Madrid Manana!!

I am sooo excited to go to Madrid tomorrow! I leave for the airport at 7:15 am yay! I get to Madrid at like 12 or something and we are gonna check into our hostel. Our hostel is Albergue Juvenil (look it up it is tight!!) We are going to go to the plaza mayor and puerta del sol tomorrow and then go out at night. Saturday we are going to the Prado and the Sofia Reina, Sunday we are going to the Palacio Real and the Palacio del Cristol at the parque del buen retiro. and then monday well do whatever we didnt get done. (I dont leave Madrid until 9:25 at night). When I get back to Oviedo I start the second session of school! I will be in advanced class which will be interesting haha. I will write when i get back from Madrid! Hasta Luego!
I am sooo excited!!!!

well tomorrow is my last day of class for session one! I have already been out of the states for 4 weeks!! crazy... It has gone by pretty fast! I few things I have learned half way through my session:
1. Where all of the pharmacies are and how to stay some key phrases like "I need help going to the bathroom", "I think I have a bladder infection", "Do you have pills for those?", and far more interesting phrases that I just can't even put on here.
2. Wine is cheaper than water
3. A siesta (nap) is MANDATORY to be able to function(especially because nothing is open during siesta time)
4.Any thing that can go wrong,will go wrong, and when it does just take it with a grain of salt; the spanish do not stress about anything
5. There are NO clocks here...I never know what time it is.
6. Spanish women just look evil and intimidating...they are actually very nice and helpful
7. Mosquitos WILL bite you every night
8. No one's hair looks good in humidity
9. Americans do not have the feet to walk everywhere in heels or sandals
10. Dogs are just as important (if not more) important here and are not on leashes
11. Nudity is totally accepted and encouraged
12.Eating outside will cost you more
13. Do not go out to eat in big groups
14. Chocolate is only available in the morning and afternoons (had to find that out the hard way)
15. Cars WILL NOT stop for you ( I almost got hit today..yikes!)
16. Elderly women are more fabulous here than anywhere else in the world (they are still rockin' high heels todo el tiempo)
17. You look more American than you think you do
18. Eggs and ham are in everything
19. Fashion here is a lifestyle
20. Watch where you walk! People will not move for you, they will just bump into you!

There is a lot more that I have learned but those are some key things that I try and remember everyday. We'll see what else I learn next month!! Hasta luego

I HATE MOSQUITOS

I literally feel like I am in a horror movie. Me and my roommate just went on a 20 minute mosquito hunt in our room. There were three in our room and they were attacking us! We only thought there was one but they kept showing up...my roommate saw one go straight for my face ah!!! I am sitting in bed terrified that they are still in here haha. We tried to catch them but nothing was working...we even have an anti mosquito repellant in our room and it is not working! (we might be doing it wrong cause all of the directions were in spanish) We are doing everything right! WIndows closed when the lights are on and windows open when the lights are off...it is so frustrating! I saw it bite me too! it was so scary! it got me in the leg and then under my shirt and it creeps me out how it got there! It was pretty comical seeing our reactions to these mosquitos. I was running around the room/hall with a dish towel screaming and jumping and my roommate was stomping around the bathroom trying to kill the one that was in there...haha. We both can not stop itching because we feel like mosquitos are all over us! Since I have been here i have gotten atleast 10 bites from them.. they are los diablos. And now im freaking out that I have Malaria or something...great. Bottom line..MOSQUITOS SUCK

Llanes and Santiallana del Mar (and identity theft! ah!)

So last night we all went out even though we had to be up for an excursion at like 8 but it was worth it! We went to the clubs and met different people who are studying here and are in our classes too but this was the first time we all kinda hung out, it was fun! The night life in Oviedo is obviously not as crazy as Madrid or Barcelona, but I enjoy it! I didn't get back to the dorms until a little after four in the morning so I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night, but esta bien! I am really happy I went to the excursion today because both of the towns were beautiful! We first went to Santiallana del Mar which is a pre-romanasque town in Cantabria. The buildings there were phenomenal! They looked like they were straight out of a fairy tale. And the streets are literally ALL cobblestone, like real cobblestone, it kind of hurt to walk on them but it was okay! We didn't do much there just kinda walked around and looked at all of the buildings. I felt like I was in Under the Tuscan Sun ( the movie with Diane Lane) because we were in the country side of Spain (even though the movie takes place in Italy but whatever) and everywhere around us was green and had beautiful flowers next to it. It is exactly what i pictured the Spanish countryside to look like. After Santiallana del Mar we drove back towards Oviedo to go to Llanes. I was asleep on the ride there so I did not notice how beautiful the drive was. I would've taken pictures but they wouldn't have done it justice. When we go to Llanes some of us went to lunch at a place called La Amistad and had tapas. I had croquetas (cause I had been craving them since the last time I had them) but I kinda wish that I got fish because I tried some of my friends fresh cod and it was delectable. But we are going to go back again so next time I will get fish! After lunch we walked around and tried to find the beach which was a success. I literally died when I saw how gorgeous this beach was. I can not even describe to you how obsessed with it I was. It was like a little slice of heaven in an already picture perfect town. I was kind of upset that I didn't bring my bathing suit but it was okay because there were more sights to see! The main reason that we wanted to come to Llanes was because of the Cubas de la Memoria on the beach. (a bunch of colorful cubes that are on the water by the beach) I am not sure what they stand for because I am having a hard time finding any information about them! I know that they are by the artist Agostin Ibarrola but that is about it. We were all really stoked when we saw the cubas and we were very happy that we came. After taking a few pics and trying to take in as much as we could of the view we went down to the beach and just dipped our feet in the water. I was so happy I could have stayed there all day. We all decided that we have to come back because the beach was so breathtaking. I seriously would not be opposed to retiring in Llanes. There are not that many good pictures of Llanes or Santiallana del Mar on google so when I upload my pics to facebook I will try and add them on here too. When we got back to Oviedo I realized that I didn't have any cash for tonight and so I went to an ATM to get some out. My card was declined and said that I needed to contact my bank. I was a little concerned because I hadn't used my credit card or taking out cash in about a week so I did not think that my bank had froze my card. Long story short someone somehow found out my information on my card and used it in Tokyo and tried to spend an ample amount there. I was very stressed to say the least. My credit card company said that there was no way that I could get a temporary debit card until they sent one to me in hopefully a week. The problem with this was that I had absolutely no cash on me, had no food, had no water, and I am going to Madrid this weekend and for sure need cash. Needless to say I lost it. I was very overwhelmed because I had only slept four hours that night, just started having some more bad health issues, and all of a sudden did not have any way of getting money. YIKES. Luckily (after a few long and stressful expensive phone calls later) I have another card that I did not know I was able to take cash out of with so I have some money until my new card comes. After this whole ordeal I seriously needed some comfort food and my friends knew that. We went to an Italian restaurant and I had spaghetti with butter and parmesan... best. meal. ever. I am for sure going back to that place because the people who owned it were really friendly and they have my favorite food there. After dinner I got ready to go out but was feeling really uncomfortable with my new health issue of the day (seriously I have so many problems here! I feel like if I conquered everything here nothing will phase me back in the states :) ) and was really sad that I was not able to go out with everyone. I think it was a good decision because I am exhausted and want my health to be good for when I leave for Madrid on friday! Right now three of us are watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which is always a great way to end a night! Tomorrow a lot of people are going to the beach but I think I am going to stay in bed so that I can be healthy! It has been a very long, (and a tad bit stressful) day and I can not wait to lay my head down on my pillow and conk out. Adios!!

This week I kinda felt that I didn't really do much and was just kinda being lazy, so I decided that yesterday I needed to walk around and go out at night. It is so easy to get into a comfortable routine like one at home, but I have to keep reminding myself that I am in Spain and staying in the dorms hanging out is not always going to be the best way to use my time here! It is just so easy to stay in the dorms all day (especially when the weather is crappy) because we are all so tired from everything. Yesterday I took a nap and wanted to walk around this really cool open air market they have close to the dorms but when we got there it was closed! It kinda sucks having school when we do because when we get out of school everything is closed for siesta time! So we just walked around a little to get out of the dorms. Random but I keep forgetting to talk about the little kitten outside of our dorms! She is abandoned and is probably only about 2 months old. She is sooo cute! I call her Marie or gatita. She greets us every morning when we leave and every afternoon when we come home. Sometimes she'll wait for us right outside of the door...it is so cute! We always play with her in the afternoons. This afternoon she was acting really different, and we were all concerned. She seems to be really sick and we don't know what to do! There are people here that feed her 3 times a day and we give her water so we know that it is not hunger, but it is frustrating that there is nothing we can do. Her whole attitude was different today, she didn't meow or come up to us or anything. She was shaking and really disorientated. It is really sad :( I wish i could take her to a vet and take care of her but i cant bahh :( Anyway... last night we all ate dinner at the dorms and then went out to the bars. We kinda just hung out around the bars all night and then went home. I unfortunately did not make it to class this morning because of a rough night.... :/ BUT i am allowed to miss two and I haven't missed any so I didn't feel that bad. It felt really nice sleeping in ( we never get to do that here ugh) and just having a day off from everything. I pretty much have been recovering from last night all day today and we are all going to go out to dinner and then the bars and then the clubs! Tomorrow I have an excursion to Llanes and Santiallano del Mar( i think that is where it is). I did not go on the last one because I was in San Sebastian so hopefully this one is fun! I am FOR SURE missing American food right now. I have been eating the same thing everyday and it is getting really old. Like I literally eat the same 3 meals every day...I am trying to save money so my choices are very limited. Here are some things I am craving at the moment....

Well I officially am going to Madrid next weekend!!! We have a short break in between sessions so we are going for 3 nights but staying 4 days. I am so excited! I can't wait to see Spain's capital and go to museums, shops, clubs, and just be a huge tourist!! It was actually pretty cheap to go for 3 days which is good. Nothing really happened today, just kind of a normal day. We went to a really old church here in Oviedo for a tiny excursion it was really cool but kind of something I would not go back to. After that we went to a mall here to go shopping. I didn't realize how intense this mall was going to be so I was not really prepared. It was HUGE it literally looked like a space ship and had soo many floors. I was a little grouchy because the walk over was very long and it was hot and humid so I did not have the best shopping day but I am hoping to go back there and fully do work! We walked back from the mall to our dorms ( i literally walked 10 miles today) and I just showered and made a really good dinner (salmon and cheese in a salad with some avocado and rice) and then some of us watched the movie Chocolate. I am trying to go to bed now so that I can be caught up on my sleep from the lack of sleep this weekend. It is supposed to rain here tomorrow which is kind of a bummer but I don't think any of us plan on doing anything but being lazy...everyone is always so tired here! PS I have never eaten so much chocolate and nutella in my life. Today I had brownie gelato and then came back and had loads of nutella. Since I can't eat most of the food I might as well eat the chocolate :) Here are some image of chocolates here!! enjoy!

San Sebastián

Well hola!! San Sebastian was sooo fun!!! We left friday after school and took a 6 and a half bus ride to San Sebastian which sounds a lot worse than it was. The only really annoying thing is that we had to make so many stops a long the way, which made the ride seem a lot longer. We got there at like 9:30 at night and were all very tired but very excited! We took a Taxi to our hostel but the taxi driver let us out at this huge plaza so we had to find the hostel our selves which was a little bit of a struggle but it worked out perfectly cause right as we were looking for it the owner was going inside! He was a guy from Australia and he was really nice. Since there were six of us they split us up into two different rooms but one of the rooms happened to be in a different location which was kinda awkward but we split up anyway. Me and two of my friends were in the location of the hostel closest to the bars and the Pier and my other three friends were in the hostel that was closest to the beach. It turned out that my room at the hostel was definitely the less nicer of the two...we didnt even have a window! it was soo funny. It literally felt like we were in a closet with three beds....haha. The other room had a window with a view of the ocean and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and was so much bigger! Oh ya and the picture that I put up of what Google said the Hostel was going to be....was definitely not what is was haha. But it was still better than I expected it and I am happy I had my first hostel experience there! After we all got ready we went to eat at the Mcdonalds there (which was sooo nice) and pretty expensive now that I think about it (6.70 euros for a chicken nugget and fries meal). All the young people were there and it seemed like the food was way better than the Mcdonalds in the states. While I was at Mcdonalds I ran into someone that I knew from Oregon!! It was so weird! He is in Jeff's fraternity and apparently is studying abroad in San Sebastian. It was crazy! The world is way to small! After we ate we went to a club and got a few drinks and socialized with the rest of the tourists ( i do not think that there are many locals in san sebastian). I met people from Holland in the bathroom and talked with them for awhile and then we ended up meeting a group of guys from denmark who were about our same age. (they were all very smart...they are Nano Scientists at the University of Denmark!) We all socialized with them for awhile and ended up going to the beach to hang out. We didn't get back to the hostel until like 4 am so we just passed out. The next morning (Saturday) we all were not feeling so hot from the night before but we knew that we wanted to go to the beach so we got dressed for that! ( we didnt have a window in our room so we couldnt see that it was very cloudy and drizzling haha) Once we saw that we were kinda dissappointed but were hoping that maybe the clouds would clear up. I wasn't doing to well and we thought that I might have had a bladder infection so I had to go to the Pharmacy there and the guy was nice enough to give me some medicine that you usually need a prescription for. (i love san sebastian because a lot of them speak english so i was able to explain what I needed!) I was kinda nervous to take the medicine because I didn't exactly know what it was so I decided to wait and see what I was like the rest of the day and it turns out I was feeling better so I am glad I didn't take it. ( I think I was having one of my many hypochondriac moments) We tried to go to the beach but it started to rain so we all took a nap and got ready for the night (which took awhile because we had no amenities to shower and had to improvise!) Saturday night was SO much fun!!! We went to the same bar/club from the night before and I met some girls from Russia and Sweden and talked to them a little bit and then the boys from Denmark were there too so we hung out with them again! We stayed there for awhile and tried to find another club to go to. We went to a couple and the last one that we went to was my favorite!! I don't remember what it was called but there were so many people there and they had an underground dance floor! They only pay American music in Spain (which i think is weird) so we knew all of the songs and had a blast dancing! They dance very differently in Europe so we all stuck out like sore thumbs with our American dancing. (I even got made fun of by a spanish boy for the way I was dancing...i was very upset!!! he was kinda being nice about it but not really) Us and the danish boys went outside and we learned some of their dances! They do a dance called the Microwave and it is really nerdy and funny. We also learned how to do the House and the Apple tree haha. It is kinda like our version of "The Sprinkler" and "The Shopping Cart". I am a pro at The Microwave dance so I would be happy to show everyone when I get back. It was getting pretty late so we decided to go back to our hostel and go to bed. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and wished them luck on their travels! We woke up Sunday morning all ready to go to the beach and luckily it was a beautiful day!!! The beaches there were absolutely phenomenal. I can not even explain how beautiful they were and how many people were on them. We went to La Playa de Zurriola and there were thousands of people (not an exaggeration i promise) there on the beach tanning and surfing. It felt so nice to relax in the sun. We were there for about 4 hours or so until we needed to take a bus to the bus station to head back to Oviedo. I could have stayed on that beach forever...it was amazing. The bus ride on the way back was worse because we got stuck in traffic for a little over an hour so it ended up taking over 7 hours to get back home. Luckily, for the last two hours they put a movie on for us to watch, it was the pixar movie UP!! I was really happy that it was a movie I knew and understand even in spanish!! We didn't get back to the dorms until 12:15 and we were all exhausted. Needless to say getting up for class this morning was a struggle because I didn't go to bed until 2:30 so I am going to take a nap now! But I am very happy that I went to San Sebastian! I think a few of us are going to go again next month!!

Here are some pics I could find of the beach we were at. oh ya and I forgot my camera battery so I have no pictures from this weekend...sad! :(

Today after class a few of us went to the beach in Gijon because it was really nice outside.On the way to the bus my stomach started to hurt really bad (what else is new) and it started to make me really frustrated because I know that I have not been eating things that I am not supposed to be eating because I have been making my own food and everything! At this point I was hot, hungry, frustrated, and walking almost a mile (probably an exaggeration) to get to the bus station and I about lost it. When we got there I went to a very dark place and my friends asked if something was wrong and I just started hysterically crying. I cried about how I didn't want to be in a bathing suit because the people in Spain are so thin, I cried about how I can't eat anything, I cried about how I just wanted to call friends and family back home and talk to them and ask them what to do about my stomach and what not, and i just cried. It is weird because I usually am a crier, but this is the first time I have cried since I have been here. I must have been bottling a lot of anxiousness up inside and it finally came out. After crying i felt a little better but I still felt really insecure. When I think of Spanish people I always think of curves and normal beautiful bodies....unfortunately (atleast in Oviedo) that does not seem to be the case. The women here are very thin and petite for the most part and are not rocking any curves. I guess I was expecting to fit in here because I think of Spanish women having hour glass figures and big butts (like me!! hah) and to feel way more secure than in the states but to my surprise I feel the opposite. I am way more insecure here than at home and I really feel like the Spanish people are way more judgmental than I thought. Once we got to the beach I felt better because there were people of all different shapes and sizes feeling confident in their bikini's (or lack there of). I swear I have never seen so many naked people in my life! After laying in the sun and getting an ice cream cone I felt a lot better and just came home, showered and made dinner (and almost burned the dorms down doing it..uh oh!) Some of my friends were going out and I really wanted to go but I thought it would be good if I caught up on sleep and relaxed before my big weekend in San Sebastian!! I felt kinda lame for staying in but since my stomach has been having some issues I wouldn't want to make it worse for this weekend. We are coming back to the dorms right after school to get our stuff and then taking a taxi to the bus station. The bus from Oviedo to San Sebastian is 6 hours...ugh...but I am hoping to sleep. We get to San Sebastian about 9 ( just in time for dinner) and then we are going to go out on the town! I am assuming saturday we will spend all day at the beach and then go out at night, and sunday we dont leave San Sebastian until like 5 which means well probably lay on the beach all day before then. I will get back to Oviedo probably around 11 pm at night on Sunday so I will update then!! I will not have my computer this weekend so hasta luego!!

Apparently this is the view from the hostel we were staying at (it was a little more expensive than we had hoped)

Well it is almost 6 oclock pm here and I just woke up from a nap about 40 minutes ago. I do not know what is going on, I am always SOOOOO tired. Everyday after school I make lunch here at the dorms and then take at least a two hour nap afterward. I NEVER nap at home so I think it is really weird that I have to nap everyday here to be able to function. I think it is because the days are really long here. I wake up at 8 am don't get back from class until 2:30 eat lunch, take a nap, wake up and various things till whenever. Class was super boring today we went over pronunciations for the first two hours....ay ay ay. All I kept thinking about was going to San Sebastian this weekend!! Me and 5 other people are taking a 6 hour bus ride and staying in a hostel right on the beach in san sebastian!! I am sooo excited!! Here are some pics!!







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Today was pretty good. Class was good because I finally felt smart because I understood everything in class today! After class we went on an excursion to Gijon. Okay not to be rude but it was soooo boring!!! The only thing we went to was a Bagpipe museum...im not even kidding. Me and my friend kellie were laughing sooo hard outside of the museum.we were like " our parents are paying 10,000 dollars for us to go to a bagpipe museum, are u kidding?!" it was hilarious. after the museum we walked around gijon and had chocolate covered churros....my second favorite thing in spain. I was really missing home (especially jeff) today so i needed my chocolate fix lol. After the excursion I just made some dinner and have been hanging out with my friends here. It was a pretty low key day and I was pretty happy about it. Kinda lame but thats all I have to say haha. Hasta luego!!

Churros con chocolate :)

Finally figuring things out!

Today was the first day that I felt comfortable at dinner in Oviedo and I was soo happy about it! I finally figured out some of the rules about what to order and how to order. Me and two friends went to a casual dinner (i realized the spanish like us better when we are in smaller groups) and had two tapas (croquetas and calamari.) It was nice! Side note croquetas are the best things ever. I am officially obsessed with them, they are fried balls with cheese and sometimes ham in them, they are like mozarella sticks but 100000 times better! I have literally had some every night, i would not be surprised if i all of a sudden turned into a giant croqueta by the time i get back to the states. Anyway back to today...after dinner we went for ice cream and OMG the ice cream here is at a whole new level than at home. I had La Trufeta (truffle) flavored ice cream and it was sooo good. It is kind of expensive for an ice cream cone but it is worth it. Class was a struggle today because I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night because of the fact that we HAD to celebrate Spain's victory in the world cup :). After class i took a nap and felt soo much better. I think I am finally caught up on sleep and I feel like a new woman. The only problem I am still having here is the mosquitos ( i have 7 bites and they are HUGE) and that my feet are always swollen/bruised, and they hurt so much! So if anyone has any suggestions for feet issues or whatever please let me know!!

Croquetas :)

WORLD CUP

WE JUST WON THE WORLD CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! This is unreal. I can not imagine anywhere else I would rather be to watch Spain win the world cup other than in Spain :) We watched the game with hundreds of other people in this huge plaza and a huge flatscreen....it was awesome!! I am not sure if there is class tomorrow because it is such a big deal that I am pretty sure the teachers will be too hungover to go to class. Haha, There were so many people in the streets and swimming in fountains it was so cool! I can't believe that I am here for this historical moment in Spain. I will never forget this!!!

Update

Hola todos! I'm not sure where I left off but I will just talk about some things that have happened! The last few days have been quite an adjustment. I think that the culture shock kinda just hit me at once. It was a long week and there have been a few things that have happened and kinda just bottled up, and then I started to feel really out of place in Spain. First off we are literally the only americans here and NO ONE speaks any english at all, and we stick out like sore thumbs. Everyone is super thin and fashionable and dark and we are all the opposite. It is really hard to be so different sometimes because everyone stares at us. We are so easily spotted and I have never been in that situation. Also, they are so many different etiquette rules here that I wish I understood. There are so many rules when you eat lunch or dinner at a restaurant. Sometimes you have to order drinks to get food, sometimes you can only order certain food at certain times, sometimes you need to share food with your friends, sometimes you can't share meals, sometimes you have to pay extra to sit at a certain table!! I can't even keep track of the rules anymore. It gets really frustrating when everyone looks at you and treats you like your a stupid american. The people who work in the restaurants make fun of us because our spanish is so bad and are rude to us because we don't know the rules and it makes eating kind of stressful sometimes. The locals are much nicer to us than the people working at restaurants are which is nice but sometimes they laugh at us because we can't speak spanish as well as they can. Anyway that is why I was feeling homesick for awhile but as my Papa taught me, when you are feeling homesick do something adventurous! And I did! We met some locals at an espicha ( a typical party for asturian culture that the school put on for us with dancing, food and drink) and we exchanged numbers and they asked us to go to Gijon ( a bigger town with a beach 20 minute bus ride from Oviedo) with them yesterday. We had an excursion to Leon all day yesterday so we were all really tired and grumpy and were not going to go out last night because of it. We were kinda sketched out because we had never hung out with these people and didn't know anything about Gijon, but they told us they wanted to go there because it was the begginning of a festival in Asturias called La Semana Negra. ( i think they said something about it being a week to celebrate freedom) So we went to Gijon at about 11 and the people we were supposed to meet were not there. We were upset because we had no idea where they were but it turned out they missed the bus and were there shortly after us. We had no idea where we were going because we had to take another bus to get there and we were kinda freaking out but when we got there it was so fun!! We met some more locals and they were so nice to us! One girl (sylvia) took us under her wing and showed us the ropes. La semana negra was kinda like a festival but way better! there was food, drinks, dancing, and partying on the beach! Needless to say it was a BLAST and we didnt get back to oviedo until 7 am!!!!

Day 3

OMG!!!!! Spain beat germany and is now in the finals for the world cup!!!! I can not even explain to you how amazing it was to be here for this historical event. they havent been to the finals like EVER!!! ahh!!! Me and a couple friends went to this tapas restaurant to watch the game and we had a lot of sider and croquetas (fried cheese and ham balls...muy delicioso). When Spain won everyone went crazy!! I am so blessed to have been here for this. We met up with some locals and they told us where the best place to celebrate was. It is my friends 21st birthday here and regardless to say we took her out. Tonight was probably the most fun I had here. I had some stomach issues because of the food and luckily I had enough friends to take me back to the dorms and help me. I am not that excited for class tomorrow because it was really boring. I am probably moving up a level in my spanish class, (thank god) and am taking a literature class about Fredrico Garcio Lorca. It is very hard to understand. Well see if there is enough room for me to go up a level. I am having too much fun here and actually cant believe I am in such a beautiful place. adios!

Day 3

Day 2

Today was my first official day of class at the university of oviedo and it was really fun! I seem to understand the professors here more than the professors at the university of oregon. The day of classes went by really fast. Today i had my first negative experience in Oviedo. 10 of us went to a Sidreria, ( a tapas bar with sider, the alcohol they are most famous for) and had a waiter who mustve HATED americans. He was SO rude to us...i have never been treated that way for no reason. While he was taking our order all he kept doing was shaking his head at us and getting angry...it was really frustrating because we didn't know why he was so mad at us. We just dealt with it and got out of there as fast as we could. We then went to a really cool sidreria place that had the sider coming out of a snake mouth! it was so cool! the night life here is pretty alive considering it is a tuesday, but we are hoping that tomorrow is going to be extra fun because of the world cup game vs germany! I am feeling a little homesick right now but maybe it is the sider talking! It is !:15 here and i should get to bed! adios!

Day 1

Wow today was probably one of the longest days ever! We had to wake up at 8 am to go to the University (which is a 20 to 30 minute walk from the dorms) to take a placement test to see which level of spanish we need to be placed in. Needless to say i felt estupido after the test. There was also an oral part of the test where we had to have a conversation with a professor, and apparently i did well on that part! yay! He told me that my spanish was very good! I do not know what level I will be placed in until tomorrow though so we will see! After that we had a break for about two hours and a group of us walked around and went to a breakfast place called La Cocina de Mama. They only served sandwiches so I just ate what was in the sandwich (minus the bread of course) which was ham and eggs. I have never eaten so much HAM in my life!!! I had no idea that the spanish ate so much ham...i thought that was only in Paris for some reason. I honestly feel like I am sweating ham all of the time. It is gross! they also eat eggs with everything! Eggs on chicken, eggs on sandwiches...everything!! After that we had a lunch all together and then walked around. Unfortunately since I can not eat much here and none of the Spanish drink water (and not to mention it was 90 degrees and VERY humid) i about fainted a couple of times which was NOT OKAY. After that experience I decided to go back to the dorms to lay down before walking more around the town. We went to this beautiful Cathedral...i mean BEAUTIFUL. I wish I knew how to upload pictures on this thing but I will put some up on facebook soon! After awhile we all kinda talked and it was all of a sudden dinner time! It is really cool because I already feel super close to the people here even though it has only been like two days. I think it is because we all bonded so fast over this experience...it really is an amazing thing. For dinner we went to this AMAZING restaurant and bar. It was food that I was finally able to eat! White rice and chicken!! it was delicioso! Our waiter was one of the nicest people i have met in Oviedo so far. He was very interactive with us and very informative. All of us could understand what he was saying. It was awesome! I had a pretty long conversation in spanish with him about Botero and the FIFA World Cup. I felt very accomplished. (I even negotiated a phone plan in spanish for my friend here!) The wine at the restaurant was the best I have ever had and we are all going back there on Wednesday to watch the Spain vs Germany game!! I even bought a jersey today! :) Well it is 1240 here so I should be going to bed! I have class in the morning adios!!

Arrival

Hola!! Well it has been a long couple of days but I am finally in the dorms at the university and settled in. The dorms are awesome and Oviedo is beautiful!!! Everyone is super nice! I have already learned so much and have only been in Europe for about a day. Getting to Oviedo was rough. The 10 and a half hour flight to Paris was very long because i didn't sleep a wink and the TV's that were playing on the plane weren't working in my section....just my luck :). The seats were super small and i was sitting next to this french couple who were not very nice. They knew that I was American and were not very excited about it. Once we landed in Paris we had to find a separate airport in Paris that was the terminal to get to Oviedo. Security was very difficult in Paris and I was questioned and searched in depth for unknown reasons!! (they were questioning my shirt a lot because it had a fleur-de-lis on it, I later found out it is the symbol for prostitution in Paris...yikes!!!) It was impossible to find where our flight to Oviedo was leaving from so we just kind of went on the next plane hoping it was to Oviedo, luckily it was. The flight to Oviedo was fine until the landing. It was really scary because we couldn't see anything around us because of all of the fog. When we landed in Oviedo it was raining and gross. I felt like I was in Eugene again ughh. It was raining in Paris too and for some reason I pictured Paris to always be sunny and beautiful so I was kinda bummed when I saw it and it looked just like home. Me and Erica (friend from my sorority who is in the program too) stayed in a hotel last night and attempted to go to a Tapas bar where the Spain v Paraguay World Cup game was playing. To our surprise it was SUPER intimidating and we got to scared to go into one because we didn't know how it all worked. But Spain beat portugal and made it to the semi finals for the first time in like 60 years!!! They play Germany on the 7th and am sooo excited to watch it here! I think it is gonna be a once in a lifetime experience to watch it with the Spanish! I am also in search of a Spain soccer jersey so I can atleast look like I fit in haha. When I got to the dorms I was pleasantly surprised at how nice they were. Once there was a small group here we all went out and walked around town. The town is exactly how I pictured a town in Spain to look like. There are so many beautiful fountains, buildings, and parks. And the shopping is AMAZING!!! I am going to need a whole new suitcase when I come home for all of the stuff I hope to buy. Everyone is so fashion forward here I feel like my nordstrom wardrobe is even underdressed. The weather here is VERY humid. I swear I have never sweat so much in my life and my hair has never looked so frizzy...it is awful. I am feeling pretty good about things after settling in, but this morning I was very homesick. It makes it worse reading emails from friends and family and going on facebook and seeing everyone, but I know it will get better! Tomorrow is my first day of class so well see how that goes! Adios!

Adios los Estados Unidos!

Well today was last my last day in the states, I can not believe it! Yesterday was really stressful because I had so much to do and of course saved it until the last minute...sooo I had a mini freak out in the midst of everything and realized that I am really scared to do this,but it is something that I know I need to do. I am usually a really cautious person and this is totally out of my character which I think is going to be a really good thing!! One of my big concerns is that I would not meet anyone interesting in my group. My friend quickly reassured me that no boring people study abroad and that instantly made me feel better. I woke up today surprisingly not stressed at all and getting really excited. I got my nails done to relax, ate some last real american food, caught up on some american shows that I won't be able to watch for two months (no one tell me who wins the bachelorette!!), and finally bought a student's travel guide to Spain book to see what places I should definitely travel to while I am there. Tonight was when I had to say some hard goodbyes. I thought I could hold myself together...but of course I was wrong. It was really hard to say goodbye to people when I knew that they will not be a call away when I need them, and of course that I would not see them for two months or more (some of them for 6 months!). One big thing I am going to miss is having my cat sleep with me in bed...maybe I can find a gatito in Spain to live in my dorm room with me!! ( I swear I am going to grow up sitting on a porch with a million cats haha) Until next time adios!