Schools Out

This week has been so stressful it is hard to believe!

I took the last of my finals and sadly I can not say I am confident about my results. These were some of the hardest classes I have taken.mi definitely took for granted the way the teachers in the state teach. There, we have homework assignments, quizzes, office hours to get help from the professors, we even get credit for just showing up to class sometimes however, here in Spain it is a very different story. The teachers are very cold; they do not particularly like international students. one professor told the class that we don't care about anything but traveling and that we don't car about school; he thought that we are all spoiled rich kids who don't want to learn anything. So naturally, he was one of the 7 teachers who were not a fan of us just based on where we are from. The teaching style is so different. They have us take notes on their 4 hour lectures everyday and that's it. We had homework once or twice the whole semester, no short quizzes to make sure we were understanding the material, and no office hours to ask questions. Long story short, when the final came around no one had a clue what to study, they just said everything; no study guide no nothing. I understand there are professors like this in the states, but The professors at Millikin have spoiled not just me but all the students by investing in our success rather than hanging us out to dry, so experiencing this kind of teaching method was a shock but NOW that's in he past. As Miley Cyrus said, "we're break out, let the party start. We're gonna stay out, gonna break some hearts. We're gonna dance till the dance floor falls apart, oh oh all over again!"

Since Miley sang it, I did it!

On Thursday night, I went to dinner with some of the other people in my program. That was about a two hour ideal that ended at very nicely at about midnight, but of course the night wasn't over. After dinner we went to a night cafe and talked more. 

On Friday I relaxed all day. I worked out, and then I sat around for a bit after my shower. Then At about midnight, I met up with some friends at Badulake (international club) and danced my booty off. We stayed there for about an hour and a half and then headed off to another club. After about 45 min we made our way to yet another club. We didn't make it home until about 6:00am. It was a great night.

Saturday was very relaxing. I sat around pretty much all day. I did some homework for my independent study, met over skype with my professor/advisor for my university to discuss my class schedule and work, then I ate dinner with my roommates. But...that wasn't the end of the night. Me and my roommates went to karaoke for the second time! It was so much fun! Upon my arrival to the club, a woman who was there the first time we went, and she liked my singing so much, she wanted me to sing another solo. I did with a little help from my roommates on backup vocals. I sang Love On Top by Beyoncé and yes, I did hit all the notes ;)

Now it has been a lazy Sunday. My roommate from the states left to travel Europe with her father today and now there are only three of us left in the apartment. I have to say, summer has been quite successful so far. I have had to say good bye to some AWESOME people but I know it is not goodbye, it is simply see you later!

Hasta luego!

Doin' What I Do

Hola!

Alright, I know I didn't post anything last week, but literally, I had nothing interesting to report. It was an average school week: went to class, did my homework, worked out in the park, showered, went to bed, repeat. All week it was the same routine. 

Sooo, you are probably dying to know what I have been up to this week, which sadly has been pretty underwhelming, soooo I am gonna do a blooper blog! A blooper blog is a blog where I report to you the little things that happen between all the other stuff I blog about.

Blooper 1: "Poppin' Tags"

One thing I have been wanting to get in to is thrifting. Everyone at school in the states talks about it and I have seen people get some really neat and cool things from thrift stores. My sister for instance got a bed. A whole bed! So I thought what better place to start than in Spain! Sadly however, there is only one thrift shop in Murcia but I made due with what I had. In other words life gave me lemons, I made a sour face, added a bit of sugar, and made some candy! At the thrift store there was a lot of clothes. Long story short, I managed to find a cute dress for only 3€! Such a good deal!

Blooper 2: "Chillin' on a Dirt Road"

Since I have been here I have only traveled once. Not because of anything besides the fact I am not big on traveling. When I am somewhere, I like to be THERE, not constantly leaving and coming back. I have been moving across the U.S. My whole life so sometimes I just like to stay in one spot for a while. Anyway, I decided to take a day trip to Salto del Usero. It's this river through an almost canyon like area. Nothing compared to the Grand Canyon by any means but it is so beautifully breath taking! The river is crystal clear, you can see straight to the bottom. There is even a waterfall and cliffs to jump off of. To get there we had to walk down a dirt road, hence the title.

Blooper 3: "Kebab"

I have been really focusing on working out and staying strong since I have been here. I workout every other day with some friends and then alone on the other days. I have also been making sure I eat really well and cook for myself rather than eating out. However, I heard of this place called crunchy kebab and I told myself last week that in two weeks, so next week, on Friday, for lunch, I get to eat a crunchy kebab! I have only had two kebabs since I have been here in Spain and I feel that in order to leave truly satisfied, I must have a third.

Blooper 4: "Plunger Duty"

Of all the time I had been here, so about 5 months, our toilet had not clogged. The bathtub has been plugged, the washer machine has broken, and the electricity has been blown but the toilet was fine...until that ONE day. I woke up one morning and just like everyday, the first thing I did was got to use the bathroom. When I lifted the seat, I noticed whomever was in there before me had forgotten to flush so I did it before I went. But before I knew it, the water was turning brown and coming back out towards me. My first thought, "ew" then I backed out to make sure it wouldn't overflow and get on my feet, which thankfully it didn't. Still having to use the bathroom myself, I told  my roommate and she just didn't even worry about the fact that three of us share the one bathroom that was clogged...ridiculous. So I took it upon myself to go to the store, buy a plunger and some draino and unclog the toilet myself, yes, I still had not gotten to use the bathroom yet. Long story short, I unclogged the toilet after one hour and then finally got to use the bathroom. It was crazy.

Blooper 5: "Karaoke"

For literally weeks now, we had been making plans to go to karaoke as a flat. Everytime it got to the day, we were all busy or too tired but tonight, we finally made it! It was so much fun, we sang about three songs as a group, and in even sang two songs by myself. I first sang Mamma Knows Best by Jessie J and then Respect by Aretha Franklin. I, of course, was nervous but once I got up there I felt really good about it! I think there will be videos on Facebook soon.

Well I hope you enjoyed some of my bloopers, I am sure there are things that I am forgetting at the moment but I will try to do another blog like this so you can get all the details. I don't have any pictures of the dress, but I will put some pictures of Salto at the bottom and the singing videos on Facebook. Hope you enjoy ,

Hasta luego!

Me moving to put my feet in the water (Lord knows I didn't swim)

Me and everyone who went with me ( minus the photographer)

Me actually knee deep in the water (no photo shop)

And me randomly hugging a tree koala bear or sloth style just because. ( this wasn't at Salto but I thought you might enjoy the photo)

Help yourself, by helping others.

Hola amigos!

I have to admit I was sad to go back to classes this Monday after the two wonderous weeks of spring break. Going back to classes after any amount of break honestly is pretty difficult and even though it was just a three day week, it was pretty rough. Monday went surprisingly well. I had four hours of classes then I was done at 2:00. Tuesday was pretty nice as well, we had a healthy debate about gun control in America in Spanish. That actually was pretty fun! It was good to listen to other peoples views and thoughts on the topic. Wednesday was the last day of our classes this week and it was a half day! How awesome right!? Well, it was literature and lets just say that is not my favorite class. The teacher is fun and my classmates are nice, but the content is difficult. Analyzing poems and long passages are not my favorite activities in the world so you can imagine how class went. 

I made it through but it pretty much drained me making me physically and mentally tired and stressed. So after class I worked out with some friends and then did homework and planned some stuff for the weekend. Right after I got out of the shower, I got a message inviting me to watch the soccer game at with some friends so I decided to go to de-stress and have a good time.

On my way there, about fifty meters from my apartment I see an older woman struggling to walk down the street. Generally I am wary of people. Yes, even the elderly, but something about her made me stop and ask her if she was okay. She asked me if I lived far and I answered her honestly with a no. She then asked me if I would mind walking with her a little ways to her apartment building because she was so tired and didn't know if she could make it. I, surprisingly without hesitation, agreed to walk with her. I offered her my arm and we walked down the sidewalk together. She told me about her day and her six sons that she thinks would really like me, no subtlety there) and about her late husband whom had passed two years ago.

All was well and suddenly we were headed toward my apartment building. I asked her if she lived there, and it turned out that she is one of my neighbors! She lives on the floor above me. We both laughed at what a coincidence it was that we lived in the same building for basically five months and never crossed each others paths. As I opened the door her she handed me a euro. I tried to decline but she was insistent and told me how lucky she was that I came along to help her.

After I made sure she got in okay I started back out to make my way to watch the game. When I left my apartment, I was a bit cranky from the day still, 20 minutes late for the game, and determined to have a good time with my friends. As I walked to the location of the game, I realized how good I had felt after putting all my thoughts about myself behind to help a complete stranger. 

Sometimes the best medicine for your bad day is to help someone else cure theirs. I even made it to the second half of the game and the team I was cheering for won! That was the best start to a long weekend ever!

The rest of the week was filled with a trip to a hidden oasis and homework on the beach (yes I actually did complete my homework on the beach). Can't get any better than that! 

Disfruta el fin de semana! Enjoy the weekend!

Hast luego!

(This is me thinking about getting in the water at the oasis. I only ended up putting my feet in but that counts for something...right?)

With Friends Like These

Hola!

Goodness! This week has just flown by! There were so many fun things that happened this week...well really it was one thing but it went on the whole week. Festivos de primavera is pretty much spring break, with the exception that there are a lot more traditional customs added to it. The second day, literally every one young, old, adolescent, you name it, was on the street from 11:00am to 9:00pm for one huge botellon which is pretty much an all day drinking fest while dressed in traditional Murcian attire. It was definitely interesting from the perspective as someone who does not drink. Definitely fun, dancing in the streets, culture parades, and everyone just enjoying being with each other.

All of this was really fun, but the best part by far was not the Murcian flair or even the beach, it was seeing my fellow LV's. Yesterday (Friday) I got together, via skype, with my LV class for the day of scholars presentations. Now, I knew already that I missed them all, obviously, but when I saw them all looking so happy to see me, and saying hello and how much they missed me, I got tears in my eyes. I didn't realize just how much I missed them all. The presentations were amazing! I was literally speechless for a couple of them. This day of scholars brought us so much closer together. 

On this side of the world, after I got off skype with my friends from back home, I walked out of my room and my roommates told me to go in the living room. I looked into the dark room first and saw shadows and was instantly unsure but, none the less I walked in with a tiny push from my other roommate, and surprise! My other roommate and 6 of my friends were all standing there, the lights now on, with birthday hats and confetti! Now, my birthday is on September 9th, but they decided to throw me an early birthday party since I won't be here with them to celebrate my actual birthday with them. They made me dinner, and baked me an apple cake complete with candles and m&m's on top! It was definitely a surprise! I didn't even hear them when they were setting up the room.

I am so TRULY blessed to have friends like these. Friends that write postcards, keep in contact, let them be a part of their presentation day, throw early birthday parties and so much more. With friends like these, any person could feel spoiled not by his/her friends doing all these things for him/her, but just by knowing he/she has friends that care enough about her to make him/her feel so special; I know I do!

The phrase, "you never know what you've got until it's gone," may be true in most instances, but in the case of my friends, I don't know what I have done to deserve such beautiful, wonderful, strong, amazing people in my life, but I know just how special my friends are to me. I know with friends like these, it will be very hard to feel alone or abandoned because of how much care and love my friends have for me and I hope they know I have for them. They will always be in my life no matter what; if not physically, mentally, spiritually, I know they are always there!

I love my friends all around the world!

Nos vemos <3

(More pictures from the birthday celebration...)

The real fun begins!

Hola!

This week was pretty fantastic! I saw so many pretty procesionals. My favorite one had to be this one:

This one was my favorite, because the red that you see beneath Jesus on the cross, is hundreds of red carnations! All of the processions had hundreds of flowers on them, but this one was the best arrangement by far (at least in my opinion).

Besides the parades, I did a few other things as well. I went to the beach in alicante which was pretty fun. Most people may not know this, but I actually extremely EXTREMELY disliked the beach. However, since I have been in Spain I have found a bit of comfort in it. Don't get me wrong, I still hate the sand and the water and the combination of the two, but the atmosphere is so relaxing, I think I can get over it at least for a few hours at a time. I was so comfortable at the beach that I even touch the water and did an elbow stand on the shore.

 

As well as going to the beach, I have been working out. I LOVE working out! It makes me feel so good and I love challenging myself to do more in my workouts. It was even more fun these past few weeks, because I have started my own little workout group with a few of the girls I am here with. It is so fun.

To finish off the weekend, I went to the mall with one of my friends that I met here named Amber. She is super cool and shopping with her was so fun! Because tomorrow is Easter, I wanted to get a new outfit for the occasion so we went to the mall and found this: 

It looks way better on, but it is night time now and I have no good lighting (maybe I will post it on Facebook tomorrow since that is what the outfit is for).

Other than that my week has been pretty standard, but don't fret, because next week is vacaciones de primavera (spring break for real)! That's right, no school for a whole other week! 

Let the real fun begin!

Spring Break!

Okay everybody, after waiting all week spring break is here. Here, spring break is not just a four day weekend or a week, it's a whole two weeks! The first week is semana Santa and the second is vacaciones de primavera.

During semana Santa, there are big procesionals that go through the city with statues from the salzillo museum. These statues are huge so you would think they would put them on cars and drive them around...NO. There are about 24 men that carry them throughout the city. They switch people out, but still those are pretty heavy and very far distances to carry them.

Today was just an average lazy Saturday. I woke up at 11, got some corn flakes, and proceeded to try to be productive. I put some laundry away and after that I worked on some GRE math prep. After that went disastrously, anyone who knows me knows, and if they didn't know before they do now, that I am terrible at math! I don't wanna talk about it.

After that I laid down for a bit to relax and I suddenly got a feeling that I should go for a walk at 6:30. So naturally, I recruited my friend Amber and we began our walk. On our way toward the river we heard this drumming. When we got closer, we realized it was two of the statues being carried! We thought they started tomorrow on Sunday, but we were wrong! It was so cool. We got to watch them switch carriers, watch the directors direct them, the religious leaders, and a marching that followed them. Of course, there were costumes involved as well! It was so amazing! I took a ton of pictures.

After they passed us, we began our walk for the second time, right when we turned the corner, there was another statue being carried! It was completely different from the other two! The first two were, Santa Maria de los Angeles (not the place, of the angels) and the other was Jesus on the cross. This next one was Jesus carrying the cross in one of the most elegant robe I have ever seen. All of the statues, except the one of Jesus on the cross, have real clothes on and real flowers surrounding them. The one of Jesus carrying the cross even has real 100% human hair that is touched only by the best hair dressers in the city!

After we watched that statue go by, along with another marching band, we continued yet again on our walk but again we were interrupted by yet another statue being carried! This one was another statue of Santa Maria from a different museum but still with extremely elegant clothing and tons of flowers surrounding her. 

I am so happy I had the urge to go for a walk at the time that I did! It is one thing to hear about the procesionals, but another thing to be able to see them yourself! So amazing!

Tomorrow, I am going to the beach yet again but definitely coming back in time to see the next statues.

I am a day early, but happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it and if not, happy sunday! 

Hasta luego!

The drum line.

The new carriers

The statue of Santa Maria de Los Angeles

Jesus on the cross

Religious leaders

Marchers in training.

Jesus carrying the cross

Santa Maria de Los Angeles

These are only some of the statues, might I add! There are more to come!

Meeting Placido Domingo

This past week has gone by sooo slowly however, that did not stop me from having a new experience.

I had never met anyone famous until this past Monday. 

All week during rehearsals for orchestra, our conductor would always be saying something in Spanish really fast followed by Placido Domingo. I thought nothing of it because I thought he was saying plaza Domingo which is a plaza here in Murcia. I had assumed that we were playing in the plaza, however I could not have been more wrong.

On Monday at the concert everyone was in a frenzy and there were news cameras and reporters everywhere and I thought to myself "this is a little over board for a concert." After we warmed up, we gathered outside with our instruments for a picture. I was close to the middle of the photo when the photographer told me to move over so we could leave space for Placido. I was still confused because again I heard plaza but I moved over without objection. All of a sudden a man in a robe with white carnations came and stood between me and the conductor. He was very nice. He talked to all of us and said how honored he was to be at the university. Then he gave me a pat on the shoulder and walked away.

After he walked away, everyone was telling me how lucky I was to have stood next to him and how I had been touched by a god. I asked them all who he was and they all said Placido Domingo. At that point I understood that that was his name, but I did not understand why he was so special...then we went to actually play the concert. On all of the screens, there were pictures of Placido. After we played the first couple of pieces, there was a PowerPoint presentation and that's when it hit me who he was. There were clips of him singing at the opera and in private concerts.

I then finally realized, that I had just met Placido Domingo world renouned opera singer who is being inducted as a professor here at the university. Talk about shocked! I felt really cool after realizing who he is and honored to have been standing so near to him and to recieve a pat from him. Not quite a touch by a god, but pretty darn close!

After that, the week kind of flat lined with nothing exciting. The only other thing that I can say was pretty exciting was organizing an exercise group for me and three of my friends here. We are gettin swole together!

Have a great week and hope you read this Saturday!