Viva España!

I can't believe I am here in Spain! First, I will finish up Barcelona and Sunday:
This was the first Hostel where we actually had a packed room...with no air conditioning...with scary looking irish kids...it was an adventure. Adam and I went to get kebabs and then got ready for about. I woke up every hour because I was suffocating but one hour was a little scarier than the others. I woke up to a figure that I couldnt make out (due to my blindness and it being pitch black) and thought it was adam so I just said, "go back to bed!" and rolled over, I am such a nice friend to not even ask if he was alright. Then I hear in broken english, "hey, i sleep heeer wit you?" I thought it was adam joking around so I stayed rolled over and said "no" and tried to go back to bed. Then I feel an arm and feel the person get closer, and he says it again, "I sleep here?" I look a little closer and soon realized it was a very drunk kid and I said out of panic, "umm no? Im going back to bed!" and then took up as much of the bed as I could! The rest of the night I seriously slept with an eye open because I was so freaked out. That morning I told Adam and he said, "oh yeah I thought I heard something going on." Looks like we are both awesome friends, I didn't care when I thought it was him who needed something and he didn't bother to check on me! Good times.

So we caught the train and after a four hour ride, made it to Logroño!! Adam's mom found him right off the bat and I searched around to find my family. It was such a relief to finally find them! My sister Maria is 22 and a journalist at a nearby news station, Javier is 28 and works as a mechanical engineer and my mom Carmen is around my mom's age. They started asking me question after question, and only the kids know a few words in english. I was officially on my own after saying goodbye to adam! But it was an exciting feeling, like it was finally time to learn some spanish and speak well. We made it to their piso (apartment) and they had cleared out Maria's room for me, so she is with her mom. I felt so bad! But they are so wonderful and try their best to make me feel at home and to make sure I have my own space. Carmen is hilarious...she is always doing something and it makes me feel like I am at home! She talks to me and uses older spanish words that I have never heard, then the kids tell her to speak in more simple spanish, then she tells them to talk slower...meanwhile I am just watching and listening to them argue about how to talk to me, it is pretty entertaining!

My schedule is pretty laid back. I wake up and get ready for school, have breakfast with Javi and Carmen at around 8, I walk to school through the beautiful town of Logroño, attend my classes till 1:30, catch a bus ride back and eat lunch around 2:30. Everyone is home for lunch here, it is more important than dinner. Carmen makes THE BEST food!!! My favorite so far was tortillas de patatas, and its really just eggs and potatoes in a little pie and it is so yummy. Everything is delicious, the fruit...chocolate...icecream...bread...I am in heaven! I then go swimming or meet up friends from school and hit the town or go on little adventures to check out churches and other things like that, but make it back for dinner because, again, it is important to them to have that family time. It's pretty different for me though, usually I am not a huge talker but here they make me be the center of attention to make me practice spanish. It is hard now for me to think and write in english, it is crazy what a few days with nothing but spanish can do for me.

It is so exciting to be here, especially during the world cup! Last night our group went to a local bar and sat outside to watch the game with the ciudadanos of Logroño and it was a blast. They were all singing and dancing and laughing..I took a video and I will add it soon! I went home to watch the last half with the fam and it was hilarious to see Carmen get all into it too! How cool would it be to say that I was in spain when they won the cup?? I hope it happens!

Well, I have learned so much and my little book of new words is already getting pretty full. I have never eaten so well and I think I am going to have pretty dark skin by the time I get back, it's sunny here until dinner time, which is around 10 pm! I am having a blast and will update pics and videos and new fun things very soon. Hasta luego!!!

SPAIN!!

I am currently sitting in the airport in Menningen, absolutely exhausted, We got all packed and checked out and went to the main train station to buy our tickets for the train tomorrow. We are going to be in Logrono at 4 pm! My family is picking me up at the station and I am so excited☺ Also, I had the best food ive had the whole trip, and it was called a honey wafflecone, or a Honigwaffel. It looks like a mini eggo waffle and it is coated in honey mmmmmmm the best thing I had in Germany hands down.
We caught the 1.5 hr bus to the airport and had a good two hour wait until we could check in. I had been dreading this point of the trip since I landed in Paris…my bag had to weigh 15 kilos. Slowly I made my way to the counter, shut my eyes and set the bag on scale…19.7 kilos. Noooooo!!!! So I emptied out the replacables (shaving cream, hair spray, small contact solution) and dear adam let me shift some things into his luggage since, being a guy, naturally he didn’t pack as much. I took it to the counter again…16 kilos. So close! I already had jeans on, a dress, a sweater, running shoes and a scarf but decided to add a little more to my hilarious getup. Keep in mind it is burning hot and there is little if any air conditioning. I put another skirt in adam’s bag and put another skirt over my dress and my jeans. I felt so miserable but hoped my efforts would pay off. It was officially time to check in so I set my bag on the scale, leaning it against the wall to make up for a couple ounces and it was .3 over…bless those Germans they let it through!
Now on to the carry-on station. This station was only a 10 kilo allowance and at this point my backpack weighed more than my checked bag. Laptop, hygiene, liquids, family’s gift, jeans, Spanish book, camera and chords…it was loaded. I approached the counter and handed her my passport, she asked if I had any luggage and I slightly turned and said, “oh just a little backpack!” and she said “ok you are good to go!” I made sure no one watched as I heaved my bag onto the conveyer belt. I am a lucky girl. As soon as I made it to the gate I ripped off the jeans, skirt, sweater and scarf and strapped them to my backpack. I am home-free now!
Safe and sound in Barcelona☺ It ended up taking another two hours to actually leave the airport, we frantically found a bus to Barcelona and were SO happy when we could talk to people and understand everything. After an hour and a half bus ride, and hour metro ride and a half hour walk, we found our hostel! There are way cool people in our dorm this time, from Cali! Its about 11 pm here and we just got back from eating a Kebab down the street. I am dead tired and have a big day tomorrow. I get to meet my familia a las cuatro!
PS. Sorry my pics are always lined up dow the center I have no clue how to change it…

Full day in Germany

This morning as I was writing my blogs, I looked over and saw Adam reading his scriptures. I then realized that he was reading the first book of Nephy outloud in a Sean Connery accent and laughed so hard I almost cried. You should try it sometime its pretty fun!
We found our way back to the train station and took what’s called the S line to Dacau where the extermination camp was built. I must say I am getting quite good at getting around foreign places, my bad sense of direction has been getting lots and lots of practice. Adam might have helped just a little bit…
I had been mentally preparing to go to Dacau because I have studied and read about it before and knew the horrific things that had happened where I would soon be standing. Initially it was built to hold 6,000 people, but they packed in around 32,000. Walking around was surreal and envisioning all those people in such small areas, reading what happened in each of the rooms, reading the personal accounts of people who survived…it made my stomach hurt and my head spin. It is hard to imagine people being so cruel, and then later finding how some were able to forgive them. I don’t think adam or I said more than 4 complete sentences to each other and we took time to see the different memorials on the site. It was a very reverent place.
I decided we should lighten the mood so we walked down to Mariplatz, or the main town square and look around. The buildings were breathtaking! The old churches and clocktowers were enormous and had so much detail. There was a huge farmers market going on, lots of little bands playing in the courtyard and plenty of places to eat dinner! We ended up eating at a very German restaurant, but my stomach was feeling squirmy so I got some bread with ham and cheese and some chicken soup. Adam on the other hand felt very adventurous. He ordered a German item that he assumed was chicken and some potatoes and we waited in suspense to see what it could be. He got his bowl and took off the lid to find two, fat and creamy looking sausages in a bowl of water with a pretzel to follow it down on the side! Again I couldn’t keep in my laughter and just lost it. Two nights in a row Adam got a bigger surprise than he bargained for. I gave him some soup and offered him my meal but he took it like a champ and choked it down (he said he kinda liked it but I thought I heard him sigh before every bite.)

Thursday=Travel Day

Travel day! We went to the grocery store and got some snacks, packed up and checked out! We went an hour early to the station just to be safe and made it on the train to Munich without stress. It was a 6 hour ride with a transfer on the German border, but it went pretty fast! The view was incredible and I was surprised to see so many green rolling hills and beautiful cottages. We got to the station and quickly realized that everything was a lot more fast-paced. People were constantly jetting in front of us and running around us, we just stopped and stared for a while. We had very vague instructions on how to get to our hostel and we had no clue how to get on the right train. After finding someone who barely spoke English and following our gut instinct, we made it on the right train. It had taken almost two hours! We got to the OEZ station in downtown Munich and were lost again. We only had a streetname so we, again, asked for directions. The first set were wrong so we asked someone else and finally showed up at our hostel. It is so nice! Very clean rooms and lots of space, free internet and a lobby. We dropped off our luggage and set out to find dinner since at that point it was around 9:30 and neither of us had eaten since noon.
This whole trip Adam has been wanting to eat pasta, but we honestly never found a place that had it or that had it very cheap. So we walked by this little hole in the wall that said, “Pizza and Pasta” and Adam was sold. He looked at the long list of pasta choices and pointed to one and I ordered a calzone. They boxed up our food and we walked back to the hostel. He excitedly opened his pasta box only to find red rice. I started laughing so hard!! At first he was not happy but then thought it was hilarious. So tomorrow night I get to choose where we eat ☺

Normandy

This morning started a little rough. I had left my bag at the Lyle’s apartment so we had decided beforehand to meet there at 7:30 am so I could grab the bags before they left Paris. We caught up with them, said our goodbyes, and took the metro right back to our Hostel about 20 minutes away. By the time we got back and ate breakfast, we had no time to catch the 8:45 train that was 5 metro stops away so we decided to go for the 10:10 train. So we took our time, bought baguettes and casually made our way over to the train station, thinking that we had all the time in the world!
As a common theme in this trip we should have known that whenever we think we have plenty of time…we don’t. So I get in line at the station to get my Eurorail validated and after seeing the 50 people in front of me, knew that we were going to miss the 10:10 train as well. Once we got up to the ticket counter it was like straight out of a movie. The French kid was being trained so it took us three times as long as the other lines. For those of you who have seen ratrace and remember the part when Whoopi and her daughter are trying to rent a car? It went pretty much the same and that image kept flashing to my mind and I had to control myself to keep from busting up!
So we had about two hours to kill and Adam still hadn’t received his lost luggage so we decided to go shopping! I didn’t end up getting anything because even the thought of carrying anything else in my backpack made me tired. Adam got some sweet striped French shirts and jeans, much better than his plaid tourist shorts and USU shirt! We didn’t feel like classic Americans anymore!
So we made it back to the train station with plenty of time and found our seats. It was like right out of a Harry Potter movie! We had our own little room and everything. We each took a side of the car and fell asleep…
I woke up in complete panic! Who knew how long I had been sleeping! I threw something at Adam and said “did we miss the stop??” We looked out the window and saw the sign “Caen” and realized we woke up seconds before our stop. Finally a stroke of luck. We walked off the train and made our way to a sign that said Normandy and read about the taxi service that would take us to Omaha beach and the American Cemetery. We were really confused as how to contact the taxi service till we walked around the sign and saw 2 taxis ready for us. We pointed to the sign and they said oiu oiu and we were off! On the way to the Cemetery we passed several little castles, and the French driver would point and say “Castillo” which is Spanish for castle. We found it is easier to communicate in Spanish than English. I felt like I was in Ireland because all the streets were cobblestone and the towns were tiny and so cute.
We made it to the memorial and walked around the museum and watched the video. I hadn’t studied much about Normandy before so it was really cool to get the background information and hear about personal stories and letters from the soldiers that sacrificed their lives to stop the war. We walked to the beach and there was such a reverence there, knowing that so many soldiers had died where we were walking. A canon was shot every 15 minutes, the weather was perfect and it was so peaceful. Walking around the cemetery was really overwhelming. Row upon row of tombstones on either side of me, beautiful flowers and statues and American flags waving in the wind. I am so glad I was able to go there
.

Today was one of the most tiring fun days I have ever had. It might be because I had two hours of sleep, or that I have no appetite and haven’t eaten, but towards the end, I actually had to think about putting one foot in front of the other to keep moving. It’s been said that it is impossible to see Paris in one day, but I think we got pretty close.

But first, Adam made it! He rode a sleeper train from Spain to Paris, and took the stop right where the Lyle’s apartment is at in St. Paul. At first the metro system was really confusing but not I think it is the easiest way to get around. I feel so proud of myself when I know when transfer stations and all that jazz are located and which metros go where!

So we said our goodbyes and goodlucks to the Lyles, grabbed a baguette and hit the cobblestone streets. First on the list: Notre Dame. As I was walking around, a youth choir started singing in the middle of the chapel, and the hymns echoed across the walls, it was so beautiful. The stained glass was so detailed and colorful, I wish my pictures could really capture their intricate designs. Walking around there were candles burning and I kept picturing a priest walking around with the incense burning, just like on the movie “hunchback of notre dame.”



Off to the arc de Triomphe! In the center of a HUGE roundabout, this structure stood representing the tomb of the unknown soldier, like that of the tomb in Washington DC. I read about all the different events that had happened there, including the WW1 march, French winning the world cup and other celebrations. We decided to pay a ticket to take the elevator to the top, to save our legs for the Eiffel Tower. Turns out there isn’t an elevator…I don’t even know where we got the idea that there was…so we took the millions (aka 282) of itty bitty stairs to the very top. I the view wasbreathtaking!



On the way to the Tower I ate the best pizza ive ever had. Mmmmmm

It’s crazy to now say that I have been to the top of the Eiffle Tower, every last stair. (1650 steps..no i didnt count but looked it up) And by the top I mean the highest you can go by taking stairs. Slowly but surely we made it, the whole experience was kind of surreal. I have seen that icon in so many movies and heard about it so many times, it was hard to believe I was really there.

You would think this would be a full days agenda, but you are very wrong.

Next, Statue of Liberty! The twin sister! It was in a really random part of town and we got lost a couple times. It was overlooking a quaint little channel and wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. On the way to the metro, we got lost again for another half hour and by this point it was getting late, I was starving and my legs were numb. Oh and my shoulders were bruised from my backpack. Bruised!





So we finally get to a metro in a hidden little area and make several exchanges but finally make it to the sacred heart church, or the basilique de Sacre Coeur. My French is actually coming along quite nicely even after two days! Just kidding, I can’t say much and to guess I just tweak Spanish a little bit. Its pretty funny.

Wow so this is a pretty long post! I will wrap it up since I am pretty much falling asleep after every sentence. Oh but one last thing, we made it to the hostel and it is super ghetto. But awesome! The receptionist, Karim, is the coolest guy every and the rooms are tiny but after today, it will probably be the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in ☺


PS. I think we walked over 4 miles around the city and close to 2500 stairs counting train stations. I treated myself to some delicious chocolate gelatos to make up for my hard work!!

And the adventure begins!

I would like to start out by giving one basic (yet, in my case, overlooked) suggestion before starting your trip overseas - check your flights dates and times. So simple right?? Not exactly. When the stress of buying tickets gets to you, mistakes come easy.

I had started packing about a week before my trip, getting things together little by little because I wanted to have the most organized, carefree, easygoing trip. Ten minutes before my first flight left from Medford to Salt Lake City, I asked if I could just get checked in on my last connecting flight from Paris to Bilbao, Spain just for good measure, you know, since I am so organized...surprise! To my shock and horror, that flight was scheduled for the perfect time, but for the absolute WRONG day. It felt like I literally swallowed panic, it burned all the way down until my face flushed white. My dear mother knew I was going to be late for my first flight so she said "don't worry, I'll take care of it!!" So, dad took me to the airport and I was off.

*Sidenote* I would like to clear up some confusion. The only way my parents were going to let me go on this study abroad was if someone from the group would fly out with me. Luckily Adam Young, a fellow huntsman scholar, spanish ambassador and china traveler, was flying out but was planning on stopping through France and Germany on the way down to La Universidad de La Rioja that I am attending in Spain. So we are getting hostels, (not Hotelllllls Anna), which are large rooms of bunkbeds, a way for students to travel cheaper. I can see people thinking in their minds...oh wow, she is traveling alone with a boy for a week that looks horrible...but to be fair, he has been a wonderful, trusted friend for a long time and come on guys, I have a boyfriend!

I called home upon arriving to Salt Lake and was relieved to hear my mom had successfully found me the same flight from Paris to Bilbao and everything was to be fine. Sadly...there is more to this story.

Adam and I realized there was an hour and a half to get me through customs, to get my luggage, get checked in and make it to the gate a million miles away. This was no medford airport people. Things were looking promising when the stewardess let us sit in business class for the last portion of the flight so we could get off the plane fast, but as my dad would say, at airports you "hurry up and wait." We were the first on the bus to be shuttled to customs and got stuck in airport shuttle traffic; I didn't even know that was possible! One hour left. We got in line for customs. 50 minutes left. I found an agent who took me the front of the fast track. Yes! I walk up to the window...then red lights flashed at me. Closed. WHAAATTTTT???? Yes, I might possibly have the worst luck in the world. They had closed all the passport check windows due to an unattended bag in the luggage pickup area. France was so on top of things that they even brought out all their police to herd everyone back in a mass, mad mess. 30 minutes left. Mom calls, tells me I have five minutes to cancel my ticket and she had called dear Lorie Frodsham to come get me at the aiport. After what seemed like an eternity, they reopened the passport checks. I ran to find my luggage while Adam barely caught his connecting flight to Bilbao. My luggage was lost. Mom thankfully cancelled my ticket successfully and I saw Lorie off in the distance. After 30 more minutes of searching, crying, running...I found my beloved duffle. Lorie and I bought metrotrain tickets and made our way to the Louvre to meet up with the Lyles, who thankfully were visiting Paris the same week as me.

Wow. I was tired, starving and emotionally drained, but I had never been so happy to see those jacksonvillers in my life. We dropped off my luggage at their awesome hippie apartment in the center of Paris, and spent the next three hours walking through the Louvre. It was incredible. Pictures and words don't do it justice, so everyone at some point in their life needs to come experience all the history and artwork. Also, be sure to use the bathroom there that costs 1 euro, you will be pleasantly surprised...

I ate the best baguette everrrrrr, rich cheese and extra sticky honey. Had a banana/nutella crepe and ratatouille for dinner. I was told to take every opportunity to try the delicious food so, I am going to make the most of that suggestion :) I am going running tomorrow morning with Lorie mom, don't worry. We all went out tonight and saw all the little bands on the corners of the streets and took a few pictures and fun videos!

All in all, I just love being here. I am glad I made it and thankful for mom for spending two days with no sleep to make sure everything worked out, Becca for helping her, Lorie for being patient at the airport and for the lyles for making my first day in Paris an unforgettable one.


ps. for those of you who are wondering about poor long lost adam, he made it safely to Bilbao and is currently on a sleeper train back to Paris.