Hurricane in Spain

Americana Anticipation Volume II

2010-05-15T20:43:00.003+02:00

Things I missed about America

People being more friendly
My family and friends (obvious)
People making room for you on the streets and not cutting
My house with clean floors
More recently on our trip in northern Europe, the warm weather!
Flip-flops!
People being on time or close to it
Being able to read everything!!
Newspapers
Having a constant Internet connection
Even streets! I fall a lot.
Sidewalks instead of a curb pretending to be a sidewalk
Not being yelled at in public by strange men
Having my own room!
Having showers that actually drained
Not taking taxis
Not paying for things every single day
Yogoluv in Columbia/Swirl in Houston
SMOOTHIES
Kind of weird but I like the handles on the toilets in America better. I’m abnormal.
Real Mexican food (but I miss that in Missouri too…)
Showers with water pressure! And hot ones. Thanks Vick.

Things I am going to miss about Europe/Spain

The river
All of our Wisconsin friends
A new, life altering adventure every weekend
Traveling the world
The beautiful historical buildings
Seeing the sunset from our 6^th story apartment
Meeting new people
Never knowing what might happen
The different and timeless architecture
How quaint everything looks
Dancing every night
My favorite discotec, Buddha
I will secretly miss being called out for being blonde
The nice way Spanish people dress
The steady, sweeping movement of the trains
Art deco architecture
The fun hostels
My favorite store Sfera
Carlos, my teacher!

Munchen

2010-05-15T19:07:00.005+02:00

Where; Vienna
Listening to: Stereolove

We got in to Munich on the 13th of May. We went out that night on the Beer Tour, which we felt was appropriate since Munich is the beer capital of the world. Before we began the tour, we learned the traditional song with only four repetitive lines.We started out at Hofbrauhaus, the world famous brewing house. It was huge!! They have two stories and several different floors. The main hall, the Schwemme is where we ate the following day and where they used to brew the Hofbrauhaus beer. There are tons of tables and 120 of them are reserved for regular guests. They usually have an umpapa band playing traditional German music—some men were actually wearing leiderhosen! After Hofbrauhaus, we went to a swank beer lounge called Park Café. Our Australian friend let us try some of his currywurst, which according to Rick Steves travel is a popular German dish and it was absolutely delicious. A guy named Brian took to liking us and stayed with us the whole night much to our displeasure. He was creepy and way too personal for someone we had just met. He asked if we were single and was amazed to find out that I was since everyone he’s met “either has a boyfriend or fiancé even!!” For some reason, I don’t think that was a coincidence. Park Café had fabulous décor and was a complete change from the Hofbrauhaus with its chandeliers and taupe walls. There we tried a wheat beer, Muncher Wiesse, which had a sparkling, slightly spicy taste with a hint of fruit too. Then we went to another open and airy beergartern which was by the Oktoberfest grounds. Ironically there was a church festival going on there. We learned the next day that Oktoberfest began as a birthday celebration for Teresa who was married to King Ludwig. We didn’t sample any at this one. Lastly we went to a bar at a hostel where we had Austiner which a guy at Hofbrauhaus said was the best beer in the world. We didn’t stay there long, since, go figure, we were tired. We grabbed a slice of pizza and walked home in the rain. We ate it in bed, warm and snuggly and couldn’t have been happier.

The next morning we woke up early and grabbed the continental breakfast, which was at a Thai restaurant underneath the hostel. Then we went to catch the free walking tour of Munich at the Glockenspiel at Marienplatz. Munich was 87% destroyed after World War II. The people of Munich knew their city would inevitably face ruin since it was the headquarters of the Third Reich. So they methodically took pictures documenting all of the old buildings so that they could be precisely recreated. Because of this, Munich’s atmosphere was completely different from Berlin. Munich felt much more “German” in style—the Bavarian culture helped too! We saw Alter Peter with its eight clocks on its tower and the Royal Residence (picture). We also saw a few of the 122 memorials to WWII that are placed around Munich. The people of Munich chose to do this so people would notice these little things placed throughout the city and looked into what they were. By researching these memorials, they in turn would learn about the war, hopefully learning more and more as much as they can. We saw the National Theater and the Maypole in the Viktuallenmarkt, an outdoor market that takes place every day. Maypoles are not for dancing. They are for climbing in Germany anyways. The towns try to steal the maypoles and if they do it successfully, the rival town must throw a party for the theives in order to get back their maypole. Once again, Germany is weird. The tour showed us where Krystallnacht was planned. We walked down the same road that Hitler walked down the same road when he first tried to overthrow the government during the Beer Hall Push in 1923. Munich was a happy place so it was hard to imagine this city being Hitler’s adopted home. Our tour guide did a good job of telling us about ways the people resisted and how they have worked to overcome WWII with education now in order to prevent it from ever happening again. You could tell she was really passionate about Germany and wanted us to love it just as much as we did.

Rachel and I went back to Hofbrauhaus for lunch. We saw Brian come in and we tried to hide from him so he wouldn’t come sit with us and possibly follow us to Vienna. Which would probably very typical of him. Once we finally finished with our lunch of Bavarian beef accompanied by the band, we headed out to our next and final trip, Vienna.

Prost (cheers) to you Munich for a great time! Rachel and I at lunch at Hofbrauhaus.

Good Morning Berlin!

2010-05-15T11:18:00.007+02:00

Where: Train to Munich

Listening to: Miranda Lambert

Phrase of the day: "Germany is weird."

We arrived in Berlin, the capital of Germany on Sunday afternoon. Rachel and I were going to go see the Berlin Wall and the memorial sites dealing with that after stopping by a flea market that our hostel had recommended. After entering in the wrong side of the market, we stumbled upon a giant amphitheater build into the side of the hill with people doing karaoke (picture)!!! This was our first piece of evidence that Germany is a bizarre place. The theater was packed. This looked highly entertaining, as most people doing karaoke are, so we decided to stay and watch for a bit. Hands down, this was one of the best things I saw while studying abroad. We watched a hippie sing some song about loving everyone and the whole crowd sang with him, swaying back and forth. A 13-year-old Asian boy sang “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. If that in itself is not hilarious, I don’t know what is. A few guys came out and breakdanced during it. By far the best performance was by a guy who looked like Zach Galifinakis from The Hangover singing “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It. Was. Amazing. The whole crowd was singing along and banging their heads at the appropriate time. The best were the crazies that sat on the stage. One lady was probably around 40 and kept doing the splits. I was extremely sad when it was over. By that time, it was getting late so we just went back to the hostel and went to bed.
On Monday we got down to business. We took the train out to Sachenhausen, a former concentration camp. The cold, gloomy day reflected the mood permeating the camp. Sachenhausen is in Orianenburg, a suburb of Berlin. The weirdest thing was that people actually lived right next to the camp. As we walked through the surrounding stone wall, we could see children playing soccer. I can’t imagine that at all. The camp itself felt haunting and eerie. Seeing children have fun or a warm house with a garden seemed like a cruel reminder of what the Jews were missing while they were in Orianenburg. Children playing in sight of the infamous “Arbeit macht frei!” We walked around the camp and went into one of the museums they had set up. For me the most haunting part of it was seeing the showers in the barracks and the kitchen cellar. In the showers, they would pack people in as much as possible and often would hold people’s heads under water and sometimes even drown them. At the toilets, the frail and exhausted workers would often be trampled and consequentially be covered in excrement. Learning about this was horrifying now seeing these places in front of us and then trying to imagine people experiencing these things.
We stayed there until the afternoon and then went back into the city. We went into the Guggenheim and looked at the modern art. We saw the Brandenburg Gate. We went to the German History Museum and looked around in there for over two hours. We then went to see the Berlin Wall Memorial. The stop for the Memorial is a ghost station. This means that during the separation of Berlin, these stations that were in East Berlin were forbidden from being used. They remained the same from 1961 when the wall went up until 1989 when the wall came down. The station has the original tile walls in the lovely putrid yellow color that the 1960’s loved with signs written in the stereotypical German font. I had listened to the Rick Steves Berlin City Guide and they had talked about the ghost stations so I was really excited to see one. We then went to the Wall Memorial and read about the history of the wall. It’s so strange to picture just a wall causing such a huge divide in a city and the way the people lived. Something like that seems archaic, but in reality, the wall fell in the year I was born. So I must be getting old. It didn’t even look like a big, powerful wall. So strange to think about it running through a city with so many differences on either side. We took a picture trying to escape to the other side.
After we saw the wall, it was getting fairly late—and even more cold!!! We were freezing the whole trip. So we went back to our hostel, got a pizza, ate it in bed and went to sleep to save up for the rest of the trip. The next morning when we woke up to leave, we headed to the train station. In the train station there was a giant slide going down all the stairs! Germany was getting weirder and weirder. Turns out they were filming a promotional video for Volkswagen to put on youtube. So naturally we participated in it.

Yummy bratwurst.

Even Old New York was Once New Amsterdam

2010-05-15T11:00:00.005+02:00

Where: Train to Prague
Listening to: Miranda Lambert
Word of the day: "Dam"

I went to the capital of the Netherlands the first weekend of March. Part of my trip strategy for the semester was to visit places that I wouldn’t necessarily ever plan a trip to again such as some of the smaller cities in Europe. This was my reasoning behind not going to Paris. I went into Madrid the night before and slept at Rachel’s. The next day we left for Amsterdam to meet up with my friends Aneil and Jen. Unfortunately we were all coming from different countries so meeting up with each other at the airport was a little bit more difficult than we anticipated. It was just another misadventure.

Rachel and I found Aneil at the baggage claim. He had been waiting there for about two hours. Jen was nowhere to be found. We waited at baggage claim for about 30 minutes. Finally we figured she must have left or missed her plane so we would meet her at the hostel. It was raining and freezing cold as we wandered out of the main station to try to find the hostel. We finally found it and inside was none other than Jen!!! Somehow we had missed each other. It was good to know that none of us were running around Amsterdam alone. Since we had all reunited, we headed out to the streets. We went to the Anne Frank House and did an interesting tour of that. Afterwards it was late and we were absolutely exhausted from the rain and cold so we got dinner and went to bed.

Saturday morning we woke up really early to grab a coffee and go on a tour of the city. The rain had cleared over the night and it was beautiful!! The sun was shining and the sky was perfectly clear. It was still mind-numbingly cold. Jen had been on a free walking tour in Berlin so she recommended we do the one in Amsterdam. The tour lasted three hours and walked us through the whole city. I really enjoyed it because I was able to familiarize myself with the city and learn a lot about it. Amsterdam has a huge history and was a center of Europe for many years because of the East India Company. It got its name from the river Amstel, which runs through the city connecting the dozens of canals that run along next to almost every street. Our tour guide told us about the many odd laws in Amsterdam. For example, if it’s done quietly, good for business and doesn’t hurt anyone, the cops in Amsterdam are okay with it. Also, if there is no physical proof, they can’t prove you did anything so they have to let you go. Like if you stole a bike and the cops were chasing you, you could just throw it into the river and be innocent because it would be their word against yours. If you park your car too close to a canal and it falls in, you have to pay to get it out. However, if you are in the car when it falls in, the city has to pay for getting you and your car out. Very odd rules. The symbol of Amsterdam is a red shield with three white “x’s” on a black background. There are a bunch of different stories of why there are three “x’s” like for the three destructions of the city way back in the day—fire, water, and the plague. For a while in Amsterdam, you had to pay taxes on your house according to how wide it was, so one house we saw was literally just the length of the one window!

After the tour was over, we walked around in a few of the markets in the city. Then we went to the Heinieken Brewery tour. Some of my friends that studied abroad last year went to it. It was a self-guided tour that taught you how they brewed the beer and the history of the company. I anticipated it to be a little bit more in depth than it was. They no longer brew at the factory, but it was the original brewery. Afterwards we went out to dinner, to the Van Gogh museum and then did a pub crawl. The many tour companies across Europe put on pub crawls each night for all the students that are touring. It’s a good way to meet people around our age and go to the cool places that we otherwise wouldn’t know about. We stayed on the pub crawl for a while, but ultimately went home early because once again we were exhausted from walking around the whole day and we had to leave early the next morning—Jen and Aneil left at 5 a.m.!

Ultimately I liked Amsterdam. I thought the city itself was very pretty with very interesting architecture. It was very clean and crisp city, much more than I had anticipated. Amsterdam has a bad reputation, but it is a lot more than the crazy city that it is known for.

Semana Santa

2010-05-15T10:54:00.003+02:00

Where: Train to Prague
Listening to: Revolution by Miranda Lambert
Word of the day: "nazareno"

Semana Santa is Holy Week in Spain. Sevilla has a special week-long festival in honor of it that dates back to the medieval times. Each church has an hermandad or fraternidad (sorority or fraternity directly translated) that makes a series of floats called pasos (above, me with the Virgin de la Macarena) that parade through the city on a certain day. The pasos are the same every year and depict a stage in Christ’s life or Mary, formed from wood or metals. Men called costaleros carry the paso by holding slabs of wood up with their shoulders underneath the heavy floats. To proect themselves, they wear costals, a special head and neck covering of fabric. The pasos are so heavy that they can weigh up to five metric tons. The costaleros have to walk in a uniform manner with their legs locked together, slowly processing through the uneven streets of Sevilla. In the weeks leading up to Semana Santa, we would often see them around the Cathedral practicing the walk. Some churches even have a band that accompanies them.
I went down to the Cathedral by myself on Palm Sunday to grab some lunch and ended up staying to watch. This is the most crowded time in Sevilla. It is so crowded that the locals often go out of town to avoid all the tourists. The beautiful procession enchanted everyone watching it. However, it was more fascinating to me to know that there were men carrying these immense structures and to see the nazarenos.
Nazarenos are the people that lead the procession. They were originally always men, but now they have some women. They often carry candles called velas or a cross. Their outfits are perhaps the most intriguing for a tourist because of what it looks like to us Americans—a Ku Klux Klan outfit. The KKK in fact stole their uniforms from the Sevillanos. However, they have absolutely no relation. Each floor-length robe is in the color of the corresponding church with an emblem on either the front or the side. The hats look exactly like the KKK’s. For Spaniards, it is a symbol of not knowing who the nazarenos are and that we are all identical sinners.
It was a little creepy since I was so used to their uniforms meaning fear and hatred, not as symbols of the Church. At times there would be lines of hundreds of them. Even the advertising depicted them—there’s a symbol with different meanings that my professors would enjoy!! Overall it was an interesting thing to watch, but I could understand why everyone we talked to didn’t enjoy Semana Santa as much as Feria.

GOOOOOOOOOAL

2010-05-11T19:10:00.002+02:00

Where: Train to Prague

Sunday May 2^nd was the final day in our final weekend of living in Spain. WE had the option of either going to a soccer game or to a bullfight. Based upon the mainly reviews we had heard about the bullfight, we decided to go to the soccer game. Tricia, Savio and I went to the Sevilla Futbol Club game against Athletico Madrid. Being at one of these games felt like being at a Fightin’ Texas Aggie football game—filled with crazy people yelling things that don’t make sense and cheering for a team that isn’t that good. The game began with everyone singing the team song of Sevilla. Every single chair in the whole stadium had a piece of poster paper in it. One side of the paper was red, the other white, the colors of the SFC. Men stood out on the field and held up signals for when the audience was supposed to flip their papers. The colors changed in a wave that ran several times around the whole stadium with each person participating. Within minutes of the game beginning, SFC had scored. The poster papers slowly morphed into paper airplanes sailing through the crowd or into confetti, flung into the air after a successful play or goal. A group of men standing at one of the end zones were constantly chanting, cheering and clapping. It was such an energetic and exciting event. The game ended with Sevilla winning, 3 to 1. I really enjoyed the game. I loved how everyone was so passionate about it. I wish we had gone to more games.

EUROTRIP: Denmark

2010-05-11T19:00:00.005+02:00

Where: Train from Berlin to Prague

Listening to: Revolution by Miranda Lambert

On Friday May 7^th, I awoke to find everything had changed. I was alone at Senora Vicki’s. Tricia and Laura had left at 5 a.m. I remembered faintly Haley leaving at 8 a.m. Just me, three suitcases and a cranky Spanish woman. I spent the morning trying to fall back asleep. That obviously wasn’t going to work thanks to Vicki already cleaning the house. I kind of got the message I needed to leave ASAP.

And so begins the Eurotrip. Rachel and I are traveling through Europe for 10 days together.

I took the 12:45 train to Madrid. Once I arrived in Madrid, I needed to take a total of three separate Metros to get from the train station to the airport. This wouldn’t have been a problem, except I had a purse, backpack and three suitcases. At this point, I would like to thank the people of Madrid for their help and lack of frustration in dealing with me and my bags. It was pretty amusing for them to watch.

Once I met my best friend, Rachel, at the airport, we boarded the plane to fly to my homeland—Denmark!! We stayed with my aunt, Faster Anne. We arrived Friday night at midnight so we just went straight to bed.

On Saturday morning, we woke up, had breakfast with Faster Anne and her boyfriend Johnny. I surprised my cousins, Claus and Karin, with a call from Faster Anne’s phone. They did not expect to hear my voice on the phone! It was pretty entertaining. Rachel and I went in to Copenhagen to meet with my cousin Birgitte to see the Crown Prince Frederick and his family’s newly remodeled palace at Amalienborg.

The Danish Royal Family recently remodeled one of the four palaces at Amalienborg, the home of the Royal Danes. The renovations are to the palace where the current Queen grew up. They used modern art from Danish painters to decorate the palace to give it a contemporary flair. It was quite interesting to see the mix of classical palace décor with abstract art. In their dining room, for example, a huge abstract piece was painted directly onto the wall, right next to the white crown molding with gold accent. None of the modern pieces were framed or anything that looked like it was placed later. Everything looked as if it had just appeared there. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. I love the classic molding and decorative ceilings, but at the end I decided it was a good idea. I think it is very reflective of what a contemporary palace should be like. It was get so boring to constantly see the same type of decoration for your whole life. It incorporates the 21^st century with an endless legacy that all rulers today have.

My favorite was the new staircase they added. I didn’t like the staircase itself—it was brushed wood and reminded me of Ikea—but I loved the idea of it. The stair way was supposed to look like you were in the ocean surrounded by bubbles floating up to the surface. Each bubble was actually a circular light fixture with half of it on the wall, facing a round mirror. They went all the way up four floors. At the very top on the ceiling, there was a wavy mirror that looked like you were looking up at the ocean’s surface. It was so interesting and really did feel like what the designer had wanted!!

Afterwards Birgitte walked us around Stoya and downtown Copenhagen. We went into The Royal Danish Playhouse which was absolutely beautiful inside. We grabbed a small lunch in Nyhaven. Birgitte was very excited to get some cake! We passed Tivoli and the Town Hall, where my grandparents got married. There was a legalize marijuana protest in front of it. How picturesque. We went back to Taastrup then to my cousins’ house in Sengelose for dinner. They got us traditional Danish open faced sandwiches!! My favorite!!! Luckily Rachel was able to have some and she actually liked it! We stayed there for the night, talking and catching up. Rachel and I went back to Faster Anne’s and went to bed.

That was by far the shortest trip I have ever had to Denmark. However, it still was a good trip. I got to see my family and catch up with them, which is always nice. It is so lovely to know that I have family across the world that can help me and look out for me if I need them. All of their help meant so much to us. It was a lovely trip.

Totally Tapas

2010-05-10T23:54:00.003+02:00

Check out this great article about tapas in Spain!! Click here!

Also, if you are planning to travel, be sure to check out the iPod podcasts in the iTunes store. I found a ton of hour-long Rick Steves travel podcasts for FREE! We used it here in Berlin. It helps you get a feel of the city and know some good places to go!

I just added some new pictures from Amsterdam and Morocco!! Check them out here!

Americana Anticipation Volume 1

2010-05-10T22:19:00.003+02:00

Where: Hotel4Youth, Berlin, Germany
Listening to: GREEK
Phrase of the day: Danke Schoen

Well, I have now been abroad for almost four full months. It definitely has been an amazing experience. At the same time I think I am ready to come back to the land of the free and the home of the free gift with purchase. So in honor of my ONE WEEK left in Europe, I have compiled a list of some of my favorite things about this American life (NPR reference from my broadcast journalism days if you didn't know).

FOOD

CHIPOTLE

Lots of guacamole

Steak, mashed potatoes (NOT made from a package) and green peas

Nori Sushi—preferably the Shaggy Dog roll, Miso soup, California, Jalapeno

Grilled salmon

Raising Caine’s

Hungry’s grilled salmon and iceberg lettuce

Danish open faced sandwiches

Asparagus

Broccoli

LOTS AND LOTS OF SALADS

Artichokes

Limitless fountain cokes

THINGS

See my family
Play with Baron, my dog
MANICURE/PEDICURE
Catch up on 30 Rock
Wash every single item of clothing I own
JACUZZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With tons of bubbles.
Make cookies.
Eat all of the above food.
Go swimming
Cuddle with Baron
Jump on the trampoline with soap and water
Go to spinning
SEE A MOVIE IN A MOVIE THEATER!
Eh drive I guess. Since I haven’t in 4 months
Read the Houston Chronicle
Sit out by the pool and palm trees with a magazine
Sitting on my big red couch
Listen to music in the bathroom while getting ready etc.
TOWEL WRAP
Wearing different clothes
Freshly cleaned clothes warm from the dryer
Tea
See my friends
Go back to my apartment, Missouri friends and the vintage princess room!!!!

LONDON: The Final Post

2010-05-06T10:20:00.009+02:00

On Friday, April 9, we took it easy and went to meet Lindsey and Elizabeth at their flat. It was heaven compared to the apartment we live in. However, they do have bunk beds still, so I guess we all end up sacrificing something. We moved out of the sorority house and thought bunk beds were going to be out of our lives forever. Yet they continually keep popping up. We just stayed there, talking and playing games for the night. It was nice to relax since we had literally been on our feet all day.
Saturday morning we woke up and got dressed to meet up with Lindsey and see the changing of the guard. The changing of the guard happens every other day at 11 a.m. We couldn’t really see too much because it was incredibly crowded. As we were standing there, all of a sudden we hear an “Oh hey guys!”

It was Mark.

We had not been able to contact Mark at all since we had arrived and he took off into the night at 1 a.m. He might have been dead for all we knew. Instead, we learned Mark had been to the Tower of London, met a friend named Garrett and went on a pub crawl the night before by himself. He is very independent.

Lindsey showed us around town. Much to Haley’s pure joy (and my secret one) we went to Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross. Platform 9 ¾ is a fictional platform from the Harry Potter books. It’s the way the wizarding community gets to Hogwarts, their school. We took a few pictures (even Nick took one). In Haley’s case we took a dozen since it didn’t look like she was pushing hard enough on the first few. Trav refused to take a picture.

Then we went to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. We didn’t go into the Tower since you had to pay and our friend Mark said it wasn’t worth it, though Rick Steves (travel book Mark loves) gave it 3 stars. I loved finally seeing the Tower. I’ve read a lot about it in my historical fiction novels. It’s so strange being at places where I know Anne Boleyn or Robert Dudley or thousands of other people have been and awaited their death. This building was really used during the Renaissance, which made me feel like I should be walking around in my Renaissance dress. Sadly, I have wanted to bust out my green and gold RenFest dress more times on this trip than anyone should ever want to. The Tower wasn’t like anything I pictured. I thought it would be a huge, lonely building rising high into the air. However, it was a bit more cheerful than I had anticipated.

The Tower Bridge was so impressive. It’s very stately and regal. I loved it because it had a pretty blue on it that matched the dress I was wearing. We took a few pictures. Haley and Trav took an engagement photo that apparently got a few people talking once it appeared on Facebook. But no, curious public, they are not dating (yet).
We walked to the other side of London. Apparently this is the more sketchy side. For a while there were several haunted houses. It was definitely weird to see zombies walking around in broad daylight. However, I didn’t see them feasting on anyone so I figured that’s why the Queen lets them just run rampant. I ran into the London Red Bull offices! Sadly they were closed. But they sure did look fun. I wish I could’ve gone in.

Every Saturday London has three different markets. There is an antique market, furniture one (I think), and a food market. We went to Burrough, the food market. Tricia said she read it is one of the top 10 best smelling places in Europe. Where you find a list of smells, I don’t know. The market was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was hard to navigate through the crowd there was so many booths set up with any type of food you could think of. We tried tons of different things from sausages to hazelnuts to jams to cheeses. It was a nice snack. The market went on and on, with wine, meat, vegetable and fish booths.

We went back to our hostel after that to get ready to go out that night. Earlier in the day we had gone to London’s West End, the theater district, to buy tickets to see a musical later that night. We each made our own dinner then went to go meet up with the London girls at the theater, where dancing is prohibited above all else.

We saw the amazing Billy Elliot: The Musical. It was so good. I forgot how much I love seeing shows and how much they make me want to be up there. At times it was hard to understand them because of their thick accents. They had just gotten a new cast, but the boy who played Billy was just such an amazing dancer. It was pretty expensive, but I’m glad we did it.

Some of us had to split up during the show so we waited for everyone afterwards right outside the theater. All of a sudden, we looked into the bar to our right and Jack was inside. Why was Jack alone in the bar? However, Jack had received a ticket that was for a different showing so he got kicked out before the show even started. He didn’t get to see any of it! Since we had no way of communicating with each other, none of the rest of us had any idea that this happened to him. So for the two hours that we were in the show, Jack was busy making local friends, watching soccer at a hostel and receiving beers from strangers.

We stayed at that pub for a bit then we all separated. Jack, Haley and Laura went home. Lindsey, Tricia, Mark, Savio, Trav and I still felt that the night was young and so were we. Lindsey took us to The Walkabout, a popular place for Australians to go to. I was amazed by the amount of Australians that were in London, particularly at our hostel. They were everywhere. I made friends with two of them (they said they were from Oz and I literally had to think for a minute what that meant) and they told me that the Australian government gives money to everyone to come to England. They might have been just kidding because they liked to see me get worked up (so they said). They actually said it way better than that in some Australian slang word, but I forgot it. They also really liked to make fun of me for saying “y’all.” Welcome to the club, boys. I asked them if they liked Vegemite and if they had kangaroos as babysitters while growing up and if they rode around in their pouches. They asked if I owned a gun and rode horses to school. Touché, my Aussie friends. Unfortunately we never got to say bye to each other and will never see each other again.

The Walkabout was hilarious. Tricia and I danced. A strange little man fell in love with me. My friends took pictures of it instead of saving me. There were a couple bachelorette parties there. In England, everyone dresses up for the parties either all in a matching theme or in Halloween costumes. Not necessarily very attractive, but hey, neither are English people’s teeth. Can’t win them all I suppose. A fight broke out so we decided to leave. Oh you crazy Brits. Lindsey and I had a fun bus ride home, riding on the top of the double decker and just being silly tourists.

The next day we woke up, packed and set out to the Victoria and Albert Museum again. I paid 5 pounds to go into the Digital Media exhibit. I thought it would be different than it was so that was a little bit of a letdown. It was really all sorts of electronic art pieces. Though I don’t necessarily think these pieces were as beautiful as traditional art, it was so interesting. Most of the pieces were interactive. For example, when you walked through the entrance, a series of reeds would light up as you walked. I felt like I was an Avatar. There was one that encouraged you to take life slower by only capturing your image if you stood still in front of a portrait for a long period of time. My favorite one was a giant white screen that you stood in front of. As you moved your arms, color would splash upon the screen. I had a pretty fun time throwing my arms hard and fast then slowly into the air to see the different types of designs I could make. The people watching me apparently had a fun time too.

I liked the exhibit because it made me think differently about art and the future of art. I have never really cared that much for paintings and sculptures. I liked realizing that this is what houses may have on display in the future and seeing what people are pushing themselves to develop in a creative way. It definitely took more effort to create this art than the typical modern “art” that is a splash of paint on a white canvas.

Afterwards I wandered around the museum by myself, stumbling upon the jewelry and theater exhibits. Perfect. I was a little disappointed though because we were missing the Grace Kelly fashion exhibit by only one week. I would have really liked to see that. I did however splurge to buy the most recent issue of Vanity Fair with her on the cover at the airport.
We left the museum and went back to the hostel to go catch the bus to take us to the airport. Mark missed it. However, we finally ran into him again at the airport. So at least we got to spend another three hours with him.

We all decided that London was one of our favorite trips we had taken. Since we were there from April 7-11 and had locals to show us around (and since we spoke the language), it made us feel more a part of England instead of just the tourists that we usually feel like. We didn’t have to rush from place to place, but we still saw a lot. I think subconsciously we really enjoyed being in a culture so much like home again. Things were bright and busy, there wasn’t dog poop on the streets, nothing closed down in the middle of the day. It was so nice to be reunited not only with amazing friends, but also our culture. I could see myself living in London one day. Of course, many thanks to Lindsey and Elizabeth for being amazing hosts and showing us around London!! We love you guys and travel safely back to America!!

The Beginning of the End

2010-05-01T20:06:00.003+02:00

Where: Bus to La Antilla
Listening to: “Never Alone” by Lady Antebellum
Word of the day: “flamenco”

In case you don’t read Spanish, I figure I might need to give you a brief rundown of Feria, the flamenco festival, which so far has been my favorite part of studying in Spain. Feria was last week here in Sevilla. It is a huge flamenco festival where all the students have the week off from school and everyone is in a great mood. It actually reminds me exactly of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo if every day was Tejano day. Or Flamenco Day I guess.
Feria started as just a three-day festival back in 1846. Since then it continued to develop and grow until the 1920’s which festivals most resemble what today’s is like. During the day, carriages and horses gallop through the streets, carrying people to and from the festivals. These people are called caballeros and wear a traje corto, a special suit with a short jacket. There are over 1,300 casetas, or tents, either public or private. The private ones are set up by different organizations, churches or groups of friends. Most have a security guard out in front checking tickets or names. The private ones range from being small like the size of a living room to being huge like the size of a church. All of the casentas have music, some even with live bands. Most have a bar with food and drinks in the back. The traditional food of Feria is fried fish and the traditional drink is a rebujito, a mix of Sprite and la manzanilla, a white apple wine. Rebujitos were delicious. Senora Vicki told us to be careful because it tastes so good but can make you crazy. She sounded like she was speaking from experience. The apple wine was terrible by itself.
I loved Feria because it really felt like we were experiencing the culture of Sevilla and Andalusia. All the men wore suits and the women wore flamenco dresses. Even little girls wore them and they were so adorable!! All the dresses are either solid in bright colors or bright patterns that would make Vera Bradley either jealous or appalled. They wear big, bright plastic earrings with matching necklaces or bracelets. Every single thing matches. The women pull back their hair into tight buns or leave it in loose curls. They then put a giant flower on the very top of their head in the center. They add these plastic hair combs with designs to the back of side of their head. All of their outfits just look so fun and festive. The bottom of the dresses swirl out every time the women walk, going out from their bodies like a mermaid.
The first night we went to Feria, Thursday, Tricia, Trav, Savio and I had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We wandered around in the festival for a bit. Finally we went up to one of the private casetas and asked the security guard where the public ones were. He got started talking to Tricia and for some reason, once he heard that she was from Kansas City, he let all of us in!! The tent was huge. We went to the back where we felt least conspicuous and got some rebujitos. We even ran into a group of other people from our program! It was so fun just to people watch and see all the different colors. Trav and I went to a smaller caseta to meet up with some of his friends.
The next night Haley and Laura came out with us. Our sister Vicki Jr. had given us two tickets to get into one of the casetas. Once we got to Feria, Nick saw someone getting a HUGE cotton candy, an alogodon dulce. He was enthralled. I have a great video of him envious gazing at the cotton candy. As the person walks away, he even says, “Don’t leave me.”

We went into this private tent and sat watching everyone dance. I went up to go get something and a boy came up to me and asked me to dance with him. Please note: I doubt he was over 16. And he had his tongue pierced. And as usual, my friends had a great time documenting this. I kept telling him I didn’t know how to dance (anything other than Scandinavian folkdances or the Macarena is a little too complicated for me), but he wouldn’t have it. His girl friends decided to teach me. Even though I spent way too much time with children born in the mid-90’s, it was still a lot of fun.
On Saturday we went to Feria during the day to see all the carriages. We also went to La Calle del Infierno, the amusement park section. It was so incredibly hot. Tricia and I got really excited to see all the rides so we decided to go on Maxi Kangaroo. It was so fun!!! Tricia and I had giant smiles on our faces and screamed the whole time. It was great. It also made me really sad that I had decided not to live in Kansas City this summer and work at Worlds of Fun, the amusement park, in a show there. Sorry Mom, never told you about that plan.
On Sunday we went to Demo to meet up with everyone then we went to Feria to watch the fireworks that close the festival. Unfortunately Trav got a little distracted by the cotton candy (he made me take before and after pictures of him) and we got distracted by the rides. There is one called Barca Vikinga, Viking Ship, that is your typical ship ride—goes back and forth, higher and higher. Except since this is Spain and they like to live on the edge, at the end of either side of the boat there were cages. You stood in the cages and as your end went up, if you jumped you would float in the air. IT WAS AMAZING!!! So much fun. Probably totally illegal in America too. After that, Tricia, Savio and I went on Mega Kangaroo (better than Maxi Kangaroo) and split a chocolate Belgian waffle.
All in all, I can see why the Sevillanos say that Feria is their favorite festival over Semana Santa. It was a blast.

This past weekend was the Sigma Alpha Iota formal!!! I made up that our school, the Spanish-American Institute, was a fraternity (Sigma Alpha Iota). Back at Mizzou, all of our friends were going on a fraternity formal this weekend, so it was only fitting that we had a formal of our own!
We took an hour bus ride to the quaint town of Islantilla, on the coast of Spain near Portugal. It was beautiful! One of the boys had connections so we were able to stay at a four-star resort, Oasis, for only 10 euros a person!! Well, and because we fit about 8 people in rooms meant for four. There were a lot of old people so we kept joking that it wasn’t really a resort, but a retirement community. Apparently you had to wear a swim cap to get in the hot tub too. Tricia, Laura and I learned the hard way.
It was really nice for all of us to be together, relaxing and soaking up the sun and each other’s company one last time. I can’t believe we are leaving each other and Sevilla in such a short amount of time. The semester flew by. It always makes me sad to leave people and places behind that have become such a part of who I have become. Though I am happy to be so close to going home, I am really going to miss this and all the experiences we’ve had. I feel so lucky to have been able to have a chance like this. I owe my parents so much for giving me the opportunity to come abroad and learn so much. I love you guys!

2010-04-29T21:31:00.001+02:00

Just made a facebook account so it is faster to upload pictures!!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001050497445&ref=ts

Hopefully it will work! It's been a little funky.

La Feria de Sevilla

2010-04-29T15:02:00.005+02:00

For my Spanish civilization class we had to write a paper about any aspect of Spanish culture. I wrote about Feria, the flamenco festival that was here last week. It was so fun! Here it is in Spanish for all you speakers out there.

La celebración de feria en Sevilla es un festival grande de baile, donde se bebe y se divierte la gente. Es la única del todo el mundo. La feria tiene comida, la moda, y bebidas especialmente del tiempo. La historia y la cultura de la feria es muy rica y especial para los Sevillanos.

Hay muchas partes diferentes de la feria. La gente va a las casetas durante el día y la noche. Casetas son áreas cubiertas con las mesas y sillas, una barra, comida, y un área para bailar. Hay más que 1.300 casetas en Sevilla. Las casetas son públicas o privadas. Para las casetas privadas, una persona necesita billete o amigo dentro de la caseta para conseguir entrada. Las casetas privadas son más pequenas y tienen decoraciones en las paredes. Cada caseta tiene el nombre y el número en el exterior con las cubiertas rayadas que están frente a la calle. Este año, habían seis casetas públicas de districtos municipales. Durante el día, la caseta es una lugar para comer y beber. Durante la noche, la gente de la caseta baila el flamenco.
La calle de Infierno es una parque de los cacharritos. Es muy divertida. Es una zona grande con muchas atracciones para todas las edades. Hay más que 500 atracciones, por ejemplo las norias y los tiovivos. Desafortunadamente, es muy cara. También hay los juegos donde se puede ganar un premio para su novia o un niño. Hay muchas tiendas de comida. Los algodones dulces, helado, y dulces son populares.

La costumbre de feria comenzó en 1846. Narciso Bonaplata y José María de Ybarra tuvieron una idea de una celebración durante el mes de Abril. Las fechas originales eran 19, 20 y 21 de Abril. Hoy las fechas son las mismas, más o menos. Por ejemplo, este año la feria fue durante 18-24 de Abril. Ahora es una semana (seis días). Típicamente, comienza dos semanas después de la Semana Santa. La feria comenzó como ganado justo en el Prado de San Sebastian. La primera feria tuvo 19 casetas. En 1850, la feria cambió y se separó de la mercadería del ganado. Desde entonces ha habido muchos cambios y crecimientos. Cada año, hay un cartel oficial anunciador de la feria. Es muy bonito y muestra una característica de Sevilla o la feria. El primero fue en 1890. En 1910 se distribuyeron folletos. Los tres días cambiaron a cinco días en 1914. Cambiaron a seis en 1952.

Es posible para llegar a la feria en un taxi, por autobús o caminando por las calles. Las calles toman mucho tiempo porque el Barrio de Los Remedios no es en el centro. Los autobuses no son rápidos, pero son más caros. Los taxis son la manera más rápida, pero los conductos aumentan los precios durante la feria. Es posible tener que esperar en tráfico.
La entrada de feria es un símbolo de Sevilla—el “NO8DO.” Este es el lema de la ciudad y significa “No me ha dejado.” cubre la ciudad de las calles al Ayuntamiento. Viene de una leyenda sobre Alfonso el sabio cuando la ciudad permanecía con él durante la reconquista mientras que él luchaba con su hijo. El ¨8¨ representa una madeja. Esta entrada se llama la portada. Comenzó en 1949 y es 50 metros de altura. Este año, la portada es nueva y un diseño de José Manuel Peña Jiménez porque es el centenario del primer vuelo sevillano del ‘Blérot XI,’ un avión. La portada es muy interesante porque es reversible. Se ven iguales de la salida y de la entrada.

La primera noche de feria es el lunes en el Barrio de Los Remedios. La gente recolecta delante de la portada y espera para ver las luces dentro de la feria girarse. Es muy hermosa. La última día, domingo, hay los fuegos artificiales grandes muestran sobre el río que celebra el final de una semana acertada. No hay bailando pero la calle de infierno está abierto. La día más popular es miércoles.

La moda de la feria es único a Sevilla y al feria. La gente no viste iguales durante el año. Las mujeres llevan una traje de flamenca o las faralaes. La moda de las mujeres consisten de los zapatos, volantes, pulseras, alfiler, mantón, zarcillos, peineta y los flores. Es muy colorido, brillante, y vibrante con modelos de flores, de rayas, cordón o de lunares. Muchos vestidos tienen los chaquetas. Los hombres llevan los trajes o un traje corto con los cordobés. Los hombres que conducir los carros desgastan un equipo formal con un sombrero de copa.

Hay comida especial para este semana. Todas las casetas tienen un bar o cocina. Comen mucho al pescado, el jamón y la comida típica de Ibérica. La feria tienen una bebida—los rebujitos. Un rebujito consiste de la manzanilla, vino blanco sevillano, con Sprite or 7-Up. Es muy delicioso, ¡pero es peligroso también! La feria ofrece muchas dulces y los restaurantes acerca de la feria apretados y abráse tarde. Las chocolaterias son muy populares.

La feria es una celebración de los bailes flamencos. Tienen muchos golpes y vueltas. Es común para dos mujeres bailar a junto. Hay cuatro bailes de Sevilla. Las sevillans rocieras son más lentas. Las corraleras son muy rápidas con cantadas por voces roncas y graves. Los cortesanas son las más parecidas a las seguidillas originales. Algunas casetas tienen una banda, pero otras tienen la música registrada. El mujer gira sus manos en el aire como si ella esté escogiendo una flor, oliéndolo, entonces lanzándolo lejos. Los volantes del vestido fluye con el movimiento de los pies. Flamenco es la música de Andalucía y Sevilla. Origina de los gitanos y consiste de la guitarra, los palilos, las palmas, el cajón y la voz. El tema de la canción es dependiente de la persona o la canción, pero la amor y los tradiciones de Andalucía son típicos. Los caballos y los toros son los tradiciónes populares durante la feria también. Hay muy común para ver los coches de caballo en las calles, transportando la gente a la feria.

La feria de Sevilla es una tradición muy hermosa y acerca de los corazones de la gente de Andalucía. Es más de que una celebración de flamenco y bebidas. Es una celebración de la vida andaluz.

Is this real life?

2010-04-29T14:22:00.002+02:00

Where: SAI
Listening to: Lady Antebellum
Phrase of the day: "esclavo"

Yesterday we had some issues with Vicki, our host mom. We asked for more toilet paper since we had been out for a while (we stole a roll from school and even that was gone). I was asleep for it because I have a bit of a sore throat. I'm trying to get as much rest as possible so I don't get more sick before finals next week or before my travels starting next Friday. It's a bit hard to do since this is our last full free week in Sevilla, so we are trying to live it up as much as possible. But Laura asked for more TP and Tricia asked if we could eat dinner earlier so we could go out with everyone. Vicki got really mad and asked Laura what we were doing with it, blowing our noses or using it for eye makeup, which we don't. Then Vicki got more mad that we wanted to eat at 9 or 9:30 because she said that's when we usually eat. However, we never eat before 9:30. Sometimes we have eaten as late as 10:30. So then we end up spending more of our own money on food to keep up from starving in between lunch (which is at 3:30) until dinner. Apparently Vicki told Tricia (whom she calls Patri...hilarious) that she always feeds us that early, she came home from having coffee the other night to feed us and that she is our slave. Clearly something is lost in translation here. On Sunday when we came home, we asked our brother Alfonso if he could call Vicki and see if we could eat a little earlier so we could go see the fireworks at midnight down at Feria, the flamenco festival. Walking to the Festival takes about an hour, at the least 45 minutes. Tricia made sure to say only ask her if it's not a problem, if Vicki can't come home, it isn't a big deal. Vicki didn't seem mad at all when she came home so it was extra strange that she flipped out. By the way, Vicki has a beach house and goes there for 2 months every summer. Clearly money is not an issue to her. Or maybe it only is when she has to spend it on us. That night when we were leaving (right after she yelled at us), the whole family was like "Oh you look beautiful!! Que guapas!!" What?!?! It is just a little confusing as to what exactly is going on here. Sometimes I feel like I'm walking on eggshells. Yesterday the light in our room went out too. I was really scared to go ask for a new one.

Of all things, I am scared to ask the lady that I pay thousands of dollars to for a new light bulb.

Besides that, things have been great. The weather is bright and sunny. The Yankees in my program (everyone but me) have had a hard time adjusting to the heat. It was 104 yesterday. I'm pretty fine with it. It's amazing how much it reminds me of home, except there is no humidity here!

I've been putting together a youtube account with the videos I have taken. So far I've tried to upload about 6 videos and only gotten two to fully upload thanks to an extra slow Internet connection. But it now is ready for debut!!! http://www.youtube.com/aksteffensen

The Numbers in Studying Abroad Vol. 1

2010-04-27T14:26:00.002+02:00

So I've decided to start a little list showing how often or rarely we encounter things, just for fun.

Number Action
4 Months since I’ve driven
12314 Amounts of dog poop avoided stepping in
1 Dog poo stepped in
1 Flights missed
3 Full plates of peas eaten courtesy of Senora Vicki
1341328 Times said “Ahh, si, si!”
13 Credits taken at the Spanish-American Institute
7 Weeks without a computer
4 Days that we have class per week
3 Trips taken with the school
4 Times Vicki has washed our sheets since January
5 Pairs of jeans packed
2 Pairs of jeans actually worn
12 Postcards sent in one day due to boredom of not having computer
3 Times I have accidentally put two contacts in one eye
7 Gelatos eaten while in Italy for a week
8 Times said “You sound like you’re from London!” while in London
29 People from around the world that make fun of my Texas accent
9 Buses taken for over 1 hour
3212588 Times I have realized I need to update my blog

LONDON CONTINUED

2010-04-24T17:21:00.005+02:00

Where: bottom bunk, Sevilla
Listening to: "Little Secrets" by Passion Pit
Phrase of the day: "Heyyyy girl"

It was really weird walking around in London since they drive on the opposite side of the road. At all the cross walks on the streets, they had painted "LOOK LEFT" or "LOOK RIGHT." Guess they get a lot of dumb tourists (us) that forget!

After the Evensong worship, we went back to the hostel to get ready for our evening. Trav showed off his catching skills. Jack left to go to Normandy for a day. Since he had left, we had a new roommate named Dan. Dan was a very interesting Chinese twentysomething who was coming to London just to get some paperwork so she could stay in England longer. She started talking. And would not stop. She showed us these high-waisted pants she had bought at H&M and asked us what we thought. Apparently her friends thought they made her look "fatty," among other things. You definitely meet some characters while staying in a hostel.

We met up with the other Mizzou girls that were visiting and went to dinner. Sarah has been studying in France for the entire year and actually studied abroad with one of my friends from high school! The more I study abroad and travel, the more I feel like the world is a tiny place. We went to Devonshire Arms, a cute boutique restaurant in Kensington. It was actually kind of evil vintage princess themed! By that I mean dark wood embellishments and gold accents instead of the white and silver that I have in my room. So naturally I loved this place. I got wasabi crab cakes to eat and they were AMAZING. I literally could have eaten them forever. They came with this little mango jelly. Absolute delicious.

THe other Mizzou girls went home because they had to leave really early the next morning. At that point, we met up with Lindsey Wolf and Elizabeth Strickert, our Chi Omega sisters at Mizzou. We took the tube (aka the Metro) with Lindsey and Elizabeth to a bar called O'Neill's who has a band that plays. They said it was a good one filled with lots of college-age students studying abroad--and they turned out to be right! Directly after we walked in, I ran into my friend Elisabeth N. who went to Duchesne, the other all girl's high school in Houston. HOW WEIRD. That's the second time I have accidentally run into Elisabeth! Further proof of a small world.

After hanging out at O'Neill's for a while, we threw in the towel and headed back to our hostel by taking the night bus. The night bus was not easy for us to figure out. I liked it though, because it is referenced in Harry Potter. Trav came home really late because he went to the casino afterwards and won 50 pounds.

On Friday, April 9th, we went to get lunch at Harrod's. Harrod's is a famous department store that is unlike anything we had ever seen. We went to a couple of the restaurants and looked at the prices, but they were a little expensive. We went to the take away food area and got a variety of things. Trav got some sushi, Haley got some interesting food, Tricia and I got a chicken, avacado, and mango salad. It was so delicious. We couldn't eat it inside so we went and ate it on a street corner overlooking a park, like the true hobos we are. There are dozens of sections and restaurants. Everything has a theme and ornate decorations. I loved the store window displays. Most were Alice and Wonderland themed so they had over-the-top decorations with bright, vibrant colors. We walked around for a bit, just soaking in all extravagance. Tricia bought perfume and a dress. I bought a French Connection black and gold heart necklace. I wanted a gold necklace that I could wear with my Danish Georg Jensen daisy jewelry, so this was perfect!

We finally left Harrod's after a long day of wishing we were millionaires. We had all bought cupcakes and Tricia and I ate some of ours while we were walking home. Once again, amazing.

We made a quick stop at the Victoria and Albert Museum which was down the street from our hostel. A lot of the museums in London have free entrance so we were lucky enough to save a bunch of money and go back to the museums repeatedly. This museum had everything! Lots of artifacts from all over the world, ironworks, sculptures, anything you could think of. We walked through their exhibit on clothes, which oddly enough had a Juicy Couture velour track suit in it! It's weird to think that our clothes might one day be in a museum.

We came back to the hostel and we made dinner! We went to the store and got some pasta and salad. We made so much that we had enough extras to feed pretty much the whole hostel. It was really good though. The Astor Kensington hostel was nice enough too that it had a fully functional kitchen that we were able to take advantage of. Anything to save money!

Welcome Home to Vicki´s and America´s Motherland

2010-04-13T13:43:00.009+02:00

Where: SAI
Listening to: "Can´t take my eyes off of you" by Lady Antebellum
Phrase of the day: "Dear John"

We had a fabulous dinner our first night back in Sevilla. It was huge! Could Vicki be turning around? Last night for dinner we had a plate full of noodles with nothing on them (she had ketchup on the table for us to put on it) and a sandwich of white bread with one slice of cheese and a single slice of ham that was so thin I could see Laura´s astonished face on the other side of it when I held it up. Meal valued at .56 American cents.

Welcome back to Casa de Vicki!!

Lack of nutrients aside, our most recent trip to London was a resounding success. We left Sevilla April 7th and flew to London Stansted via RyanAir. RyanAir is unlike any other flight I have been on. The flight attendents sell things up and down the aisles, particularly lotto cards. We also crashed into the ground upon our landing. However, it´s cheap so I guess you get what you pay for. It took us a while to get to our hostel...and by a while I mean arriving at 3 a.m., about 4 hours after we had landed. The tube was closed so we had to find our way in the dark night through the bus system which wasn´t easy for our sleep deprived minds.
We stayed at Astor Kensington, which is my favorite hostel by far. I loved it. We met so many friendly and crazy people that were all just doing the same thing as us. I liked that the environment was so open and welcoming. People were inviting us out, talking, just acting like we had been friends for years. I was sad to leave it come Sunday.

Thursday morning, April 8, we woke up and hit the town. Coincidentally enough, some of our friends from Mizzou were staying at our same hostel!! We knew they were going to be in London, just not so close! We went down for the free breakfast and ran into them! Unfortunately our friend Mark booked his hostel too late so he had to stay at a different one than us. Add in our lack of being able to communicate in foreign countries--our phones ran out of minutes, he couldn´t access the Internet--and as you can guess, we didn´t see much of Mark. We waited for him and messaged him on Facebook, but it was to no avail. So we headed on our merry British way and took the free tour of London sponsored by New Europe. We were able to see the whole city--Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. James, a few parks, gentlemen's clubs, Parliament and Wellington Arcade.

After the tour, we got fish and chips and ate at a park in front of Westminister Abbey. To go inside of Westminister Abbey, you have to pay like 15 pounds which is equivalent to a semester of the price of the food Vicki serves us. So like $27. We went inside for free by attending the 5 p.m. Evensong, a short worship session with Bible readings, prayers, and best of all, music, put on by the Abbey every day. I was a little disappointed that we wouldn´t be able to hear the renowned Abbey Choir, but the visiting choir was the ST. CECILIA SINGERS!!!! That is the exact name of my grade school choir! Very ironic. The service itself was beautiful. I loved hearing the music, some of which I have sung myself like The Magnificat, performed in such a legendary place. The fabulous acoustics reminded me of my choir directors flourishing and brandishing their arms higher into the air like whisps of smoke, rising and falling with each intake of hurried breath. I felt like I was performing there.

Just touched down in London town...

2010-04-08T19:48:00.002+02:00

Where: Astor Kensington, London, U.K.
Listening to: some English car racing TV channel...who knew they were into that...
Phrase of the day: "OH NO!!! MY LIP GLOSS!!!!" "SPLAT" "Are you guys pumped for LONDON"

Well, we've made it to our mother country safely, but not without the persistent lack of sleep, money, and food. However, we've still been able to make the most of the day!

We went on the New Europe free tour of London today. It's a 2.5 hour walking tour of the city. Wearing heeled boots was not the best idea.

Afterwards we grabbed lunch (fish and chips!) and went to Evensong, the evening worship at Westminister Abbey. I LOVED the Abbey. It reminds me of my room--big with good music and lots of random things in it.

Just wanted to give a quick update. I've been really bad lately, but hopefully my laptop will be back once I get back to Spain. Then I'll be able to catch up!

Tonight we're off to play with our Chi Omega sisters, Elizabeth and Lindsey. Can't wait to see the town with the locals!!

Cheerio mates.

Feels like Home

2010-03-23T14:05:00.011+01:00

Where: using the PC-laden computer lab at school (shudder)
Listening to: the CHIO OR DIEO playlist on fratmusic.com
Word of the day: "giri"

My family came and visited me this past week!! Unfortunately, traveling for them was more work than play--their flight was late and British Airways managed to lose two of their bags (are you sure it was just the cabin crew on strike...) so they stayed Friday night in Madrid. I had two very lonely hotel rooms to myself in the center of town...so Haley, Tricia, and Laura got to have a little vacation from Señora Vicki´s!! ¡Fiesta! But really though, it was an early night at Plaza Alfalfa.

My family arrived the next morning. We had breakfast together and then took on the town. I brought them to the Cathedral and Real Alcanzar, two of Sevilla´s most popular tourist attractions. We climbed the 33-level tower, the Giralda (left). Don´t worry, no one´s knees managed to give out. However, who knows what kind of super camping knee gear my dad might have had helping him on the journey that was hidden under those transforming shorts-to-pants he had on.

We had a snack at a restaurant right next to the Cathedral, then went back to the hotel to recover for a little and check for Karen´s luggage.

Unfortunately it still had not arrived, but British Airways offered to pay for whatever clothes she needed. I took Mom and Karen shopping and they found some really cute stuff that Karen got to sport for the rest of the trip, as well as for a few new profile pictures (right).

The Slovenian Golf Team really liked the clothes too.

That night we went to a fabulous flamenco show at Palacio Andaluz. They stayed for another day in Sevilla. My parents went on a walking tour of the city while Karen and I went to the river to lay out and study.

The Steffensen family sans oldest daughter traveled around the globe. They went to Morocco where Mom bought a rug that she immediately had buyer´s remorse for, but is really pretty. Karen complained, took profile pictures at Granada, and made eye contact with a Slovenian hottie.

Dad collected rocks (surprise!) at the Rock of Gibraltar. He was very angry with the British Airways strike because it prevented him from looking at some Paleolithic cave drawings or something geologic.

They also went to Ronda.

Dad also held hands with monkeys (watch out Mom, he´s getting awfully close to another woman) and documented a suicidal monkey.

They came back to Sevilla on Thursday. However, British Airways managed to ruin the day once again and stress everyone out. Make sure to fly them!!! NOT! Worst customer service ever, thank you Natalie in Brisbane.

Karen and I did manage to gather enough spirit to head out to everyone´s favorite discotec, Buddha, that night. We had a blast!! I can´t wait until we can go out together at home. Which will have to be in a few years because now I´m too old to go to Teen Night. Darn.

Boooooo

2010-03-22T22:37:00.002+01:00

Where: Tricia's bed
Listening to: things to do in Sevilla by a former Chi O being read by Haley

Well, I broke my computer screen, so unfortunately my updates will be a little more rare (because I have been doing it sooooo much lately...). I am a terrible blogger (not as bad as Tricia though).

Today's big news: we have to give presentations about a country in the EU in my Business and Commerce class. Today Haley gave her presentations, or tried to at least. It "didn't save" so she was a little nervous about it. She couldn't start it, then it started messing up, so as a joke we started booing her. Then our teacher Carlos joined in. Haley got booed off the classroom stage by the whole class and the teacher.

Only in Spain.

"Now that's a situation"

2010-03-11T22:32:00.004+01:00

Houston, we have a problem: freshly ripped tights before a night out on the town.

What is a poor student to do?

Time to use that knowledge that's costing my parents $20,000 a year.

Luckily, I have my school supplies. A good student is always prepared.

Coloring time class!

Hole? What hole?

Crisis averted. Just as long as you don't have to wear shorts the next day...

Hurricane Hits Africa

2010-03-11T00:02:00.003+01:00

Where: Bus from Madrid to Sevilla

Listening to: “Gypsy”

Word of the day: “waa-haa” (It makes “okay” in Arabic.)

At the end of February, we went to Morocco with Discover Sevilla. We left on Friday, February 26^th, at 5 p.m. We took private buses from Sevilla to Tarifa, Spain, to get to the ferry, which would then take us across the ocean to Morocco. Tricia, Savio, Laura, Haley, and I all went together, along with 100 other people. We decided to do it on our own, separate from the school and what everyone else in our program was doing, though we did have some of our classmates on our trip. Some of the other people had flown in from Rome, England, or Barcelona. We were lucky we didn’t have to do that!

The bus ride wasn’t too bad. The guides with Discover Sevilla always have a great collection of DVD’s to watch, including The Office, so time flies. Then we got to Tarifa and were ready to board the ferry, but we had to wait for ours, setting us further back in our schedule. We finally boarded the newly built ferry and found a set of seats. We played cards and I read for the hour or so ride. Once we arrived in Tangers, the night was covered in a hazy fog. It was pretty creepy. We had to walk off the ferry onto just a big, open port to wait for them to check our passports and board the bus. The ocean was to our left and to our right was a tall, thick wall about 10 meters up with guards stationed on it every 300 feet. We were definitely not in America anymore.

We had to wait for them to search the bus then we drove to M’diq (Mdeek) where we stayed at Hotel Kabila. We arrived very late, around 2 a.m., then we went to eat dinner. All of our meals were included on the trip. However, we had to buy our drinks, so naturally our water bottles became our best friends. Haley and I went back to our room and went to bed to gear up for the next day.

Posting at a Bus Stop

2010-03-04T19:10:00.002+01:00

Where: Bus from Sevilla to Madrid

Listening to: “Gypsy” by Shakira, my new favorite song

Phrase of the day: “Walking gets too boring/When you learn how to fly”

Ladies and gentlemen, you are reading the words from the happiest barely 21-year-old ever. This week we celebrated my last positive monumental birthday! It’s all down hill from here. Currently I’m traveling to Madrid for the night then Amsterdam in the morning for the grand finale of my birthday extravaganza.

We started off the week on Monday, March 1, at Phoenix, which has karaoke on Mondays! However, it did not have it this Monday sadly due to Monday being a holiday, “La Dia de Andalucia” (Andalucia is the region that Sevilla is in). Just my luck. I had actually warmed up in the shower and perused through my “Songs to Sing” playlist. Typical. The representatives of the Mizzou Crew (Haley, Tricia, Savio, and the Trav) were all there to ring in my day of birth in true Midwestern style. We played a few games of cards and “Never have I ever.” It was a pretty relaxed night with a few tequila and honey rum shots thrown in. It was exactly what I wanted, nothing too extreme or crazy. I was just really happy that my friends were willing to make my birthday special for me. It’s never easy to have a special day away from your family. I’ve gotten used to being alone at Mizzou—freshman year I opened my presents alone in my room which a forlorn “Happy birthday to me”—but it’s a little more complicated when you are on a different continent.

On Tuesday I woke up and went to school wearing lovely plastic jewelry brought for me by my roommates. Nothing says sisterhood and birthday like a small silver scepter and translucent beaded bracelets. School was normal, just with more people wishing me a happy birthday in the halls. I was still tired from the night before and the weekend, so afterwards I came home, took a siesta (nap), and talked to my mom on Skype.

That night after a hearty dinner of French fries, a strange meat that could have been liver, and bread (Jealous?), my beautiful roommates brought out a cake that they had bought and gifts! The desserts were four little round chocolate cake-like things that were surrounded in chocolate, a bigger version with crème on it, and a Spanish raspberry cheesecake! They were so delicious. Tricia had gone after school to try to find this bakery called La Campana. I had read about this in my Sevilla guidebook and passed it on multiple occasions. It was founded in 1885 and is Sevilla’s oldest bakery. Just looking into the windows is an experience in itself. It’s filled with all sorts of treats in every single window facing the street. It even has a nice little patio in front that people always sit in when the weather is nice.

Speaking of nice weather, everyone in Sevilla is really annoyed because recently Sevilla has been a little more like Seattle than a Mediterranean palm tree paradise. There has been a lot of flooding problems in the small towns surrounding Sevilla. I’m actually surprised Sevilla hasn’t had any issues because the streets were obviously not designed with drainage systems planned. The cobblestone streets are so small. Sometimes there’s not even enough room for a person to stand next to a car, much less have any sewage planned like they do in the States. On the days when it has been nice, we book it to the river and sit out on the blanket I bought and play Farkel or cards. It’s definitely one of our favorite things to do. We plan on renting a paddleboat soon too.

Anyways, after we sang happy birthday, they gave me a lovely Hannah Montana bag with some Red Bull (they know me so well), wine juice boxes, and sangria. Happy 21^st!! It’s probably a lot more fun to turn 21 in the US. Oh well!

We got ready and I wore my special blue birthday dress that I bought specifically for the event. We went to Fundicion where on Tuesdays they play beer pong, the great American past time. Everyone came and joined us, even the Spanish boys! I was really happy that they came. They definitely felt out of place though in an American bar.

At Mizzou, for everyone’s 21^st birthday we make them shotbooks which are scrapbooks in which twenty one people make a page for whoever’s birthday it is. Since I can’t have a shotbook in Spain (that would be a very expensive book), Haley made a makeshift one. They bought a spiral and markers from Corazon, the Chinese market, so that each person would decorate a page throughout the night. It ended up being a really fun idea. I actually think this should become a trend! Toba, Benni (two guys who work for Discover Sevilla travel company), Bart, Savio, Trav, Lauren, Hannah, Melanie, Mindy, Tricia, Laura, and the Spanish boys all made me pages. As fun as it was during the night, it was even more fun the next morning.

Overall I had a great birthday. Much better than my one freshman year that I spent in the hospital for having chest pains. Looking back now, that was not a fun birthday. Surprisingly I didn’t notice at the time. I’m so thankful that my friends made it special for me and for the money my parents gave me. Thank you again guys!!

Un Ensayo de los Jovenes

2010-03-04T11:43:00.001+01:00

Los jóvenes de España tienen interés en muchas áreas de la vida—algunos igual que los americanos. La tecnología es importante. Muchos de los jóvenes tienen un teléfono celular, un móvil. Hay muchas compañías con los planes economicos para la juventud—Vodafone, Movistar, o Orange. Ellos llaman a sus amigos o envían mesajes de textos. El teléfono con Internet es popular, pero no tanto como en los EE UU. Facebook es popular, mas o menos. Usan la red mundial y el correo electrónico también.

La juventud está enamorada del amor. Los novios son muy populares. La juventud no tiene miedo a mostrar su amor en publico—cerca del rio, en las calles, o en los coches. Ellos besan a menudo y por todas partes. Sin embargo, ellos no se casan hasta más tarde (30 años). Pero a veces la juventud tiene hijos. La juventud vive en la casa de sus padres. No tiene un apartamento o casa individual. Es muy caro.

El fútbol es el otro amor de la juventud. Sevilla es el equipo mas popular. Real Madrid y Cristiano Ronaldo son populares también. Juegan en las calles o los parques con sus amigos. Asisten las juegues de fútbol y llevan los colores de su equipo favorito. Es lo mismo que el fútbol americano en este punto. Les gusta bailar, beber, y “rollerblades.” Caminan mucho. Assisten los discos durante el fin de semana.

La ropa de la juventud es muy diferente. Todos llevan los vaqueros, como el resto del mundo. Los morenos son mas común. Los chicos llevan bufandas y chaquetas de piel. Llevan collares y pulseras, como las chicas. Ellos utilizan “gel” en el pelo y les gusta el “fauxhawk” o la cresta. Las chicas llevan pantalones y playeras. Quieren llevar pantis de colores con los pantalones cortos o las faldas.

La educación es importante, pero no es su razon para vivir. La juventud asiste colegio y a veces a la universidad. Por ejemplo, mi hermana Vicki no asistió escuela ayer porque su madre fue enferma. Hoy Vicki va a Madrid y va a ver Sevilla F.C. con su hermano Alfonso. Es muy diferente de los EE UU. El trabajo es al mismo—trabajar para vivir y no vivir para trabajar.

Pijo Pizza

2010-03-03T18:01:00.005+01:00

Where: bottom bunk

Listening to: "Gypsy" by Shakira

Word of the day: "ligue"

Last Tuesday we were invited over to the Spanish boys' house for dinner! It was the same group of boys that we met in Plaza del Salvador. Kelly had one of their phone numbers and they wanted to have us over to their apartment and make us dinner. Very exciting, minus the whole possible set up for the movie Taken.

Anyways, we clearly are alive and well still. We went to their apartment in Triana, which reminded me exactly of a frat house. I felt so at home! It's sad how much I enjoyed just being in an apartment with an array of electronics, empty bottles used as decoration, and things that didn't really match or flow together. We went out on to their balcony and played cards for a bit until it was deemed time for dinner.

The boys had made some chicken for us beforehand. It was DELICIOUS. After our fabulous first course, the boys brought out materials to make pizza! Apparently people in Spain enjoy tuna on their pizza. They also brought out "sausage" which we kept trying to tell them that it was really hot dogs. Spaniards really love hot dogs and feel it is an appropriate meat for any dish. For example, Vicki put hot dogs on our pasta the other night.

They also didn't have anything to cut the pizza with, so in typical boy fashion we used scissors.

After dinner and a quick session of screaming song lyrics and dancing, we went out on Calle Betis to some of the bars there. All in all, it ended up being a really fun and casual night. This is what it should be about. It felt like we were back at Mizzou, just hanging out with our friends who happen to speak Spanish.

This is Enrique. He likes to say to me "Katrina de Triana! Ole!!" I have no clue why. He explained it to me, but I didn't understand.

Kelly got to ride on Miguel's Vespa!! So jealous.

It's very Passport to Paris of her.