reverse culture shock

So I'm back.  Sadly.  I feel like the past 4 months have been a dream.  It feels like they never happened.  But in reality, the past 4 months have been the best 4 months of my life.  I traveled all over Europe, met tons and tons of amazing people, and learned to be a madrileña.  Nothing can ever replace that experience. But now it's on to reverse culture shock.

All day Thursday (starting Wednesday night actually), the tears kept rolling.  I was a never-ending waterfall.  I was exhausted, physically and emotionally.  But now that I don't have any tears left in my body, I'm much better.  Learning to be back in American culture is such a strange sensation.

• I keep reaching for the horizontal door handles but they're knobs...
• Toilets here have side flushers, not the button on the top
• The light switch flips the opposite way
• I FINALLY have hot water in my shower and sink!!
• My room is hugeeee and my closet is HUGE...like so many clothes
• I had to relearn how to drive...almost crashed, whoops
• I don't have to climb 3 flights of stairs to my house
• My bed here is literally a princess bed
• I miss ham

It's going to take a while to get back into the swing of things (and back on to this time zone!).  I really really miss Spain and can't wait to go back.  America has its pros, but I miss tapas and sangria. I also am terrified to lose my Spanish.

I miss all my friends terribly (ope, tearing up) and wish they were closer to me. Can't wait for a reunion in the future!!

casi el fin

so im sitting at SLU, just finished my second final. The first two went well, I think I'll survive.  Not too sure if i'll live through my last one on wednesday.  today is monday, i leave thursday. WHAAAT?! i'm literally so so so sad, i can't even describe.  i'm trying to live it up during my last couple days here in spain....but it's hard to do when it's raining and i have to study for finals.  and today it's finally nice out but a) i had a final and b) our window is broken in our room so it won't open. so basically im going to sit in my stuffy room looking outside at the nice weather and be taunted. not fair.

also two new girls came to live in our house yesterday who are in madrid for 2 weeks.  sadly, they're really nice and cool and i really like them.  too bad we only have 4 days with them. they go to school in south carolina and hopefully i'll get to know them a little during the little time we have with them.

on saturday, sol and josé decided to take the 4 of us to a small town called Chinchón, about an hour south of madrid.  it was actually a really fun day.  we weren't gone for too long.  and sol brought Luna (our dog) too!  We danced to the radio the whole way down, and drove through the middle of nowhere.  and then we got to this tiny little old town that was adorable.  we got desserts called palmeras de chocolate and  walked into the famous plaza.  there were donkeys that you could ride around on.  it's a medieval town so everything was sooo old. then we went to this bakery that makes custom breads that you can get like your name on it...or they made a real madrid logo one. so cool.  then we just walked around.  we also drove through this pretty town called arajuez that was nearby and had a really pretty plaza too.  it was so nice of sol and josé to bring us there and take time out of their day!

okay, now back to crying and being depressed about leaving

tapas y sangria y cervezas, oh my

last night my art history professor, Curra, the best woman in the entire world, took some of my class and her other class (6 people showed up, out of 26) and took us out behind plaza mayor for tapas!  And she paid for everything! Such a nice nice woman.

First we went to get bocadillos de calamares (fried calamari sandwiches), which are very typical of spain. We had those and beer, they were good.  Then we walked around and sat down in a tapas restaurant and she ordered everything.  We got (and I ate everything, be proud!), tortilla española (egg and potato tortilla), morcillas (blood sausage), chistorra de navarra (fried chorizo sausage), pimientos de padrón (roasted green peppers), croquetas, y pulpo (octopus).  Yeah, I ate octopus.  Then we walked to this bar where they have beer from all over the world and I got a cherry Belgian beer.  Literally best night ever and I will seriously miss Curra.

brits on brits on brits

And last weekend Carissa, Ariel, and I went to Lisbon, Portugal!  This was seriously one of my favorite places in Europe.  I NEED to go back. It is such a beautiful place!!! Well first, our flight there was delayed an hour because of a strike at the Lisbon airport- what is going on with Europe?!

Our hostel was AMAZING. It was only 16€ a night, which is super super cheap, and it was on the second floor of a train station, which was pretty cool.  It looked like a jungle inside, with plants hanging everywhere, fake grass on the floor with hammocks and bean bags everywhere, star lights hanging from the ceiling.  It was awesome.  So then we asked where we could get a typical Portuguese lunch and the girl at the desk suggested we go to a place called Super Mario's.  That's number 1: Super Mario's. So we walked there and when we walked in, the place was long tables full of working-class men.  No women.  Dirty faces, paint on their clothes, you get the jist.  They ALL turn around and look at us like we were aliens.  So we sit down and the guy working there (Super Mario, I'm guessing...and a very sweaty one at that) gave us a menu, which was all in Portuguese.  I expected Portuguese to be similar to Spanish, but it's not at all.  There were pictures of meals so we pointed to them and he brought them to us.  To this day I still have no idea what we ate.  Such an experience.  

So then for dinner that night, our hostel said they had a pizza dinner.  At least I'd like to know what I'm eating.  But it was so far above and beyond what I expected.  I expected them to get a pizza in a box, etc. But we walked over to their kitchen and there was a woman who was cooking all day, and a long table with tablecloth, silverware, etc. Super nice.  Then the 3 of us sat down with two people who worked there (Bobby from Manchester and Maggie from NY) and a german girl.  We were served homemade lemonade, really good soup, homemade garlic bread, and the pizza.  Now wait, let me get to the pizza.  She served us a slice of like 5 different homemade pizzas...pineapple and mint, tomato and basil, spinach and goat cheese, shrimp something, and some meat one.  UNREAL.  They were SO SO good and I was STUFFED...and then she brought out dessert.  A pizza pie with chocolate and fresh strawberries.  Best 8€ I've ever spent.

That night we went on a bar crawl with our hostel (same people, plus one woman) and went to this section called Barrio Alto.  The drinks there are super cheap and the bars are tiny rooms with just a bar to buy drinks...you're expected to stand outside in the narrow streets and drink.  It was awesome.  On the way, we met this whole British rugby team and we met up with them later at our last bar.  They were HILARIOUS.  They were a club team in Lisbon for a tournament and all the first-timers had garden gnomes that they had to carry around and not break, so funny.  And all night I tried to talk in a British accent and they made fun of me. I met this one cute Jewish guy (Jewish!!) who is a sports reporter...literally my husband.  So sad I probably won't see him again.  

                            

The next day we went on a tour (We Hate Tourism Tours) which was so great.  Anyone going to Lisbon needs to do this tour!  We drove all around in this little van with a great driver (Marcos), and a lesbian couple from London who were really cool, and an older Indian couple from England, who were so so nice.  First we drove to Sintra, which is this amazing place. Sintra is a Unesco World Heritage site and it has a fairy-tale setting.  We first stopped and got queijadas, this amazingggg pastry with cinnamon and nutmeg and cheese it it. We walked around this jungly area eating them.  

Next we went to Quinta da Regaleira, the place where I'm getting married.  The most beautiful, romantic places I've ever been.  It's this estate with this huge garden on a hill.  There are underground tunnels and rivers (with stones that you can walk across), and towers, etc.  So many plants and flowers. The best way to get to know the place is to walk around and get lost.  It was amazing. 

After Quinta da Regaleira, we stopped for lunch where we got wine, cheese, and chorizo sandwiches from this little food truck.  SO GOOD. I want more.  We also walked through a farmer's market, where the vegetables were literally on steroids.  HUGE garlic, lettuce, oranges, etc. 

Then we drove to Cabo Da Roca, where the Europeans thought it was the end of the world.  It's the most western point of Europe (the closest I've been to home in 4 months!). Also one of the most gorgeous places ever. There were mountains and flowers everywhere and endless ocean.  So pretty, I can't get over it.

this isn't there, but the picture won't move!

Then we went to Guincho Beach...there were surfers everywhere.  And I almost got swept away by a wave...just kidding, but my sneakers got soaked from a surprise wave attack. 

We drove through a town called Cascais, a beach town where the wealthy people live.  But there was a golf course (Dad, we can go on vacation here!!) and beautiful houses.  We stopped at this gelato place called Santini's (really famous, supposedly) and I got vanilla and cinnamon gelato. Unreal. This town is so cute and pretty!

                                    

Then we sat in Belém and got a Pastel de Belém, filled with cream.  Unbelievable.  

 This was literally the best trip ever.  I love Portugal, and I hear that the islands are even better.  Kay I'm going back...done and done.

la familia

sorry i havent written in so long!  SUPER busy.  First my parents were here, then I was in Lisbon, then I had a project to work on, and now I finally have time to sit. So first thing's first. My parents came last week to visit! And Molly!

It was so great to see them. And it was nice to take cabs for a week!  I showed them all around Madrid, even if my mom wouldn't try any of the food.  And that weekend we went to Barcelona.  I love that city.  It's so artsy and modern.  There were tons of tourists there (start of tourist season) but that's okay.  We did the usual: la sagrada familia, casa batlló, park güell, picasso museum. we also went to this market on las ramblas, which was awesome.

all in all, im super glad they came, but i'll see them in 2 weeks!

feliz cumpleaños marcos!!

ps. today was Marcos' 9th birthday (my host brother)! We had cake and sang to him after dinner...and he was hilarious about wanting to cut the cake and screaming and flinging the knife everywhere, and lighting all the candles again and playing with fire. He's 9.

and Sol hypnotized us last night at dinner to do our homework and do well in school...let's see if it works.

and my family (minus jake sad) is coming thursday!! yayyyy right in time for all my work to be due..wooooooo

WARNING

WARNING WARNING

the next 5 posts go backwards!! So scroll down and start with Florence and then read up!!!!

too much to do, too little time: paris

5 of 5

Thursday we drove to Paris, and that night we saw the Hunger Games! Then we went to a couple bars in the Moulin Rouge district, which was a cool area.

Friday morning we went to the Lourve at 8:30am, when it opened at 9. And the line was already long! So we rannnn through the Lourve and saw the major sights in like an hour. It is the BIGGEST art museum I've ever seen. It goes on and on and on. Said hi to Mona and left. Then we did a walking tour of Paris, which was only okay. We didn't really go to any big sites. Then we walked through Champs Elysee to get to the Arc du Triomphe. We took the metro to the eiffel tower and took a couple pictures (got a crepe on the way). Then got on the metro again and went to Notre Dame, but the line was INSANE, like hundreds of people. So we snapped a couple pics and walked down the street to Sainte Chapelle. This was the number one thing that I wanted to do because it's a gorgeous chapel that I've loved forever and always have wanted to go to, so we got on line and OBVIOUSLY they cut off the line right in front of the people in front of us. like we were the second group to be cut off. great. that sucked. so i was upset. but whatever, guess I have to go back!

we went to Sacre Coeur where we sat on the steps and saw a gorgeous view of Paris and watched the sunset with wine and baguettes. Of course I said a prayer over them for Passover! That area has some cute restaurants so we went in one and I had GREAT french onion soup and a girl we were with had escargot.

Saturday (the last day) we went to Versailles, which was HUGE and gorgeous. There were a lot of people there, so we rented bikes and rode around and saw the sheep and Marie Antoinette's cottage. It was so pretty.

Then we flew home that night!

Anyways, I'm SUPER SUPER exhausted, and now sick. Paris was by far my least favorite, but the other three were unreal. Paris was just too much to do and too little time. How do you do Paris in 2 days, with the crowds of Easter weekend? Impossible. I loved this trip, and I could have never done it myself. It was all the cities I wanted to go to, but didn't have the time for. Now time for some sleep!!

If it ain't much, it ain't dutch: amsterdam

4 of 5

on tuesday we arrived to Amsterdam, which was such an amazing city! They're all about sex and drugs and peace, and anti violence (opposite of America). We did a walking tour of Amsterdam, where we got to try Gouda cheese and see the red light district, and sit by canals. Then we went to the Anne Franke House, which was so moving. You actually got to stand in the rooms where they stayed, and the museum was so well put together.

We then tried to find the Iamsterdam sign, and we first found the wrong one and had to take a boat over to it. It was nice cause no one was there. But there are 3 of the signs in Amsterdam and so we found all three!

Then we took a tour of the Red Light District, which was super interesting. I thought that it was just one street with a couple girls, but little did I know that it was blocks and blocks full of girls in windows with different types of girls. It was craaaazy.

The next day (wednesday) we took the tram to the Van Gogh Museum, which was awesome. And then we went to the REAL Iamsterdam sign. We were first in line for the Bols Museum (Bols is genever and liquer, all different flavored alcohol) and went through this really cool experience where you learn about taste and smell (you smell all the different flavors and guess what they are)...and then you make a custom drink based on your preferences. It was so cool.

Then we went to the Heineken experience, which was cool. There was this video where you stand on this platform that moves and it is like you're being turned into beer and bubbles come from the ceiling and it's so cool. We went to this pancake house called Carousel after that and it's built around a carousel and i got a bacon and apple pancake YUM YUM.

That's pretty much it for Amsterdam, it was pretty chill. I love love love the city, it's so cool that it's built all around canals and it's such a laid-back, liberal city. I DEFINITELY want to go back and I think everyone needs to go!!

the street art of berlin

3 of 5

So after Prague, on Sunday we drove to Berlin. Berlin is amazing. I had no idea what to expect, but it's literally an artist's (my) paradise. If only it weren't in Germany...

Anyways, we got there and went to the Jewish Museum (yet AGAIN being a jew!). It actually was really really cool. It was more of a history of Jews instead of just focusing on the Holocaust, so it was a new perspective. It also was a very interactive museum, which was interesting, too. The building is like zig-zagged and super big. There was this room you walk in where there are bronze faces that you walk on called the memory room. You walk on them and they make loud noises and it's like you're walking on the dead people. It was so creepy, I had to leave. And then there's this Holocaust Tower that was so moving. You stand in this room that's pitch black and really cold, and there's a tiny opening at the top of it that lets in the only light. And there's a ladder but you can't reach the bottom of it. And this woman closes the door, and you're not sure if it's locked or not. Super creepy, but really effective. I also ran into some girls from my sorority there! Small world.

It was freezing and windy, so after the museum, we went and got AMAZING burritos near our hostel. It made me miss Anna's Taqueria and Tango Mango!! We went on a bar crawl that night, but I was so tired that it kind of sucked.

Monday we did the walking tour of Berlin, where we had a really cool guide. I learned so much about the history of Berlin and the Berlin wall. We saw the Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and Museums Island, plus more. We also stood where Hitler committed suicide, which was really creepy. I just couldn't imagine that we were standing right there. Right before that we walked through the Holocaust memorial there, which was so abstract but so moving. It reminded me of the buildings they lived in at the concentration camps, or graves, or how there was so much below the surface (because it looks flat, but the middle goes down so the blocks are towering above your head).

Right after that we did an alternative tour of the street art and artists of Berlin, which was the best tour I've ever taken in my life. We walked all around and learned about the techniques of street art and the street artists of Berlin. We also went to this house called Tacheles, which is a building covered in graffiti where artists live and have studios and sell their work. It's about to be taken over by the government because they don't have any money, so I could have been one of the last people in there. It's really sad because the artists built up the area and they don't have anywhere to go, so there's a big fight to save it. We then went to the East Side Gallery, which is part of the Berlin wall where they brought in artists to paint it, and it's so long and AMAZING. omg i loved it.

On the tour we also saw this house that this man built because he wanted to live somewhere but people wouldn't let him, so he built himself a house on a piece of land and now people visit it all the time. Such a cute story. Oh, and I ran into the girls from my sorority AGAIN!

We had burritos for dinner again..oops...and then got on the overnight bus to go to Amsterdam!!

berlin was such a surprise to me. I had no idea how cool of a city it is,...it's so underrated. I really want to go back and learn more about the street art and artists of Berlin!

mm mm prague

2 of 5

So after I met up with Kathy, we got on a bus for 13 hours to Prague. There were like 14 of us on the bus (41 on the trip total), but we didn't know about the option of flying straight to Prague. Good one becca. I definitely could NOT sleep on the bus. There is no comfortable position of lying down on a coach bus. I woke up like every hour. Also, our trip was full of Boston people, it was crazy! There was Needham (me, duh), Concord, Littleton, Framingham, Lexington, and Franklin. MA represent. At our rest stop on the way there, a couple of girls and I made a realization that if anyone from outside of MA knew one town in Mass, it would be Newton. Just everyone in the world knows of Newton. Craziness.

So we get to Prague after 13 hours of on and off sleep and our leader tells us that we have 10 minutes to get ready. Not cool. So then we went on our 3 hour walking tour. There were a couple characters on our trip. First of all, this youtube celebrity, Dom Mazzetti was on our trip, who was being paid to be there. Work? And this kid who literally is an alcoholic who carried a bottle of alcohol in a paper bag with him at all times. So great start. Our tour guide in Prague was this crazy man who was hyperactive and super strange. He looked like a leprechaun and called himself the Swedish ninja and leaped everywhere and fought people with waterbottles as swords. Dude, this guy was not okay. He also made really awkward jokes that weren't funny and like hugged people and made them uncomfortable. I'd say it might have been the most uncomfortable 3 hours of my life. We walked through the Old Town, the New Town, and the Jewish Quarter. After the tour we went to the Jewish Museum (look mom! i'm jewish!), which was really really interesting. The walls had every person's name who died from the Holocaust from Prague, including which area they lived in. The museum also had a room of drawings that children did during the Holocaust and this woman saved them all and hid them. It was amazing to see the Holocaust from the perspective of a child. Behind the museum was the jewish cemetery. There were piles and piles of gravestones packed on top of each other. And the cemetery was 11 rows deep of people because they didn't have a lot of room so they built on top of it. So sad.

Then we went to the center of the Old Town and went to the market and got a Czech sausage and this spiral pastry called a Trdelnik. The whole center was full of easter decorations because of the week and there were handmade easter eggs everywhere that were beautifullllly decorated. Then we went and climbed to the top of the clock tower and saw an amazing view from the top. At the top of every hour, the clock comes to life and little figures start moving and a man plays a trumpet from the top.

We took the metro home and went up the longest escalator in Europe...the things we see. On the way home, we happened to get on the prague news from a window (like the today show) and a little girl followed us for a couple blocks (scary cause we thought she was going to pickpocket us). We stayed in a really nice hostel with great showers. That night we went on a REALLY fun pub crawl and met up with my friend Emily from WashU who is also living in Madrid. One of the bars had like random ruins in it...what's going on in Prague?

The next day (Saturday) we went to the Prague Castle, so so cool. It was a whole little town and the cathedral there was GORGEOUS. The most amazing stained glass I've ever seen. Then we walked to the Lennon wall, which was also superrrrr cool. People are just allowed to do whatever they want to do to it, so people spray painted on it and wrote on it. My name is on it! We then walked over the Charles Bridge. We had lunch with our tour group at this Czech restaurant where two men played the accordion and tuba while we ate. I had a typical Czech lunch: beer, vegetable soup, goulash, and apple strudel. I felt like such a native. It actually was pretty good too.

After lunch I met up with Pavla (my old au pair from when I was 5), her daughter Christina, her boyfriend, and her sister Petra. So crazy to see them after so long and they look exactly the same. It was so good to see them! Then we were in a rush for dinner so we went to this Chinese restaurant right next to our hostel, which was the funniest place I've ever been to. The woman didn't speak english and we had to correspond pictures of the food to a menu with numbers on it. They had items like chicken with strange taste, chicken with mysterious taste, and eight treasures with spicy sauce)...ummmm? I had no idea what I was ordering. And Kathy, trying to communicate with this woman, thanked her with a bow...and wild hand motions. It was so hilarious, but the food was actually okay.

that night we went to an 80s and 90s club where they showed they music videos on a huge screen. it was all older people, but it was fun to listen to older music for a change.

Overall I love love Prague and want to go back ASAP.

SpRiNg BrEaKkKkkk 2012: Firenze

1 of 5

so this is where you START. i'm separating my 5 cities on spring break into 5 posts so it's easier to read, but it's backwards because it's in chronological order. so deal with it.

here we gooooo:

so the past 12 days was SPRING BREAK YEAH BABY!!! But it was the most tiring 12 days of my life. honestly. i'm dead and sick. first stop was Florence. Wednesday morning I flew through Barcelona (the biggest and cleanest and nicest airport ever) to Florence. This is the tiniest, oldest airport ever. I stumbled around with some other confused Americans to the bus and hopped on. I got to know some Italian people real well, up close and personal. Finally when I arrived to the Santa Maria Novella train station, I walked outside and it was 75 and sunny. And I was in a sweater and a scarf and boots. great. so now I'm sweating like crazy and waiting for my friend to come pick me up. Thank god she found me because I was going to get a heat rash.

I stayed with the sophomore art school washu students (mostly pi phi). We put my stuff in their apartment and then I followed Julie around while she did her errands. I also walked by Rachel's apartment from when she studied abroad! When everyone got out of class, we cooked dinner. Yes, cooked. Pesto pasta and spinach and herb chicken and red wine. Homemade pasta. Unreal. Then we went out that night to a club called 21. I ran into a boy from my Musiker trip to Spain! Small world.

Thursday, the girls had class again so I waited until they had their lunch break and we got paninis and sat outside the church and ate on the steps. When they went back to class, I walked around alone taking pictures. I had already been there so it felt very repetitive so I did a quick sweep of florence. Then I wandered through the market and found a bag I loved, and desperately needed of course, and bargained with the man. We then all had dinner at a pizza restaurant and I went to the bus station to meet up with Kathy for the bus trip. Sarah and Sofia came with me and it felt like they were my parents bringing me to camp.

Going to Florence again made me realize that I could not study abroad there or live there. I like living in a big city like Madrid, and Florence is just too small for me. Also, walking around, I realized that there are SO SO many Americans there. Students and tourists everywhere. I like living in Madrid where there are people who don't know a word of English and I have to speak Spanish in order to survive. Usually I don't see other American students unless I'm at a bar or club. So being in Florence definitely reassured my decision to come here!!

romantic weekend with danielle

This weekend, I had a class trip to Granada and Córdoba in the south of Spain. Basically our entire class ignored me and Danielle, and therefore we had a romantic weekend together.

We had a 8 hour bus ride down to Granada from Madrid and when we got there, Danielle and I had lunch at a cafe. Then we had this long long tour of La Capilla Real (the royal chapel), which was kinda boring. Our tour guide spoke half in spanish and half in english and when she spoke in english, she exaggerated the last syllable of every word, which got really really annoying. Then we watched the disney channel in spanish in our room while we "got ready" and we hopped on the bus. They brought us to a restaurant where Danielle thought that "piscina" meant fish and she doesn't like fish...but piscina means pool...BUT we had fish so she was actually correct. We had a 4 course meal with a bottle of wine (thanks SLU!) including some salad with a shrimp on it with eyes staring at me, mystery meat, mystery fish, and ice cream. Then we went to a flamenco show, which was really really cool. The dancing is incredible and it's really emotional. The dancers can move their feet so fast and they get SO into it.

Saturday we went to La Alhambra, a city on top of a hill, and walked around for hours. It was raining, which kind of sucked, but it was cool to see a place that I've studied in art history this semester. The Muslim influence in the architecture is really cool to see there. Then we had lunch, where I swear the cook took a microwavable pizza and stuck it in the microwave for a couple minutes and served it to me. We had a two hour bus ride to Córdoba, where we drove around in circles for so so long. But really. We had free time for the rest of the day (5pm on...great) with no knowledge of the area at all. So we walked in a general direction and followed the people...and thank the lord found some restaurants. And by we, I mean me and Danielle again...because our class hates us and chose not to be nice to us. That's okay...we had a nice romantic weekend. Anywaysssss...we had dinner outside in this shopping area and had free tapas with a beer. And ice cream. Oops. Then we watched Jimmy Fallon, a documentary of marijuana, and a reenactment of the killing of Bin laden in our room because that's the only english channel there was...well the Bin Laden show was in German.

Sunday we got up super duper early and had a tour of la catedral de córdoba (which is actually a mosque) with a tour guide that only spoke spanish. That was really really cool...the architecture is amazing. And we walked to the baths of cordoba...which was underground and dark and old. It's where the men bathed in cold, lukewarm, and hot rooms. Interesting. Then we had two hours for lunch...and we had lunch outside next to some orange trees. Yum. Finally we went back home (6 hour drive).

Granada and Córdoba were really cool cities, and I'm glad I went but I probably won't go back. The people on our trip weren't so great...whatever. Thank god Danielle was there.

Orange trees!

Catedral de Córdoba

the decorations in La Alhambra were amazing

Palacio de Comares...La Alhambra

Flamenco show!!

mona lisa smile

so today in my art history class, we were talking about velázquez and his self-portrait. he painted himself in one of his paintings, La Rendición de Breda, and our teacher told us about how they had another painting by him and they thought it was just of a random man, but once they actually cleaned it well, they compared it to the Breda painting and it was actually a self-portrait, therefore making the painting increase substantially in value. I thought this was so cool because for years people walked by it, thinking it was nothing, until one day they cleaned it and it was so much more.

This is exactly like the Mona Lisa painting in the Prado here! You can read the story here but basically they had a regular painting up in the Prado for years, until they actually cleaned it recently and realized that it was a painting of the Mona Lisa, but done at the same time as Leonardo da Vinci. It shows that one of da Vinci's pupils must have painted it but someone in the 18th century painted the background black because that's what was in style at the time. No one knew what was underneath until now! It was really cool to see it at the Prado (twice!) and I was really excited to show my family when they came, but they just moved it this past week to the Louvre in Paris to compare them side by side (where the real Mona Lisa is). So now I'm really upset because I can't show them! But just wanted to share a little art history with you!

I FORGOT THE BEST PART

oh my god I forgot the best part. Well, the worst part. On the plane home, I was EXHAUSTED to the max, trying to sleep. And this smelly older Spanish man sits next to me and his friend is sitting in front of him. They have another friend who's a woman somewhere else on the plane. basically this trio decides to have a little get-together the whole ride home. Like the man in front is on his knees turned around on the seat talking over the back of his seat and the woman is standing in the aisle. for two and a half hours. they bring out beer and crackers like it's a little party and i wasn't invited. all I was trying to do is sleep and they're having a party. really?

bad boys go to brussels

Sit down and take 10 minutes out of your day. This is going to be a long one. This weekend I traveled to Belgium to see a concert called Sensation. Let me tell you, it was quite the experience. We basically were dropped off in a random country where they speak Dutch and French (neither of which I have any idea how to speak) with no instructions of how to do anything and we had to figure everything out on our own. Everything. And the whole weekend we were surrounded by American students because everyone was going to the concert.

Basically I get off the plane on Friday (6am flight mind you) and YOU CAN'T SEE A THING. I have never seen fog like this. Like you couldn't see the other planes at the airport, or the person in front of you. It was CRAZY. And I was so tired on the plane, like delirious, so my crazy brain decides to ask who Ryan of Ryanair was. I still haven't gotten an answer.

So then we have to take a 45 minute bus shuttle from the airport to Brussels, which was fine. But we were dropped off on the side of the road at this train station. We walked around it for a while, but there were only platforms for the trains and then we walked down this corridor and found the main train station. We had to buy tickets to Hasselt (where the concert was), which was confusing. We had to ask the Information desk twice for help. But thank god a young cute boy was working there, with whom we decided to flirt with for a while and create a line behind us of angry travelers (his name is Tom and he's our best friend). Then we had to find the metro (Tom directed us). We bought tickets and asked the man selling them how we get to our station because we didn't know which line to take, and he basically responded to us in Arabic or Dutch or whatever foreign language he spoke and we were so so confused. Thank god the man behind us put up three fingers at us, so we figured we had to take the #3 line (which was right).

So we took the metro and got off at our stop and then had to walk to our hostel. We went to check in (it was 11am) and they told us that we couldn't check in until 4pm (even though on our reservation it said we could check in at 11am) sooo Carissa and Ariel (Katie met us there later) put their stuff in a luggage storage room they had, but I was too scared that someone would steal my stuff so I took my backpack with me. We had 5 hours to waste so we wandered around, had lunch in this CUTE sandwich place where the woman owner was SO SO nice to us. We sat for a while and then walked to this center called Grand Place in Brussels' old town, which is the cutest, prettiest thing ever. It was a square and the buildings on the 4 sides were all gorgeous. Gorgeous Baroque church and baroque buildings. YUM. And since we were in Belgium, we HAD to get belgian waffles!! So we went to a waffle store and got our first of our three waffles of the weekend. Fresh whipped cream and strawberries on a belgian waffle. UM HEAVEN.

And look! They had so so many options of toppings! We took them and sat on the ground in the middle of the square and stuffed our faces and talked about pidgeons (don't ask- they were crazy).

So at 3 we were exhausted and bored and went back to the hostel to hang out until we could check in. But when we got there, they said we weren't allowed in because they were closed form 1-4. OH THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW. Soooo since we were locked out of our own hostel, we walked the opposite way from the square (cause it was a 15 minute walk) and found an industrial park and sat on benches. Well, I sat on a bench on the lookout while Ariel and Carissa napped on them and a homeless man sat nearby screaming for the entire hour. Finally at 4pm we went to the hostel and checked in. Okay. I know we were staying in a cheap youth hostel for only 30€ a night, but listen to this. The room was tiny with only 2 bunk beds in it and a sink. The bathrooms were broken so only one was open (which was co-ed and in a basement...we were on the 3rd floor). We got paper-quality sheets (a fitted sheet, a pillowcase, and a cover to put around a down blanket). Ariel's had stains on hers. We looked like we were staying in a jail. Oh well, it was only one night...we'll survive. My mother would have walked in there, turned right around, and demanded that we stay somewhere else. Well, anyways, we napped, Katie (our 4th friend) showed up, and we went out for dinner. We ate in that square outside and had pizza and cherry beer. yum yum. Our waiter was a crazy crazy man and when he gave Ariel and Katie their wine, he said, "Tomorrow morning. Goodbye" hahahha as in a hangover. We were dying. And for dessert, duh, we got waffles (2 of 3).

Saturday we woke up and had to check out by 11am. We went to the square, yet again, and what was breakfast? can you guess? hmmm...waffles! (3 of 3). People, I'm telling you. You wouldn't normally think that Belgium is a touristy place or anything like that, but everyone needs to take a trip to Brussels for these waffles. They're unreal. And Belgium produces over 1100 varieties of beer. And chocolate stores there are like McDonalds in America or like Dunkin Donuts in Boston. They're on every corner. People need to take a trip there. And the city is a cool mix of modern and old architecture.

Anyways, we had breakfast, and then went on the metro to the train station. Asked the information desk again where to go, and got on the train. Got off the train in Hasselt in the middle of nowhere. We had lunch at this random snack place, but everything on the menu was in dutch so we picked random things and hoped for the best. We ordered something called the Bicky Burger, which apparently is a brand in Belgium because there was Bicky flavored Lays chips and a Bicky stand at Sensation, but it was hilarious. Then we got a cab with this really nice driver named Hitom (like Hi Tom! or Hey Tom!) and we chatted the whole way to the hotel. This hotel was paradise compared to the hostel in Brussels. It was super nice and in the middle ofthe woods and overlooked this race car track where they were having a race. It was so cool so we watched for a while from our room.

We got ready and then went to Sensation!! It's actually called Sensation White because everyone wears all white, so that's what we wore! The ticket said that doors opened at 8pm and it started at 9 so we planned on getting there at 7:45 so get good spots. WELLL it was like 40 degrees out and we didn't bring coats so we were standing in tank tops. And we found out the doors opened at 9 and the concert started at 10...AFTER we got there. So we stood outside in the cold for 75 minutes and then stood inside for an hour. greaaat. While we were outside we met these funny German girls who were au pairs in America!! Small world.

Sensation was so fun...the music was great (I want to be Afrojack) and the arena was cool. There was a giant lotus flower thing in the middle and the DJ was went in a circle around it so everyone could see him. There were 6 different DJ's throughout the night. Then in the 4 corners there were littler lotuses that had water fountains and fireworks. These giant balls that lit up went up and down from the ceiling too. And the lights were awesome. There were people there from so many countries: Sweden, USA, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Egypt were just some of the people we met. The floor got SO dirty, our white shoes were like black when we left, so we just threw them out. RIP 9€ white boots. You can see more pictures from the night here on their website: http://sensation.com/world/en/photos/index/belgium.

I also met up with some WashU people there which was nice to see familiar faces!

Then today, we took a taxi, then train, got off at the wrong stop so we took the metro, then the bus, and a plane, and another metro to get home. When we went to find the bus, we had to walk alll around the train station to ask where to buy tickets when we eventually found out we could buy them from the bus driver after we had already been there...and then they stuffed us in a taxi with some other Americans to go to the airport. Stressful to say the least.

Anyways! I'm finally finally home after a long, stressful, fun weekend of transportation, house music, and waffles. I feel like I could be dropped off in any random country now and I could figure out what to do. I'm invincible.

P.S. sorry this is so long...it was such an experience this weekend I just had to get it all out!

p.s. I don't want to go to school tomorrow. kaybye.

military time

I went to sweden this weekend!! my lifelong dream that I've been talking about for years and years finally happened! I went and visited 5 of my old au pairs and it was so great. okay, let me give you the play-by-play:

I went friday, and Linda and her mom met me at the airport. We took a bus into Stockholm and it was so nice to catch up. Then we met Linda's cousin at the train station and found Anna. Linda went off with her cousin and Anna and I went and chatted in a coffee shop. It was definitely colder there than Madrid (where it was 70 degrees all weekend) but it wasn't too bad. Then Sabina, Sanna, Sanna's sister Sara, and Camilla all came and met us there! We were starving so we went near Camilla's place and got pizza. I got falafel pizza (jews represent) yummmm. Then we went "bar hopping without the alcohol" because we wanted to sit but couldn't find a place that wasn't too busy. 5 bars later, we found one and sat and just hung out, where we heard Sanna's long story about how she broke her pinky toe (don't ask...it's gross). Anna and I were staying with Camilla so we went back to her apartment, exhausted, and went through Camilla's photo album from when she was in Boston and just caught up.

Saturday we woke up and Sabina, Camilla, Anna, and I went to Fotografiska, a photography museum, which was UNREAL. Honestly, it was SO inspiring and I just want to be a famous black and white photographer. I am going to glue my camera to my side and just take pictures of everything. Go google these people: Anton Corbijn, Liu Bolin, Nick Brandt. And there was an exhibit about the LRA (the child soldiers in Africa), which was so ironic with all this Kony business going on. It was amazing, but so sad. These photographers are so freaking talented. Okay, enough ranting, I was just so inspired. Anyways, after that we walked around the Old City, which is so cute. The buildings are leaning and not up straight because Stockholm is built on a bunch of trash, which was cool. And we were walking around and ran into this sports bar that was totally Boston sports themed!! I went in a FREAKED OUT and the waiters and bar tender were like laughing at me. It made me miss home!

We had a Swedish lunch there and then walked past the government buildings and met up with Linda (Sanna was working). We went shopping and bought some fresh blueberries and raspberries and wine (yeeeee) and eventually went back home. We skyped with the fam and then had ice cream with the berries and some wine just to relax at home. So fun. Sanna and Sara came, and right before we went to dinner, Anna and the girls surprised me and gave me a plexiglass bracelet in the shape of Sweden to remember the weekend with. SO CUTE GIRLS. The nicest. So then we took a "bulle" (cab) to this Thai restaurant and it was so sick. All decked out like Thailand and sometimes the lights flickered and monsoon sounds played. Awesome. The pad thai was UNREAL guys. unreal. During dinner I chatted on the phone with Simon (Anna's boyfriend) where we established that I had an american accent and he had an australian accent, Andreas (Sabina's boyfriend), and Tobias (Sabina's brother who is my age and came and visited us in Boston yearrrrs ago). I convinced Tobias to come out with us and so after dinner we met up with him and his girlfriend Hanna at this club called Lobby. It was so funny because it was in the middle of a mall. Like in the lobby of the mall with a dj and bar. hilarious. But it was so so fun with the girls. Wasn't feeling so hot this morning. And now I'm home!

It was seriously a great weekend with lots of laughs and catching up. I felt like I was just hanging out with my friends. I'm so thankful that they all took time out of their busy schedules (and even flew/took the train to Stockholm) to see me! It was a great great weekend and hopefully it happens again soon!!

the sports bar! unreal.

Camilla, Sanna, me, Tobias, and Hanna

Camilla, me, Sanna, and Linda at the Thai restaurant

is this what a chino looks like?

today my photography class had a field trip to Calle Fuencarral, which is half a residential street, half commercial. We had to take a photo story...so a series of pictures that have a similar theme. I had no idea where to start so my friend Carla and I walked down the street and just took pictures of anything that caught our eye. Eventually I had four different themes going: graffiti, people window shopping, shoes, and this woman with a little dog who we met. so now I have a million pictures and don't know which direction to go with. It was really interesting because you had to be really gutsy going up to people and taking their pictures. I wish I could really fluently and confidently speak spanish (I mean, I can) and ask if I could take their picture. I was just too scared. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. My goal is by the end of the semester to ask a stranger to take their picture. We'll see what my final product looks like.

Sol told us that there are a couple of Chinos (little cheap stores owned by Chinese people) near us, and I really wanted to buy a fur vest (obviously fake) because that's what everyone wears here! Don't worry dad, I want a cheap one. So Carissa and I walked down this long street, but we've never been to a Chino before so every cheap-looking store we walked by, we said, "Is this what a Chino looks like? Is this it???" But eventually we got to one...no fur vests :( but i ended up walking out with a trench coat. oops.

Also, we had a surprise visitor at home tonight. One of Sol's girls who stayed with her last summer came and visited. She had dinner with us (but Sol wasn't even there) and hung out for a little. Her name is Danielle and she's visiting her friends in Madrid for her spring break. She's a senior at UCF. So yup...finished my homework, so off to editing these pictures and watching A Bug's Life!

velazquez and goya and el greco, oh my!

so this week I have three field trips. do i even go to college here? Today my art history class went to el museo del prado and walked around for 2.5 hours. let me tell you, my feet kind of hurt. it was great though because my class combined with my professor's other class (taught in english) and we just walked around the museum and talked about art. it was great. even though i know a lot about art history, i really did learn a lot. my teacher is amazing and she's so cute. we walked through the museum stopping at almost everything. by the end, the people who worked there were yelling at her because apparently the "explaining" hours ended so you weren't allowed to explain the paintings to groups anymore (?? i don't get spain)...but she said to every person who yelled at her "this is the last one, I swear" and then we'd move on to the next painting. such a bad ass. I love her. And she was complaining about the huge groups of Japanese tourists walking around hahahha. At the last painting, she told us that we have to do it again and after go to a tapas place in Plaza Mayor and get tapas and sangria together. how cute. i can't get enough of her. and she was on her way to go buy a painting for her birthday....and she complained about how her husband loves golf and how every one of his birthdays all he asks for is golf clubs and balls and clothes and she's bored of buying golf stuff...sound familiar??

anyways, it was a great visit and i had a lot of fun. tomorrow i have another field trip to a street called Fuencarral where my photography class is going to walk around and take pictures for a photo story. And then Thursday, my color theory class is going to the Thyssen museum to see the Chagall exhibit. Great great week.

wait..it's march already?

hullooo. not too much new lately. this past weekend my art school friends from WashU who are studying abroad in Florence came and visited! It's their spring break so they are traveling all around Spain (how perfect) and they came to Madrid for the weekend! It was really great to see familiar faces. Friday night we went to El Tigre for dinner (crammed, sweaty, good food). They went out and I stayed in and watched Up with Carissa (yep). Saturday, we met at 100 Montaditos (I don't know if I've mentioned this place yet, but it's heaven...I went 4x last week). Danielle and Carissa came and ate with us, but then they went home. We all walked through Plaza Mayor and then went to Parque Retiro. It was a little chilly, but we walked around and sat for a while on the grass. Then we went to Museo del Prado and split up because some girls wanted to go the Reina Sofia instead. It was so funny to walk around the Prado with people who have sat through the same art history class as me, so we all commented on the same paintings and laughed about our professor, Wallace.

That night, a couple of the girls came to a concert (but we only found two of them there), where we saw Crookers. They're two guys from Italy who dj, and are incredible. I'm so glad I was able to see them live. I stayed in Sunday to do homework, etc. so I didn't see them again, but I'll see them in 2 weeks in Belgium!

Today is Danielle's birthday..HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIELLEEEE!! We went to a mexican restaurant last night to celebrate...got there around 7:30, and found out that they don't open until 9pm. Great job, Spain. So we walked back home and waited around until 9. I had chicken enchiladas, which were sooo good.

In my communication class, we're talking about intercultural communication and thereby mostly comparing and contrasting American culture and Spanish culture. It's really made me realize how different the two cultures are; and there have been so many things that I've had to get used to. For example, I hadn't realized until I came here how rushed eating is in the states. You go to Starbucks and you only get a to-go cup, people eat on the go all the time, and the minute you finish eating in a restaurant, the waiter runs over and gives you the check. Here, Starbucks assumes you are going to drink your coffee there so you get a ceramic mug (you have to ask for a to-go cup), people stare at you if you eat on the street, and you need to ask the waiter multiple times for the check. And the mexican restaurant example too...you don't realize how late people eat here. Restaurants OPEN at 9pm...on a sunday! And it's rude to put your hands under the table when you're eating...but in America that's what you're taught to do.

also, it was around 70 degrees last week and I was legitimately sweating in a light sweater, but everyone else was still in heavy coats, scarves, and gloves. I don't get how they do it. So i asked my Señora and she said that the custom is that when it's winter, you dress like it's winter, no matter what the actual temperature is. how strange! In the states, if it's February 1 and 70 degrees out, you wear shorts and flip flops.

Also when we were talking about intercultural communication, my teacher discussed culture shock. He explained how it goes in a U shape, where you're excited about something, but then realize all the differences and get homesick (even physically sick!) and then come to accept it and start the U all over again. And I've realized that yes, I miss home and I DEFINITELY miss the food, but I really haven't had a hard time adjusting. I love this country, despite it's minor cons. It has been a lot of learning (and a lot of learning about life in America too! becoming much more aware of culture) but I couldn't imagine being physically sick due to culture shock. I'm trying to accept everything as it is and live as much as a Spanish lifestyle as I can. I can't believe I only have about 9 weeks left here. It really has flown by, and now that I'll be traveling every weekend for the next 7 weeks, it's going to go even faster. (Sweden this weekend to visit the au pairs!!!)

Sorry for the rant, I think all the ham is getting to my head.

the icing on top of the cake

so as a perfect weekend comes to an end, it becomes even more perfect. it was almost 70 degrees today and sunny so the 5 of us girls decided to have a picnic in parque retiro. we brought blankets, wine, freshly made bread, salami, and a hunk of cheese. we sat in the sun for hours and ate and listened to music. ideal.

after, we were craving the violet gelato again, because who wouldn't?, and we went BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANYYY...so we got rose flavored gelato instead, which was a close second, but i still like the violet the best. who knew that flower flavored gelato would be so amazing?

literally best 4 days ever.

cuchinillo is not my thing

wait. just listen. let me tell you about my perfect weekend in spain. I had winter break this week...so i had thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday to do what i want in madrid. perfection.

thursday, carissa and i went shopping over at nuevos ministerios and got this awesome gold shiny sweater. it's ke$ha-esque and amazing. then we met the girls (lucie, ariel, and lucie's friend allie) at plaza de españa and went to a chinese buffet. omg so good. just what i've been craving. such a hidden gem too...like crystals all hanging from the ceiling.

then friday, we (me, carissa, ariel, lucie, and katie- the core 5) went to la mordida (a mexican restaurant) where we got nachos con guacamole and margaritas and more. again, amazing. we were walking back to the metro when we spotted a gelato place and i didn't want any yet i got violet gelato. ICE CREAM WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. this gelato was UNREAL. i don't even know how to explain it. it was a mix of the lavender smell and violets and pure joy. it was such a gorgeous day out so carissa and i came back home and grabbed a blanket and walked to the park and laid down for a while. it was so fun! i also have a portrait assignment for my photography class so i was snapping pictures the whole time- when they're done being edited, i'll put them up.

so then today, carissa and i went to segovia (the other 3 went to el escorial). it was quite an adventure. we decided to go, but we weren't sure which train to take (because there was cercanias train and renfe ave train). we went to the metro stop that the train station is at and couldn't find where to buy the tickets. we wandered around like lost ducklings until we walked into the right place- the train station. but we STILL couldn't find where to buy tickets until we spotted it up further ahead. we waited on line but were scared we were going to miss the train...when carissa saw that one of the ticket booth lines said Segovia on it so we went over there and skipped the line and bought tickets. we got on the train and in 30 minutes, we were there. THEN we get off the train and we're in the middle of nowhere! there's a tourist office/store where we asked how to get to segovia and she gave us a map and directed us toward the public bus. uhhhh okay. so a million people CRAM onto this public bus and the driver was horrible so we were all falling all over each other and it was horrible. 15 crammed minutes later, the aqueducts were in sight. we hopped off and took millions of pictures and walked all around. it was GORGEOUS and it was a beauuuutiful day. it kind of looked like toledo. carissa and i also had a 3 hour lunch, sipping on white wine and eating croquetas. and the aqueducts are unbelievable. there was also a jewish section! and a castle that the castle in sleeping beauty was inspired by. all in all, it was a great day. but i'm tired.

segovia is also famous for their cuchinillo (suckling pig) which is like literally a baby pig and you eat it and they're all over the restaurants but i wouldn't even think about eating it. disgusting.

and people need to stop making out in public. why is everyone in a relationship here?

and the men need to stop being attractive. enough, already.

the castle inspiration for sleeping beauty!

"is that africa?"

long time no see. sorry, my life's been boring here in madrid. WELL last weekend, we went down to the south of spain to cádiz, a city on the southwest coast, where there was Carnaval (the third largest in the world). It's basically a giant halloween. so much fun. i was a fairy (hence the wings), that eventually ended up being crumpled in a ball by the end of the night, sadly. there were thousands of people in so many crazy costumes (firefighters, popes, hockey players, more inappropriate costumes haha). the 9-10 hour drive each way was not the best, but the leaders of the trip played weird british movies, which were hilarious.

also, the countryside of southern spain is GORGEOUS. like picturesque rolling hills and animals grazing and you get the jist.

and todayyy we found out that there's this AMAZINGGGG restaurant right near school. it's called cervecería 100 montaditos and it's a chain in spain (they actually have one in miami!) and they have like 1 euro sandwiches of all different types, which are unreal. one of mine today was shrimp and pineapple and some sauce. um so good. i'll be going every single day for lunch. mom and dad...we're going there when you're here. you don't have a choice.

that's it for now. i'm not sure if i'll have any posts anytime soon. i'm here in madrid this weekend (hopefully a daytrip somewhere) and then next weekend mis amigas from florence are coming!!!! so so excited.

and i'm drowning in midterms. at least they're over on wednesday...kill me.

Holla at me Kate Middleton

this past weekend i went to england to visit Emma!! For those who don't know, Emma was my first au pair (nanny) when i was little. I flew in Friday morning (SO EARLY) and hung out with Emma all morning. It took forever for me to find her at the airport because we were in two different places but thought we were in the same one. Then we picked the kids up at school, which was super exciting. That night we had the classic British fish and chips for dinner. SO YUMMY.

Saturday we ventured into London. We took the tube into the city and walked all around. We saw the London Eye, Big Ben, went to the Tate Art Museum of Modern Art, saw some skateboarders, etc. Caitlin and Ollie rode around London on their scooters all day, zooming around. We then took the Underground to Leicester Square and walked to the M&M Store and down to Covent Square for dinner. On the way I RANDOMLY ran into a girl in my sorority from WashU who's studying abroad there! Such a small world. Actually. And we went to this American restaurant for dinner and had the BEST tomato soup and veggie burger for dinner. NO HAM!!!!

Sunday it unusually snowed like 3-4 inches and it was crazy! Everyone was soo excited about the snow, when it was like nothing for me. But we managed to slowly drive to the airport and even though my flight was delayed an hour and a half, I finally made it home! In time for the (depressing) superbowl.

I would chat about the superbowl and how fun the night was, but today I am deeply depressed and i'm trying to repress those memories.