2 WEEKS AND 5 DAYS!

How crazy is that?!?! Its almost coming to an end. This week I have two presentations on Tuesday and two interviews for jobs for next spring. Then the next week I have an oral exam for Spanish and the week after that I have 3 finals! AHhhhhh!

Things to do before I leave besides school....
-Tibidabo
-Labyrinth
-Presents for People
-Pictures with host family and of my house...

THIS IS INSANE! WHEN I LOOK AT THE BIG PIC ITS ALMOST OVER. I am happy to go home but at the same time it will be sad to leave my host fam and Barcelona! WOW! I studied abroad and lived in a different country for 3 1/2 months! I think it just hit me! haha!

THE BEST WEEK OF BEING HERE!

The best week of study abroad was last week because the love of my life came to see me! It was amazing to see him. He arrived on Saturday Nov. 21. He was so tired but I dragged him to see the Monjuic Fountain. When we got there and it started he loved it. The next day we went all over the city. We first walked down to the Gothic area and checked out the cathedral and roman pillars. We then took a rest and sat at Plaza Catalunya. It was so nice. Then we went over to the Arc de Triumph and to park Ciutdella(sp?). At the park we saw the fountain and rowed in little boats. It was like a mini central Park.

We decided to hit up the beach next and just sat and talked and watched the waves come in. We then walked back grabbed a pizza for dinner. It was yummy.

While he was there we also took two day trips. We went to Monserrat and Tarragona. At monserrat we climbed the mountain and at Tarragona we went and saw the Roman Ruins. Each made for a really funny day, great sights, lots of laughs and time together we will remember forever!

In Monserrat we saw the boys chior sing and the black Madonna. We were not really sure what it was but this one lady kept telling us to go go go. The best part by far was climbing and hiking in the mountain. We went up so many stairs that are calves were killing us the next day...well mine more so i guess.

The trip to Tarragona was a blast too. We saw so many Roman Ruins and were both ewwing and awwing over it but by the end of the day were finished. It was really cool. We went to this chinese restraunt and had to wait 20 minutes for the woman to get off the phone with her friend for us to get our ticket and max got this really sick nasty dessert that he kept playing with and trying to eat. It was funny! We laughed so much.

We spent the last day in Barcelona. We ate at a really cool restaurant that had a buffet. The buffet was little boats that would float by with your food in them. It was really cool. They had some scary looking food and some really good stuff. At one point Max was like it was good i just dont want to know what i ate!

The week together was amazing but made for a horrible goodbye. I cried at the airport and wanted to leave with him....2 weeks and 5 days seems like its going to take forever! haha! But i know going back and being able to talk about our time in europe and laugh together will be amazing. Just seeing him my family and my little baby Brooklyn will be nice!

Adios from Barcelona

Differences between here and there: AND my agenda for my first day back!

Differences:

-The metric system
-no fast food
-temperature measured in Celsius
-the toilet...to flush you pull from the ceilling
-the coffee here is to die for!
-you get to walk more and it's great exercise
-cellphones cost a lot more

Agenda:

In the airport at Phili...eat Chickfila for dinner! YUMMY! Talk on my American cellphone and send text messages! Fly back to Dallas. See my fam and boyfriend. Get lots of hugs and kiss from the man I love. See my little dog! Awww...I miss her. Drive ASAP to Taco Bell...cheesy gordita crunch to go! Look at all the road signs in English and admire that everyone speaks English! Go home take a looooonnnnngggg hot SHOWER! O how i have missed this. Put some sweats on that came out of the dryer and smell fresh and clean. Watch TV in English with my fam after renting a movie from Red Box and maybe day two a Walmart or Target run just because I forgot what they looked like! haha!

Then show pics of Spain and think bout my amazing host family and friends! O spain...

National Park Weekend!

This weekend was basically a "get all of my work finished so I can hang out with Max next week." On friday I went and purchased a few more presents for people back home. I found some great stuff. I am excited for Christmas and being able to give everyone their awesome gifts! Then Saturday I woke up early and went with Alfonso and David to a National Park to look at some places to film the short film they are working on. It was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect, the fresh air was amazing, it was nice to see nature and the view was spectacular. The day went by so fast. We left around 11 picked up David...grabbed food and headed out. It was about an 1hr and 1/2 from Barcelona. When we arrived we had a hard time finding the location we were looking for. We took these gravel roads and Alfonso's car got sooo dirty. It would have been the best place to have a jeep but with the way they drive in Europe i'm scared they would flip it. We found some great places and had lunch at one of the sights. Then headed back and I worked on more work and made guac for the host fam, which was a huge hit! Well today is another work day because the man leaves to come to Barcelona in 5 days!!! thats crazy and i realized out of the 4 weekends i have left here two will be spent with him...well at least for part of them!

Adios from Espana!

FC Barca Game!!!

On Tuesday night we went to the FC Barcelona game. It was a lot of fun. The stadium was not very crowded because Barca was expected to win and the game was on the TV. It was still really neat to see what Soccer in Europe is all about. The "wave" like in the United States still happened and the Spanish people still had cheers like we do. It was crazy. It made me miss college football games. At the beginning of the game everyone stood and took their hats off for the national anthem. I was so confused and for one second thought i was about to hear the US national anthem. They ended up winning 5-0 and I got to see Messi play, which was exciting. I also rode on the back of Alfonso's vespa to the game and carried my helmat around with me. I felt like a true European...a futbol game...a vespa ride and carrying my helmet!


Adios para Espana!

LAZY WEEKEND and yummy tiramisu!

This weekend was pretty lazy. Friday I went shopping all day...well more like window shopping..haha! I found some great presents for people at home so that was fun! I'm excited to get back and give them as Christmas Presents! HOORAY! I love giving cool gifts to people and seeing their faces when they open them! Friday night I hung out with a lot of friends and had a fun time..well interesting would describe it better! haha!

Saturday and Sunday were pretty chilly so I ended up just hanging out at home and chilling with the fam! It was fun. My host bro was in a crazy mood and kept making us all laugh. He was very entertaining! He also decided to cook a giant feast for lunch which included Spanish tortilla, pasta and tiramisu! It was amazing!

We have all been being lazy and eating and laying around today. It is so cold outside. Sometimes you have to have weekends like this. This week is pretty busy for me at school next week too. I have lots of meetings (3), projects (2), homework and have to go to the ISA office to turn in a paper for OSU. CRAZY!

Adios para Espana!

Facing Obstacles

It is strange coming to the last six weeks of my study abroad experience. As I look back at the last 7 weeks I realize how much I have grown and how many obstacles I have had to overcome...from the language barrier with my host family and the new culture, which is very different from America.

It has been such an experience. On one hand I look forward to returning to the Estados Unidos (US of A) and on the other it will be sad leaving everything I have grown to know and understand as life. I am so thankful to have been born and raised in America. It is crazy to see what my life could have been like if not. Not that it is bad but you begin to miss the everyday things...the happiness most Americans have and the smiles they greet you with on the street, the freedom that reigns and how easy it is to do anything.

This last part of my trip I have really been encouraged to press into God. I am so thankful He has given me this experience abroad and so thankful He has provided me to look at the unknown and have a "conquer it" attitude.

some verses i read today that were really awesome were...

"But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere- in Jerusalem, through out Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
-Acts 1:8
"So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
- Romans 16:14

I know this experience has been a blessing from God but being excited about going back to familiar lands (literally) I don't want to miss what He has left for me the last couple of weeks. He has stretched me, molded me, pushed me and is doing something in my life this semester. And it seems that I have forgotten He is right next to me the whole time! Wow He is awesome!

STRETCH ME....MOLD ME....SHOW ME SOMETHING NEW EACH DAY!

This Past Weekend...

Park Guell
Host Bro
The Movie!


This was the last weekend of October and First weekend of November. It started out is just a regular weekend in Spain but turned out to be quite eventful. Friday afternoon I went and met up with the ISA group for a tour of the Picasso Museum. It was really awesome and amazing to see how much talent Picasso has at the age of 8! Marcela and I then walked around the Gothic area, ate some dinner and went to see a movie in English. We were so excited and thought it would be like home. We bought tickets, went to the grocery store and got snacks to bring in in our purses and headed back. We also grabbed some popcorn. The popcorn was way sick...the movie had assigned seats and the movie was just plain stupid. We ended up leaving early. It was so funny though and definitely made us ready to be back to the states for a movie.

I headed home all smiles and got home to a broken mic, which meant no skype date with the boy. Marcela being amazing said i could come and get hers and since it was only 11:15, which is way early in Spain i thought it sounded like a great idea. Little did i know i would almost be mugged and have to run to get away. It was pretty scary. Glad God was watching over me because there is no way i could have made it away by myself.

Saturday i slept in and we went shopping for a new mic and family souvenirs. I found some great stuff. Came home and got ready to go to Park Guell with Alfonso, David and Marcela. I decided to dress Euro and wore shorts with tights underneath and sneakers. It was quite exciting. The park was really pretty at night. The night ended with going out for Halloween and meeting up with some of my friends from my spanish class. We had a blast and laughed quite a bit.

Sunday was a lazy day of catching up on everything I needed to get done and realizing that I have two more weekends before my boyfriend gets here. Well this week is a pretty lazy week at school but I realized I need to get on the ball since we do not have alot of grades left and since there are only 6 weeks until I am back in the U.S of A!!! THATS CRAZY!

Adios para Espana