1st week of classes!

Well, it's that time of year again...time to start classes!! I was beginning to think this was just a 4 month vacation....unfortunately, turns out we have to do some studying too. haha.

So last Monday we ventured to our new campus for our first day of class. Now, officially, we are students at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas, a Spanish University here. However, since our program is so big, and a lot of us (well, most of us) don't speak fluent Spanish, they couldn't have our classes at the actual campus this semester. So, we have class at this other venue, which is like 30 mins away from Comillas, called the Sergio Arboleda campus. It is nice to have our own place, with professors we understand and classmates we can communicate with, but it is kind of a bummer that we don't have class at Comillas, because now its a lot harder to meet the Spanish students and integrate with them. Ah well. 

So, Monday morning, we didn't have class until 1:00 (our 11:30 was cancelled) so Court and I left  about 2 hours early, because knowing us, we would get lost. And hey, sure enough, we did. To get to campus, we need to get on Metro line 6 (which is a circular line, so very easy to get on the wrong way) and then we need to get off at Principe Pio and then get on a certain train to take us to school. So, by some miracle, we got on the right metro, and made it to Principe Pio. We got there, and we're feeling all  confident, like we got this. We found our friend Sukhpreet, who was also heading to class, at the same train stop, so we thought we had it. Well, turns out, the 3 of us ended up getting on the wrong train, which took us about 4 stops in the wrong direction, before we finally asked a local and found out we were not going the right way. So we had to get off, get on another to take us back to Principe Pio, then hop on the right train, going the right way, to take us to school. Then, once you get to the train stop by school, its a good 10 minute walk to campus. We made it with about 10 minutes to spare...yes, this is why we leave early. So, that was that...but don't worry, by the end of the week we got it down :) 

Classes seem like they are going to be pretty good, haven't gotten too far into the material yet since its the 1st week, but I like my professors and I am definitely taking some interesting classes. I'm in Problem of God, Ethics, Ecology(with lab), Management, Spanish 4, and the travel seminar class, which is business. So I'm taking quite the variety. The Problem of God and Ethics courses I can already tell are going to be pretty heavy in discussions and debates- the topics and issues we cover are pretty powerful, and people have some strong opinions about them. Ecology is not too interesting to me, but I've never been much of a science person. I'm glad to be getting the class and lab out of the way here, so I will be done once I get back to USD. Management and the travel seminar should be interesting, since I'm a business student...and I've already gotten to know the teacher, because he was with us all throughout our trip, so that's good. Lastly, Spanish is definitely going to be difficult, but that's good, because we're in Spain, and obviously it is important to learn and get better at the language. So, that's classes...already have tons of reading to do, but we've found some nice parks and cafes to go read at, so no complaints! ( There's a crepe cafe right next to campus...I will be there a lot!!!)

On Friday we got to go check out the actually Comillas University and its facilities- we have access to their library, study rooms, gym, computer lab, and any other resources we may need so that's really helpful. And that campus is only a 10 minute walk from our house! So convenient! I'll probably spend most of my studying time there- its a really nice school and definitely not as deserted as our campus.

(So I have to admit I didn't take this picture...I kinda forgot to take any so I took this from online haha. but it is what Comillas looks like! I'll take some on my own and put them in my next post:))

Other than classes, I've been having a pretty low-key week, trying to get over being sick :( I think I'm finally starting to feel better, so that's good. Trying to drink lots of tea and get extra sleep- I definitely don't want it to get any worse. 

We did do some fun stuff this week though...

• Explored where we live! So of course we've been walking to and from the metro, and in and out of our apartment, but other than that, we hadn't explored much around our apartment till this week. So we decided to go out and see what there is, and we found out that we live in a pretty cool area! There's tons of cafés and bars in walking distance- and many of them have some pretty good deals for an inexpensive lunch or Menu Del Día. We found this place called Rodilla's...it's nothing fancy, and looks like its a chain, but they have sandwiches and salads for really cheap- and its really good! We also came across a lot of cafés that will be good to go in and study/read, and order a yummy pastry or something :) There are also a good amount of little clothes/shoes stores, which is dangerous....but we're definitely enjoying that! So today, we walked the other way, away from all the restaurants and such, and found this beautiful park, Parque del Oeste! It is sooo close to our place, which is so nice because we will be going there a lot to study, run, maybe have a picnic or somethin!!

• Going Out- So we did go out a few times this week- mainly just bars and stuff. Dubliners is definitely our 'go-to' bar, they have good prices on drinks, there are always a lot of people there, and there's always some people who can speak English to you! It's good too because it's in Puerta del Sol, which is where everything is, so it's easy to go to a club or another bar afterwards.   We've met so many people, and had so much fun just talking, dancing, and hanging out with everyone. I definitely am going to miss being able to order drinks when I get home! Thursday night we went to this club Joy, it was a blast- we somehow were able to get in for free which was awesome. We went in with a group of about 10 of us from USD, and we all had such a fun night dancing, going up on stage, and just hanging out with everyone. Something to note though- drinks at the club are beyond expensive...5 euros for a shot, like 8 or 10 for a mixed drink- so its definitely good to go to a bar beforehand so you don't have to pay for that.

• Gran Via- Yesterday we had the day free so Court and I decided to take the metro and head to Gran Via, one of the most popular streets/areas in Madrid. The buildings were all so beautiful, and there were so many people out and about, it was a really neat place. Tons of shopping there- so we definitely went in a lot of stores. We had lunch at this little restaurant that had made-to-order mini Spanish omelettes that were delicious! And we ordered a pitcher (jarra) of sangria for the 2 of us, not knowing just how much that it would be...but we still finished it! It was a great afternoon. 

Interesting/notable things I've noticed or have happened...

1. BUG BITES

Okay, so I've been getting eaten alive by bugs here...and for the longest time I was wondering whyyy that was happening. So then, I realized, that with it being so hot here, and having no A/C, I sleep with my window wide open every night. And they don't have screens here...not exactly sure if that's just my host mom's thing or if that's a Spain thing...I'm thinkin its a Spain thing. So, of course, that's how the bugs are getting in every night. But that is quite unfortunate, because now I need to choose between waking up with new bites every morning, or sleeping in a sauna....yeah, usually the bug bites win.

2. BUS STOPS

Alrighty, this is kind of random but I just have to mention it- so apparently they have bus stops on the freeway here?? Yeah...SO weird. We started taking the bus to class, cuz it's a little shorter- and it takes us on the freeway (well, I'm not sure if they call it a 'freeway' here, but it certainly resembles what freeways are like at home) so all of a sudden, we're riding, and it just pulls over. I was wondering what was wrong...maybe the bus broke down? Was there an emergency? What's up? And then I notice there's a bus stop right there, on the side of the freeway- and new people start getting on, and some off...just like no big deal. Then we started moving again, right back into the 70 or so mph traffic. Alrighty then. I guess that's a thing here. Personally, I'd be a little sketched getting off a bus on the side of a freeway, but hey! If that's what they do here!

3. MCDONALD'S 

So at home, McDonald's is a bad, cheap, fast food restaurant, right? At least that's pretty much what I always thought. Well, here, McDonald's has quite a different reputation. I mean, it's still McDonald's, but they are SO popular here. And so nice! When you walk in, you would never even know it was a McDonald's. There's one by our place that is 2 stories, with a whole separate 'McCafe' section, with pastries, desserts, coffee drinks, smoothies, and so much more! Then, in a different area, there's the regular McDonald's, with of course the normal hamburgers and such, but also, there's fresh salads, wraps..who knows what else. Then on the second floor, its just a huge area with booths and tables and bar seats- all modern looking and nice. I never thought I'd say this about a McDonald's, but it's actually a really neat place to just sit and have a snack and enjoy some A/C!

4. METRO BY MYSELF!!

This is a short one, but I just have to say that I took the train and metro home by myself for the first time this week! And I made it without even getting lost! I felt pretty cool...really made me feel like a local, putting my ipod in, getting on and off at different stops and knowing where to go, putting my metro pass in the machine...haha. But yeah, I definitely feel more confident now about knowing how all the transportation works and how to get around the city :)

So that's all for now....sorry I didn't have many pictures this entry...I'll have to take some more next time that I can put in :) Well, I'm going to finish some reading now for class, then head to bed..week #2 of classes tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Travel Seminar-Part 2

So, as I said in my last post, the travel seminar was way too much to write about in one, so I'm splitting it up into 2 separate posts. So now I will tell you about the second half of the trip- which was Granada, Sevilla, and Córdoba.

GRANADA
Granada was an absolutely beautiful city- maybe one of the most impressive places we went, architecture and history wise. The downtown area was pretty calm compared to Barcelona, Madrid, and the bigger cities, but I really liked the feel of it.

• La Alhambra- Of course you cannot go to Granada and not see La Alhambra. This Islamic Royal Palace is one of the top 3 major tourist attractions in the world, and I can definitely see why. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful- from the well kept gardens, to the intricate designs on the buildings, to the amazing architectural talent, to the incredible location and views of the city...it's impossible to put into words. My pictures definitely don't do it justice, but they help to show how grand it was.

View from the top of the palace

The girls :)

• Exploring the City- Other than going to La Alhambra, we didn't do too much in Granada- just explored the city on our own. Court and I had some time so we walked around and did some shopping- bought some necessary heels, a couple shirts, a couple other things, and of course, after a long hot day, had to get some gelato :) We really haven't had that much dessert since we've been here- at our host moms, she serves us fruit for dessert, which is pretty typical with Spanish meals. So I definitely have been missing my chocolate, and the gelato helped fill that craving.

SEVILLA

Sevilla was right up there with Barcelona in being one of my favorite cities. Our hotel was actually right near one of the main streets, so we were in walking distance to lots of cafes and shops and things like that, which was nice for a change to not have to pay for a cab or the metro.

• Tour of the City/Cathedral de Seville- So, at this point, we definitely had all seen quite a lot of cathedrals and to be honest, they were starting to merge together a bit. As you can see from the pictures, a lot of the architecture and layout of the different palaces/cathedrals looks very similar. However, it still was amazing, and was incredible to see. This cathedral also is known for its bell tower, La Giralda, which we climbed up to (all 35 flights of ramps....yeah that wasn't fun) and were able to see the entire city from the top.

The front of the Cathedral

 One of the views from inside

View from the top of La Giralda

Throwin up our diamonds! Reppin ADPi <>

• City of Sevilla/Food and Drinks- With it being the last place we went on the trip, of course we wanted to explore the city and see what Sevilla had to offer. As I mentioned already, it was so great that we could walk around without taking a cab or other form of transportation to the restaurants and everything. So during the day, we found a cute cafe for lunch where we only had to pay 4.50 euros for a sandwich, drink, and dessert...so that was wonderful in helping us save some money. For dinner, we went to another neat restaurant near the hotel-however, it was quite the complicated and detailed menu-and with it all in Spanish, none of us had any idea what we were ordering. We recognized words here and there, so we decided to just be adventurous and order something at random. Rachel and I ended up with a piece of meat that resembled steak, with some potatoes on the side. It was scrumptious- found out later that it was bull. Courtney had quite the surprise, as she ended up ordering duck. We all tried it, it had a very unique flavor, pretty salty- lets just say I don't think we'll be ordering that again. Sami and Mary had what looked very similar to a burrito- we were all jealous because we all miss Mexican food so much! Afterwards, we decided to have a low-key girls night, and found this little bar with absolutely AMAZING drinks. We each ordered a fancy drink (I got a 'Chocolada'- kind of like a piña colada with chocolate:))) and just had a fun night enjoying the city.

• Night Life- Our last night, Friday night, everyone wanted to go out and have some fun. So after another yummy dinner, a group of us went out and found an inexpensive place to order some 1 euro pitchers of sangria and beer. Afterwards, we took a cab to a bar, where we spent a couple hours- ordered some drinks and just had a good time with everyone (lots of USD people were there). Then, around 2:30, we made our way to the club- it was so much fun! Tons of people there, it was all outside, with dance floors, tables, bars, dancers, great music...awesome night. Didn't get back to the hotel till around 5:30, so waking up at 8 was definitely a challenge. But so worth the experience :)

the dancer at the club ;)

 the group!

CORDOBA

So on our way back to Madrid on Saturday, we made a stop in Córdoba to see the Mezquita of Córdoba- a really famous Jewish mosque that has been turned into a Catholic Christian Cathedral. We only stayed for a few hours, but we got to tour the mosque and the city, and it was absolutely beautiful.

 

Alrighty, well I suppose that is about it for the travel seminar! Sorry it took so long to post all this...but its finally up! Unfortunately, I woke up Sunday morning with a bad cold, so I've been trying to get lots of rest to get rid of that, and we also started classes yesterday, so its been busy! But other than being sick, everything is going great- I'm so excited to be back in Madrid, so I can actually settle in, get to know the city, get into a routine, and really feel like I'm living here. I've got quite the semester ahead of me!

Thanks for reading! More posts coming soon :)

*FIESTAS Y SIESTAS*

Travel Seminar- Part 1

So, I know its been awhile since my last post, but it was difficult to get Internet connection while we were traveling, and I figured it would just be easier to recap the trip in one entry.

Last Thursday, the whole group of us packed our bags and boarded the busses for our 10 day Travel Seminar around the country of Spain. We got to visit Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, and Toledo. It was such an amazing experience, and we got to see so many absolutely incredible and beautiful sights. They were very long days though, with many hours spent traveling- so I'm definitely glad to be off of that bus.

BARCELONA
Okay, so I definitely would have to say that Barcelona was my favorite place that we visited. It might have a lot to do with the fact that it is a coastal city, and with growing up in Huntington Beach and going to school in San Diego, I am definitely a beach girl. But it wasn't just the beach- the whole city was just unbelievable.

This was our view from the hotel room- just one angle of it. We could see the entire city..it was amazing!

What we did/memorable things:

• Night Life! Okay so everything you hear about the night life in Barcelona, Spain is completely true. It was so much fun. SO different from the US. It's pretty amazing that you can leave around midnight, and not get somewhere until 1ish and there's still people out everywhere. All the bars and clubs are right on the beach- so afterwards you can go hang out on the sand, or go down to the water- at like 3 in the morning! That would never happen in California- with all of our beaches closing at 10 pm, its like a ghostown down there. Anyways, we went to the Ice Bar the first night, where you go into this room completely made out of ice, even your drink cups and the bar are made out of ice (they provide you with free jackets and gloves) and you just hang out with everyone for as long as you can last haha- usually no more than 45 minutes before you're freezing! Then the next night we went to a club- had to experience the Barcelona club life. The club was called Razzmatazz- it was huge, there was a big dance floor and bars on the first floor, then smaller rooms with bars and couches on the second floor, then a whole outside area, then more on the third floor...it was like a maze. Definitely worth going to- you'd never find something like that at home! Here's a picture of the group at the Ice Bar, and the beach area with all of the night life.

•  Guell Park- This was one of the first places we visited when we got to Barcelona. It was so beautiful- Antoni Gaudi created the entire thing- the cathedral, the park area, all the detailed designs on the tiles and everything. You can't see it all in this picture, but it was pretty amazing to see all the work that went into it. While we were there, it was SO hot- Courtney and I bought some fans from one of the street vendors as our first souvenir- they definitely came in handy for the rest of the trip.

• La Sagrada Familia- This is a famous cathedral in Barcelona, also built by Antoni Gaudi, that is known for its magnificent architecture. It is still being worked on today- and the constant changes draw millions of tourists from around the world to visit. Its difficult to capture just how magnificent this place was- I'm glad we were able to see it in person. Walking around through the cathedral was definitely something to remember. I had so many pictures, it was difficult to choose, but these 2 really capture the intricate designs and greatness of both the inside and the outside.

• Downtown Barcelona- Of course we had to check out the main plaza and downtown area of the city...what would a trip to Barcelona be without that. We spent a good amount of time there, some touring with the group, and then some time on our own eating at the little cafes, shopping, and just admiring everything. I really liked the vibe of the main city area- I don't even know what I would compare it to in America. I guess it was kind of like a huge outdoor mall, except 100 times more beautiful and without all the rush and crazy hurried feeling that Americans always have. We had our first tapas experience at a little cafe here, 6 of us went and split sangria (a staple to every meal here now), and like 6-7 different little tapas dishes. Tapas are a really popular thing to eat here- they are small dishes kind of like appetizers, things like croquettes (usually some meat and cheese covered in like a breaded/fried topping), calamari, other seafood, spanish omelette, small rolls of ham or other meat...anything you can imagine.

VALENCIA

Valencia was definitely very different than I had imagined. I found it to be a very interesting city, because there are so many varying parts to it. It was quite the change to go to right after Barcelona.

• Modern Valencia- When we first arrived, we went to the newest part of Valencia, which looks so modern and futuristic, its a completely different feel from all of the historic landmarks and places we had been visiting. Here, there is an aquarium, a science museum, a planetarium...maybe a couple other things. The architecture was incredible- looked like something out of a movie. Here's a couple pictures to capture the unique-ness of these buildings.

•  Downtown Valencia- So of course we went on a tour of the main downtown area- it was completely opposite from the modern area that I just talked about. As you can see from the pictures, this was much more historical- a cute town with cafes, shops, cathedrals, plazas, statues- really fun to learn about and walk around. Court and I found a cute little pizzeria near our hotel one night that we went to for dinner- we ordered our food, which was excellent, and our usual sangria- but this sangria was different. As we watched them make it, they added freshly squeezed (like right in front of us) orange juice to the drink. I guess Valencia is known for their oranges, so this was some pretty incredible sangria. Then, after we finished eating, we were sitting there talking for awhile, and our waiter brought us over what looked like a shot of some type of pink liquid. It turned out to be some type of strawberries and cream alcohol- we said thank you and thought it was so nice for them to give us a complimentary shot. Then, as we continued to sit there, our waiter proceeded to bring over one after another- of these different fancy-looking shots. We ended up with 6 different ones, one with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on it, a couple fruity ones, a mint one, one with sorbet in it...it was pretty fun. And we didn't have to pay for them! Not bad :)

•  Valenciaport/Class- During our couple days in Valencia, we had our first actual class. I know right, we actually have to take class here?? haha. We had a guest speaker come in to talk to us about the port of Valencia, and its importance to Spain as well as other countries from an economic and business aspect. Then we got to take a bus and actually go visit the port. It is the largest port in Spain, and the 5th busiest in all of Europe. Also, the port employs half the entire working population of the country. So, as you can probably guess, its a pretty important place. It was neat to learn about and then see the mass amounts of containers going in and out of the port, the huge ships carrying them all, and the massive machinery used to lift and transport all the containers.

•  Paella on the Beach! Along with oranges, Valencia is also known for some of the best paella in Spain, so of course one night we decided to go down to the beach to one of the recommended restaurants that has the delicious homemade paella. There was a group of 7 of us, and we headed out to take the metro there around 10. Now, the ride should not have been more than about 20-30 minutes max to get to the beach from our hotel. However, when you have 7 girls who do not know the metro system in Valencia at all- or where to go once off the metro...(no maps of course..) it takes much longer than that. We thought we had it down- we had talked to our professors and they told us where to go, but we ended up getting on the metro going the opposite direction, so then, once we realized it, we had to get off, get back on the one going the other way, then get off, transfer to another line, then we couldn't remember where to get off, so we got off where we thought, and decided we could take the train to the beach, so we waited about 20 minutes for the train, then got off at the first stop, and walked to the beach/restaurants. Now after this whole process was done and we finally found the restaurant we wanted, it was 11:30. And...the restaurant was closed. At this point we were starving and tired and we were so sad that we missed the paella. Luckily, we walked a little ways and found this nice place that was still open- so we ended up eating there and getting our long awaited paella. And yes, it was delicious and well worth the wait. Afterwards, we went out to some low-key outdoor clubs, and just had a fun night dancing and enjoying the city of Valencia.

       

So I guess I have a lot more to talk about from the travel seminar than I thought...so I think I'm going to split this up. There's 2 more main cities to cover, so I will create another post later today when I have some time about those cities and the rest of the trip. Hope you're enjoying reading!! I'm sure there's so much I forgot to mention, but I'm trying to get everything I can!

I'm having the time of my life- and feel so lucky and blessed to be here. I'll post again later about the rest of the trip! Thanks for reading!

*FIESTAS Y SIESTAS*