Barcelona!!

Last weekend I took my last weekend trip of the semester to Barcelona, Spain! I traveled with my friends Alyssa from the Marquette program and also a girl, Alexis, who we met while studying here in Spain. Alexis is from Puebla, Mexico and is so sweet! Traveling with Alexis was a lot of fun since we were forced to speak in Spanish a lot of the time! While she knows quite a bit of English, it was easier to converse in Spanish. We did spend a good bit of the weekend correcting each others mistakes in their second language! It was a lot of fun!

While speaking in Spanish was one highlight of the trip, I also enjoyed the city so much! Barcelona is an amazing place, though it is very touristy. We left late on Friday night (10:30pm) and took and over night, 8 hour bus to Barcelona. Since I unfortunately have a hard time falling asleep in cars/buses/planes it made for a long night and next day. We got to Barcelona around 6:30am and didn't quite know what to do, since in Spain nothing opens before 9am. We sat around in the bus station until the sun came up, found a map and then walked over to our hostel. We spent most of our first day wandering through Las Ramblas, a really long street full of vendors and stores. We went to Barcelona's famous market called "Mercat de Boqueria". I tried marzipan for the first time, and I'm not much of a fan. After that we continued down Las Ramblas towards port, stopping to see a monument to Christopher Columbus and the plaza on the way. We got to port and started walking down the bridge/board walk thing. Ever since I got there I had been keeping my eyes open just in case I spotted my roommate and friend from MU, Sarah. I knew she was going to be there but didn't expect to run into each other since Barcelona is a huge city. However, as we were walking across the bridge, we walked right past each other. After freaking out a little bit about running into each other, and catching up quickly we went our separate ways! Even though we only caught up for ten minutes, it was so nice to see Sarah, since I hadn't seen here since the end of last semester. Alexis, Alyssa and I continued on our way by visiting the cathedral, the beach and grabbing dinner. We went to bed super early since we were all worn out from a day of walking around after getting little sleep. 

Sunday, day two, we got up and headed over to La Sagrada Familia, a basilica built and designed by Gaudí. Though it was expensive to enter, 13 euro, we decided we couldn't not go inside. I am so glad we did! The inside of this basilica was like nothing I had ever seen before! It was absolutely breathtaking. We got to take and elevator up to the top of the Cathedral also. The views were spectacular. It's hard to believe that construction on the Basilica began in 1882 and isn't scheduled to be completed until 2026! It's truly a piece of artwork! After that we wandered back towards historic Barcelona, coming across a beautiful park along the way. After eating our bocadillos (sandwiches) we just had to stop off at the chocolate museum! After that we hit up the Picasso Museum and then the Gothic Quarters. We decided that we wanted to make our way out to see the 1992 summer Olympic Stadium, so that's what we did. It was cool to be standing in the place where such a world wide event had happened. 

Since we were taking yet another night bus home, we had some time to waste before we had to go to the bus station. We wandered down a street near our hotel, and it ended up being the street with two more buildings designed by Gaudi on it. It also was the street where all the ritzy stores like Chanel were located. After dinner, we grabbed our things, walked to the bus station and headed home. We arrived back in Madrid at 5:45am. I had it lucky though since the metro stop where the bus station was, was the metro closest to my piso. All I had to do was walk home and crash while the other girls had to wait for the metro and travel home. 

Overall, it was a great last weekend trip of my semester here in Spain! I'm getting really excited to show my Dad around Spain in a week, and for Christmas (all the decorations are now up in Madrid)! I come home three weeks from tomorrow, and I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I love Madrid. However, during these next three weeks I have at least one paper and one test (on top of daily homework) in every single one of my classes so I can't wait for that part to be over! I'll see you all so soon!

Port in Barcelona!

 La Sagrada Familia

 Inside La Sagrada Familia

More architecture by Gaudi

Living the life of a Spaniard!!

Hey all!

Lately life has been pretty ordinary! I have fallen into a schedule here in Spain and not much changes day to day. I go to class in the morning, eat lunch at the Facultad after class, come home and do homework, eat dinner and go to bed. I'm reaching the point in the semester (which I reach no matter where I am) where I just want the semester to be over with! That might have to do with the midterms I just took and the papers and tests I see looming off in the distance. While I'm not sure that I am quite ready to leave Spain yet (good thing I still have about a month left) I know that in a month I am going to be very excited to be coming home!!

While everyday is basically the same around here, I have gotten to do a few new and exciting things over the last few weeks. A few weeks ago, Allie and I decided that we wanted to take advantage of one of our Wednesday's off and go to Toledo, Spain. Toledo is about an hour and half way from Madrid, however, we took the AVE (the high speed train) and were there in just about a half hour. We spent the day wandering around the city and taking in the atmosphere. Even though Toledo is really close to Madrid it had a completely different feel. In fact, it was different than any other city in Spain that I have been to. The city is very old fashion and still has mostly all the same old buildings it had when it was first built. Some of the highlights of our day in Toledo were; seeing the Cathedral (Gothic style), seeing the Museo del Greco (full of his famous artwork and things from his life), and seeing the Iglesia de Santo Tome which holds one of Greco's most well known and famous pieces of artwork, "El Entierro Del Senor de Orgaz." Seeing this painting was probably my favorite part of the trip!

This week two of my friends and I decided that we wanted to try and see a Real Madrid futbol game. Without buying our tickets before hand, Gabrielle, Mary Rose and I took the metro to the Stadium and walked around to try and find tickets. Of course the ticket booth was all the way on the other side of the stadium, but eventually we found it, purchased our tickets and found our seats! The stadium is huge and the futbol fans get so into it! I would compare it how I would imagine being at a football game in the USA would be like (seeing as I haven't been to one I don't actually know). The futbol fans might even be more intense. Real Madrid ended up creaming the other team, scoring three points in the first 12 minutes of the game! It was such a great experience, and even though I don't really like soccer or even know how it is played, I'm glad I went!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, as all of you know! The Marquette group got to eat dinner at a restaurant called Botin. It is the oldest, most famous restaurant in Madrid known to be a popular dining choice of Ernest Hemingway. The restaurant tried their hardest to make us a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and while it wasn't horrible it just wasn't the same. There wasn't any stuffing, which is my favorite part of the meal. It was great to be with all my friends to celebrate the holiday but I couldn't help but miss my family. However, getting to Skype them all while they were at my Grandparent's house was a decent substitute.

Of course, I can't forget what Thanksgiving is all about, giving thanks. I just want to say that I am incredibly thankful for the experience I am having here abroad in Spain and that I even get to be here! It is an experience of a lifetime and I never forget how lucky I am to be here! I'm also thankful for my family. Without them I wouldn't be who I am! Can't forget my amazing friends who I can't wait to see and catch up with! Also, all the friends I have made while in Spain. It is because of them that I am having such a great time! I love you all!

I'm off to explore Barcelona this weekend! I'm so excited to explore yet another Spanish city. However, I'm not quite sure I'm ready for the 8 hour overnight bus there and home. I'll let you know how that goes next week!! :D

Because it is getting so close, I have to add my countdowns:

My dad comes to Spain in 11 days!
I come home in 27 days!

See you all so soon!! :D

Marquette takes on Córdoba and Sevilla!!

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to travel with the whole Marquette group down to
Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain. This was our last full group, organized activity and it was so nice to get to spend the weekend with everyone I have grown so close to over the last three months.

We left Madrid at 7am on Saturday, well at least we were supposed to, but the MU group is kind of scattered and we got a later start than planned. After a 5 hour bus ride we got to Córdoba. Córdoba is the location of a famous Mesquita that was built starting around 600 and has changed so much since that time. During the reconquest the Catholics took over the Mesquita and built a Cathedral in the center of it. It was one of the most interesting buildings I have ever seen. The architecture and the contrast between the mosque and the cathedral were amazing! One of our professors was on this trip with us and he is a never ending supply of knowledge about the things we were seeing. While it is nice to have a personal guide who knows a lot, (in fact random bystanders often jumped into our tour to listen to my professor), it can get a little boring and dull. After some free time and a tour through a cute "barrior" (area of town) we got back on the bus for a two hour drive to Sevilla.

We got to Sevilla, found our hotel and got some more free time for dinner (always nice)!! My friend Carolyn had made plans for us to meet up with her high school friend that was studying in Sevilla. She took us to a really delicious, cheap restaurant the only the locals know about for dinner. It was so packed and the food was amazing!! After dinner we got to go see a real flamenco show! Flamenco originated in Andalusia (the region of Spain that Sevilla is in). The show was two hours long and consisted of four female and two male dancers. Everyone of them were amazing! I personally liked the male dancers better because they do fancier foot work than the women and it's incredible to watch.

The next day we began early with a tour of the Alcazar, or the royal palace. The weather was amazing that day so it was great to wander around the gardens of the palace and spend some quality time with my friends! Abrantes, my professor, talked at us again about all the architecture of the building and the significance of the different areas of the palace. We moved on then as a group to the Plaza de Espana. This Plaza was like nothing I had seen before. There was a lake/pond in the middle of it and a gorgeous building surrounding it.

One of the major things to see in Sevilla is the Cathedral. This cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It also is believed to be the burial site of Christopher Columbus. The inside was breathtaking and full of great Gothic details. We got to climb to the top of the tower to view the city from above! Sevilla is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, place I have been in Spain so far. The atmosphere was so different than Madrid, it was smaller and was full of character. I would love to go back there some day!!

The trip ended with a six hour bus ride back home to Madrid. I had a great time visiting these cities and spending time with my friends!!

How's life in general? Life is good! I still love being in Madrid and all the amazing experience I get to have! I am enjoying my classes a lot, but I'm not looking forward to mid-terms this coming week! All the friends I have made while here makes it that much better! We have such a good time together!

As it get's closer to Thanksgiving, I am sad that I wont get to spend it with my family, but I know that I will see everyone soon! Also, only 23ish days until my dad comes to Spain!! I'm so excited to get to show someone around the city that I have grown to love and have been calling home!

That's all for now! ¡Hasta Luego!

 Inside the Mesquita de Córdoba

 Friends in the Gardens of the Alcazar

 Gothic Style alter in the Cathedral of Sevilla

MU group!! 

One Backpack, Three Cities, Five Days!!!

When I first got to Spain, I looked at the calender and saw that I had two larger breaks. At first I jumped at the thought of flying to Rome, Paris or other popular European cities. As I thought more about how I wanted to spend my time in Spain, and why I was here, I decided that a trip though a few different Spanish cities would be the best way to spend my larger break (even though I still plan on making it to Paris and I already made it to Rome). 

So that being decided, my friends, Carolyn, Alyssa and I set off on an experience of a lifetime. We packed up all we needed for five days into one backpack each, grabbed our cameras and traveled to Granada, Malaga and Valencia, Spain. With only one book about Spain, a place to stay in each location and our adventurous sides we were ready to take on Spain. 

Our first stop was Granada which is south of Madrid in the mountains. After class on Friday we booked it to the bus station and made it just in time for our six hour bus ride to Granada. We got to Granada later than we thought we would, so after finding our hostel we went straight to bed in order to get ready for the next day. On Saturday, we woke up bright and early (though it was still dark and freezing outside) in order to make our way to La Alhambra. For those of you that don't know La Alhambra is a Moorish Palace and fortress build during the 14th century. We spent most of the morning wandering around the Gardens and the Generalife part of La Alhambra. The views of the city, the flowers and the architecture were breathtaking. We grabbed a quick grocery store lunch and then headed out to see more sites. 

One interesting thing about Granada is that it was the last city to be taken by the Catholic Monarchs in the Reconquista. There are monuments to Isabel I and Ferdinand II all over the city. As we were walking around we came across the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel of Granada. We decided to go into the Royal Chapel, thinking that it was just going to be like any of the other churches we came across. However, once we were actually inside the Chapel we discovered that it was the burial site of the Catholic Monarchs and actually held their tombs. I am not really a history person, but I could not believe that I was actually looking at the crypts of the Catholic Monarchs who had such an important impact in not on the history of Spain but in the discovery of America. I will admit to liking history more now than I ever have before since I have actually been able to see the pieces of history. After being amazed by the Chapel we went through the Cathedral and were amazed again by all the Gothic style architecture and the history associated with it. That night we went back to La Alhambra to walk though the Palaces. The detail in this Moorish building is unbelievable. 

Our second day in Granada was slower and more relaxing, not after getting incredibly confused because of Daylight savings time. We spent most of the day wandering and taking in the city as we waited for our bus to Malaga. After an hour and half on the bus and a short walk, we made it to our hostel in Malaga. We went out for tapas and got to experience the night life in Malaga. The atmosphere was amazing and so much different than Madrid. On Monday we had the majority of the day to explore the city. We spent it by looking though a Museum dedicated to Picasso's early years (he was born in Malaga), wandering down towards the Mediterranean ocean (I got to stand in it!) and exploring the grounds by the castle, fortress and Cathedral. The weather was absolutely amazing, and it felt more like summer and not like Halloween. 

That night we had to catch a late night, 55 minute flight from Malaga to Valencia. We landed in Valencia, found our hostel, got settled and went straight to bed.  On Tuesday morning, we got up early and wandered though the old part of Valencia.We had to stop to get some Horchata, a Spanish milky drink originally from Valencia. The Cathedral is one of the major parts of Valencia, so of course we had to go in there. It included many very interesting pieces of history including a few original Goya paintings, a famous version of the Last Supper and the Holy Grail. After touring the Cathedral we decided to make our way towards the beach. We were determined to get real, homemade, fresh paella which also originated in Valencia. On our walk we took a pit stop of at the "La Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias", the museum grounds. The buildings themselves are pieces of artwork. 

The last night of our trip we had a fabulous dinner of fresh, delicious Paella Valenciana, arroz negro (black rice), wine and fresh Spanish olives. All as we sat at a restaurant on the beach of the Mediterranean watching the sun set. It was a perfect ending to a great trip!

 

I personally can not pick a favorite out of those three cities. They were all so very different, unique and special in their own ways! Overall, it was a great experience to have to manage my own travel though three different cities and to get to see more of Spain outside of Madrid! 

 Beautiful Gardens of La Alhambra

 In front of La Alhambra

 On the beach in Malaga! 

 View of Malaga

 Valencia's amazing architecture 

YUMMM!!! PAELLA!!! 

A weekend with St. Ignatius

During my first few days here in Madrid, I had to make a decision about whether or not I wanted to go on a "Mission Trip" with SLU Madrid (the four year campus St. Louis University has here in Madrid). We weren't given much information about the weekend other than we would be going to the north of Spain to learn about St. Ignatius of Loyola. I decided to sign up along with the majority of the Marquette group. Everyone signed up because at that point in time no one liked the idea of being in Madrid alone. As we got closer to the trip and were given more information about it, it turned out that what they described as a "Mission Trip" was actually a Religious retreat. 

Some of the Marquette group didn't quite know how to handle the idea of a Religious retreat, but I decided to take the weekend to get away from the busyness of the city and reflect on my time here in Spain, St. Ignatius, the Jesuit ideas and life in general. For those of you who don't know, St. Ignatius was the founder of the Society of Jesus, aka the Jesuits. Marquette is a Jesuit school and follows the beliefs and teachings of St. Ignatius. 

We started the retreat off with an early morning, 5 hour bus ride up into Basque Country. Basque Country is a name for the part of northern Spain we were in. We were actually in a little town called Azpeitia, Pais Vasco. This is the town where the Castle of Loyola is, which is where St. Ignatius grew up. Basque Country is so gorgeous!! It felt like a completely different world than Madrid. Madrid is very desert like, while Basque Country is amid the mountains and full of green grass and beautiful views!! 

When we got to Loyola we got all settled into a retreat house right next to the Castle of Loyola. We shared this retreat house with nuns, who were mostly in silence. This made for an interesting atmosphere. After lunch and a little time to explore the area, we got to go inside the Castle of Loyola, where St. Ignatius was born, grew up and returned to after he was injured in the Battle of Pamplona. This is also where he was converted from a life on non-belief to becoming a follower of Jesus. I found the tour of the house really interesting. To actually be standing inside the room that he was born in was really powerful. That night, after dinner, the whole group (SLU and MU) got together to bond. Up until that time it had been a little awkward trying to mix the two groups, but that soon changed. I really like all the SLU students who were on the retreat. I'm glad I met them and hope to see them again before we all leave Spain!! 

On Saturday, we had breakfast and then walked over to the tiny town of Azpeitia. We got to see the hospital that Ignatius worked at, and the chapel that he lived in while working. This chapel was also where he started preaching his new found beliefs. On our walk back towards Loyola we stopped off at a beautiful church. The church was actually where Ignatius was baptized. After mass in one of the side chapels of the church, we headed back for lunch. That night, we got to go inside of the Basilica of Loyola. This basilica was one of the most beautiful basilicas I have ever seen. When we entered the basilica it was completely dark, but was soon lit up in rhythm with music!! As a special treat, the priest who was explaining the basilica to us, allowed us to climb through the back of the basilica to go up into the dome!! It was so amazing to look down on the church from the dome! 

The next day after celebrating mass inside of the Chapel of the Conversion, which is the room that Ignatius spend all his time in after his surgery and also where he was converted to being a follower of Jesus, we set off on a 2 and half hour bus ride to Xavier. Once there, we got to tour the Castle of St. Xavier, another Jesuit saint. The castle was gorgeous from the outside, but the inside had all been redone into a museum, which was kind of disappointing. We then headed home to Madrid on another 5 hour (though it seemed like more) bus ride. 

I had a great weekend learning about St. Ignatius, spending a little time reflecting on life away from the city, and meeting new friends!! It's awesome to be able to say that I have now been the the place that the beliefs Marquette follows started from!! Though I returned home with a worse cold than I left with, I'm now getting prepared for a five day trip to Granada, Malaga and Valencia, which are all cities in the south of Spain!! 

In front of the Basilica of Loyola! 

Beautiful Basque Country! 

My fellow Elementary Education and Spanish girls! 

New friends and Beautiful views! 

Castle of St. Xavier

Home Sweet Madrid!

I'm sorry for my lack of posts in the last two weeks! I have been enjoying myself so much here in Madrid that I forget to post. Over the last two weeks I have been busy getting into the rhythm of classes and homework. Classes are structured differently here and I am finding that my professors are not very straight forward with instructions.This might just be due to the language barrier though.

Also during these last two weeks I started tutoring English. Once a week, Allie and I take the metro about 40 minutes away to tutor two children in English for an hour. The little girl that I work with is absolutely adorable. When she speaks in English she speaks with a British accent. This is because they attend an English school, where all their teachers are from England. This can cause problems and difficulties sometimes, because the way that I might pronounce something is completely different than the way they have heard it before, and they get really confused. I really enjoy tutoring English since it is great practice for my future. I love watching her make the transitions between the languages and seeing her really enjoy learning and speaking English. Just from working with one kid for one hour a week reassures me that I am studying and pursuing the right path! It also helps that I get paid! :D

Last weekend was very calm! I unfortunately was sick with a cold, so I spent most of the weekend reading and relaxing. On Sunday, Carolyn and I decided that we needed to explore a part of Madrid that we hadn't seen yet. While wandering around old Madrid, we ended up finding the "Mercado de San Miguel". The market is very touristy, but it did have some great dried pineapple (one of my favorites)! We also went to Retiro, since there is always something new and exciting to see there! While in search of the Crystal Palace (which we never found) we wandered into two beautiful gardens, saw some peacocks and enjoyed the weather while it was still warm.

It is now officially fall in Madrid and I love it!! According to my Senora, this year has been really strange weather wise in Madrid. She said that it should have been raining for the last month. But instead we have only had one day of drizzle, not even rain, in the last two months that I have been here. However, it looks like that is going to change this week. I feel as though I am getting spoiled with the weather here, I mean I did get an extra month and a half of summer! It is going to be a huge shock to get back to Chicago in December.

Con mucho amor,
Elizabeth :D

What I actually came here for...school

Semana numero seis: The start of classes.

Now that orientation is over, I actually get to start my semester classes! Last week was the first week of classes. I am taking four classes during the semester. They are; advanced Spanish grammar, theology, Spanish phonetics, and a Spanish literature course. All my classes are going well so far. It is hard to switch into school mode though since I am in such a beautiful place and I still have so much to see and experience while I am here. 

My grammar class seems like it is just going to be a review of things I already know so it shouldn't be too difficult. Theology is actually really interesting and might end up being my favorite class this semester. The class is an Old Testament overview and I'm actually learning a lot! The class atmosphere is interesting. While there are 6 or 7 other American universities that take classes with us, the theology class is only offered to Marquette students. We're the only catholic school here that has a theo requirement. Because of this there are a grand total of three students (including myself) in this class. Since there are only three of us we are forced to participate, pay attention and be prepared for class since if you don't it's pretty obvious. My phonetics class should be really interesting and helpful. It will help me with my pronunciation and boost the confidence I have in my Spanish  speaking ability! Spanish Literature is just like other Spanish lit classes I have taken, but we are reading things I have never heard of so I'm excited to explore further into the readings. 

The way that classes are organized here is really different from what I am used to. I have classes every day except for Wednesday and only for 3 hours each day. Classes aren't like in the US where they are Monday, Wednesday, Friday but instead they are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, Friday. I'm finding that I have a lot more free time here than I did when I am at Marquette. I'm sure once classes pick up I will have a lot of homework to do during my free time. 

That Friday, I went with Carolyn out to where she lives. She is working as a nanny in Pozuelo, which is about 30 minutes by bus out of the city. I went with her to volunteer at a club for girls. That Friday was the first get together for the club so they were having a party to start off the year. Carolyn and I went with one of her friends and got to run one of the activities. It was so fun to be around the kids and use my Spanish. I hope I get to go back and help out with the club again! 

On Sunday, I got up early in order to meet up with the rest of the group for Chocolate con churros. This is a delicious Spanish snack mainly eaten for breakfast. The restaurant is open 24/7 though so you can eat it whenever! It's basically plain churros dipped in hot chocolate syrup. It's so rich and delicious! After that we went as a group to the Rastro. The Rastro is a huge flee market that takes place every Sunday in Madrid! It was so crowded but if you really searched there were some great deals! I plan on going back when it gets chillier out so there is less of a crowd. 

As for life in general, I am doing great! I am absolutely in love with Madrid and Europe in general! Everything I experience is new and amazing and I can't get over the fact that this is real life! I love my home stay and my Senora! She is a sweetheart and cares so much for all three of us (Allegra, Allie and me). The weather here is still pretty nice. It's only chilling in the mornings and gets up to 80 degrees during the day! I have made some amazing friends in the last six weeks and I'm so glad I get to experience all of this with them! 

Oh and by the way. Sorry for any previous grammatical errors you may have seen in my blog. I went back and looked through my previous posts the other day and realized I really need to edit what I am typing! :D I'll work on that! :D 

That's all for now! Love and miss you all!!! :D

Chocolate con Churros! :D