G'bye, Mate

So... I leave tomorrow :o(

... BUT my trip was awesome!! & the beach walk was a great way to spend my last day here!

I'll miss Australia & Julian & the friends I made but hopefully they will come visit :o)


Thanks Julian <3

Oh, btw, the custard apple was really weird (not a fan).

Beach walk

So Julian and I went on a nice beach walk from Bondi beach (near his apartment) to Coogee beach (2 hour walk away via the beach walk trail). It’s basically a really nice (and long) walk along the coast with really pretty views and passing through a few beaches and there are benches everywhere to just sit and look at the pretty scenery. I took lots of pictures but basically you could just snap a photo every second and it would be a pretty good picture.




Isn't it beautiful?

Shark Dive XTREME

So Julian’s birthday was fun! We’ll call it a successful 21st. :-p


This morning I took the ferry to Oceanworld Manly to redeem my Shark Dive Xtreme! It was me and 2 upper middle aged men who were scuba certified with our 2 instructors. After signing papers, watching a video, changing into our scuba gear and all that, we spent about half an hour in the large glass aquarium with fun animals like grey nurse sharks, gigantic rays, gigantic turtles, lots of fishies, and other types of sharkies. It was really cold but also awesome… Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to pet the sharks but I did get to pet a giant sea turtle and a huge ray that is apparently the size of a queen size bed. Basically, giant rays are the softest things in the world. Seriously. SO SOFT. I would like to sleep on one.

I don't have any pictures but here's one from the aquarium...

Now imagine me swimmin' in there with'em!! :o)

Julian and I are going on a beach walk later!

Happy Birthday Julian!!! ♥

!!! So cool!!!

Last night I took Julian to Sushi Choo for his birthday (All-you-can-eat sushi train!).

His birthday is today:

Happy 21st Julian!!!!!!!!!!
:-*

After sushi, we met up with everybody else at Scubar for their “famous” hermit crab races! In honor of Julian’s birthday Hannah and I decided to enter in the races. I entered in the last one and my crab (named Julian) won first place and my AWESOME PRIZE was a FREE SHARK DIVE!!! & a t-shirt! :o)

We rang in Julian’s birthday at midnight but then went home because he had class in the morning, etc. But don’t worry, we are going out tonight!

Darling Aquarium

Today we had some plans but we got on the bus going the wrong way so we changed them and went to Darling Harbour instead! We were pleasantly surprised by these four street performer guys putting on a show consisting of a breakdancer from the Bronx, 2 from Australia, and a tap dancer. They were pretty good and entertaining and all that.


After wandering around and checking out the Maritime Museum we decided to go to the Aquarium… Best decision ever!!! I love the aquarium!!! There was only one platypus but he was really cute and kept digging a hole that would go to nowhere because he is in a tank (silly platypus!). I also like the pot-bellied seahorse:

the weedy sea dragon:

the mighty cuttlefish:

the wobbegong:

and the dugong:

(Like looking in a mirror...)


We were there for like 3 hours.

Aussie Animals & the AFL

Yesterday Julian, Hannah, Gwen, and I went to Featherdale National Park… basically a cool petting zoo with a bunch of Australian animals… I pet/fed a lot of kangaroos!! I also pet a wombat, a koala, an emu, and some random other guys… all of them were cute and I took lots of photos.


After Featherdale, Julian and I went to the Blue Mountains in Katoomba. After getting off the train we walked for half an hour to get to the national park where we walked around on a trail for awhile to see the Katoomba Falls, the 3 Sisters (3 rocks next to each other), and some pretty views… then we walked back and took the train for 3 hours back to Bondi.


I'm tired so I'm not going into much depth but the message to take away is that it was a really really good day! :o)

Today we went nearby to Paddy’s Market where they sell pretty much everything… Fruits, veggies, pasta, meat, fish, seafood of all kinds… also, clothes, souvenirs, sunglasses, and other random things. There some weird fruits here like bitter melons and custard apples. We tried a bitter melon last time, it was pretty bitter but alright in stirfry and we got a custard apple this time but haven’t tried it yet.

We just got back from the Sydney Swans v. Western Bulldogs pro AFL game!!! AFL = Aussie Rules Football!! We got to go for free because of a history of Aussie sport class that Julian is taking! It was fun, the sport is really weird but cool, and the Swans won! 114-70… If you don’t know much about Aussie rules, it’s a combination of rugby, soccer, volleyball, and basketball and the refs do weird official things like toss the ball in backwards over their head or throw it on the floor so that it bounces really high. There’s also like 10 referees.

AUSTRALIA!!!

So I got off my super long flight half way across the world & Julian was there to welcome me even though I was 3 hours delayed! :o)

I met his roommates Kyle, Pat, and Mike who are nice and I’ve met a bunch of other people since then, who I will name just incase they see this: Hannah, Halana, Vessie, Emily, Haly, Julianne, Rhiannon, Anna (Rhiannon), Megan, Katie, Jason…
They all live in a nice apartment complex in Bondi RIGHT next to the Bondi Junction railway stop which is really convenient since the train is a common means of transportation, along with buses and ferries.


Anyway, FAST FORWARD one week:

So far I’ve seen the Sydney bridge, the opera house, Bondi Beach, Hyde Park, Centennial Park, Sydney University and a lot of downtown Sydney.

Part of Sydney Uni's campus... it's really nice.

I’ve also done a few other cool things like…

Julian took me to a delicious/cheap Thai place for lunch near Sydney Uni. It was sooo good and the lady that owns it is this sweet older lady who is so friendly that she would make me wanna go back again even if the food WASN’T super yummy (but it was!).

We walked around the Botanical Gardens where those crazy birds will stand on your head.

We went to Sushi Choo (All-You-Can-Eat Sushi train!)

I went to a Sydney Uni Women’s rugby practice! Which is the first rugby related thing I’ve done all summer so I was kinda nervous about practicing with them after being out of it for a while and after injuring my ankle, but of course, it was fun! Although club sports are different here, it was more like a women’s team not a college team… only one of the girls was actually going to school at Sydney Uni.

We took the ferry to Manly beach! Manly is pretty nice, I liked it better than over here in Sydney since it’s more of a littler town, beach feel… Sydney is very big-city-like which is nice but I don’t know if I would ever wanna live there.


Today (Friday) we went up the sky tower! It’s the highest point/view of Sydney and it’s normally like $20-25 to go up OR you can just go up to the bar and as long as you buy at least one drink, then that’s all you have to pay. You can get something cheaper but I decided to go for one of those fancy cocktails since I was expecting to pay $25 anyway so I got some fancy pear vodka, apple schnopps, cinnamon drink. All the seats face outwards in a circle and the whole thing rotates 360 degrees while you sit so you get a great view of the whole city and beyond.


So far, so good.

Back in the USA!

Now it's Tuesday and I'm back!!!

I spent all Sunday packing and getting my last dinner with Allison and Sofia… Yesterday morning my parents picked me up and after my last café con leche at the Café Alicia we drove the 3-ish hours to Rota where the airforce base is.

Surprisingly we got a flight that night at like 2 am… the air force guy flight attendants were pretty funny and we actually got snacks and stuff.

“Better than Southwest!”

After 8 hours, we were in Delaware!!! Yayyy, so we went to iHop (I tried cheesecake pancakes) then drove home andddd now I’m exhausted!

All in all, good trip. I leave for Australia next Tuesday!!

Gibraltar & Sevilla

Went to Gibraltar yesterday!! It was pretty cool, kinda confusing since it’s like in Spain but actually not part of Spain… we went to the top of the rock of Gibraltar and saw the monkeys which were cute… one monkey attacked a family because they had a plastic bag with some food in it but then it was cool because a mom and baby monkey came over and he like told them “I left some food for you over there, are you hungry?” and then they went and finished what he left for them… so yeah, I took a video.



Then we started our drive to Sevilla! We stopped at a really pretty old monastery on the way there, it’s kind of abandoned I guess but not quite… there was just a dog there, hangin’ around, he was cool.


We stayed the night in Sevilla, I finally ate some bull (Hannah)… the tail to be more specific, it was good, very tender. Sevilla was pretty but also super hot… almost 50 degrees!

Then we got back Saturday evening and Allison, the Javi’s and I went out to Puerto Banus one last time.

Ronda & Malaga

On Saturday we went to Ronda and Sentenil de la Bodega. It was a good day, we got a nice lunch and then went looking at La Cueva de la Pileta… a mini Luray caverns with like caveman drawings in it.

Then today was great, we went to Malaga! My parents, the Javi’s, Allison and I drove about an hour to Malaga and spent the whole day at the beach. For lunch we went to a place on the boardwalk that the Javi’s claim makes the best sardines, a typical dish of Andalucia so we had sardines (with the heads, the bones, and everything), pulpo a la gallega (octopus with a spicy powder on top), boquerones fritos (fried anchovies), and gambas pil-pil (shrimp cooked in olive oil, garlic, and spicy peppers) with tinto verano/sangria. All pretty good and not too expensive!



Then we just chilled on the beach some more, it was really really hot but the water felt so good and I got a lot of sun. We got some icecream and came home. Good day!

Granada

On Monday my parents finally made it to San Pedro! So I’ve been trying to do some more traveling with them and usually Allison will come along. On Thursday night the four of us took the teleferico (cable car) to the top of one of the nearby mountains for a nice view… Yesterday I took my parents to the Avenida del Mar, the place with all the Salvador Dali statues and we walked around the Casco Antiguo and got lunch… then all you can eat back at their hotel so, obvs, I ate a lot.

Today, the four of us took a 3 hour road trip to Granada! We spent most of the day at the Alhambra/Generalife… after getting a really delicious lunch at this place sticking out the side of the mountain with great views, great food, and family-owned by great people. Everybody else got chicken or pork kebabs with fries and I got quail legs that were REALLY good… I took a picture :o)


The Alhambra was really very beautiful… the Generalife was surrounded by really picturesque gardens and all the architecture and views of the Alhambra resulted in lots and lots of photo ops… So if you are ever in Spain, I recommend it.


Gardens of the Generalife ^






Then we walked around the old town of Granada and I finally got the cool gypsy pants I’ve been looking for! We got tapas at a nice bar and then drove home… Allison and I completely rewrote Take Me Home, Country Roads… it is now called Take Me Home, Diego (Diego is my mom’s GPS)… a YouTube video is pretty much guaranteed.

Tomorrow we’re going to Ronda and Sunday to Malaga!

Bullfight

Allison and I went to a bullfight today in Marbella… it was cool but I don't really need to see 6 bulls die ever again. There were three matadors and they each killed 2 bulls but one of them was clearly the most entertaining because he would do stuff like pet the bulls forehead, or tap his forehead on the bulls, or hold on to his horn and stuff. So yeah, then after the last bull got dragged away we looked through this window thing and you could see them hosing down the bull, so a lot of bloody water was going into a drain, and then I saw them cut off a leg, slice him open, etc… kinda gory, but still cool.

Tanger, Morocco!

Today, Allison and I went to Morocco for the day with our new friend Luke… he’s using the same program as us but staying in actual Marbella and not San Pedro… we’re just getting to know him so last night we went out for drinks/tapas in Marbella and then went to bed pretty early since we had to catch the bus at 7:30 am in San Pedro to go to Tarifa and catch the ferry to Tanger (Morocco)! It was a pretty sweet deal for only 59 euros… panoramic tour on a bus with some stops for photos, typical Moroccan lunch, walking tour of the Medina where everybody’s selling stuff for cheap & bargaining, then transportation back to Tarifa and San Pedro…

The lunch was awesome and pretty much all you can eat!!! First there was a typical spicy veggie soup with fresh, soft bread… so yeah, I basically had 3 servings of that and a ton of bread. Then we had a cous cous dish with chick peas, cabbage and chicken and another dish with some sort of meatballs and red sauce… basically all really good and of course I had like 3 servings of those as well. For dessert we had some type of cookie and mint tea that I actually really liked… Hannah, I wanted to buy some for the apartment but didn’t get a chance! :o(


I did get a few goodies at the market though like a purse and some bracelets!

All in all, successful day and past few weeks… I really like having the Javi’s around because they don’t speak English so it’s really good for practicing Spanish, and they’re really nice and remind me of you guys back home… so hopefully they visit the USA some day!!

My parents are arriving sometime this weekend and Julian is now in Australia, making our time difference even crazier!!

Long time no blog

Wow, it’s been a while!!! Basically we are friends with the Javi’s and their friend Maikol (Michael, Canadian guy but basically Spanish) and his friend Derek who is originally from the USA and has been here for 3 years… we’ve gone out to Puerto Banus twice with them. Also, we have a new roommate named Sofia and she’s from California and is also Uruguayan. We also have a Paraguyan friend, Fabiola, who we met playing volleyball!


Javi G., Maikollll, Javi D., Me, Fabiola

Javi G. has a motorcycle so he took me on a short motorcycle trip to Estepona which was pretty cool… just walked along the boardwalk for a bit and then came back... next time he's taking Allison!

Also, Spain won the World Cup so obviously everybody went crazy.

Cordoba with Ella!!

Yay!! So this past weekend Allison & I went to Cordoba to meet up with Ella and her two friends Lauren and Claudia!!

Our hostel was kinda cool since we were on the top floor and had a roof top balcony thing where Lauren and I tanned. I really liked her & Claudia and it was really REALLY nice to see Ella!! It was so great to see somebody I know already!! We didn’t see too much just La Mezquita mosque/cathedral and the synagogue and Saturday night we stayed up drinking wine/fanta naranjo combination which was pretty good and just talked. All around good/chill weekend!

In more local news, we are slowly making friends! Last week by the beach Allison and I made friends with a group of 4, Salvatore, Naroe, Alicia and another guy who are all 18-19. We also started going to volleyball on the beach where Alicia and Naroe also play... it's like a rec team, so yeah it's been cool. We also meet a group of 4 but so far only really have gotten to know 2 of them a bit, Yasin & Rafi. They are originally from Morocco and like 23/24 years old. On Wednesday was San Juan so there is a big beach party like all night long.. Allison and I checked it out for a bit but there was so many people and we didn't know anybody but then all of a sudden we hear "Justina?" and somehow Yasin had spotted us!

Alec made friends with two guys who live in the apartment below us with the landlord, Javi & Javi so they come over like daily to like watch TV/smoke hookah. Yesterday Allison and I finally actually talked to them a bit so yeah, they seem cool. They're both 20 and one of them turns 21 the day after me! Haha, so yeah, maybe we will go to Estepona this weekend?

Work has been going good... so far besides the normal stuff I've done a echocardiogram I think, where you get a printout of what their heart is doing and I did a Test de Aliento today where they like breathe into test tubes.

I will add some pictures of Cordoba later!

Barcelona, pt. 2

Last night we got back from Barcelona pretty late… our flight was delayed so we missed the last bus to take us back home (5 euro) so instead had to take a cab (would’ve been about 90 euro) but we split it with an Indian couple so it was “only” 35… still kinda lame though!!

On Saturday, we met up with Allison’s friend Naomi and Naomi’s friend MK and basically spent the whole day walking on Ramblas which is a main street that sells a lot of things from flowers, to birds, and has La Boqueria which is a food market with lots of meat, fresh juice, fruit, etc.


Please note the entire pigs.



In the evening we got sangria and paella for dinner.
Then Sunday, Allison and I went to the Parque Guell for some more Gaudi fun and finished up with Naomi and MK at the Museu Picasso… finally we made it home a little after 1 a.m. after our traveling troubles!

Barcelona!!!

Today was our first day in Barcelona!! We got in last night and after some confusion we finally found our hostel… I will show you how the entrance looks like and you tell me if you see ANY sign of a hostel.

The address of the place was 369 Diagonal and that was also the name of the hostel... so yeah, we decided to push the button even though it didn’t say anything about a hostel and then the guy was like “Oh, good, you found it!!”



Anyway, the hostel itself is pretty funny/cute… our room is really really small, it’s like a little dorm room. I’d say the whole place is kinda like the common room/dormitories in Harry Potter, at least the feel of it. It’s also very orange so I imagine it must be a cousin of the Gryffindor house.

This morning we went to Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Mila (La Pedrera), which is a few blocks away.
The structure and everything was awesome, but the coolest part was the attic and the roof… The attic was made of like special parabolic arches designed to keep it cool… compared to the rest of the house, it felt like the attic had AC, when usually it’s the opposite!! I wonder why we don’t just use this design in all attics, everywhere.
The roof was awesome so I took some panoramic pictures on my camera, which turned out pretty nice!! Some of those things are chimneys and some are ventilation things.




After touring Casa Mila we went to check out Gaudi’s other famous building, Casa Batllo… it’s very pretty from the outside but the entrance was a little pricey so we didn’t go in… the whole street has a row of cool mansion apartment things designed by different people.

We got lunch (fanta, bread, paella con maríscos, a pork kebab with fries, and café for 8.95 € - the menú del dia is always the way to go!!), then ventured to the metro, which is really easy, and went down to the beaches that were made for the ’92 Olympics. The beaches had nice sand and everything but felt a little too man-made for me.

Somewhere further down the coast are the nude beaches but this one was top-less/regular. And no, I did not go top-less! Then after lots of wandering around and kinda not knowing where we were, we took the metro back to the hostel & got dinner at this little locals bar where I got the best sandwich ever. Now I’m showered and clean and very tired.

New friend Pepe?

We met Allison’s new friend Pepe today!! He just moved here from Barcelona… he lived there for 5 years but is originally from Pakistan. He’s 28 and came to San Pedro to open up a business, perhaps a locutoria or a bar or whatever he decides. He met Alec, Allison, and I at a café near our apartment where we were watching the North Korea-Brazil game & Alec was just kinda being off by himself as usual...

So yeah, Allison and I talked to Pepe for awhile… at first, we weren’t sure whether or not to be sketched out but after talking a bit I think he seems alright... he’s not into fútbol but more into cricket and has a car so he says if we wanted to visit any nearby places he could drive which would be convenient as opposed to public transportation but we’ll see about that… still gotta be cautious!

His brother is, conveniently, a taxi driver in Barcelona so he basically said he could hook that up and then called his brother, Jaime (I think), and introduced us and now we have Jaime’s number so that might actually really come in handy BECAUSE in case you didn’t know, Allison and I are going to Barcelona this weekend!!

We leave Thursday night which means I’ll be missing work on Friday but they said it was okay… especially because I explained how my internship wasn’t supposed to start until NEXT week so I told them I already had plans and then they started my internship early but I already had the flight and everything. We bought our tickets and reserved our hostel yesterday and I’ve been using the internet/guidebook/word-of-mouth to figure out all the places we’ll go!

Also, Spain plays Suiza tomorrow so it might get a little crazy!

I hope I don’t bore anybody with my lame writing (and lack of photos).

Here:

Clínica del Río

Here is a picture of Allison and Alec the first weekend so that you know who they are:



Anyway, first day of work today!!! I’m working at la Clínica del Río which is a private medical clinic right down the street, I get to wear a white lab coat :o)

I got there at 9 a.m. The clinic itself is really nice, they have, like, everything… clinical analysis, cardiology, speech therapy, pediatrics, optometry, addiction treatment, ozonotherapy, and everything in between. I pretty much follow a woman named Pepi (I don’t know her real name), she’s an nurse’s assistant. I just did a bunch of watching today with clinical analysis/blood drawing for various reasons, and learning how to label the different test tubes. The nurse, Reme, also showed me how to draw blood but I don’t think that I will be doing that anytime soon... then I did a bunch of restocking and started to sterilize some stuff but then I had to go because this week I still have Spanish class at noon!

Allison and I took a walk to go for lunch and on the way back stopped at the bookstore and I bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo since it's supposed to be good. It was basically an English bookstore & the lady working there was this older lady from somewhere in the UK. She was cool. She was telling us how the movie of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo isn’t as good as the book (as usual), so then we talked about Harry Potter and the differences between the books and the movies, which was cute since she was older. :o)

Yesterday I actually went on a run (I know, right?!) so now my legs are kinda sore. I ran for like ten minutes (though it was running not jogging!!)… Alec runs for like 1-3 hours.

& last night Allison made her first Spanish friend in the plaza!! Though he’s like… 30 and from Barcelona, but since he doesn’t know anybody here he just started talking to her because he’s looking for friends… so I think later tonight the three of us might go get like ice-cream or something with him… I guess it’ll be good so that we talk more!

USA! & La Oreja de Van Gogh

Yesterday Allison and I went back down to central Marbella to watch the USA v. England game… basically all the tourists around here are from England, so all the bars along the boardwalk were PACKED with English fans. We found a place that wasn’t packed yet so we got a table to watch the game… an Irish American guy walked by decked out in USA gear, with a fun hat, and when he saw that we were USA he knew he’d come to the right place so him and his family came and got a table right in front of the tv and then asked us if we would like to join them so we did!!! He ordered wine for everybody and they were really nice. His name is Glenn and he was here with his little boy, his sister from Georgia, his friend George from the Eastern Shore, and his daughters boyfriend from Ireland.



After the game (TIE!), Allison and I went looking for this free concert that was happening because of the feria. The band playing was La Oreja de Van Gogh… I actually know them, and have their CD, and they’re really good, and it was free!! After going way too far, we eventually found it at almost midnight (it started at 11) but there was plenty of concert left and an encore so it was fine, and then we took a taxi home.



Work actually starts TOMORROW instead of next week, so I’m nervous about that… I have to be there at 9, I think I’ll be helping a nurse with drawing blood, and then I have class at noon like usual.

La Avenida del Mar

Today was a pretty good day!! Alison and I went and did some exploring on the bus… we took it to more central Marbella to go to some nicer beaches… the one near us has lots of rocks but down there it has better sand and is more touristy… mainly from England! We laid on the beach for a couple of hours and then decided to do some more walking.

I tried gazpacho since that’s famous here. It’s basically cold tomato soup that tastes like a combo of tomato and olives, I don’t like it very much but it’s okay with bread. I also got calamari… but it was grilled or something, not fried so it was kinda weird too but I figured while I’m here I should take some chances with seafood!



We continued and went to La Avenida del Mar! (above)
It’s a wide street with lots of status, most by Salvador Dalí, so that was nice.
At the end of it is a little park with lots of trees and benches and a fountain.

We kept walking (now we were in el Casco Antiguo de Marbella) and found La Plaza de los Naranjos, a well-known plaza with lots of restaurants and cafés, essentially featuring the color orange. The side streets were pretty cool though, mainly cobblestone streets, something like that, and narrow. We’ll probably go back again for the beach and to see La Plaza del Castillo which has las murallas del Castillo árabe.


Then we took a different bus back which dropped us off a LOT closer to our apartment! We went to a café across the street for café/helado and to watch la Mundial (World Cup!). A tie between México y Sud África!

Today was a pretty good day!! Alison and I went did some exploring on the bus… we took it to more central Marbella to go to some nicer beaches… the one near us has lots rocks but down there it has better sand and is more touristy… mainly from England! We laid on the beach for a couple of hours and then decided to do some more walking.

So we walked on the boardwalk and ate at this place… I tried gazpacho since that’s famous here. It’s basically cold tomato soup that tastes like a combo of tomato and olives, I don’t like it very much but it’s okay with bread. For my main meal I got calamari… but it was grilled or something, not fried so it was kinda weird too but I figured while I’m here I will be taking chances with seafood.

Then we continued and went to the Avenida del Mar! It’s just a wide street with lots of statues, most by Salvador Dalí, so that was nice.

At the end of it is a little park with lots of trees and benches and a fountain. Then we continued (now we were in el Casco Antiguo de Marbella) and found La Plaza de los Naranjos which is just a well-known plaza with lots of restaurants and cafes, essentially featuring the color orange (and orange trees). The side streets were pretty cool though, mainly cobblestone streets, something like that, and narrow. We’ll probably go back again for the beach and to see La Plaza del Castillo which has las murallas del Castillo arabe.

Then we took a different bus back which dropped us off a LOT closer to our apartment! We went to a café across the street for coffee/icecream and to watch la Mundial (World Cup!). A tie between México y Sud África!

First Day of Classes

First day of classes today!! It was just us 3 for 3 hours on the first floor of the building. Our teacher Isa (Isabel) is really nice… so this is what we’ll be doing for 2 weeks until our internship starts. We also went to Puerto Banus, which is where lots of rich people go… Alec saw some Spanish soccer player in some hot car.

Antonio Banderas apparently has a house nearby and so do some Real Madrid/Spanish soccer players like Guti. Alec saw Guti at the airport and Isa told us a story about when she was behind him in line at the super market.

We have lots of free time right now and I’m not really sure what to do with it… Alec goes on runs, but there’s not much to do except chill. My ankle is still swollen from when I pulled/strained tendons a few weeks ago so I can’t really do any running… who knows if I would anyway. I want to find a rugby team but I don’t know if I’ll be in luck!!

San Pedro de Alcántara

I arrived in Spain on Saturday (june 5th) around 10 am (Spain time)... my aparment is really nice and I think I got the best room since I was the first one here. I have a full size bed, the most closet space, and a balcony! We also have a kitchen, living room with a balcony, dining room, laundry room, and 2 bathrooms... The only thing is that I don’t have internet :o( but there is an internet café across the street! We’re on the 3rd floor, the landlord is on the 2nd floor, and the Spanish school is on the 1st floor, where we will be taking intensive Spanish courses for our first 2 weeks!

My room:


After settling in I took a nap for a couple of hours til I woke up around 6:30 pm to my first roommate Alec coming in. He’s from California… I’ll add a picture when we become friends. Another girl is coming tomorrow. At around 10:30 we went and got dinner. We shared 2 appetizers: garlic shrimp and shrimp omelette, both were delicious! Then we wandered around looking for icecream and finally found it when we had given up and decided to come back to the apartment. Alec will be interning at some sort of hotel place, I’ll be at a medical clinic.

Today, Alec bought some bananas that weren’t ripe yet and when he tried to eat it it was like… a cucumber. Even though it’s definitely a banana, I guess that’s just what they taste like when they are super not ripe? Then we took a long walk down to the beach, walked by the water for a bit, got some food, then walked back and went to the locutoria for some internet time… then came back and our new roommate Allison was here!!

Classes start tomorrow and in 2 weeks our internships!!