Last few days in España

I can´t believe it´s been 4 months already! I am feeling every emotion anyone could possibly feel. I´m excited to go home and see everyone who´s missed me as much as I´ve missed them..first and foremost being my family of course. I don´t know what I would of done if they hadn´t been here for me. I went through some rough times in Spain....the most serious one being the food poisoning I had after coming back from Morocco. I honestly thought my insides were rotting away, graphic I know, but not something I would ever want anyone to experience. My family was also there for me when I experienced some of my highest points, realizing what I´m going to be doing when I graduate Ripon College and finally finding myself. I can honestly say Spain has changed me. It has made me see things in a different perspective. I feel like I have grown as a person as well. I am more aware of my surroundings and I appreciate life more than before. I´ve realized life is about finding peace with God and loving your life to the fullest. One of my favorite quotes, "If you love your life, you´ll live a life of love". Life is too short to try to figure everything out. Life is complicated and well not in your control, most of the time. There are some things you can have control over, hurting others for instance. Not something anyone ever wants to do but its happens to the best of us. It´s only human and it´s part of life. Some people learn best from their mistakes, me being one of them. Not something I´m proud of but definitely something that has helped me be who I am today. I couldn´t be happier with life right now. I have a very loving, supportive family who couldn´t be any more amazing than they already are. I am surrounded by wonderful friends, don´t know what I´d do without them. I live a life of love and that has made all the difference.
As for the people and the culture, it´s been an eye opener. It´s not until you leave your country and experience another that you really get a feel for what culture you´ve lived in. I can relate to the culture here in Spain simply because it´s very similar to the one in Mexico. The people here live from day to day, only worrying about what they´re doing that day. I´ve realized that life in the US is very fast pased and stressful for the most part. That´s not living. Waking up in the morning and being thankful for what you have and enjoying life to the fullest is living. Being able to sit and enjoy a full cup of tea completely without getting distracted by anything, walking to class and taking a second to read the daily newspaper that is handed to you. Getting to school and going about your day just like any other. Every day is a special day. It doesn´t matter if it´s a day you decide to stay in and study for finals or go out for tapas with some friends, take the time to breathe a little and just live for the moment. I´ve found that I´ve been able to relax...something I was unable to do 4 months ago. I usually get really sick around this time and well for me to say that I feel great right now is something I couldn´t of said back in the states, especially around finals. I have more confidence, if that´s possible, lol.. and I am less stressed because of it. I know I´ll do just fine and I know I´m capable of anything I set my mind to. I have worked extremely hard and well I just hope for the best.
As far as relationships go, I can´t stand Spanish men lol. They are ALL the same. I´m happy to say I´ve stayed single while in Spain and well wouldn´t change a thing. I´m happy for now with what I have. If I end up finding that special someone (which I know I have) then wonderful but if not...well then that´s life. The truth is...I really do miss a special someone. He knows who he is and well I really do hope this time and space between us will melt away soon. <3
Back to what I was talking about before, I´m very sad to be leaving soon. I´ve had an amazing time in Spain. I got to travel, one of my favorite things to do, and I also got to experience a new culture. I will hopefully be able to return sometime in the near future. Spain is simply beautiful! The food is amazing, could use a little more salt though, lol...but overall very healthy and very interesting. My favorite would have to be Paella, a mixture with rice, vegetables and chicken. Everyone makes it with different ingredients but I can honestly say my Señora makes the best Paella! I´m going to miss her soo much! She has been my second mother as well as my friend these past couple of months. She has giving me advice I know I´ll use for the rest of my life. I remember her telling me once, "Cheer up chicky, just think of me and smile, I´ve been through more, just remember that." The truth is...she was right about ALOT. I shouldn´t worry about things I don´t have control over. It will work itself out and well it´s in Gods hands.
I´m sorry I´ve made this an extremely long entry blog but I just have alot running through my head right now. If you actually took the time to read all of this...good for you! lol. I seem to ramble off about everything and anything sometimes...kinda my way of letting things out. So basically, I just poured my heart out.
Can´t wait to arrive at O´Hare and see the people who mean the most to me. They´ve truly been there for me all along and will be there til the end of time. As for my friends I´ve made here...I owe you the world! Thank you for helping me and being such amazing friends! Tres Tias con Tatuajes for life baby! lol.
I will be posting up a few more blogs hopefully before I leave. Hope I didn´t bore you too much. For anyone with finals these next couple of days...GOOD LUCK! See you soon!

¡Me encanta este país!

Well, it´s the end of October and I´m still not feeling the autumn breeze. Thankfully Ripon College decided to send me some pressed leaves! It was definitely a surprise :) I love autumn...and it just doesn´t feel like it when you are in a foreign country full of palm trees and beautiful beaches...it still feels like summer here. I´m not complaining though. It´s definitely going to be a shock when I go home...I´ll be coming home to snow! Enough of that though..I have all winter to see it...but for now I´ve been visiting some of the most amazing places Spain has to offer.

I´ll start off with the Alhambra and the most beautiful garden in the world, el Generalife, which are located in Granada.

I have also visited La Rábida which is where Christopher Columbus stayed for a couple of years before his famous voyage. I was able to go on the replicas of La Niña, La Pinta and La Santa Maria.

The city of Italica was fascinating! It was founded in 206 BC and can you believe the amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators!

I´ve also been to Cáceres, Mérida and Trujillo which are located in Extremadura. The castle was amazing and the view was unreal!

Mallorca, my favorite getaway!!! It is a gorgeous island located in the Mediterranean Sea!! The water was crystal clear and the scenery took my breath away every time I noticed something new. It felt like we were in a movie!

...and of course...I just HAD to get a tattoo! My friends Chels and Kaitlin got one as well!

How could I forget Cádiz?

But these are only a few places I´ve visited. I will be posting up more pics soon and more blogs! I will be leaving for Morocco and the Sahara Desert on thursday and I´m definitely going to put some pics from my trip!! Have a great week everyone!

¡España!

It´s hard to put my thoughts into a blog but I´ll try my best. I guess I´ll start out with my eight hour flight to Spain. I was unable to sleep on the plane which wasn´t good since I was tired for three days straight but on the bright side, I got to see the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. It was simply amazing! When we got to the Barajas Airport in Madrid we were greeted by Sevillanas. They were wearing bright colored dresses and were handing everyone jars full of olives. It was silly but I soon found out it was women who had been in prior beauty pageants and were trying to give us a ¨taste¨ of their culture. I had no problems with my luggage which I´m thankful for since some of my friends had to wait days for theirs. Also, by friends I mean girls I had met through Facebook believe it or not. It sounds kind of weird but it was very helpful to already know some of them before arriving into a foreign country. We were also greeted by one of the staff members, Aco, who works at CC-CS (the school I´m currently attending). We all rode the bus to our hotel. We had orientation and the following day we were taken to our homes. I took the taxi with my roomate. Her name is Elizabeth Doyle and she is a junior at Standford University. Her and I got along great the first time we met and have been good friends ever since. When we arrived at our home we had to ring the bell and have our Señora come down to open the door. She gave us both kisses on the cheeks and a big hug. She took us up to the second floor of the apartment and showed us around. We found out she lives with her sister Olga and her cat Lola. They call her ¨gordita¨ which I thought was both funny and cute. Also, Olga´s little grandson Alejandro always comes over. He´s adorable and will probably be a heartbreaker when he grows up. He is only 3 years old and he´s already attending school. He is learning both French and English at school and when he´s around us or his mom he only speaks in Spanish. His mom is a professor at the University of Seville and she´s quite a character. All in all, the family is very friendly and loving.

The school I´m currently attending is The Center for Cross-Cultural Study. We had to take an exam before starting classes just to see where everyone was at. I´m not one to brag about my grades but I ended up getting the highest score on the exam. I would have to thank my Spanish professors and well my parents for having me in bilingual classes at a young age. The first three weeks were extremely hectic since we had to have a 4 hour long intensive course and two other classes. It was mostly to get everyone to perfect their Spanish since most of the students didn´t speak a word of Spanish all summer. I was lucky to have practiced it all summer since I speak Spanish at home and also at work. This week is the start of the second half and well I´m overwhelmed with the amount of classes I have to take. I am taking 15 credits and so far I´m loving my classes. I am taking a dance class where I learn the basic moves required to dance what is known as ¨el baile de las sevillanas¨. This dance requires alot of memorizing and well coordination as well. I am also taking Cultural Realities of Spain, Great Works of Spanish Literature, Immigration in Spain and Spanish for Business. The professors are easy to understand since their accent isn´t as thick as I thought it would be. Trying to understand people outside of school is hard even for a native speaker like myself. The Spaniards tend to speak alot faster and they often swallow half of the words. It´s interesting to hear the language and I´m starting to pick up the vosotros form in everyday conversations. I wish I would have learned it a little better in school but I guess now is the best time to really put it to use.

So far, Seville has treated me well. I am learning ALOT about the people and their culture. That in itself is a good topic for a blog. So I´ll leave you with this. I´m sorry I haven´t been on here updating my blogs but with school and traveling it´s kind of hard. I´ll be writing a blog about my trips as soon as I get more time.

Keep an eye out for new blogs...by the way...the picture above is the one I took at a bullfight here in Seville. It was one of the most cultural things I´ve done thus far. I should really get more blogs on here! I´ll try...promise. Until then...have a wonderful day!