I was never very close with Luke but he was a significant person in one of the most important years of my life: my first year of college. We lived together in the dorms and had some great times. He was a fisherman in Oregon and his ship along with 3 other crew members went down. There was a distress signal and the Coast Guard searched 640 miles of ocean and all they found was an oil slick, some debris and an inflated life raft. They decided that the conditions were too adverse and it had been too long for anyone to be possibly left alive. Like I said before, I wasn't very close with Luke but this has just been a difficult year for me with deaths. Jim Kennedy, Janet Guzman, Jon Brickner, now Luke Jensen. He was such a strong person, physically and with his personality. Very charismatic. I have great memories of him, Kevin, Jordan, Richelle and I going fishing and doing bonfires together. And all the great times smoking hookah out on the balcony, the time Luke too mushrooms and ended up being ridiculous and eating Lucky Charms in our bathroom. So many good memories...At least he died doing what he loved out at sea. I just hope he didn't suffer for too long. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
It was great having Jordan here in Spain with me for this. Last night we drank a couple bottles of wine and reminisced about those great times we had in the dorms. And talked about the present, future and everything in between. I am so lucky that I can surround myself with at least 2 of my people in times like these.
It is so hard to be away from home when I am feeling like this but at the same time the family that I have developed with the people I have met is going to be so hard to leave. All the great people I have met here; Scott, Emily, Mary, Lisa, Italis, the list goes on. I am really going to have a hard time leaving this island. That is a good thing.
I am getting really excited to meet the extension of my Italian family in Scotland. We are flying out on April 5th to Edinburgh. My mom's cousin Josephine lives across the bay from Edinburgh with her husband. They had 2 grown children, Derek and Shirley. Derek has 2 kids who are 4 and 9. I am really excited to meet them. Josephine was nice on the phone when I skyped her.
They are still doing construction on our building which is becoming more and more depressing as the weather is getting warmer. They powerwashed all the balconies yesterday, which I am hoping means that they are getting closer to being done. After the whole incident of paint dust being squirted through all the cracks in the (really old and crappy) windows in the apartment, I am very much over it. AND waking up to them working at 8 am on Saturdays!!?? WTF!! This is Spain, people are not supposed to work that much here!!!
This experience has given me so much to appreciate. Any apartment I live in after this is going to feel like heaven, just because I will only be living with Evan and/or Jordan. And we can have all of our own stuff in it! Without any dirty and/or strange roommates! Hurray!
My friends Mary, Amanda and I are running in a 10K this coming Sunday! I have run that far before but never in a race so I am really excited! We are thinking of going to a sushi buffet afterwords to celebrate. Unfortunately, the race is the day after St. Patty's Day so we are not going to be able to take part in many of the celebrations such as Irish car bombs. (I need to remember to not talk about Irish car bombs when we are in Dublin). I might spend the night at Mary's just so I don't have to worry about Evan stumbling in drunk and waking me up lol.
I need to start writing more often!
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Back from vacation!
It feels so good to be back in our little room in our apartment in Palma. We traveled for exactly 14 days and it was extremely fun but definitely felt like 2 weeks. Evan and I both got colds (and still have) but we still managed to see a lot of Milan, Nice, Montpellier, Barcelona, and Paris.
We traveled with my in-laws, Travis and Linda, for the first week of the trip because they had been here for a week before we left visiting us on Mallorca. That was a bit difficult because it was there first time traveling around Europe and they are used to warm, tropical vacations with beaches and warm weather. Using the metro and traversing large cities isn't exactly something they had done before. The beginning was pretty stressful but towards the end we all got the hang of it and had a great time.
I didn't really care for Milan that much (I thought we were going to die in a car crash on the way over to the hotel from the Milan airport) and the city was really large and didn't really have a very nice old town area to explore. I loved hearing Italian (which is incredibly similar to Spanish) and eating delicious Italian food. I am really motivated to try and learn some more Italian for when we go to Trieste and meet some of my Italian family! I adopted a new Italian grandmother on the flight over that I sat next to. We had some cute and choppy Italian/Spanish conversations (Me speaking Spanish and she speaking Italian). Like all Italian grandmothers, she offered me some of her food (the best way to show affection right?) and kissed me on the cheeks when we parted ways. A great start to the trip!
After 2 nights in Milan we took a train to Nice where we stayed for 2 nights. Nice was very nice (ha ha) and had a beautiful beach, but it kinda reminded me of Las Vegas in that it had a lot of hotels and casinos and was very big and flashy. Everyone that we met there was really nice but French is really hard to understand and reads a lot like Spanish or Italian but sounds NOTHING like it.
I was really sad because we only stayed in Montpellier for one night and it seemed like a really cool city. It was beautiful and a lot older than Nice and just had a really good vibe. There were some amazing street performers that drew huge crowds and were great to watch/listen to. It kinda reminded me of Arcata because there were a lot of young transients (probably Trustifarians) around and just had a really relaxed feeling.
The Eve of the New Year we took the train to Barcelona, where we stayed for 4 nights. Barcelona was a little overwhelming because it is a huge city and there are TONS of people there! We also stayed on La Rambla, which is probably the loudest street in the city. The most memorable thing we saw was the huge cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, that was designed by Gaudí and is HUGE and they have been building it since 1887! Que loco!
Our last stop was Paris, where we stayed for 4 days. We saw everything we want to there: Versailles, the Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysee, Arc de Triumphe, etc. That amount of time was perfect because we were really burnt out and kinda sick so we were able to sleep in almost everyday and still have plenty of time to check out the sights. And it helped too that it is the off season and the lines were quite short. I was getting really sick of going out to eat at that point so we went to a really cute "patisserie" everyday to get sandwiches and delicious bread. We also bought had salami left over from Milan, cheese, and tons of fruit that I bought a close grocery store. Bon appetit!
We got in yesterday evening at 7 and I had to teach today for 5 1/2 and I did not feel so hot. Luckily my workload just goes down from Monday so I have more time to relax. I am happy to have a couple months of downtime before the next travel adventure to Trieste! Or who knows, maybe we will sneak in a weekend trip to another part of Spain. :)
Evan and I are starting a map wall in our room with all the tourist maps we have collected in our travels. I have a feeling it will be quite large by the time we head back to the States.
We traveled with my in-laws, Travis and Linda, for the first week of the trip because they had been here for a week before we left visiting us on Mallorca. That was a bit difficult because it was there first time traveling around Europe and they are used to warm, tropical vacations with beaches and warm weather. Using the metro and traversing large cities isn't exactly something they had done before. The beginning was pretty stressful but towards the end we all got the hang of it and had a great time.
I didn't really care for Milan that much (I thought we were going to die in a car crash on the way over to the hotel from the Milan airport) and the city was really large and didn't really have a very nice old town area to explore. I loved hearing Italian (which is incredibly similar to Spanish) and eating delicious Italian food. I am really motivated to try and learn some more Italian for when we go to Trieste and meet some of my Italian family! I adopted a new Italian grandmother on the flight over that I sat next to. We had some cute and choppy Italian/Spanish conversations (Me speaking Spanish and she speaking Italian). Like all Italian grandmothers, she offered me some of her food (the best way to show affection right?) and kissed me on the cheeks when we parted ways. A great start to the trip!
After 2 nights in Milan we took a train to Nice where we stayed for 2 nights. Nice was very nice (ha ha) and had a beautiful beach, but it kinda reminded me of Las Vegas in that it had a lot of hotels and casinos and was very big and flashy. Everyone that we met there was really nice but French is really hard to understand and reads a lot like Spanish or Italian but sounds NOTHING like it.
I was really sad because we only stayed in Montpellier for one night and it seemed like a really cool city. It was beautiful and a lot older than Nice and just had a really good vibe. There were some amazing street performers that drew huge crowds and were great to watch/listen to. It kinda reminded me of Arcata because there were a lot of young transients (probably Trustifarians) around and just had a really relaxed feeling.
The Eve of the New Year we took the train to Barcelona, where we stayed for 4 nights. Barcelona was a little overwhelming because it is a huge city and there are TONS of people there! We also stayed on La Rambla, which is probably the loudest street in the city. The most memorable thing we saw was the huge cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, that was designed by Gaudí and is HUGE and they have been building it since 1887! Que loco!
Our last stop was Paris, where we stayed for 4 days. We saw everything we want to there: Versailles, the Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysee, Arc de Triumphe, etc. That amount of time was perfect because we were really burnt out and kinda sick so we were able to sleep in almost everyday and still have plenty of time to check out the sights. And it helped too that it is the off season and the lines were quite short. I was getting really sick of going out to eat at that point so we went to a really cute "patisserie" everyday to get sandwiches and delicious bread. We also bought had salami left over from Milan, cheese, and tons of fruit that I bought a close grocery store. Bon appetit!
We got in yesterday evening at 7 and I had to teach today for 5 1/2 and I did not feel so hot. Luckily my workload just goes down from Monday so I have more time to relax. I am happy to have a couple months of downtime before the next travel adventure to Trieste! Or who knows, maybe we will sneak in a weekend trip to another part of Spain. :)
Evan and I are starting a map wall in our room with all the tourist maps we have collected in our travels. I have a feeling it will be quite large by the time we head back to the States.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Andalucía
I think I belong in Andalucía. The next time I apply for this program I DEFINITELY will be putting Andalucía on the top of my list.
We spent 5 days and 5 nights there total. And we spent 350E each (Evan and I), which in my mind is pretty damn good if you never even had a budget in the first place. We went with our friends Mary, Emily and Naz. We spent the first 2 nights in Sevilla, where we saw some amazing free flamenco, drank delicious sangria and explored the beautiful, colorful city. The art that people were selling on the streets was all soooo beautiful, it was really hard not to buy anything. We toured the gorgeous cathedral and walked through huge gardens. The food there was delicious! It was really beautiful/difficult because all the streets were lined with orange trees that were just dripping with oranges, but of course they tasted like lemons. ¡Que lástima!
We rented a car in Sevilla and then drove to Granada. Of course it was not as easy as that because we got lost leaving Sevilla and getting into Granada. The next day we went to the arab baths and soaked in the warm water for an hour and a half and drank delicious Morrocan tea. Granada was gorgeous and reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe (not only because it is right next to the Sierra Nevada mountains) but it was very cold and Christmas-y and looked like a really nice ski resort city. We went to the Alhambra and marvaled at the painstakingly carved and painted designs in the palace. We ate tons of delicious tapas there as well. I wanted to buy just about everything I saw in the shops there because everything was so pretty! It is funny because I haven't felt that way about anything I have seen here in Palma. I had a tipsy splurge on a very hippy but cute jacket, a scarf, a beautiful handmade wood picture frame, and Evan bought a magnet.
On the way back to Sevilla we stopped in Córdoba to see the Mezquita, which is a mosque that was converted into a cathedral. We watched a really interesting documentary about when the Mores had control of Spain and that time period is very evident in Andalucia. I love the rich patterns and colors that come from the Arabic influence. The Mezquita was really interesting because it was very much a (somewhat clashing) mixture of a traditional Catholic church and a mosque. It was very beautiful and well worth the drive. For our last night/day in Sevilla we went out to the bars, gorged ourselves on tapas and walked around the city.
I had a really great time getting to know Mary and Emily better. We traveled really well together and I feel like that is definitely a sign of a good friendship!
I really wanted to put pictures in this post but Evan is taking FOREVER to go through them (I shouldn't complain, there are like 1200 pictures) so he hasn't given me any yet. :( Or you could just check out the travel blog for pictures instead!
We spent 5 days and 5 nights there total. And we spent 350E each (Evan and I), which in my mind is pretty damn good if you never even had a budget in the first place. We went with our friends Mary, Emily and Naz. We spent the first 2 nights in Sevilla, where we saw some amazing free flamenco, drank delicious sangria and explored the beautiful, colorful city. The art that people were selling on the streets was all soooo beautiful, it was really hard not to buy anything. We toured the gorgeous cathedral and walked through huge gardens. The food there was delicious! It was really beautiful/difficult because all the streets were lined with orange trees that were just dripping with oranges, but of course they tasted like lemons. ¡Que lástima!
We rented a car in Sevilla and then drove to Granada. Of course it was not as easy as that because we got lost leaving Sevilla and getting into Granada. The next day we went to the arab baths and soaked in the warm water for an hour and a half and drank delicious Morrocan tea. Granada was gorgeous and reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe (not only because it is right next to the Sierra Nevada mountains) but it was very cold and Christmas-y and looked like a really nice ski resort city. We went to the Alhambra and marvaled at the painstakingly carved and painted designs in the palace. We ate tons of delicious tapas there as well. I wanted to buy just about everything I saw in the shops there because everything was so pretty! It is funny because I haven't felt that way about anything I have seen here in Palma. I had a tipsy splurge on a very hippy but cute jacket, a scarf, a beautiful handmade wood picture frame, and Evan bought a magnet.
On the way back to Sevilla we stopped in Córdoba to see the Mezquita, which is a mosque that was converted into a cathedral. We watched a really interesting documentary about when the Mores had control of Spain and that time period is very evident in Andalucia. I love the rich patterns and colors that come from the Arabic influence. The Mezquita was really interesting because it was very much a (somewhat clashing) mixture of a traditional Catholic church and a mosque. It was very beautiful and well worth the drive. For our last night/day in Sevilla we went out to the bars, gorged ourselves on tapas and walked around the city.
I had a really great time getting to know Mary and Emily better. We traveled really well together and I feel like that is definitely a sign of a good friendship!
I really wanted to put pictures in this post but Evan is taking FOREVER to go through them (I shouldn't complain, there are like 1200 pictures) so he hasn't given me any yet. :( Or you could just check out the travel blog for pictures instead!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Rainy Day
It is raining today and will continue to be raining for the rest of the week. I am happy because I like the rain but unhappy because I didn't do laundry before the rain started so now I have to wait until after it is over so my clothes will properly dry.
Last Thursday, Evan and I went to this amazing agricultural fair (largest in Mallorca) and stuffed our faces. You can read about it here. Or, if you don't understand any Spanish, at least look at the amazing pictures that Evan took.
On Friday we went with our friend Lyda to Valldemossa for a spectacularly beautiful hike. If you want to know/see more go for here plants and here for beautiful views. It had rained recently and was absolutely beautiful. That day is also when I found out that there are reruns of Sex and The City on tv here and I am definitely heading to Lyda's one day to hit that up!
Saturday did not see much action, most of my time was spent catching up on blog posts and relaxing. On Sunday I went with Lisa to help with the Es Verger project. The Es Verger project is a small garden outside of Manacor that the volunteer group runs to help pay for some of the costs of the group by selling vegetables. They also have an old run down house that they are trying to fix up to create a nice place to people to work and relax. I don't have any pictures of this place but Lisa took a ton so I am hoping to get them soon. I helped till the soil and pick out rocks and then I worked planting peas, garlic, onions, and leeks. It was a beautiful spot and I hope to go out there the next time they have a work day. The people out there were awesome and it was great talking to them about the environment and gardening techniques. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
That day was also really successful for me because I was told multiple times how good my Spanish is. I felt like I was able to understand just about everything everybody was saying and I even new some Spanish plant/garden words that other people didn't. That day made me feel like I could definitely be fluent at the end of this program if I keep surrounding myself with Spanish speakers and practicing.
Sunday night we went to a Thanksgiving potluck put on by a couple of the other people in the program. We got to stuff our faces, yet again, on a delicious mix of Spanish and American food. Yay for pumpkin pie and empanadas gallegas.
Today we decided rather spontaneously that we are going to go to Sevilla, in the south of Spain for 6 days for December 5th through 10th. We have that Tuesday and Thursday off for holidays and I requested Wednesday off as well. So we are flying out Monday night with our friends Mary, Naz, and Emily and coming back on Sunday. I don;t work on Fridays so that day wasn't an issue. We don't really have a clearcut plan of what we are doing besides renting a car and driving to Granada at some point during those six days. I am really excited to see another part of Spain and be in a place where they only speak Castellano and not Catalan! This is also an opportunity to scope out places we might want to live if we decide to do the program again. 2 weeks away!
On a sadder note, our awesome roommate Ewa (she's from Polland and speaks excellent Spanish) moved out to go back home for a few months while her airport job is not available. Luckily she will be back in the spring, we just won't be able to live with her again. She also told us (Evan and I) that we could come stay with her in Polland on our winter break if we like! She lives in the very nothern part of Polland on the ocean so it is probably going to be freezing there so we will see what the weather starts looking like come December.
Here is the strange part: in her place a 50 year old woman moved in. This is a house of people under 30. Weird. She is a music teacher and mostly keeps to herself and it very quiet but it has set a rather weird vibe for the apartment. The day before she moved in our roommate Mounir put it perfectly "Mom is coming". Dun dun dun! So far there hasn't been a problem but it has only been 4 days.
So Jordan is coming to live here in Palma for 4 months starting around Febuary! I convinced her to take the spring semester off and come live here and be an English tutor! There is a huge demand and it is a well paid job with flexible hours. She has also been saving up for a while to come visit us anyways. This is going to be really awesome because Jordan is fun to travel with (not to mention that she is my best friend) and we can graduate together from HSU in fall 2012! Our roommate Mounir told us he is moving out in February to go back to Morrocco and finish his PhD so his room will be available! Que buena suerte!
Last Thursday, Evan and I went to this amazing agricultural fair (largest in Mallorca) and stuffed our faces. You can read about it here. Or, if you don't understand any Spanish, at least look at the amazing pictures that Evan took.
On Friday we went with our friend Lyda to Valldemossa for a spectacularly beautiful hike. If you want to know/see more go for here plants and here for beautiful views. It had rained recently and was absolutely beautiful. That day is also when I found out that there are reruns of Sex and The City on tv here and I am definitely heading to Lyda's one day to hit that up!
Saturday did not see much action, most of my time was spent catching up on blog posts and relaxing. On Sunday I went with Lisa to help with the Es Verger project. The Es Verger project is a small garden outside of Manacor that the volunteer group runs to help pay for some of the costs of the group by selling vegetables. They also have an old run down house that they are trying to fix up to create a nice place to people to work and relax. I don't have any pictures of this place but Lisa took a ton so I am hoping to get them soon. I helped till the soil and pick out rocks and then I worked planting peas, garlic, onions, and leeks. It was a beautiful spot and I hope to go out there the next time they have a work day. The people out there were awesome and it was great talking to them about the environment and gardening techniques. It felt so good to get my hands dirty!
That day was also really successful for me because I was told multiple times how good my Spanish is. I felt like I was able to understand just about everything everybody was saying and I even new some Spanish plant/garden words that other people didn't. That day made me feel like I could definitely be fluent at the end of this program if I keep surrounding myself with Spanish speakers and practicing.
Sunday night we went to a Thanksgiving potluck put on by a couple of the other people in the program. We got to stuff our faces, yet again, on a delicious mix of Spanish and American food. Yay for pumpkin pie and empanadas gallegas.
Today we decided rather spontaneously that we are going to go to Sevilla, in the south of Spain for 6 days for December 5th through 10th. We have that Tuesday and Thursday off for holidays and I requested Wednesday off as well. So we are flying out Monday night with our friends Mary, Naz, and Emily and coming back on Sunday. I don;t work on Fridays so that day wasn't an issue. We don't really have a clearcut plan of what we are doing besides renting a car and driving to Granada at some point during those six days. I am really excited to see another part of Spain and be in a place where they only speak Castellano and not Catalan! This is also an opportunity to scope out places we might want to live if we decide to do the program again. 2 weeks away!
On a sadder note, our awesome roommate Ewa (she's from Polland and speaks excellent Spanish) moved out to go back home for a few months while her airport job is not available. Luckily she will be back in the spring, we just won't be able to live with her again. She also told us (Evan and I) that we could come stay with her in Polland on our winter break if we like! She lives in the very nothern part of Polland on the ocean so it is probably going to be freezing there so we will see what the weather starts looking like come December.
Here is the strange part: in her place a 50 year old woman moved in. This is a house of people under 30. Weird. She is a music teacher and mostly keeps to herself and it very quiet but it has set a rather weird vibe for the apartment. The day before she moved in our roommate Mounir put it perfectly "Mom is coming". Dun dun dun! So far there hasn't been a problem but it has only been 4 days.
So Jordan is coming to live here in Palma for 4 months starting around Febuary! I convinced her to take the spring semester off and come live here and be an English tutor! There is a huge demand and it is a well paid job with flexible hours. She has also been saving up for a while to come visit us anyways. This is going to be really awesome because Jordan is fun to travel with (not to mention that she is my best friend) and we can graduate together from HSU in fall 2012! Our roommate Mounir told us he is moving out in February to go back to Morrocco and finish his PhD so his room will be available! Que buena suerte!
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