Finally, I can relax!

I know you're probably thinking, "how could this girl possibly relax any more than she already is?" Well, it's possible. I have traveled to four different cities in the past four weekends and I'm exhausted.

I came home from Barcelona on Monday and was welcomed with a relaxing family day. I went with Maria and Andrea to Olga's basketball game then after went food shopping to pick out food I wanted for the week. The basketball game was hilarious. This poor team, of eight year old girls, was up against monstrous 12 and 13 year olds who were already going through puberty. They didn't stand a chance! We managed to be up by a few points before half-time but it wasn't too long before the small glimpse of hope seemed to die very quickly. The game finished with a score of 14 to 8, them.  I can't decide if my favorite part was watching Olga get angry and scream at her teammates or hearing the parents laugh and joke as they watched the girls run back and forth without any plays. It reminded me how fun it was to play recreational basketball. Not!

Everyone must think that I'm here for all fun and games because that's all I talk about. Well, that's not exactly the case. My schedule consists of four classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. Yes, I know, it's a very easy schedule BUT the days are long. Sometimes. With only one week left of classes, there is a list of presentations and papers due very soon. For example, for Retail Marketing, I have a 45 page paper and a 20 minute presentation due in two weeks on the retail chain, H&M. On top of the countless projects, I am still freaking out about a summer internship. I don't have one! It's so difficult to stay on top of things, back in the U.S., when I'm here, because it makes the application process nearly impossible. To try and solve this problem, I'll be staying home tomorrow, during the huelga and applying all day.

The huelga is a strike that will occur across Spain. We don't have classes tomorrow because none of the buses or trams will be running, there will be picketing everywhere and basically... Spain is shutting down. This is the first nationwide strike since the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1975. Hopefully it won't be too dangerous or violent as it's just a resistance against the new labor laws that were recently passed by Parliament. This official strike will be ran by Spain's main labor union, CNT and it should be an interesting experience even though I'm going to try and stay out of it.

These signs are everywhere!

Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain.

Buildings by the famous Spanish (Catalan) architect in Park Guell. What makes his work more than just beautiful is the fact that he introduced modern architecture. Most of his famous buildings were built in the early 1900's and he died (in 1926) getting hit by a tram as he was sketching one of his new buildings. 

Olga is #7 on the blue team

They had to stop the game multiple times because Olga's laces kept getting undone. Madre mia!

This adorable little boy ate pipas (sunflower seeds) like it was his job! Takes me a minute just to eat one.

Dublin for St. Paddy's Day!

It had been over a month since my last post, and a lot has happened. I will just talk about my recent travels. The past few weeks have been nothing but madness. It's a tough life I live, let me tell you.

 I never spoke about my program's trip to Granada for the last weekend in February. It was such a relaxing weekend with all my friends from Alicante and it was easy because everything was planned out for us; We didn't have to pay for anything, except lunch and souvenirs. Our program, CC-CS, had us stay at this beautiful four-star hotel, Hotel Abby, and we were given a huge breakfast buffet everyday as well as a 3 course dinner every night. My favorite highlights included seeing the Alhambra, going to a flamenco show and going to the Arabic baths. I could talk all day long about how amazing the baths were and I definitely recommend going. It was such a beautiful and old city with a lot of Arabic influence as Granada was the last place in Spain to kick the Moore's out. GO TO SEVILLA!

Flamenco dancer

La Alhambra

The Arabic Baths

Arabic restaurant where you could sit on pillows and eat dinner

The weekend after, I went to Seville with my friend Kelsey. We had three whole days to see the city so we had plenty of time to just stroll through and do as we pleased. I have to comment on our hostel experience. The hostel was probably the nicest hostel in Spain, called Oasis Backpacker's Palace. They offered free walking tours, a decent breakfast, beautiful lounges, free computer use, WIFI as well as a rooftop deck with a pool. The only thing that could have made it more enjoyable, but not as funny, would have been if Kelsey and I didn't share a room with 6 other random people... Probably won't be doing that again. It was also a nice change of pace because we decided to save money and cook for ourselves one night, in the hostel. For $16 euros, in total, we ate like kings for dinner, had snacks for the rest of the trip and made four bocadillos (big baguette sandwiches) to take with us on the plane ride back.

Mike (Canadian friend from Alicante) and I at the mushrooms. At the top you can see the entire city.

Christopher Columbus' tomb.

Rowin' a boat in Plaza de Espana

Plaza de Espana. My favorite building in Spain, hands down. Legit. No joke.

Reppin' Alicante

I recently returned from my weekend trip to Dublin (seven hours ago to be exact) and let me just say that it was my favorite trip so far. I'm already researching flights to Ireland for a free weekend that I have left here. It was a such a relieving change of scenery to go to a different country since I've been traveling just around Spain. They speak English (not that you can understand anyway) and there is more of a familiar metropolitan feel to the city.


Before I left, everyone was telling me how disappointing St. Paddy's Day (how the Irish spell it) in Ireland is and it's so much bigger in the states. I HAVE TO DISAGREE! Yes, it used to be a holy day for prayer in the country, until it was taken over by tourists but the majority of the Irish have joined in for the fun and for the weeks leading up to the holiday, the city is painted green with spirit. Literally. Every building is lit up green, every bridge, every sign, and even the beer was green! Although it was cloudy and rained the majority of the time, it was still a beautiful city. The contrast of all the lush green grasses with the buildings and gray sky was amazing. Not only did I learn a lot about Ireland's history and their war struggles but I didn't realize how much culture they had. It's not just an empty space on the map...


One of our activities in Dublin consisted of a four hour walking tour where we were able to see all the famous sights. We saw Trinity College and the Book of Wells, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness Factory (I learned how to pour a perfect pint!), Dublin's Castle (it's actually not a castle. I was upset...) and St. Stephen's Green Park. Our first night we did our own touring of the city and ate in the famous Temple Bar area. We went to The Old Storehouse but little did we know that we would wind up eating incredibly tasty food while enjoying a live band in the pub. Yes, the food was bland but once you added a pinch of salt, it was delicious.

On Saturday, every single bar and restaurant was packed with people. The streets were filled with song and dance as well as friendly people who just wanted to drink and mingle. The parade was actually great. It rained for a portion of it so I decided to hide under an awning where I met this little old woman who was born and raised in Dublin. She was so sweet and made the experience even better by giving me some inside scoops on the city.

I think It's possible to go to Ireland just to visit the bars. I can talk about the culture of their pubs for days. There is no other atmosphere like it anywhere in the world. Friday night the girls and I went on a pub crawl where we went with a big group and received drink deals. In a six hour time span, we went to five different bars and clubs. Saturday night, a.k.a. St Paddy's Day, we were able to bar hop to about seven different places within the night. In the older bars, there are usually a few floors from which you can see over balconies and watch the live band play. I thought it would be so boring listening to cover songs all night but It turned out I enjoyed pub sing-a-longs and Irish dancing more than any DJ I've ever seen. The people are extremely friendly, there isn't a need for "dress to impress" outfits (due to the cobblestone streets and the weather), there was never one type of crowd in any one place and there seemed to be enough locals mixed in with the tourists. If you want a real Irish experience, we just so happened to come across the oldest bar in Dublin, The Brazen Head. The crowd was all locals, pints in hand, with typical musicians playing flutes, violins and guitars.

Sarah and I returned back to our hostel (The Generator Hostel was amazing) around 3:30am, grabbed our stuff and called a cab to the airport. Nicest cab driver ever. It's Ireland, so obviously. Once inside the airport, it was nothing I've ever seen before. It was a sea of green as hundreds of people were sprawled out on floors, tables, plants and bathroom floors. Since all the flights out of Dublin, on Sunday, were all before 8am, everyone decided to screw it and not waste a hotel room. I even walked into the bathroom and there were two girls sleeping on the sink counter. Pretty much describes St. Paddy's Day for you.

Beef stew with mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, carrots and cabbage. And salt.

The Guinness Factory

Temple Bar area is where the majority of party goers gather

The least dense place in the airport. Can you imagine?