Sol, Spain, Sangria & S'mores

Hey guys!

Repping all my Boston gear.

There have been some rather drastic ups and downs for this week due to A) Current events B) The weather and C) The beginning of finals.To begin with the current events side of things, I'm sure you've all heard about the Boston Marathon bombings; however, the effect seems different when you aren't in your own country. I feel disconnected with everything that happened, and it's incredibly strange to deal with such tragedy when you are away from home and have to rely on the internet (it's a little sketchy here) to keep you updated. It was tense waiting to see the outcome of everything, and I don't think I really describe my disorientation and shock over the bombings. I'm aware that, had I been in Minnesota, I couldn't have helped any more than when I am here, but I felt far more helpless not even being in America. Overall, I am grateful to the city of Boston for hanging tough in these trying times and proving the strength of humanity in the face of such hatred (I am wearing my Green Monstah Red Sox shirt while writing this. Sorry I couldn't be serious in the picture, that's just my blogging face. Also, go Twins!)  

While events unfolded in Boston, the weather here has been absolutely fantastic. This almost adds to my struggle to come to terms with the destruction back home (home being 'Murica in general) because how can such beauty exist in the same place as that much hate? No answers to that question, I guess. On a less world-wide scale, this week has featured an extreme internal battle: homework and studying versus the absolutely fantastic weather. I fear for my grades.

I was Skyping with the fam last Sunday, so I realize rubbing in the weather situation is not particularly nice. It seems my Minnesota people have had some winter storm watches, right? And a little bit of snow? Ah the joys of the Midwest. In case you were wondering, I have a tan line and it's been between 70 and 85 degrees for most of the week. No big deal.

This means I've been outside for the entire week when I'm not in class.We have a plaza outside the Fund with benches, so I've been reading and studying out there whenever I get a chance because I only have one week left in Spain. The Spaniards don't necessarily share the Minnesotans and Wisconsinites love for the heat: they stared at any of us wearing summery clothes and they still had on jackets, and some of them even had gloves. I don't know how they physically survived. (There is no "ph" in Spanish an I almost put an "f" instead. Just thought you all should know...) When we weren't sitting out on the benches or enjoying other parts of Toledo, we were drinking Sangria at Dragos (the bar that is 30 seconds from the Fund) after class to relax in the afternoon.

I also had my first final on Thursday, which went well (?). Maybe. We are connected to a music school, so I apparently get a soundtrack to finals week because they were definitely making a racket during my test. So it goes. To celebrate being done with our first final, about thirty of us headed to Dragos just to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. This was extremely fun and one of our professors even joined us in  our Tapas-and-Sangria hangout. In reality, I don't think a person gets many perfect times in their life, but this was one of them. I don't mean a good or great time. I mean absolutely perfect. Yeah, that's how fantastic it was.

Friday was basically just more hanging out and studying during the day because finals. I have a paper and presentation due tomorrow (We won't talk about how far I've gotten on them. That idea scares us.) so I actually-sort-of tried to be productive. Results were mixed. We had all decided earlier in the week to have a bonfire Friday night, so I was looking forward to that all day. We planned to leave at nine, before it got completely dark out because we were climbing the mountain (I swear it's a mountain. Big hill isn't accurate!) to where we planned on making our fire. We didn't exactly leave on time, so it was pretty dark when we made it to the other side of the river.

Life Lesson #86: Do not climb small mountains in the dark. Do not wear flip-flops while climbing small mountains in the dark.

That was up there in Dumbest Things I've Done In Spain. But we did eventually make it and the view was literally breath-taking. Mostly on account of the climb, but the view was actually spectacular. We were the first group that got up there and none of us brought a lighter. Le sigh. Eventually the other groups straggled up, and they brought provisions to make a fire possible. Unfortunately for us, fires fall under the Super Illegal activities here on account of the dry countryside. Even so, we decided to make it and hope there weren't any headlines the next day saying: American Students Burn Down Medieval City Due To Stupidity. We didn't need to worry though because our fire struggled to survive. All of the guys were trying to prove their manliness or what have you because they were obsessed with the keeping the fire going. Most of us got to roast a S'more though, before it died completely so it ended up working out alright. It was super windy up on the mountain, so when we got cold we went back to Toledo to sleep and prepare for the next day.

Saturday started off much the same as Friday, with a lot of studying and trying to accomplish things in spite of the beautiful, weather-y distraction. Mostly, I am terrible at accomplishing school things even when I give myself a deadline. So I really didn't get that much done. Saturday night was a celebration though because it was Emma's 21st birthday this weekend! Free champagne and starting the night out at Dragos because that's where it's at. I don't think the bar scene in the states is going to be anywhere as good as it is here. I got tired quite early because of um, obviously working hard the entire day, so I headed in earlyish. I had hopes of actually getting things done today, but it's been difficult. Ugh. At best, this was wishful thinking.

I pretended to do homework today, so now I have quite a bit to go tonight. I really need to work on my time management skills and not do Other Spain Things.

On a concluding note, I have realized J.K. Rowling stole my life story for Harry Potter. Now, it might seem like a lot to compare myself to the Boy Who Lived, but it's true. (If you haven't read/watched Harry Potter, just ignore this paragraph.) Like Harry, I have to destroy the horcruxes in my life to save the world. I mean, my horcruxes are finals, but it's almost the same as parts of Voldemort's soul. Anyway, the closer I get to having them destroyed the happier I can be, right? Wrong! Harry needs to sacrifice himself for the good of humanity by destroying the last horcruxes and when I destroy mine I uh...won't be in Spain anymore. This is true sacrifice. No finals = No Spain.

Basically, I'm Harry Potter. 

One week left in Spain then off to Greece!

Rest & Relaxation

So we meet again, Buzz Lightyear. It's been one of those weeks

Sorry, I wasn't feeling like saying "Hola" or "Hello" this time. So I thought I should just throw in some Toy Story to spice things up a little. Because this will be a fairly vanilla (read bland) post today. My humblest apologies.

The most exciting news of the week: my plane ticket got switched, so I am for sure staying in Europe, never to return. Just kidding. I'll be in the lengthy process of coming back on May 14th. So watch out, America, because you forgot what a great thing you were missing. I would like to thank my Mommy for here patience in regards to the Travel Situation because she has been amazing in changing my ticket. I've also ran into some issues buying a plane (and a boat!) ticket, so she was able to call the credit card company and get all of that sorted out for me. Can she get a round of applause please? *Thunderous applause via the Intranets*

Okay, now to the excitement that was this week. Or not. This is going to be a short post, but I'm going to do my best. Just hang in there! For my Art in Toledo class, we went to the Cathedral here (I mentioned that Mams, Claire and I went there last weekend but shhhh...! We are going to ignore that for the time being). I'm actually glad I got to go again because there are a few things I think the audio-guide didn't know that my teacher did. The first time I went, I didn't realize that our Cathedral was the first one built in Spain. I can now check Visit the Oldest Cathedral in Spain off of my bucket list.

Before I continue, I need some sustenance. I'll be back in five; I need a Twix. You guys can all get settled and comfy while I'm gone. Cool? Cool.

I'm back! I think I eat enough Twixes that my maid judges me based on how often she finds the wrappers in the trash. Tis life, I suppose.

Like I previously stated, I really enjoyed the Cathedral, but I am also quite aware of my own idiocy and/or laziness. I might've worn flip-flops to a building where "it is colder inside than outside." (I'm pretty sure that's an actual quote from my professor.) I was happy to leave by the end because my toes have a tendency to turn purple when they are cold. Poor circulation much? Another note on laziness: I've woken up early enough for breakfast everyday this week. I made it down to the cafeteria once. My stomach hates me.

Friday afternoon involved going to another museum for my Grandes Maestros class, so we headed off to Madrid to visit the Reina Sofia. In true Emily form, I fell asleep on the buses because that is what buses are for. Or something. Anyway, I woke up when we were in Madrid and kept trying to convince myself we weren't that close because I really wanted to finish my nap. Unfortunately, the bus killed the dream I dreamed and it was time to wake up for museum time. This museum wasn't necessarily my favorite because it focuses more on modern paintings and we went specifically to see those of Picasso and Dali. And they don't fall under the Emily's Favorite Painters category. Van Gogh holds the top spot (although Dali was pretty crazy too, but less in a I-will-cut-my-ear-off-to-give-to-a-girl way and more in a I-will-call-my-autobiography-Diary-of-a-Genius way). Most of Dali's paintings were off in Paris anyway for some exhibition thinger, so we mostly saw Picasso's work. I know he is considered Super Good, but the only painting I really found interesting was Guernica, which I had seen eight gajillion times in other classes. To be fair, I hadn't really been impressed by it until I saw it in person and then I found it much more interesting. So it goes.


Now I have very little left to talk about, but I will still try to make it worth reading. This weekend was rather a non-event; simply me doing homework and planning my trip and being frustrated when websites won't take my money. (They can have this attitude if they give me my ticket. If they jack up the price 20 euros between times I try to pay though, I get irate.) In order to not end up in my room going crazy (crazier) from technology, I play a kind of weird game. (Intrigued?)

But more back-story first. In the past two blogs, I've commented on how I became the fearless navigator and leader due to...stuff. Either way, this is generally a poor life decision because I've never been known to be good at finding places. For a frame of reference: when I first got my driver's license, I needed directions from 11 year old Claire to get to a pizza place in my hometown. That is how terrible of a decision it is to let me be in charge of directions.

Anyway, I play this game where I go to streets of the city I know and then turn off at random interesting-looking streets (People from back home: Toledo is super safe, so don't worry that Emily is doing something crazy and is going to die in Spain. I promise, it is completely safe. Cross my fingers and hope to die and all that jazz). I turn off onto other interesting looking (There are people there! It isn't some back alley where you know serial killers hunt or whatever. Please stop being nervous. It is A-OK, I promise promise promise) streets until I have, at best, only a vague idea of where I am. As you may remember, I live in a literal labyrinth. So it becomes a Find Your Way Back kind of game (I don't go that far....I've scared you all with my living on the edge and bad-assery, haven't I? I swear I live a safe, normal lifestyle). This is also an excellent decision when I'm getting caught up in the I-have-homework-I've-procrastinated-on-and-I-need-plane-tickets-and-the-website-won't-work-stress-stress-stress sort of thoughts. I've come to realize I get caught up in my anxieties and overall my interior stress levels are a lot higher than people might think (because I always appear calm, cool and collected. Obviously). So this is a good stress reliever as well as gets me some exercise because Toledo believes in hills.

Honestly, this was more or less how my week went: hanging out, homework and wandering. It was a good change of pace from the perpetual tramping of Spring Break. Hopefully I'll add some pictures later today for you to enjoy. Don't be too scared of my daring boldness in the Lost Game.

Until next weekend!

That Time I Forgot to Charge My Camera.

I have come to the conclusion that I will only be able to make one or two posts a week due to excitement, adventure and um...hard work? That's a thing, right? So for my two readers, look for updates on Saturdays or Sundays.

This past week was the real start of classes, as I had more than one day of class. I am officially
 taking five classes: Grammar, Spanish Conversations, Great Painters of Spain, Culture and Jewish, Muslim and Christian art in Toledo. Which seems like an awful lot of learning so thankfully I've got naptime built into my schedule. Whoever created siestas was a genius.

School here is basically the same as school back home. Differences: small classes, Spanish and relatively cheap textbooks. We get to take field trips too, to museums and other cities. For instance, I went to a mosque/church Thursday for one of my art classes. It was pretty fantastic, and I WISH I REMEMBERED MY CAMERA. Sigh. Next time, my friends, next time.

This weekend we also went for a short jaunt (A+ for vocab) to Madrid. Friday the entire program took a bus there and had a tour of the historic-y part of the city. And wouldn't you know it, but my camera died there. Le sigh. The city is impressively huge so it was a good thing we were in a group, as I'm going to have a minor in Getting Lost by the time this trip is over. After the bus tour, we went to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace for you Spanish n00bs) and I now know where I want to live in the future. The place is huge and absolutely beautiful. And shnazzy. We, unfortunately, weren't allowed to bring cameras inside, so alas for there will be no pictures of the inside of the palace, which leaves me to describe it as best I can. The Spaniards clearly believed in a lot of gold. And crystal. And fanciness. My roommate summed it up best by saying, "Hola, peasants," as she descended down the extra-fancy stairs.

After the tour, we went to El Museo de Jamones (the museum of ham) where we, contrary to the name, did not have ham for lunch. We did, however, get ice cream, which is probably more important. A group of seven of us decided to stay in a hostel in Madrid overnight to take in more of the city. When you're wandering around, it becomes really clear the scale of the place; we were not in Kansas anymore. We went out to eat and spent the night out, going to a few bars. At night, everyone in Madrid is trying to get you to come to their discoteca (club) and they all offer you free shots, or Mojitos or whatever. Thanks, but no thanks. After a long day, we called it quits and headed back to the hostel.


Saturday we did a little shopping and traveled back to Toledo. Getting back was a little tricky and involved some subways and buses and walking uphill for far to long but we made it back fairly easily.

And it was a balmy 60 degrees outside here, Minnesotans. Lo siento no lo siento. (I'm sorry I'm not sorry.)

Ciao for now.

Also, shout out to Mr. Boatz who may or may not be reading this (Best math teacher ever, much?)