Wednesday nights

Another $3 night. I <3 being friends w/ bartenders. 

Katie is a lazy bum

The great thing about having Internet finally in the house is that you are able to keep in touch with friends, look stuff up on wordreference.com, keep up with world news, check e-mail. The bad thing is that you also can sit on your butt for hours at a time watching Youtube, waste life away on Facebook, watch old Friends episodes. The list goes on and on. Weighing the pros and cons, however, I take the Internet fa sho. I figure I obviously save a ton of time not taking the bus everyday. I think probably we would spend upwards of ten hours on that precious 61 bus per week. I have all this time now to run, Skype, read. Oh and homework? Yea I guess that will fit in somewhere too at some point. 

We all went to Madrid this weekend as a huge group of, get this, 30 people. All in one hostel. I think I lost my good graces with those cute Argentine dudes at Las Musas when they realized we were all one group. It admittedly was a headache getting everything together, not to mention it was the first time most people had stayed at a hostel, so there was some cavetching by some people/person about sleeping in the same room as strangers, but it all worked out and it was a really fun weekend. I did not mean to forget my ID when we went to this huge club on Friday, but on the inside I was a little happy I did not go back. A bunch of us had a chill rest of this night at this adorable little churros place. The next day we spent the afternoon in my favorite natural place in Europe, Retiro Park, and then went to the Prado that night. Even though I have been to that place too many times to count, I still really do enjoy it. 

A few people later Sunday went to a Real Madrid game and, not being the hugest sports enthusiast in the world, I, along with a couple other friends, opted out and came back to Toledo. 

I forgot to update on the status of my wonderful host family. The other day I walked with my host mom, Jani, down to Santa Theresa, a little barrio of Toledo, to drop Ricky, my host brother, off at soccer practice. We keep walking for more than 2 hours during his practice, stopping at a grocery store for a few random items she had to pick up. Not to mention that this grocery store was one of the only ones that sells peanut butter, which I happened to mention that I miss. She insisted she pick it up for me, along with soy yogurt because she knows I like to be healthy. She is so sweet I feel like I can talk about anything with her. She told one of her friends I am "como una hija!" or like a daughter. Needless to say I was so so touched. I love feeling taken care of. 

Little Miss Know-It-All

Believe it or not, I have never felt comfortable being the One with All the Answers. I never have had all the answers. On the contrary, as of recent, I was not even the one who asked the questions. I was the one who, either out of sheer laziness or out of utter confusion, would wait for others to take the initiative to figure things out. This seemed to be the case when I first arrived in Spain and had no idea what was going on in any of my classes. I spoke Spanish then about as well as I speak German now (badly.) When people would talk about certain assignments, I would realize what an idiot I was and do the work I learned was assigned. Currently, however, I seem to be the one people look to for answers. Sure, I have been here a year. Sure, I get the language now. But it's almost comical. I am so used to putting on this front of confidence that now that people actually think I know what's going on it's almost as if I have convinced myself that I do. Mentality is everything.

We had our first day of classes today. The bad part about understanding the language so much better is that spacing out in class is way easier because you can snap back into it at any given moment. I knew that things would be a little slower at first this semester, but I really have to try to apply myself a lot. It really is easy to get straight A's here and I might as well just do it. Now I do not have philosophy (hates it) as an excuse not to be enthused about all my classes I suppose. 

I am realizing how much I am beginning to appreciate all little things here as well as laugh at the things that I used to loathe. I was running on this street by the river yesterday and as a car chugging behind me started to further slow down, I thought, you've got to be kidding me. I sped up and the guy in the car just smiled, held out a beer and said "Tienes sed?" (are you thirsty?) I tried to be annoyed, but all I could do was laugh. 

The day when I decided how much I love Spain

I got up this morning (OK maybe it was 2 in the afternoon) and my host sister started saying how weird it is that we Americans tend to only go out in the old part of the city. I had to consider what she said for a minute before realizing that she was proposing there was somewhere way cooler to go— apparently a barrio right outside the city walls called Santa Theresa. I decided to give myself a rest from running today and walked down to the area they showed me on Google maps (yes, they did. And they also looked up my Summerlake house too and we talked for a long time about how spaced out America is and how we depend so much on gasoline, etc. I think we are going to get along just fine, politically speaking.) 

Walking down I realized Natalia certainly was telling the truth. I discovered an adorable little area lined with restaurants and bars advertising tapas y copas galore. When I was walking back into the old part of the city, in the gorgeous 50+ degree weather and the ancient Toledo skyline against a perfect azure sky, I realized, when I saw that red and yellow flag blowing effortlessly in the gentle breeze, that I love this country just for its simple beauty and, after being here and meeting the people I have, for its citizens. I feel so lucky to have another semester in this place.

We met a bunch of the ND kids in the plaza today before heading out along the Ruta de Don Quixote to a little clearing with picnic tables outside the city, where we intended to enjoy some wine and cheese and watch the sunset. Unfortunately it had clouded over a little by the time we got there, but the view was still incredible and it was an afternoon well spent with lots of hill walking. I hope all these steep hills will be evidenced in the derriére by the end of this year. This group is really cool because they always wanting to try something new and different, no matter if you risk some kind of failure like clouds. This will be a great semester, but I reeeaally miss the fall kids here. 

Home sweet home

I honestly did not even care that there was snow on the ground when we landed in blustery Madrid Tuesday night. We were both so excited to be going back to something totally familiar— the place where we know the language, where we have called home for over four months now. Flannery and I got in a little late to Toledo, so we spent that first night in the Fund. It was dark and quiet and I kept thinking that I would see the ghosts of our friends that were here before... it really is strange being here without them. I do not really know how to do Europe without those people who have been my friends and family for the past months. 

The next day we finally met up with all of the new kids and I could not help but think of our first day in Spain also, way back in September. Jet-lagged, confused, hungry and homesick. It's a great group, to be sure. What's weird is that there are now like 10 guys instead of 3. Later that day, Flannery and I both got moved into our new host families' houses. Oh. My. Goodness. I definitely hit the jackpot on this one. My family is absolutely great. They have three kids, Natalia, Alvaro and Ricky, ages 19, 16 and 13 respectively. My madre, Janni, is from Puerto Rico and her husband is Tito. They are SO nice and so warm. Their house is in the old part of the city, right near the main plaza and like 5 minutes from school. My little room is so charming. Bigger than my room at home AND I have my own bathroom. This semester is seriously looking up. 

Over the past few days, I have felt so much more comfortable with Spanish for some reason. I feel like I can express myself so much easier, which contrasts completely with how I was 100 percent lost when I came here in September. I have been trying to show the new kids our favorite places and everything around here the best I can and cannot help but really feel like this is a home for me. And now all of the trip planning begins aaagain. These next few months are going to fly. 

Bavarian dreamin'

So Flannery and I took the train from Salzburg to Munich that Saturday, the 10th, and since we could not check into our kookie but hilarious hostel, Wombat's, we decided to head straight on to our next destination day trip, the Neuschwanstein Castle, a fairytale-esque castle that many romantics believe to be the inspiration for the Disney Castle. It was beyond breathtaking. We took a horse drawn carriage up to the top-- along the way putting our Spanish to good use when we met this sweet old Mexican couple. When we got to the top, all there was left to do was take it the insane snow frosted landscape and imagine ourselves as princesses with impossibly long blond hair flowing from some turret from high in the fortress. 

The next day we took another train to Dachau, one of the first concentration camps built during the WW2 era. It was not one of the places where you make kissy faces and pose with statues, but rather a more somber place where, seeing as it was so still and quite, it seemed as if even nature itself revered the place. It was an afternoon of reflection and learning, and I found myself feeling almost a little ignorant. Sometimes you really have to be in the presence of something to actually feel its impact and significance. 

That night we went to this awweesome beer hall called Augustiner Stuben, one of the Augustiner houses which more or less caters to its more local crowd, making the prices of drinks and its insane Bavarian cuisine totally reasonable. We befriended the waiter, Tommy, who called our menu recommendation from the hostel "total shit" and guided us loyally in the right direction.

The next day we finally stayed in Munich and took advantage of one of those free daily tours from the hostel. It was great. We saw all of the major sites in Munich and learned a crap load of its history as well. I could not even contain myself when the guide mentioned they now sell ladies' underpants in vending machines at the Hofbrauhaus. Why, you ask? I  have no idea. Europe is so weird. We went back and saw Tommy that night. 

I know that we complained a lot about ND being totally lacking in presence during this winter break, but let's face it. Between Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, England, Austria and Germany I think I can say this break was the best ever. More to come soon. I have been having trouble getting to sleep early, but the good news is Katie is sleeping through the night again for the first time in over a year!

Austrian adventures

Whilst everyone I know has been enjoying the rest of winter break lazing on couches and reading novels and everything else typical of a low key Christmas holiday, Flannery and I have done exactly the opposite, and I would not have had it any other way. I arrived in London the night of the 5th and stayed with her and her sister at their uncle's incredible flat. We spend the next day exploring London- we went to the National Gallery, Tate Museum and Evensong at Westminster Abbey. It was a beautiful (but chilly) day and I realized I really really love London a lot. The people make it all the better. At one point Flannery dropped her wallet on the bus and they paged her to return it. I do not know, for some reason people earn huge brownie points in my book for stuff like that.

We flew to Salzburg the 7th and OMG it is incredible. Such a classically beautiful little city, and so charming. We stayed at this nice hostel called Yoho and had ou r own room for the first two nights. We went on the Sound of Music tour the first day and it was naturally touristy and cheesey but totally awesome. We got a good dose of Salzburg history as well, aaand they took us up to the Austrian countryside as well, which was gorgeous. We went to this great beer hall called Augustiner Brau also, it it was so cool to sit down with our steins and chat the night away alongside other Austrian locals. The next day we went to the Salzburg Museum, and while I am wary of museums and can get easily museumed out, this one was great. It gave a lot of cool history about the people of the city. We also took the elevator up to the top of the city from the Modern Museum, took in an inredible view and got to walk through this charming foresty thing near the fortress and down to the city. Truly one of the greatest Euro city I have been to yet.