Went to London

I'm a little bit behind I know but I've been busy booking more trips and going to class. London was an amazing place but it was freezing cold. Abby and I stayed in a hostel called the green man inn. It was a decent hostel. The covers and pillow were great but the beds were just fine. It was in the middle eastern part of town. There were a bunch Iraqi and Lebanese restaurants. Saturday night we went and tried Iraqi food. It was really good! I highly recommend it. The hostel was super close to the underground so it wasn't hard getting around. Friday night when we arrived we went to a play, Mouse Trap, it was in a smaller beautiful theater. It was older and very nice. We got lost though so we were ten minutes late but the people didn't care. They took us to our seats and it was easy to follow along. Saturday we went to Westminster Abby, St. Paul's Cathedral, saw Big Ben and the House of Parliament as well as the London Eye. We went to the tower of London as welL. I thought it was really cool to see the London bridge since it was seen so many times during the Olympics. We of course saw Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards as well. Sunday was my favorite though. We went to Camden town and did some shopping. That's where I spent the majority of my money. haha. Everything is so expensive. When we went out to eat I normally ordered the cheapest thing I could find so that I could shop more lol. After Camden Town we went down to see Harrods. The big department store in London. It was really pretty and fun to walk around but seriously? I'm not dropping 250 pounds on a hand bag. Ya right, maybe when I'm super wealthy one day. We ate fish and chips for lunch because everyone said that it was a must. So delicious. I want to go back to London just for the fish and chips. If I go back to London this year, which I am considering, I'd like to go in the summer and go without any plans. Just go to pubs and get drunk and meet people. After Harrods and lunch, we still had a few hours before we needed to get back on the tube and head to the airport. So what did we do? Went to Starbucks. It was a nice break from the cold weather and I was able to get a chai tea latte with skim milk, my favorite! We soon after went to the bus station, hopped on the bus and waited to head back home to Valencia. I had a great weekend but I'm glad to be out of the cold weather and back to where the sun is shinning everyday.

Monday night, Colin and I booked a trip for the Canary Island for March. That is a place that I have been waiting to go to so I am so exciting that we found such a cheap flight. 30 euros. Ya, beat that haha. I am also trying to book a trip to Morocco for three weeks. My credit card isn't working thogh, so hopefully my mom or dad can help me out with fixing it and then I will be off to Africa!! AHHH I can't  wait!

Chao!

White Russian

I've been having a fantastic time this past week. Meeting a bunch of new people. I love the variety of people that are here. If I can't find someone to hang out with in one apartment I move on to the next. Some boys made me a drink that they are all shouting about and say tastes so delicious and so they made it for me. I am not a fan of the white russian! But I will stick with the white wine. I've been more conscious of my money so far. Although I did do a little shopping the other day. I went to Pull and Bear with Colin and bought a black jacket with gold spikes or whatever you want to call them. I'll probably wear it when I go out to clubs and stuff.

My goal is to always eat dinner in and if I want, eat lunch out. Lunch is so much cheaper than dinner and you get a shit ton more to eat. The other night I made a vegetable lasagna without noodles. I'm attempting to eat no bread or pasta while I am here. It has failed quite a bit but I am being very observant as to what I have been eating. I'm trying to lose the weight that I put on first semester. So I guess we will just have to see how that goes. I've been walking everyday and started insanity back when I was home for the Holidays. I haven't been doing insanity since I got here though so I'm going to  try and start that on Monday after I get back from London. Yes!I said London. Tomorrow morning I am flying to London with Abby and we will be coming back late Sunday night. I'll be wearing super warm clothes and am mentally preparing to not  shower everyday. haha anyway. I'm sure we will be doing all sorts of things, due to the fact that Abby is quite the planner. I'm extremely excited to go travel and see a new part of Europe that I have yet to see. In three weeks the program is traveling to Andalusia which is the southern part of Spain. From there a small group of us is planning a trip to Morocco. It's going to be really cool and actually pretty cheap to get there. BBut for now I have to focus on my trip to London. I have never been and the only negative I ever hear is that it's really cold. But hey, I love the cold and everyone knows it haha. So I'm off to get lunch with Alex. I'll be writing about my trip to London sometime next week when I have caught up on my sleep.

See you then!

The new and the old

So I arrived Thursday afternoon and was very excited to see new and old faces. All of the people I knew welcomed me with opened arms and the new faces were open to say hello. But may I add that it is Monday and I am still seeing new faces!! Everywhere I turn I feel like I'm meeting new people. There are 85 students this semester. It is a lot bigger than last semester and there are people and every apartment which is quite the opposite of last semester where there were only 5 apartments being used instead of nine. Friday night I mingled and went out drinking with everyone and then went to La 3 with a big group. Yes, I actually went out. Which is unusual. As I am frequently the grandma of the group and love sleeping. But I stayed out until 3:30 and then called it quits and went back to the study center. I was awoken by a loud knock on Saturday by a beautiful face. Colin got here bright and early Saturday and I was very happy to see him. I meant to get up and take a shower and look somewhat presentable for when he got here but I snoozed my alarm too many times and then eventually just turned it off. Saturday I spent the day with Colin. We went out to lunch and unpacked and just enjoyed seeing each other. I don't know why but I can't think of what we dis, even though I remember going out but I can't think of what we did. I made fajitas that night for the two of us and anyone else that wanted what was left over. I went to bed that night super early because I was still suffering from jet-leg and wanted to sleep. Sunday we were all ready for Eric, Colin's roommate, to get back but he didn't arrive until late afternoon on Sunday. It was his birthday and we were all excited to go out to dinner and drink with eric. Colin and i watched 8 mile while we were waiting for his arrival. Not gonna lie, I think I like that movie. Today we had academic orientation and met our teachers and stuff like that. After Alex, Colin and I went to pAN de Queso and got food and then went off shopping. I bought a new coat which I really needed and then came back and made some eggplant recipe. It was so yummy!! My goal this semester is if I'm going to eat out I'll eat out for lunch and then cook for dinner. Tomorrow night I'm going to attempt to make lasagna without the noodles. I'm trying to get better at cooking but I will say myself, I've been doing pretty well so far. Haha, even though it's only been two days. Well tomorrow I start a whole new round of classes at 9 am. Wish me luck!

Hasta pronto!

back to school

 I’m sorry it has been so long. I decided to not blog while home in Cincinnati. Yes, I had a wonderful time while I was home. Celebrating with champagne and red wine. Yes, I enjoyed every cigarette, knowing when I came back to Valencia, Colin wouldn’t like it if I was smoking. New Years Resolution: Quit smoking… I doubt I can do it but I’m going to try!

So, here I am, once again. Fighting jet leg and waiting. Waiting to get home to Valencia. The Madrid airport has become my biggest enemy. Who wants to sit around in a hard chair with pretzels and trail mix for eight hours? Is there anyone that wants to take me place? You are more than welcome. It would be so cool if there were a direct flight from Cincinnati to Valencia. I wouldn’t complain. HAHA yeah right, if you know me you know I can find something to complain about. But yes, I realize I have nothing to be complaining about. I have another eight amazing months to look forward to. Traveling around Europe, drinking, eating good food and barley studying. My friends are in the US struggling through classes and here I am, whining about a trip that has and will continue to change my life. As I sit here listening to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, my mind wanders to the thoughts that this could have never happened to me. I have been given an amazing opportunity and this semester I am living it up. I think last semester was a transition and although I lived for every minute, many days were spent curled up in bed watching movies and wasting away hours on the computer. I have a trip to London already planned. Colin and I are planning trips to Prague, Istanbul and the Canary Islands. I’m living it up this semester. I promised Colin I would go out once a week and I want to travel almost every weekend. Well shit, when I come back I’m going to be broke.  Budgeting is going to save my money, if I can stick to it, but damn the clothes are just so cute.  I’ll being sitting in Madrid for another three hours maybe I’ll open the trail mix. Or peanut M&M’s. I should add that peanut M&M’s are my weakness.

I look forward to seeing everyone in August but until then I hope my blogging stays up to date so you can read everything I’m doing. Once again, I’m not censoring anything. I’ll let you know what happens. As much as this is a journey for me it’s a journey for you as well. I’m not leaving anything out. That includes good and bad days. So here we go. Day One.