remember me?

¡Hola!

Sorry I have abandoned my loving fans for so long, I have had a really crazy couple of weeks. I don't even know where to begin! Two weeks ago I went and saw a Flamenco dance with the school, it was incredible! There was a band made up of 7 men, and the dancers came on either by themselves or in pairs. There were 4 dancers, they each did a solo and a pair number, and at the end they all came onto the very tiny stage and did a little dance off. It felt soo cultural to me and I loved it so much, I would love to go again. The next day Jessi came to visit me for the weekend!!! I was so happy to see her, especially because it was a long weekend and most of my friends back home were going home for the weekend. I got to show her all around Madrid, and I felt awesome being able to show her so many cool things. It was so much fun to be able to see her, and I am going to stay with her for Thanksgiving, which I can't wait for! I also went to a bullfight that weekend, which was so crazy. I surprisingly didn't feel that bad for the bull (I know, I am a heartless person), I think because it felt so cultural to me and everyone was rooting for the bull to die. It was certainly very interesting and entertaining to watch. This past week I had midterms, so I spent a lot of time studying. I studied hard and I think that most of them went well, but only time will tell on this one. I spent Friday exploring Madrid more with some of my closest friends, and we found a bookstore that sells English books, which I was thrilled about since I recently finished the two books I brought over here. Yesterday, I went for a hike with the school. We went to El Boalo, which was the mountain area, and Manzanares el Real, which is a little town right outside of Madrid. Last night, I went to a Real Madrid game!! It was so much fun, and Madrid won which was very exciting as well. This afternoon I went to the Reina Sofia, but only got to stay for about 30 minutes because it closed earlier than expected.. I will definitely be back to spend some more time, because I hardly saw anything!

All in all I am having a blast and keeping myself VERY busy. I can't believe that October is halfway over already.. time has been flying by since I've been here! There is still so much that I want to see and do - too bad I have to go to school. I will do my best to start updating more regularly, time has just been slipping through my fingertips.



flamenco dancers, seriously sooo amazing. (and blurry because they moved so fast..)


Plaza de Toros! huge bullfighting building.


Palacio de Real - the Royal Palace.


YAY Jessi came to visit!!!!


A band practicing outside of the palace for a giant festival.


A face off, soo cool.


defeated bull being dragged out of the rink by horses.


Retiro Park, so beautiful.


sunset over Madrid.

: )

santiago!

weekend update!

greetings from spain, my friends,

last weekend i went on a trip with the school to santiago de compostela, which is in the northwestern part of spain. it was amazing and beautiful, and i had so much fun! the bus ride there was about 8 hours, and we left at 6 a.m. on friday morning. when we got there, we checked into our hotel (which was crazy.. 6 floors high and attached to a mall) and then we went on a walking tour of the city. another super old city in spain, it is very significant for christians because many of them do a pilgrimage throughout france and spain, and santiago is the final stop on the journey. the pilgrims usually attend mass and wash their sins through saint james. there were so many people with big traveler's backpacks and walking sticks.. it was really cool. we also went to a restaurant and had an AMAZING dinner.. we had empanada with tuna, and it was so delicious, and really cool because it's so cultural for that part of spain.

saturday we went to the cies islands, which has a beach that was rated the number one prettiest beach in europe a few years ago. it was INCREDIBLE!! i went for a hike and ended up seeing what felt like the entire atlantic ocean.. it was so so so breath taking. we spent the whole day on the island, and it was just so nice.

sunday we woke up, checked out of the hotel and threw our stuff on the bus, and then walked back in town to take a tour of the cathedral. it was so awesome being inside, because it was built in the 1100's. and then we got to go on the rooftops, and we could see the entire city and beyond. THEN we snuck inside the church.. there was a mass going on and the place was just flooded with people, it was nuts.

so all in all it was an incredible weekend. i am still loving it here and can't wait to share all of my adventures once i get home.



view looking out during our hike.


THE WATER!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT.


just some skinny side road.


monument of saint james.


gorgeous church.


sunlight shining over a little square.


the tippy top of the roof.. i was on that!