Back from Paris!

Hello Friends and Family!!

So I just got back from Paris this weekend! It was absolutely amazing; Paris is so beautiful. I went with three other girls in my program (from UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis) but stayed with one of my best friends since childhood, Anna Heery. She is studying in Paris for the semester and her roommate was gone all weekend so Anna and I got to share the apartment alone. Anna was with me last time I went to Paris in high school, so it was super fun being with her again, especially because she knew they city and where to take me and because we were constantly reminded of funny moments during our last trip to Paris.

I left Barcelona early Thursday morning and arrived when Anna was in class. So, I took a nap on her bed and she jumped on me when she got home and woke me up. We were SOOOO happy so see each other it was one of the happiest moments of the whole trip! We then walked around different neighborhoods in Paris and talked for HOURS, catching each other up on our lives! It was SO great to be with her, it was a friendly reminder of home and it was so comfortable. We went shopping for a little and then went grocery shopping for the weekend. Since we are both so cheap, we did not even go out to eat and saved a lot of money by just buying a lot of food at the store for the weekend. Thursday evening we went to a club called Duplex and it was a lot of fun! We met up with some of her friends who were also visiting for the weekend.

On Friday we went to a couple museums (yes, Anna managed to drag me to museums) and walked throughout the whole city. We went to some gardens and had a picnic and it was a wonderful and relaxing day. Friday night we had a dinner party at her apartment and cooked for her friends. We ate dinner and chatted with all of her friends and drank a lot of wine. We then met up with my friends I came with and drank some more wine by Notre Dam on the river. It felt like a true Paris experience!

On Saturday Anna went with her friend to the French countryside and had dinner with her friend’s grandmother. I met up with my friends from Barcelona and we did more touristy things. We walked around to all the major tourist spots in Paris and then ate DELICIOUS falafels in the Jewish neighborhood of Paris. I returned to Anna’s after and Anna and I then took a little nap. We then met up with Anna’s friends and went to a very suave bar/lounge. There was a burlesque show which was very interesting! We then headed to a street with tons of bars and went bar hopping, which was super fun.

On Sunday Anna and I made it to the Eiffel Tower and walked around Paris more. We got some coffee and lunch with her friends, then headed back to her place. We relaxed for a while then decided to go to happy hour at a bar close by. We drank beer and cocktails for a couple hours then I had to head to the airport.

It was a truly FABULOUS weekend! I loved spending time with Anna, and I cannot wait for her to come to Barcelona in three weeks!!!! But it was really one of the best weekends and the whole time Anna and I were just laughing at EVERYTHING and sharing stories and remembering funny times last time we were in Europe together.

This week is very busy for me. I have to move into my new apartment on Wednesday! So, I have to pack and get all my stuff together before I move. I head to the south of Spain next weekend! I fly into Seville (where one of my best friends Dana Hansen is studying) Thursday morning, then head to Cadiz on Friday morning. There is a big group of 8 of us going for the weekend, so it is going to be crazy! This weekend is a Spanish festival called “Carnival” in Cadiz, which is basically a huge parade/street party where people get dressed up and go crazy. So it is going to be super fun and I cannot wait!

I will update my blog after my travels to the South of Spain next weekend!

Paris this Weekend!

Hello All!!

So for the past week or so I have basically just been finalizing my class schedule and figuring out logistical stuff. I have class Monday-Thursday and these are the classes I am taking: Psychology of Sexuality, History of Catalonia, Teaching English, and Advanced Microeconomics.

My teaching English class is a joke. It is literally so easy but also very interesting as well. I am taking that class with Sophie, my good friend here in Barcelona.

Psychology of Sexuality is extremely interesting, but also difficult because the teacher talks super fast so it is hard for me to understand everything. Luckily, she posts the slides online so I can always review those and look up the words I do not know. But so far we have learned a lot about homosexuality v. heterosexuality and debates for/against gay marriage. I really enjoy that class, but the Psychology campus is in the outskirts of Barcelona so it takes me about 45 minutes to get there via Metro. One other girl from my program is taking that class so we can study together. We met a girl in the class who is super friendly, and studied in the US for a semester so she helps us understand some of what the professor is saying. She has a car and offered to take us to her vacation house about an hour outside of Barcelona for a weekend! That would be super fun and great to hang out with a local. Oh and the first day of class I came late (could not find the classroom for the life of me!) and so I literally had to crawl over people to a desk that was in the far corner. So embarrassing!

I haven't had History of Catalonia yet. It is once a week for 3 hours and last week the professor didn't show up. Apparently that isn't a big deal here in Spain and it happens often. So, hopefully she will show up tomorrow!

Advanced Microeconomics is not as bad as I thought it would be. So far, it has been mostly review of what I have already learned. And it is easier to understand him than in other classes because he draws diagrams/graphs while he talks, so you can get a sense of what he is saying (more or less). This guy in my program is taking it with me and we met a Spanish girl who we always sits next to. She doesn't speak any English but offered to let us copy her notes and always asks us if we understand what is going on, which is super nice!

Let's see what else is new... Oh, I joined a gym the other day! I realized that I would probably blow up if I didn't work out so me and my friend Nathalie Urroz joined it together and have so far gone everyday and taken some aerobics classes/gone on the treadmill. It is a super nice gym with 10 locations throughout Barcelona, one of them right across the street from my apartment I am moving into next month.

Right now I live with 2 guys on the Barcelona handball team. They are SUPER nice and I absolutely love living with them. They have training twice a day so I hardly see them in the daytime (since I have class as well) but I am excited to go to one of their matches. Juan's girlfriend came over one night and cooked dinner for the four of us. It was really fun and we all chatted for hours and ate delicious food! It felt really home-like. I haven't gone out with them yet because February is their "intensive training month" but they said once I move out and they have a more flexible schedule they want to take me out and meet all their friends. I am excited for that because I want to hang out with more locals! I am, however, really excited to move into my new apartment in the beginning of March. It is more centrally located so it won't take me too long to get to the various campuses.

I AM GOING TO PARIS THIS WEEKEND! I am SO excited! I leave Thursday morning and come back Sunday night. I am going with 3 close friends in my program but I am staying with Anna Heery (Me and Sara's best friend since middle school). I cannot wait to see her and for her to show me around Paris! It is going to be an amazing weekend and I am just excited to see someone I know from home! I will update my blog when I get back!

Tori Dumont (friend from high school) is coming to Barcelona for her Spring Break! I cannot wait to show her around and have an amazing time with her! It is going to be amazing and I cannot wait! AND my friend Emily Bass (graduated from UCSB last year, was on the Ultimate Frisbee team with me) is coming to visit as well! She is coming with me and my friends for our Spring Break around  the Greece islands and then staying with me in Barcelona for a week! It is going to be so incredibly fun. I cannot believe Tori and Emily both booked their tickets, I didn't think they actually would!

Oh, and I booked my ticket to Amsterdam for my birthday weekend! So far there is a group of around 6-10 of us (not everyone has booked their ticket yet) but it is going to be SOOSOSOOOOOO fun! I cannot wait for that weekend! And I want to book a ticket to Munich/Berlin soon, can't decide which one. Any suggestions?

Okay, that is all for now! Still loving life in Barcelona and enjoying every second of my experience! Dewey, I know you are loving all these exclamation marks!!!! Oh, and I am jealous that Sara, Charlotte, and Mom are all traveling around Chile together. Someone from my family come visit me in Barcelona!!

LOVE YOU ALL
xoxox

Prague!!!!

Hello Everybody!!!!

So I just got back from an amazing weekend in Prague! Prague is so incredibly beautiful with stunning architecture and landscape. It was such an amazing weekend and a HUGE success as my first trip outside of Barcelona!

So I went with my two friends in my program, Sophie (from UCSB) and Anna (from UCSC). We arrived in Prague Friday around 5pm. We stayed at a hostel in the heart of Prague and shared a room with 9 others (12 people total). When we arrived, we immediately started chatting with two Bosnian girls that were in Prague for the weekend as well. We ended up talking for about 3 hours with them and it was super interesting because we did not know much about Bosnia before talking to them. One of the girls lived underground in a bomb shelter for five years when the Bosnian Wars were occurring! It was crazy talking to them because they were children when the wars were going on, and they enlightened us about their life and struggles living through the war. They also played some Bosnian music with us and further discussed Bosnian culture.

We also started talking to a group of 5 German guys staying in the hostel. They were so crazy, I actually think that they were drunk the whole weekend. But they were a lot of fun, and also discussed major German cultural aspects. All 10 of us (Bosnians and Germans) drank some beer and played some drinking games from the various countries. Our huge group then headed to a club in central Prague that is the biggest club in central Europe! It was a ton of fun, with 6 floors all playing different types of music. I actually ran into my friend Carissa from school who is studying in Rome. It was so crazy to see her because we did not know we would both be in Prague! So we literally were freaking out in the middle of the club and probably caused a scene.

The next day, Anna, Sophie, and I went to the main tourist attractions in Prague. We saw Old Town Square, the Astrological Clock, the Charles Bridge, the Lennon Wall, and the Prague Castle. Everything was SO beautiful! Just walking down the street, every building was special with a different style. The views were incredible from the Prague Castle; you could see all of Prague and the rivers. It was an incredible day that really exposed major cultural aspects of Prague.

Saturday night we did a pub crawl that is really famous in Prague. My friend Sarah was also in Prague that weekend so she did the pub crawl as well, and we got to hang out all night! We started at a local bar "The Drunken Monkey" where drinks were unlimited and there was a ton of young people. We then left that bar and made it to 3 others in the crawl. It was SUPER fun and we got to see a lot of the local Prague bars. There were a lot of college kids doing the crawl, so I met a bunch of people from all over the US studying in various European cities.

On Sunday, we first headed to the Communist Museum. It was very interesting because the communist regime is such a major part of Prague's history and has an incredible influence on Prague's culture to this day. After the interesting museum, we saw a beautiful synagogue and then headed to a tower that overlooked the whole city. It was quite a trek to the tower, and we found ourself in a forestry area with views of the castle to the right. The views from the top of the tower were absolutely stunning, and it was starting to get dark so you could see all the city lights. Afterwards, we went to a local Czech brewery close by. We had no idea what to order (it was all in Czech) so we just asked the waitress to bring her favorite beer and food. The food was questionable and quite hard to eat (cheese with actual fungi on it and questionable meat) and the beer literally tasted like a banana dipped in cinnamon. So that dinner was a failure, but at least we got to try local Czech food!

We got home and found a very drunk group of the Germans. They persuaded us to head to a bar with them, so we drank a little beer with them before then headed to the bar. It was really fun and we met some local Czechs. We were exhausted from the whole weekend, so we called it a night early.

On Monday, Anna and Sophie left around noon for their flight but mine wasn't until 9pm. So, I roamed the city be myself and it was beautiful. I strolled across the torture museum, and went in. It was not a good idea to go in by myself, it was so scary and freaky!! After walking around for a couple hours, I returned to the hostel where I met a girl from NY and a guy from Australia. They were teaching English in Paris. All three of us went to a brewery and got a couple beers. They were really interesting, and we ended up talking for hours. They are coming to Barcelona soon, so they told me they will let me know when they come! I then headed to the airport and made it back to Barcelona safely!

Well, that was my weekend in Prague! It was actually amazing and made me realize how much I want to travel when I am here. Oh, and I booked a ticket to Amsterdam for my birthday weekend! I am about to book a ticket to Munich for the end of April and am looking into Berlin!

That is it for now, I will update soon! Thanks for following meeeeee! Love you all!

P.S: See bottom of blog for more pics!

xoxo

Hola from Barcelona!

Hello Everyone!!!

Sorry I started a blog so late, but I got tired of repeating myself over and over in emails! So here, you can find out everything that is going on in my new Spanish life.

Okay, so where do I even start?!?! BARCELONA IS AMAZING!!!! I am absolutely in love, with the culture, food, people, the language, Europe... everything! I have been here for about a month and feel like I have been here for a year; I feel completely at home. I am completely familiar with the city and know how to navigate around  the metro system, which is excellent. So the first two weeks was the Intensive Language Program, which consisted of Spanish Grammar, Conversation, Culture and History, and an Introduction to Catalan. I learned a ton in ILP; we got to visit 3 museums in Barcelona and it was a great way to meet other students in my program. However, it was also very tedious and exhausting, especially because me and my friends were out at the discotecas/bars several times a week!

The nightlife in Barcelona is crazy. Actually insane... in a good way. My friends and I don't leave to go out until 2am and return anywhere from 7-8am! Then we would sleep until 9am, get up, go to classes, then take a siesta in the afternoon, and do it all over again! The discotecas are so much fun and they are always packed! I have met a bunch of international people from all over and it is really great learning about everyone's different culture.

The food is also great here. I LOVE getting tapas and Sangria! It is so much fun to duck into a little restaurant and each a bunch of Spanish cuisine while also meeting some locals. And let me tell you, the Spanish love their wine and Sangria! They drink it with everything (including breakfast), here wine is cheaper than bottled water! So that has been a huge culture shock, but a great one! But the food is amazing and love heading out to dinner at 10pm.

So for the first two weeks, I lived in a home-stay. I absolutely loved my senora! She would cook all three meals for me and Sophie (one of my best friends here in Barca), do our laundry, and wouldn't judge us when we came home at 8am (hopefully..)! The first two weeks were very stressful, however, because I had to go on the Spanish "craigslist" and find an apartment, or "piso" for myself. Everyday, I would go look at 3-5 pisos, and it was extremely exhausting. But I finally found two perfect ones! The one I am living in now is only for the month of February. It is with two guys from the professional Barcelona handball team! They are GREAT! I only speak to them in Spanish and I have learned so much about their culture just by living with them. They give me advice about Barcelona, where to travel, and LOVE hearing about California. It is quite funny, everyone here wants to know everything about America.

The piso I am moving into for the rest of the semester is with two Italian girls and one Phillipino guy, all students. I am very excited to move in with them because they are SUPER nice and I love the piso!

I am so excited to travel all around Europe! This is what I have booked so far this semester:
Prague (this weekend!)
Cádiz (south of Spain for Cárnival: a huge Spanish fiesta!)
Dublin (for St. Patty's day)
Paris
Greece islands (island hopping for Spring Break)

And this is what I am going to book in the near future:
Amsterdam
Munich or Berlin (can't decide which one)
Croatia (closer to the summertime)
All over Spain
Canary Islands
Italy
Vienna

Hopefully I will have time to go to all of those places!
Well, I obviously have a TON more to say but I figured this entry is already very long since it covers the past month. I will be updating continuously with more news! Love you all!

PS: Barcelona is the best place ever. I am absolutely in love. I never really wanna come home...