so yesterday we took another adventure into Madrid by ourselves to go to some of the museums because sundays are always free. We hit up el Reina Sofia, one of the most famous art museums in Madrid and I got to see la Guernica, one of Picasso's most famous paintings, and I saw some pretty cool Salvador Dali paintings. There was a lot of modern art and just weird art. the museum is four floors and each floor is huge, so by the end of it we were so worn out! we didn't make it to the rastro (the outdoor market that i was so excited for) and the prado was only free from 5 to 8 at night, so we decided to save that for a different day. We hopped on a train to come back to Alcala and ended up taking an hour and a half train ride to who knows where! we ended up going in a huge loop around madrid and then ended up back at the station Atocha where we started. we then had to take a different train back to Alcala and this time it worked. dad you'll be happy, it turns out i kind of have a job here as well! i replied to a posting on the school's website to help a nine year old boy with his english homework twice a week thinking that someone else had already gotten it, but she emailed me right back! Its 10 euros an hour which is only 20 a week, but thats about $30 more every week to put in my travel fund! three days until Paris!

so i'm very frustrated that my skype won't work correctly so i'm sorry for the lack of contact. Mom and Bug i tried calling you on each of your birthdays but didn't get a hold of you, i hope you got my messages and both had great days! i'll get something up and running soon so we can talk!

so last night i booked a flight for my first big travel adventure. next weekend three other girls and i are headed to paris for three days! we got an amazing deal of a flight and three nights in hotel thats right outside of the city. i can't wait!

hey kids here's what's new in Alcala:
I watched the inauguration this afternoon, pretty cool to witness such a historical event. it was all in spanish and therefore much harder to understand, but still pretty cool. my classes are in full swing now but homework still isn't half as bad as it is in the states. i'm starting to look at classes to take for my regular course with spanish students, no idea what i want yet though. i may be going to madrid on friday and possibly spending the night in a hostel there with melissa and emily, two girls from college who are studying in toledo and taking a weekend trip to madrid. the three pictures are from madrid, one is a post office but one of the most beautiful buildings i saw, the other is just something that i honestly dont remember, and the third is the geographical center of madrid. besos! Natalia

Left is a picture of the view from the top of the mountain, pretty much what made it all worth it!

tired

okay so it is officially beautiful out here in spain! about 50 degrees and sunny its amazing!! So i had a very busy weekend. on friday our whole group took a trip to Madrid for the day. we took a four hour walking tour which was amazing, but very cold! Madrid is absolutely beautiful! every building is very ornate and old. its pretty much exactly how i pictured europe to be. after lunch we were on our own to do whatever we wanted, so some of us girls went shopping as the sales here are great right now, its like black friday from january to march! we were a little nervous to take the metro and the train home by ourselves but completed it without any trouble.
Saturday morning 8:30 AM we met in the plaza de cervantes to go on what we thought would be a little hike up to some arabic ruins. when we got there all of the other people in the group (it was a bunch of people from the community: old young and everywhere inbetween) had fancy hiking boots and hiking pants and those hardcore backpacks and ice pick/ski pole things. that was pretty much our first indication that we might have gotten in over our heads as we stood there in our jeans and tennis shoes. The hike ended up being about 15 kilometers, and we only went halfway! we basically encountered every type of terrain as well. it started out snowy and very icy and as the day warmed up the snow melted and the path was solid mud. seriously i have never been in so much mud before in my life! it felt like my shoes were getting stuck and it was so slippery we're lucky no one fell! the ruins were cool but very anticlimatic after the hike, but the view was amazing. we found a huge empty cave and a cool abandoned house and went on some of our own adventures, but in the end it was very fun. i have to get to my homework today and then we start our second week of school already tomorrow. i hope everything is going well back in the states!! besos!

so its January 15th, a horrible day for me as its the two year anniversary of Taylor's accident. I'm doing alright here, its kind of hard knowing that i'm all alone on another continent but i'm just trying to stay busy today. please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers

This is the view from my bedroom window onto the back patio/neighbors back patio. note the snow. you can't see it in this picture but my sisters went out back and made a 'muneca' or snowman, que mono!!

buenos dias!
so everything is going wonderfully here in Alcala! It's still pretty cold for here, about 30 degrees and it snowed yesterday - more problems and freaking out but nothing got shut down. Classes started on Monday for me and so far everything is looking pretty good. On Mondays and Wednesdays I have grammar class with my whole group and then Intro to Phonetics with a mix of students from different programs. Tuesday and Thursday I have Icons and Traditions of Spain which is wonderful - very useful applicable info - and then as of right now I'm taking Intro to Spanish Lit, but we only have four people in the class and it might get cut. I go to class monday through thursday from 9-12:30, not a bad schedule if you ask me! i then ususally mill around the centro for a while before coming home and eating lunch, taking my daily siesta, and then doing homework. I usually eat dinner around 9:00 and watch some spanish television with my family. on friday we're going to Madrid and its supposed to be about 50 degrees which will be beautiful after what we've had. well its about lunchtime for me so i'm off! besos!

Settling in

Hey all!
Well because of this crazy snowfall all of our planned group events got cancelled for the weekend so i've had yesterday and today off. yesterday i slept in and then met up with a couple of friends at the Plaza de Cervantes, the main plaza in town. We wandered around the calle mayor and around the University and got to know the city a little better. There's a bus that picks up a block away from my house and drops me off a block away from the school which is awesome! The two other girls that live in my neighborhood, me, and out three mothers walked to teh mall last night which is really neat and really close too! we might go there this afternoon as well. Classes start tomorrow, we get to go to all the classes we want this first week to try them out and see if we like them so thats really nice.besos!

So spain was pretty hard the first day, but also i had been up for about 42 hours and knew no one in a 6,000 mile radius of me. I've gotten to know the people in my group and i really like all of them. two live very close to me, about a block away so thats awesome. yesterday we got to see the university and got cell phones and ate my so far favorite spanish meal-the tortilla espanola. ay que rico! our main university building is an old cathedral. the sanctuary part has been turned into a library and the part where the monks used to live are all the classrooms. everything is so so beautiful here! this morning i met and moved in with my host family. my host parents are Maravillas y Juan and they live in a house with one of their daughters who is 24 and their other daughter (28) lives with her boyfriend in a nearby town. They are all so so nice and i think having such a loving family like structure here helps with the homesickness. so much for leaving all the snow in the midwest! its been snowing here all day. we've gotten about 3 inches or more - the most snow they've gotten in about 20 years! everyone is freaking out and doesn't know how to deal with it. people are all outside making snow angels and snowmen and having snowball fights. Well its about time for dinner but i just wanted to let everyone know that i am no longer freaking out about not being able to speak spanish or being away from everyone i know. besos!

I"M HERE

Hey everyone!
so i arrived safely here technically it was this morning around 10 am my time. I've been up for about 42 hours and am completely exhausted and honestly pretty homesick! its hard knowing that no one you know lives within like 6,000 miles of you. It's not very comforting and I actually thought about coming back home, but i know i'm just over tired and that it takes some adjusting but its hard. i would appreciate all of your prayers! on a lighter side Alcala de Henares is absolutely beautiful and i love the other people in my program so things are looking up. i meet my host family on friday and start classes on monday so i'll keep you updated on how that goes! love you all lots!