MORE PICTURES FROM LIFE

Barcelona  ^ olympic grounds.  

^ the best dinner saturday night. 

These are from Valencia.  

^ Dinner Friday night. Drinking 'agua de valencia' (which i think is pretty much a mimosa)

                                                                       ^^ found some cool steps on the way out, so we modeled with them.

                           ^^  on top of the gates to the city with martha and erika.

these are most of the ones that other people took that i was in. so really, i could provide more scenic pics, but nothing else with me :((

I CONTINUE TO TRAVEL. I CONTINUE TO LOVE IT HERE.

SORRY FOR THE TIME  THAT HAS PASSED.
Last weekend I went to Barcelona and met Rosie and Maura there. Rosie is in Rome for the quarter and Maura in Cork, Ireland.

*

*rosie and i at lunch*
We stayed in a great little hostel Maura found online. They arrived in Barcelona Thursday night and wandered around while I took a final in Alicante Friday morning. Finally, I landed at about 3:00pm and found them waiting for me!


Martha and her family were also in Barcelona for the weekend so we got to hang out with her and her sisters for drinks at night.

*dinner Friday*

On Saturday we went to the Sagrada Familia, one of the largest food markets in Europe, and the old olympic grounds.
It was so good to be busy with them but also have downtime eating and chilling at the hostel. We had a delicious, expensive meal on Saturday night. There were giant wooden tables and chairs. You sat next to strangers and pretty much everyone had on oversized knit sweaters (except us).

*eating popcorn with la sagrada familia*




 I'm so lucky to have friends that value the same experiences as me and that I can relate to so genuinely.

*drinking juice at the market* 

*rosie being precious with a fountain*

This weekend I went to Valencia with school. We left Friday morning (NO CLASS) and were there for about 30 hours(!!! ). First we went to the museum area. Which was really crazy; lots of interesting architecture. Of course I didn't take any pictures of that, here is a picture of some people I was with (everyone pumped to be in Valencia) !! 

 We went to the aquarium and spent quality time with underwater animals. My favorite: sea lions, a green eel, beluga whales. They played really calming music in every exhibit so it was a real experience.

Other things we did in Valencia: eat, shop, go to old places. go to neat plazas, see history, go to a Cathedral that has the *cup Jesus used at the last supper*. climb up steps to the top of the towers that used to gate the city, drink horchata, go to a big market that has air conditioning in the summer and glass doors.

*my favorite plaza* 

*gates of the city* 

*ceiling of the market* 

I did a really bad job taking photos in Valencia because I was so in love with everything I saw and experienced there. If I had a city that would compete with Chicago for my heart, it might be Valencia. It's a big city, but kind of feels safe and smaller. The buildings are incredible and there seems to be endless history. My last weekends in Spain seem to be filling up, so I might not be able to get back there this time, but that just means I'll live there later. 

Love you all. Please let me know what is new. Hope everyone has killer halloween costumes lined up. ;)))) 

I'VE BEEN SPENDING TIME WITH PEOPLE I LOVE

I KNOW IT HAS BEEN AGES SINCE SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD FROM ME, BUT I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT ALL OF YOU.

Since my last post, the girls have traveled thousands of miles, struggled through many meals, and bought lots of leather bracelets.
Emily arrived first, Thursday afternoon. I could hardly make it through my mid-term, I was so excited. Then a friend took me to the market to keep me occupied until three-ish, when it was finally acceptable for me to head to the train station and await the 3:48 arriving train. I found her easily, worn-out and toting her well-packed suitcase (shout out to Jase for helping). After a short pit-stop at my apartment, we checked in to the hotel and went for the beach. It was perfect to get to spend some one-on-one time with the long lost sister. We shared a bocadillo and a coke while she caught some rays (trying to catch up with my tan).

Eventually we made our way back to the apartment, picked up Carmen and made for the train station; ROUND TWO.

As expected, we accepted a weeping duo. After a grueling walk back to the hotel, we had a great dinner on a plaza.

The following days were pretty chaotic. Here are some high and low points: walking to neat neighborhoods, dinner with my host family, a beautiful afternoon at San Juan Beach, finding food everyone liked, waking up, a free-rock concert until 2:00am, the Prado for free (even if it was only for 35 minutes), AND OH SO MUCH MORE.

Saying goodbye to some of the dearest ones in my life was of course difficult and gloomy. The following few days were weird. Re-adjusting myself to life here, separate from everyone else's was more awkward than having them here or saying goodbye.
BUT DON'T FEEL BAD, BECAUSE THOSE WEIRD FEELINGS DIDN'T LAST LONG.

Everything fell right into place for me to bus to Southern Spain and catch a ferry to Morocco this weekend. And guess who was waiting at the end of runway..PAIGE!

Tangier, Morocco is located really close to Spain. She took the train up and I took the bus down. I didn't have a very clear idea of what I was getting myself into, but knew she would take excellent care of me. We stayed in a hostel/home right downtown. The owner, Maggie, is an older Scottish woman who has lived practically everywhere, speaks at least four languages, and wanted us to see everything. The home was big, open, and decorated just like a Moroccan villa should be.

The lighting, tiles, and overall warmness reminded me so much of a place Uncle Jim and Uncle Don would have.
It was the prefect place for us to relax and feel like we were immersed even if we were sitting on the terrace talking (which we did quite a bit of).

We ate what I think were pretty traditional Moroccan dishes, such as shawarma and pastillas (also fresh donuts!). We wandered through the medina; saw fresh fruits, smelt fresh leather, and almost vomited from fresh meats.

Paige studies in Fez, further south in Morocco and a much larger city, but she could have fooled me that this was her home.
She new so many things about tradition, social norms, and the LANGUAGE. She ordered, asked questions, and even bargained with a shop vender, in the Moroccan dialect. She had endless stories about how her comfort levels have been pushed and what she has learned since living with a real Moroccan family.

I don't think I stopped smiling the entire time I was there.
It was a perfect 36 hours in Morocco.

Spending time with some people I love a lot, still thinking about everyone else I love a lot.
So lucky. So happy. Still exploring and learning. Still eager to keep doing it all!
<3333

LIFE IS BIG.

Im sitting in my bedroom. Smelling dinner. listening to my family talk.

Paige put up new pictures of the sahara desert. just as i was finishing up my tears from her photos, i found the link to paul and maggy's wedding pictures. and realized that the tears were just getting started.
i'm so happy. and i'm so blessed that people i care about are also having incredible experiences that i can follow (paige, paul, maggy etc.) and that others get to see and listen and love with us (all of you).

i still haven't carefully looked through either albums because im emotionally overwhelmed. (all i've been thinking about is mom and the girls getting here. ) but so far, my favorite photos from them follow. just sharing some of the cool things that are happening all over this world, some things that are helping me realize how blessed i am in this life and how excited i am for ALL OF IT.
i hope that these photos will help you smile and remind you how awesome the world and people and love and family is (are?!?!)

(INSERT PHOTO OF YOU SMILING!!!)