A Weekend with Jo!

Joanne is absolutely amazing! I love her to death and she was the best hostess. She made England so much fun and I can't wait to go back and visit her in Southampton!

So Caroline and I got our flight from Sevilla to London Thursday night and arrived in England around midnight. Joanne was waiting for us as we came out of baggage claim and we started on our first European adventure. She is the best because she rented a car for the weekend and drove 2 hours to pick us up from the airport and then another 2 back to Southampton, and she still had to work the next day. I don't know how she did it, but I was very impressed. We talked the whole way back in the car about life in England and Spain and how much we love it, and when we arrived back at her flat, she gave up her bed (which is the most comfortable thing in the world!) and we all passed out for the night.

The next day, Caroline and I woke up after Jo had already left for work, and we had a leisurely breakfast with her French press, which I 'm definitely getting one of when I get back to the states, after which we took to the streets of Southampton to explore life in England. We walked around the Marina and down to Mayflower Park. It was a lot colder than we expected, but the sun was out by 2 o'clock so it was perfect! (That's me in front of the Marina, fyi) Jo gave us her extra cell and called us so that we could go to the National Oceanography Center and she would give us a tour. The place that she works at is really cool and we learned a lot about how the center does a lot of work for other countries and private corporations to make sure that our oceans stay clean and even monitoring state borders.

That night she took us out for cocktails and dinner. She took us to her favorite bar, the White Star, right in Southampton and we all got to try out a fun little cocktail and we talked some more about what our lives are like right now. Then dinner was right next door at this cute little restaurant. We got a bottle of wine and talked some more about all sorts of things. Dinner was amazing, especially because I had steak and its been over a month since I've had red meat. We probably could have sat at that restaurant for several more hours just talking about life, but it was pretty late when we realized that it was time to leave. After dinner it probably would have been fun to stay out and explore the nightlife of Southampton, but we were all just so tired that we went back to the flat, changed into our pj's and watched some British television, which is actually pretty funny once you get past the thick accents, and planned out our day for Saturday.

We woke up bright and early, 8:30 am, and all had a nice breakfast and got ready for a blustery day in the English countryside. We took the rental to the city of Salisbury and went to the Cathedral which is celebrating its 750 year. The spire is the tallest in London, but we were told that it is a little wobbly and every now and again it needs to be corrected. After the Cathedral we made our way to the market that was happening on High Street. There were all these people selling all sorts of things, from jewelry to food to batteries. At this point we were pretty hungry and decided to head on up to Shrewton and get some good ole pub food. We stopped at some cutsy little pub and got some burgers and chips and ale to warm us up and stop the stomaches from rumbling too much as we made our way to Stonehenge.

We were freezing when we got to Stonehenge, but it was totally worth it. Joanne told us some interesting stories about the last time that she was here, and I learned a ton about the history of this gigantic stone circle. My favorite part was learning about the myths about how the stones got to be in the middle of a huge field. One of them says that Merlin called on the Devil to get the stones from the yard of an old woman in Ireland. The Devil came to the woman in the form of a man and said that he would pay her whatever she could count while he collected the stones. But he tricked her and as soon as she started counting, he had taking the stones and the money and disappeared from Ireland to where the stones now stand today. After freezing completely, we decided that we would defrost on the car ride to Bath, the home of Jane Austen and where many of her novels are set.

We didn't get there until about 5 pm when everything was starting to close up, but it was totally worth is to be in one of the most architecturally beautiful cities that I have ever been in. We walked around, got some coffee and when everything had closed down and we were starting to get cold again, we made the 2 hour trip back to Southampton to have a girls night in. Joanne made pasta and we had champagne and red wine while watching movies and some more British comedy shows before hitting the hay early that night. London and the trip home would be happening on Sunday.

The next morning we woke up even earlier than Saturday so that way we could make sure that all of our things were packed and that we could get to London with enough time to do a quick tour of the city and still make our flight back to Spain. We took a 2 hour train ride to the city, but we got to see some more beautiful landscapes of Southern England. After arriving at Waterloo we made our way to the London Eye and to look at the scenery of the river and Parliament. We walked along the river, crossed over the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's and then made our way on one of the infamous red double-decker buses to Buckingham Palace. After our rapid tour of London, we sat down at a pub for lunch, where I got my traditional fish and chips. We talked some more about life and what we'll be doing for the next few months (and hopefully planning for Jo to come and visit us in Spain). After we said our goodbyes, Caroline and I had a real adventure in the airport...

So we made our way on the Tube to Liverpool St. to catch the Stansted express train to the airport. Joanne had warned us before we left that we would only be allowed one carry on, but they let us through in Sevilla, so why not in London? Needless to say, we got through check-in and several security points before anyone said anything to us about our bags. This was at 5pm and our flight was at 6. We had to go all the way back to the check-in area where the told us we had to go to ticketing to pay for our check-ins (which ended up costing us $24 each), go back to check in our backpacks, bring out backpacks to a different area so that they could go onto the plane, get through security and then make it to our gate. Once we got to the gate they told us in check-in (#42) we were all relaxed because the flight attendants said that they would be calling our flight as soon as the people for Dublin were all loaded on. Well, needless to say, our gate was moved and the women didn't tell us and we had to book it to another gate. We made our flight, but were pretty perturbed, as you can tell by Caroline's face in this picture. But we made our flight and we are now safely back in Sevilla, waiting for our next trip to Lisbon, Portugal this weekend.

Even though we had a few bumps in the road, we had a great weekend with Joanne...and I still got my English tea. =]

Granada otra vez...

ISA took us to Granada this weekend, and it was awesome to go back to the beautiful city. We left early Friday morning from Sevilla and took the 3 hour bus ride through the mountains to the Sierra Nevada to the historical city, arriving just in time for lunch and exploring before the sun went down.

The girls and I went to the Royal Chapel and saw where Ferdinand and Isabel, the Reyes Catolicas, are buried and then went on an adventure to find a coffee shop with a view of the mountains. It was a fun couple hours just getting lost in the city and finding some of the most beautiful residential areas and secret/non-touristic areas of the city.

Later that night we traveled up to the top of the hill opposite the Alhambra and got to see it all lit up at night. The buildings are absolutely beautiful. It also got everyone excited to go and see it the next day. We also went to the gypsy caves in the hills to see a flamenco show by one of the gypsy families. Because I'm taking a History of Flamenco class I could actually tell the differences between the different kinds of music, and Kyle, one of the boys on my trip and in my class, was just as excited about noticing the differences as I was.

After the Flamenco show we went back to the hotel and decided that we would go out to a discoteca for some Spanish dancing. We ended up going to this awesome Salsa bar where there were these amazing dancers who taught us how to move. The bartender was great too. My friend Sam got to go behind the bar and show off her skills because she asked for a drink that he had never heard of before. We had a blast, some a little more than others, but it was definitely a lot of fun.

The next morning I got to return to the GORGEOUS Alhambra. Even though it was a completely different time of year from last time and the gardens were not nearly as alive and colorful, the history and architecture are still awe-inspiring. It was also a lot more interesting this time to go on a tour that was in Spanish and learn about everything with the Spanish vocabulary instead of the English translations. I also felt really smart when everyone else didn't know what the tour guide was saying and I got to explain to them the history of the buildings and gardens.

Right after our tour of the Alhambra we headed back to Sevilla. I was asleep for the entire ride home, but it was definitely needed after a late night Friday and the fact that the Sevilla-Barcelona futbol game started at 10pm that night. Sam and I meet up with some of the other ISA students at one of the Irish pubs nearby to watch the game, which unfortunately ended in a tie, but it was still a lot of fun to see all the crazy fans.

So the traveling has officially begun. This Thursday I'm leaving for London to spend the weekend with Joanne, which I'm very excited about!!! We're going to have a blast! I'll post again when I get home from that trip Monday morning! ¡Hasta Luego!

Fiesta loca de Cádiz

Carnaval 2008! By far the most ridiculous experience that I have ever had in my entire life. We all think that New Year's Eve in New York City is packed, but the city of Cádiz, Spain was absolutely full to the brim with people in crazy costumes and partying harder than most Americans do for their 21st birthdays.

The girls and I had bought our train tickets to the beautiful ancient beach city the day before for this festival in order to make sure that we could get to the city that was 2 hours south of Sevilla. I'm glad that we had because even with our tickets we were sitting on the floor of the train unable to get a seat. We got all dressed up in our costumes because Carnaval in Cádiz is a combination of Halloween and Mardi Gras with a little extra oomph! We thought that we might have over done it a little bit, but it turns out that there are people who go all the way with their costumes!

We arrived early for the celebration in order to take in our surroundings before the streets were swarmed by masses of Spaniards and foreigners who wanted to have a good time. We went down to the beach, had some tinto de verano as we watched the sun set, and then grabbed a little something to eat before the craziness ensued. Caroline, Betsy, Alison, Whitney and myself walked straight into the city center right into the plaza in front of the Cathedral. This was where the most craziness happened. People were drinking everything under the sun wearing all sorts of costumes and masks, some were even playing with a jump rope! It was soo much fun!!!

After staying up with the rest of the city until 4:30 in the morning, we decided that it would be a good time to make our way back to the train station and try to make the first train home that we could. 5:10 came rolling around and everyone was fighting to get through the crowd and get on the train. Fortunately we all made it and even got seats this time! After passing out for 2 hours, we returned to Sevilla at 7:15 in the morning and had to wait for a taxi. I ended up getting into my bed around 8 am...and it was totally worth it!

Cádiz was one of those experiences that you have to have, but I definitely will not be going back anytime soon.

Next stop...GRANADA!

Coffee and Orange Trees...

Sevilla is GORGEOUS this time of the year! All of the streets are lined with orange trees full of fruit that you just want to reach up, grab, and eat fresh off the branch! The city is starting to even smell like oranges because so many have fallen to the ground and broken open. The girls and I have been walking around the historical center and going to these cute little coffee shops to start making our travel plans, which are going to be so much fun and very adventurous.

Caroline, Betsy, Sam and I have something booked for almost every weekend for the next two months and plans are being made for the rest of the semester. I feel like I'm on vacation and just making pit stops at class along the way. But my trips to London, Barcelona and Morocco are all in place and I don't think that I could be anymore excited. We went to this travel agency that was established by study abroad students a number of years ago to plan our trip to Morocco yesterday, and Ruben was showing us all the pictures of former trips. All of us got goosebumps just thinking about this trip that isn't until March 14th!!!

This Saturday, me and the girls are going to Carnaval in Cádiz, which is on the southern coast of Spain. Basically it's a combination of Mardi Gras and Halloween where everyone gets dressed up in crazy costumes and parties for two weeks straight! We can even get the train ride for free if we wear our costumes! We haven't decided what we want for our costumes to be yet, but it's going to be a lot of fun!

My first full week of classes is officially completed! UPO (Universidad Pablo de Olavide) is an interesting campus because it's being completely renovated, but at least it's a campus unlike the rest of the Spanish Universities. Classes are good, three in Spanish and two in English. It's the perfect mix so that I can work on my Spanish conversation and comprehension and still keep my sanity...lol. All of my professor's seem kinda crazy, but lots of fun. I don't have any favorite classes yet, but I'm sure that by the end of the semester I will have decided one was a lot more informative for me than the rest.

Hopefully by the beginning of next week I will have another post up with some pictures and a description of my adventures in Cádiz this weekend. I miss you all!!!! Muchos abrazos y besos!

Spain is AMAZING!!!!

I am having such a blast here in Spain! I know that I' ve only been here for a week and a half, but I feel like I've been gone for forever already and miss you all sooo much.

This is a picture of our little click here in Spain that we made basically right away. From the left it's me, Betsy (my roommate), Sam, and Caroline.
It's kinda crazy how we got so close so quickly but we're having a blast and basically doing everything together.

So far I haven't had any classes, I know that you're all jealous, but they start tomorrow. I'm kinda excited to see what class is going to be like here.

My host family here is pretty low key. Sandra, my host mom works for the Puerto Rican Consulate, but she's always home. It's a little weird though because we have a maid, Loli, who makes all of our meals in the morning and we can eat whenever we want to instead of as a family like we had originally thought that we would be.

Sandra's house is absolutely beautiful! I can't believe how much I lucked out. There are seven bedrooms in this apartment so I get my own room, which is this other picture. It's basically the size of a dorm room but just for one person. There's even a piano in my room, so if I ever get the urge to play again I can. She also has internet in her house, it took me until today to figure out how to log onto it, but it's all set and ready to go now. (I expect to be getting a lot of skype calls in the the future.)

Life in Sevilla has been very relaxed so far. The girls and I have been exploring the local night life this past weekend. We ended up, through my program, being set up with locals to show us what it's like to go out here. Jesus was our guide last Thursday and he gave us his number if we wanted to ask him anymore questions. Saturday night we got in touch with him and he took us out to a flamenco bar in Triana, which is one of the barrios of Sevilla, and it was sooo much fun because we were the only Americans in the place. All of the women there were teaching us how to dance and we had so much fun that we didn't even realize that we stayed out til 5 in the morning! But it was sooo much fun.

So that's really all I have to update you all on right now! I love and miss you all!

So much to do...so little time

I can't believe that I'm going to be leaving next Thursday!!!!! I'm kind of starting to freak out just a little bit because I am definitely not ready to leave yet. I still have to pack up my entire life which is going to be a pain and I really don't want to say goodbye to everyone...it was hard enough to say goodbye to everyone at school and now I have to say goodbye to everyone here at home too!!!

But on a better note, I am very excited to be heading to España and having the time of my life! I just wish that I could bring you all with me and then it would be even better! But I get to see Michelle in Madrid finally...which I can't wait to do. I miss that girl so much. Then it's off to Sevilla for orientations and classes.

I'm going to miss you all soooooooo much, but I'm going to have this blog set up so that all of you can keep updated on my adventures and leave me notes about how much you miss me...lol. I'll see you all in a few months!!!!

Lots of Love,
Caitlin