Time to plan another trip!

So, I still believe the only problem with traveling is that once you do it you  never want to stop! But, I will just  live in optimism that one day I will travel again.  I cannot even begin to express how much I have enjoyed my experience, but hope by the time I get home I can express it in some kind of words that do it justice.  

My little motivational speech would be to those of you who have always wanted to travel but haven't yet done it:  

DO IT. NOW. 

 It's kind of like kids...if you always wait to have kids you'll never have any.  But if you just make some plans and do it, everything seems to work out....maybe not the way you imagined it, but it works out :)  

(ok. that may have been a little weird since I have no kids...but it made sense to me when I thought it) let's just move on before this gets weird...er.

So, here's few pics of a FEW things I have been up to over the past weeks:  

(a very FEW of the million things I have done...)

This is a "tapa."  A special thing that they do here in Spain. It's like going to a restaurant for an appetizer, but the appetizer comes with a drink.  It's probably close to like 3 or 4 american dollars at most places...but sometimes, if you go to a nice place (like above) it can be 8-10 dollars (american)! My tapa was oysters and shrimp ravioli! WORTH IT

This is the beach in Valencia.  BE-AU-TI-FUL!  We had gone to Toledo on Friday and got back on Friday night.  Left the next morning (about 4-5 hour drive) to Valencia, got there and spent the weekend at Valencia.  Mostly at the beach..here's the sunset! 

We went to bed at 3a.m. on Saturday night and woke up at 5a.m. to go see the sunrise!

...WORTH IT

Valencia at night 

Me and my roomie (Hilary) riding bikes through the beautiful park/path in Valencia

Toledo! So...this may be the only happy picture I have in Toledo...actually this may be the only picture I have from Toledo.  We got to Toledo around 10a.m. and a guia (guide) took us on a walk to tour the city.  I wasn't feeling that well, and well by the end I couldn't go in the last church b/c I was so nauseous.  And continued to spend the rest of the day sleeping on a bench somwhere and throwing up in the local McDonald's (ya...McD's is everywhere here).  So, I THINK Toledo is a beautiful city...but I'm not exactly sure since all I remember is feeling miserable all day.  Did I mention we had a 3 hour bus ride back to Alcala (the city where I live) and embarassingly had to ask the bus driver to stop so I could go throw up in a "gas station" bathroom...  WORTH IT

We went to the Real Madrid Stadium..this wasn't my favorite visit (shhh!! I could get stoned for saying that)...but we obviously enjoyed ourselves and it was WORTH IT

CORUS CRISTI.  This is a famous and largely celebrated holiday for the Catholics (and well pretty much just everyone) ALL throughout Spain.  We just stopped at a little town on our way to Andalucia. We were hoping to see the procesion (parade) and had just missed it when we pulled in. But we still saw the dancing and 7 devils/virtues (google Corpus Cristi if you wanna know what I'm talking about).  For the small town that it was (REALLY small) there was quite a crowd, and it was hard for me to see, so I got on my friend's shoulder's for a second and half to take a picture and see a second of dancing...WORTH IT! 

Ya...what.am.I.doing???? Getting blown away by the windmills of course! These were the famous windmills that inspired the Don Quijote (or Quixote) novel.  It is the most famous of Spanish novels and anywhere you go you will see Don Quijote and Sancho Panza in various shapes, forms, and sizes.  

I couldn't tell which way the wind wanted me to blow.

Just some old windmills...and so WORTH IT

This is my good old friend Maimonides. Although my hand is covering it, you can still see (a little bit) how his left foot is still a bright gold color...due to the MANY people that rub it (gross?). Because IF you rub it you will receive wisdom (that's the short version of the story)....WORTH IT 

(I made sure not to wash my hand after..for like 4 days..extra wisdom for me!!)

So...ya. This was our last day in Andalucia..and I had forgotten my camera charger...so every time I wanted to take a pic I had to just turn my camera on really quick and just shoot!  So don't blame me too much for the blurriness.  Anyways, moving on!  This is the biggest mosque in Spain!  So cool..although the picture doesn't do it justice it was WORTH IT!

Honestly, this was up there on my list of my favorite things in Spain.  This is La plaza de espana.  It is so cool.  It's covered in tiles, and around the bottom part has a special "scene" that depicts the different cities/regions in spain!  SO COOL! I came here twice.  WORTH IT!  

Just part of La Alhambra. No big deal.

(So some of you may not know what this is...so I'll briefly tell you: it's a palace, but actually a city palace.  Walled off, extensive gardens, and 3 palaces inside...WORTH IT

Palacio Real: Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid)

This was actually pretty cool; the differences of this palace were that it had an armory and a pharmacy.  The armory had little suits for little boys that looked to be more than 8-10 years old. And GUNS!  You weren't allowed to take pictures..but there was a gun that was twice as long as me! CRA-ZY!  And the pharmacy: sounds kinda dumb, right? NO! So cool. They have these awesome vases filled with things I have never heard of or seen before! It kinda made me feel a little spooked out seeing it and the "kitchen" that was in the pharmacy... but WORTH IT

In Madrid there are these penguins (in different shapes/colors) all over. Not going to lie to you-I have no idea why.  But this one's fun, and in front of the famous museo Reina Sofia so needed a picture.  Also before a concert (Andrew Bird) that our group went to.  We tried to cram in as much as we could that last week...and it was WORTH IT

And now for the final day.  I flew out of Spain.  Sitting next to a Spainard going to travel the U.S. on holiday.  And all I could feel was envy.  Envy that this man got to go traveling around and I didn't.  And then I realized (yes, I'm a cheesy person. So get over it already) life's journey meant to be traveled, and well ya I'm going to be sad not to be in Spain, but I am ready to have some adventures back in the grand ol' land!

!Bienvenido a los Estados Unidos!

SPAIN!  A little fun from my side of the world:

So, I may have made a few mistakes in my video.  For one,  I exaggerated how many locks we have on our door (it's really 4, promise).  

I also showed my undies for all to see..luckily you weren't surprised if you have read my other post.

I love my Spanish life here.   Everyday I wake up thinking it can't get better than the one before..and then it does!! It's amazing.  I can't even explain how blessed I feel to be here!

This is where I live.  Can it get any dreamy-er? No.  I love, no LOVE, the roses.  They are the  BIGGEST roses I have EVER seen!

See what I mean?!?! Even here I find my simple joys...FLOWERS!

So, Everyone knows that bull fights are just part of the Spanish culture.  So, I went to one.  Do you want me to be honest with you? Ok, fine, I will then:  

I cried a little bit.  For like the first 15 minutes I sat speechless, wondering if I would make it through the whole thing.  Then I got a little teary eyed, and well! I just like to look "tough" so that couldn't keep going.  So, I stopped crying and got myself together, and tried to understand why the people liked this sort of tradition....I still don't know.

But, it was fun to go with my group and have the experience.  If anyone wants to come to Spain and have me give them a tour, I'd be MORE than happy...but don't count on a bull fight with me.  I don't think I'll be going to any more of those.

We were in the section called "Sol" which means sun (or sunny).  And boy, it would've been bad if that were true.  BUT! We actually had great seats (in my opinion).  We had shade, and were far enough from the bull that I couldn't smell it's sweat and blood dripping off.  Before I start going on with details, let's just say that it was close enough for me!

The Madrid, Spain Temple!  What a beautiful and comforting site!  I was so excited to go here! There aren't any gardens, but still the grounds are beautiful and calm...just like how you would imagine.  In this tree you can see the amazing (and OLD!) olive tree.  It's incredible! It symbolizes the Garden of Gethsemane; beautiful! 

My beautiful (and of course tall! I'm always paired with the tall ones) roomie, Hilary!

Cuenca! What a pretty little town! You wouldn't come here if someone didn't tell you about it!

In the royal palace gardens.

I just couldn't get enough of this!  I tried to walk fast so I could see the whole thing..too big!  So I slowed down, walked around, read a book, and enjoyed being in the middle of a beautiful place!

It was my host dad's birthday a couple days ago..doesn't that cake make you salivate? Ya me too.  Pretty sure we ate half of it..and there were only 4 of us! He's a funny guy! "He kept saying cut them a little bigger!" to his wife..and let me tell you, she is NOT stingy when it comes to food!  Too funny.  And then today, after we finished lunch (which is actually always a HUGE feast b/c it's like dinner here), our host mom asked if we wanted any dessert; when he asked if there was any cake left and she said "yes" he responded with a "fine, I'll make the sacrifice and eat it for everyone!"  He's got a good sense of humor!  I'll take him as my Spanish Dad ANY day!

My Spanish parents!
Aren't they just adorable?! 

(he's holding the card we wrote him for his birthday!)

Isn't this sweet?!!  So, as you may know (or you do now), my town is the birthplace of the author of  Don Quijote.  (If you don't know what that is, google it asap! It's a classic)  Anyways, here (and pretty much everywhere in Spain) there are drawings, sculptures, statues, etc... of Don Quijote EVERYWHERE!  Pretty sure I love it...and pretty sure this is one of my favorites.  This is just right behind where I live.

I eat like a queen!  Every day we have a HUGE lunch and then a HUGE dinner! (lunch is always the biggest meal here)
I love it, but I love more that my host mom makes everything look amazing! She is quite a chef, and makes everything look gourmet!  Seriously!

The famous dish: Paella! 

Served all over Spain; it's delicious!  Ellie, you would love it!  It's pretty much just rice, chicken, fish, and veggies...and if you get the "real" deal you get some rabbit in there.  

El Escorial
This place is very unique, built during the Spanish Civil War (pretty recent actually) by the slaves.  Another thing to google when you have the time!

Castle!

View from the castle!  Beautiful! 

Now, let me tell you something. These people may not have any peanut butter, but they sure know how to eat themselves some nutella!  Welcome to heaven if you even like this stuff!

We went and had a picnic in the park (yes, if any of you even slightly know me..it was obviously my idea).  If you don't want to be dumb like me, don't ask anyone how to say picnic in Spanish! (It's just "picnic" for those of you like me, and didn't know).  This park is in the middle of Madrid, and is HUGE!  I don't even know how big it is!  There are soccer fields, parks, paths, old buildings, parts of museums...and well I'm not even sure what else! It's always fun walking through and finding something new!  We rented boats and went paddling around the lake for a short time! What a great way to spend the afternoon!
(the pic above is the same park, just on a different day)

We end (and sometimes start..too) our days with ice cream.  Do you think this one's big enough for me?  Ya, me neither!

Buenas Noches from a little chica in Espana!  

Clarificación

There's some confusion for some (family) about what I mean about love. Which, if you've never been to Spain before, is understandable.  I posted about love locks and such.  Let me take this opportunity to explain (or re-explain to some) what I mean:

I am in love.  

With Spain.  

The end.

Ok, but on a more serious note, it's true.  I am in love with this wonderful place we call Spain.  Last summer I really wanted to go on a study abroad, but was too nervous to do it because my sister was having a baby, and all these others little things kept creeping into my schedule that I was afraid to "miss out" on.  Then, my wonderful sister (Ellie) gave me one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received.  I ALWAYS want to do a little bit of everything, so it was hard for me to realize that by leaving I would miss some things, but she said: "Loren, no matter what you do in life, you'll miss out on something.  You just hope that the things you decide to do in place of the things you miss out on are worth it."  

Yes, great advice.  And now that I have fallen in love with Spain I understand even better what she means.  You have to give up something to get something else.  So, this spring I gave up the States to go to Spain.  And I love it.  It's hard, but I love it.

Everybody good now?

Kim, Trisha, Loren (ya that's me!)

Side note:  These are the wonderful angels I had as roommates last semester.  I say angels b/c if you know how hard my fall semester was the word "angels" wouldn't even justify how grateful I am for these wonderful ladies!