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/