Sarah in Spain!!

Kapital!!!

2008-04-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

That day we got back from Valencia, we slept all day, and then went out into Madrid that night! We went to KAPITAL, the best nightclub in Madrid. It has 7 floors of things to do... the top floor is this serene lounge with comfy couches and beds to chill on. The bottom floor there was a huge dance floor with your typical dance club music, then there were two other floors for dancing- one with American rap music and the other was more latin pop /reggaeton music. The other floors were a bunch of chic lounges, bars, pool tables and one floor even had a movie theater. It was so much fun! When we got bored of one type of music we would just galavant on to something else! We took the last train out in the PM (around 11:30), which was full of jovenes like us going into the city for the night (er, morning?) and we came back on the first one back in the AM (a little before 6)! Then we slept like rocks until 2 PM! That's how the night life in Spain rolls ALL THE TIME!!

At the train station taking the last train out of Alcala into Madrid.

Pre-club conos!!!...It's tradition.;)

Kapital!!!!!

Don't worry, the guy in the back with the chest exposure....we danced!!!haha He taught a few new salsa moves!!hahaha

We made it!!!! Headed home on the first train at 6:00am!!!!

Semana Santa=Valencia=Las Fallas!

2008-04-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

This past week was Roman Catholic Semana Santa- or the "holy week" between Palm Sunday and Easter.
We only had school Monday and Tuesday, because everything in Spain closes down for festivities (anything is an excuse to close down in Spain, even naps (siesta)!).

On Wednesday we went to Valencia for LAS FALLAS celebration. We had told Luisa our plans a couple days earlier, that we were leaving at around 7am and wouldn't be back until the next morning at around 7am- a proposition to which she did not even bat an eyelash...if anything, she was more concerned that we were having to get up so early to leave for Valencia (she usually goes to bed after us at about 1am)!

So Las Fallas are a bunch of colorful intricate statues made of cardboard and wood that they burn at night as part of a contest for the best one. "Las Fallas" means "the losers." We walked around the city all day looking at the Fallas, and cursing every sweet child who threw firecrackers in the ground. Had it not been for the Fallas celebration, I swear we could have been walking through the streets of a war-torn country, as it sounded like bombs were going off every 10 seconds the ENTIRE day. The Spaniards didn't even flinch at the noise ("ruido")- many were laughing and enjoying it, drinking their copas and dining on paella al fresco in the streets.

All the people!!! There were about 2 million there just to see "Las Fallas"!!

They were amazing structures, and so creative!

Valencia is known for their Paella, so of course we had to have some. It was so delicious, and they made it in the biggest pans I have ever seen!!

At around midnight they started burning the Fallas, and what more can I say- it was nothing short of any pyromaniac's dream: Multitudes of people (all with varying amounts of intoxication levels) cheering, singing, eyes fixated on the fire. We watched them (the fires and the people) until 3am when we had to meet the bus again at the Plaza de Espana. When we rolled in back at home at 7am we didn't wake up until 3 that afternoon!haha

Portugal

2008-04-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

For one of our free weekends 8 of us decided to go to Portugal. It was a blast!! This trip was a more relaxing one, and we just kind of took it easy. It was def. a vacation for us.haha Porto was beautiful and the people were so nice. It was weird hearing portuguese because it sounded like absolute gibberish! I could not even understand a little bit of it.haha Anyways, the city is just magical, and my favorite thing about it was the river that runs right through the city. AMAZING!!! There were so many beautiful buildings, the weather was perfect, and it was so green and lush. The atmosphere alone was just so much fun, and the people were just all so nice. It was a great trip!!!:)

Such a beautiful place!

That's the boat our little cruise was on....

On top of the tower with a great view of everything!

No...we are not in London...haha

Africa!!!!???!!!!!

2008-04-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Nine of us went to Morocco for a long weekend and it was life changing. There were countless fruitions of lifelong dreams that expanded my horizons as a steward of this earth and the universe. It was an unbelievably spiritual experience and so incredible to get back to the rudimentary world that is only read about in textbooks. Sometimes we would be walking down a street and proclaim out loud, almost as a verbal way of pinching ourselves, "Hey guys, wait. Do you realize we're in Africa!?" And everyone would just be grinning, digesting the surroundings. It was absolutely mind boggling to travel to the Sahara, ride camels, barter in marketplaces, and so much more.

Just off the plane making a deal with the cab driver to take us to our hotel

These are the names of the two city's we visited

This was our cab driver that called me his "beautiful Mexicana".haha He started to get a little creepy when all day he would talk about me being his wife. Dirty old man!!!

most of the buildings are white!....beautiful!

So we flew into Tangier, which is a main port town of Morocco. We stayed in a hotel on the beach within eyesight of the Iberian Peninsula across the Strait of Gibraltar (yes, it is really that close!) We shared 2 hotel rooms among the nine of us, which was funny and a great bonding experience. We were paranoid about them "catching" us, so we had to do rounds of walking out separately to different exits and meet up across the street on the boardwalk. Nevertheless, we succeeded!

View from our hotel room...SO LUCKY!!!

The people there are so kind and generous, and even though they are desperate for money from "rich" American tourists, one can't despise them. Whenever they annoyed us, I would have to take a step back and realize truly, I would be acting no different in their situation. How unbelievably blessed I am to be from the US and to have grown up the way I did.

A sweet store owner that dressed my up for a picture.haha

A little bit of what we experienced....

The cutest little boy, that def. knew how to work the tourists for money. His smile made me melt.:)

At the store where we bought our tunics. I really don't like things that crawl.haha...priceless...haha

Thursday we arrived and walked around the marketplaces, which was entrancing. Women sitting with their yard of cloth with their precious select herbs they had picked that day, or selling fresh chickens, fresh fruit or delicious ready-to-eat hotcakes with jam or honey, nuts and dried fruit. Later that day we went to a restaurant (where one of our new street vendor friends showed us to, literally walking us down the street and introducing us to the restaurant owner, and later making sure our experience was favorable- so kind) and had delicious bowls of cous cous with lamb. The meat, combined with the perfect ratio of spices and raisins was pure delectable heaven.

The markets!

Olive oil anyone??....

There were still some feathers on the eggs they were so fresh. Just a little too fresh for me!!haha

Our purchase of tunics and the store owners that became our buds.:)

In Morocco, I saw first-hand what literal devotion means. On Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, we were walking around in the streets when the call to prayer began. Markets promptly closed, and prayer rugs were rolled out. We walked up to the Medina and saw the town flooding out after their services were over, donned in their gorgeous tunics and wraps. It was a beautiful scene.

The Medina

On Saturday (from making a friend with a Moroccan taxi driver the day before), we got to take a tour of Tangier's wealthy area with the palaces where the royalty and oil lords vacation. Then we proceeded onto the lookout point where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. Then we RODE CAMELS, which was so euphoric in its archaic simplicity. I was just overcome laughing the entire time in that African sun. We wore our new Arabic tunics and wrapped our turbans and needless to say, our pictures are awesome. What a riot!

Then we took a tour of the Hercules caves, where the Turkish Berbers invaded from the north centuries ago. Then we visited a nearby town of Assilah (that has a Portuguese influence), where among other things I got a henna tattoo...although after the henna I wanted to get a real one.haha;)

Hercules caves!

Since Tangier is a port town (and actually what the movie Casablanca was based on, but the director changed the title), even what you would call "the commoners" know so many languages! We'd be walking down the street, and they'd be asking us what we speak- Arabic, German, Spanish, English, Japanese..."Whatever you want!" they'd proclaim. The best way to learn languages is to learn through others and to speak-what implications that has.

We love Flan!!:)

The fabrics, ornamentations and furniture are exquisitely stunning. We would talk about how much we wanted to one day own a house in Morocco just so we could furnish it with "this table, that rug"- such beautiful tapestries! At least, I'll definitely need to return so I can pick out things for my own home furnishings one day!

All in all, my Moroccan experience is one I will reflect on for the rest of my life! It was AMAZING!!!!

A little of this, and a little of that.....

2008-04-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

Some random fun that we have on our free time…

By Retiro Park there are book stands and more book stands, and we always find some interesting reads in Spanish. I bought a Spanish poetry book!....hopefully someday I will fully understand what it says.haha

Random art to play in on the street.

I love this picture! There are little exercise parks and such for all the old people. Here is a cute couple going to town on the Retiro Park "work out bike".haha

After a jog in Retiro Park, just stopping to get some yummy street food. We never stop eating!;)

These types of “yummy’s” are in windows everywhere. The displays alone are killing me! Now you know why I am gaining weight!haha Honestly, you wouldn’t be able to control yourself either!!

My favorite place EVER!!!!...Oh the bliss!....

We decided to go and walk through the mall right next to the Real Madrid Stadium, and we found these interesting chairs in the entrance lounge. The chairs were surprisingly comfortable.

Random metro station adds. We just love them!haha

The classic NO room on the metro in the evening. It is the worst!...HOT, STINKY, PEOPLE TOUCHING YOU....sometimes in ways you don't want them to...haha..seriously though!

The Madrid temple….what a beautiful and amazing place. I wish I could go much more. This temple has been a huge blessing to the saints in Madrid, and has been long awaited. The temple is very new, and adds to the rich beauty and culture of Spain. When it first opened there were thousands and thousands of people who lined up to go through this “new mormon temple.” It is the only one in Spain, and def. took a lot of hard work to get here. I am so blessed to have been able to visit it and hear the testimonies of the Saints here. It is truly a remarkable place.:)

Not only do we get to visit the temple, but we get to witness new converts being baptized. This man is from Nigeria and his name is Kenith. He is such a great guy, and it was excting to be able to share his special day with him.

In case you were wondering, he is the big black man in the middle.:)

Segovia!

2008-03-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Cathedral of Segovia! Amazing!!

Segovia! So beautiful, and we went and visited the Alcazar, Cathedral and Aqueducts. It was pretty, but I'm sure we would have appreciated it more had it been the first place we'd visited. All of these gorgeous towns, with their Alcazars, cathedrals and sites to see are jading us! Although they all have their own unique charm that I love!:)

Dad, mom....I have something to tell you......

One thing led to another and the magic of the "Sleeping Beauty's" Castle got the best of us.

In case anyone was wondering...I told him I had to sleep on it for awhile.haha;)

These are some pictures inside of the beautiful Alcazar:

I wanted to really see this thing move!

The Aqueducts....

After Segovia we made a stop in Pedraza, this medieval town where Shumway (our director) said all of Madrid flocks to on weekends. Well, maybe they were all inside siesta-ing, but that place was a ghost town! We have not been letting him hear the end of that one!! It was a realy cool little town though. It kept it's original mid-evil charm perfectly, and reminded me of the movie 'chocolate'. For anyone who has seen it, the town that it takes place in is identical to this little town Pedraza. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, you should because it's one of my favorites.

Hmmm....the main plaza of Pedraza, and no one is to be found.haha

We were pretty much the only ones....we played a few games of hacky sac.haha

Anyways, then we got home and hit the discotecas with our Spanish friends, who showed us a new "local" place to go. It was so fun, and the music was so much fun to dance to. The next day we were pretty dead at church...it was a very late night.;)

Last but not least.....The Wind Mills

2008-02-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

After walking around a little Saturday morning in Granada, we headed home, but not without a stop to see the windmills "Las Molinas”of Consuegra, of Don Quixote fame. 
On the way up Professor Shumway read us the passage in Don Quixote where he attempts to joust the windmills against the realistic advisement of Sancho Panza, ending up with his sword demolished to pieces.

We climbed inside one of the windmills....

So the hill that the windmills are on is....windy! We could barely keep our scarves on for this picture:

And as for the juxtaposition- At the top, I noticed some modern day windmills across the valley. Renewable energy in action!

But alas, we were excited to get home- what an exhilaratingly exhausting week!

4th stop: Granada

2008-02-24T07:48:00.000-08:00

In Granada, we saw the Alhambra with its magnificent Moorish (Islamic) architecture. It was HUGE!!! It was so incredible, and took us over two hours to go through. It seemed like its only little private City. Def. My favorite fortress so far.

Then we walked down to the city that night to have delicious kebabs! We talked with the kebab maker as he was making them for us. He told us he prefers Granada to Madrid, because the weasly Madrilenos will only stay up until 5 or 6am as opposed to 8am in Granada. Awesome.

The next morning we walked around the city. The path we had to walk to get into the city is beautiful!

The Muslim market we went to in the city.

After our walk around the city, we were off to the Don Quixote windmills!

3rd stop: Cordoba

2008-02-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

On Thursday we walked around Seville, then left for Cordoba that afternoon.

  The Great Mosque of Cordoba is such an interesting place. It was very tranquil, and the arches all over reminded me of candy canes. There were light red strips along the arches that gave it that "candyland" feel. It was an incredible place, but of course freezing inside!!

Because Spain has been taken over by the Moors, the Visigoths, the Romans (etc), the mosque has Muslim architecture (with the famous pink/purple candy striped pillars) and then the next section would be a full on Gothic cathedral. It was juxtaposition in its purest form.

After that we walked around Cordoba, and went ouside the city to see the bridge, then stopped at an outdoor market.
 
After our long stroll around Cordoba, we went to this great restaurant where the food was actually good, and so was the service! It is not very often we eat at a good restaurant and the service was absolutely woderful!

Then we all came back to the hotel where about a dozen of us watched “The Office” in our pajamas, on about four beds pushed together, until about 1 am.  The next morning, we walked around Cordoba, visiting the Alcazar with its beautiful gardens.

Then off to Granada!

2nd stop: Seville!!!

2008-02-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

We got into Seville late that evening, after our bus driver took MANY wrong turns. We walked around forever (in these adorably quaint little streets lined with, what else but orange trees!...too bad they are just for decoration!) before finding a place that was open and would serve us tapas. As we were walking home we ran into some super friendly Americans who got our number and we met up with them at the discoteca the next night.  The next day, we got up and went to the Cathedral de Seville which was simply stunning (second largest in the world). Tons of art, the tomb of Cristobal Colon, the Giralda tower with magnificent views at the top, and a garden courtyard with, what else: orange trees.

Pictures really just don't do justice!!!

The worlds largest pearl

The tomb of Christopher Columbus!...sry it was dark, and of course no flash allowed!:(

The top of the Giralda Tower. Such a good view of the Cathedral, and the city

After the Cathedral we walked across the street to the Alcazar, which is where Columbus was greeted by Ferdinand and Isabella upon his return to Spain from the Americas. It is also where the current King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia stay when they come to Seville. There were gorgeous gardens!

...Don't worry I am always prepared with my secret money belt!!hahah It works like a charm.;)

After that, we were tired so we went back to the hotel to take a siesta. Later, we walked around and saw the Plaza de Espana, got some dinner, and went back to the hotel to head to the flamenco show.

...However, we left about 5 minutes after the group did, and Andrew started leading us in the complete opposite way. So when he made a futile attempt at asking someone for directions, and failed miserably. Alex ended up grabbing the map and took charge. It was hilarious because she was panicked/on an adrenaline high and after asking someone for directions she would TAKE OFF running in the maze-y streets! She definitely wasted no time at all and somehow got us to the theatre. Anyways, it was quite the adventure and we arrived to the flamenco show drenched in sweat. It was pretty funny.

As you can tell, Alex was pretty proud of herself for getting us to the Flamenco show.

The angry/tired faces from running around Seville trying to find the theatre

   We got back at the hotel at around 11 and left for the discoteca “BOSS” a little after 12. And I can honestly say you haven’t lived until you’ve gone clubbing in southern Spain. It was so much fun!   Although it was probably 2/3 Americans, it felt really diverse. The most memorable characters were these group of African guys who were, all wearing these silver chains with Africa pendants on them. One in particular had a total 70s throwback outfit: color blocked mustard and grey colored sweater vest, dark wash jeans, black jacket and bright silver aviator sunglasses (and of course, the Africa bling). Seriously, Kanye West had nothing on him.  Then they all got up and started dancing in synch on the stage. I loved every minute of it!   The music was cool, but overly remixed. They’d play 30 seconds of a song we loved (or 4 minutes repeating the same 10 seconds of a song over and over again), then change it over to something else. So it got random at some times: they played “Sweet Home Alabama” out of the BLUE, which of course all the drunk Americans loved at that point.   The next morning we arose and walked around for a little bit, then headed onto Cordoba.

1st stop: Merida

2008-02-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

In Merida, we went to the Roman museum with tons of sculpture and an outdoor Roman theater museum with two coliseums. Also, just walking down a regular street we stumbled on other ruins, just laying there in between the rows of shops, seamlessly incorporating their tangible evidences of history in the presence of a commercial street.

Some of the random Roman Ruins around the city

The coliseums in the Roman theatre:

Things we observed at the Roman Museum:

I don't know what it is with me and half-naked men.....haha

While we were wondering the streets we ran into a fiestival going on in the center of town. All the store owners were dressed up in Mid-evil costumes and there were cool little shops everywhere. There was a man that had a pottery stand and was giving away little plates with our names on them. After he made mine I asked him for a pictures and he said for a kiss!haha After the picture he tried to kiss me...but failed.haha It was so fun to walk around all the stands of food and little trinkets. A tent was set up with a huge stage by the fair for shows and concerts. Me and a few other got up on the stage and started dancing to the music that was playing. It was so funny, bc eventually we had a crowd and everyone started clapping/making fun of us!haha oh, good memories!

The Festival:

The pottery man who attempted yo kiss me...

The stage where we let it all go....you can only imagine!haha

After a few hours in Merida, we re-boarded the bus and trekked onto Seville!

My first month in Spain!

2008-02-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

HEY EVERYONE!!!!

Sorry I am barely writing to everyone, but I have been super busy! I will try and catch everyone up on my amazing experiences I have had thus far. Well…I am alive and well and living in Spain!!! I love it so much here, and everyday I have come to love and appreciate it even more. There definitely is a special and unique vibe that is here, and I don’t know that I will ever be sick of this place. Madrid is such a lively place and people are always in a hurry, or though it seems. I live just outside of Madrid in a little city called Alkala. It’s like Mesa is to Phoenix so we are not far at all from the crazy city, Madrid!! I love this town that I am in, and I love the atmosphere of it. I have found that there are lots of old people here! It is so funny, because when they get ready to go out, they are decked out from head to toe in heels, big fur coats, and bling that you may mistake as the sun shining when you look at it!haha But seriously, even there hair and makeup is perfect. They dress like this just to go to the store! It is crazy, but I love it, and want to be just like that when I am old.;)

In Madrid at the Puerta del Sol. I love this Plaza!

Mariachi band in Spain??...I though that was a Mexican thing?haha

Parque Buen Retiro...this park is HUGE and absolutley amazing!!!!

Just hanging from a tree at the Parque buen Retiro in Madrid!:)

At mi casa en Alcala...sometimes our dinners are very interesting...

The Metro in Madrid!

Always great entertainment on the streets of Madrid!

My friend Alex and I live with a wonderful lady named Luisa. She is so sweet, and does everything for us. She cooks for us, cleans, and even washes all of our clothes! It has been great! My mom already told me not to get to use to this life style.haha Luisa is married to a man named Raphael, but we hardly ever see him. They have three sons that live just below our apartment/condo. All three boys are really cute and are here usually for every meal. They are 26, 22, and 19; Luisa seriously does everything for them as well. Like I said she is wonderful, and we definitely got lucky to have her as our “Madre” in Spain.

The nightlife is what it is all about here. It is still weird to me to be out at about at 11:00p.m and see families taking a stroll in the Plaza, or just around town. Even our dinners are super late. We usually don’t have dinner till about 10:00 at night! Oh, and everyday there is a siesta (nap) that happens right after lunch. Everything, and I mean everything closes down for this time in the day. A few times Alex and I went over to the school after lunch to get some HW done, and everything seriously looked like a ghost town! Don’t worry though, because at 11:00pm or later things are always hoppin.:) The Discotecs are so much fun here! Those usually don’t get started till about 2:00 or three in the morning, and then they close at about 7:00am!!! The Spaniards really know how to party!! We have gone dancing numerous times since we’ve been here. My favorite thing is when the natives hit on me at the Discotecs. I have found that they know three phrases in English. They are… “What is your name”, “You are very beautiful”, and my favorite, “Kiss me”.haha It is so funny! When I tell them no, they try to explain how it is very common in Spain to let them kiss you. Now don’t get me wrong, when a super attractive one comes up to me and asks me to kiss him I’ll be all for it!haha;)

Anyways, classes are going good and my teachers are very entertaining. My Spanish teacher’s name is Jesus, and my conversation teacher’s name is Angelica. I swear that Jesus thinks that our whole class is full of idiots. The first day of class he was speaking in Spanish so fast and then stopped and asked if everyone understood him. All of us just looked at him blankly not responding. He started laughing and then started to speak much slower. It has been a struggle trying to learn Spanish when I hardly understand what the instructor is teaching/saying to me. It is rough, but I have noticed that I understand a little more everyday. My conversation teacher Angelica is so sassy and is super fun. She likes to yell out “ojo classe!”…and point at her eye to get all of our attention. It makes me laugh every time.haha

This is part of the University where we go to school!

One of the first things we went and saw when we got here was the Prado Museum, which is the most famous museum in the world. It was amazing and there was so much to see! We obviously didn’t get through it just in that one trip, but we plan on making many more trips to finish the entire museum.

We also went on one of our first small trips to Toledo. Toledo is AMAZING!!!! There was something so calm and peaceful about it. It is def. not like Madrid, but has it’s own unique fun and enchanting feel to it. We took the bullet train there, which was really neat, because it only took us 30min to get to Toledo from Madrid. Once we got there, we walked up to the city from the train station. The walk was so pretty, and approaching Toledo was even more beautiful. Toledo is all on a hill and is actually pretty small. You could def. see pretty much all of it in one day. All the buildings are so old and the atmosphere is so soothing. I loved all of the little walkways, and the amazing views we were able to see. The Toledo Cathedral put me in awe…so so beautiful! It is so amazing and unfathomable to me how something like this was put together so long ago without all of the machines and technology we have today. Absolutely incredible are about the only way to describe this Cathedral. All the detail in the gold, wood, floor, ceilings, paintings, architecture, just so incredible! Me and a few other kids from the group were able to attend mass in the amazing Cathedral, which was a way cool experience. The rest of the day we just wandered the streets of Toledo. We meet an old man at a little park we stopped at. He was seriously the cutest thing ever! Alex(my roommate) and Kyndall(friend) were sitting on the bench where he came and sat down, and Cali(friend) and I were swinging. When he was talking to Alex, he asked her if we were her daughters!!haha It was so funny!!!!! Later in the evening we went out to dinner, and we ended up paying way too much money for crappy service, and not so good food that ended up being too expensive! I hate how in Europe they refuse to give you a glass of water, because they want to charge you for a bottle of water! Anyways, bad experience with the Spanish food in Toledo!:( After dinner we stopped at a little corner market, and bought some candy and little goodies. A group of us were standing right outside the store and a van was flying through the streets! All of a sudden I heard a scream come from Alex, and a huge thud as the van passed quickly past us. Then, I hear Cali yell “OMG!....I just got hit by a car!!”haha I started to laugh so hard!!...She was fine, but we all laughed about it for a while! She got whacked in the back by the sidecar mirror. The Europeans are crazy drivers, and have no patience at all!

This was the old man that we met in Toledo and became good friends with us. He was the one that asked Alex if we were her daughters!haha

Something really cool that we did this past week was we were able to go to the temple and perform baptisms for the dead. It was one of the best experiences that I have had in awhile. The Madrid Temple is so beautiful and I loved the way I felt inside. There is definetly nothing like the way I feel when I am in the House of the Lord. It was really neat, because this was my first time doing baptisms in Spanish and Portuguese. It was quite an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to go back.:)

There is a little pastry shop that we have discovered in Madrid “La Mallorquina”, and it’s becoming deadly to us. We eat at least two a day! They are seriously a bit of heaven. So moist, flaky, and perfectly sweet…YUM!!!! I honestly have never tasted something so wonderful!

Yesterday we woke up and went out on a hike with a few other kids from the group. It was so much fun. At first it took us awhile to find the trail, but we ended up kind of making our own up the mountain. We ended up having to take off our sox and shoes and crossing this pretty large river. It was seriously the longest walk of my life, and not to mention nasty water and slimy river ground. I was scared that I was going to slip while going across and falling in the freezing/nasty water. The hike it self was pretty tough and I was really tired once we got to the top. It was strait incline to the top…pretty intense! It was beautiful at the top, and we could see everything. It was way cool, and we ended up eating our lunches up on top, and taking a nap. It was great!:)

This was the long/FREEZING ice river we had to cross!!

This weekend and the rest of the week has been Carnival here. There have been lots of fun Parades around town, and the people here are all dressed up in costumes. The Madrid streets are much more crowded and a little more crazy than usual because of all the fun events that are going on. Carnival is not nearly as crazy here as it is in Brazil or other parts of the world. Well anyways, I just wanted to share with everyone a little bit of what I have been doing here this past month in Spain!!! I will be much better at keeping this thing updated. We go one our first big trip on Tuesday to Andalucia. I am super excited! We will head first to Mérida, see the ruins and the museum, and then we will head on to Seville that night. We spend two nights in Seville, and then head to Córdoba for a night, then to Granada for a night. I will tell everyone all about it when I get back!!:)