Happy Birthday Señora Lund!!

Imagine this. Your in another country walking around on a beautiful day. You then get to walk up a mountain and get a few of other mountains in one direction and then a view of the Mediterranean in the other. Then, while looking at the views you sip on hot chocolate which is melted chocolate with a little milk added. Yeah... that's what we got to do today :)

First, we went to the Marq museum and had a tour, then got to do a hands on "workshop" after. (a.k.a. we got to paint pots that looked like they were from thousands of years ago) I felt like I was in 1st grade again. It was excellent.

Then we got on the coastal tram/train and went to Altea, Spain, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes down the coast from Alicante. It was beautiful. All of the buildings and houses were white. It was also the Naples, FL, of Spain. It was the hot spot for all retired people. We decided a Harpeth Hall summer home needs to be there so we can go anytime we please.

Tomorrow is our last day in Alicante! Time has FLOWN by. Kelly and I were talking about how it felt like yesterday we were just unpacking our bags. I wish that was still the case. We attempted to pack our bags tonight and it is not looking good. We didn't even buy that much, but yet our bags won't zip. However, we are still going last minute shopping tomorrow. We will make things work.

See you all in Nashville :)

Today, we had dance class and then went around town. The first picture is at the beach and the second is a view from our apartment building's main door. Kelly and I went to the beach and took care of some last minute gift shopping and came back for a wonderful lunch consisting of fish sticks, bread, salad, some left over potatoes, and a banana. We watched Sleepless In Seattle in Spanish before we went to school. A little hard to understand, but tolerable. Today was our last day of school! We had a lot to do so time went by quickly and we were let out early. Tomorrow, we are

going to a museum and then taking the train that runs along the coast to a city tomorrow. I would tell you what that city is called, but no one really knows. Regardless, it should be a fun day trip. More to come tomorrow night!

They're like really thin pancakes

Today was so much fun! We walked all the way up to the Castle of Santa Barbara, which is in the center of Alicante. The inclines that we walked up were HUGE, but we finally made it to the top and got great pictures.

After that a few of us went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and it was good. Not as good as we were expecting, but good. We all decided we can't wait to get home to have our cheap meals of heavenly goodness and with free refills. After lunch, we walked around the port because the weather was nice today. Then it was siesta time so we went back to our houses and chilled until it was time for school, which suprisingly wasn't as boring today. But tomorrow we have dance class (we will finish learning our hip hop dance) and then have fun until school. Tomrrow is our last day of school. We are so excited. We have been waiting for that day for a long time, however that means that we have real school in the near future which isn't good either.

Sidenote:If you have never tried a crepe, I highly suggest it. Some girls today got crepes at two different places. At one restaurant, the crepe consisted of chocolate sauce on the inside and then a different type of chocolate sauce on top of it. At another restaurant, there was melted Nutella on the inside and chocolate sauce on top of it.Of course I had to whip out by Ricky Bobby reference. For those of you who do not know...

Jean Girard: [has Ricky in an arm lock] I will let you go, Ricky. But first, I want you to say..."I... love... crepes." Cal Naughton, Jr.: Don't you say it, Ricky. These colors don't run. Ricky Bobby: I'm not gonna say it. Cal Naughton, Jr.: Good. Ricky Bobby: Hey, look, Frenchy, I thought about it. So why don't you go ahead and break my arm? Jean Girard: I do not want to break your arm, Monsieur Bobby, but I am a man of my word. Ricky Bobby: Here's the deal. He's not gonna break it because I'm gonna slip out of it right now. Houdini! [he tries unsuccessfully to get free] Jean Girard: Whoa! Get down, you little pancake. Ricky Bobby: Someone might as well get me a beer while I'm down here. Jean Girard: But you have forced me to do this. You are now mocking me and making me look ridiculous. Just say, "I love crepes." Cal Naughton, Jr.: You know, just to put this in there, I had a whole mess of crepes this morning. They're just like pancakes, maybe even better. Ricky Bobby: Wait, are they the really thin pancakes? Cal Naughton, Jr.: Yeah. Jean Girard: Yes they are. They are the really thin pancakes. It's just a French word for them. Ricky Bobby: Oh, my god, I love those. Cal Naughton, Jr.: Put any syrups you want on them. I'm just saying, think about it. Ricky Bobby: They come with cheese sometimes? Jean Girard: Yes, of course, a fromage-crepe. Ricky Bobby: Well, why didn't someone yell that right-right away? Jean Girard: Do you know what's in the crepe suzette? Ricky Bobby: Oh, I love the crepe suzette. Jean Girard: With the sugar and lemon juice... Ricky Bobby: Yeah, the sugar and the lemon juice. Sure. Jean Girard: Grand Marnier. Ricky Bobby: I wo - I wish I could crawl into one of those right now. I'd eat my way out from the inside.

Anyway... happy Tuesday!

La playa y sol

Here is a picture from the beach yesterday! It was so much fun and so warm! We all got ice cream by the port afterwards and met some people while waiting in line who were visiting from Scottland. They were really nice with really cool accents. Today was pretty relaxing. We woke up and went to dance class and then went shopping for a little bit. Then, we got back in time for lunch and then did homework and watched tv until it was time to go to school.

Tomorrow we are going to the Castle of Santa Barbara which is in the center of Alicante. The view from the castle will be INCREDIBLE, so look forward to looking at pictures from that.

Sorry this is a short but sweet post, but there will be plenty to talk about tomorrow!

Edna Mode

This is Edna Mode.

Yesterday we went to Granada,Spain and had a tour guide show us around. I would show you a picture of her that I ran to take, but my computer has been acting funny lately and won't let me post some pictures.

Her name is Carpus(pronouned Carpuuus). She is Edna Mode. The whole day while we were touring Alhambra, and the cathedral, Carpus (a.k.a Edna) was briskly power-walking to every place she wanted to talk about. She would occassionly stop dead in her tracks and we would almost trample her. Other times she would be talking to us, she would grab one of us by the arm and would steer us to her next location.

Other funny fact about Edna: the whole day she was talking about the Islamic religion and would talk about My Homie. We had no idea what she was talking about but then we finally realized she was talking about Mohammed. We nearly lost it. This lady was CRAZYYY.

Anyway... Granada was veryy pretty and the Alhambra was really cool, but Edna was by far the most entertaining thing all day.
Today, we have a free day and it will get to be in the 70's today! So, a couple of us are going to go take pictures at the beach and then hang out there for a while.
Happy Sunday!

I'm On A Boat

Today, we went sailing! It was so much fun and the weather was perfect. At first when we were leaving the port it was pretty windy but then we we got out to sea the wind stopped and the sun was so bright. Some of us even got a little sun :)

After sailing, we came back for lunch and then chilled during siesta time and then went to school.

Kelly and I went out tonight with Tomas and his friends. It was so much fun.(minus all of the smoke) At first, we thought all of the girls didnt like us, but when we went dancing they all swarmed Kelly and I and wanted pictures with us like we were celebrities. It must be the natural blonde hair... or maybe just because we're American girls that they think "go wild"...who knows...

For friends reading this blog, there are tons of guys (cute ones)in Spain who are total tools. You can tell the moment they walk into a pub.

Hopefully we will be able to get back from Granada at a decent time tomorrow so we can go out with his friends again. Tomorrow morning at 7, we leave for Granada. It is a 5 hour bus ride there so sleeping is a must.

THE SUN!

Well, today was the first day we have seen the sun all day and where the weather has been nice. It was very windy but perfect for our long walk to the mall in the outskirts of Alicante. We also went by the beach and some important buildings in Alicante. After being outside and realizing that it was so nice, I went home for lunch and decided to wear some running shorts to go to school. People here thought I was crazy. The weather today was a nice, sunny brisk day in April in Nashville. Jose told us that the weather should stay like this the rest of the time we will be here. Tomorrow we are going sailing in the Mediterranean! It should be quite an adventure.

The first picture is the view from the outside eating area at the McDonalds in the mall.

Sidenote: McDonalds here are super nice and modern looking.

The second picture is Claire, Jessica and I on the pier at the beach!

I know this is a short post but more to come tomorrow!

Pictures of Alicante

Las Panaderias

You might ask: " What is this?"

Well... it's heaven on earth. This is a croissant filled with chocolate. They have them in every single panaderia in Alicante. A panaderia is a bread and pastry store. I might have said this in an earlier post but I will say it again. In Spain they have different stores for different things. They have stores just for breads and pastries, a store for fruit, a store for meat, a store for chocolate, etc.

This chocolate croissant has made many of us very happy people in the past few days. We wanted you to be jealous of this heavenly goodness.

Anywayy, today we woke up and went on a scavenger hunt in Alicante. It was harder than we thought it was but it ended up being fun and a good way to get excerise. After the scavenger hunt, Kelly and I came home and chilled/ watched tv and then ate lunch with Carla, Juan, and Carla's neice, Valentina (who is SOOO cute). After lunch Cristine and Katie came over to use the Internet because fromwhat it seems like Kelly and I's host family is the only one nice enough to tell us the password to their computer so we can use it at any time. However, I was the only one who brought a laptop on the trip, and it just so happens that my host familiy has wireless :) .

I will post the pictures from today's scavenger hunt in a post right after I finish this one because it doesn't want to work right now.

Hasta noche.

Sassy Hips

Today, we woke up and went to dance class. We learned how to do the “cha cha cha,” and let me tell you it is harder than it looks. Our dance teachers are some sassy Spaniards with some sassy hips. They try to make us all move our hips in ways we Americans do not move them. But, since we are “immersing ourselves in Spanish culture,”we go along with what we are told to do. Might I add Claire and Jessica (dancing partners) have sassy hips to begin with so they didn’t feel as awkward than the rest of us. After dance class we went to El Corte Ingles. This my friends is a life savor. There are 2 of them on the same street, both have at least 5 stories. The one closest to our house/apartment is for anything you can think of except clothes. That is what the other one carries. El Corte Ingles is like a super-duper sized Macy’s but with everythingggggggg you can think of, including a supermarket. Then Kelly and I came home to eat lunch. Today, we had tacos/burritos. Juanse, Carla’s son, watched my fold my soft tortilla into a burrito instead of a taco and he was amazed. I was thinking to myself how sad it was that I knew how to fold a burrito so well from watching the people at Moe’s make so many burritos for me. Cristine and I were talking today about Moe’s actually. If any of you care to know, when we get back we want a Moo Moo Mr. Cow with our kids cup and cookie and side of queso for $5.16. Anyways....
Kelly and I just chilled until it was about time to go to school but left a little early to go to the post office. School was fine, long, but fine, and then we got to eat dinner. Tonight, we have been talking to Tomas (Carla’s other son) and Juanse a lot. Tomorrow, we are going on a scavenger hunt all around Alicante. It should be pretty entertaining.
SIDENOTE: THERE IS NOT ONE UGLY DOG IN ALICANTE. There are a lot of cute little dogs here and and all SOOO CUTE. It’s scary because a lot of them walk next to their owner without a leash on and there are tons of speeding cars all around them. All of the dogs here are small of course because there is not a lot of places for big dogs to run around. (Mom) Almost all of the small dogs wear coats, jackets, sweaters, or booties anywhere they go. There are shops just for dog clothes. It’s a little crazy.

The Akin Tradition

THE fountain
Well... Mom.. I think you know what this one will be about. Yesterday, I ripped my pants. Not doing any serious dance moves this time, but rather stepping up onto a ledge on a fountain in Valencia to take jumping pics. This is not the first time I’ve ripped my pants, so I knew the moment I stepped up on the ledge that happened.
Yesterday, we went to Valencia which is about 2 hours away from Alicante via bus. It was beautiful. First, we went to these new, really modern buildings and took some pictures, then did a bus tour around the city for awhile (it was really cold and windy especially through the allies and such we had to walk through).After that we went on a walking tour and walked around what was in ancient Valenica.
After returning, for the ones who wern’t exhausted from the trip, went dancing. I love dancing in Spain.
Reason #1: language barrier
Reason #2: you can dance like a fool and they won’t say anything to you because they know that you probably won’t understand what they are trying to say... especially on the first try.
Reason #3: guys actually dance. (It’s really funny actually, because while dancing they try to jokingly seduce each other)
reason # 4: People look at you, know you’re American, and must think that our dancing is the “new, cool way to dance”
Today, we got to sleep in and it is basically a free day. Later, I am going to take pictures for my Peter Goodwin photography class with some girls on the trip, then shopping! This is the last day for all of these huge sales that they are having. It is really weird because clothes here are either really REALLY cheap, or just overly expensive.
We are also going to church if we want to, and then to see a movie!

It snowed?!

We heard that it snowed in Nashville and we are VERY jealous. It actually snowed in Madrid and Grenada last night which is really rare. Our host mom, Carla, said that it NEVER snows in Granada. But anyway... yesterday was a very amusing day. First, we went and toured the city so we could eventually get around. Then, we went shopping for maybe an hour but then all of the stores closed because it was time for lunch. During thsi time we had Hillary shopping with us and her roomate, Lauren, was shopping with other people. Hillary had the keys to their host house and we couldn't find her. In attempt to find Lauren, we got lost. We would ask people how to get places and they talked to fast for us to understand anything that they were saying. We finally got in touch with Jose, our leader, and everything turned out okay after being lost for two hours. Everything here closes at 1:30PM and doesn't open again until 5:00 PM. So everyone goes home to eat lunch and chill out until it is time to go back to school/work/ whatever you were doing before everything closed. at 5 we went to school for 3 hours. It is not the most exciting thing, but it is helping us with our grammar while we are here. This morning we went to dancing class. It was a lot of fun , however a lot harder than I thought it would. Kelly and I just had lunch and will go to school at 5 'till 8 and then eat an then go out because it is FRIDAY!!!Here are the pictures I promised. All of these pictures are in El Parque de Madrid. Pictures of Alicante will come soon. We have just forgotten to take pictures.

I should also point out that in Spain, people still rollerblade everywhere. WE NEED TO BRING THIS BACK TO THE U.S. IMMEDIATELY.

Alicante!

Alicante es mut bonita... well... from what we saw. We got to Alicante around 9:15PM after spending the day in Madrid going to El Museo del Prado and El Parque de Madrid.

It took about 4 hours to get to Alicante, but we finally made it to our final destination! Right as we got off the bus, we met our host families. Kelly and I's host family is VERY nice. They are putting up with our Spanish. Kelly and I were nervous about the dinner we were supposed to have but it ended up being okay. At first, it was a little awkward, but then we manage to use our spanish and everything turned out fine. WE EVEN GOT TO TAKE A SHOWER. This is a big deal. We had not taken a shower in 3 days. Tomorrow we are taking a tour of the city and going to school and many more things I am sure, I'm just not aware of it.

Recap from Madrid:

Here is a picture from Lauren and Hilary's balcony ( right next to ours) from the hotel. It was very pretty and very loud. Police are out at all times of the night with their sirens. and the picture below is what we had for breakfast this morning. We have had lots of bread on this trip so far.

What just happened?

36 hours. That's how long some of the girls on this trip have been awake without little to no sleep.But, our bodies finally got to Madrid! Here's what happened.
1. Got on a plane and went to Detroit. Everything was good.
2. We didn't board the plane until the time we were supposed to leave Detroit. Then, we sat on the plane for a solid 1 1/2 hours-2 hours while they "fixed things." Then, they had to de-ice the plane. Thank you Detroit.
3. Because of the delay, by the time we get to Amsterdam, we miss not only the flight that we were supposed to be on, but the flight to Madrid that was close after that one. Soooo... we got to spend a lovely 4&1/2 hours in Amsterdam.
4. We leave for Madrid a little late. Not a big problem. Get to Madrid, go to the luggage claim. Guess what?Yup, you probably guessed it. All of our luggage had been lost. Apparently, the people think it never made it on our plane in Amsterdam.

But despite all of these things, it has been an adventure.
When we finally dropped off our carry on's at the hotel, we walked a ways down the street to The Three Kings parade. This parade was HUGE. I felt like I was in Disney World along with the combination of a sort of Christmas festival. There were TONS of people.(Shoving their way through the crowds, with no manners to speak of)
Then after watching a majority of the parade, we went to dinner and people got to try new foods if they felt like it. At this point however, we were all exhausted and running on fumes. So, after dinner, we got the okay to go ahead to go to our rooms rather than walk around some more.

I will have to post the pictures that we took tonight later tomorrow or something.
We tour some parts of Madrid tomorrow and then we head on to Alicante. More to come!

-Elizabeth