Four leaf clovers, Guiness pints, and the Atlantic!

Hey all!  Ok, so my promise was not really that good.  I've just realized that in the past 3 months I have really slacked on this blog.  I am really going to try updating more often.  I also realized that in 3 months I have only journaled twice.  Ooops.  I really need to get my act together with these two things! 

The newest adventure in my life was my trip to Ireland!  I left Wednesday March 16th and returned home on Monday March 21st.  Words cannot even describe how much I loved Ireland.  I was just overwhelmed with how beautiful the country is, how sincere the people are, and how amazing the food and beverages were!  Not to mention, how CRAZY the St. Patrick's festival was!  And most importantly, they had DR. PEPPER. I was saved.

Wednesday night we arrived in Dublin and after over 12 hours of traveling, we decided to take it easy and just go to a pub and have a quick dinner and something to drink.  I had my first pint of Guiness here!  (Dublin is famous for the Guiness brewery).  Not my favorite, but it was a must do on the list.

Thursday we woke up extremely early to watch the parade.  It was insane!  It was completely packed.  Kids sat on lightpoles and the tops of trees!  People were on the roofs of buildings, on tops of telephone booths, and peering out windows.  The parade itself was a lot of fun.  I would describe it more as a parade of street performers and actors rather than floats like we're used to in America.  After that we ventured to the carnival where we rode a few rides.  Then, we walked along the river all the way to the port where there was a huge ferris wheel.  When we got close, we realized it wasn't really a ferris wheel.  It was the eye of Dublin, where after paying a fee you rode for 15 minutes and it was like a tour of Dublin from the sky!  It was sooooo neat.  Unfortunately, it was dark so it was difficult to see everything the commentator was talking about.  Nonetheless, it was beautiful all lit up at night!  After our hike to the eye, we went back for dinner in a pub and then went to another pub to celebrate St. Patty's.  I will never ever EVER be able to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the United States without thinking about that day.

The next day we toured the Guiness brewery and went on a pub crawl.  The Guiness brewery was so cool.  I learned quite a bit about the process of brewing beer, along with the history of Guiness.  I even learned that the Guiness Book of World Records was created by the founder of Guiness.  Apparantly, he was in a pub where a dispute about the fastest bird in the world inspired him to create a book of facts to help bartenders with simillar discussions.  Crazy, huh?  The pub crawl was a lot of fun as well.  Our tour guide took us away from the touristy spots and to the pubs where all the locals go.  It was so laid-back, and there was live music at each pub we went to!

The next day I left Dublin and went to Galway, where one of my professors from my home university is on sabbatical for a year.  Three other girls from my home university are spending their spring break visiting her as well.  It was amazing to see friends from back home!  Galway was extraordinarily gorgeous.  I even got to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! (Only had to go to Ireland to do it haha.)  We walked around Galway all day and ate in local pubs.  I absolutely loved Galway, but loved seeing my friends even more.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I was anxious to return home to Spain, too.

Ireland was my first taste of traveling outside of Spain.  And I was instantly hooked.  I am just yearing to go to another country and experience another culture!  The next on the list is London, Rome, Florence, and Venice for spring break in about a month.  But before then I am traveling to Sevilla and Barcelona in the next couple of weeks. CAN'T WAIT!

 Katelyn and I with our first pints of Guiness in Ireland.

 Katelyn, Kirsten, and I waiting for the parade to start on St. Patrick's Day.

 One of the children on a light pole for a better view :)

 Dublin at night!

 Laurel, Heidi, Mishayla (friends from back home!) and I along the bay in Galway, Ireland.

 Me in front of the cathedral in Galway.

 Mishayla, Heidi, Rachel, Laurel, and me proudly representing Nebraska Wesleyan University in Galway.

One of the streets in Galway with pubs and stores.

Madrid!

Well now that it's officially been two weeks since my Madrid trip, I suppose I should finally get around to updating you all on the trip.  Sorry I've been so lazy with this, but I promise to get better at updates!
On February 17-20, 6 friends and I endured the 5 hour bus ride to Madrid for what we hoped was the Carnaval celebration.  Wrong.  Apparantly Carnaval is this weekend (March 4-6).  A bunch of websites and my current 2011 Spain travel book all said it was that weekend, but apparently they were wrong.  I should have known, because Carnaval is basically the Spanish version of Mardi Gras, which occurs right before Ash Wednesday.  Even though we were upset with the mix up, I am taking it as a blessing in disguise because I never would have done or seen any of the things that we did instead.

Thursday February 17:  Arrive in Madrid!  We had our first metro experience and then had to settle a hostel mix up.  The hostel we booked online was not the same hostel in Madrid.  The website's address and phone numbers did not match.  It was a mess at the time, but we found a decent hostel right down the block less than 2 doors away that had accommodations for all of us.  After settling in, we decided to venture out and eat dinner.  After a lot of disagreement and discusison, Burger King was the winner.  (Don't judge.)  After dinner, we at churros con chocolate, which is very famous in Spain.  We actually had churros from the most famous churro diner in Madrid.  They were good, but nothing to write home about in my opinion.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around in the Plaza Mayor and Plaza del Sol.  In the evening Carly (my friend from New Orleans) and I went to a bar and met a guy who actually was born in Peru, grew up in London, and now teaches English in China.  His family lives in Spain now, and he was making his way back to China.  It was a great evening, and he was absolutely fascinating to talk to!  We also met up with two guys from California, and one was even born in Nebraska! Needless to say, first night was a success!

Friday February 18:  Carly and I spent most of the day trying to track down Real Madrid futbol tickets.  It's been a dream of Carly's to see Real Madrid (2010 World Cup Champs) play live.  When we got the tickets, I thought Carly was going to pass out due to excitement.  We also visited the Palace, which was amazing!  So much detail went into every room that we saw.  The tour only allowed us to see about 20 rooms, but there are over 1,000 in the palace!  It was just incredible how much gold detail and artwork went into the rooms.  That night we ventured to a bar called Nebraska!  I told the waiter I was from Nebraska in the United States and he brought us free tappas (appetizers) with our wine!  We also went to an Irish Pub later with our friend from Austria, Alex whom Carly and I had met earlier in the day.  It was a lot of fun, and I think the bartender got a kick out of us.

Saturday February 19:  The morning was spent exploring the museum, Reina Sofia.  It was an art museum with a lot of Picasso's work as well as a few Salvador Dali's artwork.  The modern art was very interesting, and I really enjoyed seeing the Guernica in person.  The Guernica is a Picasso a very famous Picasso painting about Spain during WWII.  That night was the Real Madrid game.  I did not know what to expect, but I had soooooo much fun!  Grown men jumped up and hugged and sang when they scored, and the atmosphere was just great.  After the game, we randomly came upon where the players drive out to go home.  Fans lined the streets.  We decided to stay and take picures.  I was not prepared for what happened.  The players (in their matching new sports cars) would stop at the stop light and fans would flock the cars just to touch it and take pictures.  Girls seriously were crying, and little kids chased after the cars.  There was police and media and just chaos.  The futbol players here are treated like absolute Gods.  I have never seen anything like it before.  I was just amused by the entire thing. 

Sunday February 20:  2 other girls and I went to the open air market, but were only there for about a half hour before we were called back to the hostel.  Carly had gotten extremely sick and needed to go home as soon as possible.  We packed up our things and headed to the bus station.  Unfortunately, there was no way for us to change our tickets, so we waited in the bus station for four hours.  Not the most fun time of my life, but it was good to just sit down.  The weekend was just constant on the go and never really any down time.  I was very stupid and took only one pair of shoes; my flats nonetheless.  Lets just say they didn't survive the trip. 

Well I know this was a book, but my first official long stay trip was a complete success and jam-packed!  I know there was disappointment that we weren't there for Carnaval; however, we would have never gotten to go to the palace or the museum or the game if it had been.  We also got to sightsee a lot more than we would have.  I guess everything really does happen for a reason!  I think the entire group could agree, our Madrid trip was amazing, even if it did end with every single one of us getting the flu! :)

                                               Carly and I indulging in churros con chocolate.

                                                       The palace.  Wouldn't mind living here.

                                                             The Real Madrid Game!

                                             The group (minus Carly) in the Plaza de Mayor

                                                The only non-survivors of the weekend.

Travels Galore!

My last post was a tad bit long. But I realize it had been quite a while since I have updated all of you! I didn’t even get around to telling you about my traveling experiences!
Two weekends ago, I went on a day excursion for foreign exchange students. We went to 3 different locations. The first stop was a tiny little town that had a gorgeous waterfall and church. It had connections to Napolean. The second stop was a part of Navarra (region of Spain that I am studying in) where the witches used to go to practice their magic supposedly. It was a huge cave! It was so cool. I didn’t expect to find a cave at the end of the trail, but there it was! The third stop was to the National Park of Navarra. It was more of a tour of trees. I was not entertained, even in the least bit.
Yesterday, a few friends and I went on a day trip to Tafalla, Spain. There was an agricultural festival there. When I heard about it, I was not that excited. Growing up on a farm in Nebraska, I’m sure you can just imagine how interesting an Agricultural festival sounded to me! Nonetheless, I went because it was only a 3 euro trip, and my friends were going. It was also on Sunday. Sundays here are torture. EVERYTHING is closed, so there usually isn’t a whole lot of action other than church. Well, turns out it was more of a farmer’s market with authentic art, food, and commercial goods stands as well. It was so much fun! I love flea markets, garage sales, auctions, etc. So it was perfect for me! We tried different Spanish authentic foods, bought little trinkets from local artists, and browsed through tons of clothing stands! I couldn’t have found a more perfect way to spend a Sunday with friends here!
Next on the list is Madrid! A group of friends and I leave on Thursday morning, and will return Sunday afternoon. We are going for Carnival, which is basically Spain’s version of Mardi Gras. I cannot wait for this experience! Today has just dragged on and on (as Mondays usually do for everyone), and I hope that the next two days aren’t the same. I just want to be on that bus making my way to Madrid!

The Aha! Moment

As of today, (Valentine’s Day) I have been living in Spain for exactly 38 days. It is really hard for me to grasp this concept. I still feel like it was just hours ago that I boarded the plane in Omaha, NE. This past month has given me so many opportunities, challenges, triumphs, and learning experiences that it is so hard to comment on all of them!
A week ago, I moved out of my host mom’s house and into my own apartment. As part of the program that I am in, I was only living with my host mom for one month and then living in a piso (apartment) for the remainder of the time with other students. At the beginning, I was so eager to move into my own place with friends, but as the days with my host family started to dwindle, so did my desire to move. It was difficult to say goodbye to a family that had so eagerly welcomed me into their home with open arms and cared for me like I was a biological member of the family. My host brother and mom actually drove me to my new apartment, and helped me take all my bags into my room. It was sad, but my host mom assured me that I was welcome to visit anytime and she expected me to stay in contact.
Part of the reason I had become so attached was due to the fact that she had taken care of me when I had gotten really sick earlier this month. I ended up getting bronchitis and was in bed for 7 days. After 2 doctor visits and 3 medical prescriptions later, it finally cleared up. But during that week, my host mom brought me meals in bed, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and refilled my water cup throughout the day. I had not received that kind of attention when I was sick since I had been in grade school. The doctors visits were a whole other story. Trying to describe symptoms and fevers in Spanish is much harder than I had anticipated, especially with the whole Celsius and Fahrenheit conversion factor. My host mom took my temperature the first night and said it was about 39 to 40 degrees Celsius. This meant nothing to me. Later on during a skype chat with a friend, I discovered it was about 102 to 104 degrees Farenheit. My fever had been a lot higher than I imagined. Now I understand my host mom’s worry the first night. I guess here it is very normal to call a doctor to come for home visits. I did not like the idea when my host mom suggested it and was very worried about my ISEP insurance covering it. I waited almost 3 days to go to my university doctor. I even emailed the ISEP coordinator at the university here inquiring about the procedure (with no reply, still.) One doctor’s visit wasn’t enough. I was forced to return one more time after 4 days, and she gave me a stronger antibiotic for bronchitis. After the antibiotics did their job and I was much better, I was told that my insurance does cover home visits. I guess that’s just one more thing to add to my list of live and learn here. Let’s just all cross our fingers that will be my only run-in with the health-care here in Pamplona!
Classes also started last week. I will not lie, they are going to be intense. I enjoy all of them, but I am not used to not understanding exactly everything that is said or being discussed. I am taking a Spanish grammar class, a Spanish discussion and culture class, a Sociology of Communication class, and a Perception and Consumerism of wine class. During the wine class we have been discussing the perception and sensory of wine. We have been testing our skills at taste and smell. The smelling part is very tricky. I can usually figure out what it is, but then to figure out what it is in Spanish is tougher. The tasting part has been a lot of fun though. The first two days consisted of tasting water diluted with sugar and salt, and then ranking the samples from most diluted to least. The third time, expecting something similar, I took a large drink of the first glass. After shock wore off, I realized the teacher had mixed vodka and water. I learned that lesson. Little is more.
I think that is the biggest lesson I have learned this past month. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. There is no getting through an experience like this , without being able to laugh at your own mistakes. I have already told my teacher I was going to put butter (mantequilla) on my face instead of putting make-up on (maquilarse). Oops. I’ve also discovered that almost every door in Europe is opened by pulling it, no matter what it looks like. I always push first. Sooner or later, I’m gonna master the art of door opening here. I have also successfully walked into a full glass door in front of other Spanish students on my way out of class. They didn’t even try to hide the fact that they were laughing at me. This is only a fraction of the very idiotic things that I have done while here so far. In the past, these things would have really gotten to me, but here I have learned to just laugh and go on. I would laugh at someone else doing it, so might as well laugh at myself!
I am now loving my new life abroad. It took quite some time to adjust, but I finally had that “Aha!” moment. I was sitting on my balcony outside my room, when it hit me that I actually live in Spain. I know this sounds so cliché and corny, but it was quite the bittersweet moment for me. Instead of having a countdown until I leave, I now loathe every day that passes by.

Mujeres, Taxistas, and Discotecas

Anyone who has searched the market for the perfect house or apartment to rent knows the anxiety and stress that accompany it.  Now, imagine doing this in a foreign country.  In a foreign city where directions are difficult and you are not quite an expert in the language, nonetheless.

Welcome to my last 72 hours.  This past weekend was spent searching for an apartment in Pamplona.  An apartment to call home for the next six months.  As part of the ISEP Exchange program that I am in, I can only live with a host family until Feb. 5.  So it was time to start home hunting!  Another girl from back home and I decided to live together and were on the quest for roommates.  This did not go so well at first.  At first we had multiple people via email agreeing to live with us.  However, when the other foreign exchange students arrived this was not the case.  They have to find apartments and living arrangements within 4 days of arriving to Pamplona.  My friend and I have 4 weeks.  So due to the time differences, they all found housing arrangements together.

Kirsten (my friend from back home) and I got a list of available rooms and began our search.  This started the first problem.  We spent an entire afternoon circling our favorites, calling the landlords to set up times to see the apartments, and marking them off on the map.  When we were looking at the information on the apartments, there was a section that said what gender they were looking for:  men, women, or indifferent.  When I was looking through, I started crossing off all the apartments with m's.  Thinking they only wanted male roommates.  About 30 minutes later Kirsten informed me about how idiotic I am.  M stands for mujer, which is woman in Spanish.  Ooops.  Who would have guessed that one?  We also had a tough time deciding the difference between electric, central, and gas ciudad heating.  There was also the obstacle of figuring out how many open rooms the apartment had.  The sheet would say two or three, but when we called there was only one open.  (They do not rent out whole apartments.  Rather, it is by open rooms.)  After a while, google earth became too much of a distraction, and poor Kirsten was left calling landlords.

Finding the apartments in Pamplona was a whole other story.  We are still learning to navigate the roads and figuring out the streets and where everything is located.  We found all of the apartments, just with a little difficulty.  There was one instance that we both decided we had FOREIGNER stamped across our foreheads.  After looking for one apartment for about 30 minutes, we were really frustrated.  We were also late by 10 minutes.  So, we decided to take a taxi to the apartment.  When we got in and gave him the address he looked at us very funny and pointed to the street one over and told us it was right there.  The apartment was right around the corner.  He was very nice and even told us how far down the street to go; however, we both felt very stupid.

After 6 apartment viewings and countless phone calls, we finally found a place to call home.  We are even signing the lease later this week.  And we found roommates!  Kirsten has been in contact with two other students from Mexico who will be studying abroad in Pamplona.  They arrive this week and I cannot WAIT to meet them!  The apartment has four bedrooms, but one bedroom can be for 2 people.   Essentially it's a 5 person apartment, but the landlord said it could be for 4 people for the same price.  Right now there will be 4 of us, but it could turn into 5.  The location is perfect!  It is right between the university and the old part of town where all the shops and nightlife are.  It's about a fifteen minute walk both way.  I could not be any happier that we found a new home and are both pleased with it!  I am just dreading the goodbye with my host mom.  I know it will be a very tearful event.  I have become so attached to her and her generous hospitality.

This Saturday also marked the first night of my Pamplona nightlife experience.  One of my friends from back home got me in touch with a student from Pamplona whom he met while studying abroad in Estonia.  Itziar messaged me right away and invited Kirsten and I to go out with her, two of her other friends from Pamplona, and her cousin from San Sabastian.  We went to several discotecas and bars in the old part of town.  It was so much fun!  Although it will definitely take some time getting used to the nightlife hours here in Spain!  I am used to coming home at 2 am from the bars, not just going out and getting started for the night!  But then again, I am also used to eating dinner at 6 pm, not 10 pm.

Today marked two weeks since I first arrived in Pamplona.  It has been quite the adjustment period.  But I have not regreted one moment of it at all!  This weekend we are already making plans to visit Barcelona or San Sabastian.  I can only hope it will provide as much fun as this weekend in Pamplona did!

Week One Complete!

Well it's been quite the adventure already.  In just one short week I have already experienced more than I ever imagined possible.  Here's a run down of my week in Pamplona, Spain.

My adventure started off with a real bang!  When I was getting my seat arrangements for my flight from Atlanta to Madrid, I asked if any upgrades were available.  (Kudos to my mom for the tip!)  They told me they were not designating seats yet and that I would be called up when it was my turn.  Well, I was never called up, so about 10 minutes before boarding I returned to the desk.  I asked again about upgrades. The woman at the desk told me none were available and simply handed me my seating arrangement.  I was confused when I looked at my ticket when I was boarding the plane.  I was actually in first class!  I had to ask the flight attendant twice if I was in the right seat.  To my astonishment I was!  I was given champagne while the other passengers boarded, a four course meal (while other passengers only received chicken breast or plain pasta marinara), and wine!  It was quite luxurous treatment, and it really helped to kickstart my European adventure!

I arrived at the Madrid airport around 9 am on January 9th.  Keep in mind that this was 2 am for me in my regular time.  I had to my luggage and get to the bus that was supposed to take me to Pamplona.  I had 45 minutes to do so, and came very close to missing it.  I ran around the airport looking for the right terminal and the right bus.  I walked around outside for well over 45 minutes trying to figure out where my bus stops.  (There's no bus station at the airport really.  Just parking spots for the buses.)   I was completely overwhelmed.  I couldn't understand the Spanish being spoken to me due to how fast it was spoken and the accent that I was not quite used to.  Those who did speak English to me, had no idea where the bus would go.  I was completely freaking out that I would miss my bus!  Luckily, an airport maintenance worker who spoke no English motioned to me and helped me find my stop.

My host mom is a wonderful women.  She is in her 60's and has four children.  One of her sons actually lives here at the house with her.  Neither of them speak English, but I could not have asked for a better home for my first month in Spain.  They are both extremely patient with my choppy Spanish, and sympathetic when I was homesick the first few days.  I have never felt anything but comfortable here.

There is currently only one other foreign exchange student here.  Ironically, she is from the same university back home.  It has been so nice having someone from back home here.  We are currently in two classes, a Spanish grammar class and a Culture of Spain class.  These classes will end in about 3 weeks.  My classes are mostly review at this point; however,  I feel that my Spanish has improved immensly in such a short amount of time already.

On Saturday, my friend and I traveled to Olite.  This is a small town about 20 minutes away from Pamplona.  The bus ticket was only 3 euros, and probably one of the best purchases I have ever made.  We spent our time in Olite touring a castle.  It was breathtaking.  There are no words to describe the sight from the tops of the towers or the incredible beauty of the castle itself.  The photographs I took do not even come close to capturing the real experience.  This short little trip just made me even more excited for the travels ahead of me.

When I walked through the security in Omaha and tearfully said goodbye to my family, I knew that I was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  However, I was just not fully aware of what exactly I was getting myself into.  I know that I have only been here in Pamplona for 9 days, but in just these short 9 days I have already learned so much.  I am estatic to see what the next 6 months have in store for me!