Benidorm

Hola amigos y familia!

Hola to all my readers out there (AKA just my mom who constantly wants updates on my life over here). It has been crazy here and I haven't had much time to even think about what I have been doing the past week! I know you've all been lying awake restless wondering what I am doing at every hour of every day. Well, you'll be happy to know that Spain is teaching me wonders and I am still having the time of my life.


It is safe to say that any doubts I had before I came to Spain have been alleviated. The weather is starting to warm up again to the 70's (THANK GOD) The 60's literally seemed freezing to me, guess I am spoiled with the weather over here. So this weekend most of the students in our group took a trip to a small town in Spain called Cuenca, but a group of us girls decided not to go because it was pretty pricey and didn't seem like it had much for us to do there. So I got a group of 7 girls together to take a short day and night trip to the city Benidorm again, which is only about an hour and a half tram ride away from here. We decided this time to stay the night there, so they let me be in charge of finding a hostel for us to all stay at. Well, that was a mistake. I found the cheapest hostel in town which was only 9 euro a person to there a night. The hostel was really night and we had our own bathrooms and rooms, but it just so happened to be in the gay district of the town, oops! We started to wonder why there were rainbow flags all over the streets where we were and over the bar signs everywhere we went, then we quickly figured that out when we met our overly flamboyant hostel owner. At first everyone kept saying, "oh typical Kelsey!" but it ended up being a blast with everyone staying there.

We got there and went on the rooftop terrace of our hostel for mimosas and to check out the view which was beautiful! It was really warm that day so we all threw on our swim suits and went out to explore.

Girls from Mizzou and Arizona State University in Benidorm

That day we went walked around the city, went to the beach, and then got Kebaps for dinner (which is a Mediterranean type of sandwich that is EVERYWHERE here) The owners also gave us free "gofres con chocolate" for dessert which are hot waffles with chocolate sauce. It rocks to be American girls in Spain. 

The sea is still freezing!

Abby and I on the beach

After the day we all went back to the hostel to nap before we all went out to explore the nightlife of Benidorm, which is a lot bigger than Alicante's! Even though I booked 4 beds for all of the girls in the hostel, we all of course decided to pile in one together so we didn't have to be apart!

You can't find me because I am the one taking the picture

We all went home on Sunday morning but were not quite ready to separate back to our own homes yet, so we all went to our friend Caitlyn's host family house and had a movie marathon for about six hours. Almost felt the same as being back in Columbia with my roommates, only one hundred times better because we are in Spain!!

That is all I have for you for now, and I hope things are warming up for you back over en Los Estados Unidos! Love you all!

All Around Alicante

I think I have finally caught you all up thus far on most of the major events going on here in Alicante! I absolutely have fallen in love with Spain and it makes me sad to think I have already been here for two months. But dont worry, I do miss you all! (Yes, mom, I am still thinking about you) ;)

This past weekend I gathered a group together to go on a day trip to a little town about an hour and a half away by tram called Benidorm. It is similar to Alicante, but has a larger beach and more sites to see. I wanted the group to get together to go and see what is called Fonts del' Algar. Algar is a small town that has a hiking park with a beautiful waterfall that you can cliff dive off of. We all hiked up a mountain and finally reached the falls and spent the day there swimming and flipping off a huge waterfall into the emerald water. I live a tough life, I know I know.

La Cascada (The waterfall)

The water was beautiful!

My friend Julianne and I mid-jump. We both forgot swim suit bottoms (typical), so the guys had to lend us some clothes, whoops!

Julie and I

We made it off the falls!


After the Waterfalls, we all went back to Benidorm and spent the afternoon and night on the beach there playing a pickup game of soccer with some locals. The beach was gorgeous and we all will definitely be back when the weather gets even hotter!

Sunset in Benidorm

Jake and I 

CARNAVAL!

My first festival in Spain! So Carnaval here is basically Spain's version of Mardi Gras at home, only multiply Mardi Gras by 500 and you have Carnaval! Everyone of all ages dresses up in a costume, similar to Halloween, and the festival lasts for an entire week. The main parades happen on Friday and Saturday night through our main street, "La Rambla." I have a little sister, Lydia, in my host family who is 8 years old, and a cousin Alberto who is 5 years old. We took them first to the children's parade in the street which started at 10 pm. She was a fairy and Alberto was a monkey.

My baby cousin, Alberto

Mi hermana (my sister) Lydia




After the kids parade, the real fun started! My family let me have some of our group over to get ready for Carnaval and have some drinks and tapas (appetizers). They love us Americans! We all went all out on costumes and took our party to the street to watch a concert that started at 1am and then the party in the street lasts until about 7am and after everyone goes out to breakfast dressed in their outfits. The streets were INSANE! All of the bars move outside and people gradually move the party from the streets to "La Explanada" which is the palm tree walkway near our beach and pier of the Mediterranean. When I finally got home, around the same time as my parents (about 8am) we all slept until about 5pm the next day and just relaxed and watched "fútbol." I think I can get used to the Spanish lifestyle of sleep schedule, its about that of the average college student ;)

My friend Kailey and I and our two new Spanish friends!

My friends Charles (the clown), Duncan (Superhero), George (Giant chicken) and Michael (Mickey Mouse)

Friends from all over the world! Mizzou, Poland, France, and Germany!

Granada!

So I am basically weeks behind on my blog because I procrastinate more than the average person. But about a month ago our group took a weekend trip to Granda, Spain which is about a 5 hour bus ride from Alicante. The city is MUCH smaller than anywhere else (Madrid, Barcelona, anywhere...) but it was still a really cool place to visit! On one side there are snow filled mountains larger than any I have seen in my life, and on the other side of the roads there are palm trees and rivers, crazy right? Once we got there we went to a flamenco show which is just a style of spanish dancing that a family puts on in a cave in the mountains. It was so fun to go to, and after of course they were able to ask for one volunteer to get up and try to learn and OF COURSE I just had to be that person, so now im basically a pro with all the spanish dance moves. 

Thats me, getting my groove on.

After the show our whole group went to a "discoteca" which is basically a night club and was the biggest one they have in Granada, called Granada 10! It is based out of an old colosseum so I pretty much felt like I was in a movie while dancing the night away there.

The next morning, the group got up to get and visit one of the 7 architectural wonders of the world called "La Alhambra" (you should seriously look this up. It is gorgeous) It took almost 3 hours to tour the entire thing and took about every ounce of attention span I've ever had in my life to actually listen to everything there is to know about it. 

La Alhambra at night

La Alhambra during the day

The crazy thing is, the pictures do not even do it justice!! (but you guys are glad I got a camera for christmas now, huh??)

So the next day, we traveled by bus to a small town outside of Granada to visit cave people. Yup, thats right, cave people. People still actually LIVE in caves. They are little shelters in the sides of the mountains where people live and the absolutely love it, if only they knew what they were missing out on in the good old United States (mainly Chic Fil A)

"Cueva de Jose" = The Cave of Jose
Their version of addresses 

Madrid!

So as I continue my journey on and visit more cities in my favorite country in the world, our group traveled to Madrid! This is the capital of Spain and the largest city I have ever been to. We did a ton of sight seeing and saw some of the most famous cathedrals and museums in the world, including "El Prado." On Sunday, we visited a smaller town outside of Madrid, Toledo. It is famous for the house of Greco, a famous Spanish painter, and the city itself has so much history and beauty.

Our group at "tapas"

YES! I ATE SNAIL

The Snails

Toledo

My friend Julie and I in Toledo

Mi viaje a Alicante!

Hello Everyone! (meaning my mother that will probably read this around 7-9 times a day)

Hola de España! I figured this would be an easier way to keep up with me and my crazy life now that it is OVERSEAS! So I am studying at the University of Alicante for a semester. Everything, and I mean everything is in spanish. My family, my friends, the street signs, the menus...NO ENGLISH, and this is exactly where I belong! Alicante is a small city on the southern coast of Spain right on the mediterranean sea. Thats right, I am currently living a hop, step, and a jump away from some of the most beautiful beaches in the world with the warm aqua water of the mediterranean. I like to call this place, "my city of sunshine and palm trees" because it is my own little spanish paradise. The city is gorgeous, and the culture is exactly what I wanted. It is a small enough city to get the real feel of living here, rather than living in a large city like Madrid or Barcelona. I am living a movie - esque life here in southern spain and everyday is pure bliss in my land of sea, sand, and sun. 

I AM HOME

Our first week here is all a blur now. It took awhile to get used to living alone and getting used to the streets, but now I have the city down like the back of my hand. The first weekend we climbed the largest mountain in Alicante, called "El Castillo." This gives some of the most beautiful views of the city possible. I was in shock and awe looking at everything because it was so different than the United States. Everything was old and beautiful. The buildings are probably 10 floors high and the streets are narrow. Sometimes you don't even know a street is a street because everyone is walking in the middle of it and there isn't any way to distinguish the road from the sidewalk in many places.

Sunset on the Castillo

Friends from Mizzou!

So basically life here is completely different from back home. Living in a large city, unlike my beloved Columbia, Missouri has given me a completely different stomping ground. Everything is much closer together and there are about a million adorable cafes and "cervezerias" which serve tapas, beer, and coffee. I am enrolled in a few classes here. Including one, "Deportes Del Mar" which means "sports of the sea" this class is basically Spain's version of a gym class. However, instead of running and playing basketball, we are rowing, windsurfing, and kayaking through waterfalls of the Mediterranean. Rough life, right?  

This is a picture of the first day of "rowing" class with my friends Kailey, Morgan, and Abby. Oh, and don't forget our instructor Juan Carlos who basically just barks orders in spanish at us while we have no idea what he is saying so we just laugh. But hey, he loves us. He even asked us to be friends on Facebook ..so you know we are getting an A now. 

Dont worry though, I have some serious classes too where I actually have to LEARN spanish with students from all over the world. This is the first day of class with some friends from the United States, France, Russia, and Poland.