SCOUTING

THIS IS ME SCOUTING OUT WHERE I WILL SPEND NEXT SATURDAY WITH MY FAVORITE LADIES.
IT IS CALLED EL CAMPELLO AND REALLY CLOSE TO ALICANTE.

LOVE. MISS. AND WISH ALL OF YOU WERE COMING.

FOOD

Right now life here is pretty basic. I wake up at 7:10, start the coffee, and get on the 8:15 bus. But this normalcy has come with a new appreciation for the food I'm eating.
    First of all, I don't stop eating. Carmen wants me to eat at every waking hour, and I pretty much do. 
  On Monday and Wednesday, I spend all day on campus. Carmen packs a lunch for me the night before. I usually get two sandwiches, a piece of fruit, a snack cake, and a juice box. I leave the house at 8 am and am home by 5 pm, that means I get to eat or drink something every 1.8 hours; PERFECT FOR ME. Today my sandwiches were on croissants (SCORE)!! One of them was chorizo, some other lunch meat, and cheese. The other was peanut butter, a recent purchase especially for me. 
   Yesterday for lunch I went to my friend Martha's house. We had delicious paella and salad. Then as Martha and I were leaving to sail, they brought out a plate of fish. I mean fish on a bone (do fish have bones!??!)  that someone must have caught that morning. I ran out of there before they made me eat it, but still it was cool. 
    The other night for dinner, I had white rice, chorizo, and fried eggs. DELICIOUS. 
Tonight I  had fried eggs, french fries, and empanadas. This is seriously the best I've ever been fed before (no offense, mom). 
    There is a gelato place in town that makes everything from scratch; we saw them picking raisins off of a vine. We go there everyday (not a joke) and get the smallest size, only .50 euro! 
So, those of you making the journey, IT IS WORTH IT. <333 

TABARCA ISLAND

I'm going to have an incredibly difficult wake up call when I have to come back to real life. Because right now, every weekend includes visiting remote tropical places and then staying out all night. 

Today we visited the isle of tabarca. A forty minute boat ride and we arrived on this little guy. No cars, close to 100 inhabitants, a must visit. 

At 11:15 about ten girls from my program left port. The boat ride was absolutely awesome. This first picture is from right when you get off the boat. You walk down a little path and then see all of these little old fishing boats. It was like from a movie (a trend here).  The island is literally smaller than lincoln park, so we conquered the whole thing on foot. 

First we hiked up the left side (i'm not sure what direction that was). It was like a mountain/hill that was a dessert on top and rocky cliffs on the sides. Stunning. Unreal. 

The other side of the island was a bit more inhabited. All of the houses and little shops lined skinny, rocky roads. 

This cove was unbelievable. In order to get to the water, you had to climb. There was a rope anchored in the ground and you had to use it to get down and up. 

 After exploring the whole thing, we relaxed for a couple of hours on the rocks and sand before our boat left at 5:00. I don't have any souvenirs, except for sun tan and tired feet, but it was a really perfect day.
On the boat today I thought, I don't know if this whole thing feels like a dream because it is so unreal, or because I've never felt this alive. I don't know if everyone can understand that, but it kind of makes sense to me. I hope that when some of you come, you can catch a glimpse and experience this surreal place for even a few days.
LOVE AND MISS> HUGS AND KISSES TO ALL

Other things: Yesterday, sailing was insane. It was the wildest day I've had. We were on the catamaran, and it was the windiest it has been. I can only explain it as: when you go tubing behind a boat, but you are disappointed because it isn't crazy or hard enough, YESTERDAY SAILING WAS. 

Also, I cut my hair, just to my shoulders, but I feel that you important people should know that. 

SPANISH SPANISH SPANISH

HOLA!
I'm falling asleep as I type this, but I've had a really great day. I want you all to know about it NOW.
School was whatever, but my afternoon/evening rocked.
Sailing was so fun today. I got to go on the catamaran with kelsey, martha, one other girl, and nestor, our teacher. I know I have previously referred to him as Esteban, but there was confusion. His name is nestor and i'm IN LOVE with him. anyway i got to steer the boat and then we were playing around (as always). He was like you can jump in and hold on to the rope and then the boat will pull you. SO OF COURSE I DID IT. but the boat didn't really move, so i had to get back on. Next we were trying to catch 'medusas' (jellyfish, but they don't sting) so we could throw them at the other boats, a life long dream of ours. and nestor said that we could sit on the front part of the boat so we could reach further in the water. SO OF COURSE I DID IT. i caught so many 'medusas' and we totally beat the other boat. also, i only fell in once.
after sailing i went to meet my 'intercambio'. i was extremely nervous to meet him just because it is such a forced situation. my two friends waited with me joking about which weird old man it could be, when a perfectly nice young guy showed up (whatta surprise!?!). he took me to a new part of town and we drank wine and ate tapas. alberto is 23 and has finished his studies. he now works as a tax advisor in alicante, he lives with is parents (customary in spain), and loves to travel. he is going to teach me to drive a stick shift and if i pass that test, i get to try driving his motorbike. he is soo nice and really patient with my language. i already feel comfortable around him and like he has a lot to teach me.

when i got home, i took a shower and then ate my dinner with angel in front of the soccer game. we have just parted ways because we both must be up early for school. but we had a really relaxed time talking about sports, studies, and nonsense. he has informed me of some really neat looking places near alicante to visit (hint hint mom, em, allie). i'm looking further into them and will send some real information.
the other night i thought i might be getting a little homesick, but tonight there is no such thing. i'm still thrilled to be here and excited for the new days.
i'm so glad to hear from each of you and can't wait to show you every picture.
dad- ARE YOU PLANNING ON COMING TO SPAIN!?!?
paul (&maggy)- I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOUR WEDDING. PLEASE KNOW THAT I AM THINKING ABOUT YOU AND MISSING YOU.
aunt micky- I'M SO SO HAPPY THAT YOU ARE POSTING. AND PROUD OF YOU!
uncle jim- ESTOY USANDO 'SUNSCREEN'. GRACIAS.
everyone else- love you. miss you. HASTA LUEGO.

GUADALEST AND WATERFALLS

HELLO~ reporting from my bed today. Yesterday was a very long day, and today I have to do homework :(

FOLLOW THIS SEMI- GRAPHIC NOVEL. 

Guadalest- cool water right!?!?

 Me, bigger than a bell tower.

 SWIMMING IN FREEZING COLD WATERFALLS>

 My friend Martha climbing to get in the best waterfall!

 ALMOST THERE!~

literally me in the waterfall. We did it first and then all the cool kids starting following (we are the bravest).

We also went to a beach yesterday that was beautiful, but really windy, uncomfortably windy.
Last night, Angel, my brother, came out with my friends! He took us to all the cool places and made us stay out really late, like locals do.
So in two days I've climbed yet another mountain, swam in iced falls, and become a local. SOUNDS GOOD>MISS YOU ALL!

I'M ALIVE

HEY PEOPLE. PLEASE DON'T START A RIOT, I'VE BEEN BUSY, OKAY?!

I don't even know where to start.
This week I had real classes. They went surprisingly fast and I may be improving at sailing and spanish (MAY BE). After 1.5 wks of class, I had a mid-term today. SO NO MORE GETTING MAD AT ME FOR NOT POSTING. I've been studying, duh.

Today I woke up at eight for my test. And by noon I was on my way to the nude beach.
We hiked through pretty much a desert to get there.
As expected, there were rocks, a coral carpeted bottom, and naked old people.
Traveling back for sailing took about an hour and included buying juice from a market, walking past about four tram stops before finding ours, and being late.
Normally I am in a boat with 5 chill girls and our instructor, the chillest dood alive. Today, because of a lack of authorities, I got stuck with the wild boat, drunk girls that can't speak spanish. So that was bad.
But then I got to ride on a catamaran. It looks similar to the photo below. See how the girl in the red vest has her feet strapped in and is leaning back? I GOT TO DO THAT. WILD.
Now I'm home and really tired. Tomorrow I go to Guadalest with my school group. Apparently we are doing enough activities to keep you occupied for four days, in one. (!!!!) I'll take some pics and try to keep you all updated, but I'm just so busy doing new things, making new friends, and JUST DOING ME (that means 'being yourself').
LOVE YOU MISS YOU <3333

Sunday Adventure

This morning my friend Martha and I woke up at 7 am to meet a group to go spelunking. One of our advisors here sent us the link for a program. We weren't quite sure if other students would be there or what exactly we were doing. We were told it was a semiaquatic, 40 Euro excursion. This trip was phenomenal.

Our group consisted of 3 guides, about 10 other people who knew each other (all spanish adventurers), and the two of us. We set off, with the guides in one of their cars. We drove out of dry, desert-like Alicante and to green mountains.

After a quick lunch, we started hiking. Martha and I thought we would hike a short while before entering the cave. Little did we know that we would be trekking up the entire side of a full-blown mountain. One full hour of sweaty complaints and we had reached the entrance.

We slithered into our neoprene suits and snapped on our helmets. AND WE WERE OFF. For the next two and a half hours or so we climbed, swam, jumped, slipped and slid all over the inside of the mountain. It was incredible.

After exploring every corner of the caves, we exited, only to have to trudge back down the mountain.

But don't worry, it kept getting better. We wandered up part of a different mountain to find a beautiful 'ermita'. This little church served us well. We bought bottles of water from a sweet old man sitting outside and used the perfectly stocked bathrooms (a rare find around here).

But we're not done yet! Remember that we rode with the guides. Needless to say, Martha and I were literally aching and ready for bed. The guides were not. We drove up into the mountains and on back roads while they attempted to find a new path on the mountain. In this adventure we found wild fruit they picked for us and old ruins. It was a movie. Martha and I were just laughing and smiling. I could not believe how perfect the entire day had gone. It was nothing I could ever imagine.

I'M GLAD NONE OF YOU ARE ROBOTS.

I'm so happy that none of you are robots for a couple reasons:
1. you can post on my blog.
2. i don't have a family of robots.
Really though, I love hearing from each of you! Thank you so much for keeping in touch. I love that you get to kind of experience everything with me.

Yesterday I went sailing and got to swim out in the Mediterranean Sea. It was absolutely incredible. We  were taught (in Spanish) the parts of the boat and the basics. Then we were in charge of putting sails up and setting out; a group of six of us and one teacher sailor boy. After we got somewhat comfortable we were allowed to steer the boat! I was significantly worse at steering than everyone else, and almost flipped us (!!!!). But the teacher was super nice and kept us safe. After my near accidents he suggested we take a swim, so we got to jump out and float around. Then we sailed around some more and finished up. I get to sail three days a week for the next three weeks. Let's hope I get a tad bit better and get to know Esteban!! ;)

This is the beach I was at today; Playa de San Juan! It is beautiful and feels like a resort. The waves are big enough to have fun in. No one wears tops here and everyone is tan. Today, we kept our tops on because we were there with our whole group, but I'm going back.
Tonight I'm going out with some friends and tomorrow maybe going for a hike.
Love and miss you all!
Thanks again for posting!

September 4

'Do one thing everyday that scares you.'

This is my life.
At home, and even in Chicago, I often found this quote a challenge. There weren't enough opportunities, everything was comfortable, or nothing was new. Here every interaction, every meal, every decision is intimidating.
I have always been taught the importance of humility and vulnerability, but not until now am I truly beginning to understand how little I know. I need verification for the meaning of nearly every other word. I have eaten salmon, tuna, and what I think was liver. I navigate a city with twisted streets named things like 'avenida de la estación'. I am forced to put myself on the line; driven to make a fool of myself. Barely anything is easy here and little is comfortable or stable.
The beauty and the opportunities that are around literally every corner are worth every ounce of apprehension.
I have met incredible people and seen stunning views, and all in the first week of being abroad. Within the three days in Alicante, I have already improved my understanding of my family's language, appetite, and mannerisms. If this is what I am capable of seeing, doing, and feeling in one week, I'm so enlivened by the thought of what lies ahead.

Today, Grandpa's 97th birthday, I climbed a mountain to the view in this photo. Afterwards, having a drink with friends, in the cheapest bar in town, I toasted to grandpa. Although they know very little about my family, and certainly nothing about grandpa's influence, they all were thrilled to participate in the moment. I told them how important he is to my family, that a large reason why I am here today is because of him, and that he would be proud of our thrifty drinking!
Although grandpa can't read this now, I know that he is with me during this journey, giving me the courage to not know things and the strength to be away from all of you.
FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS ABUELITO!!

ALiCaNTe!!!

 I made it to La Plaza de Los Luceros, where my new mom and dad were waiting for me!

My street! Just on left is the door into the place.

 After unpacking and some pork for lunch, I went to wander the city with some friends.

 Ten minute walk from my new apartment!

 Not only water and city, but mountains...does it get better?!?!

This morning I was incredibly nervioso to meet my new family. We rode a bus from Madrid and the landscape was absolutely beautiful; rolling hills lined with olive trees and mountains as a backdrop. As we approached Alicante, I was seriously sweating: PANIC. My new friends, who are literally awesome, helped me relax.
Mom and Dad were waiting for me and walked me the two short blocks from the plaza to our casa. As promised, there is a brother. But I haven't figured him out too much. I can't tell if he is not happy about me being here or just awkward. I think numero dos, but with time I think we should be able to communicate and become better friends. He is well-manicured and fairly handsome, but for the sake of the family I will hunt out in the wild.
Anyway, both parents are super nice and patient about my lack of spanish. I feel really at home and relaxed here. Of course, some things are weird because I'm not only in someone else's home, but they also have a different culture. As of now, I am confident that this is a good family for me. It is calm, but lovely. Mom hugs me, pats me and squeezes me hands whenever we actually communicate effectively (rarely right now) and has already reassured me that by octubre I will be better and by diciembre, perfecto.
The actual apartment is comfortable and right downtown. I have my own room with a bed, a giant wardrobe, shelves and a perfect desk. Maybe the best part is the little deck off my room that overlooks the courtyard, with pool and playground. I can't wait to sit out there and read.

I'm surprisingly doing extremely well. I expect some homesickness to set in this week since the past week has been vacation and now I have to get back to some sort of reality. I already could talk for days about my experiences and it hasn't even been a week so GET READY FOR DECEMBER.

Tomorrow is orientation on campus! I take my language placement test and then get my official class schedule. I think I have a walking tour of Alicante tomorrow night and then the rest of the week is a hodgepodge of going to San Juan beach, some classes, and sailing. The official university starts next week, so I think this is just for us to get acquainted.
I'll be sure to put up some pics of my room and let you know how tomorrow goes soon. I love and miss you all sooo much. Please keep posting, or e-mail me. I really love to hear from you; as Allie said, reading your posts literally fills me up with joy and makes me smile. <333

Pictures from my week!

 Friday in Segovia!

 The 'acueducto' that the Romans built.

 View from a castle, so stunning.

Me in the castle. 

 

 My friend Haley at lunch.

 Friends in front of the aqueduct.

A street in Toledo (sister city to OH). It's a really old city that was inhabited by Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

 One of the most famous Cathedrals in Spain, Gothic.

 Toledo. SOOO beautiful.

Again, Toledo. You can see the Cathedral towards the left.