Home in less than 48 hours!!!!!!

I can´t believe that my trip is coming to an end. I can´t wait to be home!!!! All of us are sooo ready to come back to the US. I am constantly thinking about the day that I left and how nervous I was...I also try to think about what I had imagined Spain would be like. It is far more beautiful than I ever imagined...but like with everything, the novelty has worn off. On Friday, I officially graduated from school in Alicante!!! We celebrated my birthday the night before at 12. The girls here sang Happy Birthday to me at 12. Sometime during that night, I lost my keys to my house and was really upset because I thought my mom here was going to be very mad. After searching all over Alicante for them, I ended up sleeping in an extra bed in one of my friend´s houses. In the morning, I went back to my house, hoping that my roommate would be leaving and would be able to let me in. She let me in and I didn´t tell me mom. I went to the second half of school and told one of my teachers. She called my mom and told her what happened. she also told her that I had come to school very upset and crying. I went to the beach that day and when I got home that night, my mom gave me another set of keys. She wasn´t upset but lectured me about how I have to be careful with my things...and that if the keys had had the address of their house on it, then that would have been alot worse. That night for dinner, we had frozen and then microwaved stuffed shells...very nice birthday dinner...haha. We went out that night...but it sucked because no one could agree on somewhere to go and everyone had an attitude. Me and another girl got annoyed and went home. Saturday, we went to the beach all day and had spaghetti bolognese for dinner. We went out at night and it was alot of fun. Today, we went to the beach again and just bought tickets for a bull fight tomorrow night a 6:30. After the fight, we are going to go out for our last dinner in Spain. My birthday here was alright...didn´t do anything special and it really didn´t feel like my birthday. I would have much rather been home to celebrate..but at least I can say that I celebrated my 21st birthday in Spain..haha. The fiesta that is happening this weekend is alot different than we thought it would be. There is not alot to do unless you live in Alicante and have rented a table in one of he barrachas...which are like sectioned off parts of the street where you can drink and eat and dance. We have been going to free concerts where they actually play Spanish music...all they listen to here is Madonna, Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake...alllll American music. A short funny story for you before I end my last blog....yesterday morning I opened the fridge in my house and there was a dead bunny just sitting on a plate. There was still fur on its feet but the whole thing was still intact (eyeballs and everything) and bloody. Needless to say, they had rabbi paella for lunch that day....thank God I was not home!!!! My roommate said that our dad ate the head and sucked the eyeballs out. She said that she had to leave the table because she thought that she was going to throw up. haha You would have loved it Dad!!! Now that I have tried mussels and sepia, I am going to be expecting you to cook that for me when I get home POPS!!!! haha Alright, well that is all. I can´t wait to get back to the United States to celerate my birthday!!! Love you all!!!! Thank you for all the support and help that you have given me throughout this whole experience!! I seriously could not have done it without you!!! I feel bad because I am always talking about how amazing my family is...I think everyone else is jealous!!! LOOOVEEE YOUUU and can´t wait to see you!!! xoxo

Granada and Malaga This Weekend!

Ok..so this is going to be a short one! Thank you for all your comments...I enjoy reading them and can´t wait to be home! So...I decided to be a big spender and go to Malaga too this weekend. There are now 9 of us going. We are leaving by bus today at 2:50..my mom packed me a bocadillo...and we will arrive in Granada around 7. Tomorrow night we will take another bus to Malage and stay overnight there in a hostel. On Sunday, we will spend the whole day at the beach in Malaga...it is supposed to be gorgeous and then our bus leaves at 10 at night. We don´t get home until 4 in the morning on Monday...I doubt I will be going to class on Monday morning!!! But, I am on the computer in the school recharging my Ipod for these long bus rides that I have ahead of me. I think that I am going to have to buy a book in Spanish or something because I am close to finishing the one that I bought. Who would have thought that I would ever enjoy reading again? Last night at dinner..my roommate told me that her friend got robbed crossing the street yesterday. One guy bumped into her while another guy unzipped her backpack and stole her purse with her credit card, 120 Euros, license, camera, and everything else that she needs to survive her. I felt so bad for her and our mom here told us that we have to be very careful and always pay attention when we are walking around outside. Class was boring again today. I went out again last night...apparently they don´t carry cranberry juice much in Spain..weird. So I had Sprite and vodka. We had ham pizza last night for dinner. My roommmate left this morning for Barcelona so we will both be gone for the whole weekend. I really can´t wait for this weekend!!! Hope everything is going well back home!! I will write in my blog when I get to the hostel...since they have Internet :) Love you!
P.S. Buffy, tell Joshua that he only has to wait 11 days to give me a kiss!!!!! And give him and Nathan a kiss for me!!! Love you guys!

Hello everyone! Hopefully my mom told you that I had written in my blog again..but by the time you read this, I will have written 2 entries that you need to catch up on. Ok, so I guess my prayers didn´t work....it is raining again as we speak...ughhh it never ends. The second part of class was actually kinda fun today. My mom thinks that I should move up a level and challenge myself, but I am learning alot of things that I didn´t understand before in the class that I am in now. We just stay on the same topic for a really long time and some of the stuff is rather high schoolish. Plus, I like the people that I am in the class with. Don´t worry Mom, I am learning plenty!!! Today, we had a bocadillo for lunch...which is what they call grinders here....it was ham and cheese (yes, I have come to love ham while I am here!!). We also had salad with tomatoes...no dressing, just oil, vinegar, and disgusting amounts of salt. Ewww. Then we went to the beach and the sun was extremely hot. The water here is normally really clear, but because of the rain, it is really dirty and murky. When it does rain here..which wasn´t often until we came...the rain comes from Africa and on its way, it picks up alot of dirt. That is why they say that you shouldn´t go outside when it rains in Spain because the dirt in the rain will ruin your clothes. I am getting quite tan..I know you are all jealous. My goal is to be ´´morena´´ by the end of this trip..which is what they call tan people here. The 8 of us are now in an Internet cafe, trying to book a hostel for our trip this weekend. We are taking a trip to Granada because it is supposed to be beautiful!!! We are all leaving on Friday at 2 and taking a 5 hour bus ride to Granada..which is south of Alicante. We will get there at 5 and night...go to a Flamenco show and then Saturday, we will go to the Alhombra..which is one of the new 7 Wonders of the World. My roommate Mallory went and said it is absolutely gorgeous. Me and 2 other girls..because of financial reasons...will be coming back to Alicante on Saturday. The other 5 girls will be traveling to Malaga on Saturday and staying over night there. They will come back on Sunday night. Although I wish I could do it..I have already spent alot of money here. I can´t believe that there are onle 9 more days till my 21st birthday. I bought a purple dress the other day for 16 Euros to wear on that night. Ironically...that is the first night of the Fiesta de San Juan in Alicante...this huge festival that happens every year from June 20th to June 24th. Look it up...I heard it is supposed to be amazing and I am sooo excited!!! Alicante is amazing..but boring during the day..especially with the rain. Since it is a small town, there is only so much shopping and walking around you can do! haha. Let me tell you that I have amazing calves and thighs now...haha. I am definitly ready to come home and be comfortable when I do things. Here it is awkward to do everything..walk back home at night, order food, take a shower, eat dinner with my family...it is just different. It is really good for me because I feel like I have become more independent and I now have more self confidence in all areas of my life. It is really hard being around things that aren´t familiar to me and I can honestly say that I miss everyone from home more than I have missed them in my entire life. This trip has honestly made me so grateful for everything that I have back home. I can´t believe that 2 weeks have gone by already. In the beginning of the trip, everything was going by soo slow..but now I can´t believe that my time here is almost up. I am trying to enjoy every moment..but it is hard ina foreign country when you have to always be aware of your surroundings. I always try to imagine the first day that we arrived in Alicante..how petrified and uncomfortable I was...I honestly cried myself to sleep the first few nights because I was so frustrated with everything. Everyone knows how GREAT I am with change...hahaha..juuuust kidding!!!! :) I have made some really good friends here and met alot of different people from different countries. Don´t worry, I haven´t fallen in love yet! Almost..but not quite. The novelty of Alicante has worn off..but I am WICKED EXCITED to go to Granada this weekend. It will be something new for all of us and that makes me smile! I remember the first week we were in Alicante..I was in heaven and had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. It is ideal and so amazingly beautiful here!!! I can´t wait to show you the pictures. Okay well it has probably taken you 2 hours to read all of my posts...I always was a good writer...haha Mom! But I have to go eat dinner soon..mi madre told me that it was something caliente tonight...haha. We shall seeeeeeee....since I´ve been here I have eaten pork, spaghetti (for me that is a big step!!), sardines, shrimps with the brains and antennae still on, sepia, and ham. Aren´t you proud Mom? Ok well I really gotta go..I need some ice cream in my stomach right about now! I love you all and can´t wait to see you! P.S. In case you are wondering, I alreayd took 500 pictures...ooo baby...let´s have a picture party when I get home!!!!!!! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Rain Rain and more Rain!!

Ok...so first I must apologize...I totally planned on writing in this blog once every few days, but I haven´t been able to get to an Internet Cafe that often, plus it costs money to use the computers. I know my mom has sent you the emails that I have been sending her, so I think you know that everything is going great. School is not as good as the first week..we got a new teacher who is wicked boring and we have been learning the same stuff for 2 weeks now. We had 2 awesome guys from Sweeden in our class, but their last day was Friday, so now I do not look forward to going to school. My family is super nice...my mom wakes up every morning at 8 to put my breakfast and hot chocolate out and then goes back to bed. It is hard though because I want to say so much to them but I don´t know how to say it and half the time I can´t even understand what they are saying. You have to actually think about what you want to say and how you are going to say it before you actually speak the words, so it is an overload on my brain!! The food is really really good...my mom makes us stuff that she knows we like...chicken, salad, french fries, and I have come to enjoy ham over here. Bocadillos are the best thing ever...they are just long sandwiches, but they taste amazing. I miss everyone back home and was really homesick for a few days last week. I just keep thinking about leaving to come here from Eastern and what I had imagined Alicante to be like. It is weird to actually think of the time that has passed since that day. Alicante is a big city...kinda like a city in Florida. There are palm trees everywhere, but the major sidewalks are made of tile like squares. The weather has been really good during the week..but it rained Thursday night and today. It only rains 20 days a year here in Alicante, but it has already rained 6 days since we have been here...bummer! The beach is amazing...I can´t believe that I am swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. The water is clear, but freezing. I haven´t been putting sun tan lotion on for the past few days, and have gotten a little burned, but nothing too severe. Everyone that I am with goes topless at the beach..because apparently that is what they do in Spain..but I have yet to get the guts to do it. Everything here is wicked expensive...except clothes of course. It sucks that when I take out $100 out of the ATM here, it takes $150 American dollars out of my bank at home. Thursday night we went out for a little while, but I was not in a good mood..homesick I think and got easily annoyed with alot of people, so I went home early. Friday, we drank sangria on the beach and then went to a bar..but that was pretty boring too so we went home. Last night, we had sangria in the barrio and we sat outside. It was alot of fun. We were going to go to the port, but one of the girls we were with didn´t feel good at all so we walked her home and then decided to just head home. The guys here are creepy..don´t worry I am being very careful. They will yell and hoot at you no matter what you look like or how old they are. I was followed home the other night by this guy that I had met...freaked out...ran back to where my friends were...and had Dan (Eskimo) walk me to my house. It was scary, but now I don´t walk anywhere by myself and Dan ALWAYS walks me home since he lives really close. Other than that..there are always people on the streets and the streets are really well lit. We got up early on Saturday morning to go to Valencia. It was a 2 hour bus ride and one of our teachers took us on a tour of the city. It was nice but I had no idea what I was looking at..haha...I always seemed to miss the little talk he gave at the historical monument. But the architecture was absolutely breathtaking. Then we went shopping for a little and sat outside and had sangria. It honestly felt like we were in Italy. We got back at around 7 and I had rice for dinner. Today, I slept till 1 and then came here to the computer lab. I hope everything is going well in the United States. I love it here but miss you guys like crazy. I don´t think I could survive more than a month over here...it would just be too hard to not see anyone. I can´t wait to be around people that speak English..it is amazing how much you miss speaking your own language. I can´t wait to be home but am definitly going to enjoy my last 2 weeks here....AND MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Bye for now!

I'm Leaving in 5 Days!!!

So this is my first entry for the blog that I am keeping for my trip to Spain!! This is basically so everyone can see what I am up to, since I will not be able to talk much on the phone. I am really excited, but also really nervous! I am leaving in only 5 days!! It is going to be so weird not being familiar with my surroundings, the culture, the language, or the people that I am living with. I hope that they can handle me :) I will be leaving on Monday, May 26th and coming home on June 24th. Going to and from Spain, I will be taking 3 separate flights stopping in Amsterdam, Madrid, and finally Alicante, Spain, where I will be living for 4 weeks. There are 12 other Eastern students going on the trip, but we are all living with separate families. I will arrive in Spain next Tuesday and meet my family. On Wednesday, I will take a placement exam that will decide which level Spanish class I will be placed in. I will be in class from 9 - 1 on Monday - Friday. The rest of the time, we are able to do whatever we want! :) My biggest fear is not being able to communicate with my host family and not having my friends around to go out with at night. But I'm sure once I get there, everything will be fine (crossing my fingers!). I am not bringing my computer with me, but I will try to post entries as much as I can. Feel free to leave comments or send me an email at dramaqueen7LL@aol.com I would love to hear from you!! I love you guys! xoxo