Zaragoza

This is probably the realest that I will be with any of you guys. I don't have classes Friday which is super nice if you want to go and visit another country for a 3 day weekend. Well this was not one of those weekends. We had a mandatory 2 day weekend trip to Zaragoza. Those things are nice because it take people such as my self to places where maybe I would not go to visit. Well Zaragoza is a city in Spain and thats about it. No just kidding.
     On Friday my group meet at the school at 8:30am to embark on a 4 hour ride to Zaragoza. We did not end up leaving until 15 minutes after 9 because people in the other group was going were not answering their phone because they were sleeping because they had spent the night partying. Well they never showed and we left, annoying I think so.  I did not sleep the countryside was too pretty. I live in Round Lake, Illinois and its a 4 hour drive to Springfield, Illinois and all you see is cornfields. This drive there were mountains, terrains of plants that looked funny, and random farms much better than cornfields. We arrive to Zaragoza and it is alot colder than Barcelona and it was rainy.
   We walked to our hotel, Paris Hotel how fancy, just kidding no but really it was really nice and the workers were super nice. We check in and we had 10 minutes before we had to check in and me and my roommate had to go to the bathroom so bad. But the lights in the room were not working so we went to the bathroom anyway and we had to ask our next door neighbors how to work the lights and you had to push in the card on the wall, very eco-friendly. We had lunch then got a walking tour of Zaragoza and the take us to see the Roman Ruins, the Cathedral, and another Cathedral, Pillat that was hit in the Civil War of Spain and there are still the bomb holes(they are covered from the roof but you can still see the hole from the inside, then the Arabic Ruins. We had the rest of the evening to our self. So what else did we do, shop. We looked around at shops on the Rambla which is like the main road geared towards tourists. There was a Disney store, and a bunch of little shops.My little sister wants me to buy her boots from Spain for a present and she gave me specific kind but still not specific. So I was walking and found a shoe store that was having a big sale and decided to go in. I found a pair for 22 euros which I thought was pretty good deal since most are like 40 euros. So I bought them.
   Now here is the for real part. So there was talk about going out for the night to a bar. To get into most places in the night life you have to dress the part. Usually for the bar it can be jeans, a nice top, and boots or heals. A discoteca its a dress and heals. and whatever you do you cant wear tennis shoes. I did packed to just go to a bar but I didn't pack nice shoes! I could kinda wear the boots I wore for my sister and she would have never known if  I had worn them. We got ready to go out and get dinner and we were going to go find a bar for the group. We went to a fast food restaurant, not like a McDonalds or Burger King, they sold bocadillos and stuff for 1 euro. Me and 4 other girls went to go look for a bar for the night and we were walking, walking, and walking, and we did not see one we liked. We finally came across one that we liked but we had no idea where we were and didnt think we were going to be able to tell the rest of the group where we were. We told the group where we were and they said they were going to try to find it. We had a good time I only drank coke and the bar tender laughed at me for ordering a coke, but hey I dont drink. So we were chilling and the bar closed at midnight so we decided we better go and find the rest of the group because they ended up just stopping at another bar. This bar was super crowded and the rest of the group already had too much to drink and it was like 1am amd I was ready to go back and it was getting to crazy that some of the more aware people were like yeah we better get back to the hotel. Well that was probably the worst experience of my life, we had to corral the people back to the hotel and it didnt really work and you had to like lie to get the people back to the hotel. It was difficult and it was cold and I was tired. We split into groups because the really messed up people were like oh no we are not done yet, its too early so my roommate stayed with them to get the group back and she gave me the room key and I had to stay up and let her in, it was only like 20 minutes later but 20 minutes of me freaking out. Well my foot was killing me when we were walking and I was like oh I must have left a tag in the boots. Well no there was a staple in the shoe and it was under the sole and it kept sticking me and I had cut up my foot some( I ended up taking the boots back in the afternoon the next day and getting my money back, im still looking lil sis! The people looked at me funny when I returned them but they did give me back the money. )Well me and my roommate stayed up talking then watched some tv and my roommate wanted to go to bed and we didnt know how to turn off the lights so we just pulled out the card. I had to cokes and I was so caffeinated and I could sleep and then my neighbors came in and they were super loud. Then there was a knock at the door and I had a little freak out like who in the world could it be. So I answer it and it was one of the girls who was in my group but not from IWU and she was drunk and didnt know where her room was so I had to direct her to her door(she didn't say anything in the morning and nor did I), then the people next door came in and were super loud. I finally feel asleep at 330.
     I woke up at 730 am freezing! Since we had pulled the card out and turned off the heat and we felt like geniuses. We got a complementary breakfast I had frosted flakes and it was so good, I'm kinda sick of corn flakes. We first had a tour of Aljaferia and it was the winter castle of Ferdinand and Isabel. Now it is the place of Aragons Parliament. It was super cool! There is still some of the original flooring, of Ferdinand and Isabel. Then we had a tour of the Roman Ruins, we saw the amphitheater, the museum, and the baths. Then we got a tapa(one tapa and we were all hungry). We we had more free time for 2 hours were we mostly got lunch it takes that long to find a place then sit down and get the food. Then we chocolate con churros with the whole group and the hot chocolate was like pudding and the churros had no sugar on it. But if you dipped the churro had chocolate on it, it was yummy. Then it was a four hour drive back. Then I got food poisoning I am pretty sure it was from the lunch and yeah that was not very fun. So I ended up not going to church since I stayed up late last night in the bathroom and I still have a sick feeling in my stomach. Oh well keeping hydrated like a nursing major =) Salsa dancing Tuesday!

Chocolate Croissants

Wow so it has been a little over a  week since I updated this last. I'm sorry.  So much has happened in the past week but nothing to eventful. It has mostly been filled with studying, eating, and sleeping but I promised weekly so you will get weekly unless something really cool happens that I just have to blog about.
       So I want to talk about chocolate croissants. Well they just so happen to be the best things in the world. I was told by other students who went last year that I had to try it. Well my first few days here I had one and it was pretty good. Well learning new places and new restaurants they tend to keep the pastrys in the front and they just look so good so you have to try it and compare them to other places. Me and my roommate went to this place and  the chocolate croissants were so good. The chocolate was dribbling out everywhere and we were covered in chocolate and it was just the best thing in the world. On Saturday I decided to get lost, okay so I kinda knew where I was but I didnt. Well I found a shop and I was hungry and I got a sandwich and their chocolate croissants looked so good that I got one. That was probably the best decision in the world, next deciding to come to Espana. It has been a really bad idea but a good one to go and try other places chocolate croissant but I think I am addicted!
     So Sunday I went to church. Just putting it out there I am LDS(Latter Day Saint). Saturday I was looking for the church and was wandering around the neighborhood. It was funny okay probably only to me but hey it was fun. Saturday I was looking for the church and I had googled the address and kinda knew where I was going. So I get off at the metro(train) and I start walking, positive that I am going in the right direction and I end up at Fort Nou, it is where FC Barcelona plays its game. I had read enough of the map to know that I went in the wrong direction. I check my map and orient myself and that is were I walked past and saw the pastry shop. I found the church and I really was not sure if it was. Usually the church is pretty obvious and it was in like an office building. I go in and the doors were open and I could just walk in, usually you are not able to do that, I was so confused.But then there was 4 Missionaries and they said "hola" and just keep walking and I was super confused but I kept walking. I go in further and they all came back and were like "que estas buscando". I tell them that I speak English because i feel explaining would have been better in English. I was talking to them for a few minutes and they were like, "Oh we will see you tomorrow" I was like what did I just get myself into! So I did get up for church on Sunday and I did go and it was really interesting. Everyone was super nice and I really did not have a hard time understanding the lessons. I feel it is a good way to get to know other people out of the people from my school and learn more Spanish! I am super excited I am also hoping to see if I can get an inter-language buddy from the church to learn even more Spanish.
   Today some of the girls had clinicals today. Clinicals is a fancy term where nursing students go to the hospitals, clinics to gain and practice stuff we are learning. In Barcelona the five nursing students with me will be completing 40 hours of observed clinical which means we will only be watching since we are doing lab work. I am really excited to get into the hospitals hopefully I get to start next week. Being here I have been observing the people. Maybe because I have been sheltered be living in the suburbs but I have never seen so many people who use supportive crutches(the type that you have on your arms, I am really not sure if I am explaining that right but lets just say I have seen alot of people with them.) I wanna know why! and I am too afraid to ask, usually from observing it looks like they have a bum leg but some I really cannot be too sure. today on the metro I saw a man who was using these and one of his legs was twisted in and he looked like his head was to heavy to hold up(for a lack of a better term.) For a country who has free health care I wonder to myself how come he was not helped when he was younger. Also there is a lack of opportunities for the blind people here. There is no braille anywhere. I see people on the Metro and I wonder how in the world to they know which way to go. I have seen them cross the street, I know hearing would be good to know when to cross the street but it is crazy. Also Barcelona is a city too, there are homeless people, I wonder if there are shelters that help people who are homeless here.

    Today we had a get to know Barcelona and we went to the Barrio Born. This is the second one we have had and they are really nice but they are at night so it is kinda hard to see things but I have time to go back in the future. We went to Parc Ciutadella, well is is a really big park and the huge fountain that was designed by Gaudi. Gaudi is everywhere in Barcelona and I want to have a Saturday where I just go see all of his works that I can find! one weekend!

    The dogs here are super cute and so well behaved. They are usually off the leash but they stay near their owners and hardly ever bark. So on my way to get lunch there was a lady walking her two dogs and she wasnt paying attention so I started petting one of them because it have the cutest puppy dog eyes I just had to. I gave it a few pats but stopped because I didnt want to seem like a creeper. But then the dog started to bark! I was like oh no. Then the other dog jumped on me because he wanted to be petted so I probably creeped out the lady. Note to self learn how to say to pet in Spanish.
    Homesickness has been under control. My computer has been working better so that I have been able to send emails back and forth with my family. Also I feel comfortable that I know where I am going and if I dont I feel thats it is okay because then I will find something new! I am going to Zarragosa this weekend, I am not sure what is there but I am going to find out.

School and Soccer

I was going to write this blog at the end of today after my first week of classes but I got my computer working and who knows if it will be this good later. So school has been really stressful. Its only week 2 and I am about ready to quit this thing, but I know I cant because I would lose my scholarship which is from Benjamin A. Gilman. I had to get some last minute things in for it so I am putting a plug in. =)
   So school, yeah, I have my two nursing classes which is what I expected to be, a lot of work, but it is really interesting. It is the first time they have tried poly-com so there are still the bugs to work out. First test Monday in pathophysiology/pharmacology eek!. My literature class I think will be really good. We are reading 3 novels that are based on Barcelona about its history and locations, The Time of the Doves, The Shadow of the Wind, and Southern Seas. I also have a surrealism/art class, I don't think there is any place better to study Picasso, Dali, and Miro other than in Barcelona. That class I think will be a challenging class for me because I like art but I really don't like to try to understand it.
      There was a Barcelona and Real Madrid Soccer game on Wednesday night and even though there was a pile of homework waiting for me it was something I had to watch! So some of the girls in my group from school we had dinner and then we went to a bar to watch the game. It was interesting but really fun to be with the crowd cheering for Barcelona. It was crazy though there were people trying to watch through bars windows to watch the game. The game of course was on paper-view so you had to pay to watch it at home or buy a drink at the bar to watch it there. I stayed until half time because the metro stops running at 12 and me and my roommate did not want to get stuck walking home. I won't say who won but Barcelona will be crazy because in a few weeks they are going to replay each other.

Boots, Scarfs, Paella

    It is my first weekend in Spain! We had a free day today and tomorrow before classes start Monday. Today me and my roommate being girls we went shoping! In January through February Spain is in total sales mode, things are 20-70% off a good relief to the broke college student on a budget for the next four months. Even though I had been looking in the stores throughout the week and also at people walking, I know kinda creepy but how am I supposed to know what is the style of Barcelona. I was still not sure what to buy also if any of it would fit,  Europe must be on a standard size because everything ranges from a extra-small to and extra large and they are still really tiny at extra large. Well we went to Plaza Cataluna which is also called Las Ramblas it is kinda a tourist trap since it has alot of stores but they are really expensive. We went to this huge building and it like one huge department store but each floor is dedicated to something. For an example the second floor was all womens, and there were a bunch of stores on that floor that sell womens clothes but there is no organization to it and it was major chaos. Me and my roommate decided not to go back. We then went to Plaza Espanola. It was the Bullfighting Ring before Barcelona decided to stop bullfighting and is now a big huge mall it had the same stores as Las Ramblas so we didn't get anything. We then we went walking and we found this shop that had stuff really cool stuff for super cheap! So I got 2 scarfs which is a nessessity in Barcelona Fashion. We ran into a couple of other girls in our group and they directed us into a store that had really good deals and I bought a pair of boots for 10 euros which is like a steal when most boots cost around 50-100 euros! But they like scarfs are very important.We went back to our apartment and the senora was cooking some food and it smelled so good I was like this is going to be good! Oh and it was it was chicken paella, it was hot and it was good.
    So my sister has asked me: Do you feel like you are across the world? Well before today I would have said no, because this all has felt like a really awesome dream. Well lets just say I was sadly awaken. I skyped with my mom and it all kind of hit me and lets just say I  quickly logged off before the tears started to overflow. It now feels like yes I am around the world and that comfort of family and if something were to happen mom cant come running/driving to come and help me, or that my sisters are not at least an hour or two hours away from me. But I know that I have been told a million of times of how to be careful in Spain and that there is my senora and the 6 other people that I am living with and the 17 other Illinois Wesleyan Students, and our Professor our here with me and is my family for the next 4 months. Tommorrow is a new adventure until next time.

The Biggest Loser

   So the explination of the title is interesting. So I think I have figured out the trick to the Europeans success to being thin! Hills... They are everywhere! My group and I on our orientation for Wednesday was to walk up the Collserola Mountains. It was about a 3 hour hike up mountains, scary stairs, but the most beautiful views ever possible of Barcelona! Well at one of our last stops for pictures up the mountain, Rich, the man who has basically planned our whole orientation was like oh its another 45 minutes until our next stop.Well it was the steepest hills ever possible and at the end I reminded myself of the people on the biggest loser and they are walking up a crazy hill. But unlike the Biggest loser there was a huge meal waiting for us! First we had calcotada which is just simply grilled green onions but you have to eat them a certain way. You have to peel the burnt outer layer of the onions then dip them in a bowl of olive oil, tomatoes, and garlic and eat it. Well like a dork I thought you could eat all of it so I did but you are only supposed to eat the white part and not the greens. The picture is the aftermath. They were tasty especially the sauce and they are also messy! There was a salad, bread with tomato and garlic, tortilla espanola which is eggs and potatoes, There was meat, lamb taste and looks like pork, also sausage, and potatoes. To finish all off there was a sharing of a communal non-alcholic beer, ice cream, and coffee.

   Walking up all those hills had  the most beautiful views of Barcelona.

    Thursday we went on a bus tour of places in Barcelona. We got to see the many works of Gaudi, and we went up the other mountain in Barcelona but luckily the bus took us up! We got off the bus and walked around the Olympic Stadium. Learning time: the 1992 Olympic games was the first Olympic Games the had unified nations and the introduction of baseball and brought alot of prosperity to Barcelona and Spain after the Civil War of Spain. After the bus tour my group was dropped off in a location and we had 2 hours to get something to eat and find our way to the Gothic Quarters. Well our leaders ended up showing us where to eat and there I tried Calamari, its a fancy way of saying octopus. It was really weird, it had a texture that was different and I had my first European Coke, Barcelona is a Coke country but I think I am still a Pepsi fan. After eating we found the Mediterranean Sea and I did not go in it was too cold but I still have 3.5 months in Spain to but my feet in.

    The Gothic Quarters are really old. They were the center of Barcelona in the B.C well I think that it is what our guide said. It is also an area where alot of ladrons(robbers) are because it is a big spot for unsuspecting tourists. The architecture is alot of neo-gothic since it was built after the Gothic time period.

   Today, Friday we went to the Dali Museum. There are 3 in total and we saw the one in Figures, Spain. I studied Dali in my spanish classes so I was prepared for some of the strangeness I was going to see but Dali is beyond weird. However there are plenty of his works that are very pleasing to the eyes and there are some that I really enjoyed but there are some that had me scratching my head. We had lunch in Girona. It was 12 euros for a 2 course meals that could each have passed for a meal in itself. It was free so it was so good. I had what is called helado chocolate del toro which is chocolate ice cream, that is served for festivals, holidays, and birthdays so good.  I was told by someone that Girona was going to be the most beautiful place that I had seen. Well it was beautiful but I haven't seen everything so I keep that slot open. It was more Gothic Quarters but it had a beautiful Cathedral which is the widest Cathedral in the world. It had a Great Wall were you could see the whole city and the mountains that was a beautiful site.

  I have a free weekend until classes start Monday. I am nervous for them to start because this trip has started to feel like a vacation more than studying abroad but when classes start is definitely when this adventure gets tricky.

La primera

Hello! And welcome to my blog. I am Amanda Magallon and I am studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain for 4 months with 18 other students from my college! I hope many of you are going to be reading all about my adventures in Barcelona. I have a few rules with this blog
1) I will not use profannity and I hope that there wont be comments with that.
2) I am going to as real as possible, there are going to be days where this is so great and there are going to be days where why am I doing this and when can I go home and is this almost done, but I am going to be as real as possible but also positive.
3) I am going to try to be grammatically correct but if a few shorthand and Spanish words get mixed in I am very sorry.
4) I will also update this every week
      I am also a nursing major and this is the first time doing this for a whole semester so me and the 4 other nursing majors with me are kinda the guinea pigs, or like people like to say "pioneers" guinea pigs none the less so that will be very interesting. Especially watching the screen from Illinois Wesleyan University(where I go to school).
   So my adventures begin and O'Hare airport in Chicago where I boarded my first plane on Lufathansa at 9:20pm CST,  take off was pretty nerve racking I am not going to lie but it honestly was not that bad and the views were awesome. It was a 7 hour flight to Munich, Germany and there was turbulence which woke me up and was pretty scary but nothing happened which was good and the landing was scarier than takeoff if I am being real. It was a 3 hour layover in Munich. Then we boarded to Barcelona. 2 hours later I was getting my luggage which was thankfully all there. Was taken to my house meet my senora and she is not only hosting me and another student from IWU but one student from Brazil, Germany, and Peoria, Ill.. She cooked dinner which was not scary! It was soup, eggs, salad and pudding. Then I unpacked and proceeded to take thee shortest and coldest shower of my life becasue I couldn't figure out the dial but it is now figured out, hot is to the left!
   My first full day in Barcelona was today! We sat in an information meeting with our study abroad director and learned things about Spain. Then IWU was released upon the city of Barcelona with a map, a camera and a scavenger hunt of places in Barcelona. We had 4 hours to do take Barcelona's public transport system to all of these locations. The group I was in did pretty well in the begining and we were so tired and hungry half way through we kinda ran around on the public transport system. I was worried that I wouldn't sleep very well tonight becasue I slept so well last night but I am so tired I am going to sleep like a baby.