¡Feliz Sábado todos! School is back full swing and this week I was so busy that the week flew by. We've had a lot to do and it's not going to slow down any time soon. Last weekend we went into Valencia to celebrate Ryan's and Jaci's birthdays and got LemonGrass, a delicious but very affordable thai restaurant we love. On Sunday Justin ran a half-marathon here in Sagunto and I worked on homework and reading my Spanish books all day. On Thursday, for "Aula cultural" ("cultural classroom" which really just means chapel) several students got up to tell about their Christmas breaks and what they did. Some shared about going back to the states, some went to Thailand, and Justin got to tell about our trip in Europe. He did such a good job, and spoke so well in Spanish without even having to read his notes! Among the points he made was his favorite, "torres nunca decepcionar" (towers never disappoint) and everyone enjoyed that.

I am enjoying my new group but finding challenges in it every day, from sentence diagraming to learning how to discuss difficult topics like euthanasia in Spanish. Somehow, though, for every confidence-blow I get, something comes along to counteract it. 

It's hard to describe what it's like to be in school for four months when your classes are only in Spanish. Somehow everything gets done, you know what you're supposed to do (más o menos) and you accomplish it, but for me there's always a slight feeling of helplessness I get when I can't communicate exactly what I want to say, when I want to say it. I'm at the point now where if I listen closely, I can understand quite a lot, nearly all, that my teachers say. This is wonderful, but it's hard when they are asking for response out of us and it takes so much longer to form thoughts and sentences. Sometimes these little instances add up to make me feel like I'm having a terrible day, Spanish-wise, but it sometimes takes the littlest things to bring me out of this feeling. 

This week I had my first personal monitor meeting with my new monitor, Elliet. She's very nice and we talked for an hour (well, mostly I talked and she listened) about everything. I even went so far as to explain Pinterest in Spanish, which she brought up on her iPad and decided to create an account! After that I felt a lot better about my progress. Sometimes it's getting one answer right in Grammar, talking to the ladies serving food in the caf, or deciding that in 30 years you probably won't even remember what level you got on the DELE exam. Sometimes it's dropping the homework for half an hour and picking oranges with Ryan and Shannon, or singing hymns after worship with Justin and Jon. One thing that always makes me feel better is looking out at the Mediterranean and remembering where I am and why I came here. Justin's saying, "towers never disappoint" is true, and I'd like to add that for me, sunrises in Spain never disappoint. It's very rare that we have a morning here when the sky isn't hot pink or orange and I love it! Spain doesn't disappoint, it's wonderful here and I'm so glad I have this opportunity. 

¡Chicos! ¡Estamos en España!

These are words we're heard quite a lot in the last few months and after three weeks out of the country, it's good to hear them again. All too often, when the bell rings and class is officially "done" we all begin chattering, yes, in English. That's when our teachers give us this subtle reminder that "GUYS! We are in SPAIN!" to which we reply "lo siento" before heading outside to finish our conversations. As if it's better to speak English outside than in the classroom. Maybe we should all have New Year's resolutions to speak only Spanish during school hours. 

We've only been back for two days but it feels pretty much like we are picking up where we left off! Justin and I jumped up a group with three other previous Group-D amigas, and we are now officially in Grupo E. This included a few teacher changes and a level change from B2 to C1. Basically C2 is the top level and we started the year in B1. So right now we are all trying to make the jump from Bs to Cs. I'm most worried about grammar, because we skipped basically a whole book and have to make it up in just a few weeks as we learn new material. The Group E people have been so nice though and are going to help us get caught up. 

This semester I'm taking the usual require classes, Gramática, Conversación, Composición, and DELE (once a week test prep class), plus Literatura and Historia de España y Europa. It's so strange to have a first day of class where I actually understanding nearly everything that is being said! When I think back to my first weeks here, I had NO idea what anyone was talking about ever! Now I can sit through a class and understand almost everything the teacher says. I can't believe how far we've all come, and we are only 1/3 done! I was a little worried about starting up again after 3 weeks speaking only English and hearing German, Italian, and French everywhere, but I think my brain appreciated the break and is ready to work hard again. 

Today in Composición, Chelo told us about the top 3 New Years resolutions that people always attempt. The first two are fairly easy to guess: to stop smoking, and to lose weight. The last was surprising but made me realize how lucky I am! Apparently, a New Year's resolution that is a big deal in the world is to learn English. I have that one covered! (and since I don't smoke and I'm quite pequeño myself, I guess I'm off to a pretty good start). When learning Spanish, I always think about how lucky I am to have grown up learning English. Not that I had any say in it, but I'm so glad I did. Learning Spanish is hard stuff, but it's nothing I'm sure to learning English. Not only does our language have crazy rules and exceptions to rules, but we often speak it so fast and run together all our words that I don't know how anyone ever learns. And I know that I still don't know everything there is to know about our grammar and the intricacies therein. 

This last year, I began accomplishing a goal. I'm not a huge New-Year's-resolutions fan, but I do have a small list of general life goals stowed away in my head. One of them was to spend a year traveling and/or doing something amazing, which turned out to be ACA, and to learn another language. Starting in September, I began that goal, and now here I am and I plan on finishing it out strong in 2013. Already this year I've had opportunities that I never thought I would have. On the second day of the year I got to ski in the Swiss Alps with the most amazing friends. (I guess we could say it's all downhill from there . . . no pun intended). I have been so lucky and I am thankful every day for the opportunities I've had. For 2013 I plan on completing my DELE and feeling confident in my fluency levels in Spanish. I can't wait to see what else this year holds!

Our final stop on Christmas vacation was Geneva! I was excited to see the city since my dad spent almost a year there, across the border in France. We arrived Thursday afternoon and looked around that evening for a bit before going back to our apartment and making a huge dinner. The fountain was on when we arrived and we discovered that we could see it from our place, right out the window! 

Geneva was a beautiful city. The next day we walked right up to the fountain, saw the cathedral and (of course) climbed the tower to see over the city. In the afternoon we decided to make our way into France to see Colonge, the French ACA school. We took a bus to the border and walked right over and up the hill to the school. The campus was lovely and the sun was just setting for Sabbath. We walked around a bit but didn't really see anyone since they were probably also still on break. We took the bus back and made another delicious dinner and went to bed early since we had to catch a train to Milan before our flight. Here's a few pictures from our last stop!

Yesterday we left early and after a slight time of panic which included us almost missing our train which would have caused us to miss our flight, we at last made it back to Valencia after nearly 12 hours of travel. It's so good to be back and to see everyone again! We also got assigned to our groups and Justin and I both got to move up to Group E! I'm so excited but nervous because it's going to be pretty hard. The good thing is that it will make me practice Spanish even more and hopefully bring me one step closer to fluency. I'll keep you all updated as the new semester begins! Happy January of 2013 everyone!

Today was one of the most exhilarating and fantastic days I’ve spent in Europe so far. Even though we didn’t get off to the best start, our day skiing in the alps was more wonderful than I ever could have imagined. 

A month or two ago, Shannon asked me if I would be interested in skiing during Christmas while in Switzerland. I said that maybe I would, but was unsure about the difficulty level and the fun-to-cost-and-pain ration being worth it. Even yesterday I wasn’t sure if I would ski or not, and Ryan and I had decided that if we didn’t, we could spend the day in Zermatt and explore the town while the rest skied. However, with everyone else talking about it and looking forward to the day, we decided to take the opportunity and give it a try. It was so worth it!

Since we’re staying in Domodossola, it takes about 2 hours by train to get to Zermatt. It always takes a few hours to get ready and rent gear, plus the sun goes down so early this time of year and with the mountains it gets dark pretty quick and the lifts close at 4:30. Because of all this, we planned on getting up at five and leaving on the 6:15 train with one connection. Everyone got up and got all ready right on time with no problems. Shannon was kind enough to lend me pretty much everything I needed–rain pants, a thermal shirt, and even a fleece jacket. We packed up our bags and headed down to the hotel lobby right before six. Strangely, the stairwell was locked and we couldn’t even get out to the main door. Apparently the lobby and reception area doesn’t open until seven, so after a few minutes of running around and trying to figure out the way out, Justin used his sweet Spanish skills to talk to the Italian owner and finally we were able to leave. We got to the train station just in time and continued to the station where our connection left.

Once again, a few minor problems (not buying tickets fast enough) caused us to miss the first train to Zermatt and have to wait an hour. None of us minded too much and before we knew it we were on our way again. Even though it was quite dark and foggy, the train ride up to Zermatt was awesome. The track got very steep and we climbed higher and higher. We were worried that it would be too foggy to see the Matterhorn, and when we arrived in town it seemed that we were right. It took awhile, but finally we had lift tickets, skis (snowboards for Josh and Justin), boots and poles. 

Zermatt was such a cute town, but we could only see it for a little bit before it was lost in the clouds. However, the closer we got to the very top, the more the fog began to clear. We reached the top and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The view of the Alps was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I wish I could show it in photos but they really can't do it justice. The first few glances were crystal clear of the tops of the mountains, and looking down we were literally skiing above the clouds. As the day wore on, the sky cleared entirely and we could see all the way down to the village and all around at the top. The Matterhorn itself was amazing and seemed so close! 

Since the mountain is SO huge, we only ran the entire thing twice. We didn’t get to the gondolas until around eleven so we weren’t all ready to start skiing down until before noon (with a small mix-up about which stop to get off at). However, there are partial lifts on sections so we did run those a few times. The skiing was so much fun! It was also slightly terrifying for me since the last time I skied was almost two years ago in South Dakota and I’ve only been a handful of times in my life. Luckily I have the best of friends here who waited patiently for me at each fork and Shannon talked me through several turns on our first run. I fell plenty of times, which mostly consisted of tipping over into the mountain while turning. I was actually very surprised that I could do the runs without any walking or sliding down on my bum! Plus since the mountain is so huge, you just keep going down and down and it feels like you are never going to reach the bottom. Ski runs are a little different here so there’s no green circle, blue square, or black diamond. According to our map it looks like we stayed mostly on easy and moderate trails. 

It was about two when we reached the bottom the first time, so we all stopped for a quick energy bar before continuing. We ran the whole thing again and got picked up by the bus right around five. We returned our gear and headed for the grocery store we’d spotted earlier and loaded up on food for the train ride home since none of us had eaten pretty much all day. Happy and exhausted, I loved sitting for two hours, speeding through the alps and knowing that I’d not only survived but had loved my day skiing in the Alps. 

Happy New Year everyone! We spent a drowsy New Year's Eve in Interlaken, where we went crazy buying soda and fries and fell asleep to the sound of fireworks as everyone else brought in the new year. On Monday morning we left Salzburg with a 5 hour train ride followed by two more train rides that were about an hour and a half each. We got to Interlaken and found a tiny grocery store where I was delighted to discover that Switzerland believes in the sweet nectar of life, Dr. Pepper!

The Swiss Alps are beautiful and even though we only stayed in Interlaken one night, we spend the whole morning walking around and down to one of the lakes. It was cold but there was virtually no wind and the views were spectacular. I also enjoyed using francs as a currency because they are so colorful! However, food was very pricey there and even french fries were about 6 francs. 

After our walk, we caught the train around 3:30 and got to Domodossola by 6. It's weird because technically we are in Italy again so we're back to using euros for the night, but we'll be spending time in Switzerland. Tomorrow we are going to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn and ski in the alps!

...with the sound of music! The Sound of Music tours are a big deal here and Salzburg and we wanted to make sure we saw it all, so we booked one. It was a little bit hard to take pictures of everything since we were in a van but here's a few. We got to see the two houses that they used for the front and back of the Von Trapp home, the lake that the children fall into, the 16-going-on-17 gazebo, the church that Maria and the captain get married in, and more. Our guide also told us a lot of interesting facts about the movie making and why some things look different. For example, the church that the wedding was filmed in is actually quite small, so they filmed Maria and Lesile walking four times and used them all. Here's a few pictures from the day!

We are now in Salzburg! After spending Christmas near Hallstatt, Ryan, Justin and I traveled to Nuremberg for a few days in Germany before meeting up with the others. We left Hallstatt on Wednesday and took a few trains to Germany with no trouble. I had found a small apartment that was a close walk to the city center and we took the metro to get there. Our host met us and gave us the key before breaking the news that there was, indeed, no wifi. Nor ethernet. I must admit that I didn’t take the news very well since I was planning on spending some time skyping with Mikey and my family. In addition, there’s this new-city feeling you get when you leave one town and arrive at the next, not knowing where anything is or how to get anywhere. This always bums me out a little bit, which is usually made a little worse if it’s already dark out. Luckily there was a pizza shop close by, so we took some up to our little apartment and chatted while we ate. 

The next morning we slept in and Justin ran to the store for some eggs and toast. Luckily there were several supermarkets within a five-minute walk so soon we were enjoying cereal and french toast. Our plan for the first day was to walk around the old town, see if there were any remains of Christmas markets, and end the day at Starbucks to check our emails and communicate with the rest of our group for meeting up this weekend. The old town of Nuremberg was very nice. We visited the Nuremberg (Imperial) castle where we climbed the tower and also saw a super deep well. The guide only spoke German, so I don’t actually know how deep the well was, but he poured a whole pitcher of water and it took several seconds before we heard anything after the entire container was empty. 

We spent the rest of the day walking around, stopped in at H&M and even the Lego store since all the stores were starting their after-Christmas sales. We made dinner at our apartment and spent the rest of the evening talking and looking through photos.

For our second day in Nuremberg, we decided to visit the Nazi museum (Documentation Center) and Nazi Party Rally Grounds. The museum took us on a very detailed tour from the beginnings of the Nazi party to its end and the Nuremberg trials. It was very educational and packed with photos and videos from the time. I didn’t realize how early the Nazi party actually started in Germany since it seems that in history classes we focus on the forties and WWII and the depression in the thirties. After the walk-through audio tour (which lasted quite awhile), we got to walk out to see the rally grounds. I also didn’t realize how important Nuremberg was for the party in general. Every year they had a Nazi Party Rally and actually started constructing these huge buildings for their events. The one we saw looked quite a bit like the Colosseum, but was never finished. The audio guide said that all of these building projects were meant to show power and instill a sense of being a part of something big. It was a little bit scary to learn about how the party came to power and how people just went along with it even though such terrible things were happening. One point they made several times was that people didn’t go to the Nazi rallies for figuring anything out or learning anything, they only came for the experience and the emotion of being there and taking part in the festivities. There was virtually no logic to anything that occurred, everything that happened was just to show power and make people feel that they were part of something bigger than self or even country. After the museum I decided that there were bigger problems than not having wifi and having to go “all the way” to Starbucks to check my email. 

The next day we left our apartment and took two trains to get to Salzburg. I have decided that I love taking trains and I’m so glad we got Eurail passes. It’s so easy and there are no security check points so you can show up to the station five minutes before your train leaves and have plenty of time. Finally we arrived in Salzburg and found our hostel where we met up with Shannon, Josh, and Jessica! It was so good to see them and our room is very nice and modern with 6 beds and a bathroom. Much nicer than our hostel in Florence. We decided to go hunt for something to eat and got to see the old town of Salzburg by night and enjoyed a veggie-burger at McDonald’s. We finished the night watching Sound of Music since we went on the official Sound of Music tour today!

The tour guide came to pick us up this morning around nine and we all piled in the van for a morning of sight-seeing all the locations where the Von Trapps were in the movie. You can read about that in my next post!

. . . which apparently means "Merry Christmas" in German! We are here in Austria near the picturesque town of Hallstatt for the holiday and we've been having quite the adventure. I'll try to catch you up on the last few days.

Sunday morning started early for us in our hotel in Venice. Austin's flight home left at 6:30 so we all woke up to see him off at five. It was so great that he could come and tour Italy with us and we had so much fun! Even though he had a few glitches, he's home safe and sound now. We went back to bed after seeing him off for another two hours and got up in time for breakfast at the hotel and checked out around 8:30. Then the traveling began. The Hallstatt area is a bit difficult to get to, and required us to take three buses and a train, which stressed me out a bit because we had to purchase the tickets between stops, where we usually had only about 15 minutes. 

The first part of the trip was a bus from Venice to Villach. It was run by OBB which is a train company, so we could use our Eurail pass, but some places they use buses instead. That bus ride was about three hours and for the last hour was very beautiful and picturesque. We also noticed that public transportation in Austria is very different than Italy and Spain, where people talk and laugh loudly. All the trains and buses here are so quite, and even have signs for "silence please" and restrict cell phone usage in train cars. Anyway, after that bus we had about 15 minutes to catch a train which took us two hours further into what appeared to be the middle of nowhere in the alps. At the second station we found another place for a second bus which took us to an even tinier town where we stood in the snow and waited for one last bus. It starts getting dark here about 4:30 because of the mountains so by the time we got to our apartment at five it was so dark. When the lady let us in, we asked if there were any nearby grocery stores where we could grab something to eat, and she said no since it was Sunday. 

It was disappointing, but we enjoyed using the wifi and I got to skype my family for a while and Justin and I enjoyed chatting with them about our adventures. Then we watched a movie and before going to bed tired and hungry with the hope of a quick walk to the grocery store the next morning. Before I continue, here's a few pictures from the train and the first day:

We awoke around 8:30 the next morning, ready to find a grocery store and make breakfast. When I found this apartment as a place to stay, I asked if there was a grocery store within walking distance. Apparently walking-distance means different things to different people, and we walked for about an hour before finding a market. We shopped for about an hour since we didn't want to have to walk all the way back for anything during our two days here. We decided on meals of pasta, beans and rice, scrambled eggs, and the precious veggie-links I'd carried all the way from Spain, sent to me by Union! The problems began right as we left the checkout line. As the lady scanned our foods, everything began piling up very quickly before we could start stuffing it into our grocery bags. Before we could do anything, a carton of eggs fell to the floor and we lost two. Right then we also had to pay and get out of the way with some Austrian ladies giggling about the crazy foreigners who couldn't get it together. We gathered the rest of our food and headed out the doors for the long, long walk home. 

The walk was rather unpleasant since we had so much food and only three pairs of arms to carry everything. But it was about it get a little worse. Arriving home, we discovered that the bottle of yellow liquid with pictures of vegetables on the front was not cooking oil as we had suspected, but vinegar. Frustrated and still hungry from our 24-hour famine, we bitterly discussed the options. Finally we decided that it was Christmas eve and people were probably feeling friendly, so we knocked on the door of the lady who let us in and gave us our key and asked for some cooking oil. She nodded and gave us some in a cup and saved the day. 

Things began looking up and we enjoyed our lunch of scrambled eggs with fries to improvise for a lack of hash-browns in the store. We decided to go on a walk down to the lake and found a small trail near a waterfall in the mountain. It was lovely but began getting chilly and dark so we headed home to do laundry (since our apartment had been advertised with a washer/dryer) and make dinner. 

Oh, the laundry. We'd planned on doing it this week at the halfway point of our trip and had plenty from the three of us. Something went wrong in the first load and it never got to the spin cycle to wring them out as much as they should have. Then the drier didn't seem to work at all and only made our clothes very steamy but still wet. So we hung up everything on every surface of the apartment which made me a bit peeved since I just wanted to be able to get it done and enjoy Christmas eve. After Skyping with Mikey I went to bed, determined that Christmas would be more of a success. And it was!

Our plan for Christmas day was to take the train into the town of Hallstatt and have a look around. W got up this morning and Justin cooked eggs while I folded all the clothes that had dried during the night and tried to clean up for Christmas. After a filling and tasty breakfast we caught the 11:20 train to the Hallstatt stop where we boarded a small boat with several other tourists. Soon we were on the other side, stepping off into the tiny town. We began walking up the road and continued into some smaller trails on the mountainside. We kept going and realized that we were in a full-on hike. It was so beautiful! The very first photo on this blogpost is of a small look-out point on the trail. As we walked we discovered signs with historic information in English and German. There used to be salt mines in the mountain behind Hallstatt and every so often was an informative sign with history and photos. Justin and I both commented that our dads would have loved it. The historic background, the lovely hike, everything made me think of my dad. Everything in the town below, all the tiny, cute houses, reminded me of my mom. It was lovely and I know my family would have loved every minute. 

We hiked along, gaining altitude as the trains began to be more and more covered in snow. My ten-dollar boots from Target were not up to the task in the least, but I didn't care. It was about 50º F today so it wasn't that cold, even with my feet totally soaked. As we neared the top, we heard water rushing, and to our delight found that we were about to walk over a bridge spanning a rather large mountain waterfall. Beyond that was a lookout point for the top of the train where the salt mine museum was (although it was closed for Christmas of course). The view was breathtaking!

At the top, we thought we would go down the mountain a different way, but saw a sign that said there was a "danger of death" so we decided to stay safe and go down the same way we came up. It took less than half the time going downhill especially since we didn't stop to rest or take pictures. Back in town, we walked around and visited the church of Hallstatt with the ossuary and 600 skulls. We walked through the downtown and peeked inside two gift shops that were actually open for Christmas. The town is so cute and I loved seeing all the buildings and houses. Finally we rode the boat to the other side and waiting an hour for the train while I warmed my frozen feet on a radiator in the small waiting room. We got back to the apartment around 4:30 and cooked Christmas dinner, skyped friends and family, and now are settling in with another movie. Christmas abroad isn't the same as Christmas at home. We've all discussed that it really doesn't feel like Christmas here, even though we are in one of the most Christmas-y looking places I've been. Still, everything is beautiful and we had such a wonderful day together. Tomorrow we're off to a new city and more adventures to come!

Today we went to Venice! We are staying in Mestre which is right on the mainland off of Venice, and it takes only a short bus ride to reach the scenic island. Since we booked our hotel online, we even got free bus tickets for each of us. 

Since we're staying in a hotel here in Mestre, we get breakfast included. European breakfast's aren't particularly large or filling, and so far we've discovered that even most of the nice breakfast bars at hotels specialize in bread products with some form of nutella. For me, this is perfect! I also got to have coffee which was a special treat. We headed off to the train station around 8:30 since we needed to make reservations for the next leg of our trip, and then took the train from there and decided to use our bus tickets for the return home. 

When we first got onto the island it was pretty quiet since most of the tourist shops hadn't even opened yet. We walked through the winding streets towards St. Mark's square and began seeing more and more faces. It's the low season for tourism here in Italy, which has been really nice since we haven't encountered any large crowds or endless lines. Probably most people want to visit when it's warmer, which is understandable since the temperatures were hovering above freezing for most of today. Despite that, we enjoyed walking through the narrow roads, over countless bridges, and peering into bakeries and shops as we walked past. 

We've been told about the pigeons at St. Mark's square by some friends of ours who did Italy over fall break. We walked over to a flock of them and it immediately became evident that Ryan was the pigeon whisperer in the group. All he had to do was walk towards them with his hands out and they would come and sit there, even though he didn't even have food! We did watch some people being overcome by birds when they opened a small pack of food. Anyway, we spend quite a while amidst the birds and even revisited them after eating lunch and walking through St. Mark's Basilica. 

Around one we decided to walk along the waterfront for awhile and then find the "bus" which was really a boat that takes you all the way through the Grand Canal. We sat outside which was worth the photos although it was quite freezing. We took the bus back to Mestre and were back in our warm hotel room by four. After a short rest time in the warmth, Justin, Austin and I ventured out to find a grocery store to buy snacks for tomorrow. Now we're settling in with a movie for our last night in Italia.

Our second day in Florence was a huge success! Since we had done a lot after we got back from Pisa on our first day, we were able to do everything else we wanted yesterday. Most of the places we went, though, didn't allow photos so I don't have very many from the day.

The first place we went was the Academia Gallery to see the David. We ended up seeing lots of famous art yesterday that I had seen in my Arts and Ideas book, which was sort of cool. After the David we decided to climb the Giotto tower where we could get a good view of the city and of the Duomo. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. As Justin says, "climbing a tower never disappoints" which is quite true. We also went to the Uffizi museum with lots of famous pantings and a good view of the river.

For lunch I was delighted when we found a kebab shop! Kebabs are always good, very filling, and usually only €3.50. Foolproof. At this particular shop we also got a free drink with our student ID card! It was so delicious and held us off until later when the boys got pizza. My favorite item of the day was when we walked into a gelato shop and they had tiny cones for  50 cents! It was the perfect amount to try a new flavor or two without breaking the bank for a tiny scoop in a cup. I ended up with three, mandarin, mint, and then coffee.

We headed back to our hostel and finished the night with a movie and the decision to sleep in and check out as late as possible. This morning we made our way to the train station and caught a train to Venice where we are now! Our hotel is much nicer than the hostel we've been in the last few nights and it's in a good location. After we got here we found some food and then wandered around a Christmas market right outside our building. Tomorrow we will explore the streets of Venice!