Saturday, June 30, 2012

my madrid experience

we arrived in madrid yesterday morning and everyone was completely exhausted. our hotel was right across the street from a mall, so a few of us went shopping and just hung around the hotel. last night a large group of us decided to go out to this club. it was one of the neatest things i've seen so far. it had 7 different levels and each level had a different theme to it. it was a lot of fun. we ended up staying there until about 4am and decided to head back.

this morning we went on a walking tour of madrid. the buildings were beautiful and we saw a lot of neat stuff. pick pocketers are very common and our tour guide saw a group of 3 women while we were walking that she recognized as pick pocketers. pick pocketers target tourists and usually leave their own people alone. needless to say i was guarding my purse for my life.. and luckily nobody in our group had anything taken. we also went to an art museum and took a tour looking at art from major spanish artists. it was interesting. and i was amazed at how detailed all the paintings were even from the 1600s.

we took a bus to salamanca where i will be staying and studying for the remainder of the trip. my host mom is the sweetest thing, but doesn't speak any english. the people in madrid/salamanca have a bit of an accent. the pronounce c's and z' like th's. it almost sounds like a lisp. for example.. saying gracias here would sound like grathias. it has made it hard for me to understand, but i'm sure that i will catch on quickly.

i am staying in a room and have a roommate who is also in my program. my host mom has 2 other girls living with her that are studying in different programs, but they will be leaving next weekend. i haven't met them yet.

my host mom has a son whom i've met and i believe she also has 2 grandsons.

the internet connection here is so nice.. we had free wifi at the hotel yesterday and we all spent quite a bit of time on our computers.. it's amazing how attached to technology we are.

this evening we are going to a welcome party with all of our host families. it's supposed to be a pizza party. i think it will be a lot of fun. for now, i'm just relaxing in my room. i have everything unpacked.

now that i am finally somewhere with stable internet i will be able to post everyday. i am planning on posting before bed.. recapping my day.

that's all for now, i'm going to try to get some rest.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

someone pinch me.. i must be dreaming!

i made it! the flight was nice and clearing customs was easier than i expected. however i did get questioned by a customs officer about my travels.. i guess they just pick random people to question. my first observations of london.. it's crazy to see people driving not only on the opposite side of the road but on the other side of the car... pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.. i'm very thankful that every street tells you which way to look for traffic... the roads are very narrow.. the buildings are gorgeous.. i find it absolutely crazy that i have to pay to use a public restroom, but they are much nicer than public restrooms in the states..and i would kill to have a british accent.

we arrived in london wednesday morning and hit the ground running.. we left to find breakfast and got a little lost at first.. someone asked a stranger for directions and she ended up taking us around the area showing us various places to eat.. i was slightly amazed at how nice everyone was. we ended up having breakfast at a nice cafe and then went to kensington palace. it was very pretty. after we visited kensington palace we went back to the hotel to check in and take a nap.. i was absolutely exhausted.

the hotel we're staying at is in the more expensive area in London.. and they don't have free wifi.. surprise surprise.. purchasing wifi for 24 hours is very expensive, but we found a nice wifi cafe to use.

a group of us went out last night and had dinner. i had fish and chips and it was absolutely delicious. the beer here is pretty tasty too. after dinner we looked high and low for a dance club. we eventually found one and ended up spending most of the night there. it was a blast, and everyone really had a good time.

this morning we had our official guided tour of london. i absolutely fell in love. there is so much history here. we saw so much. the building are beautiful. we saw buckingham palace, west minister abbey, the tower of london, big ben, and so much more. i'm going to try and upload some photos later. we toured the tower of london. it was pretty neat.

we leave at 2:45am to head to madrid. it's been such a quick 2 days, and i definitely didn't get a chance to see everything i wanted to.. guess that just means i'll have to come back someday :)

random things i've noticed about london: london is so very very expensive. the police around here drive BMWs. everyone seems to drive veerrry nice cars. everybody smokes. every child 3+ rides scooters on the sidewalks. the "tube"(the underground rail system) gets very crowded and is almost awkwardly silent. the tube doors WILL shut on you.

that's all i've got for now. i'll post from madrid!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

pre-departure jitters

bring on the craziness! the days are winding down and i can feel the pressure. i feel like i have prepared myself very well and probably just need to relax. my summer class ends tomorrow, my last day at work is sunday, and i fly out on tuesday. i'm busy trying to make sure i take care of everything i need to before i leave and relax and enjoy the time i do have at the same time.

i started packing... and it looks a bit like a tornado went through my living room. it actually was a bit easier than i thought it was going to be.. but i would say i'm only about half way done. i just hope that when i'm finished my bag is under 50 pounds. i'm bringing one large suitcase and packing a smaller carry on suitcase inside of it. the plan is to put everything i buy while i'm gone in the carry on so i don't go over my weight limit with all the good things i'm going to bring home. i have everything packed that i won't need until the trip and it appears i'm also bringing a small pharmacy as well. we were advised to bring any of the OTC medication that we frequently use because it may not only be different but not come in the same strength. and to be quite honest, i trust what i know... so i think i've prepared myself for almost any situation.

i've been talking a bit with other people that will be in my program trying to figure out what everyone else is doing to prepare for various things and make plans for various things we want to do when we arrive. i found out that i will be meeting a couple other people in Chicago that will be on my flight to London. it puts me at ease a bit.. i'm so worried that i'm going to land and not be able to function... i'm sure i'll be fine.. but the possibility is still there.

i can't even tell you how many times i've been asked "are you excited about your trip?" and depending on what's going on in that part of my day people have been getting all sorts of answers. the answer is yes, but i'm just a ball of emotions. i'm excited/nervous/anxious/sad all at the same time. of course i can't wait to go.. this will probably be the only time in my life where i can put my entire life on hold for a whole month and experience the world. what isn't exciting about that? i'm lucky that i have family that accepted this crazy idea when i threw it at them. i'm lucky to have dean that has listened to every detail of planning this trip and has continued to encourage me. and for those reasons.. it makes me hesitant to leave. my support system is here. everything i know and am comfortable with is right here. my life is a security blanket. i'm about to take an adventure that is completely unknown to me. i don't know what to expect and that's what freaks me out the most. i know i'll be fine. i'll adapt quickly to the new lifestyle and the spanish way of doing things. so although i'm scared about what's to come i'm excited too. it's going to be a wonderful experience and i'm going to have the time of my life.

i am happy to say that the next time i post something i'll be in london. :) so stay tuned for more posts and pictures.

Monday, June 11, 2012

is this even real?

i got an email today saying that my program packet was mailed out today. it includes my flight tickets, baggage info, and a go to guide while i'm traveling. it's hard to believe that i'll be living in a completely different country in about two weeks. i can remember when the countdown was 6 months. it's all starting to sink in. today i let my banks know that i will be traveling out of the country so they won't decline my card when i try to use it. i'm pretty sure that i have all the last minute things i needed to buy before i leave. i'm sure i forgot something.. but i'll find that out when i get there. i haven't gotten my suitcase out to pack yet.. i'm planning on starting that next week. i'm sure i'm going to over pack. the rule is: pack everything you think you'll need and then take away HALF of it. HALF?! seems a little much to me.. but i'm going to do my best to weed things out. we'll see how well that goes. i'm starting to get really nervous. i had a dream last night about getting lost trying to get back to my house in spain, and my host family was upset i missed dinner. i truly hope that doesn't happen. i've been reading a lot about host families overseas and am a bit nervous. for some families, housing students is their job.. therefore it has a bit of a business feel. for other families they take the student in and you become a member of the family. i sure hope i get the good family feel. i'm sure that my host family will teach me so much about daily life and living in salamanca. i'm still pretty worried about the food. i'm going to try everything, and hopefully i'll find some stuff that i really like. i'm hoping for the best. i know i' going to have a lot of fun, but i'm really wanting to learn and absorb everything in spain. i don't want to be the touristy american that they are used to seeing.. i want them to know that i'm trying to learn their culture, habits, and country. and i'm hoping i can get it figured out in 4 weeks! for those of you that are interested in reading my updates i believe there is a way where you can subscribe to my blog and you should get an email notification when i post new entries. i'm hoping to post daily while i'm there.. but if that's not possible i'll do the best i can.