Segovia

Segovia!! 

And the acueductos, Steff!

Me and the acueductos!

I've already forgotten the name of this one...I'll look it up... 

El catedral de Segovia

Me and dulces de pan de Segovia..MMM! Couldn't get enough!

I paid this man an ENTIRE euro to take a pic with him... 

wish the photographer woulda been a little better though!

The CASTLE! 

Said to have inspired the Disney Princess, Sleeping Beauty, Castle

These knights in shining armor are "just my size"

...at least that's what everyone kept saying! 

 But how do they know my size?!

A view from the castle!

We climbed the tower..to enjoy this! 

It was quite a climb, but worth EVERY step!

Just enjoying the view (spacing out), 

and the girls snapped a photo!

Inspired by yours truly.

On accident even!

Now, don't you just want to live in it?!

We just had too...

You don't think...

You don't think that when you pack your pink polka dotted undies your going to have to display them for Spain to see...


You don't think that when you're 21 you'll still own a pair of pink polka dotted undies...


You don't think that you should have budgeted bathroom money into your budget for Europe...


You don't think you'll sleep in and miss breakfast and your host mom will think you're fasting...


You don't think you'll buy anything "touristy"...


You don't think that when you get to Spain you'll love it when a baby duck poops on your hand...


You don't think you'll spend ANY rainy days in Spain!...


On Monday when I arrived in Spain, my host mom showed us around her habitacion (apartment) and I saw clothes on a line drying. My first and final thought (until I realized I needed to wash clothes) was that I LOVED it and felt like I was in a movie (a common occurrence).  But, today I realized I needed to wash some clothes....which also lead me to realized I was going to have to hang my clothes up..which also made me wish I had bought all white undies.  I mean, don't get me wrong-I have nothing to hide (nothing "raunchy")-but I would also wouldn't describe the chosen colors as conservative either.  But. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!  So look forward to that picture...
*error of "ranchy" was fixed, by my good sister, for spelling problems. Lo siento!


I never budgeted bathroom money! I had heard they made you pay SOMETIMES in Europe to go to the bathroom...but not everywhere!!  In American dollars, I pay a quarter every time I need to go to the bathroom! OR MORE!  Ay caray! It has made me become unhealthy..because now I don't want to drink as much water!  When I'm in school I probably go to the bathroom every hour (TMI sorry!).  And well, I just can't afford 12 dollars a day here for JUST the bathroom use!  Life goes one...


I bought a cute acueducto in Segovia yesterday. It was cheap, and definitely for a tourist.  BUT, I realized that I wanted one, and so I did it-I gave in to the tourist ways!  I'm happy with my decision though.  I have finally accepted the fact that I'm actually a tourist and not a Spaniard, so maybe I will become more Spanish because I finally admitted I am not :)


Yesterday was a great day!  Even though it rained and was freezing almost all day, I still couldn't have complained about being here! We traveled to Segovia and then to La Granja...In Segovia we saw the Cathedral, famous streets, and then the CASTLE!  I felt like a princess (minus the big bushy gown and a crown) walking all over, and then up into the tower! QUE BONITA!  I want to live there!  La Granja is a palace in Spain, used by Spanish Kings in the 18th Century.  It was the "small" palace, and it was HUGE!  We went through probably 1/2 of it, and we counted over 12 rooms-each filled with millions of dollars worth of items (paintings, sculptures, marble floors and walls, etc...)  AND THEN! We walked outside to the Gardens.  OH MY!  I was in heaven.  The TREES there were my favoritisimo!  They are huge and have vines attached to them that spiral around and up the entire tree! I have never seen anything like it and LOVED it!  The Gardens were huge, and even though we were out there for at least a 1/2 hour, we didn't even see the half of it! Que triste!  I will go back...someday :)


Too much to see and so little time :)  


Spain is amazing, and everyday I wake up and feel like I'm in a dream. And then I remember I am in a dream...the perfect dream of my life!


(photos to follow!)

4 days and already with the rambles...

4 days in and it couldn't get better!  BUT it will! A group of us (10 in total) are planning a trip to Barcelona (the locals there say: "Barthelona") next week for 3 days!  I am up to my ears in corn, as the saying goes, in excitement!  Manana we go to Segovia, and Mon-Wed we travel to Leon!  Needless to say time is short here, and there is much to do!

I live in a great house!  My family, roommate, and I always have a great lunch time discussion!  I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I am for the family I have been sent to in Spain! They are amazing!  So far we have talked about Romney, bad media in these days, the Mormons (us)...and other good things.  They are so much fun to talk to, and I always feel I can express an idea to them when I need to, when in my heart I know I should share something with them...does that make sense?  Learning Spanish here has thrown my English off quite a bit, and I feel at times I can't speak either! Haha..the irony!

Although I'm the weird one here, it's ok because I still have time :)

Coach Prather, my high school cross country/track coach, told me I was always the swan amongst the ducklings.  I think I understand what he means...FINALLY.  It always takes me some time, but when I bloom, I bloom!  What I mean is, sometimes I just need some time to figure everything out before I do anything, say anything, become friends with someone, etc etc....but when  I finally do-it's a great thing!  

Well, I'm feeling rather rambly today....so I think this will be the end of day 4!  !Ten cuidad!

Oh..and enjoy these photos..'cause my camera broke..(it's now on my list of things to buy while I'm here-great.)

A little version of the city I live in!

The University!

(well a door at least...)

Los viejos (old guys) in the plaza!  Every day!

Famous mosiac:  "Zeus y Leda"

(en el museo de arqueologia en mi ciudad)

Doesn't this look like something straight out of Hercules??? (yes, I mean the Disney movie version!)

Of course I'd find this little guy amiss  in the city!

(ok fine...he was the pet of one of the families a girl in my group lives with...)

This is the plaza where we meet for pretty much everything.  It is such a beautiful place....only just about to get a little more!  The trees you see, that make a 'U' shape, around the plaza are olive trees (with no olives) that blossom just about this time! I'm so excited.  Also are rose bushes too!  !Alabanzas para la primavera! (praises for the spring!)

*Think of this picture as the "before" picture!!*

I get to see this great guy everyday in the Plaza de cervantes...he's Cervantes afterall!

Jacqueline and Gerardo

Jacqueline and Gerardo

With only a measly airplane meal in me since the trip "ended" I was relieved to hear that our host family had "lunch" all ready for us.

Well, in Spain, lunch is really dinner.  SO, when we sat down there was SOOO much food.  We had a HUGE plate of pasta (already served, so no choice), ham (the thinnest I've ever seen, and a VERY rich taste), cheese, bread, salad...and then to top it off she gave us a small (luckily) cup of flan (bought not made...sorry Dad)..but it was delish!)..

Then we napped.  Funny because I "wasn't" tired, so took a "small" nap...of just 3 hours! Ha!

As for dinner, Spaniards usually eat at 10p.m. or later.  BUT, Jacqueline wanted to make sure we were ok on our "horarios" (schedules) so we at again at 8!  We, my roomie Hillary and I, sat down to eat and were relieved it was just soup....until we finished our soup..and then relized it was chicken with vegetables. Yep.  Lets just say I am fed VERY well.

Jaqueline is a sweet venezolana (Venezuelan) woman, who moved to Spain because she married Gerardo.  They are so nice, and love to tell us about anything!   We love to eat with them.  Jacqueline won't let us do anything!!  We get up to put our plates in the sink, and she says "no, no..no necesitan hacer nada, estan tranquilas" (She wants us to relax)  It kinda cracks me up because I could see myself doing the same thing.  Ironic though, because Sarah (sarah campbell) said her "mom" always wanted Sarah to help with everything...what a difference!  It is nice though to be so taken care of!  I am grateful to have a real mom just like her!

Well, as for the day, I told Jacqueline and Gerardo I didn't feel any jet lag...then went and slept for 3 hours! Hahaha! Man I need to keep my mouth shut around here...  :)

We have orientation today...at 4p.m.   We'll see how that goes! (And I'll remember to say nothing I know to be how I feel...especially about tiredness)

*Maybe I should have just titled this one " "  *

A Work in Progress

I seriously stared out the window of the plane like I was in a trance, realizing I was ACTUALLY going to Spain.  I'm here and it still doesn't feel real.  And you'd be surprised to know the only word I could think of at that moment was "breached."  


I am at this point in my life where every decision, besides what to eat in the morning, is a big fiasco.  Every decision is like life or death to me...I always think of my Dad's advice (that he got from a friend) in these situations:  a peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.  Well, I have a hard time even making the wrong ones...BUT! I'm a work in progress, SO it's ok  :)


I "breached" something in my life by actually coming to Spain.  To "breach" usually takes a  negative connotation, as in someone breaching a law.  But, in my case I believe I have breached a law for myself that needed some breaching: I did something out of my comfort zone-something that only is heard about-yet I, Loren Wynn, did it.  


It's a proud day for me.  I made the decision.  I decided to go to Spain.  And more importantly I followed through with my decision (that's what makes a decision reality afterall).


In any case, breaching or not, I am me.  And 'me' is in  España !  I'm a work in progress...and work is definitely defining my progress here!  


*Warning: The use of the word-and forms thereof-of breach, may or may not be correct in this blog!*