Hola todos!

So I clearly have kind of dropped the ball on this whole blog thing but I just wanted to make one more entry to inform you all about what has been going on! So since my last entry (which was forever ago and am pretty sure it was about Dublin) much has happened! So I am a fan of lists so I am just going to bullet point some things and since I will be home it just about 2 weeks I can tell stories in person, which is MUCH better than through typing!

• Have hiked in Monachil, Spain 3 times
• Went to Marbella, Spain for a day by myself and just sat and read my Bible and had some peace and quiet with the Lord! It was a great day!!!
• Went to Cordoba, Spain with my program for a day trip
• Have gone to the beaches in Nerja, Spain more times than I can count and will hopefully go there one last time in the next couple of days!
• My whole family came!!! It was the BEST!!!! We were in Marbella for about a week in a resort which was fabulous! And then they came to the good old Granada and I got to play tour guide and translator, which was interesting and we got some good stories out of it!
  
• I went hiking in Apujarras, Spain with my program which was soooooooo fun!!! We spent the night in one of the little pueblos! It was just fun to get out and do some hiking!
  
• I then went to Italy with Kels and Abby! LOVED IT!!! We went to Rome, Florence and Cinque Terre! We saw everything I wanted to! I got to celebrate my 21st birthday in two places, Florence and Cinque Terre, arent i a lucky lady!!!
  
• Me and Abby also had quite the trip home! This is a story that MUST be told in person and if you just ask this is one of my most memorable experiences while studying abroad! So i FOR SURE will never forget this one!
• Then my Senora threw me a birthday party the Sunday I got home from Italy (it was also Easter)! She really is the sweetest!!! I could not have hand picked a better host family!!! The Lord has truly blessed me!!!
• Now I only have 2 more days of class left and one more test then I have a going away dinner and then off to GREECE for a whole week with two of my best friends, Kels and Bre!!! I am PUMPED!!!
  
• Then I get home on May 16th! Which is ridiculously close which still amazes me!!! But it will be nice to be home with you all! And there are def some American things Im missing right now! But at the same time I cant imagine leaving Granada and my host family!
  

I hope you all enjoyed my rainbow entry and the next time I talk to you all will be in person and when i am home in the US!!! How crazy is that?!?!?!?!?! Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers! I cannot tell you how much they mean to me! It is such a comfort to know that even though I am half way around the world there are people at home praying for me! I hope you all have a wonderful day and good luck on finals (if that applies to you)!


CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU SOOOOOOOO SOON!!!! Sending my love from Spain!!!

Rome, Italy

Hola todos!

I am updating my blog because I don't feel like studying... WIN! So on Thursday I got back from the best trip ever to ITALY! I visited Rome, Florence, and Venice and got to see a lot of friends and so many historical monuments! I actually didn't travel the entire time with McKenna, so she will have to write her own blog entry about Italy! I started the trip with Madeline and Kelly and we met up with Danielle, Audrey, McKenna, Abby, and Kelsey along the way and saw some sights together and had dinners together and then Kelly and I just went to Venice together. So here is my first post about ROME!

Rome

     Monuments: I got to see SOOOO much here. It was also cultural heritage week so some of the sights were free to enter, so that was awesome. We saw pretty much all of the main attractions: Spanish steps, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Capitol Building, Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, etc! Luckily we bought our tickets to the Vatican museum ahead of time so we didn't have to wait in line, which was great because the line was crazy. Who knew the Vatican would be so popular the weekend before Holy Week ;). Now, I'm not Catholic but it still was so neat to visit the Vatican and learn a little more about Catholicism and the Pope. A lot of my friends are Catholic so I get private lessons from them and could appreciate the things I was seeing a little more. Haha and a funny side note- when we were leaving the Vatican museum we came up with a song about the Pope, if you would like to hear it, let me know and I will sing it to you (it's a version of a youtube hit haha.) Also, for our Italy trip we downloaded Rick Steeves' Italy podcasts for the main attractions so that we could listen to our ipods instead of paying for an audioguide. It is an AWESOME thing to do (and free!), things are always more interesting when you actually know what you are looking at. We saw the Vatican the first day that we got there so me, Madeline, and Kelly were pretty tired (we hadn't slept at all because we traveled overnight) but we tried to stay energized and enjoy all of the sights we were seeing. I must admit though, my feet wanted to KILL me when we were walking around at the Vatican. But luckily, I got a seat on the wall of the Sistine Chapel and could relax (and possibly doze off for a minute or two woops!) when I was listening to the podcast and gazing up at the ceiling painting by Michelangelo, which was incredible! We had perfect weather on the day that we visited all of the Roman Ruins (lots of rocks, but still really cool! haha). Me, madeline, Kelly, Danielle, and Audrey went to all of these monuments together, it was a really great group to hang out with, we had a lot of fun.

Colosseum with Kelly

Kelly, Danielle, Audrey, & Madeline at the Roman Forum

St. Peter's Basilica

Throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain

     Friends Abroad: So this semester I happen to have a TON of friends who are studying abroad as well. They are studying in a range of places: Ireland, England, Australia, France, Singapore, in addition to 9 girls from my house (Chi O) who are also studying with me in Granada! So luckily, I am able to visit a few of my friends who are in Europe. I have a few friends studying in Italy and 2 of them (Maggie and Gwen) are studying in Rome and were nice enough to let us stay with them on one night when we couldn't find an available hostel! I can't tell you how GREAT it was to see them. When we saw Gwen and Maggie after getting off of the bus it was a big reunion full of hugs and happiness (haha that sounds awkward). Gwen made us pasta and we all got ready for a night out in Rome with other people from their program. And Callie (another girl from Chi O) was also visiting so it was a WONDERFUL reunion. We had some Italian wine then went to an Irish pub for karaoke night. Of course I got up there to show my talent off (embarassing, haha!) but me, Madeline, and Kelly sang Grenade by Bruno Mars. It was a fun night and so wonderful to catch up with some of my friends who I have missed so much. Maggie and Gwen were awesome hosts and it was so great to see them enjoying Rome!

Madeline and Gwen singing 'No Scrubs' - no one can top these two!

Chi O 12's reunion in Rome :)

Callie, Madeline, Gwen, Me, Kelly, & Maggie

     Food: Well this is self-explanatory. We were in Italy so of course I ate everything I possibly could. I still feel full from all of the pasta/pizza/gelato I ate. But it was the BEST food I have ever had, the Italians def. live up to their reputation. A few of the dishes I had were Penne w/ Carbonara, pizza w/ mushrooms, pasta with mushrooms, paninis with amazing cheese. And of course... DESSERT. We had gelato probably every day and I don't regret it at all! The best gelato we had was at Giolitti's. OMG. You paid 2.50 for a 'small' cone and got 3 different flavors, it was so much gelato! I got fragola (strawberry), mango, and pistacchio and of course whipped cream on top. I WANT SOME RIGHT NOW! I also tried a canoli for the first time which was supa tasty. The only thing I didn't try was tiramisu which I am kind of bummed about because it is my favorite dessert ever, but hey, it's an excuse to come back to Italy I guess :). And of course the wine, it was great! Idk, I'm not a huge fan of wine but I think it is great with a good meal like pasta. I like more of the fruity/lighter stuff but I thought everything that I tried was pretty good.

Danielle and I with our three flavors of gelato!

Last dinner out in Rome

Audrey, Me, & Danielle

Well that is all for Rome for right now. I need to get ready to go see a Semana Santa procession in Granada. It is an amazing thing to see, kind of like a parade of religious figures with music and a lot of significance for holy week. I've seen 2 processions but sadly it's kind of rainy this weekend so a lot of them have had to been cut short. So hopefully today I will get to see the one that comes down from the Alhambra without it being rained out! Also, hopefully I will update more about my Italy trip (it's been rainy out so I'm not missing out by staying inside) but sadly this semester is coming to an end and I'm running out of time in this lovely city (sob). So I will try my best but I am more focused on living it up these few weeks, studying for exams, and enjoying everyone that I am with. But let me know if you want a postcard as I will prob. send out my last bunch sometime soon.

Alrighty, adios everyone. LOVE AND MISS YOU!
xoxo Bre

And the final post about Semana Blanca, right before Semana Santa!

Hello  guys!!

Once again, I fail at writing blogs. But it has actually been an extremely busy past few weeks. I’ve had a lot of school stuff (paper, presentations, etc) and my parents came 2 weeks ago also. I just needed a little taste from home. We’re about half way through the program ( I can’t believe it!! ) and I think a lot of people have been going through their ‘culture shock’ valley lately. At the beginning of our program, during orientation, we were told that we might go through phases of culture shock. Sometimes we will go through peaks where we will love every single thing about study abroad and never wanting to come back. And then there are valleys, lows in the trip where we could be homesick, depressed, or just feeling weird and blah. Well my feelings haven’t been that dramatic but I’ve def. been a little discouraged about the whole language barrier thing. I never thought it would be this difficult!! And sometimes I just can’t understand Josefina (my host mom) at all and therefore can’t communicate with her. Well it has gotten much better. I’m not sure if I just became more confident and comfortable speaking Spanish or if I really have gotten much better these past few weeks, probably a combination of the two. But anyways, it’s been a great month and I want time to stop going so fast! Ah. But the family visit was GREAT! We went to Sevilla, Barcelona, and I showed them around Granada as well! Definitely a well rounded vacation, but more on that later!

So I am FINALLY finishing up my Semana Blanca posts, because next weekend is the beginning of my Semana Santa break… I am going to Rome, Florence, and Venice, Italy with Kelly! Also, exciting news, I just booked my tickets to Greece for our final trip of Europe before going back to the U.S. It’s going to be my summer vacation trip… just before I get home!

Vienna, Austria

            CouchSurfing:

So for our lodging we decided to try a new thing to save money. At first it seems kind of crazy, but when you investigate further it actually is a wonderful idea and concept, and it worked out really well for us. For the first time, we tried ‘CouchSurfing’. Visit this site: http://www.couchsurfing.org/home.html if you want to learn more. It is basically a registry of people all over the world who are open to meeting new people and even open their homes and apartments to let travelers stay for free… thus the name: CouchSurfing. Now of course, you need to be very careful with this because people may have wrong intentions, but, if you do your homework you can find wonderful, wonderful, hospitable people. Well Kelsey looked for a potential host in Vienna who would let 4 people sleep over at their house and was successful. His name is Andrea and he works for the antinuclear terror department at the U.N…. can you believe it?! What a job! Anyways we got to Vienna, and met him at the U.N. building and got a nice little tour and even had lunch there! It was so surreal but so cool! He was awesome, helpful, and incredibly worldly and intelligent. That first night he made us pasta with pesto, let us shower, and then put on a black and white (English!) movie on his sweet projector screen in the living room, though most of us fell asleep, it was a good relaxing night. We sadly didn’t get to spend that much time with him because we were busy but he was a great host and I def. had a positive CouchSurfing experience!

Opera House

Our first day in Vienna, we were absolutely desparate to get indoors because of how freezing cold it was outside. We found the center of the city, walked around for a bit and came upon the famous state Opera house. We paid for the English tour and had a  really great tour guide. The tour wasn’t extremely in depth but gave a great overview about the functionings of the operahouse. We got to go into the auditorium and watched the crew set up the stage for the opera that was showing that night. I felt terrible but was practically falling asleep in the seats, this has happened to me once before, at Carnegie Hall when I was with my choir in New York. Our tour guide was telling us about the price of seats and continued to explain how there are standing room seats. She said that there are a few sections (one being on the floor right in the middle) where there are bars lined up and places were people stand the entire night in order to watch the opera and it is only about 4 euro!! The seats are great but the cons were that a. you have to wait in line 2+ hours to get the tickets and you have to stand for 3+ hours. She also told us that tomorrow night was the premiere of Mozart’s opera, The Marriage of Figaro. We debated about which show to go to, but then we decided we would just go for the premiere. So long process but end results, we got our 4euro tickets and got PERFECT center standing room tickets for the premiere of the opera. It was so awesome to see!!!! Sometime my feet wanted to kill me, but it was worth it. Annnd now I get to cross something off of my bucket list… to go to a real opera house and see a real opera. Except that next time, I will want to be dressed up in a dress or gown instead of dirty winter clothes that are dirty and smelly!

Seeing friends and crappy weather

In Vienna we actually got to meet up with a few friends from home! We saw Madeline’s group (Cory, Andrea, Meg, Ryan(s)) and then we got to meet up with some of Esteban’s friends at a fun karaoke bar, but sadly couldn’t spend that much time with them because the metro doesn’t run past 11:30/12 so we had to sprint back in order to be able to get home! But it’s always wonderful to see familiar faces especially when you are so far away from home. I wish I could have seen more of Vienna but the weather was almost unbearable. It was so cold and so we didn’t want to spend that much time outside, so we tried to find things to do inside. So that was kind of a bummer, but it was still a beautiful city (very posh!).

Prague, Czech Republic

                        Terrible welcome

                        So this was a very interesting start to our stay in our final city. We took a bus from Vienna to Prague… side note: if you ever want to hear a hilarious but awkward story, ask me about my bus trip, it is too inappropriate to post here!! Anyways, we arrived at the Prague bus station (kind of shady) and exchanged some money from Euros to Czech Krowns ~23.7kc/1euro. We then headed down to the metro to find our apartment rental office. Well, we get down there and right before we got on the metro, this guy approaches me, shows me this secretive ring thing on the inside of his hand and said something. Well I thought he was a homeless man and was wondering why he was bothering me so much. So I called out to Kelsey and Esteban because I was so cofused and I tried to round the corner but then I realized that he was the metro patrol!! They started asking for our passports, we tried to act like stupid tourists (because we partially were) but we had also been told from friends that the patrol never checks so don’t worry about buying tickets. Well we tried to fight the two scary (cartoon police looking) men but they were threatening to call the police and fine us even more so we just gave up and forked over 700 kc, which is only like 30euro but still sucked. I was pretty distraught at first but now it just makes for a memory and a good story to tell! McKenna luckily didn’t get caught so didn’t have to pay… I need to stay closer to her I guess! Sooo then after this, after almost being arrested we were almost homeless! For housing, Esteban had found an apartment rental, which was a 4 bed with kitchen apartment for only 13 euro per person per night. So a great deal! McKenna booked it on her card and we all paid her. Well we get to the place and call the guy and he tells us “so we have a big problem” he said that somehow the apartment just lost all electricity and has no heat… and that he promises ist wasn’t a double-booking. Which it HAD to be because we should have been notified if it really was an electrical issue. They then said they would put us up in another apt, so we went to their office and that is where the tension grew. So then the men were terrible rude and were like, “we can only do two things, put you up in a 3 star hotel with no kitchen or you pay more money for another apt” We of course, said no that they cover the cost, give us somewhere to stay, or give us ALL of the money back. Then they said because we booked through a certain service that they don’t have all of our money. Something to note: we have noticed that Europe has TERRIBLE customer service. So we had the options of saying no thanks and go to another hostel and make them give us our money back or make them put us up in another apartment without us paying extra. So as we followed the man to our new apartment we prayed that this wouldn’t be a ‘taken’ moment, I just didn’t trust these men after they were so rude to us! Kelsey even tried to take a picture of the man just IN CASE anything were to happen with us, crazy, we know, but we kind of had a traumatic start to the trip! All in all our housing situation ended up wonderfully. Our apartment was clean, spacious, super close to everything, and just so convenient! If I have time later, I’ll post more about Prague but it was a great city, we learned a lot and got to see a lot of the city!

 I am tired of typing and want to get some homework done before I go out tonight…it is Audrey’s 21^st birthday tomorrow so we are all going out to celebrate!! But, I will try to post at least one more general blog entry before I go to Italy! I miss everyone and am soooo happy in Spain! Let me know if you want a postcard J

Xoxo

Bre

Long time No See!

I am so sorry for stinking at this blog thing! It is really hard to keep up with! But Bre will still finish our semana blanca stuff but I wanted to write a few of my favorite memories from the week:

• Running for the train in Munich with arms full of groceries...thought i was going to die of heat once we were on the train
• The bridge with the castles
• Our practical joke on Esteban in Innsbruck
• This wicked awesome bouncy see saw thing in Salzburg...it is so fun that i recommend everyone to go salzburg just to try it out!
• Couch surfing in Vienna with Andrea and seeing the UN building there! I was so out of my league!
• Our arrival to Prague...tickets and no place to stay (Bre will have to tell this story or ask me when i get home! We made quite the entrance to Prague!)
• Literally wearing all of my clothes so RyanAir would let me and my one backpack on the plane! Long story short, i wore 4 layers of jeans/leggings, 8 layers on top, my puffy NorthFace vest, my coat, my money belt (cool people wear them here) and a Starbucks mug tucked under my armpit. I now know what i would look like if I gained 40 pounds

But now I get to talk about a SUPER fun weekend me and Bre had in Dublin, Ireland ( I hope you enjoy the green letters)! We got back from our 9 day adventure on Sunday and left Thursday night for Dublin! It is hard to travel that much, but me and Bre are troopers and push through it! hahahah...just kidding! We are so thankful we get these amazing opportunities so thanks parents for helping finance these adventures! But we went to Dublin to visit our roommate and wonderful friend Cass! We all 3 lived in room 16 in the Chi O house last semester! I am going to keep this short so there is a lot missing from our weekend but again, ask me or Bre when we get home and we will tell the little funny stories!

First sweet thing about Dublin is that all the public buses are DOUBLE DECKER!!!!!! I was PUMPED!!!! Plus they drive like crazy people so the front seats up top are the best in the house! You feel like you are going to kill everyone in their cars but miraculously they never do! We then meet Cass because we stay in her dorm for the weekend which is so cute! And Cass was the perfect host!!!! We went out for drinks that first night and Cass took us to the only bar that has strawberry beer which is delicious!!! It is the first alcoholic drink i have finished all by myself! Then we went to bed!

Saturday Cass had a school trip so me and Bre were on our own and we toured the Guinness factory which was really interesting so fun! We both found out we dont really like Guinness. I could maybe drink it with a huge cheeseburger and fries but never by itself. Then we met Cass back at her dorm and had dinner and got ready for a night out! We went to a pub with live music/stand up comedians. They ripped on us all night! They loved that we were Americans and made comments about all of our names. Apparently McKenna is a last name in Ireland so they thought it was hilarious my parents gave me a last name as a first name! We all got called out for random things throughout the night! But the worst by far was when they were making all of these dirty jokes, but were using irish slang terms so I was just sitting there with a super confused look on my face and they called me out to the whole bar and explained exactly what they were talking about! It was quite interesting and I dont think i have ever been as red as I was then, a mixture of laughing super hard and embarrassment! I have decided that Im not making facial expressions anymore! Then we went on to have quite an interesting/random night! We then finally got home at 3am!!! Got a good nights sleep to prep for our next day of touring!

We made a delicious pancake breakfast and got ready to go to Howth, the cuteset suburb of Dublin ever!!! We saw the coast, seals (no whales unfortunately...funny story), ate the most delicious fish and chips, took fun touristy pics, went to a market and just enjoyed walking around this beautiful little fishing village looking town!!! Then that night we stayed in and painted our nails while eating chocolate and popcorn and watched two episodes of Greek! Super girly but SOOOOOOO fun!!!!

I LOVED being able to see Cass and where she is living this semester and the things she does!!! And we also just got to relax and have fun together! It was the perfect relaxing trip after a whirl wind week of traveling before!!!! I love knowing that my dear friend is in a place she loves and is doing so well!!! It just makes me happy!!! Sorry this is so long and has taken me so long to write! I love you all and thank you for supporting me and Bre throughout this whole semester! Words cant describe how much it means to us!!!! God Bless!!!!

ps i didnt proof read so sorry for all the grammar mistakes!

Semana Blanca!

**Updated 3/5/11**


Hi Everyone!!

I am so sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Time really does fly! I've been super busy with class, planning trips (which takes way too much time btw), spending time with Josefina (my Senora), and applying for jobs and scholarships. I will have been in Granada less than 10 days this entire month; I guess you can call me a world traveler!!! I am so blessed to have the opportunity to travel this much and am thankful for all of these experiences. I am having an AMAZING time seeing everything. However, it has definitely been exhausting, much different than family vacations. I am now used to living out of a backpack, smelling like dirt, and only eating bread, nutella, and pasta for multiple days in a row. But hey, it's all worth it. So in order to share all of the info I'm going to do a type of list blog. So sorry if this post is super random. I'm going to post the top/favorite 3-5 things (not in any order) of the trips I have taken!

**I'm about to run out of the door so this post is incomplete, I will elaborate on some of these things later!**

Sevilla, Spain

1. Plaza de Espana

2. New Friends

3. Walking Tour

4. Random Parade

5. First Mass

Paris, France

1. Trip with my BFFs

2. Our Hosts

3. Chocolate Crepes

4. Eiffel Tower

5. Versailles

Semana Blanca

Germany: Munich, Dachau, Fussen

Austria: Salzburg, Innsbruck

Czech Republic: Prague

1. In general

            I had so much fun on this trip and a major part of it is because I went with such great people. I went on this 10-day excursion with McKenna, Kelsey, and Esteban. McKenna, Kelsey, and I always find ways to laugh at ourselves and everything around us and Esteban was a perfect compliment because he is so funny, 24/7. We made fun of ourselves a lot because we are such typical tourists at times but it was great. We had lots of time on the trains and busses to talk about life and discuss things like politics and relationships. Even if we stayed in a few nights, we made the best of it and played games or just talked and laughed. Some of my favorite funny moments include

            a) saying “we are in Gearhhhmany” in a terrible German accent

            b) singing songs no matter where we were (the gaston song in a beer hall)

            c) jokes about our terrible diet of bread, nutella, and pasta

            d) poor Esteban having to deal with us girls in the morning

e) themed days: middle finger day, illegal things day, love eachother day, love the crap out of Prague day, etc.

f) the game ‘things’ in Prague and Bratislava – everyone writes a response to a category and someone has to pick who wrote which response

g) Sleepy McKenna and Sleeping Esteban

Germany

Dachau Concentration Camp

                        We got into Munich early on the first Thursday of our break so we couldn’t check into our hostel right away, but that didn’t stop us. We wanted to start the adventures right away so we decided to take an afternoon trip to the Dachau Concentration camp. Not the happiest way to start out our trip but we were all very interested in seeing the camp and learning more history behind the awful events that occurred there. This afternoon was very difficult. We learn about the Holocaust in school and watch movies about it and hear stories from our parents but there is no way that anyone can understand what these people went through. I do not understand how this event ever happened, and how the nazi mindset is even possible. I can’t stand it when people aren’t treated with respect and these people were not even treated like people. It was very upsetting. I learned a lot though. In Dachau there were a lot of other groups (in addition to the Jewish people) who were kept in the camp, such as priests, criminals, anti-nazi politicians, ‘anti-socials’, homosexuals, etc. Basically anyone who was different or misunderstood. They worked very hard every day and suffered terrible conditions and terrible treatment. We walked through the barracks where hundreds of people crammed in to sleep, and saw the places where they would line up for roll call. The camp itself has been restored since it is now a memorial but they have kept it very plain, and very similar to how it looked when it was a functioning concentration camp. I posted a few pictures on facebook of some memorials in the camp but have others showing more aspects of the camp. It was very surreal walking through this place and thinking that the history actually occurred. In my mind I couldn’t stop thinking that “this is not fair!” This experience was another example that this world is very broken, but as individuals we do have the ability to change it, even in the littlest ways. There were good stories about people in the camp coming together to develop strategies of survival or opposition. This was an emotionally draining day, but I am very glad I went. I think that everyone should visit a place like this because it really puts things in perspectives and makes you think and makes you have the highest respect for the unthinkable things people have gone through. I won’t elaborate anymore since this is going to be a long blog anyway, but I def. have more thoughts about this day and if anyone wants to hear more or see more pictures, let me know!!

           

Castles-Hiking (Fussen)

            Our second day in Munich, we took a day trip to Fussen, Germany where there are two famous/touristy castles! I had definitely been looking forward to this day, especially because supposedly the Disney Castle was modeled after the Neschwanstein castle, and I’m such a girl (like a 12 year old girl lol) and just love that! First, pre-story: We went to the supermarket to buy food to have a picnic once we got to the castles so we were shopping around for the basics: Bread, Nutella, Jam, Fruit, Cookies and then went to check out. Our train was leaving at 9:50 and we had asked Esteban what time it was and he said around 9:30 I think, so we thought we had time. Well we get to the checkout place and I’m the first one to check out, I then realize why this place was so cheap (but also this is a trend in Europe)… they don’t give out bags for groceries. So I yell to the others about this fact and throw my food into my little backpack my parents gave me for Christmas which I luckily brought. Then we realize that Esteban’s watch was like 20 minutes late!!! So we begin SPRINTING to the train station (which is a gooood 5 minute walk), me with my backpack (full of bread and glass jars of condiments) but the others just holding the food in there hands. So we had a few food injuries as McKenna was running and an apple would fall, or when Esteban dropped an entire baguette and it slid across the train station floor, whatever though-we saved it! Then to top it off, I felt like I was going to pass out- running in the morning with having no breakfast and wearing tons of winter layers is a recipe for disaster, so I was moving kind of slow and we got closer to the train I started walking. Then Esteban hops on the train and desparately yells “BREANNE” (like a movie moment) because he thought the train was leaving, luckily it wasn’t and I hopped on the train but then it whizzed off with us on it about 2 minutes later. This is a continuation of my last post about Semana Blanca. I’m just commenting on the good stories and stuff that you will hopefully find interesting!

Continued - Castles-Hiking (Fussen)

            So we managed to get on the train, almost thought we got our $40 pocketed by the train conductor man we needed to buy tickets from but luckily he came back with our change… another stupid tourist moment, (one of many!). We hiked up to see the two famous castles in Fussen -

Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Took our ‘girly’ pictures… thanks Esteban! And then we wanted to keep hiking because we saw all of the beautiful mountains around us and we saw a awesome adventorous looking bridge in the distance. Well it happened to be “do illegal stuff” day… at the beginning of the trip we had just jokingly started theming  our days. Well if you know me at all, you know I like rules, and I like to follow them because I am weird like that. So this day wasn’t my favorite but it ended up being SO much fun. We hopped the fence that closed off the hiking paths (because it was winter/icy/snowy etc) because we saw others doing it and it seemed safe and started hiking up the mountain. We found the bridge and had a mini photo shoot and some song and dance time on it and then continued to go up to find a picnic spot. The views were AMAZING, it is just so unreal to be in such a beautiful place and just in nature. I take it for granted, these trips have really shown me how much I love being outside and exploring. So we got to the top of some peak and enjoyed ourselves and the views. Ah it was such a wonderful moment. We had a wonderful lunch of nutella, bread, and cookies. We finished our beautiful time on the top of the mountain and turned back towards Fussen to catch the bus. Hiking down the mountain was a little scarier but a little more fun… and I wore a DRESS, yeah that’s right, I keep it classy even when on a mountainside! This was definitely one of my favorite days of the whole break. 

Beer Hall (Munich)

At the end of our first day (we had traveled from Malaga to Munich just that morning) we were SO HUNGRY for a real meal. So we had asked our hostel to point us in the direction of some authentic German food. We were told to go to the Hofbrauhaus- Augustiner Braustuben which is a beer hall. A beer hall in Germany is like a lodge type pub restaurant with long tables and benches and waiters and waitresses dressed up in authentic older German clothing. Well us Americans got stuck in a back corner by the bathroom and had to wait for the only waiter who spoke English, but it was DEFINITELY worth the wait. He realized how hungry we were (we were getting delirious by this time) and rushed to get us pretzels with cheese and giant beers!! We were very very happy customers. The pretzels were amazing and my first beer EVER was actually pretty good! Then we ordered our very german meals which were so delicious. Kels and I got the brewmaster’s special which consisted of 4 or 5 little meats in a skillet with mushroom sauce, it was amazing. Not sure what I was eating but that’s kind of the theme here in Europe and I’m okay with it as long as it’s tasty! We finished all that we could (it was a huge meal) and then our lovely waiter insisted we have something else ( I was under the impression it was a mini dessert) but it turned out to be shots, so we took shots of some German liquid. So 20 euro later we were extremely satisfied and full from a perfect Authentic German dinner. 

Austria

            Innsbruck

            Innsbruck was probably my favorite place we visited because of how naturally beautiful it was. It is a smaller city in Austria but very quaint and the people are very nice. We were supposed to stay with a person that Kelsey met through a couchsurfing connection (couchsurfing is a concept of staying with people when you are traveling, there is a website that explains everything if you are interested in learning more http://www.couchsurfing.org/) but that failed – long story – so we only got to spend a few hours here but we got a good little hiking trip in. We took a cable car up to Hungerburg where there are cute little touristy restaurants and lodges and great trails for hiking. We went up the trails (which were kind of muddy/snowy/slippery for a bit) and then saw some woods that looked like the forest from the twilight movies. Where Edward and Bella cheesily and awkwardly zoom around the forest up and down the trees. We had some fun reenacting twilight moments and blair witch project videos and continued up the mountain. We came upon a clearing on the mountain where we could see the city of Innsbruck. It was gorgeous and the sun was near setting so it created a beautiful orange color. We sat on the hill for a while soaking up the view and relaxing, and relaxing so much that Esteban fell asleep! Well we are mean and decided to play a prank on him. We tip-toed away from him and went behind some trees and the distance and I came back to him and started freaking out about how I had fallen asleep too and McKenna and Kelsey were gone and I had no idea what happened. Well Esteban didn’t even freak out but he said he believed me for like a minute, so that was kind of a success! We have a funny video to document the whole pranking process! We gallivanted back down the mountain in order to cut some time off of the journey, a very efficient way of traveling! These pictures do not do the place justice, Innsbruck is definitely a must-see!

Salzburg

            Salt Mine

                        After a last minute decision to take a late night bus to Salzburg we piled in the hostel at 1:30am to finally get some sleep and prepare for our few days in Salzburg, Austria. The next day we bought some food to tie us over for the day (again consisting of mostly bread and condiments) and discussed what tours we wanted to go on. Sadly, tours in Salzburg are kind of pricey and since it was very cold outside we needed to pick a few tours to go on in order to see the sights, since we couldn’t enjoy being outside for long periods of time. The Sound of Music tour was too expensive for my student budget but I wish wish wish I could’ve seen everything, at least I’ve been to Salzburg and can recognize some things when I watch the movie in the future. So we decided on a tour of a Salt Mine – GREAT decision. We took a bus to a little town nearby and did the 2pm tour of Salz Welten. We had to put these ugly white suit things on in order to go down in the mine to protect our clothes, we all looked very bulky because we were still wearing our winter coats underneath. We looked more like ghostbusters than miners! It was a great tour and our tour guide was so nice – giving us all of the information in English and being very welcome towards us American tourists. We went down the slides that the miners used to use to go down further in the mine, learned about the history of salt mining in Salzburg – “Salt Castle”, and got a few salty souveineirs: mini salt shaker and salt rock! It was really neat and awesome to see some history of the main resources of Salzburg.

Valentine’s Day Walking Tour

                        On Valentine’s day, we went the cheap route and did our own walking tour – we had the hostel map and followed it around to all of the sites and explored by ourselves. We went through downtown Salzburg which is super cute and kind of posh (the nice stores). We saw Mozart’s house and place where he was born, we even bought some Mozart balls later – a specialty chocolate made in Austria! We went up a hill towards the fortress and discovered a type of team building jungle gym area. We spent about an hour here acting like children and running around trying out everything on the obstacle course. A very random but funny thing to do, a highlight of the day for sure! We saw many beautiful landmarks of Salzburg and headed back into town and us three girls got free yellow roses for Valentine’s day! It was a very sweet random act of kindness, I know I appreciated it. We went back to our hostel, made a great pasta lunch, took a nap and then went back out for a drink at a student bar in a cave and then returned early for our last night at our Salzburg hostel because we had a 5:30am train to catch. I loved my time in Salzburg but would love to return one day to go on the Sound of Music tour and see the hills and reenact the fun musical moments!

That is all for now but I will post my finishing comments about the end of our Semana Blanca in Vienna and Prague soon! I can’t wait to be caught up so I can tell you all about how much I love my time in Granada! I am finishing up the Semana Blanca posts but McKenna will post about our Ireland trip to visit Cass, it was amazing! I miss everyone so much and am so excited to see my parents and sister in 2 weeks! I am very happy here and hope that through this I can share a little bit of Europe with you J

Xoxo

Bre

The adventures begin...

So this is just a quick update because I leave tonight for a 10 day trip that I am NOT ready for!!! But so far I have traveled to Sevilla, Spain for a weekend and Paris, France for another weekend!!! Both were AMAZING!!!!

First, Sevilla! There were 14 people from my program that went but it was a group of 7 of us usually because 14 is just too many! Sevilla is a lot like Granada but bigger and more touristy, but beautiful and quaint at the same time! We bused there at 3am...woo hoo! Obviously you all know me well and so you also know that I need my sleep! Im not the pull-an-all-nighter-for-a-test kind of person. I would do better if i slept than if i studied! So traveling has made me push through my tiredness and still have a good time! Dont get me wrong...I have had my moments (Bre and Kels can testify to that) and Im sure I will continue to in the future but some how my body has just gotten to the point where it doesnt need a lot of sleep! Thank you Lord!!!

But we arrived in Sevilla and everyone went to take a nap, except me, Bre, Abby and Amanda(two other girls from our program)! Im not going to tell everything just my favorites: Plaza de Espana...WONDERFUL! If you ever find yourself in Sevilla you need to go there! La Catedral y el torre....breathtaking! The Cathedral is the 3rd largest in the world and the tower is amazing! This huge park across from the Plaza de Espana and the Alkazar, a palace! My favorite memories, buying food at a market and eating lunch in front of the Cathedral, very much a picturesque lunch! Cooking dinner in our hostel...quite the experience!!! Just walking around this beautiful city! Hopefully Bre will tell more or ask me when I get home!!!

Next, Paris! This literally was the perfect weekend! It was just me, Bre and Kels and we stayed with Kels's family's friends! The sweetest people ever and they have the coolest house!!! The Lord was totally with us this entire weekend...from landing in Paris and having to meet up with Kelsey to me and Bre being hungry as wild animals and there being a Kabab King open in Granada when we got home at 1am!

Me and Bre had to meet up with Kels in Paris because she flew separately so we had planned to meet at this gigantic hotel thing that the buses should drop us off at. I was just so uneasy feeling about having Kels traveling by herself and what if we missed her or something, because it would be easy to lose someone in Paris. But 10 minutes late (longest 10 min of my life) Kels arrived and the 3 of us were reunited!!! Everyone probs thought we hadnt seen each other in years because me and Bre ran to hug her!!! It was the best feeling! We then were picked up by Kels' friends, the cutest couple who hosted us for the weekend! Then that afternoon we hit the Notre Dame, The Louvre (I saw Mona Lisa!!!!), the Arc de something and Champs something(the big shopping street)! I obviously dont know any french!

Next day, went to Versailles...AMAZING!!!! The palace the grounds and garden, everything was breathtaking! I could have spent multiple days there! If you ever go to Paris you HAVE to go to Versailles! We all picked up food from the coolest market in town and ate lunch in the gardens at Versailles...again, very picturesque! We were there until 5ish and then took the Metro into Paris and went to this super famous street for touristy things and climbed these stairs to this beautiful view of Paris! There was a live acoustic show going on..again, very picturesque! Next, the Eiffel Tower!!! LOVED IT!!!! Took all the touristy pictures and then we just sat there and I got to enjoy it with 2 of my best friends!!!

This whole trip so far has shown me how extremely blessed I am and how the Lord never disappoints! He always has things under control and always knows what is best! I could go on forever about little funny memories but I will share those when I get home! Im sorry this entry is a little all over the place but i dont have time to reread so forgive my spelling errors and grammar mistakes! I leave tonight for a 10 day trip to Munich, Germany, through Austria and to Prague, Czech Republic! Im going with Bre, Kels and Esteban...the poor guy doesnt even know what he has signed up for but I know it will be a blast! I miss everyone from back home and love you all!!! God Bless!!!

2 Corinthians 4:8

My life in Spain

So I have been meaning to sit down and write but every time I go to do it I just get too overwhelmed because I feel like I have to write about everything so then I just decide to do it another day (this overwhelmed thing is something that im working on getting over). But then Bre threatened to fire me from the blog so here I am! But warning, this may be long but I promise I wont give useless details! Im going to split it up into sections to make it easier.

1. Life with Christina (host family)
She is AMAZING!!! She is an awesome cook (so are you mom) but every meal is homemade because everyone goes home for lunch, the siesta, but instead of napping they make a really nice big lunch, rest and watch the news and then the parents take their kids back to school around 5ish and then parents go back to work until 8. That is why their schedule is so different. Things open much later here, so lunch is anywhere from 2:30-4:30, then dinner is from 9:30-11 and then people stay up until all hours of the night! Basically Spaniards dont sleep! Which almost demolishes my hopes of ever being a Spaniard! But back to my host family, she has a 15 year old daughter that I was so nervous to meet because I thought she wouldnt like me (I heard spanish girls tend to not always like american girls). But she is super nice, kind of shy at first, but she is becoming more comfortable around me and talking more. I also have another student living with me, Megan. She is from Iowa and goes to a super small college but is SUPER nice! We are very similar in many ways which is such an answer to prayer!!! Summation: I LOVE where I live and my host family!!!

2. School/Classes
I am only taking 12 hours which is 4 classes, so I have 2 a day and they are each one and a half hours long and all in Spanish! The teachers are really good though and know to talk slow and enunciate their words so it is not too hard to understand them, whereas people on the streets speak very differently. They drop their "s" from words so "fiesta" turns into "fieta", which none of us knows what "fieta" is so that has taken some getting used to. But people have said that if you can understand Spanish in Granada then you can understand it anywhere! I'm still working on fully understanding my teachers but one of these days i will get the whole no "s" thing! Summation: love my classes and teachers, they are kind of long, kind of make my head hurt but I am learning a lot!!!

3. Random stuff I have done
I will try to not repeat the stuff that Bre has already mentioned, but we went to the Alhambra!!! BEAUTIFUL!!! This palace that is in Granada from before the Catholics overtook Spain! It is really fascinating! Then Kelly turned 21 last Wednesday so we all went out to the discotecas (night clubs) for her which was fun! We went to a flamenco show which was really cool! It is A LOT harder than I imagined! I thought you just randomly moved your feet and clapped things in your hand but it is way more than that! It was really fun to watch! I went to a soccer game where Granada played another team which I already forgot!!! SO FUN!!! I LOVED it!!! The fans are insane!!! There was a really bad call, i dont know soccer so I cant really have an opinion on this, but the whole Granada team was yelling at the ref on the field and fans ran down to the bottom rail by the field (where our seats were) and started yelling! Coolest, but kind of scary, moment of the game!!! And Granada won which was really cool to see!!! Then me, Bre and a girl named Shelby, goes to ISU but is studying abroad here for the semester, ventured out to an Evangelical church we have heard about! It was so fun! All the songs were in Spanish as was the sermon, but thankfully it was a basic sermon so I kind of figured out what it was about...i think! But I really enjoyed it so I have found a church in Granada!!!

4. Lord's provision
So I have always wanted to study abroad so in my mind I assumed the transition would not be hard at all because this is something I have always wanted to do...wrong! It is an amazing experience but the first few days with my host family was really kind of hard. But it has showed me yet again that I need to rely on the Lord! That I can't rely on myself and my own strength, because I'm just honestly not that strong! The Lord continually shows me that He will always provide! He has provided a wonderful and welcoming host family, a great roommate, wifi in my apartment(trust me...SUCH A BLESSING), safety, great new and old friends, a church, the miraculous ability for me to not get lost here...yet, and just a feeling of peace and comfort in such a foreign place. I have only been here a week and a half and I have already learned so much!

Sorry for this SUPER long entry. Things will settle down and the entries won't be long i promise! I love and miss you all!!!! God Bless!!!

no class on fridays = love

Hola!

I am done with my first week of classes! They are actually really great. I am taking oral spanish, grammar, spanish art history and spanish culture. Yeah they seem easy right now but I think its more because it is all so fascinating, interesting, and as nerdy as this sounds, really fun to learn about! I enjoy going to class and learning 10+ words/class. Although sometimes it is a tad overwhelming for my brain, but I know it will all be worth it. I've been filling my free time with shopping (rebajas will be the death of my bank account), walking, exploring, researching trips, and watching tv I don't fully understand with Josefina. It's wonderful, I'm learning how to relax which is a weird concept for me. Kelsey and McKenna have helped me to become unstressed and slow down, what great best friends :) Oh backtracking... rebajas- sales going on in the stores here in Granada. They have sales starting the 6th (or maybe 7th) of January because it is after they do Christmas gifts, they celebrate with gift giving on the 6th because that's when the Wise Men brought the gifts to baby Jesus. A cool cultural difference. And this info might not be 100% accurate because I asked Narea (assistant program director) about it and she explained it to me in Spanish, so that was my interpretation! And on my way home from school I basically walk by the entire shopping district and they always have great window displays so sometimes I get lured into the shops. Don't worry mom and dad, i've been spending responsibility. I got a pair of awesome, fitting, comfortable jeans for 7 EURO! Now that is a find.

My good friend from Chi O turned 21 on Wednesday so it was time to experience our first Chupeteria and discoteca visit!! La Chupeteria is a shot bar with over 100 types of shots and each cost 1E, very interesting place, kind of fun! It was cool seeing the bartenders mix all of them, you could tell they had it down like a science, very fast and methodical. Then we went to the discoteca, a little early then when you're supposed to. We were told that the discotecas don't get popular til after 2. But we got there and it was ladies' night! A very interesting crowd I must say. The discoteca is called Granada 10 (Granada Diez) and it is like an old movie theater that is a night club, very beautiful looking inside. But a VERY strange thing at this discoteca... it REEKED of sulfur. It might have been the worst smell I have ever smelled, it was almost vomit inducing, it was that bad. But we danced to some great american music (everywhere you go there is american music, its kind of refreshing to hear english!) Kelly had a wonderful 21st birthday, and most of us were home around 4am or later. I had to wake up at 7:30 to get ready for class at 9. Let's just say I think my discoteca days will be limited because I don't think I'm cut out for staying out that late! But hey, it was so fun, can't wait to go back!

Me and Kelly the birthday girl! Oh and thank you Grandma for buying me this great dress for Christmas, I love it!!!

On tuesdays and thursdays I have art history with Monica. On tuesdays we are in class learning about different spanish art styles and artists but on thursdays we usually take 'field trips' to really see the art. I love this class already!!! In Spanish 4 in high school we really learned all about Spanish culture and art, so this isn't the first time I'm hearing it. It's nice already having a little background info on things. So on thursday we went to La Capilla Real - The Royal Chapel. It is a chapel (almost like a small cathedral) that was 'sponsored'/paid for/dedicated by the Catholic Kings (Los Reyes Catolicos). It is a gothic -ish chapel and is absolutely stunning. Everything is extremely detailed and kept up very nicely. In the front of the chapel are the bodies and monuments of Los Reyes Catolicos - Isabel and Ferdinand and Juana la Loca y Felipe el Hermoso. What a sight to see. It is unreal that I've studied all of this but am now actually experiencing the things I read about. In the museum ish part of the chapel are old items of the royal family. I was about 10 inches away from Queen Isabela's crown! There is just so much to see and do here in Granada, I'm so glad I came here. One thing I've been thinking about lately though, concerning the history of Granada, is how all of these historical things from los reyes catolicos are stunning, all of the symbols and creations of their reign are just beautiful. I want to marvel in all of that and the meaning of religion they are associated with but I can't help to think of what had to happen for them to gain all of that power. Granada had tons of mosques because it was a very muslim city but then los reyes catolicos came in and replaced almost every trace of that history with catholic churches. And even forced the muslims to convert or else they exiled them out of Granada. It's so strange to think that religion was such a political force at one time and how those things just don't align. I still am in awe of everything I am seeing though. It is so humbling, I love being in a beautiful place. We went to a flamenco show last night in el Sacromonte (caves where some gypsies live) and they are nice caves made into houses and restaurants. The flamenco dance and music is really beautiful. I'll try to post a video of it somewhere.

The view from La Alhambra... what an amazingly beautiful place.

Flamenco en el Sacromonte

Well tomorrow is my day of exploration. I'm going to some random market with a bunch of girls from the program to shop and then tomorrow night we are going to try to go to a Granada futbol game, I am SO excited for it. It'll be such a fun thing to see!

Room 6 goes to Granada... our sorority girl pose!

Love you and miss you all
-Bre

mi vida con josefina!

Hola :)

Before I take a short siesta I just wanted to do a short post, my posts may be more like lists because I want to enjoy my time in spain and not always be on the internet :) i decided that before i go to bed instead of chillin' on the internet i would get in a routine of doing a few things. 1) Read my bible/or this devotional book I'm doing with McKenna. 2) Go through a letter in the spanish-english dictionary and pick out words that I use in my daily vocab and write them down in my notebook to expand my vocabulary 3)write in my personal journal or e-mail my parents/a few select friends :) and i'll do a blog post at least once or twice a week!

my stay with josefina: I love Josefina! As most of you know MaryPat (my pledge mom in Chi Omega) stayed with Josefina last year and loved her so I requested to live with her and so far it was a great decision! She may not be the warmest/cuddly/outwardly affectionate lady but she is SO caring and helpful. She has already made me feel at home and comfortable.. as comfortable as I can feel without being able to communicate very well. She insists I eat whenever I want (WIN) and she also eats very healthy (perfect for me!), but still a lot of food :) another thing i've noticed in spain is their food is SO fresh. Josefina said that it is normal for families/women to get groceries per day for the meals, not weekly or biweekly like we do in the U.S. I have fruit about 2-3 times a day and its great. Meal times are as follow: Breakfast, whenever you wake up - very small, for me- toast, bread, cafe solo (black coffee), and these like dried fruit things that josefina says have a lot of vitamins but I have no idea what they are haha! then lunch - 3pm a big lunch! then dinner at like 10:30. a very big change from america!!

well i will post more later. my mom is distracting me on skype. someone please teach my mom how to skype, lol it is an interesting experience! she can't hear me so i just type to her and and she talks to me, haha.

anyways, have a wonderful start to school in the u.s. i miss you all!!

-xoxo bre

Mi primer semana

So I have been here for almost a week and my classes start tomorrow so I thought I would try out this whole blog thing. Im not sure Im cut out for this so I have Bre to fall back on (thanks honey), but I will try!

My first adventure was leaving my jacket on the airplane from Chicago to Madrid! I ran back to the terminal, Jeanette was a sweetheart and waited for me, and knocked on the terminal door, pushed some security buttons but nothing got their attention. Asked a help desk (in my awful broken spanish) and no luck there either. So first purchase in Granada...a coat! But I did get something out of it...I now know the Madrid airport very well!

The hostel we stayed in was really nice and our first week has been full of tours and sightseeing!!! Which has been amazing!!! I dont think my words could do this place justice! Its BEAUTIFUL and just so unique!!!

I moved in with my host family yesterday and she is so sweet...and very patient with my lack of spanish speaking skills!!! Which is SUCH A BLESSING!!! She has a 15 year old daughter who is kind of shy but super nice!

I could go on and on but i will stop because this is getting way too long! And i have to save some funny stories to tell when I get home! In summary...this place is wonderful!!! I have felt some homesickness but it is really just more a missing of my family and friends! I wish I could just fly everyone out here and share it with them! I love you all and I promise my next post wont be nearly as long!!! God Bless!!!