Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias!!!

Shoot, I'm glad that spanish isn't my first language, because I would hate to have to say "Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias," every time I saw someone of Thanksgiving!!!  I got tongued tied having to invite some people to supper and I just couldn't imagine having to say it to everyone as a greeting.  

Anyways, yesterday was a huge success.  Seeing as they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, the American's were asked to put on a program for the spaniards, so that they could better understand the holiday.  It was a lot of fun and I was on the cooking team.  I volunteered to help cook BEFORE I knew it was for 200 people!!!  However, it turned out to be soooo much fun!!!  I was in charge of the desserts, which all turned out to be pretty tasty!!!  We made 8 apple pies, 14 pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, and 8 cheesecakes!!!!!  Everything looked sooo pretty!!!!  I also helped with the food, which consisted of vege meat with gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac-n-cheese, sweet potatoes, veges, fruit, and salad!!!!  It was a mad house in the back, but everything looked presentable and turned out fantastic.  After hours and hours of preparation, the programs was hilarious and successful!!!  The school surprised all of us with packages and letters from home!!!!  To all of those who sent me stuff, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!  One of the walls on my dorm room is decorated with all the postcards, cards, and letters that people have sent me throughout this year!!!!  Thanks to you all, the wall is a lot less sparse and is getting quite colorful!!!!  Even though Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday back at home, I couldn't have had a nicer holiday away from home!!!  You guys are the best and I love you all!!!  Can't wait to see you guys in a couple of weeks...yay!!!!!

Volleyball Rally.

So....this weekend I played in a volleyball rally.  There were 7 girls teams including our team which was called, "Los Lobos."  Before each game we would chant, "Kick Butt," followed by howling....it was great!!!!  haha  In total, we played 6 games and unfortunately due to the terrible refs, we got 3rd place (the refs were spaniards rooting for the other team).  However, this was super good, considering that some of the girls on our team had never played before.  It has been since high school since I've played v-ball competitively and I was shocked how fast my competitiveness returned...I can't wait to go back to Walla Walla next year and play!!!!  Overall, the weekend was a blast, however now I feel like my life would be better if I just cut my shoulder off, because it's so sore!!  Anyways, there is another rally in the springtime, so we are going to bring it to 'em spaniards.  It's crunch time in Espana...time to get to the books!  Ciao.

Florencia.

So....Italy pretty much made me never want to come back to Spain.  Not only does my bestest friend in the whole wide world live there, but the school is right in Florence.  I got there super early Friday morning.  We decided to sleep in while the girls were in school.  After, we ate in the cafeteria and OH MY WORD....contrary to Spain, the food there was amazing!!!!  After the 5* meal, we walked into town and treated ourselves to some gelato.  BEST EVER!!!  We walked around and scoped out all the stores...there were lots of really cool stuff, but I decided to hold off making any purchases, because I knew I would be back during x-mas break!!!  We all decided that pizza was sounding mighty tasty for supper, so we went to the restaurant called "Yellow Bar."  By far the most amazing pizza I have ever had.  Pamela and I got two different kinds of pizza and split them...we might of licked our plates clean.  =)  After supper, everyone went back to the school, but Pamela and I had lots of catching up to do, so we decided to continue walking in town.  We ended up at this chocolate shop called "Hemingway's."  We ordered hot chocolate and chocolate cheesecake.  I loved the chocolate cheesecake, but the hot chocolate was a little much for me.  Let's just say you ate it, not drank it.  It was like a straight melted chocolate bar...amazing, but a little too rich for my liking.  Pamela loved it =)

Sabbath, we ate lunch again at the school and then Pamela and I walked into town.  She showed me all the major sites including the famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio (the picture above).  I didn't want to do all the touristy things, because I knew I would be back during x-mas and I really just wanted to walk and talk with Pammy.  So....we did just that.  After a nice stroll around town, we met up with everyone back at school and tried to decide what to do.  We decided to walk up to this high point in Florence (not sure what it was called) where it overlooked the whole city.  A bunch of us took crazy jumping pictures and were just being silly.  After we probably burned off all the calories from supper from laughing, we decided to go salsa dancing.  The place was really really small, but it was soooo much fun.  Most of you probably already know, but Pamela and I took Salsa classes when we were at home, so it was a lot of fun to practice our moves.  The different dances were a lot of fun and most of the guys there were really cool and not to crazy... After, we went back to Hemingway's and got berry cheesecake, coffee, and milkshakes.  I got a nutella milkshake and it was the best ever.  When I go back to WWU I'm going to have to suggest that Iceberg add's NUTELLA to their shake flavors...I'll give them lots of business ;)  By this time, it was pretty early in the morning, 2 a.m. to be exact, so we returned to the school and snoozed.  We slept in Sunday, ate another amazing meal at the school, and went to the open market.  The market was super fun and different than here in Spain.  The people all speak english and try hitting on you so that you will buy stuff from there stands.  One of the famous lines were "Oh you dropped something...(when you turn around they say..) your heart."  Such a good pick up line...hahaha  I got two x-mas gifts in the market, but I will refrain from saying what those things are.  Also, Italy is known for the leather, so I'm debating whether or not to buy a bag when I go back during x-mas.  We will see.

Now I'm back at school in Spain and it's bitter sweet.  Thanksgiving is approaching and I'm super sad I'm not going to be at home, because my family is awesome and we have all these super fun traditions.  I love traditions and I'm going to miss them this year.  Oh well...I guess I will try and share that happiness here in Spain.  We just had a meeting today, because the American's are in charge of putting on a Thanksgiving programs for the Spaniards, since they don't celebrate it here.  I'm one of the people in charge of cooking, so hopefully we can all muster up something yummy!!!!  Miss you all!!!

I have the BEST parents EVER!!!!

So the food sucks here in Spain and my parents just sent me a package with my most favorite food in the world....WHEAT THINS.  I'm going to try and spread the two boxes out until x-mas, but that might be hard as to the fact that I have already eaten half a box.  =)  How little things like a box of Wheat Thins can totally make my day!  I love you guys!!

First Professional Soccer Game!!!!

So it was a good day!!!  I went shopping in hopes to find myself some black boots, and I found even more!!!!  I didn't buy anything else besides boots, but I found the store that holds my dream high tops.  I have only been looking for some wicked high tops my whole life.  This store is full of old school, new school, retro, you name it and they have, Nikes.  I haven't bought them yet, but I will for sure be visiting that store again.  After shopping, we walked along the river until it was almost time for the game.  Supposedly it is culture here to eat throughout the entire soccer game, so just before it started we stocked up.  We bought hot kebabs, sunflower seeds, and about every pastry imaginable.  I was sick after the game was done...so sick...haha.  It was sooo cool to walk into the stadium and see the super perfectly green field!!!!  As valencia and copenhagen took the field, the fans started singing and never stopped.  I've never seen such insane and devoted fans.  By the end of the game, we were screaming and singing with them, but what an experience.  I can't wait to go again!!!!  

Andalucia y Marruecos

Oh boy.  I just got back from a looooooong trip to the south of Spain.  It was a lot of fun, but long at the same time.  First, we visited Granada.  Granada is a rather big city and the home of the Alhambra, an Arabic Palace.  The palace was amazing and full of intricate designs, but the weather stunted our enjoyment of the trip.  It was freeeeeeezing!!!  Our teacher didn't tell us that the south of Spain would have nice weather, but that the Alhambra was located in the Arctic.  Most of us were wearing jeans and t-shirts, so most of us, including me, just wanted to get back to the hotel.  Once we got back to the hotel, we were off to watch some people flamenco dance.  It was a lot of fun to see a little bit of the culture there rather than all the touristy things.  I am still in awe of how fast they can move there feet...woweee.

Our next expedition was to Marbella.  I attached some pictures of the beach.  It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of the beach towns at home.  We walked around and there were a lot of expensive shops, restaurants, and A LOT of expensive cars.  We saw BMW's (7 series), Ferrari's, Bentley's, etc...  We also walked down the area where all the yacht's were and man alive they are huge.  I swear that some of them were bigger than my house in California.  Anyways, after walking around and "wishing" we could buy things, we were off to the hotel.  This was the start of our Nutella and Bread Only diet.  To save money we bought bread and nutella at the market instead of eating out at all those expensive places.  Let's just say that I won't be eating nutella and bread for a little bit...i need a break.

The next morning we were off to Morocco.  I was really excited about going to Africa, because it's Africa, but also because it gave me some idea of the living conditions that my friends are in while SMing in Africa (Nolan, JD, Fletch, Laura, Emily, Alex).  Africa is a wild place.  I loved it there actually.  There is so much culture there and it made me realize that the states really doesn't have much culture.  We had a rockin' tour guide name Abdul who told us he practices polygamy and was looking for his 4th and final wife (supposedly they can only have 4 in Morocco).  He like to go by Michael Douglas, because he thought he looked like him, but i beg to differ.  He was hilarious and was fluent in 7 different languages.  It was amazing how fast he could go between the languages...i was in awe.  We rode camels, we went through the open markets and i smelt 100000 million smells all combined.  It was a little much for my little nose.  I think i might have gagged a couple of time.  The produce there looks amazing, however they have live chickens there.  When people bought them they would cut off their heads...I didn't actually see this, but this is what our tour guide told us.  He also took us to this apothecary shop where we leaned about all these different spices, balms, and perfumes.  I enjoyed it a lot and bought 12 dollars worth of mint tea.  Let me tell you 12 bucks in Africa is a whole lot of tea, but the tea was that good.  Mint tea is something that Morocco is known for and it definitely made me fall in love with it even more.  Lastly, we were served a traditional moroccan meal.  I was slightly disappointed, but i think that it's because it was a really touristy restaurant.  We had "snake soup," (which was really soup with egg, where the egg looks like snakes), couscous, break, and omelette, tea, salad, and a cookie.  It was mediocre, but i can be quite the critic when it comes to food...i guess it's because my dad is amazing!!!!  

Next, we went to Sevilla...my favorite city in Spain so far.  There were a lot of young people in the streets, lots of eye catchers (pictures, cool buildings, etc...), a super dooper nice hotel, and STARBUCKS.  Oh man i had my first starbucks drink since i've been here and probably my last.  It is soo dang expensive here, however it was perfect.  In Sevilla, we had a lot of free time.  We shopped, ate, explored, and watched movies.  We found this restaurant like Souplantation at home and i wanted to eat there every meal.  It was amazing!!!!!!  I bought a few things, but still not much.  My favorite thing about the city was probably these picture advertisements that were all over the city for the Flamenco.  I attached a picture of one of them, while Karol and I are doing the Shimmy...haha so fun!!!  It was Chelsea's birthday on Sabbath, we Karol and I were really hyper while we were walking around town.  We were the typical American's making a lot of noise and laughing hysterically.  Also, in Sevilla we saw where the king's lived and climbed the tower in the cathedral.  

Last stop....Cordoba...lame town.  This was the last place that we stayed and it was a terrible way to end our trip.  First of all, Cordoba isn't a city it's a small, old town.  We got there on Sunday and in Spain EVERYTHING is closed on sunday.  The school didn't have anything planned so we just sat in the room all day and watched movies.  We walked about the town, but that only took about and hour to explore.  The next day, we took the 8 hour bus ride back home..........soooo long.  Even though this wasn't the best way to end the trip, I had a lot of fun and i am enjoying Spain a lot more now!!!!  I'm going to Italy in a week and a half, so i'll make sure and update you about that asap.  Miss you all...

largest mall in spain, the open market, and mexican food!!!!

Oh boy oh boy!!!!  On Tuesday, one of our of so kind Spanish friends took us to the biggest mall in Spain!!!!  It was amazing.  I have gone to Valencia a few times now and I just haven't been to excited about the shopping there, but this mall definitely caught my eye.  There was a movie theater, bowling alley, lots of food, and lots of stores!!!  It was fun to explore around and shop.  I have tried to be careful with how much I'm spending over here, so I made a deal to only buy things that I absolutely can't live without and that I can't buy in the states.  Saying this, I found lots of things I loved, but not a whole lot of stuff that I couldn't get at home.  There is a store here called trucco and it was amazing...all my favorite colors.  I bought a really cute striped cardigan with a little bow on it and a super amazing skirt.  I can't wait to take it home and wear it to church!!!!  Shopping was fun and a great get away from the school AKA I can't wait to go back =)

Yesterday was open market day.  Usually we aren't able to go, because the market it only open from 8 a.m.- 1 p.m. and so conveniently we are in school from 9 a.m.- 12:45 p.m.  However, yesterday Chels and I skipped our first class and went to the market.  There was an endless amount of stuff, but I choose to buy fruit.  I got some of the most amazing tasting apples ever.  This is saying a lot considering that I go to school in Washington, where the apples are like heaven to my mouth.  I also bought some peaches that I have not yet tried.  While at the market I tried my first persimmon...it was ok, I wasn't too fond of the texture.

After school yesterday, some of us girls decided that we wanted, excuse me, we NEEDED mexican food.  We bought some cilantro, tomatoes, avocados, onions, garlic, and some chiles from the market and made homemade salsa (spicy spicy).  We also made burritos, where I made refried beans from scratch for the first time.  Grandma would be so proud of me.  I also made some of my mom's famous rice.  The burritos were a hit and people want us to make them every week....crazy!!!!  To top it all off, we made rice pudding (arroz con leche) for dessert. Oh man it was delicious and I couldn't have asked for a better day!!!!

I miss you all so much!!!  Can't wait to see you during x-mas break!!!

Campamento

wow....camp!!!!  so pretty much the school MADE us go camping.  literally, the school shuts down.  Either i had to go travel somewhere, bum it out all weekend, or go on the camping trip.  i wasn't too excited about it, because it was supposed to rain and who likes camping in the rain?  NOT ME!!!!  however, needless to say i ended up making some pretty funny memories even though it did rain a little!!!  we left thursday and got there late thursday night.  we went to Entrepenas, which is about 30 miles outside of Madrid.  the camp area was really nice.  mostly desert looking, but there was a beautiful lake in the middle of where we were.  the water wasn't too cold, but i decided not to go in, because it wasn't too hot outside.  thursday night, we played mixer games and i got to meet some pretty cool locals.  that night i found out that spanish people are super touchy.  someone always happened to have there arm around me or was kissing me on the cheek.  nice, but different than what i'm used to.  i also noticed that spanish people point with their middle finger.  i was rather offended a couple of times and ready to act when i realized it was just a simple action to them.  good thing, who knows what i would have done back.  probably would've stuck my tongue out at them or something.  man, that would've showed them.  haha  anyways, friday we got into groups of 8 and played team togetherness games.  i was in a group of all girls and was pretty impressed with our awesomeness.  most of the people thought we were going to get last place, because we were all girls.  it's a good thing i'm not a super feminist or something, because the men here think they are better than women....they need to be set straight i would say.  i got to shoot a bow and arrow for the first time and in my head i though, "what now Mark West?"  haha  also, thursday night i had a dream about the sound of music.  specifically i dreamt about the cuckoooo song.  so, our group of 8 girls reenacted my dream and took a picture in our assembly line...  sabbath, we played lots of games.  american games that we taught the locals and also some other games that they taught us.  it was really fun, because this one guys here, juan carlos, is from brazil and he taught me a brazilian dance....it's sooooooo cool!!!  it was hilarious hearing the locals try and speak english.  i know why they laugh when they hear us attempt to speak spanish....we must sound soooo dumb.  oh well.  we got home last night to the 2nd flood.  i've told you before that the rain storms are pretty crazy here, but i'm just not sure if you know how crazy.  once it starts raining, it's impossible to walk anywhere without getting your pants and shoes completely soaked.  i'm somewhat of a g-rump, because my running shoes are completely soaked, which means i won't be able to go running tomorrow.  also, this may not seem like a big deal, but if you know me, you know how devastated i would be about this.  i dropped my water bottle again today and dented it for the second time.  i almost cried.  however, i'm also in a super dooper good mood right now, because i just made some flower tea and that makes me happy no matter what...

Valencia and Oxford.

First and foremost, I am terribly sorry that it has been so long since I have taken the time you update you all.  Well, last Thursday, the school took us to Valencia, which is the largest city near us.  It was so much fun!!!!  We got to see some of the famous buildings in the town and we also got to shop shop shop till we dropped dropped dropped.  Surprisingly I didn't buy anything, which shocked me, considering that I love to shop!!!  I attached a picture of the opera house, which I found to be the coolest looking building architecturally.  Hopefully sometime this year I will make it to an opera, ballet, or piano performance at the music center.  I don't really like opera music, but I think that it would be fun and a good experience.  Anyways, while all my fellow classmates went back to school I was off to the airport....I was going to Oxford!!!!!  I was so proud of myself, because I managed to get directions to the train station, found the metro station, and got to the airport all by myself.   Once I got to London, I had to take the 2 hour bus ride to Oxford.  I arrived to my friends welcoming arms.  It was so much fun to see Becca and Christian again!!!  I also got to meet all their american oxford friends!!!  It was a blast.  We strolled, went to museums, went to Christ Church, climbing buildings, shopped a little, cooked, went to afternoon tea, and lastly we went to a pub.  Don't worry I didn't do anything crazy at the pub...I actually found it pretty gross, because I pretty much hate the smell of beer.  However, the ambiance of the pub was really fun.  It was a good experience and fun to experience with my friends from Walla Walla.  Sadly, after the pub, my stay at Oxford came to an end and I had to take the bus back to London, than the plane back to Valencia, than the metro, than the train, and then I had to walk for 30 minutes back to campus.  I'm standing a little taller now, because I feel so much more grown up because I traveled all alone.  My mom was pretty nervous about it, but good news I'm still living.

La historia de Sagunto.

Sooooo the school took us into town this week to learn about the ancient buildings.  It so happens that i still don't know enough spanish to be able to truly comprehend what exactly the buildings are and what they were/are used for.  I know that we visited the church and the theater, but i'm not sure what kind of church it was.  The theater was really cool and it was awesome to be able to stand on the stage and hear how good the acoustics were.  The architecture and color is amazing in Spain.  I love just getting lost walking and seeing what i'll run into.  Also, the first week of school is done and so far it's not much of a challenge.  However, i need to challenge myself and talk more with the locals....that's the only way i'm going to learn how to speak spanish.  Anyways, i'm going to London next weekend and i pretty much can't sit still i'm so excited.

Also, i sorry if me english starts to get bad, but i in spanish mode and i guess me head can't comprehend two languages at a time. =)  it's terrible.  since i listen to spanish all the time and attempt to speak it all the time, i find myself writing emails that say stuff like...."the camera of Chelsea," instead of "Chelsea's camera."  i guess that means i'm starting to think in spanish? let's hope so.  happy sabbath!!!

Healthy Hiking.

So...there isn't a whole lot to do on campus, so i have been exploring campus for something to do with my time.  So far, my classes are very challenging, so i have lots of time with not a whole lot to do.  I haven't explored town a whole lot yet, because it's been raining, but the sun finally showed a little today.  So, i'm excited to hit the hot spots in sagunto and valencia soon!!!!  I attached some pictures of the hiking that i've been doing a few times a week, just to say healthy.  Karolina and I were pretty pumped once we got to the top.  I was and still am amazed with how late the sun comes up here.  I have been going on that hike around 7:30 a.m. and the sun is just starting to come up when i return around 8:15 a.m....craziness.

The Weekend.

The weekend is over and now classes are on.  Church was difficult to attend, because unless you plan on listening, thinking, and translating every word, it is very hard to comprehend.  Nonetheless, it was nice to sing praise songs and meet other people.  I had the best hot chocolate EVER on sabbath though.  I think that we were only supposed to have one, but i had 3...don't tell.  I met some really cool people this weekend including this girl Carol, who i think i will become great friends with.  On sunday, we roamed around campus and found these HUGE leaves, which were fun and perfect for fanning ourselves off in the humidty.  However, it was crazy, because in the morning it was beautiful, humid, but beautiful weather and then all of a sudden we saw super bright lightning followed by immediate thunder.  This thunder was the loudest thunder i have ever heard.  It was crazy...i'm pretty sure that we were in the center of the storm.  Following the scary thunder came ping pong sized droplets of rain.  It was like in movies with bad effects where it's a super nice day and then all of a sudden it's starts to pour and if looks super fake and you almost start laughing because it's so unrealistic.  Well folks, it happens for reals, in real life.  I was pretty happy to have experienced that for the first time in my life.  Today was the first real day of classes and i'm excited because i LOVE all of my teachers and i think that having homework will be great for using up some of my free time. 

Trips to Carrefour and the beach.

hola amigos.  today was the first day of classes and my history class was impossible to understand, so i dropped out of it asap and joined pe and guitar lessons.  i'm pretty excited about both of those.  classes weren't too bad, it is going to take a little bit to get back into the swing of school and speaking spanish, but things are looking up.  great news from today.  most of you probably know that i feel in love with this class called buns, abs, and thighs (BATS) this summer and it so happens that the director of the sports here is looking for someone to teach and start an aerobics class.  i talked with him briefly tonight and it looks like i will be teaching an aerobics class here in spain.  I AM SOOOOO EXCITED, so hopefully it all works out.  however, i am going to need to learn all the workout phrased in spanish like, "squeeze those butts, get lower, jumping jacks, and you can do it."  also today, we all went into town to the main market called carrefour, which is similar to wal-mart to get supplies for our rooms or anything that we needed.  i was really hyper when i got there and learned that the little shopping carts are called carritas here....sooo cool!!!!  i was running through the aisles being the typical weirdo that i am.  also, i have been telling you about how starving i have been so today i got the bestest thing ever....nutella snack and drink...it's changing my life.  maybe this year i won't lose 20 lbs, i'll gain them....haha.  anywho, today we also stopped by the beach which was sooo pretty, but the weather was windy so we only stayed for like 10 minutes there.  Tonight, we had vespers and an afterglow with the young people which was the perfect way to start off my first sabbath here.  i'm growing to love this place more and more everyday.  buenas noches.

Our walk into Sagunto.

Every day is better than next.  Today was student orientation and i met tons of people.  We took our placement test and i got placed in the advanced spanish.  I don't exactly think that i am qualified to be in that level, so i may change to the intermediate once classes begin.  After registration and all, some of us girls took an adventuresome walk into Sagunto, the nearest town.  It was quite the experience.  First, spanish people drive like maniacs...tailgating, driving in the middle of the road, and yelling who knows what.  The school is surrounded by orange groves, so we had to walk down the orange grove road, through the tunnels, across the small little river and finally into town.  Once we got into town, we met these cute old men playing bocce ball.  They asked us to play, but unfortunately we didn't have much time, so we had to decline the invitation.  I was sad because i LOVE my bocce time!!!  I'm not sure if i've said it enough, but the food here is terrible so when we were in town we got some food at la bocasteria....it was delicious.  It was like heaven to my poor stomach.

Arrived and Famished.

I'm finally here.  After so much excitement and anticipation I have finally arrived in Sagunto, Spain.  I have attached a picture of the view from the balcony of my dorm room.  It very pretty here, yet a lot different than what my mind thought it looked like.  Today was pretty overwhelming with the lack of sleep, things to do, and the language barrier, however I'm not judging the school quite yet.  I think that things will get a lot better once i start meeting more people and finding a routine of what there is to do here.  However, I have already judged the food...it's terrible terrible terrible.  Today all i ate was a salad with lemon juice and a peach...i'm famished.