Hello Everyone!
***FINALLY: THE LINK TO MY PHOTOS IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG!!!***
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update! I am getting bad at this! I would like to try updating at least every other day or so to keep these blogs nice and short and all of you updated! This might be a long one, so put on your seat belts and join the ride :)
Where do I begin...We had an excursion with the school on Friday Feb. 11th to El Escorial. It is a giant palace, church, school, library, tomb of every past king and queen (except for 2). El Escorial is just north west of Madrid a little bit, so we didn't have to travel too far. We toured this whole building for about two and a half hours (and we all know how much I love to tour museums!!!) Not to mention we were all STARVING. After the tour we went to a near by restaurant and I had one of the best meals I have had since I have been here!!! Our first course was penné noodles and spaghetti sauce! The next course was a huge piece of chicken and french fries!! Finally we had some sort of breaded, custard filled dessert. It was all so amazing!!!
The rest of the weekend consisted of me sitting home and working on homework....Nothing too exciting! It was Brock's birthday on February 13th....THE BIG 1-8! I was a little sad that I couldn't be there to celebrate with everyone...not to mention they had steak and lobster (and I probably had something terrible!). Also, my internet connection was out all day so I couldn't even skype with him to wish him a happy birthday :( So I just called him instead...I didn't get the phone bill yet so we shall see how much that cost me!!!
This past Tuesday I was sick and didn't go to work or my class. I didn't sleep at all Monday night and felt a migrane coming on all night. So when I had to wake up at 6 am, with a terrible headache and no one to talk to....I called me mom! She made things much better. I decided to go to school and sleep there for a little bit so I didn't have to tell my family I wasn't feeling well. When I got home after lunch time, I just went to my room and slept for five hours. My family here was very understanding and accommodating. It was just weird being sick and not knowing what to do or where to go in a house that isn't yours! I didn't want them to think I was lazy and just sleeping all day....All I wanted was for someone to make me some chicken noodle soup :)
I really wanted to rest up for the weekend because we were going to Valencia! We left Thursday night because it was cheaper than flying on Friday. We got into Valencia at about 9:00pm. I loved Valencia when I saw the first palm tree :) It reminded me sooooo much of Florida! It was warm and palm trees were everywhere! Our hostel was pretty nice. There were 9 beds in my room. We took up three of them the first night because it was just the girls and then Friday night Jake and Derek stayed with us as well. The hostel had a communal shower and bathroom so that was a little inconvenient.
Friday Brittany, Katie, and I waited for the guys to come to the hostel before we decided what we were going to do. Jake barely made it on the trip because he forgot his passport at his house so he had to go back to his house from the bus station in Toledo and grab that...He made it on the flight with a little luck, just in the nick of time! We decided to go to the City of Arts and Sciences. It was a big museum and aquarium. It reminded me of the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and a little bit of Busch Gardens in Florida. The girls decided that we only wanted to see the oceanography section, but the boys opted to see it all (dinosaurs, outer space, medical, etc. etc. etc.)
I LOVED THE AQUARIUM. It was so cool. We went to a dolphin show and it was amazing! It was also cool to see all of the other sea creatures. This trip reinforced the reason why I don't like to swim in oceans when I can't see what is swimming below me or along side of me! I will take a pool anytime :)
It took the boys ALL day to make it through the rest of the museum, so the girls went to a mall that was across the street. We also bought dinner again because the hostel had a kitchen and it is cheaper than going out for every meal. The boys met us back at the hostel for spaghetti, bread, and sangria (0.75 euros for a box!!! hahahaha). Jake and Derek had a few more glasses (or bottles) than the rest of us. Jake decided to go out with our friends who were studying in Valencia. Need-less-to-say....he didn't come home until 4:30 the next morning....When the rest of us woke up we decided that we weren't going to wait for him to get up....I noticed his wallet sitting on the ground, not hidden, or locked up in a locker. So I decided to teach him a little lesson....I TOOK HIS WALLET :) There wasn't any money in it so I figured he wouldn't be missing anything.....
When he woke up and noticed hit was missing he called me to see if I had seen it...I told him it wasn't my day to watch his wallet and he probably lost it on the way home! I know I am a terrible person, but he needed to learn not to keep his stuff laying around!! We had other people staying in the room with us that we didn't know and any one of them could have taken it...he was lucky it was just me! Derek finally broke down and called him to say I had the wallet.....Jake never even thanked me for teaching him a lesson on how to be more careful....HOW RUDE :)
Saturday consisted of walking around to random locations the other two girls wanted to visit. Many of them were really lame so it was kind of funny to see them get all excited and then all upset when it was something really tiny or non appealing! Late afternoon on Saturday we took a bus to the beach. The weather was NOTHING like it was on Friday....It was cold, cloudy, and windy, but that didn't stop me from putting my feet in the Mediterranean!!! I collected some shells and wrote some shout outs in the sand (you can look at my pictures by clicking the link at the bottom of the page!). We (the 3 girls) headed home on Saturday night. We arrived back in Toledo at about 1:30 in the morning on Sunday. I decided to stay at Brittany's house because I didn't know how the buses operated so late at night and I didn't want to be wondering around alone!!!
Yesterday consisted of a whole lot of nothing! I finally got some pictures uploaded onto the computer for you guys to see. I started out using Dropbox for everyone to view them. After talking to some people, I realized that this wouldn't be the easiest way for you guys to see my pictures!! So I apologize to everyone who went through the Dropbox trouble! I would like to thank Morgan for setting up Flickr (the new photo website). It is a lot easier for you guys to view and she saved me a lot of time!!! THANK YOU MORGAN!!!!
I also got to talk to Isabella, Mateo, Mike and Luciana (cousins, uncle, and aunt) last night!!! Isabella showed me her entire house and we sat in her bedroom for a while. She even read me a book and showed me her stuffed animals and her swimming trophy!!! Mateo even showed me his room!!! I talked to grandma and grandpa last night too for a little bit! They showed me all the snow that you guys in Green Bay are getting!!! I can't believe it!!! I kept checking online to see if the schools were cancelled and sure enough they were!!! I'm sure all of the kids were excited. Even most of the classes at St. Norbert got cancelled!
I am still pretty tired from this past weekend (traveling takes a toll on me!!). Tomorrow I have to wake up early and head to my internship. After the internship I race home, eat lunch, and head to teach English. Right from there I head to school and give a presentation on my internship and what I do during the day (do you think it is appropriate to tell them I am getting lung cancer?!?!). Tuesday's are NOT my favorite day!!! Not to mention, this week is MIDTERMS! I do have to say, time has been flying by here....I can't believe I am half way done with the courses already!!! I took a test today on the history of women in Spain. The test was really easy so I am glad that I didn't put too much effort into studying (or any at all) :) Wednesday I have a test in grammar and Thursday is my test in art class...I really wish we just had to finger pant, but it is actually going to be a pretty difficult test!
This weekend I am headed to Santiago de Compostela. It is in the north western corner of the country. I hear it is comparable to Ireland. Lots of green land and damp/rainy. I hope we have nice weather when we are there!!!
I would just like to wish Brock and the rest of the Jaguar hockey team good luck in their game tomorrow!!! Please keep winning so I can see you play at state!!!! Wish I could be there rooting you guys on :) Brock, don't forget to take the man and shoot....pass....kick their.......ha ha ha (inside joke between Brock and I!!!)
Sorry this got a little lenghty! I will try to do a much better job updating this and updating my pictures now!!! If anyone has any problem viewing the pictures please just send me an email and I will try to help you out :)
I miss you guys lots!!!!
For those of you not keeping track.....73 days until I fly home!!!
Talk to you soon,
Besos y abrazos :)
B
P.S. The food has been surprisingly normal and good :) Sometimes I am not quite sure what I am eating, but if it tastes good, I don't want to know what it is!!!!
P.S.S. I am also finding it difficult to type and speak in English now!! I have to think about things before I say or type them! Who would have thought?!?!?!
***LINK TO MY PHOTOS!!! THANKS AGAIN MORGAN!!!***
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanbbl/
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Hey guys,
I apologize that it took me so long to update since my last post! I either don't have time to update or I am too tired at the end of the day!!
I got to watch the excitement at Lambeau Field on my laptop (Thanks again for this slingbox again Uncle Steve!). Boy was it nice to be in my toasty warm bed and it looked FREEZING at Lambeau!!! Everyone was in big winter jackets, winter accessories, heaters on the field, and it looked really windy too :) As amazing as staying warm felt, I wish I could be watching this event at Lambeau with the 70,000 other people! (FYI...the high temp in Toledo on Tuesday was about 62 degrees...when was the last time it reached the double digits in Green Bay?!?!) To my fellow PPS associates....I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN HELPING YOU GUYS!!! I hope you had to wear your red vests!!!!!
This blog might be a long one so I apologize!
Let's see....Where do I begin?!?!? I believe the last time I blogged was before I left for London. This past weekend was Girl's Weekend! We went to London and the boys went to Morocco (only Jake and Taylor went because Derek had the flu and couldn't go). I met Brit, Jake, and Taylor at Enebro for tapas on Thursday before the girls left for the Madrid airport. The bus left at 10:00 from Toledo headed to Madrid. We got to the bus station in Madrid at about 10:50...then it was time for the wonderful Madrid metro ride of about 45 minutes. It was about 12:30am Friday morning when we reached the airport. We thought that we would be able to go through security and spend the night in the terminal, but of course it wouldn't be an adventure if everything went as planned. We were told that we need to wait for the Ryan Air counter to open at 4am......Let's just say I wasn't prepared to sleep on the floor of the airport. The cold tile floor and screaming spanish girls next to us didn't allow me to get much sleep. After about a half hour I went and sat in the café and read my Cosmo magazine! Once 4am rolled around, the two other girls had at least 3 hours of sleep on me, I just wanted to get through security and sleep! I slept about an hour more in the terminal before we boarded the plane.
When we got to London it was FREEZING and super windy. There was a bus waiting to take us to the city where our hotel was (Paddington). I found it quite interesting that the bus driver was driving on the opposite side of the road and the car! It was pretty funny to see!! Between the airport and the hotel, it looked a lot like southern Wisconsin and Illinois. Just a lot of green farm fields and grass. When we reached Paddington, it reminded me more of Chicago (without the skyscrapers) than it did London. Our hotel was about a mile walk from where the bus dropped us off. We went to see if they would let us check in early and drop our things off in the room before we began the adventure!!! They did let us check in early so that was nice!! (It was probably because when I booked the room it asked for a prefix and my options were Mr., Mrs., Miss, and Dr.....so of course I selected Dr.!!! Dr. Brooke Sanborn has a nice ring to it don't you think?!?!? I'm just glad no one got seriously injured and they actually thought I was a real doctor! Although I have watched enough Grey's Anatomy to take care of just about anytime!)
After we set our things down in the TINY hotel room, we went to get our metro tickets and head to the British Museum. This was a museum like all the others....Lots of old artifacts, paintings of Jesus in every pose possible, sculptures missing heads, etc. etc etc. I'm not really the type to walk around a museum and look at EVERY LITTLE THING....The most exciting part was the mummies or ancient Egypt! I have some pretty cool pictures of some really mummies and bodies from 3185798123748091 years ago :)
After the museum we went back and got ready for dinner and the ballet! I took a little nap while the other girls got ready. It was one of the best naps I have ever taken!!! We went to none other than PIZZA HUT for dinner!!! Large Meat Feast Pizza with cheese bites for the crust....AMAZING! It still didn't taste like American Pizza Hut that's for sure, but it was still amazing! Now comes my favorite part of the whole trip!!! THE BALLET!!! Thank goodness there was a really nice gentleman on the Metro that showed us where the theatre was or we would have been lost! People in London are much nicer than people in Spain! The ballet was amazing!!! The other two girls I was with fell asleep so they probably didn't like it as much as I did! It was about 11 o'clock when the ballet was over and the last thing I wanted to do was walk a mile and half from the metro station to our hotel. So after much bickering amongst the three of us...I finally convinced everyone to take a taxi!! My feet were sore, it was late, and London doesn't have much in the way of lighted streets.....taking a taxi was definitely the safest and most convenient option! I hit the pillow and died that night. It was the best night's sleep I have had since I have been here!
Saturday was filled with a bunch of sight seeing and picture opportunities. We woke up and went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. It was really cool to watch! I taped most of it so I will show you guys when I get home!!! There was a police officer named Tony who was the funniest guy I have ever met!!! He would fit right in with the jokes from the BCSD (Brown County Sheriff's Dept.) that's for sure! He reminded me exactly of my dad! I got a picture with him of course!
After that we just walked around to take pictures of the famous sights...Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, House of Parliament, the London Eye, and the London Bridge. I really wanted to tour the Westminster Abbey because that is where all of the royalty get married. Prince William and Kate are getting married there in April. I thought it would be nice to see the inside and say I was there....The other two girls didn't want to spend the money to take a tour so that bursted my bubble! In the evening we went back to take pictures of all the building at night, when they were all lit up. I will definitely upload pictures on to my computer this weekend! I only have a day trip planned with the school on Friday so I will get them up this weekend some time!!!
Sunday morning I was up at 4am (Grandpa can you believe that....4am!!! Who knew there was a 4am?!?!) Katie wanted to catch the bus an hour earlier than the one we were scheduled for. So we were standing out at the bus stop in the mist and wind waiting for the 5 o'clock bus to come....Well it came and there were 4 empty seats on it. On the tickets we had it said we are allowed to take buses an hour before and after our scheduled time. Our ticket was scheduled for 6 o'clock. So I asked the bus driver if there were 3 extra seats on the bus. He walked on and said there were 4. One guy missed his 4:30am bus so he got one of the seats. Then I see the guy watching this group of Spanish girls to see if they were getting on his bus or a different one. I finally asked him if we could get on and take the 3 empty seats and what does he tell me.....NO.....For anyone who knows me well enough....that word really doesn't fit into my vocabulary very well! I said, "EXCUSE ME. There are 3 completely empty seats on this bus. No one is here to take them. My ticket says I can get on this bus if there are available seats." Then he proceeds to tell me that the rules have just changed and he can decided who gets on the bus or not......Well that also didn't sit well with me :) I proceeded to tell him that this new "rule" of his was not printed on the ticket so it didn't matter what he said. He told me that he was not going to argue with me at 5 in the morning and got in his bus and left......LET'S JUST SAY I WAS THE MOST ANGRY PERSON IN ALL OF WESTERN EUROPE. I know the ONLY reason he didn't let us on that bus was because we were Americans. The guy who missed his bus had an accent of some sort and of course the Spanish girls weren't from America......I have never been more offended in my life!!! I really do miss America!
Sunday morning I was up at 4am (Grandpa can you believe that....4am!!! Who knew there was a 4am?!?!) Katie wanted to catch the bus an hour earlier than the one we were scheduled for. So we were standing out at the bus stop in the mist and wind waiting for the 5 o'clock bus to come....Well it came and there were 4 empty seats on it. On the tickets we had it said we are allowed to take buses an hour before and after our scheduled time. Our ticket was scheduled for 6 o'clock. So I asked the bus driver if there were 3 extra seats on the bus. He walked on and said there were 4. One guy missed his 4:30am bus so he got one of the seats. Then I see the guy watching this group of Spanish girls to see if they were getting on his bus or a different one. I finally asked him if we could get on and take the 3 empty seats and what does he tell me.....NO.....For anyone who knows me well enough....that word really doesn't fit into my vocabulary very well! I said, "EXCUSE ME. There are 3 completely empty seats on this bus. No one is here to take them. My ticket says I can get on this bus if there are available seats." Then he proceeds to tell me that the rules have just changed and he can decided who gets on the bus or not......Well that also didn't sit well with me :) I proceeded to tell him that this new "rule" of his was not printed on the ticket so it didn't matter what he said. He told me that he was not going to argue with me at 5 in the morning and got in his bus and left......LET'S JUST SAY I WAS THE MOST ANGRY PERSON IN ALL OF WESTERN EUROPE. I know the ONLY reason he didn't let us on that bus was because we were Americans. The guy who missed his bus had an accent of some sort and of course the Spanish girls weren't from America......I have never been more offended in my life!!! I really do miss America!
School has been school! I had my second week of my internship on Tuesday. I was in the Methadone clinic and laboratory. I helped fill everyone's prescriptions of Methadone and give it to them when they came in. In the lab I was taught how to test everyone's urine for different drugs like cocaine, marijuana, heroine, prescription drugs, and alcohol. It was really interesting. I really liked working in the lab. Once again my lunch break consisted of inhaling the second hand smoke of 5 cigarettes. NOTE: ANYONE READING THIS WHO SMOKES SHOULD DEFINITELY CONSIDER QUITTING!!! Breathing that smoke in is the worst thing ever! Everything smells and it makes me soooooooo sick!
Last night I was invited to a movie with my intercambio and her two kids. We went and saw the Disney movie Tangled! It was in Spanish, but I could understand everything!!! It was a really cute movie!! In the past week, I was also begin that English teaching job tonight. I am pretty excited about that! It gets me out of the house and adds a little extra cash in my pocket!!
I better get going to school now. ANOTHER field trip today! I have no idea where we are going, but I'm sure it will be interesting! I will definitely get my pictures put up online this weekend! I will put them on Facebook and on a website named Flickr (I think....). I will let everyone know when and where I put them up!!!
I hope everyone has a GREAT day. I miss you guys all VERY VERY much!!! Again, sorry for taking so long to write since my last post!! I will try and get better at that!
I love everyone LOOOOOOTS and I miss you guys TOOOOONS!!!
babababababab
B
P.S. I would like to say hi to Miss Carli! I hear she reads my blog every day :) Hi Cars! I hope your play and school are really going well!!!
P.S.S. I haven't had any crazy/gross/random food in a while!!! It feels good going to the dinner table knowing exactly what I am eating and knowing it will taste good!!! I still wish I could cook some AMERICAN food for them (some hamburgers, brats (not blood sausage!), frozen pizza, and heart attack french fries!!! The fries they have here don't have any salt on them....What's the point of french fries without the salt?!?!?)
P.S.S.S. I didn't read through this post so sorry for the errors again :)
I better get going to school now. ANOTHER field trip today! I have no idea where we are going, but I'm sure it will be interesting! I will definitely get my pictures put up online this weekend! I will put them on Facebook and on a website named Flickr (I think....). I will let everyone know when and where I put them up!!!
I hope everyone has a GREAT day. I miss you guys all VERY VERY much!!! Again, sorry for taking so long to write since my last post!! I will try and get better at that!
I love everyone LOOOOOOTS and I miss you guys TOOOOONS!!!
babababababab
B
P.S. I would like to say hi to Miss Carli! I hear she reads my blog every day :) Hi Cars! I hope your play and school are really going well!!!
P.S.S. I haven't had any crazy/gross/random food in a while!!! It feels good going to the dinner table knowing exactly what I am eating and knowing it will taste good!!! I still wish I could cook some AMERICAN food for them (some hamburgers, brats (not blood sausage!), frozen pizza, and heart attack french fries!!! The fries they have here don't have any salt on them....What's the point of french fries without the salt?!?!?)
P.S.S.S. I didn't read through this post so sorry for the errors again :)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tapas Thursday
Good Morning!
I am just getting my things ready for London this weekend. I can only bring a backpack weighing no more than about 15 pounds. So needless to say.....when you see pictures from my weekend trips and it looks like I'm wearing the same thing...I AM :) HA HA HA HA!! I didn't think it would be that tough packing in a backpack, but boy it is!!!
My flight leaves SUPER EARLY Friday morning (6:30am). So instead of getting a hostel for one night in Madrid, we are staying in the Madrid airport over night.....and not in a airport hotel...THE TERMINAL! ha ha ha. This should definitely be interesting!!! I went to the store yesterday to buy locks so I can lock my backpack just in case I do fall asleep, no one can come and steal my things!!! Unless they steal my whole backpack, which I didn't think about....I will just hold on tight...then they would have to steal me AND the backpack! My parents always told me that if anyone ever kidnapped me they would return me right away because I would be yelling and crabby :) NOT ME 0:) <-----ANGEL!
Today is Tapas Thursday. To continue with the tradition we are going to Enebro's after Jake is done working for some tapas (appetizers) and beverages! Then at 10 we are catching a bus to Madrid. When we get to Madrid we are taking the LOVELY METRO to the airport.....Nobody better touch my stuff!!! I am pretty excited to go to London. I am most excited about the ballet!! I can't wait!!! Our hotel looks really nice too (and it should be for what I paid for it!!!!).
School has been school. I had to drop one of my classes yesterday because the credits won't transfer back to SNC. I already took the class at SNC that I was trying to take over here...I just thought I would be able to get away with taking it twice.....NOT! So I am only taking 4 classes now. No worries everyone.....I will still be able to graduate on time :) Today for art class we are going on another field trip! I'm not really sure where we are going, but if I had to guess I would say a church, mosque, or synagogue!! Those are pretty safe guesses seeing that there is a church on every corner of Toledo (okay maybe not EVERY on, but pretty close)!
Yesterday was quite exciting actually....Taylor and I went to the mall to buy a lock for my backpack and when we got done we thought we were at the correct bus stop....NOPE, ABSOLUTELY NOT! So we pushed the button to stop and the bus driver never opened the doors so we couldn't get off.....So here we are cruising around Toledo and then we hit a different city! So we got off and just waited for a bus to bring us back to the main plaza. Then I get a call from my dad over here asking where I was because I was late for lunch.....I told him I was waiting for the bus (which I was...I just left getting lost out of the story!). Then after an hour I finally got home....Right away my parents ask, "Why did it take you so long?!?!?" So I told them that there were 2395723857 people on the bus and screaming babies and we had to stop at EVERY BUS STOP FROM HERE TO GUAM. They laughed so good thing that worked! Lunch was fish anyways so I wasn't missing anything major...It wasn't terrible though. It was actually quite good....but I'm sure the 10 pounds of mayonnaise I had on it helped!
Last night when I was skyping with my parents, I receive and email from the coordinator at school. She wanted to know if I would be interested in teaching English to a little boy/girl....I'm not sure what it will be or how old. They would pay me 10 euros an hour!!!! How AWESOME!! Little do they know, my English skills are TERRIBLE!!! Like my dad would say....They won't know the difference and when they find out I taught everything wrong, I will be long gone :) HE HE HE JUST KIDDING!
Anyways, I better get ready for school! I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Those of you who are going to the Super Bowl, I hope you have a BLAST!!! Cheer loud, as if I was there (and you guys at the PPS know I have a pretty big mouth so you will have to be REALLY LOUD!!!). This is going to sound TERRIBLE, but for about .00004 seconds I wished the plane for Dallas got snowed in and no one was able to go to the Super Bowl!! I know I know I am a terrible person!!! I only thought about it for a split second though :) In all honesty, I am really glad you guys get to go and I will be cheering loud (but not too loud because everyone in my house will be sleeping)!!!!
GO PACKERS (but mostly #16)!!!!!
Have a great weekend everyone!!
I will update you guys as soon as I get back :)
Lots of love!!!!
Besos y Abrazos!
B :)
I am just getting my things ready for London this weekend. I can only bring a backpack weighing no more than about 15 pounds. So needless to say.....when you see pictures from my weekend trips and it looks like I'm wearing the same thing...I AM :) HA HA HA HA!! I didn't think it would be that tough packing in a backpack, but boy it is!!!
My flight leaves SUPER EARLY Friday morning (6:30am). So instead of getting a hostel for one night in Madrid, we are staying in the Madrid airport over night.....and not in a airport hotel...THE TERMINAL! ha ha ha. This should definitely be interesting!!! I went to the store yesterday to buy locks so I can lock my backpack just in case I do fall asleep, no one can come and steal my things!!! Unless they steal my whole backpack, which I didn't think about....I will just hold on tight...then they would have to steal me AND the backpack! My parents always told me that if anyone ever kidnapped me they would return me right away because I would be yelling and crabby :) NOT ME 0:) <-----ANGEL!
Today is Tapas Thursday. To continue with the tradition we are going to Enebro's after Jake is done working for some tapas (appetizers) and beverages! Then at 10 we are catching a bus to Madrid. When we get to Madrid we are taking the LOVELY METRO to the airport.....Nobody better touch my stuff!!! I am pretty excited to go to London. I am most excited about the ballet!! I can't wait!!! Our hotel looks really nice too (and it should be for what I paid for it!!!!).
School has been school. I had to drop one of my classes yesterday because the credits won't transfer back to SNC. I already took the class at SNC that I was trying to take over here...I just thought I would be able to get away with taking it twice.....NOT! So I am only taking 4 classes now. No worries everyone.....I will still be able to graduate on time :) Today for art class we are going on another field trip! I'm not really sure where we are going, but if I had to guess I would say a church, mosque, or synagogue!! Those are pretty safe guesses seeing that there is a church on every corner of Toledo (okay maybe not EVERY on, but pretty close)!
Yesterday was quite exciting actually....Taylor and I went to the mall to buy a lock for my backpack and when we got done we thought we were at the correct bus stop....NOPE, ABSOLUTELY NOT! So we pushed the button to stop and the bus driver never opened the doors so we couldn't get off.....So here we are cruising around Toledo and then we hit a different city! So we got off and just waited for a bus to bring us back to the main plaza. Then I get a call from my dad over here asking where I was because I was late for lunch.....I told him I was waiting for the bus (which I was...I just left getting lost out of the story!). Then after an hour I finally got home....Right away my parents ask, "Why did it take you so long?!?!?" So I told them that there were 2395723857 people on the bus and screaming babies and we had to stop at EVERY BUS STOP FROM HERE TO GUAM. They laughed so good thing that worked! Lunch was fish anyways so I wasn't missing anything major...It wasn't terrible though. It was actually quite good....but I'm sure the 10 pounds of mayonnaise I had on it helped!
Last night when I was skyping with my parents, I receive and email from the coordinator at school. She wanted to know if I would be interested in teaching English to a little boy/girl....I'm not sure what it will be or how old. They would pay me 10 euros an hour!!!! How AWESOME!! Little do they know, my English skills are TERRIBLE!!! Like my dad would say....They won't know the difference and when they find out I taught everything wrong, I will be long gone :) HE HE HE JUST KIDDING!
Anyways, I better get ready for school! I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Those of you who are going to the Super Bowl, I hope you have a BLAST!!! Cheer loud, as if I was there (and you guys at the PPS know I have a pretty big mouth so you will have to be REALLY LOUD!!!). This is going to sound TERRIBLE, but for about .00004 seconds I wished the plane for Dallas got snowed in and no one was able to go to the Super Bowl!! I know I know I am a terrible person!!! I only thought about it for a split second though :) In all honesty, I am really glad you guys get to go and I will be cheering loud (but not too loud because everyone in my house will be sleeping)!!!!
GO PACKERS (but mostly #16)!!!!!
Have a great weekend everyone!!
I will update you guys as soon as I get back :)
Lots of love!!!!
Besos y Abrazos!
B :)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
¡Hola a todas de las personas!
I apologize for not writing in a few day and for not getting those darn pictures up for everyone to see! I am finding it difficult to organize and turn the pictures so they are facing the right way when you guys view them!! I either need to stop taking pictures or find an easier and quicker way to get this done!!!
I really haven't done too much the past few days, but for some reason I have been SOOOOO exhausted at the end of my day! Sunday night I went to my intercambio's house. She has such an amazing family!! She has two kids (the ones I talked about in a previous post, Nerea and Aarón) and her husband is a fire fighter in Madrid :) Not to mention, Estrella (the mom) works for the police over here in Toledo! What are the odds of that?!?!? When I told her my dad works for the police in the States, she couldn't believe it!! She told me that she was going to bring me downtown to see where she works and what she does!!! HOW COOL!!! They were the nicest family!! All of them even speak English!! This makes it easier when I can't figure out what to say or how to say it!!! Brittany and I had dinner over there and it was PHENOMENAL!!! It was definitely one of the best dinners that I've had thus far!
Today I began my internship. I woke up before everyone else in the entire country of Spain at 6:00am! I thought it was funny because when I was getting up, it was only 11pm in the States, at home!!! I had to get up sooooo early this morning because of the public transportation system (buses). I caught the bus at my bus stop at 7:10. As I was pulling into the city of Toledo, I saw the bus I needed to connect to leaving....BUZZ KILL!!! So I waited outside, in the cold (it was cold for here!), for 40 minutes to catch my second bus to the clinic!!! I got to work at about 8:30. Everyone introduced themselves to me and they were all so nice!!! They begin each day with a group meeting. All of the doctors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses get together and disperse the cases/patients for the day. I love when Spanish people ask me what my name is because I ALWAYS get the same response (CAN YOU SPELL THAT FOR ME PLEASE?!?!). So I spell it out and they all pronounce it the same (BROOOOOKE). Then all the ladies always go...OH LIKE BROOKE SHIELDS and I say YES EXACTLY!!
The meeting ended at about 9-9:10 and then they informed me it was breakfast time. So I sat in the break room with the doctor, 2 psychologists, a nurse, and the social worker. We were here until ten o'clock. The doctor was sooooooooo funny! I couldn't believe she was a doctor. She was about 28 and was wearing gray skinny jeans with black, stiletto boots. This just wasn't what I envisioned a doctor to wear!! I can't wait to work with her!!! I spent the day working with the social worker. Her main job was to see all of the new patients and get all of their family and addiction history. Then we went and discussed the cases with the psychologists. The psychologists are the next people to see the patients. They then refer them to the doctors, if need be.
Today I saw 4 patients (yes I was right in the room with them and the social worker). One patient was 3 months younger than I was and has been addicted to drugs since he was 14. His main addictions were marijuana and cocaine. He hasn't used cocaine since he was 18 though, but there were still traces in his blood work (but not enough to have a positive test). There are certain points that the drugs have to be present in the blood for the test to come back positive. If the numbers come back below this point, it means it is in their blood, but has not been used for some time (I just learned that today!!) The next patient was in his mid-forties and was sent to the clinic on recommendation form his doctor for alcohol abuse. This patient just didn't understand what it wasn't ok to have "a few" beers. The social worker even told him that beer without alcohol is not allowed (because to addicts this is viewed as a "gateway" type drink). The social worker compared addictions to diabetes. They are something that you have to carefully control over time. Everything you do, eat, and drink effects how you act and feel! The third, and worst patient I had was also in his forties. He lives with his mom because he moved to Madrid and that was obviously a failure for him...He was even strung out during this meeting. The social worker said he just keeps going to doctors to get prescription drugs and obviously abuses them. His face was full of red sores from the cocaine and heroine...It was kind of sad to think about actually. The final patient was someone just getting over his alcohol addiction who just comes in every week to talk to someone. I didn't understand much of what this guy said because he spoke REALLY REALLY FAST!!!
After seeing these patients it was lunch time....at about noon. When I walked into the break room 2 of the psychologists were standing at the window smoking (AND I HAAAAAATE SMOKING/SMOKE). When they left, 2 people from the reception desk came in and started smoking....WITHOUT THE WINDOW OPEN....Not only am I going to come home weighing 50 pounds, I will also have lung cancer. The smoke was sooooo unbearable I couldn't breathe. I even got a headache from it....One of the guys had 3 cigs in the 20-25 minutes I was in there.....I believe that the smokers out rule the non-smokers in Spain.....EVERYONE SMOKES here....my clothes smelt sooooooo bad after work it was still making me sick...I needed to change, but then I could still smell it on my skin and my hair. The 8 pounds of lotion and hairspray helped this problem a bit :)
My meals are definitely starting to get better (thank goodness!) I hope I didn't just jinx myself (because I haven't eaten yet)!!!! I think they are finally starting to understand that I don't like seafood! I am getting some excellent cooking and dinner ideas! I think when I get home I am going to have a party so EVERYONE CAN TRY THE THINGS I HAVE TRIED (the good, the bad, and the ugly!!!!) HA HA HA HA!!!
Tomorrow I only have one class so it will be relaxing :) I have to talk to the head of student classes (comparable to the dean) because one of my classes will not transfer back to the States....Leave it to me for this to happen to :)
I am getting really excited to head to London :) My flight leave VERY early Friday morning so I will be spending the night in Madrid's airport....Not too happy about that, but I just have to think about being in London at the ballet!!! Our hostel we booked is actually a 3 star hotel so that's a good sign :) Hopefully the pictures, description, and reviews are legit and not done by the owners or workers!!!
I have planned a few other trips since the last time I talked to everyone! I have Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela (the Spanish Ireland!!), Palma de Mallorca (an island in the Mediterranean), and Lisbon (Portugal) booked. I think I am most excited about Lisbon because it is the week before I come home, it will be warm, and I won't be worrying about school!!! We will also be attending a bull fight so I am excited for this (sorry members of PETA!).
I hope everyone is enjoying the Packer festivities and parties!!! I miss everyone TONS!!!
Besos (Kisses) and Abrazos (Hugs)
B
P.S. I forgot to mention that I got to wear a white lab coat around work today :) I felt exactly like a doctor!!! I think I could get used to that feeling :) What's a few more years of school?!?!?
I apologize for not writing in a few day and for not getting those darn pictures up for everyone to see! I am finding it difficult to organize and turn the pictures so they are facing the right way when you guys view them!! I either need to stop taking pictures or find an easier and quicker way to get this done!!!
I really haven't done too much the past few days, but for some reason I have been SOOOOO exhausted at the end of my day! Sunday night I went to my intercambio's house. She has such an amazing family!! She has two kids (the ones I talked about in a previous post, Nerea and Aarón) and her husband is a fire fighter in Madrid :) Not to mention, Estrella (the mom) works for the police over here in Toledo! What are the odds of that?!?!? When I told her my dad works for the police in the States, she couldn't believe it!! She told me that she was going to bring me downtown to see where she works and what she does!!! HOW COOL!!! They were the nicest family!! All of them even speak English!! This makes it easier when I can't figure out what to say or how to say it!!! Brittany and I had dinner over there and it was PHENOMENAL!!! It was definitely one of the best dinners that I've had thus far!
Today I began my internship. I woke up before everyone else in the entire country of Spain at 6:00am! I thought it was funny because when I was getting up, it was only 11pm in the States, at home!!! I had to get up sooooo early this morning because of the public transportation system (buses). I caught the bus at my bus stop at 7:10. As I was pulling into the city of Toledo, I saw the bus I needed to connect to leaving....BUZZ KILL!!! So I waited outside, in the cold (it was cold for here!), for 40 minutes to catch my second bus to the clinic!!! I got to work at about 8:30. Everyone introduced themselves to me and they were all so nice!!! They begin each day with a group meeting. All of the doctors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses get together and disperse the cases/patients for the day. I love when Spanish people ask me what my name is because I ALWAYS get the same response (CAN YOU SPELL THAT FOR ME PLEASE?!?!). So I spell it out and they all pronounce it the same (BROOOOOKE). Then all the ladies always go...OH LIKE BROOKE SHIELDS and I say YES EXACTLY!!
The meeting ended at about 9-9:10 and then they informed me it was breakfast time. So I sat in the break room with the doctor, 2 psychologists, a nurse, and the social worker. We were here until ten o'clock. The doctor was sooooooooo funny! I couldn't believe she was a doctor. She was about 28 and was wearing gray skinny jeans with black, stiletto boots. This just wasn't what I envisioned a doctor to wear!! I can't wait to work with her!!! I spent the day working with the social worker. Her main job was to see all of the new patients and get all of their family and addiction history. Then we went and discussed the cases with the psychologists. The psychologists are the next people to see the patients. They then refer them to the doctors, if need be.
Today I saw 4 patients (yes I was right in the room with them and the social worker). One patient was 3 months younger than I was and has been addicted to drugs since he was 14. His main addictions were marijuana and cocaine. He hasn't used cocaine since he was 18 though, but there were still traces in his blood work (but not enough to have a positive test). There are certain points that the drugs have to be present in the blood for the test to come back positive. If the numbers come back below this point, it means it is in their blood, but has not been used for some time (I just learned that today!!) The next patient was in his mid-forties and was sent to the clinic on recommendation form his doctor for alcohol abuse. This patient just didn't understand what it wasn't ok to have "a few" beers. The social worker even told him that beer without alcohol is not allowed (because to addicts this is viewed as a "gateway" type drink). The social worker compared addictions to diabetes. They are something that you have to carefully control over time. Everything you do, eat, and drink effects how you act and feel! The third, and worst patient I had was also in his forties. He lives with his mom because he moved to Madrid and that was obviously a failure for him...He was even strung out during this meeting. The social worker said he just keeps going to doctors to get prescription drugs and obviously abuses them. His face was full of red sores from the cocaine and heroine...It was kind of sad to think about actually. The final patient was someone just getting over his alcohol addiction who just comes in every week to talk to someone. I didn't understand much of what this guy said because he spoke REALLY REALLY FAST!!!
After seeing these patients it was lunch time....at about noon. When I walked into the break room 2 of the psychologists were standing at the window smoking (AND I HAAAAAATE SMOKING/SMOKE). When they left, 2 people from the reception desk came in and started smoking....WITHOUT THE WINDOW OPEN....Not only am I going to come home weighing 50 pounds, I will also have lung cancer. The smoke was sooooo unbearable I couldn't breathe. I even got a headache from it....One of the guys had 3 cigs in the 20-25 minutes I was in there.....I believe that the smokers out rule the non-smokers in Spain.....EVERYONE SMOKES here....my clothes smelt sooooooo bad after work it was still making me sick...I needed to change, but then I could still smell it on my skin and my hair. The 8 pounds of lotion and hairspray helped this problem a bit :)
My meals are definitely starting to get better (thank goodness!) I hope I didn't just jinx myself (because I haven't eaten yet)!!!! I think they are finally starting to understand that I don't like seafood! I am getting some excellent cooking and dinner ideas! I think when I get home I am going to have a party so EVERYONE CAN TRY THE THINGS I HAVE TRIED (the good, the bad, and the ugly!!!!) HA HA HA HA!!!
Tomorrow I only have one class so it will be relaxing :) I have to talk to the head of student classes (comparable to the dean) because one of my classes will not transfer back to the States....Leave it to me for this to happen to :)
I am getting really excited to head to London :) My flight leave VERY early Friday morning so I will be spending the night in Madrid's airport....Not too happy about that, but I just have to think about being in London at the ballet!!! Our hostel we booked is actually a 3 star hotel so that's a good sign :) Hopefully the pictures, description, and reviews are legit and not done by the owners or workers!!!
I have planned a few other trips since the last time I talked to everyone! I have Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela (the Spanish Ireland!!), Palma de Mallorca (an island in the Mediterranean), and Lisbon (Portugal) booked. I think I am most excited about Lisbon because it is the week before I come home, it will be warm, and I won't be worrying about school!!! We will also be attending a bull fight so I am excited for this (sorry members of PETA!).
I hope everyone is enjoying the Packer festivities and parties!!! I miss everyone TONS!!!
Besos (Kisses) and Abrazos (Hugs)
B
P.S. I forgot to mention that I got to wear a white lab coat around work today :) I felt exactly like a doctor!!! I think I could get used to that feeling :) What's a few more years of school?!?!?
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