Las Canarias!

So last weekend we went to the Canary Islands and it was absolutely incredible! The Canary Islands are technically part of Spain, although the are located off the western coast of Africa, and as such have an incredible climate :) It was 85-90 degrees and sunny all weekend and very enjoyable!

On Thursday night I had gone to the Tallest Man on Earth concert with my Spanish friend Alejandra (which was INCREDIBLE by the way) and got back home at about 11:30 p.m. Then we met at 5 a.m. on Friday morning to go to the airport so I was a just a little bit sleepy... haha but anyway the flight was about 3 hours and it was my first time flying Ryanair which was interesting. They talk over the intercom the entire time and try to sell things the whole flight so it was a bit obnoxious and impossible to sleep but oh well we were heading to the Canary Islands so I was too excited to sleep anyway! We arrived at 9 a.m. Canary Island time and headed straight to the beach where we got on a catamaran and went to go whale watching. We ended up running into a group of about 20 dolphins and they swam underneath and around our boat for over a half an hour, playing, jumping, and watching us. It was truly incredible and so beautiful. Then we headed to have have lunch and... RODE CAMELS. It was an interesting experience. I thought it seemed kind of sad because they camels just sit there chained to each other, getting up when needed, having to sit when not, but our director told us that it's a very important part of the Canary Island culture because camels were used there in the old days and that they're treated fine and all that. Anyway then we headed back to our hotel and were free to do what we wanted for the night so me and the girls went out to dinner and then came back and crashed at about 10:30.

On Saturday, we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel and left on the bus at 9 a.m. We went to walk around a small town and see some of the sights there. Then we started the drive up into the mountains. We went to the peak of the volcano Teide, which is about 13,000 feet high and is the third highest volcano in the world. We could only drive so far, and then we took a cable car up to the top and then it was about a half hour hike to the very top. The view from the top is probably the most impressive thing I've seen in my life. You could see the other Canary Islands around us!! It really was beautiful and I had a moment thinking about Grandpa and how he would have loved to see this being the mountain man that he was :) I really loved it and I wish that I could have shared the experience with my family. After coming down, we stopped to have some lunch (we were starving after that hike!!) and then headed to the capital of the Canary Islands, Santa Cruz, to see that city. We did a bus tour of the city, and then went to a pizzeria for dinner as a group and had (a lot of) beer and pizza. We made it back to the hotel, showered, and a few of us went out to have a drink but we were pretty exhausted so we made it back pretty early again and went to sleep.

On Sunday, we didn't have to leave the hotel for the airport until 2 p.m. so we got up at 9 and had breakfast and then headed to the beach. The beach was black sand and it was sooooo beautiful. The pictures really don't do it justice. It also made your skin super soft we were all rubbing it all over our skin to exfoliate (hahaha) :) Then we headed back to the hotel to head back to chilly Madrid :(

Overall it was a truly amazing weekend. The culture, climate, etc. (and accent) there is very similar to those I've seen in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It was nice to get out of the city and into nature for a while. I took so many pictures and they're all incredible that it would take too long to try to put them in this entry, so I'm including a public link to my facebook album so that you can take a look at them all. If the link doesn't work, leave me a comment and I'll try something else. Hope you enjoy them!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3714659917500.2132008.1605750104&type=1&l=b22b758c9c

Freiburg and Sam!!!

So... here goes the post about my most exciting weekend since I've been here... going to see Sam in Germany!!!

I left Madrid at 3 on Thursday and flew to Frankfurt, then took the train from Frankfurt to Freiburg and arrived there at about 10:30. Sam picked me up from the train station and we went to meet up with his friends and went to their student bar.

Then on Friday, Sam and I walked all around Freiburg until he had class. We had some delicious pastries for breakfast and then had some currywurst(?) for lunch which was really good. We met up with two of his friends and shared a pitcher of beer. Then I walked around and did a little bit of shopping while he had class. Later on we went out to dinner at the restaurant where his friend worked and he ordered me wienerschnitzel, which is a typical German dish I guess, and it was delicious. The restaurant was next to this huge beautiful church so we sat outside and just sat, ate, enjoyed wine (Sam, beer) and talked. Then we met up with a couple of his friends and had a drink at two different bars.
             

We ate outside the restaurant in the blue building

On Saturday we slept in a bit and then went and got pizza and pasta for lunch and ate outside in a really cute courtyard. Then went up into the mountains there which was incredibly beautiful. It was very cloudy and a little chilly and just drizzling a tiny bit, but the clouds made the view of the mountains and the forest sooooo beautiful and since it wasn't really great weather there was hardly anyone there so it was very romantic :) It was definitely my favorite part of the trip. Since there wasn't really anyone around we couldn't ask someone to take a photo of us but we took a few selfies haha. We also stopped to get gelato on the way back which was sooo yummy. I had lost my voice almost completely the night before since I'm sick, so in order for me to recuperate a bit, we just came back and watched Bridesmaids and took a nap. Then we got up and went to get groceries and took them to Brandt's apartment to make dinner. We were super fancy and had wine (that was 2 euro for a bottle of red and 1.60 euro for a carton of white!!!!), cheese, apples, and bread for appetizers and then Sam made some chicken and vegetables in a tomato/wine sauce for dinner which was equally good! Then we just sat around and drank some more wine (beers for Sam and Brandt) and chatted. 

On Sunday Sam and I walked around Freiburg a bit more and he showed me some more stuff and then we sat and had cappuccinos and talked and then went to get flammkuchen for lunch which is sort of like a thin crust pizza and it was delicious. Sam then had a second hankering for gelato so we split a cone :) Then we came had to say goodbye since I had to leave from the Freiburg train station at 3 :(

I finally made it back to my apartment in Madrid at 11 pm on Sunday (note to self: never leave that late in the afternoon on Sunday!!) and was EXTREMELY sick. But the infection of the pharynx (yes, that's what I have, I went to the doctor today finally) I got while there was well worth it :) It was soooo incredible to see Sam again and just made me even more sure that we'll make it through this year just fine.

I just want to say thank you to my parents (and Sam's). We appreciate it sooooooooooooooooo much how much you guys are supporting us in traveling to see each other or just with our friends this year. This will surely be the most influential and rewarding year of our lives and we wouldn't be able to do it without you. I really can't say how much we appreciate it. I know you're both going to read this so I hope you know it! We love you so much!!

Well this weekend I'm off to Tenerife in the Canary Islands with my program... hehehe. It's going to be amazing I'm sure. I just hope I feel better by then... :/

Besitos!!!

Mountains in Spain!

This entry is way overdue, but two weekends ago (Saturday the 22nd) I went with my host mom and some of her friends to the mountains outside of Madrid. It was a really incredible time! The views were so beautiful. We hiked for probably about 5 hours in total and when we got to the peak, we could see Madrid on one side and Segovia on the other! It was very cool and it reminded me a lot of home and Wyoming.

 

Argentina, Maria, Florida, Paloma, and me (the giant)

Then on Sunday we went to see the "circo" (circus) which was incredible! I went again with my host mom and her friends and it's like an indoor event with people who do like the flying trapeze and all that cool stuff. It was really awesome! This is the link to the performance we saw if anyone wants to see what it was like. They have photos and videos of some of the performers so you should check it out :)

http://www.teatrocircoprice.es/web//index.php/espectaculos/view/210


Those were really the only eventful things that happened that week, unfortunately...