Well, the peanut butter jar is empty.

Well folks, I'm scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar. This only means one thing... it's time to go home! It is very bitter sweet, but I am more than ready to see the people I love at home! Good luck to Nolan on Friday! I can't wait to cheer you on bud! I'm so proud of you!

Goodbye Alex.... tear.

(My Family in Spain, Forever)

This post will be an ode to my beloved roommate Alexandra Hall Fairchild. I will miss you SO much this summer, girl! Ever since the moment when I you layed out your 30 pair of pajamas while we were unpacking, it has been pure love. I will miss bouncing up and down our beds while listening to Justin Bieber, talking in chinese voices with you, sharing laughs in the morning when we share what each other did while they were sleeping, and just have simple FUN together. Texas better appreciate having you back, or I WILL show Texas who's boss. Love you girl!

Last Weekend.

Well folks, this is it. The time has come where it is time to go home! Though it is very VERY bittersweet, I am very excited to see YOU ALL! Family and friends from home. Home really is where the heart is... but Spain will always have a piece as well. We had a great weekend. On thursday night we had our goodbye dinner. We went to a REALLY nice restuarant. Our meal included appetizers, a main course, and even DESSERT. Yes, dessert. THAT was something different in Spain! At my house, dessert consists of apples and oranges.... (that's not dessert in my book) haha. My ravioli filled me up, and then all 40 of us went to our favorite circle bar! Its such a fun environment there. It's turned out to be one of our favorite places.. and is conveniently located 1.2 minutes away from my apartment. Woo! Friday and Saturday both involved sleeping in until lunch time... laying around... and going out with friends once again. Lots of memories were made this weekend, which was suitable for being the last weekend. Nolan made it to state track, and I am SO pumped for him! That also means that I will arrive in Omaha thursday night at midnight, and then drive a couple hours to Des Moines, and be able to watch him on Friday! Perfect. Then his graduation party is on Sunday with the relatives and friends! What a perfect weekend to come home to!

My Spanish Sweetheart

Well everyone... you know what they say about abroad lovers... I found him! His name is Curro, he is the grandson of my host parents... and he is the most precious thing ever. He yells "GUAPA" at me, gives me kisses on the cheek, and also even kills me with his play sword. Oh, it is love. Today, he was serenading me with his Spanish guitar skills, and I couldn't help but snap a photo. Enjoy! Hahaha.

Kerri in Granada!

Much to my pleasant surprise, my second cousin Kerri made it to Granada with her friend Jeff. It was SO nice to get to have coffee with them before my morning classes. I was able to tell them stories, and also hear about their own Spanish experience. They have had a great time in Spain, and have gotten to see so much! Lucky them. How could you not love Spain, though?! Here's a picture for ya'll! I know a certain two of you will love to see this. Haha.

A day at the beach :)

Spain- you rock. I LOVE the location of Granada for many reasons, and the reason that is most evident at this point in time... would be that I am ONE hour from the beach. WOOT! My friends Chris, Caitlin and I hit up Malaga for the day. Since I had been there already with my family, I played tour guide for the day. We hit up the beach... and it was SO relaxing. It wasn't too hot, nor too cold. So it was perfect nap weather. You better believe that we took advantage of the ideal nap conditions, too. I ended up sleeping on my right side for a while, which turned out to be a HORRIBLE idea. Later that night, I realized that the back side of my left leg, and the left side of my face were burnt a decent amount. Whoops. Haha. So funny. Chris's back was FRIED to a krisp, and the back of Cait's legs looked like they came straight off of a lobster. So funny. After we had our fill of naps, we decided to get some good ol' pizza and ice cream. OF COURSE. We found the pizza stand that I had gone to with my family, and had our fill. After about a 7 hour day in Malaga, it was time for us to find our way back to the bus station. What a great day in the Spanish sun it was! :) Later that night, I went out for tapas with my new friend "Mays". She is from Jordan, and is studying translation here in Granada. I met her at the gym, and its actually a really neat story how we've gotten to know each other. All in all, I have learned so much from Mays... she is Muslim and has really challenged me to begin to understand the Islamic world. I love her so much as a friend, and am having a blast getting to know her. I'll post more in detail another time.

ROME- where it all began.

News flash: ROME = amazing. But seriously. Holy guacamole I can't even say enough about it! There were so many goofy memorable things that happened, so I'll do my best to explain them via blog. Here we go!

We got into Rome around noon, checked into our hostel, and headed straight to the colesseum! We didn't go in on the first day, but we took pictures outside of it. After walking around a bit, we decided that we were STARVING. We treated ourselves to some good ol' italian pasta. Let me tell you, it was as good as its made out to be! I ordered a ravioli type pasta with mushrooms, spinich, and a white cream sauce. MMM. Funny- as I was trying to order my pasta, I didn't know how to say the name (it was some crazy Italian name).... so i decided to stick with the number of the food on the menu. The waiter looks at me and goes "Dees es not a chinese retaurauuuunt" (In his Italian accent- I did what i could to have it written as it sounds) I kinda looked at him a bit flustered... haha.. and then he made me pronounce it with him. It was all in good fun. We were all so exhausted by the time night rolled around, and we hit the beds early! We woke up early Saturday morning because we were hoping to get in line to get ITALIAN OPEN tickets. Yes, you read that correctly. We ended up getting there in PLENTY of time (Don't count on the Europeans to be anywhere early). We then spent the entire day exploring the tennis stadium and all of the activities that went along all day. We got to watch Rafael Nadal win... and it was a great match, also a day filled with LOTS of sun! Such a fun day. Oh ya- for lunch we found a little restaurant along the river, with a deal where you could get a pizza slice, a coke, and some little special rice filled breaded thing for 5 Euro. It HIT the spot. Sunday then came, and we slept in a bit- the days before had wiped us out. We went to the Colosseum, got a tour of the inside, and i was blown away. I am not really a huge history person- for those of you who know me well- but THIS was SWEET. After that we got a tour of the Forum as well. We then hit up the Fountain of Trevi, and I threw three coins in over my left shoulder for myself, and three for kylie! So happily ever after...prince charming? Here we come! Haha. Monday we woke up super early and got in line for the Vatican. We were told it was going to be a crazy day there, because it had been closed the two days before... but when we got in line, and it was time to enter, we were in within five minutes. Once again, go Americans! Haha. The Vatican was really neat as well. Caitlin and I were not aware of the rule that you couldn't wear shorts... because its a sacred place. So when a security guard started yelling at me in Italian, I was a bit confused. He then proceeded to point at my legs, and I eventually understood what he was inferring. He was either going to escort us out, or we had to buy something to "cover ourselves up." Haha- so we both were luckily wearing scarves, and wrapped them around our legs. SO funny. And a great memory! But next time, im wearing a burka. Haha. Our trip back went very smoothly, my stomach was satisfied with its fill of pizza and pasta, and I'm ready for the last two weeks here in Spain!

Sevilla- La Feria

Sevilla was beautiful... what a surprise! Haha. (Not). We left Granada at 8:30, and arrive in Sevilla a bit before noon. Once we got there, we went to this park/old-age-city. It was so ornate with plants and fountains. We went in the palace, and it was really neat to see the actually rooms where the King would sleep, and see the Queen's bath! After that, we had a lot of free time to just explore the city. I wanted to see the "Torre de Oro" becuase we had studied it in my art class. We made our way to the river, and found it :) After that some friends and I decided that we were getting the munchies. We found a random restuarant beside the river, and enjoyed some Sangria in the Spanish sun. (That rolls of the tongue niceley). After the relaxing afternoon, it was time to try and be a bit more "touristy" and take advantage of being in Sevilla for the day! We went to the cathedral, which is actually the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. It was absolutely unbelievable. SO huge.... it was unreal. We even got to climb up to the top of the tower... where the bells were. It was a 36 stair flight climb, and the view was amazing at the top! After that we went to the Plaza de Sevilla. The COOLEST thing about this plaza was that it was were parts of Star Wars was filmed! (I believe its Attack of the Clones) Or something... Haha. By the end of the day we were exhausted... and ready to be back in Granada. Sevilla was wonderful, just another day in the beautiful life!

Ronda = Love

Ronda was absolutely beautiful. It is definately one of my favorite places in Spain. We woke up this morning at... 5:30- left our houses by 6, and took the 7:15 train. What an early morning- but SO worth it! The train ride was about 3 hours, but since we were riding through the mountains in Spain I didn't mind. Everything was so luciously green, an the rocks were the most beautiful shade of red. Once we got there, Chris took it upon himself to be our "guia" for the day... and led us around the small pueblo to all of the different look out spots. The town of Ronda is so small,but SO precious. It's not super-touristy either, which I really appreciate. It is famous for its bridge that was build in the 17th century. This bridge is behind me in the picture posted above. Our day consited of hiking up mountains, sitting on cliffs while listening to live Spanish guitar, taking in the sun, and of course- lots of laughs. It was quite possibly one of my favorite days here in Spain... days like these are what studying abroad is all about! Next stop- SEVILLA! (Tomorrow) Hasta luego!

¡Ole!

Its official. I have lost my heart to the Spanish culture... bull fight tonight= amazing...... First off, we got to the Plaza de los Toros and didn't really know what to expect. I knew it was a fundraiser for kids with downsyndrome.... so that was really neat to me. At this event, there were the three best bull fighters in Spain, (which means basically in the world) and they were doing it for charity- so neat. As an opening "act" the kids with downsyndrome got to meet, greet, and take pictures with the matadors. It was so precious- the kids were dressed up in little flamenco costumes. So adorable. After that was done, the bull fighting began! The first guy was riding a horse, and fought the bull from there! At times, I was worried that the bull was going to just lift the horse and the man up by his bucking neck.. but all went well! After that guy, there was a fighter from Cordoba, Spain. He was VERY showy. He would pound his chest,grab the bull's horn, get on his knees, go head to head with the bull... etc. The crowd LOVED him, and he was just basking in the attention! The next guy was from Madrid. He was pretty good, but not as entertaining as the others. He did this one trick that was pretty sweet tho- He spun around in a circle, and the the bull did the same thing! It was like he had already trained the bull within 3 minutes of being in the ring. The fourth matador was from Granada. His name is "Fondi". He was QUITE the showsman! The crowd obviously loved him because he was from our city. He was so smooth and poised. He looked like a gazelle out there in the ring. It was spectacular, and simply elegant to the eye. Not only was it neat to see actual bull fights, the audience life was also just as intruiging! In the crowd, there was a LOT to take in. We were sitting in the highest section, understandably, so we got to see basically everything going on! There were not only many elderly people there, but also people my age. We were actually sitting by some Spaniards that were my age. I took it upon myself to ask them questions throughout the fight. It was neat to get to interact with them, and see things from their perspective as well. It is custom to eat and drink throughout the fight, so I saw everyone with their canteens of wine and their sandwiches. It kind of cracked me up how EVERYONE had one... they knew what they were doing! Also, at the end of each fight, everyone waves a white cloth or tissue in the air, and screams. Its just their way of applause... and it was so beautiful when everyone did it! During the fight, people would yell "Ole!" or "Guapo" or "Torero!" Everyone got so into it. It really did feel like I was watching a sport back in the states. Some people may say that bull fighting is cruelty towards the animals. After actually witnessing one, I would have to disagree. They handle the bull in a very classy manner, and it is something that isn't too crude to watch, in my opinion. It appeared like an art, or a sport in a way.

Well, No Ireland.

I'm sure some of you have heard... but there was a volcanic erruption in Iceland. Because of this, there is a gigantic volcanic cloud over the northern part of Europe. This means that there are no flights able to depart or arrive. We went to Malaga yesterday with the intention of flying to Dublin, without any knowledge of the volcano yet. We then came to find out that EVERY flight out of Malaga was cancelled. Even though Malaga is in southern Spain! So... needless to say it was a rough day of taking the bus to Malaga, realizing we couldn't even go, and then the bus back. Oh well- things happen! We were in line with a lady who was supposed to be flying to Dublin tomorrow for her brothers wedding. It was heart-breaking because she was SOBBING. The airlines are out for who knows how long... there's no way she could make it. Her circumstance really put things in perspective for us. We didn't have it that bad! We are trying to get our money back for our flight... but lost money for the hostels. We are also thinking about re-scheduling for the second weekend in May... but who knows if that will even work out! We're keeping our chins up though :)

A little heart-felt.

So, everyone needs one of those moments where they can just sigh, relax, and reflect. I believe I FINALLY had one of those tonight. I hope you all appreciate my little "heart-felt" blogpost this evening.

However crazy this may sound, I am SO ready to be home... but the thought of leaving this new "Home" that I have made here makes me feel sick. I am finally starting to feel like I know my place around here... I have an amazing family that loves me here, and have made the GREATEST new friends I could have ever imagined. (After you see each other at their worst... aka sleeping in various airports; As well as at their best.. like when we go out... you have a special type of bond that no one can compare to). It almost brings tears to my eyes... thinking of where I have come from while being here. I remember sitting in my FIRST college course my freshman year. It was a class called "Intersections". We had to write out our goals for our college career. (I think it was a way to fill time in this class... and make us feel like we are actually at college for a reason... getting us on the right foot). Anyway,we had to write out our goals, like I said... I don't remember ALL of mine... but one inparticular I do remember.
#4: Get an Education Major AND a Spanish Major. Sidenote: I honestly didn't think I could accomplish both... nor did I ever think I would have the desire/ambition to go THIS far with my Spanish. I thought that the Spanish Major was a really high goal, but the thought of achieving it for some reason intruiged me. And LOOKIE HERE. I am in Spain, speaking Spanish everyday... communicating easily with a family that doesn't speak a lick of English. Good grief. I am so happy.... and... proud.

Here's a little insight as to how I feel like I have made my own family over here:

Yesterday, I had a bit of a rough day. I was talking with Maria about some of my frustrations/hurts... and for some reason started to get a little teary-eyed! She proceeded to pinch and kiss my cheeks, hug me, and give me a pep-talk... that I am beautiful, and much too pretty to cry (remember folks, in Spanish)! This made me even MORE emotional, because while looking into her precious crazy eyes...I felt so grateful for who she was to me. Last night she wanted to make me a special meal, to help my "sadness"...and guess what it was?! A good ol' American hotdog. That sweet lil' thing.... she's just so precious... Ever since yesterday, she has been checking up on me... giving me kisses and hugs... making sure I'm ok. Tonight we had hamburgers and fries- this woman knows the ways to help an American-girl out! Haha.

Gah...I have my Jesus, and also friends and family in Spain AND America... Needless to say, I am one blessed brunette American girl... living in a Spanish world....

Nerja!

So last weekend Chris's girlfriend was here, so we went to the beach for a day! I had been to Malaga already, so I was excited to see the difference between beaches. Nerja was a LOT less "touristy" and I enjoyed it. It was a BIT windy, but we found a nice place with some shelter. It was a great relaxing Saturday with friends. :)

La Vida Bonita

Today was wonderful for many reasons:

1. Class went by surprisingly fast.
2. Lunch was grrrrreat. We had white rice with tomato sauce, a fried egg, and some new thing that consisted of fried bacon, cheese, and vegetables.
3. My work out was relaxing... and there were some hilarious people to watch. ;)
4. After my work out, I went to the plaza right next to the gym. It was a beautiful sunny day, so i wanted to take full advantage of it! I put in my earphones, and laid down on a bench... two hours later, i woke up! I wasn't planning on falling asleep, but it was just SO relaxing... and I felt fully rested afterwards. :)
5. After my surprising nap, I went to the plaza with the crazy spiky trees (I took multiple pictures of it earlier in the semester). While there, I sat on another bench and read "New Moon". Got to love it!
6. Dinner was my favorite pasta salad, with pork tenderloin. mmm mmm good. Paco and Maria kept telling me, "Come mas!" (Eat more) So what did I do? Ate more, of course. Haha.
7. The weekend is HERE! I love not having class on Fridays. :) On saturday I am going to the beach with some friends. We are going to Nerja, and I haven't been there yet, so i'm sure there will be pictures to come!
8. I got to have a chat with my grandma via skype, and it was wonderful. :) (Love you gma!) :)

Well thats all for now! Over and out.

Semana Santa/Easter!

1.Where I spent my Easter Sunday service. At the Granada cathedral!

2.Jesus and Mary being carried as a float. The men carry the floats on their backs. Pretty crazy!

3. So the (KKK) appearing costumes creeped us out a bit... gotta be honest! But apparently, Spain established the custom of the costumes 4 centuries before they appeared in the U.S. with the KKK.

4. The most precious little Spanish children, and their grandmas watching the parade. :)

La Plaza

Today was.. really neat actually. After I was done with class for the day, I decided it was just way too beautiful outside to go home and sit in my room. I went to my favorite plaza, and decided to have some "quiet" time for a while. This plaza that I enjoy, is absolutely filled with flower stands, and pigeons. The pigeons... well... im not too fond of, but the flowers and atmosphere is so refeshing. I treated myself to some KinderBueno icecream, (my little taste of heaven)... and found a bench. I began eating my ice cream, which was absolutely amazing, and started to take in my surroundings. There was a group of 5 teenage boys practicing bull fighting with their clothes and everything. It was actually pretty funny, because they were in pairs. One of the boys had to pretend he was a bull, and squat down and run. They were having so much fun, and I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Also, it was so neat thinking of bull fighting as an actual sport. They are so serious about it here. I was watching their coach, and he was correcting them with technique and everything. Also, there were little boys, probably 4 years old, surrounding me. They were absolutely precious... squeeling as they chased pigeons. They would drop some bread crumbs, and then run as fast as their short little legs could take them. They thought they were conquering the impossible. It was so so so adorable. Hearing little kids talk in spanish just makes my heart melt. Thats all for now! Until next time.

Spring Break 2010

1. Us girls making the word "SPAIN". Haha.
2. One of Gaudi's houses he designed.
3. Us girls in front of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral.
4. In front of the water show! :)


Wow. First off, Happy Easter! I hope that everyone has a very blessed day full of praise to our Risen Lord! Spring break was absolutely, positively, amazing. I really couldn't have asked for it to have been any better. Caitlin, Maggie, and I left for Barcelona early Saturday morning. We flew out of Granada and arrived in Barcelona around 11. We easily navigated our way through the metro/train stations, and used our handy-dandy map skills to find our hostel. Our hostel was such a pleasant surprise. Probably the nicest I have stayed in, named "Barcelona Mar." We had internet, a kitchen, scan-cards rather than keys, and even our own personal lockers that were HUGE for our belongings. We got it for a great price, too. I believe it was 14/16 Euros a night. The only thing was that it was right next to a street called "Las Ramblas." This street is basically a huge carnival going on, there are venders everywhere... and I guess at night its gets pretty sketchy. We managed to stay safe for the most part at least! We cleaned up when we arrived, and decided to go check out the market. In the market, there was every kind of food that you could have wanted. There were pizzas, to smoothies, to random heads of animals that looked like dinosaurs... I may spare you all from posting the picture, we'll see. Haha. Anyway, there were body-to-body people everywhere, so after a while we decided we wanted to get out of that environment. We found a plaza with a beautiful fountain... bought some bread and lunch meat...made a little picnic, and people watched (my favorite). We were just chillin, laying in the sun, and an old woman that was begging came up to us. She was shaking her cup in our faces, so we told her no and to please leave. She then proceeded to lean down, pick up my UN-OPENED diet pepsi, which i was so excited to drink... opened it, took a sip, and tried to give it back to me. I was so shocked I didn't even know what to do. I just told her to take it after that... and us girls laughed about it for a bit. After she left I started reflecting on the biblical connections to what had just happened. First off, I was trying to not look the lady in the eyes as she was begging, after running into so many needy people, it begins to break your heart if you look into their eyes. However, because I wasn't completely giving her my full attention, she was sneaky and just decided she wanted a sip of my drink. At first, I was honestly a bit appauled, and frustrated that she had just taken my pop. Then I hit myself in the head, and realized, Paige... it was just a Pepsi. I should have just given it to her in the first place. We are supposed to be feeding the hungry, but I guess I had just become a bit numb to what that really meant, after dealing with so many needy people that "harrass" you. So all in all, this was a good wake-up call for me! That night we went to a grocery store to get all of the food for our meals we were going to cook. We made some pasta, which HIT the spot. Pasta never fails us. We then decided to check out a water-light show. Apparently it was supposed to be really sweet. When we walked up to the Palace, I was blown away. Imagine the largest fountain you could imagine, with the water being all lit up... changing colors from a deep red to a crystal blue. In the background there was music playing. It was just so powerful, especially with the palace in the background. It really made me think about what heaven will be like. It was one of those magical moments where you are just in awe of your surroundings, and makes you really reflect, digging deep into your soul. Those are the moments I live for, and I've had plenty of them to go around! Caitlin, Maggie and I just chilled on a ledge for a while and met a dad from Ohio. He was traveling for business, and was an agriculture magazine editor. We talked to him about studying abroad and such. I asked him if he ever studied abroad, and he said,"No it wasn't a very popular thing to do at Miami." I replied with, "Well i wouldn't study abroad either if i went to school in Miami!" Maggie chimed in, "I'd never leave that sun." Little did Mags and I know, he had said he went to Miami college in Ohio. He laughed, re-informed us, and we laughed it off. Gotta love those moments. Haha. On our way back to our hostel that night, as we were waiting at a crosswalk, I felt something touch my purse. Since I was already on edge with it being night time and all, I turned around, and caught a guy trying to unzip the front zipper of my purse. I think I must have gave him a very intimidating look/lunge of disgust, and he ran off. Must have been these "guns" that carry with me, on my left and my right. Thank the LORD he wasn't successful, he would have had my iPod and my passport. Whewfta. After that incident, we needed to get on the metro to go across the city. (Keep in mind, we were a bit flustered from my attempted robbey.)As we hopped onto our metro car, there was a mugging going on. A gang of 7 men, 1 girl were taking some ladies purse. They were rolling around, and at that point some men on the metro came to her aid, but the gang got off the cart with the purse. THAT freaked us out. The rest of the trip we were on edge, scared to even bring our purses outside with us. The next day, we woke up and ate a breakfast full of Nutella and ColaCoa (HEAVEN). We then headed to 'La Sagrada Familia'. This is a huge cathedral designed by Gaudi. Gaudi was an architect that was very unique in his designs. He used a lot of curves and swirls. Anyway, since we were visiting on Palm Sunday, we got to see so many unique things. There were families everywhere.. children with HUGE ornate palm branches... just chilling in the plazas around the cathedral. We got to go inside a smaller part of the cathedral, and the stained glass blew my mind. It was so beautiful... After that we decided to endulge, and get a meal at the good old Hard Rock Cafe! I can't tell you how great it felt to have my beloved ranch dressing and barbeque sauce again. I devoured my burger and fries. After our stomachs were full, and our wallets were empty, we decided to go check out the other buildings/houses Gaudi had designed. There are pictures posted above... so neat, huh?! I was infatuated with them. Its like you just walked into a real-life Candy Land. The next morning we woke up, and checked out a chocolate museum. The detail and perfection of these chocolate sculptors was crazy! (And we got a free chocolate bar out of the deal) We then went to a park on top of the city. We had to HIKE up there, and take a few escalators along the way, but it was so worth it. We got to have an amazing few of the city, and even hit up a free massage stand. Now THAT, my friend, is what I call a vacation! It was then time to grab our monster backpacks, and say good bye to Barcelona. We headed to the airport and flew to Madrid. We had to stay the night in the airport, because our flight to the Canaries didn't leave until the next morning, but that was alright. It wasn't our first Rodeo! We bundled up, had a few heart-to-heart girl talks, and fell into dreamland. We woke up, met up with our friend Steph, and flew to the Canary Islands! The flight took about 3 hours, but we gained an hour, so we got there in enough time to hit up the pool and get some great sun on the first day! We stayed in a hostel which was actually our very own apartment. We had 5 girls, and three boys with us, with two apartments. So we had plenty of room for all of us. It was SO nice to have your own living space, and not have to share a bathroom with strangers. Basically, every day while we were in the Canaries, we would sleep in until about 10, make some breakfast, get our flip flops and suits on, head to the pool, take in the sun for about 5 hours while reading, listening to music, cracking jokes... you name it. After the pool we would shower up, get ready, make food, play card games... and stay up until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. It was the most relaxing, perfect spring break ever. It was good to get away from everything. It was a great time of reflection and evaluation as well. Don't you love it when breaks do that for you? I do. I came back to Granada with some sweet tan lines, a darker skin tone, many stories I continue to laugh about, and even closer friends than before. :)

Next stop, Spring Break!

I decided I'd give a quick update before I leave for a week! This week is "Semana Santa"... or Easter break basically. I am leaving for Barcelona early this morning with two great girl friends, Maggie and Caitlin. :) We will spend time in Barcelona until Sunday night... and then meet 5 other friends in the Canary Islands! We'll be there until the following Saturday. I'm excited to whip out the shorts and flip flops! :) I'm not bringing my computer, so I'll get back in touch with everyone next weekend! Take care!

Sara Baras! Amazing x's 1,000,000.

Finally, London and Paris!

1. All of us girls in front of the Eiffel Tower.
2. One night before we went out, us all dolled up :)
3. Me in front of Notre Dame.
4. Notre Dame on the inside!- Amazing.
5. Us girls in front of the louvre.
6. THE Mona Lisa, herself!
7. Cory and I in front of the Arch de Triumph.
8. Cory and I with the Eiffel tower!

Wow… Where to begin. I guess I should start with my London trip! I was excited beyond words to arrive in London and see people that I have missed SO much. I took a bus from the center of Granada to the airport, and luckily, two other girls from my program got on the same bus… that happened to be travelling to London as well! That was a relief because I was originally going to be travelling the entire way alone. We ended up chatting, and sitting by each other on the plane. Our plane arrived in Stansted, London, and then I needed to take a train to Liverpool. This part in my journey was to be done alone, because those girls were meeting people in Stansted. I knew I would be fine, but I was just so anxious to finally be with my friends! I got in line to buy my train ticket, and I met a couple from Holland! That’s right, Holland. What are the chances? They even spoke very good English, because they were actually English teachers at the high school level in Holland. They bought their tickets and we said our farewells. Turns out, they ended up buying the same tickets as me to Liverpool, and even somehow got on the same CAB as me! We then had even more time to talk, and ended up talking for the entire hour and fifteen train ride. Apparently we hadn’t gotten on the express train that we had paid for… so it ended up taking us an extra half hour later than what we had originally anticipated. If I hadn’t had them for company, I don’t know what I would have done with myself! They were just the sweetest couple ever… offering me mandarin oranges, mints, and water. I sang them a few of my Dutch songs that I know from Dutch dozen and Tulip Court… they LOVED it. They could even understand what I was saying. BOMB. They told me that they would LOVE for me to come visit.. gave me their email address, and told me that I was always welcome in their home. Also, while I was getting money out of an ATM there was a man from Norway, and he was listening to “Man of Constant Sorrow” on his phone. He was playing it out loud, so of course I noticed. I turned around and started singing with him. The funny thing is, he barely knew English, but he knew how to say. You like bluegrass too?! Hahahaha. I love moments like these. That is what being abroad is all about! Well then came the time of arrival in LIVERPOOL. Cory was going to be waiting for me there, and I was beyond excited. I was running about an hour and a half late, and had no phone to tell him that everything was ok… so I was sure he was going to be pacing back and forth. I stepped off the train, and it felt like a movie. I saw him off in the distance, my arms flew up in the air, and I couldn’t help but run/skip the entire way towards him. It was the best feeling in the world.  We then made our way to Vandon House, which is where all of our central friends were living. Once we got there, they were all ready to hit the town! We went to super fun club/bar called the “Zoo Bar.” There were three levels in this place, it was HUGE. The top floor had 80’s music, the middle floor had techno, and the basement had rap/club music. It was so neat to see something so huge and get to experience it! The next day, which was Saturday, we woke up and started our tour of the city! We got to see Big Ben, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the Palace, and all that’s in-between! At this point, Felica was with us as well. It was so great to be with her again!  London was really beautiful, but it reminded me a lot of America, just older. It was very clean which I appreciated! And the taxis were so cute. The people were also very nice. Cory, Jermey, Beem and I left early Sunday morning back for Granada! We made it on the plane and arrived in Granada around noon. I helped the guys find the Kabob stand, which they fell in LOVE with, and satisfied their hunger. We then found their hostels and decided to rest up for a bit that afternoon! While they were all here in Granada, they went to the Alhambra, hiked a mountain, and went out for tapas almost every night. I think the guys really enjoyed/appreciated the concept of tapas. Not ONLY do they get a drink with free food on the side, but it’s also MUCH cheaper than anything you’d find in London! You better believe they took advantage of that! Wednesday night was Saint Paddy’s day, so we went out for tapas, and then found a disco-teca that had free entrance and drinks all night! It was a blast showing them the Spanish culture in the clubs. The music was typical, and they got really into it! Watching them try to talk in Spanish to the bar tender was pretty comical. I loved every minute of it. ;) Thursday was my last day of class for the week, and after my classes we went straight to the Airport to leave for PARIS! Paris, oh sweet Paris… how I love thee. Paris was absolutely amazing. But let me backtrack a bit on how we got there. Like I said, we left Granada for Barcelona on Thursday. We arrived in Barcelona at about 8:00, and our flight for Paris was going to leave at 6:25 a.m. Friday morning. SWEET. So we decided to rock the “airport hostel” another time…lying blankets down on the cold airport floor. Good thing we are still young, or I wouldn’t have been able to get back up off that floor. We got a couple hours of sleep, boarded our plane, and heard Paris calling our name. When we got to Paris we had to take an hour bus ride to the center of the city, where our friend Taylor was waiting for us! We then jumped on the metro, and made our way to our hostel. Our hostel was called “Hotel Darcet.” It was PRETTY sketchy, but it was also the cheapest we could find. So we didn’t mind saving a few extra bucks, yet have to deal with holes in the walls. Ha. We got to the hostel around 11:00 in the morning, and then found out that we couldn’t check in until 3. So, we left our bags there and decided to walk around and explore until we were able to clean up and shower. We walked up to a look-out point where we could see Notre Dame, the Eiffel tower, and basically the entire city of Paris. There was also some GREAT live music being played in this area, so we sat down for about an hour and just relaxed while we were serenaded. During this time, I tried my first crepe with Nutella. AMAZING. I LOVE Nutella, and having it in a crepe was heaven. That night we went to the Arch de Triumph, Moulin Rouge, and saw the Eiffel tower sparkle. Paris is absolutely beautiful at night. During the day it’s a BIT dirty, but at night it’s breath-taking. At night we went to an Irish pub, because it was so close to our hotel. It was so fun being with everyone again.  The next day we got to sleep in and catch up on some sleep. We woke up, and decided to make our way to the center of the city once again. It was Eiffel Tower time! We spent a few hours in front of the tower taking millions of pictures and just people watching. I had men coming up to me trying to sell Eiffel Tower key-chains, and they would call me “Lady Gaga.” Not sure where that came from… but I went along with it. I sang them a little “Bad Romance”, and I think they appreciated it. Haha. After the Eiffel tower, we made our way to the Louvre. During this time, I ran into one of Kylie’s friends from high school. It was SO random that we literally “ran into each other” at the Louvre in Paris… I was so confused and stunned at first! The Louvre was amazing. We didn’t have as much time looking around as I would have liked, but I can still say that I saw the actual Mona Lisa, so I’m pretty blessed! After the Louvre, we went to Notre Dame. I would have to say that this was my favorite site… even more so than the Eiffel Tower! Since we were there on a Saturday night, we were able to listen to Mass. The inside of Notre Dame is absolutely stunning. The architecture and even just the “mood” inside were spectacular. In addition, being able to listen to songs and the congregation reciting things in French was so neat. I saw people making confessions in special rooms, and it was just so so so…. Powerful. That night we got all dolled up, but our pearls on, and went out again. Since it was raining, we decided to go to a bar that was very close to our hostel… and had a great time trudging through the rain. We woke up, and had to say our goodbyes to our Central friends that had to go back to Pella. It was HORRIBLE saying goodbye.  They left our hotel at 6, so I woke up, gave my hugs… and tried to go back to sleep. We didn’t have to leave until 9:30 so I could get some more sleep in. Us Spain kids got on our plane fine, and did some studying during the trip. Mid-terms are this week, so we kind of had to study as much as we could! This week is going fine. I’m trying to catch up on my sleep for this weekend. Its spring break, and I am going to Barcelona this weekend, and then to the Canary Islands! Woot! After I get back from that, I really only have a month and a half left in Spain. It’s SO crazy how fast time is flying… so so crazy. I’d also like to give a shout out to my happily engaged cousin, Holden. Congrats Holden and Kelly! Love you both  Hasta Luego!

Paris Videos

St. Paddy's Day, London, Flamenco Show!

---- Ashley, Me, Felica in front of Big Ben!-----
---- Me and Cor in front of my favorite fountain. :) ----
---- Sara Baras, the BEST flamenco dancer in the world!----
---- Cory and Me in front of Westminster Abbey----
---- Us girls in front of the London Eye----



Well lots has happened since my last post. Considering I have visitors, I haven't been able to be on the computer much! I figured that i'd post a few pics... and update you all with the writing part later. Today's St. Paddy's Day, so I know that tonight we are going to go check out the Irish pub in Granada. It should be a good time. :) Last night, I took Cory to a Flamenco show here in Granada with the rest of our program. Her name was Sara Baras, and she was PHENOMENAL. She was "the best in the world." I had goosebumps half the show. I think Cory really enjoyed it as well. Tomorrow we leave for Paris with 15 of our friends! I'm SO excited to go to the Louvre, and see the Eiffel Tower, etc. However, I don't really want the weekend to end. :( Mid-terms are next week, so i'll be needing to study hard core on the trip back from Paris. Until later! Enjoy the pitures. :)

Happy International Women's Day!

So apparently, today is International Women's day! On the way back from class tonight... My friend Andrew and I witnessed a huge parade. It consisted of about 1,000 women, and was so neatly powerful and inspirational to see! I wanted to get a picture of it, but it was raining AND i didn't have my camera with me. :( Oh well... tomorrow I have my LONG tuesday of classes... so i need a good night's rest. :)Happy womens day! Hasta Luego!

Just another Lazzzy Sunday

Today has been a pretty relaxing one. :) We woke up for breakfast at 9:30... then I went back to sleep. I MAY or may not have slept in unil 1:30 today... but ill leave it at that, for ya'll to ponder. Haha. Alex and I finished a movie called "Tin Cup." It was a great movie about golf- I loved it, though was a bit frustrated with the lead actor, because his choice of play on the 18th hole were simply, DUMB. Anyway, I got over it and tried to remind myself it was just a movie. Thank you to Alex's parents for sending that movie! :) After that, Alex and I have been attempting to get some homework done. However, it has been distracted with sudoku, and facebook. Whoops. Today at lunch Paco and Maria went on a rant about their beliefs regarding abortion. Its always interesting to listen to them babble when they bring up a controversial subject. Their tone and posture become so much more intense. AND, they barely stop to breathe. I try to not giggle, because they could take that the wrong way... but its hard at times! Alex and I just nod and reply with, "Si.." or "Claro." ;) I have a pretty exciting week ahead of me! Tomorrow I don't have my night history class (Thank goodness). So that means I only have class at 8:30, and a meeting at 2:30. A pretty great day if you ask me! THEN.. FRIDAY is the day! Cory and Felica will be here.. and I'm so so so excited to see both of them. There really aren't even words to describe how excited I am. :) I'll meet them in London.. and will be sure to post pictures of the wonderful English speaking city ASAP. :)
Friday night I went out for some tapas with friends, and we discovered one of the best tapas places yet. Its called "POE." I believe it is actually owned by an African woman... due to the decor in the place. The tapa were AMAZING. I got a meat and pineapple kabob... it had a barbeque sauce type coating as well. It was refreshing to have something somewhat like home... with loads of flavor! After that we decided to check out the "Botellon." The Botellon is a huge plaza that is located very close to my apartment. Its a place where the youth of Granada goes on the weekends at night. Its a HUGE social gathering, and when i say HUGE, i mean HUGE. I'm not very good with estimating amounts of people. But I would say it was close to 1,000 young people. I met some really nice guys that were my age. We started chatting, and before we knew it.. an hour and a half had passed by. I was so pumped because it was all in Spanish! My favorite part of the conversation was when a guy named Carlos asked me if I watch the show "LOST." Now, for those of you who know me well... Lost is my all-time favorite tv show. Therefore, my reaction to his question was completely justified with my boucning up and down and squeeling. Hahaha. It made me so happy to be asked that question. Its just another one of those things that remind you how we are all connected in some way.. no matter where you are in the world! :)

Soup. Soup. Soup.

(My desk) :) ---Note: ALL the scarves. ;)

Well, not much is different in the life of Paige. Granada is STILL raining... and it has yet to get very warm :(. Maria has been as sweet as ever.. making LOADS of food... but for some reason my tummy isn't really feelin them anymore. Having fish soup one day, bean soup the next, and then fried sardines... I'm needing to dig even deeper into my peanut butter jar... But oh well! Thats alright :) I'm loving my gym more and more every day. Alex and I have talked about how if we didn't have our gym, we don't know what we'd do! It gives us a kind of routine... and some type of stability. It also makes the time go by faster, and keeps us out of our dark cold room! Tomorrow I may go check out a hair salon (una peluqueria), and possibly get my hair died a bit darker, if I feel comfortable with the communication and stuff. Tonight at dinner Maria was telling me about her niece who has divorced her husband. It was really touching to know that Maria felt comfortable to open up to us in that way. I could see the pain in her eyes, and I believe she could see the compassion in mine. Apparently this niece's children are 12, 10, and 3 years old. They are in school here in Granada. I told Maria that I would LOVE to meet them, and help them practice their English. She said that some weekend she will take us over there to do that. I'm already excited. :) Hearing people try to speak English over here is so neat- it makes me REALLY consider doing something like that in my future. After being here, I have a taste of what its like to be on the "other-side" of the language barrier. In the states we have many people that are in the process of learning English. Its much more stressful and uncomfortable than I ever realized... after being in their shoes here in Spain. I wonder if that's what God is calling me to do in the future. Who knows! All I know is that I'm enjoying every minute here, and know that I'm here for a reason. Maria's two sons and grandson are here right now. Oh- can't forget about the dog! Its refreshing to hear the giggle of a little kid again. It is so LOUD, but so contagious! Speaking of laughing- on the way home from classes today I was walking through the plaza filled with flowers. Now something to keep in mind, is that this plaza is ALWAYS filled with pigeons as well. (NOT my favorite) Anyway, there was a little chiuaua puppy that was running in circles... making the pigeons flee into the air. Then when they would touch ground again, the puppy would re-start his route of sprinting and "malicous" barking. I was literally laughing out loud while walking through this plaza. It made my day! I'm not really sure what this weekend has in store. Everyone is basically hangin out here in Granada, so it'll be fun to have everyone around all together again. Until next time, put some extra Ranch dressing on your salads for me... please. ¡Hasta Luego!

March? No way.

Wow... is it really March 2??? How did that happen. Time is absolutely FLYING by here... I can't believe we are in the month of "Marzo." It blows my mind! Its exciting, but at the same time... really sad! I have a feeling that I'm going to be at the end of my semester here before I know it, and I'm not going to be ready to leave. Until then, I'm just going to have to take each moment as it comes, and appreciate it! I haven't even written about my time with my family, so I'm going to attempt to write a shortened version of their time here in Granada with me. :)
When I was waiting in the Granada airport for their arrival, I cant even explain how excited I was. With every person that walked out of the arrival gate.. my heart jumped. (It sounds really cheesy, but its true!) Once I finally saw them, I couldn't help but jump up and down and giggle. I felt like a little girl all over again, which was refreshing in a weird way. I burried my head in my dad's chest and didn't wanna stop hugging them! On the bus ride from the airport into Granada, I couldn't stop talking about my city. The busy was packed and we were the last people to get on... But I was able to sit by Nolan. As his eyes were taking in all of the sights of Spain, his ear was also being overwhelmed with my jabbering of nonsense things. Good thing he is so patient with me! The first thing we did was dropped off their bags, and got food- of course. We found a cute little restaurant closest to my school. My family's first meal in Spain was very suitable- Paella! :) Apparently they liked it... so that was good. I then made my way to classes and they went back to the hotel to rest up a bit! That night Mom, Nolan and I went to check out some live Latin Jazz music, and Dad and Clayton went to bed... understandably. Apparently Nolan and Mom are just a party waiting to happen ;) The next morning we woke up pretty early and caught a bus to Malaga. Malaga is a city on the southern coast.. and it is about an hour and a half bus ride to get there. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. There was either a carnival going on at this time, or the city just has a lively street life... Because there were performers (painters, mimes, etc.) all along the main street. It was so fun to watch. We then went to the Picasso Museum. It was super neat to be able to see authentic pieces of art by Picasso. He actually lived in Malaga.. and there was a tour that you could take to see where he lived, and get a taste of his life.. but we didn't have time. Maybe another time :). Anyway- the museum had 155 pieces of art from Picasso... even just sketches. It was so crazy to think that his hand had been above that piece of paper years ago. So neat. We then made our way along the coast... and took a LONG walk along the harbor to find the beach. The boys wanted to see the ships up close... and it turned out to be about an hour walk until we finally reached sand. Once we did, it was so worth it :) The weather was probably 70 degrees.. I was wearing jeans and a tanktop. We then just took in the sun for about an hour, and then it was time to catch our bus back to Granada! When we got back, the boys and I met my friend Maggie at Burger King.. and we made our way to the discoteca for the night! We had SUCH a fun time there. We met some other American kids, and found ourselves dancing/singing to Lady Gaga.. jumping up and down.. in a discoteca in SPAIN. The boys loved every minute of it.. I could tell. They also were getting plenty of stares/winks from the Spanish girls. ;) It cracked me up- but how could they not?! By the end of the night... we left back for the hotel at 3:30. Success. Sunday we slept in, and just kinda chilled out in the plaza... explored... those kinds of things. Most of the stores in Granada are closed on Sundays, so it was a very chill atmosphere which was refreshing. Monday rolled around... and we ended up going to the Alhambra in the mid-afternoon, because it had been raining earlier in the day. The family loved it, and I was glad they got to experience all of its majesty! The weather held up, and we got some beautiful pictures. Dad was infatuated with the view, but how could he not be?! We got one of those little personal tour headphones, so the boys enjoyed hearing the historical references throughout our Alhambra experience. They're just so darn smart... those boys. :) Tuesday the boys decided that they wanted to try skiing in the Sierra Nevadas, since I had class from 8:00AM to 9:00PM. They woke up super early, and were pumped to hit the slopes! Little did they know... the mountain would be closed due to strong winds. They arrived at the mountain at 9 in the morning... and there wasn't a bus returning to Granada until 4 in the afternoon. SO- their day was spent sitting in a cafe, with no phone, internet... or books. They got a beautiful view of the mountains, though! I was told it was a very "relaxing and go with the flow day." Maybe its just what they needed! Needless to say, they were excited to be back in Granada at the end of the day. Wednesday and Thursday were spent checking out different restaurants inbetween my classes, shopping, and people watching. Paco and Maria went out for tapas with us Wednesday night. It was so so so neat trying to play "translator" over the dinner table, though a little overwhelming at times with two conversations going on! It was so cool to have my "three families" together... The Blythe's, Alex, and Paco and Maria. I just felt so grateful for everything that God has blessed me with... especially during this time in my life. Paco and Maria and mom and dad got along great... and my parents thanked them over and over again for being an answer to prayer. (This may have been one of my favorite parts about the trip) Friday was daddy's 45th birthday... I didn't have classes. We went shopping, once again... and mom and I got our last scarf purchases. We went out for dinner with Alex again, and then went to a karaoke bar! I sang Shania Twain, "Honey I'm Home."- CLASSIC. Mom showed the Spaniards what was up... by whipping out a little Bonnie Raitt "Let's give 'em something to talk about." She even won a prize! She tore down the house. It was such a blast. Then, sadly but inevitably, Saturday morning rolled around. It was time for them to leave... I took them to the bus stop at 7:15AM, said my goodbyes... and walked back across town to my apartment. It was SUCH a dream and blessing to have them here. At many times, it seemed unreal! I'll definately remember it for the rest of my life...

As of now, I'm still chugging away at class. They are getting tougher, the deeper we get into the material.. but that's expected, right? I'm feeling more and more comfortable with my professors, so thats a good thing! We booked our trip to Spring Break yesterday. We decided on going to the Canary Islands, rather than Italy.. because an entire week in Italy was going to be a a bit too expensive for our budgets. We are planning on doing Italy the last weekend in April now, if things go as planned. Today I also bought my plane tickets to visit Dublin, Ireland the 15th-18th of April. SO- as of now.. I have London, Paris, Barcelona, Canary Islands, Sevilla, Dublin, and Italy in planned and paid for to visit! Thrilled is an understatement. ;) Thats all I have for now though, thanks for checking in, all!

Random videos- and catchin up :)

The Blythe's in Spain

1. The family in front of the pool at the Alhambra.
2. Us kids and Dad figuring out the city with the map!
3. Us kids in front of some grafitti in a plaza.
4. At the beach in Malaga!
5. The family in front of the bus stop!
6. My beautiful parents in front of a fountain.
7. Us kids at a discoteca!
Since I don't want to spend much time on the computer with my family being here and all, I figured i'd just upload some pictures for Grandpa and Grandma to look at :) Here you go! Enjoy! love you!