9/4/2012

Okay so this blog has been sitting in my drafts for a while....

First off, I cannot believe it's already April! I come home in 32 days.  So crazy.  The time really has flown by.  Secondly, my blog is very out of order.  I haven't written and a few weeks, nor have I finished blogging about Morocco.  But I'm saving that because there's a lot to write.  So for now here's what I have.

So the last week in March my Mom and  Mark came to visit.  It was awesome having them here because I got to do so many things that I haven't even done yet.  Their hotel was less than five minutes from  my apartment, on one of my favorite streets.  It's located in the center right off the main road and there are lots of cafes and pastry shops along it.  We got tapas for lunch and dinner everyday - and they were all sooo good.  I love senoras cooking but I needed a break from it and I got a chance to try more restaurants.  I always want to but it's hard because we all have senoras making free meals (well, what we already paid for).  We got tapas the first day then we walked around the city and I showed most of the important stuff.  There was a lot of stuff that  I didn't even know what it was.  I just kinda walk around the city doing my thing ignoring the history.  There's so much I still don't know.  Looks like I'll just have to move back.  We went up las cetas or "mushrooms" - that's not the real name but that's what they call them here.  They're those white honeycomb-looking things.  From there you get a view of the whole city.  We did a horse and buggy ride that night before dinner.  I love seeing the city at night it's so pretty.  This was my first experience translating.  The driver would explain to me what we were passing, in Spanish, and I'd have to translate it to English.  Translating is hard!  Especially with a bad memory because he would give me multiple sentences at a time.  The next day we rented a car and went to Carmona.  It was my first time in a car since I've left so it was cool.  Carmona was little but full of history.  I enjoyed it because Mom and Mark have the same touring style as me.  Walk around and look at stuff on your own and read about it.  It's cool to see but I don't need someone chewing my ear off stopping to explain every little boring detail.  I don't know. Sometimes tours are great, other times I just want to fall over and go to sleep.  My allergies were bothering me and I felt sick when we were leaving.  Slept on the ride home then got some tapas, which made me feel better.  Tapas cure everything.  So good.  It was raining a bit that day so we went shopping, which was very exciting for me.  They were very generous buying me clothes and waiting while I tried stuff on (there was a four item limit!! You can imagine how long that took me..)  The next day we woke up way too early and got a bus to Granada to tour la Alhambra.  I never would've thought when I was there in high school that I would have seen it three times in four years.  It was interesting.. the second time (the first time I was in high school I didn't care).  But it was pretty boring because I had just been there.  And the tour was three hours.  Afterwards we ate some lunch, and did some shopping.  The rest of the week I was really busy and exhausted from my classes.. it was right around mid terms and a ton of work was due.  Also only my second week of teaching so I was getting used to planning lessons.  Monday we went to some Arab baths. It was literally the coolest place I've ever been to.  We got massages first, then had use of the rooms for like and hour and a half or something.  There was one room - a gorgeous red room with pretty decorations and candles, filled with warm water.  Then when you walk through that, there's a really hot hot tub, and then next to that a freezing cold one.  Then there was a steam room with mint aroma to open up your pours I guess?  I don't know I loved it though. Then there was a jacuzzi room with a bunch of different water massages.  And at the end there's hot stone to lay on.  It was amazing.  Just what I needed.  That  night they came and met senora.  She invited them in for some wine and olives.  We chatted a bit.  It was fun translating.  Except senora would talk for about 5 minutes then expect me to translate the whole thing.  I summarized it. It was also hard sometimes and I would forget which language I was supposed to be speaking in.  I think it went pretty well though.  We went and got tapas that were really good.  The next night we went to dinner with my friends, which was a lot of fun. Wednesday we went on a boat ride around the river - something that I've never done.  The river here is so pretty, and afterwards we ate lunch along it.  All of the tapas here have been amazing.  That night we got churros with senora at, what she says, is the best place in town.  They were really good, but filling and fattening, and she kept insisting on ordering more.  After class that night we went to see a flamenco show with Kirsten and went out for tapas.  Then we went back to the hotel and traced a bunch of bunny ears for my lesson the next day.  I was teaching Easter.  I hadn't been sure what I was going to do.  I wanted to show them some Easter eggs, but they don't have them here in Spain.  It worked out perfectly because Mom brought me an Easter basket, filled with eggs.  When I got to school that day all of the kids were chanting "Easter Bunny!! Easter Bunny!!".  Then there were some, mostly the three year olds, that were chanting "Mister Bunny!! Mister Bunny!".  They don't have Easter here, but since it's a billingual school they learn about Easter, and the Easter bunny came to their classrooms.  Before they went and found their candy, they went to the patio and did their Grease Lightning dance.  Adorable!  Then they went to the classroom and found chocolate eggs on their desk.  The teacher said they could eat them, and all of a sudden she yelled "No! Don't eat that!"  Little Victor had found a clay Easter egg and was eating it.  Haha.  So I taught the kids some new vocabulary - Easter eggs and Easter bunny, and had them cut out and color bunny ears, which I made headbands out of.  They loved them and looked so cute with their ears!  Then I read them an Easter story, using my basket and Easter eggs as a prop, and handed out a jelly bean to each of them.  I think we did some more shopping, then after class I went out for Kimby's birthday.  Friday morning we woke up really early and went to Vienna.  It was freeeezing cold there. And rainy.  Drastic change from the warm weather in Sevilla.  We walked around and did some shopping, got some delicious Austrian food, and amazzinggg desserts.  We shared a chocolate covered cone with strawberry mousse and strawberries, and a cheese strudel.   Delicious.  The next day we had our own tour guide who brought us to the Hapsburg summer palace and a few other places.  The palace was really cool to see, and I learned a lot.  The food in Austria was really good as were the desserts.  Sunday we went on the oldest running roller coaster, and some haunted house ride.  While we were there, it snowed a little bit!!  Austria was cool but I definitely would enjoy it more in warmer weather.  From there we took a flight to London, they continued to America, and I stayed and met up with  my friends.  It was a lot of fun having them in Sevilla and showing them around.  I got to see a lot of the city that I hadn't even really seen before. Plus I gotta do a lot of shopping and eat a lot of delicious tapas :)

Best & Worst of Spanish Culture

La Feria:

La Feria de Abril is a fair that takes place every year in April in Sevilla.  It is held in Triana, one of the neighborhoods in Sevilla.  They build a big gate in front of it, then a bunch of little streets, where they build casetas, or tiny houses.  They look like tents but they are sturdier.  Each has a bar and kitchen in the back.  They range in size, some are huge and elaborate while others are smaller.  They are owned by families or groups of friends, and for most of them you need an invite to get in.  All of the men dress up in suits or some like bull fighters, while all of the girls dress us in flamenco dresses.  There's a carnival there as well.  When we first got here and were planning trips, one of our orientation leaders made it sound like it was pointless for us to go because you need an invite to a caseta.  So Kirsten and I planned our trip during Feria, and came back Saturday, so we'd have two days to see it.  Well I wish I had been here longer.  We went Saturday and it was the coolest thing I've ever been to.
I came home from my trip Saturday morning and napped.  Senora had told me she wasn't going to dress up this year, but she came into my room and showed me her flamenco dress.  She had changed her mind.  I was glad because I wanted to see her dressed up in the flamenco dress.  The dresses are so pretty.  So I went to senora's friends apartment with them while her friend got ready.  It was so funny watching them get ready.  I had to help senora zipper her friends dress.  The dresses are really fitted, and then have a huge puffy skirt at the bottom. And it doesn't matter how big you are or what you look like - everyone's dress is super tight and they don't care.  We had a little trouble zippering the second dress she tried on, and they were commenting on how fat she is.  (She's not that fat, but has a belly).  Anyways, I wanted to see senora dressed up but I was going to meet up with Kirsten and Michelle.  Senora was sad that I wasn't going to see her, so I brought them to my apartment and we waited for senora.  It took them a while, apparently because her friend's zipper burst on the way over, so she had to change.  Kirsten Michelle and I bought flamenco flowers for our hair, and we all got ready back here.  Right as we were going to leave it started raining.  We took a cab over, and I was shocked.  The set up was amazing! There were pretty lights everywhere, and the casetas were gorgeous.  It was honestly the coolest thing I've ever seen.  There's nothing even comparable in America.  And everyday there's a parade of horses with couples on them.  It's cute - the guy is in the front and the girl is behind him sitting sideways in her flamenco dress.  And the little kids are adorable all dressed up!  So we went and met up with a girl named Lucia.   She came on our trip to Morocco and she invited us to her caseta.  We hung out there for a few hours, eating and drinking.  Had some calamari, chicken, fried goat cheese with marmalade - sooo good, definitely my favorite.  Then Kimby and Sarah met up with us, and I went with them to Kimby's intercambio's caseta.  This caseta was a little bigger, and there were no tables like the other one - it was just a dance floor.  The girl who owned the caseta was exteremely nice, and her friend taught me how to dance flamenco.  It was so much fun.  Definitely the best cultural experience I've had since I've been here.  It made me never want to leave Spain and decided that I had to come back.

Me and senora

Me senora and her friend

the entrance to la feria

some casetas

Lucia and her friends all dressed up

the caseta.. most are decorated with the flowers on the ceiling

learning how to flamenco dance!

On the contrary...


Bull fight:  Warning: this is grotesque.

So Sunday morning Kirsten and I went to see a bullfight.  I knew it would be sad and gross, seeing a bull get killed.  Little did I know.  We got there and saw some protesters outside, and kind of commented on how they were annoying.  We went in to the packed stadium.  We were a few minutes late, and it was hard to get to our seats because there are no aisles, nor seats.  They have assigned seating but they have benches, so we had to climb over people to get there.  Normally bull fights are bull fighters (torreros) vs the bull.  Well I think it was a special thing they do for Feria, but the one we went to the torreros were riding horses the whole time.  In the beginning there were six guys (well one was a girl) riding horses around on the floor.  It was crazy how they could control them and make them dance.  It was really cool.  So the first torrero came out and did his thing.  I did not know exactly how this would go down.  It was pretty horrible.  Little by little they wound the bull, and every time they stab him, the crowd goes wild.  The guy changes horses four or five times, and taunts the bull with the horse.  It's crazy.  They have the horse dancing, imitating the bull, and then running sideways to get away from the bull.  The bull gets little swords stuck in it, and left hanging there bleeding the whole time.  While the guy changes horses they have other torreros come out with pink sheets to piss off the bull and tire him out.  Music is playing the whole time, except for the final stab.  These people are sick.  They shut off the music and people are shushing other people, so that they can hear the sword stab through the bull.  Sick.  Then, the bulls still living, so other torreros come near it with the pink sheets, making it dizzy, until it falls.  Then the torrero who killed it stands in front of it and taunts it, til it falls over and dies.  Then the crowd cheers and the torreros runs around all proud, holding the bulls horns.  People throw flowers, some throw hats or shirts, and the torrero kisses them, and throws them back.  Then they attach the bull to a bunch of horses with bells, and drag it out.  Okay so this all sounds bad.  I was a little disgusted.  But this was nothing compared to what we were about to witness.  So the next torrero comes out on a pretty white horse.  The second bull was a lot angrier and full of energy than the first one.  (Also something I did not know - I thought they only killed one bull).  So he's doing his thing, making the horse dance and taunt the bull.  Everything was fine, then all of a sudden the bull catches them (they're very close the whole time but always manage to get away because they bull's fat and slower).  So the bull knocks over the horse and the torreros.  The guy jumps up and runs out of the ring, while the bull is ramming the underside of the horse.  A bunch of other torreros run out with the pink sheets to try and get the bull away.  Once they get the bull away from the horse, the horse gets us and starts running around the ring in panic.  I looked to see if it was bleeding, and it was hardly bleeding.  However, it's - what looked like- large intestine was dangling underneath it.  As it was running around.  The horse did a lap or two, then they were able to get it out of there.  I almost passed out.  I had to put my head down and I felt like I was gonna puke.  Kirsten was crying.  It was the most messed up thing I've ever seen.  I can't get it out of my head.  Even worse, I have pictures.  I didn't realize at first it's guts were hanging out, so I was taking pictures.  So disturbing.  We wanted to leave right then - but it's impossible.  We were packed in there.  The guy who messed up and got the horse wounded was clearly shaken up, but he had to go out there and finish.  At first I hated him, but I kind of felt bad.  He cried after he killed the bull.  Everyone was giving him a standing ovation which surprised me.  He messed up!  Ugh.  I didn't enjoy it.  The next guy was really good - but I couldn't look half the time.  Then there was a girl torrer, who got a little too agressive because she's a girl and has to "prove herself".  We just wanted to leave. Normally in bull fights there are four parts.  Unfortunately this one had six.  We left after the fifth.  People were annoyed as we climbed over them, but I couldn't stay any longer.  Glad I saw it, but these people are sick.  I'm soo ready to come home!


So this was obviously disgusting, and I'm very disturbed, but the pictures I got, specifically one, are insane.  I just don't know what is going on, what exactly is falling out of the horse, but it is not okay.  Don't look if you puke easily, but I had to share these pictures so someone can understand what I saw and how messed up it really was, and that I'm not exaggerating....

Horse down, torrero running away

Horse getting rammed

Getting the bull away

 Horse freaking out. Seriously click on this picture.. WHAT IS THAT?!

So sad..

Brussels

Brussels day 1 Got to Brussels Thursday morning. The directions from the airport to the hotel that the hotel had given us were pretty unclear, so we decided to take a taxi. Not ideal because it cost a lot, but whatever.  At this point in the trip I'm so sick of traveling.  After we settled in at the hotel we took the metro to the center. As soon as we got outside it started pouring raining and it was really windy. It was about four o'clock at this point, and everywhere we went in to eat was only serving drinks. We finally found a restaurant. I got a roast beef sandwich that was pretty good. We walked through the rain to the longest shopping street in Europe. Torturous seeing as we couldn't really buy anything as it wouldn't fit in our suitcase. We went to a shoe store and found some really cute shoes that we came really close to buying. Resisted though. When we were leaving we passed a few waffles places - the whole city smells like waffles. It's ridiculous. They had a display of them and they were amazing looking. We split one with Belgian chocolate, bananas, whipped cream, and crushed peanuts. It was amazing. The waffles here don't even compare to the ones in America. Which, I figured out the next day is because they use dough, not liquidy  batter. We went back to the hotel and went to sleep early since it was so gross out and we were exhausted.    Brussels day 2 Woke up and headed out pretty early. We went to the Atoniam, which is some crazy looking structure built for Expo 58 held in Brussels. It's a big metal structure that looks like a cube of molecules. It's cool looking. We ate a strawberry and Nutella waffle on a stick while we waited in line. The inside was disappointing. They bring you up to the top first. The view wasn't cool. It's not in the center of Brussels so there wasn't much to see. Then you go to four or five different levels, and they basically talk about water conservation the whole time. It was lame. Next we went to the chocolate factory. It was little and cool. We got a few free samples of melted chocolate on a cookie, then we watched a demonstration of how they make it. It was really cool to see. I wanna try making it!  We also got as many samples as we wanted of some shells he had made. Then another guy explained the different types of chocolate - 90% cacao, 70%, 50%, milk, white, etc.  Little did he know, I'm already a chocolate connoisseur and just wanted the samples he was giving us of each kind. Then we walked around the top two floors. No one was up there, and they had samples of dark chocolate and vanilla caramel chips. We ate way too many. Then we left and went on a hunt for the best Belgian chocolate so I could buy some for señora. There were a ton of shops in the area and I think we went into all of them. We may have had a few samples in these too, but strictly so we found the best chocolate. I wasn't even enjoying the samples by this point. So we found the best place because they let you pick which ones went into the gift box, whereas a lot of places had prepackaged ones. The lady helping me didn't understand English well, and she starting making a box for me - which I did not ask for.   So when she was done packing all thirty chocolates I told her I didn't want it, and kind of snuck out. Whoops. She wasn't very happy. After going to a few more shops though, we realized that place really was the best. So I sucked it up and went back in. I had someone else wait on me, and while the guy was filling the box for me, she told him was had happened and just glared at me. Oh well, I got to pick the ones I wanted this time. It's kind of funny because the descriptions were in French or German, so I didn't really know what they were anyways. That's one thing I didn't expect in Brussels, they speak German and French. I was expecting German, but I heard mostly French. Now that I think of it I didn't hear any German really, but everything was written in both languages. Even the street names and train stations had two names. It was a little excessive. After the chocolate hunt we needed real food so we got falafel. Of course it was everywhere here even though we couldn't find it in Istanbul. It wasn't as good as the one we had in Istanbul, but it was still really good. Then we went to the comic strip museum. It was pretty boring, especially since the comics were in French. Some of it was cool, like seeing the original drawings of comics and stuff. Then we went shopping. I successfully found some really cute and comfortable wedges - they're pink and I love them. I also found the exact backpack I had in mind, and it matches the shoes! Then we went and got waffles and smoothies. They made the waffles fresh here (most of the places make them fresh but have them sitting there and heat them back up in the waffle iron).  This is where I saw the waffle dough being used. We shared two. A strawberry Belgium chocolate and a Nutella banana. Both were amazing. And I got a mango coconut smoothie that was delicious as well. Everything in Brussels, well all of the stores and museums, close around 6. So we went back to the hotel and got some sleep before we had to catch our cab at 430. It ended up costing us 177 euro!! Ridiculous. So worth it for all of the chocolate and waffles we ate though. I'll never be able to eat a waffle in the US again. 

Istanbul

Istanbul day 1 Got to the airport to check in with Turkish Airlines. We had to weigh our carry on bags. Uh oh. I knew I was screwed. Normally they just look at them or have you fit them in the little metal box. The limit was 8kg, I had 12. I spent a good amount of time taking stuff out. It didn't make any sense though. Because what I took out - clothes and a bunch of my stuff that I put in a grocery bag- I was still carrying on. Airlines have just gotten so ridiculous. I finally got it down to 8.5kg which was fine. Just annoying. The flight was actually nice though. They served us meals! I haven't been on a real flight since I left for Spain. I love airplane food. Always exciting. They had this amazing almond cake that I loved. Anyways, we landed, took a bus to Taksim Square, in the modern part of Istanbul. Found our way to the hotel. It was really close to the square we were in- just down two streets. Two of the steepest streets I've ever been down. Which was fine going down but going up would be an issue. Anyways, we found our hostel which was above a Dominos. The people there were really nice and they had four adorable cats. The place was a little disorganized but it was fine. We left our stuff there and went out to explore the city. There was a reallly long street off of the square with a ton of food places and stores. There was a lot of great shopping, unfortunately I couldn't fit anything else in my carry on. Probably a good thing but so sad. Everyone we encountered was very nice and friendly. I went into Starbucks to buy a drink and thought I could pay in euro so they ended up giving it to me for free. Then we went into a bakery and a guy gave us free pastries. They were amazzzzing!!! I've never had baklava but oh my goddd I needa find it in America. Soo good. It was pistachio baklava. Then we kept walking and some guy had a metal pole that he was working ice ceam with. I was just kind of watching and he told me it was elastic ice cream and asked if I wanted to try. Of course I did. He did all these weird tricks with it when he served it to me. Gave me a scoop, on a cone, and even dipped it in chocolate! It was amazing. Tasted like marshmallow mixed with ice cream and it was kind of stretchy. Apparently it's a specialty in Turkey.  I loved it. We were on a hunt for falafel, a hunt we thought would be very easy. Falafel is always sold at places called "Istanbul" in Europe. Seriously. And they didn't have it anywhere! Only kebabs. Disappointing. We didn't do much else. Returned to the hostel and went to our room. One of the two other kids staying in there was from Canada and he'd already been in Istanbul for 10 days. He told us where we should go and pointed them out on our map. He was a little odd - he talked so proper it made me uncomfortable. Whatever, he showed us where the historic part of Istanbul was.  Istanbul day 2 So the next morning woke up with the sun beating right down on me, dying of heat exhaustion. It was sooo hot on the sixth floor! We went up to the roof and ate breakfast. Then we headed to the historic part. It was over the river. We got off a few tram stops early to walk a bit and see the city. We walked through a gorgeous park. There were huge green hill and trees and pretty flowers everywhere. (Apparently flowers and cats- also everywhere- have some sort of religious significance). There were a few groups of school kids,  maybe 5th grade, and when we walked by they were all like "Hello! What is your name?". They were so cute. They asked where we were from and told us there names. You could tell thy were repeating exactly what they'd learned in class, but they spoke pretty clearly. I love little English students. They think it's so cool that we're from America. We went to the Hagia Sofia. It was gorgeous inside. So nice seeing a mosque as opposed to a cathedral. Seen far too many cathedrals. This was much cooler. The decorations were just so artistic and interesting. I noticed some guy following Kirsten and me around and taking our picture. Then we left and walked towards the blue mosque. After a few minutes I heard someone yelling "Photo! Photo please!". It was the guy that had been following us around. He asked me to take a picture of him, so I did. Then he asked for one of us. Umm excuse me? Why do you want a picture of me you weirdo. But I didn't know what to say so now some weird Turkish dude has a picture of me and Kirsten on his phone. We went to the Blue Mosque, but didn't go in. We got some elastic ice cream then headed for the Topaki Palace. We almost didn't go in, but they lied to us and told us they had a student price. While we were waiting in line some girl further up from us asked if we were from America and which states. She was from Pennsylvania. She's in Turkey teaching.  She asked if we wanted to walk around together and said she'd wait for us. So we walked around with her. Her name is Marianne - she was awesome. She goes to Penn State and is an elementary ed major. She did most of we student teaching in America, but at her school they can do part of it abroad, so that's why she was in Turkey for two months. So cool! I wish I could do that at my school!  She was really sweet and asked what we wanted to do and told us she'd bring us around. So lucky that we met her!  The palace was pretty lame. It was huge and you'd wait in line to enter one room, which would have maybe ten windows with a little piece of jewelry. There were a few cool rooms and a nice view. Glad we went though. Then Marianne brought us to the Grand Bazaar. We stopped and got food on the way. We bought a round seseame bread thing from one of the million guys selling it on the street. At te restaurant I got veggies with mashed potatoes baked on top, and some really good buckwheat rice with spices. The Grand Bazaar was interesting. It's the oldest - and maybe biggest- underground bazaar in the world.  There are 52 different tunnels with a bunch of little markets. The people there of course try to sell you stuff, but most of them were pretty funny. One told me his face hurt because I was so beautiful. They're lines were so corny but they made us laugh. We just looked around then sat in a cafe there and had Turkish tea. It was strong, but I liked it. We also got baklava and something else similar. It was delicious. Marianne insisting on paying for us - she was seriously so nice. Then we walked around and took a ferry to the Asia side of Istanbul. Marianne lives over there. It was about 25 minutes away. We went and sat on some rocks by the Myanmar? Or Bosphorus sea? Either way it was gorgeous. We huh out and talked for an hour and a half, watching the sun set over the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia across the sea. It's so cool meeting people who have so much in common. We talked about being teachers- I'm getting so old! Hanin out with my friends talking about our students and how time consuming lesson planning is. And we talked about traveling and stuff. So nice. Marianne put us on a bus to go back to Taksim Square. I had looked up falafel, and supposedly the best place in Istanbul was called Falafel House and right near the square. Took us a few minutes and we found it! We watched the guy make fresh falafel. So cool. Falafel is ground up chick peas with spices and it's fried. Then he put it in a wrap with garlic hummus, a yogurt sauce, tomato and lettuce. It was amazing. We were so happy. Then right across the street there was a place with baklava and Turkish delight. We'd never tried Turkish delight and told the kid that, so he gave us a few kinds to try. I wasn't a huge fan of it but it was good. I got some baklava though - amazing. New obsession. I absolutely loved Istanbul. Nice people, great desserts, great shopping. I wanna go back. So lucky we met Marianne, hopefully we'll meet up in the US. We kinda joked about taking a road trip but we all really want to and if not Kirsten and I probably will this summer. 

Rome

Rome day 1 Our flight to Rome was at 840. The gate closed at 8, so we were planning to get there around 7. We got a shuttle at 530 from our hotel, then had to take a different bus to the airport. We got there at 7. We go in line to check in, and the lady said "this is for Marco polo. Your flight is not here". We stood there in shock. We were so screwed. So we ran around trying to find a taxi and only saw one and the driver was no where to be found. I almost gave up and figured we should find another flight because some lady told us its almost an hour away. We ended up finding a cab and the guy said 25 mins. We paid $68 but we made it just in time. Crazy. Got to Rome center by shuttle. We paid to go to termini station but once the other people got out the driver gave us a little tour of the city and dropped us off at our hostel. We dropped our stuff off and went to walk around the city. We were eager to see the colosseum so we went there first. It was less than 15 minutes walking from our hostel. I was checking my map and looked down a side street and there it was. So cool! We walked around it and the surrounding area with other ruins. We were starving so we stopped and got a caprese panini and some pasta with a butter sauce and mushrooms. The panini was on a hamburger bun and not very toasted, but it was good.  The pasta was delicious, as every meal has been. We looked at the map and figured out everything we wanted to do. We had been unsure whether or not to go in the colosseum because people had told us its a really long line. But we decided we had to and the line actually moved really quickly. The inside was amazing. The exhibit inside was really cool too. It showed some artifacts and explained the history of Rome an the colosseum. We walked a little more and then went to find the best gelato place. We had asked the cab driver and he told us Guilleti's. The place was chaotic and packed with so many people which is always a good sign. You couldn't even see the flavors because there was a mass of people and no line. I got Nutella, black raspberry, and mango. The nutella was more butella than gelato. It was so rich and smooth. The mango was real mango mixed with ice, those two were amazing. We went to the Trevi fountain and made some wishes, then  we went and watched a movie about Rome.  It was kinda like a ride- there were three big screens and the seats you sit on move and there were fake rats and stuff.  Learned a little bit about the history of what we'd been seeing.  Then we sat on the Spanish steps and relaxed for a bit. For dinner we went to a cute little place with really nice waiters. Some of the people in Italy are really rude, so it was nice to go somewhere with friendly people. We shared an okay salad and some eggplant parmesan. We went back to the same gelato place and I got pink grapefruit and raspberry.  Rome day 2 Woke up and headed for Saint Peter's basilica. We were on a mission to find the best pizza place in Rome, which we had googled, and was supposed to be in piazza Santa Maria, right near the basilica. No one knew where it was! It was very frustrating. We had so many people stopping us and asking if we needed a tour of the Vatican, so I asked some guy. He was really nice and brought us to some other restaurant down the street where he'd get us a deal. The place didn't look very nice, and the tour guy was chillin out front waiting for us to leave and try to get us to go on his tour. Nice little set up. We just kinda snuck by him and left. We had a list of the best restaurants in Rome, and we happened to be right near one. It was Monday, so it was closed. Not sure what the deal is with Monday's, but so much stuff was closed. Really dumb. We ended up stopping at a little shop with homemade pizza that was pretty good. Then headed to the basilica. It was cool. The line was long but luckily it went quick. The inside was really pretty. We then went to the Vatican. Not gonna lie, I didn't want to. We probably wouldn't have but Kirsten wanted to see the Sistine chapel. The line wasn't very long but it was packed inside. And we were exhausted. We trudged through the museum- alllll of it. Which is annoying. You can't just go see the chapel and leave. There were signs pointing to the chapel but it just kept going!! I hateee museums. I like interesting ones but this was boring and I was tired. The one cool thing was the hallway that was reallllly long and the ceiling was filled with a bunch of different paintings. That was really pretty. The Sistine chapel itself was way too crowded. We went and got gelato after. I got caramel fico, chocolate, and coffee. All amazing, but especially the coffee. Then we went to the Spanish steps and rested. Rough day. We went back to the hostel and picked a restaurant for dinner. One the top 5 cheapest delicious restaurants in Rome. I picked it because they had homemade gnocchi! We walked to the street, made it to the end, and didn't see it. As we were standing there complaining I realized we were standing right in front of it - it was closed! Apparently they close on Monday's. Ridiculous because online it says they're open everyday!! We ended up finding a great restaurant though. It was called Horno de Vaca, which means oven of the cow. We shared gnocchi and lasagna, which Kirsten picked. I'm not a huge lasagna fan so I wasn't reallly look forward to it- but it was the best lasagna ever. It outshone the gnocchi! It was amazing. The layers were so thin and there were so many and the cheese was sooo good. It had a little ricotta but I also think there was whole parmesan cheese in it. The gnocchi was really good but it was a little doughy and maybe undercooked. Or maybe I'm just used to having the best gnocchi so it didn't compare!  We went for round four of gelato (when in Rome).  I got banana, caramel, and pistachio. They were all great, especially the pistachio, but the coffee remained my favorite. Thank God we did a lot of walking.

Venice

Venice day 1 I hope God forgives me for using his name in vane so much, because I think I said "Oh my God" my first day inVenice than I've ever said it in my life. Our hotel was off of the main island, which was kind of annoying, but we took a bus to the main part of Venice, and it was seriously beautiful. It was sunny and beautiful. It was just so cool. I knew I always wanted to see Venice but I didn't really know what to expect. It was so cool how it was like a normal city, with buildings and sidewalks, but then there were just water instead of road. And so many bridges (I guess that's necessary), but I loved them all!  They were all unique and cute. It was also cool how there were taxis and buses, just like any city, except on boats. We sat by the water and got our first Italian meal! So exciting. We shared gnocchi and margarita pizza, which unfortunately at most places in Italy is just sauce and cheese. But it was still amazing. We walked along and just kind of let ourselves get lost in the city. We went to Piazza San Marco which was cool.  I saw some people feeding pigeons out of their hands, so I decided I wanted to try it.  I had nothing to feed them but I put out my hand and one flew up onto it.  So naturally I screamed and squirmed away.  It's little claw things felt so weird!  But I didn't give up and tried again.  Held a few pigeons and was entertained for a good 20 minutes.  What is thought of as a strange activity for weird homeless ladies is apparently popular in Italy.  It rained  a tiny bit, but stopped pretty quickly. It was still cloudy most of the afternoon. We saw a gondola guy standing on one of the bridges texting, and we were taking pictures of him because he looked cool in his little striped shirt and gondola hat. I asked him how much it cost, just out of curiosity. He ended up chasing us down and bargaining with us. I wanted to wait until the next day in case it was nicer, but Kirsten really wanted to do it. So we did. And it rained. We stopped under a lot if bridges. It wasn't bad though. It sprinkled a little and when it rained a little harder we stopped under the bridges and it was fine. It was fun. I enjoyed listening to the gondola guy sing about spaghetti and mozzarella. It was fun to watch. I don't know how they street those things. Afterwards we got gelato - now that I've been to Rome I don't even remember what kind I got here. Doesn't even compare. We stopped by a bakery on the way back to the hotel. They had the most amazing looking macaroons! They were sparkly and pretty and they had so many colors. I tried three - and sadly they weren't as good as they looked. We got some pizza with veggies too. It had carrots and zucchini which seemed weird but it was really good. Went back to the hotel and tried to sleep. Key word being tried. There were Spanish people - sounded like about 8 of them - staying in the room next to us. They may have well shared our room because they were soo loud! Spanish people always talk loud, but when we knock on the wall (which was squishy) and ask you to be quiet- shut up!! They were obnoxious.  Not fun.  Venice day 2 Day 2 we had a little more of a plan. The first thing we went to see was the Rialto Bridge. We stopped in a few stores on the way. One particularly memorable was the makeup store we went in. I was just looking around and Kirsten was about to buy some mascara. The place smelled horrible because there were a bunch of preteens in there and one had just spilt nail polish, so the lady who worked there used nail polish remover to clean it up. I was looking at the kids wondering how dumb and annoying they must be to have dropped the nail polish. Of all the beauty shops I've ever been I've never seen someone spill nail polish. Well, when Kirsten was about to pay she commented on how pretty the nail polish was. I picked one up to look at it, and it slipped out of my hands. I fumbled with it for a second then next thing I know it's laying on the ground, shattered, with purple paint every where. I stood there and looked at it. I really didn't believe that just happened. I'd never even seen that happen, never mind twice in five minutes! The lady was soooo mad. She yelled in Italian than was like "Excuseeee me!!" in my face. I didn't know what to do, so I snuck out of there as fast as possible. If they wanted to find me they could've just followed the trail of purple nail polish that was all over my pants and shoes. We decided to eat somewhere so that I could wash up. It actually came off pretty easily. We got spaghetti and pizza. So good. We went over to the island of Murano because we wanted to see glass blowing. Unfortunately, those places don't do it on weekends. Everyone over there was rude. Except some really nice old man that worked in one of the shops. He talked to us about politics in America, of which he knew way more than us. And he told us how much we were going to love Rome and how it's the best city in the world. I bought a glass perfume bottle with one of those little puff things. So excited to use it! Went back to the main island. Saint Mark's basilica was pretty. Oh and we did end up making it to the Rialto bridge which was cool. We really didn't do much else. Just kind of enjoyed the beautiful city. We got gelato where our gondola guy said was the best place. It was really good. Got banana and dark chocolate. We shared a piece of pizza for dinner, then had to deal with the Spanish people at the hotel again. Luckily they shut up this time.

17/4/2012

Today I got to the school and all of the little kids asked me “¿Tu profe viene hoy? ¿Dónde está tu profe?”.  They wanted to know where my teacher was and when he was coming.  Apparently Ana had told them to behave because my teacher was coming to observe.  Little Jesús is the cutest.  He kept looking for him and asking me where he was.  We went into class, they relaxed, and did the hello monkey song.  For some reason they´re not as enthusiastic about kissing the monkey anymore.  Maybe they´ve realized that monkey gets around and that´s how germs are spread!!! Santi was my helper and he is horrible at English.  He didn´t say anything.  I hung up four different colored flowers around the room and said “Run to the .. flower”.  They all loved it and they know their colors very well.  They were trampling on top of each other, but at least they were doing what I asked of them.  I knew my teacher was coming to observe today so I tried to line up the activities so that she saw the better ones.  Ana told me they had to do a work sheet where they color a rabbit and then glue cotton onto the tail.  I hate when they do worksheets because they run around the room recklessly after.  I did this right after because I didn´t want my teacher to be there for it.  But of course once I started, she came in to tape me.  (My actual teacher didn´t come because he has class, but the director of TDP came and taped me).  The little kids colored the rabbit, which took them a while, and then came up to me and I put glue on the tail and they put the cotton on.  What a horrible activity – such a mess.  Luckily the kids who finished first behaved well, which is really rare.  After they finished I tried to re-start the game where they run to the flowers, but they were not paying attention this time, of course.  Half were sitting down and wouldn´t move.  Then I played a game where they had to run around a table and hit either a blue or red flower on the wall.  They all loved this and did it well.  After they did centers- costumes, puzzles, cutting, drawing, or blocks.  I still never really know what to do during this time.  I read Alicia a book while Blanca combed my hair in her little Princess dress.  The costumes are so cute.  Santi dressed up like Spiderman and Jesus was dressed like a witch.  Haha they´re adorable.  I can´t believe I only have two more classes with them! So sad.  I´m gonna hate saying bye to them.  It´s crazy I only have three more of each of my real classes and then finals.  And in three days I go to Venice, Rome, Istanbul, and Brussels!  Then we have Monday and Tuesday off that week.  Not much time left here.  Kirsten and I are going tomorrow to buy tickets to a bullfight, hopefully for next Sunday, and we´re hoping to make it to a soccer game before we leave as well.  I have been getting out more and seeing more of the city.  I go for a three and a half mile run every night.  I pass the river right when the sun´s setting and it´s beautiful.  

11/4/2012

Today had cooking class.  We went to a market and looked at all the food.  Apparently there's a market under the cetas, right next to the yogurt place.  There were dead bunnies, fur and all, in one of the showcases.  Gross.  There were also snails that entertained me for a while.  I'd never really seen them out of their shells with the little antenna things.  Pretty cool.  Then Michelle and I sat on the stairs of the cetas for a while, tanned a bit, and chatted.  Kirsten met up with us and we went to Cien Montaditos for lunch.  Cien Montaditos is a place that has cien (one hundred) montaditos (little sandwiches) to choose from.  They also have salads, beer and wine.  One Wednesdays everything is 1 euro, except the salads, which are 2 euro.  So we met up with Kirsten and went there.  I got a chorizo, ali oli, and crusted onions.  I also got a veggie one and a salad.  While we were eating Michelle asked what Bershka was.. and well, it just happens to be my favorite store here, maybe even ever.  So I had to show her!  And turned out I just happened to have brought shopping money with me.  So I bought two new dresses and a few new shirts.  Totally necessary.  Then we went to Las Rayas, the famous ice cream place in Sevilla.  I got pistachio and a chocolate hazelnut.  The combo was perfection maybe the best ice cream.. okay well not ever, I can't go that far.  It was really good though.  Came back, did homework, then went to flamenco class.  We watched a movie.  I did what I always do during movies, fall asleep.  The teacher caught me about 30 minutes in.  I fought off sleep for the last hour of class.  I went for a run after.  It's so nice running here.  I used to hate running outside but I've had to do it here since I'm not a gym member.  Maybe it's because the city is so pretty but I love it.  And I'm able to fun farther and I feel great.  After the run I met up with Kimby and Nicole at Cien Montaditos.  Just can't get enough of this place.  I got a jar of wine and a salad.  It was a great day but not very eventful.

10/4/2012

Okay, I know I'm behind and some of you (Mom) are eager for me to catch up.  But for now here's my day today..

Woke up at 7:30 so I could go to the high school to volunteer.  I was going to shower the night before but senora told me I couldn't because her brother had patched it up and I couldn't use it til the morning.  Of course this was right after I went for a run.  But anyways, by the time I showered and got ready, I was going to be late.  The last two times I went to the high school I was on time and they kept me waiting around for an hour.  So this time I saw screw it and I went back to sleep.  Felt so good.  I set my alarm and tried to wake up for the second class, but I need my sleep!  So I got up and went to teaching.  I hadn't seen the kids since before Semana Santa, so I seemed to get more hugs than usual from all of the children.  Blanca's still my favorite though because she's always the one who yells "Teacher Danielle!", in her cute little Spanish accent, and runs up and hugs me.  Some of the others say teacher Danielle, but I'm partial to the pigtails since I used to wear them myself.  Anyways, everything was going great when little Marta came up to me and rubbed my belly.  Now, it's sometimes hard to understand what the little kids are saying, but I'm almost positive she said "Tienes un bebé?".  Okay, I won't lie, she did say that.  I'm just trying to make myself feel better because no, I don't have a baby in my belly! Here I am eating healthier and going running, thinking I'm skinnier, but apparently I look pregnant!  I told my friends because I knew they'd think it was hilarious because we joke about our food babies all the time.  Nicole, who has experience working in preschools, said that kids get confused a lot and maybe her mom is pregnant so she thinks other girls have babies in their bellies.  Sure, I'll go with that.  Coral came up to me and grabbed my hand and Blanca grabbed my other hand.  Then Alicia grabbed the same hand as Blanca, and they started fighting over it.  I tried to get them to get into line but they over power me.  They would not let go.  Especially Coral who begins to cry when I let go.  We got into class and they put their heads down as usual.  Marta, who is hilarious and really cute (but also called me fat) was the helper today, so she went around and made sure everyone was putting their head down.  Well I walked by her at one point and saw her shoving her classmates heads into the desks and going "Shhhh".  Haha she's cute so I just kinda turned the other way.  At least she was doing her job.  Then the usual sticker debacle ensued with Coral.  After everyone kissed the monkey and I put on a song called "Springtime" for them to dance and singalong to.  Well something happened between Paula and Reyes.  They were shoving each other and Paula started crying, and next thing I know Reyes is being dragged out and yelled at again.  So I played the song two more times to distract the other kids.  When it came time to ask what the weather was like, Marta said sunny, but the rest of the class struggled because they still don't understand that it's spring, and it was also their first time learning the month April.  I started off today by review the color flashcards.  They all shouted "bluuuuuuue!" "rrredddd!"..etc, very loudly.  They know their colors very well.  Then I had flower flashcards that I made, five of different colors.  I had them bring them up to me and give me five when they got it write.  They all love that.  They all sit there and yell "Me! Me! Me! Me!" because they want a turn.  And then there's little Blanca who says, in the sweetest little voice, "Teacher Danielle!! Teacher Danielle!!"  Today I tried not to call on her right away but she's too cute!  I can't help it.  I know who won't be getting called on though.  Little Marta.  No more.  You don't call the teacher fat and then get called on!! I had them color a flower after and it took up a decent amount of time which was nice.  I had them color the flower blue, the stem green, and the inside yellow.  Everyone's flower was colored correctly, with a few minor mistakes that had been fixed.  With the exception of two.  Alvaro never colors.  He'll draw a few scribbles then go stand by the computer and stare at it because it's playing music.  He's an odd child.  And Blanca.  She colored the center of her flower orange. I tried telling her multiple times, but she colored it orange anyways.  The teacher says she's really lazy when it comes to drawing.  Whenever they're coloring she brings hers up half done and never wants to finish it.  And when she did finish it she kept asking me to cut out hearts.  They have a cutting activity that they do sometimes where they just cut lines on paper and there's a sheet with a heart on it.  She kept asking me to get her scissors and grabbed my hand and pulled me to where they were.  She knows she's my favorite and it's getting tough.  So after they colored I had them color again.  Apparently there was some confusion with what Ana had sent me to do for class today and there was something in their book they needed to color.  So they colored two more flowers and then had to put stickers on them.  Bad idea giving them a sheet of stickers because the paper ended up all over the floor in little pieces, with the sticky background stuck allover me and Ana.  They kids kept running up to me and I caught on to what they were doing but Ana must not have.  When we were leaving I noticed little pieces of stickers all over her back.  They're little devils, seriously.  Afterwards I read a book, and surprisingly was able to keep their attention.  It was mostly in Spanish but whatever, they were behaving.  At the end of class Blanca looked really sad so I asked her what was wrong.  She hugged me and started crying.  It was so sad!!  Apparently Ana told her she wasn't getting a star today because she talked to much.  How mean!! How could she do that to Blanca?!  I let her sit on my lap and played with her hair so she'd stop crying.  But then Marta wanted some attention so she kind of started crying and sat on me too.  Oh no you don't!  Not after you called me fat Marta!  But she is cute so I played with her hair too.  She's not forgiven yet though!! After teaching had lunch with senora.  Potatoes and artichoke stew thing.. soo good.  And some gazpacho.  No bread though because senora and I are on a strict diet!  We'll see how it goes..

Dublin

Arrived in Dublin Wednesday morning. It was hard saying goodbye to London. Such a great place. Had a Ryanair flight that was pretty short. When we got off the plane we were warned to be careful getting off the plane because it was so windy. No exaggeration I almost got blown back into the plane getting off of it. Dublin was freezing cold and windy. Immediate hate. Found our way out and some guy at the airport helped up find the bus we needed. He was really nice and helpful. Got to the hostel but it wasn't ready yet so we went to the Dublin castle. It was reallly cold out. The city is really pretty though. Its really fun hearing all of accents. Some people it's barely noticeable others have really thick accents. And the saying they use here are so funny. There's a hilarious old man that works at the front desk. He's short and has pointy ears. He has the strangest sayings including "I wouldn't trust that fucker as far as I can throw a baby elephant". He's very entertaining. Anyways we went to the Dublin castle since it is free the first Wednesday of every month. The free tours were full so we walked around. We snuck into one of the tours and thought we were so slick until the guy said "so for our last stop..". A little too late. We went back to the hostel and took a much needed nap. We went to the grocery store and bought stuff to make burritos. It was overly exciting having a kitchen to use. We made burritos with beans, avocado, salsa, cheese, pepper, lemon, and lettuce. They were delicious. Then we starting drinking downstairs in the kitchen area. We decided to do an experiment to see who would get drunker if we all drank the same. I knew who'd be losing that one. It actually didn't turn out fair because just like how my friends always finish my "Danielle droppings" whenever we eat (because I pick apart my food and don't finish it) they do the same with my booze. It was still fairly even. Anyways, we just hung out being loud and obnoxious Americans and making each other laugh. We also made a pact that if any two of us fail at life after we graduate (aka don't get a job) we're all going to work in that hostel in London together. We ventured out into Dublin really drunk after having split a bottle of vodka. We stopped in a little bar and listened to music for a few minutes. Then made a stop at the grocery store for chips. I got salt and vinegar chips I guess, Nicole got a chocolate mint lamb, and Sarah just begged the cashier to give her the Cadbury egg for free because it was already open. Didn't work. We headed towards some area called temple bar that's supposed to be fun. Well we'll never know because we were drunkenly navigating our way. As we headed towards the main street we saw a building that said "COME STOP IN!" lit up in huge red writing on the side. Well okay! So we went in and it turned out to be a casino. A sketchy casino where the Irish mob was chillin. So we went and peed and for some reason took lots of pictures. Then we kept walking. We stopped in a bar and got pints of hard cider and made friends with the bartender, Lennie. He was a really silly looking Irishman. I've gotta say Irish people are not attractive. The teeth on these people!! They're so bad. And the pointy ears and saggy faces - creepy. They're all nice though. I've also seen two little people here. That's two more than I've seen in the rest of Europe. I definitely believe in leprechauns. Anyways we left there and passed a strip of food places with McDonald, Burger King, and Quiznos!!!! Love Quiznos. So we walked in the door and out the other, through every single place. Just admiring. We stopped at another bar to pee.  It was filled with weird biker people and was really creepy.  Nicole wrote our names on the wall for some reason, and we fought over who's was bolder.  Also took lots of pictures in this bathroom for some reason.  I found a broom and rode it around like a witch while Sarah peed. All in the little bathroom.  We then went to a real Irish pub with live irish music and everything! It was so cool. So cultural of us. To continue the cultural experience we say down and got some Guinness. Well we sat in the corner dying, and Sarah talked to some guys who bought us all Guinness. I don't even think they speak English and Nicole and I didn't say a word to them. But okay. I didn't think I liked Guinness but this was like a delicious foamy fountain of dark chocolate and coffee in my mouth. We were just kinda chillin listening to the music for a while. Nicole at some point gave me French braids. I was fighting off attacks of hiccups that kept coming. Nothing was working, when all of a sudden I heard the first three notes of the YMCA! The music just hit me and I had no choice but to get up and dance. I dont think anyone else was dancing but I didnt care. And, the dancing cured my hiccups! They kept rolling out the hits so I continued dancing.  Nicole and I were taking swigs of hot sauce- I'd really missed it. Sarah was being stealthy and making a plan of escape to get away from the guys who ordered us drinks. I'm pretty sure they're plan was to pay, if they hadn't already. But she ended up shooing us out of the bar anyways. Right in front of us when we got outside was a food place. We really had no choice since it was right there. Sarah and I split garlic cheese fries.. From heaven. They were incredible. We ate them like savages then headed back to our hostel.  Peed on the street pretty much in plain sight. We should probably check out the laws about peeing on streets in different countries before we go drinking there because if they're anything like America's well, that's not good. We got back to the hostel and headed to our room. For some reason we stopped on the stairs. I have no idea exactly what we were doing, but we were leaning on each other rambling things and sliding down the stairs. We didn't remember exactly what was going on but after further review of the video Nicole took, I have absolutely no idea. All I know is we were huge messes. Also that Sarah won. She was the drunkest.  The next day we got off to a slow start. Ate breakfast at the hostel. It was very impressive. They had toast and cereal but also yogurt, fruit and hard boiled eggs. Exciting. We laid back down after and struggled getting up. We finally did and headed to the Guinness factory. We had bundled up so much that we actually got hot. So even though it was freezing it was bearable. Te Guinness factory was really cool. There are seven floors. The first shows you what actually goes into the beer. It's set up really cool. There was a big pool of barley, a waterfall, hops hanging down the wall, and it explained everything as you went along. Throughout the other floors it showed the oldest bottles of Guinness that they've found, old commercials, advertisements, etc.  After we went up top to the gravity bar which has windows all around and there's a really pretty view of the city. Got our complementary guinnesses and hung out there for a while. After we stopped at a little restaurant and got food. I got a veggie burger that was really good and some fries. Hadnt had a veggie burger in so long. After we walked around and went to see St. Patrick's cathedral. You could only see the inside if you were attending mass, so we did. Can't even remember the last time I went to church. The inside was really pretty and it was interesting to see mass. Religion is strange to me. I believe in God but the whole process of church just seems weird to me. When we went up to get communion you kneel on the altar and the priest brings it to you. Sarah has never been to this kind of church and didn't know what to do. She was kneeling next to me and the priest went to her first. She didn't know what to do so she grabbed the communion from his hands. I started cracking up right when the priest was standing in front of me. Needless to he didn't love that. Church was about an hour long and then we headed back to the hostel. Made burritos for dinner again and just hung out. Friday we booked a trip to Wicklow so we could see real Ireland - the countryside. It was a perfect tour. We left at 945 and got back a little after 5. The older lady running the tour was like an Irish fairy god mother. She was so sweet and really funny. We drove along admiring the country side and she'd chime in with comments every once in a while. We stopped about four times to take pictures and hang out. We saw an old cemetery that was cool and went to a weaving mill. Saw little lambs that we're sooo cute! And saw where PS I Love You was shot. That's what I wanted when I came to Ireland. We stopped and got food at a grocery store. I got a tuna sandwich that was delicious. We've been eating really cheap and I've been totally satisfied with it all. Went back, hung out, packed, and went to bed. Ireland wasn't as eventful but it was hard because A. we were exhausted and B. it was good Friday so no where served alcohol from 12am-12am on Friday. That means no bars Thursday night and our flight Saturday was at 640 - woke up at 330, so no drinking that night either. 

London

Left my parents in London. The line for customs was ridiculously long. So many asians! I played monkey flight.. Beat all the levels!!!  Anyways, the line was about an hour. Then took the underground towards London bridge, near where our hostel was.   Took a while as well but it was really cool. It was colorful and really little. Got out, found my way pretty easily to the hostel. The guy at the front desk gave me a white key card and was like "your room is on the first floor, door on the left". So of course I got lost. Went up three floors, called down to the desk and they sent me to a room that wasn't mine. Left my stuff with some girl in there and went down to figure it out. Found my room. I was confused because I didn't get assigned a bed and everyone else had. Some kid in there asked me if I was confused and I told him I was looking for my friends but apparently they were  not there. Great. No idea how I would find them. Then Nicole pops up from a deep sleep over in the corner and says hey! So thankfully I found them pretty easily. The room we were in had 22 people.  Didn't look as bad as I had imagined. Just a big room full of bunk beds. You get a metal crate underneath to put your stuff.  The room was actually pretty spacious. Met a couple from Madrid and two girls sleeping underneath us were studying abroad in Sevilla too. We walked around the hostel and checked it out. It was fucking sweet. Main lobby with computers, then a bar, a downstairs bar, the "chill out" room, a movie theater room, a roof deck. And everyone you walk by is friendly and says hi. We went across the street and got some food at the grocery store. I got this amazing noodle dish with ginger garlic dressing and carrots and stuff. So good. Went and hung out in the chill room and drank some vodka lemonades. We got really drunk, just the three of us, sitting there cracking up about stupid stuff. It was fun. We then decided to try and find some bar.  We took a taxi there. First of all, it is realllly hard not to get hit by a car in London. I know I was always taught to look both ways, but I'm used to just looking where the cars are coming from. Well obviously here they come from the opposite way. Not safe. It's weird because it didn't even look weird to me unless I thought about it. What did look weird was seeing drivers sitting on the right side of the car.  I laughed for about ten minutes in the taxi because I couldn't see the driver I could only see the empty seat on the left side. It just looked so funny! Well anyways, we took a taxi to soho. When we went to get out I freaked out because I had lost my phone.  Turned out to be in my back pocket. Got out and walked around. We were partly looking for the bar partly just dancing in the streets and practicing rolling our r's. Fast forward 30 minutes and we realize everything is closed. We ended up down some side street and some guys standing by a building ask us if we need a taxi. We proceed to ask them how much and talk it over with them. The strange russian guy asked us how much we wanted to pay. Then the creepy Indian guy was like 10 pounds we'll drive you. As I was thinking it over Nicole called the guy out on the taxi being an unmarked black van. It was like a horror movie. I looked at the van in horror, then at the guys face as he was laughing like a villain and lighting and thunder were striking in the background. Nicole had saved my life. (Okay this part may be slightly exaggerated, but seriously wtf.. Creepy). We did find a real cab. So we basically paid for two cabs just to go walk around some streets for a bit and go back home. When we got back we went to the chill room. There was a brazilian kid playing guitar and a Spanish kid with him. We started talking to the Spanish kid because we need all the practice we can get. There were probably other people in the room but I didn't pay attention to them because I was too preoccupied with showing off my superb Spanish speaking, which I feel much better at when I'm drunk. Next thing I know we're having a song along with the Brazilian kid playing the guitar. Sang some sweet 90s songs. Somehow I ended up with a percussion egg playing the drums. Everyone was impressed by my skills. Didn't know you could be so good at egg shaking but I really rocked it. Ended up being a really fun night. Went to bed around 430. The next day we had breakfast in the bar of the hostel. Cereal and toast, typical breakfast of hostels. We took the underground to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. There were a ton of people waiting outside. We saw the new guards march in, the old ones march out. The palace was surprisingly unimpressive. Wasn't very pretty. We walked through a beautiful park and headed towards the river. We saw Big Ben and some other cool buildings.  I love London because I've seen it in so many pictures and movies so it was really cool seeing it in real life.  Got some pictures in telephone booths like typical tourists. We got some lunch at a grocery store. All of the grocery stores have cheap meal deals with a sandwich, drink, and a snack. I got a chicken salad sandwich with mango and a drink. We sat in a really pretty little park across from the river and ate. Then we napped. Glad my friends share the love of napping like a homeless person in a park. It was a solid nap. We then did the London eye. It's a huge ferris wheel-two ferris wheels in two days. Before you go in you watch a 4d experience thing. It's so cool it was a bird flying to different counties and seeing different cultures. The ferris wheel was cool too, seeing the whole city.  We went and hung out in a cafe for a bit then headed back to the hostel.  We stopped and got food. Sarah and Nicole got fish and chips and I got a falafel wrap. Really good. We went back to the hotel and started pregaming with our 3 pound (as in the money) bottle of wine. We were pretty dead. So exhausted. We almost called it quits- on karaoke night! But I couldn't let that happen. The world needed to hear my beautiful gift. Two Canadian kids say down near us and we started talking. They were studying abroad in Vienna. So we talked about that and Canadian accents and stuff and how everyone hates Americans. Apparently people will ask them where they're from and when they say Canada people breathe a sigh of relief and say how they hate Americans. Then the Brazilian kid and some girls we had met the night before started a game of kings. It was a lot of fun. It was nice preparation for karaoke. By the time we entered the bar I had acquired an uncle Sam hat and an American flag ruta the brazilian kid who works at the hostel had gone to the bar downstairs and gotten. I was so ready. Sarah the Brazilian and I sang wonder wall as a warm up. Spent the rest of the time dancing around looking like a foolish American with my flag and hat and listening to the real singers show off on stage. Whatever I was good too. Sarah and I sang I love Rock n roll - Britney Spears style. Everything was going great - the crowd was lovin it and we were in perfect harmony dancing along with the song.  However, in retrospect it was more that Sarah had me in a chokehold and we were rocking back and forth.  Mid song the dj shut it off!!! He was a jerk first of all. He got mad at me twice because I went over and asked him when we were up with a drink in my hand. I was holding it perfectly fine! Or maybe not but either way I wasnt gonna spill it. He was just mad that everyone loved us. Sarah stepped down in defeat, but I couldn't disappoint the fans like that. So I continuted in acapella. It was actually quite beautiful. Allowed me to really showcase my voice without the recording drowning me out. Thanks to the cheers of the crowd, or maybe he just realized I wasn't gonna quit, the dj turned it back on. Back at the beginning! Didn't phase us. Sarah jumped back up and we sang it again.   It was a stellar performance and don't worry there are videos. So that sums up our night. Probably the most fun I've had in Europe so far. The next day we were dead. Unfortunately in a hostel with 22 people per room, when one person wakes up, everyone wakes up.  So we were up and at breakfast by 930. We dragged around getting ready til 1130 then went to the London Dungeon. The line was so long so we went to get food. I got a chicken chorizo and chipotle mayo sandwich. It was good but could've been better. I had a mini panic attack because I thought I lost my cellphone. Sarah and Nicole got in the London dungeon line. I went back to the hostel to get our umbrellas as it looked like it was going to rain, find my phone, and figure out where Ben and Jerry's was as it was free cone day.  My phone was on my bed of course. Thank god. On my way back to the dungeon it started pouring.  We stood in line for maybe an hour. So the Dungeon tells the history of London's creepy stories. We learned about the plague, Jack the Ripper, Bloody Mary, Sweeney Todd, the London Fire.  You enter one room after another and there are actors dressed up in old clothing with cuts all over them. They act out the history and try to scare you and stuff. There were also nine different rides. One where we had to shoot zombies, another you just go straight up and there was one big drop, one with water boats.  It was an hour and a half long and it was really cool because we learned a lot and enjoyed it. The London fire was interesting - the whole city got burnt down from a bakery catching on fire. Sweeney Todd was crazy - the barber who killed his clients and sold them to a pie shop. I was disappointed when I googled that later and found out it wasn't true. After the London Dungeon we walked to Ben and Jerry's. It was raining and took us a half hour but we made it. And turns out it really was free cone day! We got in line which was about a half hour long. I got phish food.. The first time around. We got in line again and I got fudge brownie yogurt. We then went on a search for crab rangoon as we were in Chinatown. Well we're unsuccessful because crab rangoon does not exist in Europe!!!! Ridiculous! We were about to leave when we passed Ben and Jerry's. No line. We had to. So we went for thirds. I got phish food again. It was delicious.  We walked to Trafalgar square and looked around then took a bus home.. A  red double decker bus!! Of course we were obnoxious tourists and took a ton of pictures on the second floor. It was so cool. A little rocky though - almost got kinda sea sick. Went back to the hotel and relaxed. Some of the kids who worked there showed us how to get up on the roof so we climbed up in the rain and looked out over the city. It was really pretty all lit up. Went to bed. Some older lady was sleeping under Sarah's bed, which was right next to mine. (Sarah and Nicole's beds were next to each other and mine was in front of Sarah's).  When I was going to bed some guy with a flashlight came looking for a mouse. The lady underneath the bed freaked. There was a mouse rustling around but we didn't care. She did. She made a big fuss and didn't speak English well. The guy ended up switching beds with her. We only got a few hours of sleep before we had to be up for the airport.