Week Two: Travel

On January 21^st, our group took its first trip together to Segovia, Spain. We loaded onto a small tour bus and, with our guide Antonio, drove about two hours until we reached our final destination. I knew virtually nothing about what we were about to see, nor how incredible it would be, and was overjoyed to learn of how beautiful Segovia is and what we were able to see. Our first stop was the Segovia aqueduct. I honestly never thought an aqueduct would interest me, but the structure was absolutely incredible. The town was quaint and at one point came to a large open space that met the gigantic aqueduct. The weather, although beyond freezing, was beautiful as the skies were perfectly blue, and the contrast of the sun and the blue sky on the centuries-old structure was amazing. We went on to see the Catedral de Segovia and also the Alcazar Castle. The group climbed the tower of the castle and came out on top of the roof for a beautiful view. We learned of the history of the kings and queens and saw how they lived. The cathedral was also so beautiful and ornate, and the ceilings were soaring. Naturally, I was secretly identifying various elements of the cathedral that made it gothic, like the pointed arches, stained glass windows, groin vaults, etc that I have learned in my days of studying Humanities. What makes these structures so incredible is the amount of history that they have and the fact that they are so architecturally profound. I have lived here for just two weeks and have been able to see beautiful structures in El Escorial and Segovia, visit museums such as the Prado where I saw Las Meninas, The 3^rd of May, and Garden of Earthly Delights, and take a stroll through Retiro Park. There is so much to do here and I am lucky to have about nine more weeks here in Spain to soak it up. On another note, Abby and I have discovered a new favorite of ours: ARROZ CON LECHE. Each time Andrea feeds us this incredible dessert, we literally dance with joy. It is essentially whole pieces of cooked rice in milk (yes, the kind that we drink that isn’t always refrigerated and expires months later) with cinnamon. Much more appetizing than it sounds. AND one more thing, my brother NEXT WEEK! Heaven!

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Week One: Adjust.

Before I begin, I want to emphasize that adjusting does not mean adjusting in a bad way, rather getting used to a situation that is different than what you're used to. Where to begin...

Abby and I met our host mother the first day of the trip in Plaza Cervantes in our little town called Alcala de Henares (the last a has an accent but I can't copy and paste it without it looking weird.) Her name is Andrea and she is 77 years old. She lives in an apartment on Calle de Ferraz that is small but charming. This was the first adjustment: our apartment is probably 600 square feet, maybe less, and it does not have internet. Coming to Spain without my beloved cell phone was enough, but take away internet access before bed and I am definitely out of my element. At first this was a shocking realization, but Abby and I are both grateful for it now. We have found a cafe called Rodilla that has free wifi and come here occasionally to send emails and upload pictures. With all the free time on my hands from not being on facebook, I have already been able to finish a book called Water for Elephants that I HIGHLY recommend reading before the movie comes out.

Only having one cell phone between Abby and I posed a large problem initially. Here we are with this cell phone that is arguably worse than the first cell phone I received with zero contacts in it and no way of accessing my email to look up the phone numbers of other members in our group. Luckily, on the second day we ran into a couple people from our group who were on their way to Madrid. They showed us where to pick up our bus/train passes and then we were off to Madrid. From Alcala, you first take a train to Atocha where you switch to the metro to Sol that takes you right in the middle of Plaza Mayor in Madrid. It is an incredible sight. I've since been back two other times and it's always equally exciting!

The food schedule is very precise here. Every morning we wake up and have breakfast, cereal, mini muffins, and fruit. Lunch is the biggest meal and is at two. We've had everything from pasta to fried lunch meat and cheese. It's always a little bit scary to look out from our bedroom to the table and see what Andrea has prepared, but we are grateful that she is so sweet and diligent with her responsibilities as host mother. She doesn't miss a beat-she adjusts to our schedule and takes it upon herself to be there for us when we need her.

The most fun I've had so far was yesterday when Abby, her father and I went to El Escorial to a historical palace! The weather was beautiful and there was so much to see and hear about. It made us really excited for the weekend trips that we are going to take with the group to tour all of the beautiful cities in Spain. Also, we went out to Media Pinta, a bar in Alcala, with our good friend Sofia (Andrea's granddaughter who is our age) to watch the Athletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid game. I LOVE being in a place where everyone loves and looks foward to watching a good game. Abby and I are looking forward to going to a game in the near future!

Next week is our first full week of classes and first trip as a group. Segovia here we come!

home for the holidays

how time is flying. after being at school for a year and a half now, i have gotten into a general routine of when i come home to visit: april, august, and december for the holidays. this trip home came incredibly fast because of a fall 2010 semester that just flew by. this was the first opportunity i had to go home for three full weeks, the longest i've been home since i moved out of the house last august. the highlights of my trip, as always, include seeing friends and family, spending quality time at home, christmas with the missionaries, and at least 100 hours of glorious sleep in my full bed.

whenever i come home, there are a few situations that drive me crazy. the first is the fact that i have this idea in my head every single time that i am going to get to spend time with all of my friends from high school. i fail to forget all of the reasons why it is a surety that i will not see half the people i planned on seeing. when i first moved, since i was the only one to go far, far, away, my arrival home was always anticipated by my friends. with each semester, people feel the excitement less and less because this is life now. i live in utah and i do not visit home very often. another issue is the adjustment of going from car to no car. although my parents are generous whenever they can be, i find myself with days like this where i am alone for hours on end with nothing to entertain me but leah, my dog.

oh yeah, and fantasizing about my trip to europe (which commences in just two days.)
i just want to share my incredible travel plans:
January 10th-ARRIVE
January 21st-Segovia
January 28th-Salamanca
February 3rd-Paris
February 9th-Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba
February 18th-Toledo
February 23rd-Canary Islands!!
March 2nd-Bilbao, Burgos
March 9th-Barcelona
March 19th-Valencia for Las Fallas Festival

please follow my blog and also http://byumadrid.blogspot.com/ to keep up with the adventure!
...and my brother gets home from his mission in chile in just 26 days!!!