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.