until around 8 Saturday morning. We were thankfully able to find our hostel pretty easily, and we put our stuff in a side room until our room was cleaned. Right away we also met a girl from Chile who was staying at our hostel too. María Luisa was studying German in Germany, but had two months off for break so she was traveling around southern Spain, so we talked with her while eating breakfast on the roof of our hostel. After breakfast we went walking around the town, seeing different sites. Not long after we left, Kari, a girl from Texas who is studying at a private university in Valladolid, gave us a call because she was looking for something to do. We met up with her, and headed off to the castle in town. With our student IDs we were able to get in for free (I like free things) and we explored the castle(see the first picture). Behind the castle were these amazing gardens; they were so pretty and I think we could have spent a day just in the gardens themselves. After the gardens, we met up with two of Kari's friends, Brittney and Alex, and went and bought some ice cream and had that outside since it was so lovely out (around 70 degrees). We then walked around until we found a Corte Ingles, where we bought groceries for the rest of the weekend. Bobby and I headed back to our hostel, where we made and ate our supper. We also introduced María Luisa to the joys of peanut butter on toast. After supper the three of us went to a bar to watch a flamenco show (bottom picture). On the way we stopped at a plaza in town to watch a little bit of a show that was going on. There were a bunch of Disney characters singing and dancing around on a stage. The show was free, and it was really good. We also ended up sitting next to two Canadians.

The following day (after we actually got up) we went walking around town for a bit until a friend of Bobby (who is studying in Sevilla) called him, so we met up with her. She took us through the cathedral (the 3rd largest cathedral in the world!) and there was some service thing going on for Carnaval. Right by the cathedral is also where all the palm readers would stand. They would hold out this twig thing, and when you would reach out to take it they would hold your hand and read your palm. I didn't know what they were doing, so the first time I put out my hand to take the twig and the woman grabbed my hand. Before she could do anything some random guy yelled at her, so she let me go. After that I kept my distance, but they still tried again; one lady even tried to pull my hand from my pocket when I was walking past; crazy stuff. We then met up with a few of her friends (American and Spanish) and chilled in a park for awhile. Bobby and I left the group and went over to the Plaza España to take pictures. The Plaza España in Sevilla had actually been used in the filming of the newer star wars movies, as part of the planet Naboo, so for a star wars fan like me that was pretty cool. We went back to the hostel, and cooked some pasta with María Luisa, and then headed out for the evening. We found a place to chill, and Kari came out and met us there, and we ended up just hanging out for awhile before heading back and going to bed.

Monday we actually got up at a decent time (around 9), and had breakfast with María Luisa, and said goodbye to her because she had to go catch her bus. Bobby and I packed up everything in our room and checked out, and walked around the city for a little while before getting some lunch at McDonalds. We went to station after that and got on our bus. There was one stop where we had to wait for half an hour at a station, and they locked the buses so everyone had to get out. Well, when Bobby and I got back on the bus, we got to our seats only to realize we had gotten on the wrong bus, so we quickly got off through the back door and went over to the right bus. The bus driver gave us a weird look, I have no idea why. We got back to Valladolid around 11, and went out with some of Bobby's Spanish friends for a few hours. I'm looking forward to a shorter week of school this week, and next weekend we have another school excursion. Talk with you later!

The promised update

Ok, so a few days later I'm finally getting to writing the post I promised in my last one. Friday night I just ended up staying at home, and chilled on facebook and played a game, nothing too exciting. Saturday we had another excursion, this one was to three locations close to Valladolid. The first place we stopped was the city of Tordesillas. The main attraction there is this house where the kings of Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas (original name, I know) back in 1494. The treaty divided what was then the known (unclaimed) world, which was good because it stopped them from starting a war or anything unpleasant like that. We actually learned about the treaty in one of my Spanish classes last semester, so it was kinda cool to actually learn about it in real life. After that we went to a castle that our university owns. It's unrestored, so it was different than the last one we visited. We got to explore it on our own, so I went on top of the tower (even though I hate the stairs, they're really steep and really small), and down to the bottom of the well (down stairs, don't worry, I didn't jump). The one picture is a picture of myself and my friend Elizabeth on top of the tower. After the castle we went to a park in town to eat lunch. By this point I really had to use the bathroom, and since the builders of the castle didn't bother to put indoor plumbing in, I had to go searching for a bar or cafe. Myself and one of the other students went walking down the road, only to find a place called "Condireria Rico-Bar," a place with my last name (see the other picture below)! What are the chances of that? After using the bathroom we felt bad just leaving, so we went and got a coke and coffee (the coffee was Alaina's, I still don't drink the stuff), and talked with the bartender. Turns out, the bar was named after him, his last name is Rico! Crazy stuff. After eating we got on the buses and went to a museum/dig of roman ruins about 20 minutes from Valladolid. Since it was Valentine's day, the staff had a little drama thing for us in a replica roman house, complete with all the guys reading a love poem to all the girls (in Spanish of course).

That day was also Paul's (a student from Eau Claire) birthday, so about 10 of us went out for his birthday. We actually went to his house first and had cake. That was my first time in someone else's house in the whole month and a half I've been over here, since Spaniards don't have people over. After that we went to a bunch of different places, and the group got split up because it's hard to do anything with a group that big.

Sunday I went to church; the normal pastor was out of town, so one of the members, Javier, spoke. After church we had our normal Sunday meal, a noodle soup, and then garbanzos with meat (and the always present bread and water). After the meal I went with my host mom and host sister to a bar near school for a coke. I did my 10 minutes of homework, and then skyped with various members my family for probably an hour and a half, so that was good.

Today we started a new class schedule; same classes, but at different times, so my group didn't have class until 10:30, and tomorrow I only have 2 classes, woo hoo! This afternoon I went to the library with my roommate and another student and picked up my library card that I applied for last week, so I now have a lovely light green library card. I don't really have anything planned for the rest of this week (like usual). This coming weekend is Carnaval, and we don't have school next Monday and Tuesday. At this point I don't have anything planned, but I might be going to Sevilla for a couple of days. If that doesn't happen, I'll probably just take a day trip over the time off. I don't mind staying in Valladolid for Carnaval, but I want to at least do some traveling. Well that's about it, I'm going to hang out with some people for one of the girl's birthday, so I should get going. Adios!

Feliz día de San Valentín!

Hello everybody, so far this blog has just been what's going on in Spain for me, but what with it being Valentine's Day I wanted to post something else instead (I'll fill you in on my trip soon, don't worry).

Valentine's Day is a day where a lot of people focus on love, with varied reactions, usually depending on what is going on in their lives at the moment. Sadly, a lot of people seek what I see to be a distorted, weak love that is all we can have and show without Christ's love in us. What then, should our love look like? I really enjoy reading 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 at this time of year, to gain a better perspective of what our love should look like, and what love we should be seeking.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What love this is, and how hard it is to live out! I understand that in our broken condition we will never be able to truly live this love out, but that shouldn't stop us from trying. This is the love we should be living. This is the love we should be seeking. During this day of love (as well as the rest of the year), I sincerely hope this is the love you focus on, and that you don't settle for anything less. Strive to love fully.

One month and counting...

So it's official, I've been here for over a month now, as crazy as that sounds. Sometimes it feels like it's going by so fast, and other times, like it's going by so slow. Regardless, this past month has been a time of growth in all aspects of my life. Among other things, I've had to become more independent. I've never been this far away from home in such a non-structured environment. It's exhilarating, yet hard at the same time.

I ended up getting to watch the super bowl with some friends on Sunday night. We only stayed until the end of the halftime show, but it was still a fun time. We found a bar with a television in it and asked the bartender if we could watch it and he was completely fine with that. He was really nice, and even made us some popcorn for free. It was actually kinda weird to see so many Americans (on the TV); I must be used to seeing only Spaniards everywhere. The only bad thing was that instead of the commercials, we saw three Spanish guys talking about football, which was kinda a bummer, but I was able to watch some of them on line the next day.

My geography test ended up being super easy, so I did really well on that. I also took a literature test (hopefully I did well on that one too), and today I took an Oral Expression test (which was harder than I thought it would be; the teacher had given us a list of topics, but then stuff that wasn't on that list were on the test). I've got another test coming up in geography, but if it's anything like the last one, I'm not too worried.

This weekend was my latest weekend yet; Thursday night I went to a dance club with a few friends and didn't get home until 4:30. While I was at the club some random guy came up to me and started talking with me, but it was so loud I couldn't tell what he was saying. I'm not sure, but he might have been complementing me on my facial hair. The following night I went out again with friends, and didn't get back until 5. I thought for sure that I was going to be out later than my roommate for once, but I still beat him home by a few minutes. Sunday after church we had a meal at the church with everyone (happens every 2nd Sunday of the month), so I got to hang out with some Spaniards, which is always cool. Well I should get going now; hasta luego!

Toledo

Hello again everyone. It's Sunday evening over here, I'm just chilling until super time (probably about an hour or so), and putting off my half hour of homework I have to do. Friday night I went to my first movie over here in Spain. I went and saw Siete Almas (Seven Pounds) with some of my Stevens Points friends. I enjoyed the movie, up until the end, and then I wasn't a huge fan anymore, but I won't give anything away. After that I went back to my house instead of going out with other people because it was around 1, and I had to get up at 6. I woke up around 6 and went to the bus station, where 9 of us met to go to Toledo for the day. We took a bus to Madrid where we took the metro to another bus station, where we got on a bus to Toledo. We walked around the city a lot, and of course got lost quite a bit too. We checked out a few museums and churches, as well as quite a few shops. I ended up getting a sweet hunting knife; even though I don't hunt, I thought it looked cool (Toledo is famous for their blades). For supper, we ate at McDonalds, my first time since arriving in Spain. I had a cheeseburger and a McFlurry, and they were both really good. The McFlurry I got with M&Ms, and they used peanut M&Ms, which was reallly tasty. I didn't go out when I got back, even though it was around midnight, the prime time to head out for the night, because I was really tired and had spent around 7 hours on buses. Sunday, I went to church. It's always fun when we sing a song that I recognize and know in English. We also had Communion, the first since I've been here. Other than that I haven't been up to a whole lot today. It's hard to believe that I've almost been here for a month now; it has been going by fast. Well I need to go do my homework now, since I might be watching the Super Bowl tonight, it's not on until 12:30 AM over here, so it might be a long night.

When will the planning be done??

Hellooo everyone. So I realized that in my last post that I forgot to mention something pretty big to me; I'm going to be working at camp again this coming summer!! I'm pretty excited for it; I'll be working on Service Corps again, but if last summer was any indication, I'll be doing a little of everything, which is completely alright with me. The only downside is that I have to be there on May 27th by noon, so I'll barely have any time at home.

So lately I've been feeling like all I do in my free time is look at at bus/train/plane/hostel/hotel websites, trying to plan my trips. I think now everything is set up for our day trip to Toledo, we have bus tickets for the nine of us going to Madrid, and then we have to buy the tickets from Madrid to Toledo at the Madrid bus station. Portugal is almost done now too, all that's left is to reserve the train tickets. For some reason every time we try to buy them online, it doesn't work, so we are probably going to have to go to the train station and get them there. We have our flights from Madrid to Lisbon, and we found a 3 star hotel for about the same price as a hostel, so we'll be staying in a hotel.

I finally got a hold of those two girls, but they can't do anything until after February 13th. The UVA (the university of Valladolid) is having finals right now, except we don't have them since we've only been here 3 weeks. That means that all of the students are doing some hard core studying, so they are kind of busy right now. After that hopefully we will be able to get together.

Last night I went to Cafe España with about 6 people, and there were some jazz musicians playing, a piano, a bass, and a drum set. It sounded pretty good, but it was around 10:30 and we were kind of tired, so it was starting to put us to sleep. We left when they took a break half way through, but by that time we decided that we were hungry, so we wandered around for awhile until we found a Turkish restaurant (not the same one we went to before, but very similar food), and had a second supper there, before returning to our homes and going to sleep. The picture above is what I had to eat, it was really good. This other picture is our dog, Tinko. He's really friendly and hyper. Well, I better go study, I've got my first quiz in geography tomorrow, and I need to review for it. Adios!

Good morning everyone, it's morning because I woke up not too long ago (I was out until 3:30). This week has been pretty good...mostly all that's been happening is school and planning. This coming weekend I'm going to go to Toledo for a day with some friends from school, so we're trying to get that all figured out. Also, some of my new friends from Stevens Point invited me to go to Lisbon, Portugal with them in March for 3 days, so we are trying to figure out transportation and lodging. It looks like we are going to have to take a train from Valladolid to Madrid super late Thursday night, and then a plane in Madrid at 6 in the morning to Lisbon. I think we've found the cheapest way to get there, now it's just the lodging and the attractions. Oh, I finally got my movil (cell phone)! It only took me three tries, but I've finally got it now, and I'm going to put a picture of it up on here.

Last night we had intercambios at the school, where Americans and Spaniards sign up and get together. It's kinda set up like speed-dating (at least what I think speed-dating looks like), but since there were more Americans, some of us doubled up so it was two of us for every Spaniard. It was neat to talk with actually Spaniards, but all of them I talked with were quite a bit older, so I didn't exchange my number with any of them. However, after that the other roomful of people came over to eat snacks. As I was standing there by myself by the snack table these two girls came up to me and started talking with me. We actually ended up talking for quite awhile (we were the last students there), and all of my friends ended up leaving, which was a problem, because I was going to go to McDonalds with them, and I had no idea where it was. So instead I ended up walking with Isolda and Medium to the Plaza Mayor, where they went to catch a bus, and I trying calling a bunch of people before I finally got a hold of someone. I'm probably going to get together with them sometime this week, and I'm looking forward to having a chance to practice my Spanish with actual Spaniards. I ended up going to a few clubs with friends from Stevens Point, and those were pretty interesting. I ended up having to pretend to be the boyfriend of one of them because there were a couple of creepy guys at Sotabanco (one of the clubs). Today I'm going to try to go shopping for some t-shirts, possibly with Erin, and I'm going to go walking with some friends later on as well, I think in the Campo Grande. I'm really excited as it warms up (high of 43 today) and dries out to spend more time in the Campo Grande, it's really a cool place. That being said, I probably should go do something productive (like homework) before I go hang out with people.

To Segovia and beyond...

Hello everyone, I just got back from our first school trip, this one to Segovia, about 1 1/2 hours south of Valladolid. We didn't leave until 9:30ish, and when we got there the first thing we did was split up into two groups, one with Alfredo, and one with Agustin (two of our teachers). We walked around the city, and saw a bunch of things such as the Casa de los Picos, Iglesia de San Martin, the Catedral, a statue of Juan Bravo, and the Roman Aqueduct (very famous, I'll put a picture up here). After that we had some free time to eat lunch and look around the town, so a group of us went and ate on a ledge overlooking the Plaza Mayor. We were going to go to a contemporary art museum, but it was closed, and the other museum we were going to go to was closed as well. After that, we decided it would be really cool to go into the main cathedral, because it looked really cool from the outside, only to find out it cost 5 euros to get in; so much for that. We ended up just walking around the town, and some people bought a few things, scarves, glasses, etc. I had to go buy some batteries for my camera, because my last two died during free time. After free time was over, we went to Alcázar, a big castle in Segovia. It was a pretty interesting place (at least to me), and there was a tall tower on the front that we got to go up in. That was our last stop, so we headed back to Plaza Mayor, and then took the buses back home. I'm really looking forward to the other excursions now, if they are anything like this one. Other than that, I haven't been up to too much other than school. The only other adventure lately has been me trying to get a cheap cell phone for the past week. I've been trying to get a cheap phone from HappyMovil, and they have them at the Phone House, of which there are two of in Valladolid. I went to both of them, only to find out they were out of that phone, and wouldn't have more for a few days. A few days later I went back, only to find out they didn't have anymore yet. The lady then told me that there was another Phone House south of the city, and they had the phone there. The lady then went to give me a SIM card, only to find out that they were out, and not only in this store, but in all three, so the phone wouldn't do me any good anyways. I'm planning on going back this comming week, and hopefully I'll finally be able to get a phone. Without a phone it's really hard for me to get a hold of people when we aren't at school, so I haven't really been able to hang out with people during the week. Well, it's almost time for me to go eat supper now, so I will leave it at that. Have a great day everyone!

If only all school was this nice...

Well, today was day 4 of school. From what we've had so far, I'm not too worried about my classes. The teachers have been teaching international students for awhile now, so they have a good idea of what works well for us. We don't really have much to read for our classes, and if we do get homework, it's very little. I probably have half an hour of homework tonight, and it's not too hard. It's funny, but I feel like I have a lot more free time over here in Spain, even though I walk everywhere. I think part of it is I have less homework, and the other reason is I have all of my classes at once, so when I get done, I just have the rest of the day to eat, sleep, or do whatever else needs to be done. For example, this afternoon, after my lunch, I went over to the Campo Grande, and walked around and took some pictures with Kari, one of the girls from Eau Claire. After that we just went to a cafe (the same one I went too a few days ago) to get something hot to drink. I really enjoy having this time to just spend with people. The only thing I don't like is that Spaniards don't really have people over to their houses, so if you want to spend time with someone, you have to go out somewhere, which usually means spending money. Once the weather is nicer, that won't be that big of a problem, because being outside will be really nice then. All of these pictures are from the Campo Grande.

Sunday

Well this was my first Sunday in Valladolid, and about 6 of us checked out a church recommended to us by some of our friends who had studied abroad in Valladolid in the past and had really like the church. I had a GREAT time. Soon after we sat down one of the men from the church came over and introduced himself, so we got to talk with him a little bit, as well as with the girls in front of us, who were members of the same study abroad program as us, but from Stevens Point. It was really nice to just be able to worship, even if it was in a different language (some of the songs had been translated from English, so I recognized some of the tunes). I'm pleased to say that I understood a majority of the sermon, and was able to get something out of it. I'm really looking forward to spending more time at this church, and getting to know the people more. After lunch I had an urge to go out walking through the city by myself, so I did. I got over to the Plaza Mayor, and there just happened to be a girl from my school there, waiting for another girl from Eau Claire. We went into a cafe in the plaza, and I had Chocolate con churros (which was really good). The chocolate is really rich, it's almost like drinking liquid chocolate (hence the name, no?). While we were sitting there, four others from our program came walking in randomly, and we ended up hanging out for a good hour and a half. I've got school tomorrow, so I probably won't be up as late tonight (meaning not 3 or 4, which is actually kinda early for over here). Buenas noches!

What's all this white stuff?

Well, I guess the snow from Wisconsin decided to follow me here, because it has been snowing all over different parts of Spain, including Valladolid (it's still snowing now). Apparently it's so bad in Madrid that they even closed the airport. I guess they got a bunch of ice too, but it's really not that bad, assuming you have experience driving in this kind of weather, which a lot of them don't (at least not enough of it). On the plus side, it meant a bunch of us Americans got to have a snowball fight with a group of random Spaniards in the Plaza Mayor, so that was cool. I'm not sure which side won. Last night I also ended up going to a couple of discotecas (dance clubs) with friends, which was all right. I didn't really end up dancing with anyone or anything like that, so I pretty much just stood around or danced by myself. I personally didn't find it too terribly exciting, so we'll see if I can find a way to make it more exciting. It's my first weekend in Valladolid, but I don't really have any big plans, other than trying to find a church tomorrow that some friends recommended. I think I'll probably go for a walk to the campo grande (a big park near my house) as well. It's getting close to 12:30 now, and I still haven't done anything super productive, so I probably should get going now. Until next time, adios.

First day of school...

Hello from Spain todos. Today was my first day of classes. We took a placement test yesterday, and got put into group based on our skill level. I'm in a group with a few friends, so that's nice. We also took a walking tour of the town after the test, so I feel like I have a better understanding of the town. That night all the students involved with the study abroad program (from all the schools) got together for a big dinner. On the way we saw a protest about Israel attacking Palestine, so we made sure to stay clear of that. Classes today went pretty well, we only had two subjects today, out of the 4 or 5 we have in total. Some of them we have tomorrow, others not until next week. For our classes we need to buy a workbook, so a bunch of us met after our siesta and went out shopping. A bunch of people also bought cell phones, but I didn't have any ID with me, so I couldn't buy one. I might go get one later, I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do tonight, either hang out with friends our just stay at home, we shall see. Until later, adios.

Hola todos, estoy en Valladolid ahora. We (those of us that stayed at the hostel) all slept past our alarms, so we got up later than planned and had to rush around. We didn't miss the bus or anything, so that was good. We met our host family, and found out the information the school sent us wasn't very accurate. Sara is actually less than 55, Ruth is actually 18, and they have a dog, not a bird. Sara gave us a really big lunch; I can't remember the last time I had a lunch that big, but it was all really good. We have our placement tests tomorrow, and start classes the day after that. I'm looking forward to exploring the town, and I'm sure I'll do lots of that tomorrow trying to find the school! Until later, adios!

Arriving in Spain...

Well, I'm in Spain now. Both of my flights went well, and all of my luggage got here (I didn't think it was going to at first), and I even made a new friend; Javier, a Spaniard sitting next to me, so that was cool. We found our hostel in Madrid, after going the wrong way only once, and it's pretty sweet. I put a few pictures on already, as I'm sure you can see. Tomorrow we leave for Valladolid, and meet our host families then. Until then, adios!