Hasta luego, Spain.. :(

Well the time has come where I have to say goodbye to the 3rd home of my life.. I can't believe it has been 18 weeks and I'm not ready to go yet! There were definitely those times when I just wanted to be in my comfortable, small college town or the good 'ol QCA, but it took about 2 days for me to realize what an incredible time I was having and how there was no way I wanted to leave. Spain is really a great country. The lifestyle, the people, the shopping, the beaches, and the sites made for the perfect place for me to study abroad.

(quick break for the trip we took last friday to Tabarca, an island off of Alicante. It was beautiful!)

random beach we went to on "labor day" for Spain

some of the girls from our group on the ferry to the island

tabarca beach-super windy!

Im not even going to go in to how much I'll miss my new friends I have grown to love so much. It's never goodbye :) My flight to New York is booked and ready to go for a mini reunion this summer. The re-entry into my "normal" life will be a struggle. Going to work, having a schedule, having responsibilities for that matter, and not waking up to the mountains on one side and Mediterranean on the other will be difficult. Some of the daily lifestyle differences I'll have to adjust back to are:
--packing my sandwiches on regular loaf wheat bread in a ziplock rather than tin foil
--having a breakfast of something other than strawberry yogurt with granola
--drinking a grande starbucks coffee instead of a mini shot of espresso with a splash of milk
--not taking my favorite, hot and sweaty 24 bus every time i want to go somewhere
--buying blue moon for $3 each instead of my wine juice boxes for .35 euro cents
--taking tequila shots with a lime instead of the gross lemon they give us here
--the lack of fresh, sweet fruit for super cheap in the grocery stores
--salads with something other than olive oil and salt as dressing
And many more lovely things about life here that I have grown to love. If someone were thinking about studying abroad and didn't know where to go, I would definitely recommend somewhere in Spain. The country is so different than the rest of Europe and especially the US that it is a lot to adjust to culturally. For the complete study abroad experience, Spain has been perfect. It wasn't always easy, but neither is life, so you've got to roll with the punches and figure out how to brush the little annoyances off and move on.

A semester wasn't nearly enough. I cant imagine even only going abroad for a few weeks, because the past four months have just finally seemed like spain is my new home. And part of me wishes it was, but as my dad so conveniently reminded me, "Kate, it's time to come home." grr.... But I don't wanna! Looking back on my first few posts, I can see I wasn't overly excited about many things regarding the Spanish lifestyle at first.. Luckily that all changed and I got over my "I want the easiness of life if the US back" attitude. I've also come to enjoy not having a smartphone where everyone is always on it texting or on twitter or Facebook. None of us here have anyone to text, much less money on our sweet go-phones, so we have been able to actually enjoy each others company! Imagine that! Facebook has also become one of the most useful websites ever for study abroad kids. I have so many groups now with all my Spanish friends, CIEE kids, dorm kids, etc that it will be so much easier to keep in touch with everyone.

Cody, my first friend outside of CIEE in Spain, and Kim-two of the people I will miss the most.. Cody was the first goodbye today and I did not like it one bit.

The semester I've been waiting for since 5th grade has come and gone, and I am thankfully able to sit here and say how thankful I am for the whole thing. It really has been an experience of a lifetime and i'm never going to forget all i have learned about life by being here. I have loved every minute of being in Spain and have also been fortunate enough to make it to a total of 22 different cities in 8 countries! I'm also now a great traveler :)

Time flies when you're having fun, and I think my life is passing me by quicker than I realize.. It's time to say a few more goodbyes and savor the last few moments of the semester that has given me such a positive, new outlook on the world and what lies ahead for me. Thank you all for taking a look at my little diary now and then! This was first supposed to just be for my family, but my mom seemed a little too excited to pass the website around town, so I'm glad you could all share in my study abroad experience a little bit. I'm sure I'll be itching to share more stories as soon as I land!


Now time to get excited about finally seeing my mom, EB, and Aunt Eda in Rome on Saturday! Luckily, it's not quite over yet :) What a great life this is.


-k

The real spring break- the canary islands!

After all of the intense sight seeing and traveling we had been doing for the first half of our 17 day spring break, the next and last trip of the semester with my friends was to Tenerife, one of the canary islands! They are Spanish owned, so it was nice to be able to use our Spanish there too. 12 of us from different CIEE programs booked three apartments in a great all inclusive resort.

That ended up being the perfect option for us. Being able to eat whenever we wanted, not having to get 12 people to decide on a restaurant, and having our own apartments and agendas was so nice. For five days, we lounged inside our "compound", making it out only on two different occasions.. The pools were the perfect temperature, we had great weather, and all got really tan!

The bar opening at 11 am was obviously 

Most of the group, poolside on our first day.

taken advantage of the first day.. The other people at the somewhat family resort definitely thought we were insane, but by the weekend the stag parties started showing up so we weren't the lone rangers opening and closing the bar daily..

abby, kim, and I, the three amigos living in the dorms from our specific program

The nighttime entertainment was also a highlight of our evenings. There was this great entertainer lady who ran the shows, and they had dances all made and little skits, game shows, and bingo! I starred in the show the first night, competing against two men from England. They got way easy challenges- kissing 20 people on the cheek in a minute- and I had to jump rope 80 times in a minute!! Not fair. Wearing a mid-thigh length little sundress and sandals made that way too difficult after a few kitty cocktails...

I didn't win the contest, but I did win a bottle of champagne, so thats better than the dumb prize I would have gotten anyways :) of course..

the group of girls, plus Ryan, and Tenerife Resort man Josh

After the entertainer woman realized we were the only Americans there, she picked on us for literally every activity. Day and night... Matt, Ryan, and Morgann brought Disney to Tenerife as Mickey, Minnie, and sponge bob one day! They had to do some Spanish dance with all these little kids it was hilarious.

minnie, mickey, and spongebob, with our new Tenerife resort friend Josh.. they couldn't see and were sweating after the 10 minutes in there..

Matt also became one of the dudes from the Full Monte one night and had to strip.. (keeping those pictures off the blog..) He had never done it before (so he says..) and it was hilarious. He did a pretty good job for learning the dance a few hours earlier though. We were supposed to do this thriller dance one night and got tired of having to entertain people.. We wanted to relax since it was our vacation, and told them we were done doing that stuff..

soooo.... we sat here and bombarded the bar with our crazy drink requests. I became the best bartender they had seen, introducing everyone to our famous whiskey sours on the rocks, some good creamsicles, and other great stuff i pulled out of my bag of tricks.

Kristen, another Mizzou girl with CIEE, and I enjoying some sort of pre-dinner drink.

and Ryan, my favorite little guy. He's probably one of the coolest people on earth. not kidding.

The all-inclusive meals were a killer.. I blame all of my study abroad bad habits on these 3 weeks of traveling.. I was doing so well and eating so healthy until "spring break" happened.. So naturally, we took over the ice cream bar from the little kids and made some awesome creations. Morgann was the master, making this giant thing: 

yes, despite the excitement over ice cream, we are 21 years old..

and my yummy cone. Not quite whiteys, once again.. but it served its purpose.

So the last few days were a lot of fun too! We made it out the final day for whale watching on a catamaran. It was a little chilly but we saw some baby pilot whales! They looked like darker dolphins and we wanted to swim with them but they're protected and you can't.. Way too many pictures later we turned around and went back to the resort.

half of the group on the catamaran

whales! 

kristen and i on the side of the boat, trying to spot some dolphins or something..

and the crazy people who jumped in! it was freezing and i was not about to do that..

 Enjoying our last great meal, a few of us went out after and the rest had a nice 6:30 am flight on Sunday, so they went to bed. Abby and I had conveniently chosen the 4:30 pm flight Sunday, so we had the day to lay at the resort some more.

the pretty resort, view from our room at sunset.

 After getting in to Madrid at 8:30, there were no flights or trains back to alicante, so once again, we slept in yet another airport.. Madrid was really uncomfortable. Barcelona definitely wins the "Best Airport-Overnight" award. Knowing this before we got there obviously, we had planned and bought tickets for the earliest train back to Alicante on Monday morning.

lovely tile floor we pulled out every jacket in our bags to try to make a comfy bed.. no such luck..

Even though the last night landed us back home from our lengthy travels entirely exhausted, Tenerife was a great trip and totally worth the Madrid sleepover :) we were so sad to get back because that means the semester is almost over.. Two more weeks, then finals and the semester I have been waiting for since 5th grade is done.. So sad! I never want to leave this place! And the worst part is, no matter how many times I could come back to Spain in my life, it will never ever be the same as how the past 4 months have been.. Depressing. I'm trying to prepare myself for the departure but can't seem to wrap my mind around it yet.. Luckily I've scheduled a few trips to see all my friends already so this is not goodbye forever :)

Time to get ready for the pack-up and send-off I guess...

-k

euroTour: study abroad style

My Spring break began on April 5 and ended April 22nd. That's how they do it in Spain, NEVER WORK! Fine with me, I'll take the 17 days off. We decided to do the bulk of our touring during this time. The itinerary is as follows, and the posts are in chronological order following this post, from the first stop, to the last.

Paris, France: Abby, Kim, and me, meeting our other friend Ryan
Prague, Czech Republic: Abby, Kim, and me, staying with a Mizzou friend of Abby's, who lives in Prague
Munich, Germany: Abby and me
Nice, France/Monte Carlo, Monaco/Ventimiglia, Italy: Abby and me

Home for three days in Alicante.....
Tenerife, Canary Islands (technically Spain): 12 of my friends, all in the same resort

So, here goes nothing! These are long, I couldn't leave anything out!


enjoy :) because I sure did.

-k

Stop number one-Paris!!

Getting on the flight was a struggle in itself! Kim had a duffle that was 2 inches too big for Ryan air... So 50 euro later, we ran through the line to try to get seats next to each other since they're not assigned. (of course, you have to pay extra for that too) With our picnic lunches in hand, dripping in sweat, we plopped down and plugged in to our music for the quick 2 hour flight to the most romantic city yet, Paris :)

The other two have fallen in love, (Abby and Kim), but I have yet to meet Mr. Euro-love.. I've got 6 new cities to look for him, so he's got to be there somewhere. Maybe a French boy? Probably not.. I should have gone to Holland.. Those boys have been the cutest so far. Anyways, on to afternoon #1 in Paris!

Well we got in at around 3 at Beurgois airport.. Super far away. We got on a bus to take us to the center and wandered into an irish pub for a beer, obviously.. 7 euro later for a plain old Fosters, we realized the reality of how expensive Paris is and decided we might be able to starve for a few days. Backpacks and all, we plopped ourselves down at the bar and talked to the bartender from ireland! He gave us some good pointers if I can ever make it to Ireland soon.. He was nice and forwarned us of our incredibly long hike to the hotel across town.. We took about four trains it seemed like to wind up at our hotel, outside the city center, and away from everything.. Thats what happens when you give your friend who likes to just "wing it" one job.. By this point it was about 9 pm. So we found some good sushi restaurant down the street, took it to go since France is not on the same "eating-late" schedule as Spain, and went to sleep for a long day of seeing as much as we could in Par-ee!

Abby and I got Kim up against her will on Friday morning to head of the Eiffel tower. We wanted to go up it, but there was only one elevator running and the line said it was over a 2 hour wait.. So unfortunately, we didn't get to go up. That was the case pretty much everywhere we went. Since we had such limited time there, we couldnt stand in line for hours to be able to go in anywhere.. Kind of frustrating for me because I wanted to see the Mona Lisa, and go up the Eiffel tower, and go in the Norte Dame, but when you're traveling with two other people, all with different agendas and ideas of fun, you have to give a little..

almost to the bottom of the tower!

Instead of trying to figure out the metro and directions to all we wanted to see in this massive city, we jumped on a double decker that took us all over the city. Great investment for sure since we didn't know how long walking would take and the metro doesn't let you see the neighborhoods or architecture or anything. We also had the guided tour so that was nice to hear the history of things.

me, on the top of the tour bus so i could get some good pics :) and freeeeeze.

the beautiful notre dame

another really pretty little shop in the quaint district around the notre dame

wandering around, with the quiche lunch in hand :)

After a lunch of quiche at a stand near the Notre Dame and wandering around taking it all in, we met our friend Ryan at the Louvre. He had been in Paris for a few days and had rented an apartment on airbnb, a website that is perfect for that! It was near Sacre Couer, so a metro ride, grocery store stop, and Desperado beer later, we made it up the 6 flights of stairs to their French chateau.

We made our frozen meals we had all bought from this great grocery store that only sells frozen food! What a cool invention for college kids! We hung out for awhile before going out to some bars near their house.

(more sight seeing pics..)

those perfect little pedestals to stand on for a photo op in front of the Notre Dame

an eiffel tower shot from the top of our double decker!

and beautiful sacre couer.. gorgeous cathedral, especially around holy week

the inside of another cathedral by sacre couer, no pictures were allowed in the real thing.

and we made it to the arc de triumph! MASSIVE!

Our last morning in Paris came rather quickly! Kim and I went back to the Notre Dame area for a coffee and croissant because that was near the train stop to go to the airport and Abby went back to the Eiffel Tower. We ran into the St.Michel fountain, an unexpected but beautiful find, and wandered through some cute french shops.

so many pretty cherry blossoms, or whatever those trees are..

I have to say, the new language barrier that is much more apparent and difficult than the Spanish one was at first, was the French one. I had heard from so many people that "the French are rude" and "they act Ike they don't know English to make you look dumb, when they really know it".. I was giving the French people, as a whole, the benefit of the doubt before traveling to their city of Paris.. Between walking on the streets and them blatantly running into you, to the glares and stares when you ask if they have an English menu, I'm not a huge fan.. Paris is a beautiful city with so much history and some pretty good food, but I kind of think the French culture is not my cup of tea. Part of the cultural seminar class I have been taking was examining the French culture based on an article an American wrote about moving to France and trying to figure out their way of life. I think he put it well, that the difference between American interaction with people and French interaction with people is that Americans make conversations with strangers to simply make conversation. There is no need to have a relationship with the person or even know them at all. Americans tend to converse as a norm, regardless of the formality of a situation. French people tend to only hold conversations with those they have a relationship with and do so for a purpose. They may not talk to their neighbor they have had for ten years simply because they aren't looking to be good friends with them. Whether his observation is true or not, I think it is interesting. We perceive the lack of a smile as we pass or the silence when we say Bonjour as rude, when the French may see that as completely normal.. Neither is right but maybe just a difference in cultures.

For this and a few other reasons about Paris, it was not my favorite city but definitely had my favorite architecture! Off to Prague! My number one "City to Visit While Abroad" destination!

goodbye paris, it's been real.

-k

Prague: the city that never sleeps.. Or maybe that was just us..

Picture time... :)

me, abby, and kim, on the Charles Bridge in Prague!

it is a beautiful city!

famous St. Vitus Cathedral, in the Castle District

Well, the second Easter weekend since I was 2 that I wasn't visiting my grandma and grandpa in Florida with the fam! Seemed a little strange, but Prague will do :) We lucked out with the set-up there. Staying with a Mizzou alum who graduated last year and was Abby's friend, we had our own personal tour guide, public transportation guide, massive apartment and our own room even! Mike has lived in Prague for about a year now, and had a stacked itinerary for us full of sight seeing, lots of fun, and some great food.

(see post below..)

Mike, the guy from mizzou, me, and kim at a great pub!

bbq chicken wings. oh.em.gee. divineee.

We got in around dinner time, so we took our typical quick siesta before getting dinner at this awesome pub! Every table had it's own keg! We poured our own beers that were some of the best beer I've had, a mix between bud light and blue moon almost. I had some great barbecue chicken wings!! I had been craving those forever.. Czech food was insanely good. Great salads, awesome meat, and some good garlic soup :) oh and rye bread for once! In Spain we only have French bread it seems like with everythingggggg.

Near the old town, Mike took us to a bar his friend owns called the Drunken Monkey. Haha great name.. The owner is an American guy named Will and we walked in for the start of this great pub crawl and the girl at the door went to Mizzou! What a small world! But it gets even smaller.. I noticed two Iowa Hawkeye license plates on the wall and asked whose they were, come to find out Mike's friend, Will, who owns the place is from Cedar Rapids! Finally someone who knows where the Quad Cities is! It was great to talk to him and have that connection in Prague. He is wild.

that's Will. He wore the sombrero alll night. 

We continued on the pub crawl around to some cool Czech pubs, and Kim and I introduced ourselves to the men in kilts, a rugby team from Edinburough! They had a tournament or something in Prague and were there for the night. Fun time joking around with them about their kilts and little did they know that I knew a lot about Scotland thanks to my good old Dad! Wandering along in the freezing cold Prague night was a little different than the typical tank top and skirt we wear in Spain though..

me, kim, and abby, enjoying the pilsners

Easter led us to a tour by Mike of Prague- to the St. Vitus cathedral, the castle, the easter markets, and the St. Charles bridge. The easter markets were really neat to see. Vendors spread around a square near the astronomical clock tower with their kids making the food they sold or aligning their little trinkets.

it was snowing that morning!!

view of the bridge

old town

and again..

  It was cool to see the family affair and I couldn't resist one of the spiral cinnamon sugar dough circles! I had read about them and how it is a traditional Czech easter snack, and it was really good.

the snack :)

easter tree!

another view of the cathedral

from on top of the castle, overlooking the city

city streets, in old town

our hot wine break! we were absolutely freeezing.

a statue on the st. charles bridge

pretty view from the bridge, again..

lots of religious statues all along the bridge

After this, we appreciated the perks of touring with someone who lives in the city, as Mike took us to this terrace restaurant on top of a hotel with incredible views of the city and clock tower.

great view from on top of the hotel/restaurant mike took us to

the famous astronomical clock tower!

Prague is beautiful! After our long tour, the four of us headed back for a quick map before another great meal of salad with salmon and a real vinaigrette dressing! We felt so spoiled having salad with lettuce other than iceberg and dressing other than olive oil and salt..

One of our Mizzou friends studying in Alicante with CIEE was in Prague for the weekend with her parents as well, so she met us out after dinner along with a few of Mike's friends. Kim stayed in because she had an early train (6:30am!!) to Berlin to split from us and meet some other people there.

Kristen, me and abby, the mizzou crew in Prague!

Needless to say, we had a great night and stayed out way too long for our tired and toured bodies.. Coming home at 6 am to our lovely Kim, who overslept her alarm apparently and was hardly going to make her train.. That's all contingent on her actually finding her way to the train station.. Disaster city struck and Abby and I were no help, but Mikes nice roommate Guido walked her/ran carrying her bag to the metro stop and happened to find a taxi. She made it, luckily, but I think that will be the last early train Kim decides to take alone..

After a snooze for a few hours, the four of us grabbed lunch and some snacks for our Munich train ride. Funny enough, Mike randomly decided he wanted to join us to Munich for the night! That makes number two of our hosts deciding we are that fun and wanting to join on one of Abby and my European adventures.. I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not, but we have a lot of fun and still manage to see the sights of the cities and experience the culture, so what more could we ask for?

me, trying to repack that great backpack of mine for the millionth time!

We jumped on the train and headed for a scenic ride to Munich for the next few days. Bring on the beer, sausages, and pretzels!



-k