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!!!!!!!