Wandering Students

It has been way too long since my last post, sorry for the delay. After my 5-day stint in Fuertaventura, I had two days in Madrid and then left Thursday the 18th for Barcelona on an overnight bus. I got back late last night. So I was exhausted for my few days in Madrid, and not even around for the most part.

But it has been an amazing two weeks! I realized many times on the Fuertaventura trip how fortunate I am to have the opportunities I have been given. Seriously, how often does someone get to be excused from school to learn to scuba dive and go to the beach for a 5-day biology class field trip?

Now I am officially a certified PADI open-water diver, I have seen an octopus in it's natural habitat, narrowly avoided being stung by sea urchins, had a ray swim at me as it attempted to flee from a curious group of college girls, and attempted to avoid going near creepy moray eels, despite my professor's prompting.

That's me! One of the instructors had an underwater camera. 

Seriously creepy dude. I did not want to be all up in his business.

Octopus hiding under a rock!

We also drove through gorgeous volcanic mountain roads, and saw secluded beaches.

We had this whole beach to ourselves. It is hard to tell, but I am at the top of the huge cliff which slopes down to the hidden beach. There is a person on the way down the hill, for some idea of scale, and each of those black rock things was a horseshoe shape big enough for at least two people to lay down in. It is really hard to get an idea of the overwhelming scale in a photo, but it was spectacular.

Me, my biology professor, and my scuba buddy, Christina.

I then went to Barcelona with three friends. We visited the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, and La Boqueria market, and we tanned on the beach. On Sunday, I went on a Gaudi walking tour where I got to mingle with some Americans, though my travel companions did not join. It was a wonderful couple of days, and I wish I could go back right now. Barcelona was a beautiful city and the people were amazing, but I only got a taste of it on my weekend adventure.

Butt and legs statue in a park

From left to right: Allison, Me, Charity, and Alexa. At Park Güell.

Gaudi mosaics!

Fish at the market. This woman was not pleased about my photography, turned around and flipped me off. I just laughed and walked away.

Mushrooms! yum

Me at the Sagrada Familia.

On the walking tour, I got to see the Catalan tradition of the human tower. These people climbed each other to form an amazing tower of standing people. It was awesome.

This weekend made me realize how much I am going to miss Spain. I have been compiling a list of all the things I miss about America because, needless to say, I have had my rough patches with studying abroad. But I really will miss things about this wonderful experience I have had. Things as simple as jamon, delicious cheese, and tortilla (the thick egg and potato Spanish one, not the flat Mexican one) and I will even miss speaking Spanish. It has been one hell of a semester, and I know that I need to make the most of my last three weeks.

I am done traveling out of Madrid, and just want to enjoy the city and experience the things I haven't yet seen. I will also revisit certain things I have seen, namely The Reina Sofia, since I only got a glimpse of the extensive collection. I may try to do a walking tour, since the one I did in Barcelona was amazing and showed me many things I wish I could have visited.

My Spanish teacher calls us "the wandering students" because every weekend my peers travel to new cities. In my time abroad, I have seen a lot of Spain, some of Portugal, a bit of England and Scotland. I may not have a list as extensive as some of my peers, but I have fully enjoyed every place that I have visited and tried to make the most of my trips. I have no regrets about my travels, and look forward to more in the future.

But like I said, I have three more weeks, so while this sort of became a sad culmination post, it is not the end yet!

One more scuba pic, me, Christina and Fernando, in our wet suits.

As always, there is a plethora of pictures on Facebook.

Pictures!!

Can't get enough of my sub-par iPhona photography?! Well you are in luck! I just uploaded over two hundred photos onto my Facebook in the albums "Madrid Semester," "London Spring Break," and "Scotland March 29-31." Feel free to peruse them. Some of them come with comments which I think are hilarious due to my lack of sleep and also the two essays weighing on my mental state.

If you are not already my Facebook friend, here is a link to my profile: http://www.facebook.com/mikane26
You may not be able to see the pictures if we are not already friends, in which case you may friend me and I should accept relatively quickly... unless I have no idea who you are... in which case you should message me in reference to this blog post. If you have any troubles using the Facebook, please ask your nearest twelve year old for assistance, but be careful, if they are texting, assistance may be hard to come by.

Here is one of the few pictures I did not put on Facebook. It is a cherry pastry, which the lovely Jade Farentinos bought me for Pi Day (3.14 or March 14th)

Back in Madrid!

Hola! I am back in Madrid after an AMAZING 11 day vacation in the UK. I have had my ups and downs studying abroad here in Madrid, and I was dreading my return, but it feels good to be back in a  sunny city and back in a room I can call my own. Today I am in one of my inexplicably good moods, so hooray! Welcome back, me.

This weekend I am going to be taking two 4-hour scuba lessons in a local pool, and next Thursday I will be going to the Canary Islands for 5 days with my biology class, and scuba diving in the ocean (OHMYFREAKINGGOD). I am STOKED!!!

So my Spring break: The highlights, though everyday was great.

I landed Thursday afternoon, and took the Tube in at about rush hour, so that was an experience. That night Marissa and I did a night walking tour of London, lead by her. We saw the London eye, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Tower of London, and Westminster Abbey.

Friday we took a school trip to Bath which was meh, but at night we took a train to Gillingham where I finally got to meet Marissa's friend Richard who she met in Italy over the summer. It was seriously the best night out I have had since coming to Europe. The places we went were just bars in some random English town, but the people were great, and there was no drama. It was super fun, and I could talk to everyone since there was no language barrier. 

Saturday we went to Borough market and ate a ton of scrumptious food, and then explored Camden market, which was super cool.

Sunday, Marissa and I woke up ungodly early (like 5am) to stand in line for £5 tickets to Matilda the musical. They give away 16 tickets every morning at 10am, and Marissa's friend told us you have to go pretty early. She based this advice on having gone in the summer, when it is nice out. So, we stood in the freezing cold and rain for about three hours total since we kept leaving to get tea and sit inside and no one else showed up to queue until about 9 am. It was ridiculous, and unpleasant. But we got the £5 tickets, and the show was spectacular.

Monday we had a little two person Seder, just me and Marissa in her flat, but it was great! We printed a terrible Hagadah, and a prayer supplement, and it was adorable.

Tuesday we went to the V&A and then I went to see Singing in the Rain at night, which was super fun though my seats were terrible. 

Chihuly at the V&A

Thursday I went to the Cortland Gallery to see the Picasso exhibit. The whole gallery was fantastic.

Friday we took a hilarious tour of the London Dungeons which was great fun, and then at night we flew to Scotland.

In Edinburgh we drank whiskey, ate fish and chips, and walked a lot. It was absolutely beautiful. We also tried some delicious local beers. My favorite was one called Punk IPA which we tried at a really cool place called Brew Dog Brew House. We also toured the Royal Yacht Britannia, and went to a janky** Scottish Carnival.

Monday Marissa's sister and mother came into town, and we all got dinner, and then I spent the night in Heathrow so that I could take the tube for my 6:40 am flight back to Madrid. 

So it has been a hell of a week and a half. Should be a whirlwind end of the semester, and I am officially spending my summer working at Animal Fair, and going to the gym with my mom. I am excited to return home, but I think that I am going to be happy and enjoy my last weeks here.