this is my new favorite song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7oBRo2zjg4
I probably listen to it 10 times a day... and I have learned almost all the little dance breaks. hahaha! :) It's about the 2010 World Cup (Fútbol, not Quidditch), which is really freakin' exciting... but I'll be at camp during most of it which is kinda poopy, but at least I'll be able to catch the end of it at the end of July when camp is over! Woop Woop. You should listen to that song while reading the remainder of the blog... I think it'd be quite fun.
*Update on Life:
both pairs of my boots have died. mis botas han muerto. The soles have completely fallen apart and do not function anymore. I have had to retired these poor ole soles (hehe it's a pun. get it? soul. sole. yeah.) It's probably because I walk eeeeeeeeevvvvvverywhere here. I love it though, I spend so much time outside here! It's great! Except for the shoe destroying part. However, I did buy some new boots for only 10euros the other day. What a steal!
It's been a good weekend so far. Thursday afternoon Lauren Poindexter and I went on a jog and explored some of Alcala.
Pretty sunset, Lauren, and me!
Then I went and had coffee with my intercambio,
Danny, Brittany, and me at CanCan!
Today I woke up, made myself some coffee and toast (with peanut butter and banana slices... yum!) and read some of Matthew for a bit. It was so peaceful. I just love the mornings. However, I do enjoy night time as well. I really just don't like sleeping. haha!
I went on a nice jog for about 25 minutes and met up with Brittany. Then we ran alongside the river and hills that are south of Alcala, and went to this cool outdoor gym area and did us some good workin' out!
This is me trying to do those bars.... but of course instead of doing pull ups I just swung around hahaa :)
Pretty field and mountain that we ran by:
Then we walked by a fútbol field and watched a game... The kids that were playing were probably about 12 years old, and their parents were so funny to listen to! "Va hijo!" (go son!) "buen trabajo!" (good job!) or when this one kid tripped someone yelled "De prisa! levantate y corre!" (hurry! get up and run!) hahahhaa!
It was a really fun day so far! I love that it's becoming Primavera (spring time!!!) :) All the rain that we've had is finally paying off because the grass is green and the flowers are growing! It's still a lil bit chilly, but it's not too bad! We're going to Valencia next weekend for "Las Fallas" which is this huge famous Spanish festival that is held every year, and the weather in Valencia is supposed to be wonderful... mid 60s and sun-shiny! Hopefully we'll even get to lay on the beach (it will definetely not be warm enough to get in the water, but that's okay!). I'm down with just throwing the frisbee around on the beach under the beautiful sunny sky.at least it's not like this anymore:
this was a couple weeks ago, it was snowy and cold!!! but very pretty too! This is the sidewalk by my apartments, I took this while walking to school one morning... it was so cold!
this is what i saw while waiting on the bus (I definitely did not want to walk that day... way too cold!!!), I'm surprised that fountain wasn't frozen!
So I think now I'm just going to show you some pictures of some fun Spanish things that I've experienced over the last month or so. :)
This is what I see everyday while walking to school:
beautiful old streets!
Old buildings... this is where my Flamenco class is every Wednesday!
this convent! I see the nuns walkin' around all the time too, they're such happy lil ladies.
The "Rastro" in Madrid:
The "Rastro" is like a HUGE flee market in Madrid that is held every single Sunday! People come from all over Spain every weekend to see this (and shop of course!!). It takes up about a square mile or more. One street will be all clothes, another shoes, another paintings, sculptures, appliances (new or used!... or stolen... you decide... haha), etc etc.... It's amazing. I bought a couple things while I was there of course; I'll always be a thrift store junkie, even in Spain. Actually a lot of this stuff was new, but still... cheap is always my favorite way to go.
These were some street performers during the Rastro that day... I was fully creeped out. Ahhh Trollllsss!
This was when we went to Valencia during Valentine's Day weekend (also 'Carnaval' weekend, a HUGE celebration/festival similar to Mardi Gras, always the weekend before Ash Wednesday). We got to see The Arctic Monkeys perform for FREE sponsored by MTV..... it was crazy.
This was the show... amazing.
This was in Valencia as well! We went on a stroll near the sea (good ole Mediterranean), and there was this pretty lil fountain!
We went on a day trip to Toledo with the university (fo freee)
These are all the OU folks (minus one chica, B.Duffin)
look at how pretty the background is!
This is also in Toledo, it was so hilly and there were so many trees!
La Catedral de Toledo
El Puente de Toledo
trip to Cuenca with the university:
This place was hilly also... but the hills were more like cliffs. This city is basically built on a huge plateau. It was gorgeous! We visited a Spanish modern art museum and a cathedral while we were there!
This is me enjoying some lovely Spanish modern art.
I think my attention span gets longer when I look at modern art.... just a thought... hahaha
This awesome bar here in Alcala called 'La Media Pinta' sometimes has themed nights, and one evening they had a "Blanca Camiseta Fiesta". Now this was not a WET white t-shirt party.. no no no.. this was where everyone wore white t-shirts and and then they had markers everywhere and you just went around and wrote funny messages on everyone's t-shirts... it was hilarious. A lot of the things written on my shirt were in Spanish, so that was fun the next day trying to decipher all these slang spanish phrases. hahaha!
I don't think that guy knew I was going to write on him..... un mensaje sorpresa! (surprise message!) hahahahha!!!
Me, Guillermo, and Brittany at La Fiesta de Camiseta Blanca.I drew a quidditch pitch (the ever-so-famous wizarding sport in Harry Potter) on the back of Guillermo's shirt... it's too bad I didn't take a picture of it. 'Twas quite funny.
We took another trip with La Universidad to Segovia to see the Castles and the Aqueduct. The castles were AWWWWESOMMMME and HUUUUGE! Man oh man I wish I were a princess. And this Aqueduct is one of the best preserved left by the Romans on the Iberian Peninsula... This baby was built sometime during the second half of the 1st Century...!!! That is pretty darn old!!! Check it:
Woah crazy.
Segoviaaaaaaa!
This is my silly friends and I in front of the Alcazar de Segovia (Segovia Castle)
View of Segovia from inside of the castle:
Senor Knight and me just hangin' out....
One of the royal slumbering zones of the castle hahaa
this view from on top of the castle:
Mis amigas y yo comiendo nuestra comida encima del castillo (eating our lunch on top of the castle!)
Chillin' in a courtyard of the castle:
This feisty lil perrito was barking at us from his little perch. hahaha silly segovian schnauzer.
(it's not really a schnauzer... i just really enjoy alliterations.)
I really have fallen in love with Spain. I've decided that I am definitely coming back. There is a master's program that this university has where I can come live here for a year and teach English while going to school. I love the culture and I want to be fluent so bad, and really the only way to do that is to be completely submerged into the language. When I get back to Oklahoma I'm really nervous I'm going to get worse at speaking because I won't be practicing, so I'll have to just make sure I keep studying and find friends to speak to in Spanish. It's so exciting knowing a different language! Woop Woop Woop! I'm so incredibly thankful for this opportunity, I don't even have words to describe how blessed I feel. I'm excited to see what more the Lord has in store for me as He guides me through the rest of this semester.
More to come soon.... :)
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