Barce-Barce-Barcelona!!!

This week was splendid!
On monday we had class, and played soccer at night. On tuesday we went to class and then we went into Madrid with some girls. We went to a store called "Taste of America" and it was SPLENDID! They had so many great American treats! I got gushers, brownie mix, Dr. Peper, Reese's peanut butter cups, and lucky charms. Can you say YUM? It was heavenly. Then we came home and packed for this week's trip!

Yum.

Wednesday morning we left for BARCELONA!! On our way there we stopped in Zaragoza. It was a nice little town and we got a small tour. Then we drove the rest of the way to Barcelona. All of us as a group got tasty tasty tasty gelado. Then we got to walk around and see stuff. The pier was beautiful.

Pier!

Gelado!

At Par Guell

La Sagrada Familia

Outside of La Sagrada Familia

 On Thursday we woke up and had out tour! We went to Parc Guell which was really cool. All the neat things made out of tile were really cool. We then went to La Sagrada Familia. I was in love with it. Pretty sure it is my favorite building we have been in. I cannot describe it with just words. We went to our hotel and then Ali, Marynn, Vern and I went to eat. We found MEXICAN FOOD...REAL MEXICAN FOOD. I cannot describe how happy I was. It was so tasty!

Barcelona Cathedral

Beach at Mediterranean Sea!

On Friday we got the day to ourselves. We went to the Barcelona Cathedral. It was really pretty and had geese in it. We we then walked through some shops. I got gypsy pants! They are oober comfy. Then we went to the beach! It was so nice! The sun was out. I touched the Mediterranean Sea:) We laid out in the sun for awhile. It was really relaxing. Then we went to some more stores and headed back to the hotel. We showed and rested then went out to dinner and Madi came too! We went to Hard Rock Cafe. It was delicious! YUM! Afterwards Vern, Marynn, and Madi headed back to the hotel while Marynn and I walked down the street "La Rambla" to meet more girls in our group to go to a discoteca. There were a lot of people there and shops. But there are a lot of men trying to get you to go to their clubs. They get really touchy and creepy so Marynn and I waited for our friends in Subway. They got there and the discoteca opened at 12..we were the first there because in Spain no one parties until 2am. Our director wanted us out by 1:30 so it was so calm while we were there. We had a super fun time, though! On the way back some me and 2 other girls fell behind and got lost. Too much to explain so if you are super interested feel free to ask haha:) I went to bed around 3am that night.

Gypsy pants!

Discoteca!

On Saturday we woke up early for breakfast and to head back home. I basically slept the whole ride. When I got home all I did is rest.
Sunday was great. Church was just wonderful. Us girls in the group got together before church to practice a song "Hijas de un Rey" or "Daughter of a King". We sang it in relief society and it was beautiful. I just love spanish. All the classes and talks were wonderful. At night we went to the Larsen's for treats again. Later at night I skyped one of my best buddies, Drew Royster, before he gets set apart. I'm gunna miss this guy but he will be an awesome missionary. See you in 2 years, buddy!!

Dreewww!!

Short and sweet

Not too much this week, but here ya go friends!
My week was just as normal as always. Went to class, had FHE on Monday, played soccer on Wednesday, and did homework.
Sparks from my week though

Madrid Temple

Thursday: I got to go to the temple! it was amazing! I love the temple so much! The spirit is so wonderful there. Some girls and I were talking about how awesome it is that no matter what temple you are in you get that familiar feeling. You don't feel so far away from home. It is so peaceful and was exactly what I needed.


Friday: We went to Art Madrid. We got to look at art and it was really neat. We had a lady, Eva Navarro, show us her paintings and she talked to us about how she paints and such. It was really cool. Then some girls and I went to Taco Bell! YES, there is Taco Bell in Madrid! I did not know and it was wonderful. At night Veronica, Marynn, Janeen, Jenna, David, and I went into Madrid for the Carnaval. It was pretty neat. It was like a circus and some people dress up.

Guy doing some art

Madrid for the Carnaval!

Saturday: We went to Cuenca! It was a beautiful town. There are houses that hang off cliffs. We looked around and then a lot of the time just laid out in the sun. It was such a beautiful sunny day. I got a little burnt and it gave me a little color! Wooohoo. When I got home I was exhausted.

Cuenca!

Sunday: Church was just wonderful. I love it. At night we went to the Larsen's again. They made us Crepes. nom nom nom. We also have this guy who works for BYU here taking photos of us. It's odd having a camera in your face and having to look natural..oh well.

Side notes:
This tuesday we leave for Barcelona! I am stoked.
My english is slacking a bit.
I'm going to a Real Madrid soccer game.
I'm happy...very happy.
Do I really have to ever leave this place??
Adios.
Love you all!

Segovia

Most of my week was pretty simple. I had a really great weekend though. Here is a taste of my week...

Statue in Madrid

Monday: Class.

Tuesday: Class and went to Madrid to go to the Prado Museum for our art assignment.

Wednesday: Class and the awesome game of soccer at church.

Thursday: Class and went into Madrid to do a Madrid Walk assignment. It was a beautiful day:)

Friday: We went to Segovia! It was really pretty. We got to go into the castle and to the top of the tower. The city is so cute and pretty. It was interesting how different many of the teens were though. Many of them dressed as punk kids. Also at the end of the day Marynn and I saw little girls doing a dance so we asked them to teach us, then everyone joined our circle. The little girls told us this will get all the boys. hahaha.

Cute kids in Segovia

Castle!

When we got back from Segovia Marynn, Jenna, Hilary, Santi, and I met up to go to a concert in Madrid. Hilary and Jenna are in our program and Santi is in our ward. We got into Madrid, got our tickets and when we went to go into the concert and they asked us for ID...unfortunately Jenna, Hilary, and I forgot our ID..they wouldn't let us in. We were so sad. Since we were already in Madrid we decided we better do something then. We went to Starbucks and Santi called up his friend, Mario, who is in our stake. We ended up going dancing and we had a really good time. Madrid is so busy and fun at night. We had to take buses home and got back around 3am. I had to shower and stuff so I got to bed around 4:30am.

Went out for breakfast

Saturday: We had a great day with our host family. We woke up and Veronica, Encarna, Roberto, and I went to get churros con chocolate for breakfast. We then met up with Rafael and Sandra to go to Parque Europe. It was so cool! It is a park with lots of little things from different places in Europe! It was so cute. We then went and got tapas. It was my first time getting tapas even though they are so popular here. Tapas are little meals that are about 2,50 euros. It comes with a small meal you pick and a soda. After that Encarna took us to a mall and a store that is super cheap. I got a lot of things. It was hard to pick what to get because it all was so great and so cheap. I ended up getting 3 dresses, 2 scarves, a backpack, and an umbrella for 41 euros. Vern and I were tired after that and took a long nap, had dinner, relaxed, then went to bed.

Parque Europa 

Sunday: I went to church. I really enjoyed every meeting today. I really felt the spirit today. Today was fast sunday because last week was stake conference. We had a testimony meeting and it was really great. I felt myself shaking and knew I had to get up there. I was nervous but the spirit was so strong I had to. It was a really neat experience to be able to bare my testimony in spanish. The last time that I had the opportunity to do that was 7 years ago when I bore it when talking in stake conference after returning from Mexico. After church we had lunch, I watched the Lizzie McGuire movie because it was on TV and it got me excited for Rome, then I took and nap and then went to the Larsen's for our sunday get together. It was a really great day.

I don't know if anyone remembers but when we first got here my host mom said that she could hear my Mexican accent. Yesterday her nephew told me that he couldn't hear one at all and also today some girls in my group  told me that their host mom who is in the ward said I had no Mexican accent and really enjoyed it because she could understand me perfectly. I guess I'm not so Mexican anymore. Weird.

3 things of exciting news:
1. I decided to go back to BYU-Idaho this Spring semester. I am really excited now. I am living with my friend, Devanie, and am excited to see all my other friends who are there.
2. Our program had some more money so they are going to pay for us to go to a Real Madrid soccer game!
3. My sister, Lindsie, had her baby on January 9th. My little niece, Zoey Lin Collins, is so cute and I cannot wait to meet her!

Life is good.
Oh, and if anyone has any questions they want me to answer about Spain in my blogs, let me know as well! I want you to experience it with me:)

Andalucía!!!

Okay so a lot went down this week and I loved every moment of it! There was so much that happened that I will try my best to just sum it up. We got to go to Andalucía and see southern Spain!

Monday: I went to class, came home and rested, went to religion class, played soccer at church, then came home and packed!!

Windmills!

Ubeda for lunch

Tuesday: We left Alcala at 8am and began our journey. Our first stop was in Consuegra where we got to see old windmills. It was super neat! We got back on the bus and our next stop was in Ubeda where we got out to have lunch. It was a cute little town but we were just there for a bit. After Ubeda we headed to Granada! When we first got there we saw the Capilla Real and then went and checked into our hotel. That night we got to go out on our own. A group of girls and I went out to eat and walk around. We went to a little restaurant and I got some lasagna. We walked back to the hotel and I got to skype my mom for a little bit and then headed to bed.


Wednesday: We headed to Alhambra. We had a tour guide here. The gardens and building were magnificent. We were there or quite a few hours. I loved every bit of it. After Alhambra we left and headed to Cordoba. We checked into our hotel and then got to go off on our own again for the night. A bunch of us went and got pizza. I got a pizza, mozzarella sticks, and a soda all for 5,95 euros! When we got back to the hotel a few of us girls had a movie night. We watched Baby Mama. After the movie we all went to bed.

La Alhambra

La Mezquita

Thursday: We met with a tour guide in the morning. He took us around town a bit. We saw La Mezquita. It is a gorgeous cathedral. It was really neat because we went in right after a mass had ended and men were in there singing still. The beautiful singing echoed throughout the cathedral. Although we were not able to go and watched it, I saw from a corner a bit of it going on and when they ended I saw the men in white robes walk out. It was a really neat thing to experience. We then got to explore the town a bit. We then left and stopped at the Medina Azahara. It was way cool! It was a bunch of old ruins. My favorite part about it was that at the bottom you could see some of the architecture work going on. There were bricks laid down and put together. After seeing the Medina Azahara we took off and headed for Sevilla. We checked into our hotel and then got to go out for the night. Sevilla is BEAUTIFUL! The lights reflecting off the river were incredibly gorgeous. We went and ate and I got a hamburger and then some gelado for desert. We then headed back to the hotel. Veronica and I went to bed around 2am. At 3am I heard some loud moaning/singing/clapping thing going on outside of the hotel. It was so weird. It finally stopped after about 15 minutes. A few hours later it happened again with a lady! So weird..I think I got about 5 hours of sleep that night.

Sevilla at night!

Medina Azahara

Christopher Columbus' tomb!

Friday: This was probably the best day of my life. We began the day with another tour. We walked a little around Sevilla. We went to the beautiful Plaza de España! We also went to Los Reales Alcazares. It was really pretty. The tiles used in all the buildings here are amazing. The garden here was gorgeous as well. We then went to La Cathedral de Sevilla. This is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world. they even had a sheet in there saying how it is in the guinness book of world records. Inside this cathedral was also Christopher Columbus' tomb! How cool is that?! I have learned about this man my whole life, and seeing that was just amazing to me.  We then went to the top of the tower in the cathedral. It was so cool. We were up where all the bells were and the view from up there looking out into Sevilla was so beautiful. We then got the day to do whatever we wanted. Ali, Marynn, Veronica and I took a horse carriage around Sevilla! It was so much fun! We went through town and through parks. It was so relaxing and cool to see all of the awesome places in Sevilla. After our carriage ride we looked around shops then rested by a fountain. Marynn and I started to feed the birds some peanuts! We wanted to try and get them to land in our hands but then got too scared. It was so fun/funny though. We then ran into some girls from our group there. Ali and Veronica went back to the hotel to rest but Marynn and I went off with these girls. It was me, Marynn, Lindsay, Chloe, Hilary, Jenna, and Chelsey. We walked through a park and played on a fun little zip-line thingy on a playground. We then ran into some other girls in our group who had rented bikes and let us ride them around the park a bit while they played on the zip-line. It was so much fun! After the park we headed to La Plaza de España again. Chloe, Jenna, Marynn, and I rowed boats around the Plaza. It was so much fun! We did it for about 35 minutes then got off. Marynn and I went to eat then and I got some pasta! We met up with our whole group after that. That night we all went to a Flamenco performance. IT WAS AWESOME! The dancers were amazing. I also realized that the singing/moaning/clapping I had heard the other night was the same noises they make for the flamenco! It was such a cool experience. After the performance we went back to the hotel and slept.

Horse carriage ride!

Rowing a boat in La Plaza de España

Saturday: On saturday we started our way back to Alcala. On our way back we stopped in Merida. In Merida we got to see awesome things created by the Romans. We saw a bridge that they made that people still use today! We also saw older bridges that had fallen apart. We then went to a place where they had an amphitheater and coliseum created by the Romans! It was so cool to see that! Veronica and another girl in our group, Janeen, sang at the amphitheater. It was so neat! Everyone in the place got silent. It was so cool to experience that! We then headed back home to Alcala. Vern and I were really excited to see Roberto and Encarna again! They said they missed us too:) I unpacked and slept!

Roman Amphitheater 

Sunday: Today we had stake conference. I really enjoyed it. It was different than what I was used to though. They had it translated into spanish and it was really quiet so at times it was hard to hear or understand at times. It really made me focus and pay attention though.

My week was awesome, my life is great. I couldn't be happier.
:)