Something that I will miss about Spain....

Here is the awaited list of what I will miss from Spain.  The actual list that I've composed is a lot longer than this one, but I thought I would put the most important here.
-My family here
-Spanish
-The beach and the Mediterranean Sea
-Paella!!!!
-llao-llao (frozen yogurt place)
-All of our adventures throughout Spain
-My mama (especially when she says things like "you're crazy for wearing flip-flops!  It's so cold out!"  (when it was 65degrees!!))
-Public transportation
-Spaghetti nights at Jenn's house
-climbing mountains
-That I had a castle in my town
-I can walk to everything within 20 min
-hot bread!
-The pastries in the supermarkets
-Worshiping God in another language
-The weather
-Denia in general

yeah, so there are just a few of the things that i'm going to miss, the list goes on and on and on!!  Tonight is the last night that I have here with my family and I'm going to miss them so much!  They have been a wonderful Christian example for me and have been there when I needed them.  My mama also makes the best food ever and I will miss all our talks during lunch before my papa came home.  I've had the best experience here and don't want it to end.  Regretfully, my ticket is bought and the bus leaves Denia at 3:00am this coming morning.  I would not change anything on this trip.  I've learned more about myself and about letting go and just diving into life.  It has been a wonderful experience with strong friendships that have come out of it.  I will never forget this time or the wonderful people that I've met and hung out with for the past five months.  My biggest fear as I head back is losing contact with these people that I have come to consider family.  We are a strong group and it's been incredible the way we've gotten along these past months.  In a group with 6 guys and 18 girls you would expect some drama and bickering, but that has not happened to us.  We've been able to grow close and learn to love and get along with each other through the thick and the thin.  I love each and every person on this trip and would not change a thing.  Thank you all for your support and prayers over the last months.

Something Alicante...

This week Tuesday I went with a couple others for one last ride on the train down towards Alicante.  Our intentions were to go to the Valor Chocolate Factory (which I've already talked about/been to) and then head to the beach.  Ben and Josiah, who were on their way to Alicante and then Sevilla decided to stop with us and get some free chocolate (which always makes your day better!)  After our wonderful tour with free chocolate in the end we all decided to join Ben and Josiah as they continued to Alicante so that we could explore the castle there.  (free stuff is a good initiator) 

So we got there, climbed to the top of the castle, and there, with a 360 degree view of the mar and Alicante we ate lunch and talked for about 2 hours. 

After that we headed back down and had to part ways.  This was incredibly sad as it was the first of the goodbyes for this trip.  :(  We had a wonderful day though and it was fun that we could just spontaneously change plans and spend the day with each other! 

Something sexy....

hehehe, ok, no I don't have a Spanish boyfriend (don't worry dad) I just thought it would be interesting to tell you about some of the things seen and heard in the streets of Spain. To start out I would like to explain that Spanish men like shouting out stuff to women as they walk down the streets.  I have composed a very short list of things that have been said to me and the other girls in my group as we walked down the streets of Spain....
-Hola guapa  (hey beautiful)
-Te quiero or I love you
-Ven conmigo chica (come with me girl)
-Ven aqui!  (come here)
There's more, but that gives you a little glimpse into our lives here.  Now another thing that you should know that may shock many of you are the looks that we get from those same guys who call out to us....and from most other guys in the streets.  Most of the times I walk outside there is at least one creepy old man who looks at me as I walk past as if I was some sort of sexual object, it is just a blunt stare...like the ones that start when you are 5-10 feet away and end when you are 5-10 feet beyond in the other direction  (very awkward, and even more awkward because most of the guys are 30-40 years old.) Normally this is combined with one of the cat calls from the previous section.  Another thing, that normally makes me laugh when I experience this are the drunk guys who walk up to you, tell you you're beautiful and they want to marry you.  That is always an interesting experience.  A normal response to these looks and the words is just to ignore them.  The guys actually don't do anything, they just enjoy calling out to girls that walk past (especially blonde ones) and laugh when we ignore them.
Another interesting/sexual thing about the Spanish culture is the nude/partially nude beach.  When we go to the beach here (only a 20 min walk) we frequently see half naked women laying out.  As a cultural thing, I've gotten used to it over the last few months, but it sometimes is still a little bit of a shocker to see a woman just strip down on the beach!
Finally I just thought I'd tell you that Spanish women know how to dress well.  I feel under-dressed every time I step out of my house here.  They wear nice clothes at all times and always look put together.  (in other words bring more than 15 shirts to Spain!!!)
Sorry if that was a little more than you wanted to know, but it's true, and I just want to help you all experience a little of Spanish culture.    :P

Something Missed...

So I know that you might be sick of my blogs, but this is what we call....constructive procrastination.  That is where I spend more time writing blogs that are somewhat interesting about life here while successfully not writing the final essay and homework that I have to do.  :)   This blog is going to be about some of the little things that I've missed while I've been here in Spain.  I'm not going to talk about events, more random things that I can remember that I've wanted to eat, see, or do while here in Spain. It has been a great semester, but there are always small things that pop up every once in a while when you realize...wow, I really, really want to eat that right now. 

-My family
-HUGS  from anyone and everyone.
-fresh milk of any kind (except skim)...milk here has a shelf life  yuck!
-seeing more than 24 people every day  (I have grown to love and cherish all the members of this group though)
-my mom's homecooked food
-being able to have friends over to watch a movie or just chat
-my friends; college, camp, church, high school, and more!
-being able to fully express my feelings and desires to others in my own language
-some of the freedoms we take for granted at college, like coming home whenever you want and not having to tell your family every time you leave.
-peanut butter....(and jelly sandwiches)
-riding horses
-knowing what is happening in people's daily lives
-being able to cook,and bake chocolatey deliciousness!
-being able to clean and do my own laundry, and having a dryer (pants fit better with a dryer)
-chocolate chip cookies....and every other dessert that my family normally has
-my clothes!!!
-being able to worship in my own church in my own language
-Grass, and green trees etc
-being able to walk the streets and stare at people/saying hi to everyone on campus, even if I don't know then (and not worry about being hit on)
-walking around barefoot in my house and outside
-My cell phone!!  not having to worry about it running out of money while I'm talking to someone
-carpet!!!

I'm sure there are lots more...but I'm having writers block and can't think of any.  In a couple days I will post a blog sharing all the things that I will miss about Spain.  (that list is much, much longer)

Something called Exams....

Exam week = stress + beautiful skies(of course) + so much studying!!!  So obviously since it's exam week we've been spending all our "free time" in study groups here and there throughout Denia trying to find the best place with the most concentration available.  I'm now halfway through with only 2 more of my 4 exams to go and let me tell you, studying is a lot easier when it is cold, rainy and you're not in Spain.  At the moment there is a cloudless, sunny sky and a beautiful beach on the Mediterranean Sea that is just calling my name.  Trying to combine the two doesn't work either.  I take my notes to the beach every time I've gone, I open them when I first get there and then realize an hour later that I still haven't turned the page.  Studying in cafe's doesn't work very well either.  TV's with football (soccer) on, creepy men to talk about, distractions all around.  With the end approaching very rapidly we also have the distraction of trying to do things and see things that are fun and group oriented.  It is a very difficult thing to have exams when you are trying to suck in as much culture and Spain as possible!!!  So since it's been such a trial finding a place to study, I've ended up at home or in the UNED (where we have class) studying with others and by myself, trying to forget the distractions for the moment.  Thankfully we have several days after exams finish to hang out, take a million pictures with each other and of Denia and go do some last minute shopping at the mercadillo before we head back to the States.  :) 

Something Cologne and more...

Tuesday!  We got back from Berlin Monday night and Tuesday morning Steffi and I woke up at a ridiculous hour to be at a university class at 8am in Cologne so Steffi could look into the university and see if that's where she wanted to go.  Now Cologne is about 30 min from Wermelskirchen where Steffi lives so we got there and found the class and sat down. It was kinda funny, I had no idea what was going on, until the professor started putting up slides and I realized we were learning about AIDS, so some of the words were actually in English on the screen!!  Between that and the fact that I've had a class or two about AIDS in college I was actually able to follow the idea of the class.  (made me feel better about not being able to speak with anyone in the class)

After class we went downtown Cologne to see the cathedral.  I never thought cathedrals were that cool before I came to Europe, but now I get excited every time I find one!  This one is SWEET!!!  I took so many pictures it's ridiculous!

The Cologne Cathedral is famous for being the resting place for the three kings who came to visit Jesus in Bethlehem, and we were able to see their shrine and everything!

After walking through the sanctuary we decided to climb up to the top.  This had somewhere between 550-600 steps going up in the twisty fansion!! It took forever and was kinda dificult!  When we finally got up there (with a stop at the bell tower) we got to walk around and look at the whole city!  It was beautiful and totally worth it!  I love Cathedrals!! :) 

The rest of that day consisted of shopping, sleeping and hanging out! 
The next day was Sebastian's birthday (Steffi's brother)  We had omletes for breakfast and I did some homework and slept until the party that night.  After the party Steffi and I just hung out and talked for a while and then went to bed kinda late.  Thursday we slept in and then Steffi drove me to the airport and we said goodbye and I came back to Denia!  It was a wonderful week with Steffi and so much fun to see all of the cool history and interesting stuff!!
The rest of that week I just worked on homework and hung out with some of the girls on my trip who were here in Denia when I got back.  We had a great time watching movies and having some girl talk!  It was good to be back in Denia!  :)

Something Berlin...

After Poland we headed back into Germany for the next three days of exploring Berlin. It was incredible!  That first day we went right away to the Ka De We, which is a huge shopping mall. 

It is famous because it was partially destroyed in the second world war, but was rebuilt.  The prices were ridiculous but it was fun to wander through for a bit.  Then Steffi and I went to do a little shopping and then headed off to dinner, which I think was McDonalds...first time I've eaten it since coming here.  Later that night Steffi and I went out to an Irish pub for a while to sit and chat and have a beer, great way to end the evening!  :)

Sunday began with us waking up and eating an amazing breakfast of fresh rolls with nutella and jam! So delicious!!  We then took the bus to a cool cathedral in Berlin (Berlinerdom I think it was called). 

It was very cool!  We couldn't go inside because of the Easter services that were in session, but it was still fun to see it! Then we wandered around, looked at some statues (cause they are allll over Europe!) and then we took a boat tour!!

This was pretty sweet..although it would have been a little better if I had been able to understand the guide, but Steffi translated for me so i was able to catch some of it.  We boated around museum island and then saw the parliament buildings and the place where the German Chancellor lives...it's three times the size of the white house!! After our boat tour we meandered through the little market that was right by the river for a while and then headed off to see some more monuments including a war memorial and the Brandenburg gate which was one of the dividing lines between east and west Germany.

Then I got a very cool candy apple which kinda tasted like hardened cotton candy and we went to one of the famous parliament buildings.  This building had a cool dome on top which we got to climb up in!

It was pretty sweet and had a cool view of the city! 

After we spent some time there we hopped on the metro and went to Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most famous places with pieces of the Berlin wall left over.  It was sweet!  We got there and they still had the checkpoint set up in the middle of the road with some guards (not sure if they were real) wearing US uniforms and the sign saying you were leaving the US area or leaving the Soviet area! 

Then we took a walk of about five minutes to where the wall was.  It was cool to see that part of history.  I liked the parts with graffiti the most, but the wall was cool!  We spent a while there and then headed back for dinner which consisted of a beautiful food that looked like a gyro. yummy :)

  The next day we woke up early, ate our wondrous breakfast and went off to Museum Island.  The reason we went was to see the bust of Nefertiti an Egyptian queen.  It was beautiful, I tried to take an illegal picture, but it failed so you will all just have to look her up on the internet.  :)  Then we left Berlin and went to Sanssouci which is a park outside of Berlin with a building that was designed with Versailles as a model.  It was beautiful and green!  (That is something I noticed on this trip...everything is so green and there are real trees with lots of leaves!)

 Berlin was a great time!!