¿Te ha tocado el gordo?

Today... is the day of the "Christmas Lottery" here in Spain. So in other words, little kids are singing numbers and prizes alllll day on TV, it's actually kind of funny. I'm not sure how many different people win. But the phrase for if you win, kind of like "I won the big one"... is "me toca el gordo" .. don't try and translate it literally.

Last week.. My family came to Spain and it was a blast! On Friday I met my parents in Madrid and then Saturday morning we picked up Jason at the airport!

^^ Look how excited he was to see me! ^^

We spent the rest of Saturday in Madrid as well and then Sunday morning we headed to Segovia. I showed them around my town and we went to dinner with my host mom, Amparo, that night. When I found out that she can actually speak quite a bit on english, who knew?!

All of us out to dinner Sunday night

Mom and I at the Aqueduct

Monday morning we headed back to Madrid for our flight to Barcelona. We spent the next couple days exploring Barcelona! We toured an apartment building by Gaudí, went on a "hop on hop off" tour on Tuesday, where we got to see a lot... we toured La Sangrada Familia (also by Gaudí), went to Parc Guell, ate McDonals :) , walked down La Rambla, saw the Mediterranean Sea, and did a little bit of shopping. And then Wednesday, we had our flight to ROME!!

Family picture inside the apartment building by Gaudí

Photoshoot on the top of La Sangrada Familia

Last night in Barcelona!

Rome. Thursday: COLD. Friday: RAIN. Gracias a Dios.. Saturday: absolutely beautiful.

Alright, Thursday included more than just coldness. We toured the Vatican, it was very cool and very beautiful. On Friday we toured the Colosseum and the Roman ruins.. and also got to see it snow in Rome!.. which is very pretty until it toured into rain during are long walk back to the hotel after lunch. On Friday we were able to be outside basically all day! We walked around in some plazas and looked at different markets, went to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. 

Inside of St. Peter's Basilica 

Roman Ruins.. obviously.

Inside the Colosseum

haha you can't tell that we were freezing or anything...

hilarious street performer

Sunday morning they had to take off early to get to the airport, so at 7:30 AM I woke up to say goodbye to them! And I sent them on their way and I headed back to bed. Although... I was checking in at the airport later that day, around noon, and hear someone yelling "Amanda!!" .. know who would I know in the Rome airport?? So I look to the right, where I had previously seen a verrrrry long line of people and was very glad it wasn't where I had to check in, I see my lovely family. Their flight had been cancelled. They ended up having to wait until Monday to go home, because Amsterdam airport was only accepting flights as their "final destination." Europe has been having a lot of airport closings because of all the snow. The UK was completely closed for a few days. So on Monday they had a flight that went to New Jersey, and then to MN.

Today was our 3rd day of "Jterm Class" .. 3 hours every morning. We talked about vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc. I'm starting to think that these 3 weeks are going to go by quicker than I expected....

Well... Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you all have a relaxing couple of days and enjoy time with your families :) 

besos

Amanda.

Everyone's Worst Nightmare While Traveling...

...is to lose your passport.

Well, I can check that one off of my bucket list. Friday, November 26, six friends and I took off for Portugal. And Gracias a Dios, passport miracles were plentiful that day.

Passport Miracle #1: I meet up with my friend Kasey outside my door that morning, right away (for some reason).. I ask her, "did you remember your passport?" The answer was no, so she quickly ran home and grabbed it. And off we go to the bus station to catch the bus to Madrid to then go to the airport.

On our hour long bus ride, I wake up to another friend, Isaac, on the phone with his host mom and I hear the words.. "se me olvidó mi pasaporte en mi armario" ... translation: I forgot my passport in my closet. Although his host mom was not able to bring it to Madrid for him, so he called a friend who was staying in Segovia... Brad.

Passport Miracle #2: Brad was EXTREMELY nice, and get on the next bus he could, with Isaac's passport.. and they met up at the bus stop in Madrid. So, Isaac had his passport! Although... he had not very much time to take the 40 minute metro ride to the airport...

Again, Gracias a Dios... our flight was delayed for a bit.. giving Isaac enough time to make it!

We all had our passports.. we all got on the plane. Although... I'm not so sure if my passport made it off the plane (at least, not with me). We FINALLY found our hostel (the streets are soo strange in Portugal... zero organization to the entire city of Lisbon) and I went to fill out the check-in information, which of course, needed my passport number... go into my wallet where I always keep it.. and it wasn't there. My heart sank. I'm a fairly organized person.. and if my passport wasn't in my wallet.. I knew it was not with me. But I continued to search through my entire backpack for it.. with a horrible feeling.. because I knew it wasn't in there. And we were going to be in Portugal for less than 48 hours.. and the US Embassy isn't open on the weekends... and I had no way of getting back into Spain without a passport...

So retracing my steps.. the only thing I could imagine would be it fell out of my pocket in the plane. So after trying to call the airlines and the airport and nothing would go through, I called our program director and told him what happened... he said if I didn't find it at the airport.. I would need to go to the police station and report it and try to somehow get in contact with the US Embassy.. even though it wasn't open. My friend Paul and I started to make out way back to the airport.. even though I had just about zero hope that it would be there. Before we walked into the airport I said.. "I don't even want to go in there, because when they tell me that they don't have it... I won't know what to do next"

Passport Miracle #3: Walk into the airport... go to the "lost&found / Police Station" and spit out the words that I think I lost my passport on a flight earlier that day, the lovely police officer grabs a book of names, and there my name was.. in red ink.. THEY HAD MY PASSPORT! He said one minute, went to the back.. and had my passport in hand. Gave him my driver's license, filled out some paper work.. and put my passport securely in my purse... GRACIAS A DIOS. Seriously, God was looking out for us on this trip.

So then.. we celebrated by getting some delicious McDonalds :)

I guess any city with water is worth a visit :)

Paul and I at the Castle

Lisbon was nice, but a fairly dirty city. And was is just jam packed with buildings... with zero planning. 

To say the least, the trip was pretty stressful.. but we were still able to enjoy it some what! If I were to go back to Portugal, I would much rather make a trip to south Portugal and spend some time on the beach!!! :)

Note to travels: don't ever lose your passport.

My SEMESTER in Spain ends in 5 days... wow, time flies. As far as school work goes, I have an 8 page paper I'm writing, and an assignment for my business class.. so hopefully I can wrap this up soon and enjoy the end of the semester with the the whole group! This wednesday we have our final "going away dinner" .. all of our host families and professors will be there. And then Friday morning we all get on a bus at 5:45 AM and head to the airport. From there I will get on the metro and go find my parents at their hotel in Madrid!!! They are currently in Andalucía right now. And then Saturday, I will go pick JASON up at the airport!!!! How fun.. my family in Spain! I am looking forward to that!! And then on Monday, December 20, my 3 week J-Term class will start. Then it will be Christmas, and New Years.. and then it will be my LAST week in Spain.

I hope you are all having a great start to the month of December and are feeling some Holiday Cheer! Here is the view I had out of my bedroom window the other morning, so wonderful! It doesn't snow very often in Segovia, so this was a treat! So of course, I threw on the Mariah Carey Christmas CD and immediately was ready for Christmas Time!

Un beso y un abrazo... Nos vemos pronto, ¡os quiero muchisimo!

love, mandy

Whoops...

Hello!

I didn't mean to keep you hanging quite so long for pictures from Alhambra ... Which is a beautiful example of Muslim Architecture. It has all the typical parts of a Muslim Palace. And all of hte geometric forms and inscriptions are inspired by the Koran. Later on, Catholic Kings and Queens lived there.

^Check out that crazy detail^

Most of the girls went out for Churros & Chocolate...

Here is half of the table!!

The next morning was pretty short.. we woke up, ate breakfast, bought some stuff to make sandwiches and headed back home, Segovia!

The following week, was another lovely 4 day week! Wednesday we went and saw the movie "Rumores y Mentiras" .. I think it is called Easy A in the States..?? And that weekend was pretty low key as well... on Saturday we went to the futbol game of our program director's son.. that was fun! and after that we went out for some good 'ol American food and "Foster's Hollywood" .. the american restaurant in Segovia. And on Sunday, some of went  and played futbol with Ricardo and his two sons!!.. It was soo fun. And well.. I was sore from it for like half of the next week!

For "Thanksgiving" we got to get together as a group at a Restaurant that cooked us a "thanksgiving meal"... which was.. good. but not exactly thanksgiving!!! Started off with some Calamari.. then had some turkey with "gravy" on it.. a baked apple.. and the stuffing was made out of ground beef!!!! whaaaat?! But... Leah made a PUMPKIN PIE! Which was probably the most delicious pie ever! So that was a nice taste of home.

The next morning.. Friday, me and 6 friends took of for Portugal. You'll have to check back later for that story. Because I need to go study! But to say the least, I am VERY surprise and thankful I made it back to Spain.....

11 days until Mom and Dad.. 12 until Jason... I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYSSS!!!!

Also, I sadly was not able to make the family Thanksgiving celebrations... I missed you all dearly. And I hope you enjoyed my toast via Skype! THANKSGIVING 2011 WILL MAKE UP FOR IT!!!

^^Family Picture on Thanksgiving^^

^^Had to get a picture with the cousins too!!^^

un beso y un abrazo.

Amanda.

DAD.. it's almost your birthday

I couldn't think of a better title... so everyone, it is my Dad's birthday on Saturday, November 20th... send him some birthday wishes :)

It always surprises me how long it has been since my last post, but I guess that's a good thing! Time flying by = I'm enjoying myself. The past week and a half has been a lot of fun.. with a lovely 5 day break from classes - last thursday until monday. Thursday morning at 6:00AM, of course, we got on our bus to head to Andalucía (southern spain). Our first stop was in Córdoba. We walked around the town, ate our wonderful bagged lunches and then toured "la mezquita de Córdoba" (mosque) .. Although it has been converted into a Cathedral .. AKA in 1236, when the Christians took back over they built a Cathedral right smack dab in the middle. Interesting concept.

Here are some pictures from the Mosque/Cathedral...

 After more walking around the city we got back on the bus and headed towards Sevilla. We got to our hotel around 4:00PM and then Ricardo walked us around the city.. He even bought us all ice cream!

YUM.

The rest of the night we had free.. the next morning we meet up and headed as a group to the cathedral for a tour. After that... an Italian lunch. and probably the most food I've ever attempted to eat. Next was a bus tour, then a couple hours of free time.. then we went to see a Flamenco show! And then some of us capped the night off with some Burger King (there wasn't a McDonalds in sight).

Some pictures of Sevilla...

Saturday we left out hotel in Sevilla to head to Granada. And like always... we went on a walk around the city. It is a very very beautiful with some incredible sights.

palm trees.. castles.. mountains.. and snow

The next day we spent a couple hours at Alhambra.......

I'm going to leave you all hanging.

Come back later to hear/see all about Alhambra!!

besos.

amanda.

10 Weeks Down.. 9 Weeks Left

I just can't decide if I feel like i have a long time left... or not much time left. It's such a strange feeling. The weirdest part is.. almost the rest of the group is leaving in 4 weeks.. and 3 days.. that's really the sad part! Luckily there are two great girls that are staying for the extra time... and lets just say I'm crossing my fingers for a giant leap in my spanish. After being here for 10 weeks.. the word "fluent" is a whole new definition in my book.. seriously.

Well, first of all.. for all of you who I'm sure remember I had an exam last time I wrote on here... I think it went pretty well! And get this.. we had the option to write about either theme we wanted to! I wrote about the Historic Memory. Qué interesante.. I know.

And then the weekend after that.. we went to Barcelona! Which is just a beautiful city... I just don't like the fact they speak "Catalan" there... the language of Cataluña. But it's not really a problem, because everyone speaks Castellano also. But for things like menus and signs it can be annoying. We left at 6:00 am on Thursday morning.. with a 8 hour bus ride.

Here are some pictures from our time in Barcelona!

Kasey, Me, and Emilie on the boardwalk

LA PLAYA!!

The Beautiful Mediterranean Sea

La Sangrada Familia

..I don't think it will ever be finished.. seriously

Bethel People :)

At El Parque Guelle.. by Gaudí also

AKA Candy Lane!.. Look at that building

A night time stroll at the beach.. so pretty!

We left Barcelona on Monday late morning to make a journey back to home sweet home, Segovia. So then this past week has been another lovely 4 day week. And Saturday morning we left at 9:00 am for a day excursion... first, we went to la Murralla de Ávila, about 45 minutes away.

One of most well kept walls of a fortified city

"Cuatro Postes" .. a good view of the wall....

...but I thought the clouds looked much, much cooler

After we saw those two things, we all went to a café near ^^^ that, and got some café con leche (coffee with milk, more or less) and Cola Cao (Hot Chocolate, more less). And then we had another hour on the bus until we got to Salamanca.. and beautiful city! It has the very first university of Spain. We had a couple hours of free time to eat our lunches (gotta love when our host families pack us lunch) and walk around for a bit. Then we went on a tour... which was.. fine :) Just .. a little long!

Check out those clouds

Its like a painting...

La Catedral

La Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells)

Ricardo (our program director) brought one of his kids.. Aku!

He's adorable.. and FULL of energy

Sooo cute together

The father & child interaction makes me miss you DAD!!!

Look at that cutie .. there's a good chance he was the most entertaining part of the tour

...our tour guide wasn't too please about that!

If you're still reading this... I'm so sorry. This is getting long.

Today.. SUNDAY! Slept in until 11:00.. walked into the kitchen to my host mom just cooking up a storm. She made me some eggs and toast.. and coffee :) Then I headed back to my room to listen to a great sermon from Westwood and then got cookin on my paper for Classic Literature. And THEN.. me and some friends went to a movie! We saw "Salidos de Cuentas" .. it was pretty funny.. its an American movie, but I'm not sure what the name is in english because they always change it completely when they translate it to spanish! But it's with Robert Downey Jr & Zach Galifianakis .. if you know what it's called in english.. let me know!

The clock just struck midnight.. which means there are all kinds of bells going off outside my window.. and that I'm going to go to bed soon! This week: we leave for Andalucía (Southern Spain) on Thursday morning.. and are there until Monday.

Love you all very much. Besos.

PS. MORGAN BAKER -- it's your birthday very very soon :)

PPS. SHANNON HILBRANDS -- you too!!!!!!!