::Mad-town::

Gahhh!!! Forgive me, peeps - this week past week has been such a whirlwind I have had absolutely NO time to tell you all about my FANTASTIC weekender to Madrid.  One word can sum it up: wow.  The culture/the people/the places are just incredible.
So...I'll start from the beginning:
We (8 other chicks and I) flew out on Friday night and quickly had to learn how to navigate the metro system (let us just say that good thing i was not by myself otherwise I probably would have been a) stuck at the airport or b) riding around the metro forever). Note: it is NOT fun lugging around a wheely-suitcase in a metro car that is chuck-full of people. We kind of got lost trying to find our hostel, but it was NOT our fault because the building with the street sign on it (yes, they don't have regular street signs, the names of the streets are on plaques on the side of buildings - NOT  a fun game) was under construction, so the sign was not visible.  All there was left was a piece of cardboard with the street name penciled on. Cool...NOT! But, we did find our hostel, but the guy on duty ended up walking us to the sister hostel, which was only 2 blocks away, and we got all settled.  Our room was pretty sweet, but we didn't have much time before we had to leave to go to a bar-crawl!  This bar-crawl was kind of a bust.  We really didn't know where the meeting spot was because in the directions it was super oober vague - should've been our first clue to NOT go.  When we saw this old, wanna-be cool dude, we knew that was our guy.  After giving us bracelets, we were off to the bars.  The first stop: the 3rd dimension.  This tiny bar was jam-packed with some crazy characters and played music from Shania Twain to 50's jams.  We were all VERY confused as to what the heck we got ourselves into.  Our guide disappeared for a bit and of course we were ready to leave....so we waited and attempted to make the most of it - harder than expected.  When trekked to the next bar which was DEFS more fun :)  Then, after we took our 2 free tequila shots [LALALA - parents!], we walked to another bar that was wacky crazy.  At that point, some of the girls were FEEL-IN' IT ("present" company not included), as well as our tour guide.  GREAT!  We ended up at a discoteca (bumpin' dance club) and by this time, our guide was shot - I had to stop him from walking away and somewhat scolded him for leaving us.  But, we got in without a problem and sin (without) our guide.  We were groovin' and jammin' and I was in need of a beverage, so I mosied on over to the bar and order a drink...which to my surprise was TEN EURO!!!  Good lord have mercy on my bank account.  As I'm waiting for my change, I feel a tug on my purse.  I look over and see some dude's hand in my (what was zipped) purse!!! OH HELL NAW!  So I look at him while slapping his hand and yell "NO!" in his face, and he just casually disappears.  Thank goodness I just had my lip gloss and gum in there. PHEWF.  So after that, it was just time to go.  But wait....we had NO idea where we were.  Right.  Oi vey.  So, I just followed whoever "knew" where they were going and we finally made it back to the hostel around 7am (after a bit of a cat fight....not fun at all).
Needless to say, Celina, Tessa, Aimee, Alice (my roomies) and I slept til about 3pm - it was glorious.  After getting ready and attempting to look like human beings, we set off for Gran Via - a major shopping street.  WE.FOUND.STARBUCKS.  It was like a god-send.  I had a venti Soy Chai Tea Latte and I about died.  We walked around for a while, shopped a bit, and then headed back to the hostel to get our tickets for....a REAL MADRID SOCCER GAME!!!  It was absolutely incredible.  The energy from the crowd was so crazy - we were all pretty jazzed that we were watching CRISTIANO RONALDO play soccer (**please see picture below).  Pure epic-ness.  It was truly a once in a life-time opportunity.  AND Real Madrid won 2-0 against Levante.  Boooooyah baby!
After going out to dinner and attempting to find our way back to the hostel, we all slept like babies.  On Sunday, we got going around 10 and set off to see the sights of Madrid.  We took a tour of the Palacio Real (the palace) which was INCREDIBLE!  Even though we only saw 50 out of the 2,800 rooms, I was awestruck.  As we were leaving, there is this grand marble staircase, and I, being a princess in another life, just HAD to have my shining moment - this moment was caught by Celina who asked "Liv...are you pretending you're a princess?"  GAH! She knows me too well.  We left the palace and headed towards some food - I'm not going to say where we ate because some may judge, but we got bang for our buck.  ANYWAY, we then walked to La Plaza Mayor, which had a huge horse statue and so many different kind of artists (painters, magicians, weird people, and the bubble man).  It was the perfect spot to just chill and people-watch....Spain has some winners, let me tell you. After the Plaza Mayor, we hiked over to Puerta del Sol which had some crazies...like legit crazies (**please see pictures below) but it also has the statue "Oso y el Madroño" (the bear and the "strawberry" tree), which my friend Aimee (aka Twinner, aka Kip/Kipper) was in LOVE with.  And finally, as all of our feet were ready to fall off and our bodies ready to crumble, we made it to the Prado (famous museum).  I even have a contraband picture of Adam and Eve that was being renovated! SHHHH!  Don't tell.  The Prado is truly amazing - and a bit hard to maneuver through - but, honestly, crazy cool.  I even saw an altarpiece that was done by a Fra Angelico in the 1430s - whom I wrote a fantastic religion paper on, if I do say so myself.  I would have never thought that I would have the opportunity to actually see one of his pieces, up close and personal.  I cannot tell you how wonderful it was.  But, we all had turned into slugs and were ready to peace out and hit the hay.  After going out for tapas (like appetizers), we walked back to the hostel...in the rain (I thought we could get away from rain for ONE weekend....I thought wrong!).  Again, we slept like babies and then next morning we headed to the train station to go to Toledo!  What an incredible city.  Breathtaking.  The only drawback (besides the pebble roads which did NOT like my feet) was that most of the tourist attractions were closed on Mondays!!! POO.  Aside from that, our day - which had flip-flop weather - was pretty nifty!  We saw El Greco's house (an artist, who's house was converted into a museum...that wasn't open), a fun little park where we frolicked, Alcazar (the palace...which was closed), the cathedral, and we even went to a torture exhibit (weird/strange, I know) (**please see pictures below).  We left Toledo in the nick of time (clouds were rolling in) and headed back to Madrid were we grabbed our bags, checked out of the hostel and trekked it back to the airport.  At this point, we were all exhausted and loopy - always a great look.
All in all, Madrid was absolutely amazing and if I am lucky enough to make it back here (Spain, in general), I would LOVE to go back to Madrid!  There's just too many things to see in one weekend.  


Pictures (in no particular orderrr):

The fountain in front of the Palacio Real

Me in front of my new residence (lucky #14)

The girls! (Celina, Tessa, Me, Alice, Aimee)

BOB ESPONGE y PATRICK in Puerta del Sol

Chewbacca....in Spain??

In front of "Oso y el Madroño"

-Plaza Mayor-

"Love Locks" - people write their initials on padlocks and lock them to something (in this case, on a gate encompassing a statue).  How precious!

BUBBLES!!!

El Prado (museum)

Adam & Eve

Toledo!!! How COOL!?

My knight in shining armor. 

Lovely ladies in ze park (Alice, Aimee, Me, Tessa, Celina)

The new and improved Kipper!

Alcazar (I think...)

The Cathedral - which was free for Spaniards but 8euro for anyone else...NOT cool

Torture Exhibit! We were all quite nauseous afterwards...

Leaving Toledo...

The wall of a bar - wacky banans!

A gift from God himself.

Me at the Real Madrid game!!! (Our seats were 2 rows from the back = outside space)

Cristiano Ronaldo - "OLIVIA! I LOVE YOU!"

But my loves, I must get to studying for my test tomorrow...it's not going to be pretty. Wish me luck!!!  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow - and how my new volunteering place (Os Tilos - an after school/work program for kids from babies - teens) goes.  

xox Sending my love home, over five thousand miles! xox

PS - got a package from Adi and Derrick (with some things from Jimmy Jambo and Aunt Kim) today :) VERY HAPPY! Now, just waiting on my mommy's package to get here!!!!

I'm still here!

I know it's been a while - not too much has gone on with me lately. But here's the low-down that has "accumulated" over these past couple of weeks:

A) my "gay-dar" has literally chucked a spazz.  Men dress so nicely here I'm totally thrown off...and they (for the most part) are all so pretty.  In the US, a girl is lucky to see a guy in jeans and a nice shirt, but in Europe - jeans, a nice shirt, a sweater, nice shoes and a sexy scarf.  Gah! I could just die.  They are all just so....CUTE!

B) as you all are aware (because of my constant complaining), we are required to do 40 hours of community service and I was signed up for "Hospilandia" - an after-school program for kids who have cancer and are in the hospital and I do believe for other students as well.  As it turns out, there are literally 20 helpers, and about 8 kids at MAXIMUM.  So, needless to say the 3 Americans were of absolutely NO help. Epic fail.  But, last week Tuesday, the mean/crotchety/rude boss asked for one of us to help a young girl, Sarah, with her English.  I volunteered and sat down next to her.  I introduced myself and you could tell we were both VERY nervous....I take that back, she was nervous and I was a nervous WRECK!  My oh my.  She didn't have her english book with her, so another girl went to get hers, but supposedly the weren't the same book - I don't know.  I was just so overwhelmed at that point.  So I asked her what she wanted to know/have clarification on and what not and she was just staring at me.  Cool.  So the boss lady was like "Why don't you teach her the verb 'to be'?"  HAHAHA! Ummm OKAY.  Let me get right on that, lady.  Now, for those of you who may not know, in spanish they have 2 verbs for the verb "to be" -- "ser" and "estar".  (**How you feel and where you are, always use the verb "estar" - I swear this is my lifeline).  So, I had to think of examples in english, write them in spanish, and then have her translate them back into english - much easier said than done, that is for sure.  I was very surprised with her vocabulary.  But, man oh  man that probably was one of the most, if not THE most difficult thing I have had to do since being in Spain.  But although I was "lucky" enough to help Sarah, Tessa and Tonya had the privilege of making soda-tab bracelets....oh joy!  When I "finished" helping Sarah (I think she had had enough of me), I went over to help with bracelets - because all of the kids have homework in Gallego, a different form of Castellano - "normal" Spain spanish (Gallego = mix between Castellano and Portuguese), and obviously we have enough trouble with spanish so we were kind of useless there.  The boss lady even said that they had too many helpers and that we should look for another place to volunteer.  GREAT.  I am just SO over the disorganization that is in my program here. Oi vey.  So, I guess we will just see what is available for me next week - wish me luck!

C) today (Wednesday the 16th) we had an "international student" outing where we learned about (and attempted to perform) a traditional Galician dance.  They instructors took us through the traditional instruments, their clothing and then, finally, song and dance!  It was so crazy - I, of course not being quick to pick up on things, was struggling with the song (which I ended up, as Celina said, sounding like a Cherokee Indian more than a Chica Espanola). and don't even get me started on the dance.  But once they demonstrated about 30 gazillion times, I think I started to get the hang of it (but there was a lot of jumping and hopping and such - NOT a good look for me!).  After practicing on our own for a bit, we got in 2 lines and were dancing with partners.  My partner was the fabulous Tonya - and we were ON POINT, if I do say so myself.  Hot damn! I ended up just letting loose and, although my dance steps weren't always 100% correct, I had a blast!  We were there with other international students - mostly from Japan - and they were....interesting/funny/I have no clue how to describe them!  But I know they definitely added funness to the atmosphere.

Here's a youtube link to see what we learned (YES, those are Galician bagpipes playing!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EaQfp8rsVA&feature=related
**Sidenote: they are professionals and we didn't look like this in the least :)

Annnnnddd I totally fell for our instructor - 91% chance he plays for the other team, but a girl can dream.  He was just so cute, he could dance and he had the sharpest RayBan "nerd" glasses everrr! Ugggghhhhhh.

D) the weather is freezing and WACKY! Today, there were at least 5 torrential downpours, interrupted by 15 minutes of sun.  My mind cannot fathom what is going on.  I need my bombie.  I need my sunglasses.  I need my bombie AND my sunglasses.  I need my winter jacket (which, of course, I was told that I didn't need - LIES!).  I don't need a jacket.  JUST PICK A TEMPERATURE AND STICK WITH IT! Gah!  My wardrobe and hair are just so confused.


So my friends, this is my life in Spain.  Nothing TOO wacky.  I'm just keepin' it real.  This weekend I'm off to Madrid with 8 other chicks, so it should be a ball - I'll be sure to take a million pictures.

Much love to all <3

OUUUUCH!!!

So, my lovies - we all know that I am VERY clumsy.  A prime example would be that I broke my ankle in gym class...because I stepped on Harrison's foot. COOL! I guess I thought that if I jumped overseas, my clumsiness would not follow me. Buuuut, I found out yesterday that was not the case.

EPIC FAIL:
Because no one wears comfies to school like I do in the US (uggs/tennies, sweats and possibly a hat if my hair is really having a good day), I actually have to dress like a human (jeans/leggings, boots, sweater, scarf, jacket, hair in a little chignon).  Ugghh it totally cuts into my sleep time, but whatevs.  Anyyyyway, I was walking to school with my friend Tessa and I was wearing, as we call them, my "cat-woman" boots - gorgeous, knee-high leather boots with a hard heel (the kind of heel that makes the really cool noise when you walk; one of my favorite sounds!). As I'm crossing the intersection, which by the way is SUPER OOBER busy (way busier than usual, probably because we were running a bit behind schedule), I totally WIPE OUT.  Literally.  I just fall to the ground.  I was in shock. I had no idea what was happening, except that I needed to get up and off the street ASAPPERS!  Of course I was laughing the whole time - I mean, imagine if you were in one of the trillion cars stopped at the intersection and you see this chick walking like her s**t don't stank and then all of the sudden she just disappears!  Wow. I'm laughing as I'm typing this because I am reliving this very traumatic experience and I cannot believe it happened.  So, yada yada walking some more and then....IT HAPPENS AGAIN!!!! I have no clue what happened but my foot slipped out from under me and WHOOOOSH!!! I slam my knee into the cobblestone and watch my apple roll down the hill. This time, I started mumble-yelling some very choice words as tears streamed down my cheeks.  This time, I was NOT laughing. Really, Olivia...? TWICE?!?  My body cannot handle this. And today I am feelin' it - OUCH-III-WAWA!  I feel as though I have a peg-leg *said in British accent* [NAME THAT MOVIE - The Great Mouse Detective]
To continue with my horrible day that probably started because Lourdes woke me up at 8:20, when I don't actually wake up until 8:43 (the kitchen clock was set WAY fast and she thought that that was the real time... Lord knows I was NOT a happy camper!), my phone fell out of my pocket and skidded across the floor.  And obviously I was unable to bend at the knee, since I swear it was broken [NOT actually broken, readers - it just felt that way].  ANNNDDD we had a test during first period.  At that point, I was ready to just bust out the doors and walk back home.  Needless to say, I was in pain, sleep deprived and just wanted to cry my eyes out and NOT be bothered. But, I persevered :) YAY ME! My knee, on the other hand, has not recovered as quickly...poo!  It doesn't help that I walk EVERYWHERE.  Just give me a patch to put over my eye and I would be the best real-life pirate with a peg-leg ever. 

Anywhoooo...my life is just kinda the same (plus some added pain and humiliation).  Today, though, I feel a bit more home sick than usual. So, I think I am going to snuggle into my bajillion blankets and have a movie marathon.  These AMERICAN movies will include: Beauty and the Beast (my all-time favorite), Love Actually, Mama Mia!, Atlantis, Fantasia, The Holiday, Chocolat, The Pink Panther (every time I see a "smart" car, I start laughing uncontrollably because I envision the parking scene!), Hercules ("Coming, your most lugubriousness!"), Titanic, The Phantom of the Opera (mmmm Gerard Butler), and last but certainly not least, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  **Thank you Mumsie for the MUCH NEEDED package :)

Sending my love home - over almost 5,000 miles <3

Just hopping the border - no big deal!

Hello all!  This past weekend, I went on a weekend adventure with Celina (aka Ma), Tessa (aka boyf), Alice (aka big sis), and Aimee (aka Kip/Kipper/twin) to Porto, Portugal. Needless to say, I had an absolute BLAST! First off, it was a great group and secondly, we went to PORTUGAL for the weekend (---SAY WHAT?!?---).

We left on Friday around 4:30pm, and arrived in Porto around 11pm their time (12am our time).  I was the one to book the hostel, so, I was the one who had the information...or was supposed to!  Naturally, the ONE thing I forgot was the address of the Oporto Skyp Hostel.  When we got off the train, we naturally looked lost, but this very sweet security guard (who spoke English - praise the Lord!) took us under his wing.  He ushered us into an office, where there was internet and then we attempted to get directions to our hostel - the one they didn't believe existed.  I was freaking out.  I felt absolutely helpless.  Man oh man, we were all a bit freaked out to say the least.  But the guy ended up finding it and we, again, followed our own personal tour guide to where we had to buy metro tickets.  I seriously could not stop thanking him, and God for that matter, for all of his help - he even showed us how to purchase metro tickets (literally put our money in for us) and told us which stop to get off at.  After a quick little ride, we came to our stop: Lapa.  It was deserted.  I was truly TWEAKING out at this point.  I thought we may have been scammed or that we were going to get sacrificed (Celina, Tessa and I frequently think we are going to get sacrificed when freaky deaky situations occur/we feel uncomfortable).  But, by God's grace we found our Hostel (thank you Aimee and Tessa).  It was a hole in the wall - in Europe, I swear they do not believe in signs that stick out...only signs ON the wall.  UUGGGHHH - very difficult when one is directionally challenged, such as yours truly.

But we got a tour of the place and it was actually really pretty.  Who would have thought that hostels are actually legit!?  After our tour, we chatted in our room for a while (it was a 6-person mixed room and there was another girl who was staying in there) and then headed off to bed.  In the middle of the night, though, Celina woke up and was freaking out - she said she thought there was a man standing at the door (this, readers, was NOT true - there was NO man at the door).  I guess it was a sort of continuation of her dream she was having.  I'm not quite sure.  All I know is that we (me and Celina) were freaking out and it was SUPERRR scary.  [Alice I think had her headphones in, Aimee was sleeping...but freaked when Mama pushed her mattress up, and Tessa thought Mama was sleep talking.]  BUT WE ALL SURVIVED :)

In the morning, we got ready to hit the town of Porto.  After a long walk, we made it to the centro and ended up taking a double-decker bus and boat tour.  It was an AMAZING time.  We, naturally sat on the top so we could be tourists and take a bazillion photos [please see below].  Although there was some fab sun, it was quite chilly!!!  The bus tour was cool because you could hop on and off whenever you liked - so after a while, we got off and headed toward the river where we went on the 6-bridge tour.  Again, the scenery was breathtaking.
After our boat tour, we were all pretty hungry so we moseyed around and found the CLASSIEST pizza hut ever.  I swear we were all in heaven.  The food was absolutely incredible - yummy in my tummy for sure!
While walking around, we happened upon a winery and ended up taking a tour/wine-tasting (all for only 3 euro).  It was an absolute riot - gotta love my girls and vino!

Our train to go back to Spain left around 8am, so we couldn't rage...bummer!  We went back to our hostel after our wild tour day and took a little siesta - and woke up to a new roommate: a little Korean dude.  (He looked like the guy in 16 candles - we were all busting up laughing...not in a mean way though!)  We decided to give him the nickname "Ninja".  I'm sure he LOVED having us all crazy loons as roomies :)
After our siesta, we went on a wild goose chase for a restaurant that one of the staff members suggested - yeah....could NOT be found anywhere.  So we ended up going to this cafe that had literal glass boxes out in front for people to sit in and eat.  ["I'm in a glass case of emotion!" -Anchorman]  IT WAS FREEZING!  But the food was good (got veggie soup, cheese omelet with french fries and a delish coca-cola) and of course the company made the cold "bearable".  The walk home was hilarious - we are not allowed to be let out, because we are just plain LOONEY!
Prime example, my twin also known as Kip/Kipper:

Her sun glasses broke on our day trip to Vigo - so she popped out the lenses and now wears them around.

We figured that she looked like Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. 

Now, we take random "Kip in [insert locale]" pictures and freak out the townies and have a grand ol' time :) 

But all in all, our little weekender was a fantastic, beautiful, HILARIOUS trip! 

Group shot in our room - Oporto Sky Hostel 

The stairs to our room, computer room and hang out room - CRAZY hard to ascend/descend. 

I felt as though I was a giant: FEE-FIII-FO-FUM!!!

The absolutely gorgeous town of Porto, Portugal. 

I loved it!!!

Wacky crazy bridge that we crossed a couple times

Getting ready for our boat tour :) 

The clouds were insane - SO very mesmerizing. 

At our wine tasting - yummm :) 

Total number of tickets to get to and from Porto, Portugal: 7

The number of times I almost peed my pants from laughing so hard: countless

The number of memories I have with an amazing group of girls: infinite 

But, it's pretty late and this whirlwind of a vacay has worn me out.  Time for beddy-bye.

Much love <3 

~Mixed Emotions~

So, right now I'm a bit peeved...my host mom is nice BUT she interrupts me CONSTANTLY. In our convo during dinner (which is actually me eating a grilled ham and cheeser and her watching me eat) she cut me off 9 times...I counted. I understand that listening to me "speak" spanish may be a bit difficult, but LET ME FINISH!!! She thinks she knows what I'm trying to say but she doesn't.  GAAAAHHHH! I'm just super frustrated right now.

Also, my internship is beyond boring. They showed me what pamphlet I will be translating - it's 70 pages long.  Over this past Thurs/Fri, I got half-way through.  I haven't even started the translation; the "half-way through" part is in regards to I am half-way through the booklet, finding words that I have NO clue what they are...I currently have 6 pages of notes.  Bring.It.On. Although I'm "getting somewhere" on the booklet, I just wish that someone would talk to me. Don't get me wrong, the people who work there are all super nice, but they are working.  So, I'm sitting in the front, nose in a dictionary when I want to be conversing and gaining a better grasp of the language. We make small talk for about a minute, then the rest of the 3 hours and 59 minutes that I am there, I am looking words/phrases up.  **I do NOT know how people did it in the past. My work computer hasn't been working the past 2 days, so I have to manually look words up instead of looking them up online - I know this sounds spoiled, but man oh man do I NEED technology. 

I just hope that things turn up - I gotta take each day at a time and appreciate the little things. 

But on a happier note :) I went with my group to Vigo yesterday for a fantastic day trip. The weather was beyond beautiful - not a cloud in the sky and we were all lovin' the sun.  We walked around, chilled at the marina for a couple hours (obviously had to soak up as much sun as possible!), and went shopping - my favorite kind of activity! Right now, in Spain, all the stores are having "Rebajas" which are kind of like after-Christmas sales in the US...such good prices on things! They end either in late February or early early March, and then, there are NO more sales - which means NO more shopping for me; so I'm taking advantage of what time I have left.  

Sitting on the dock of the marina, watching boats go on their way

                                                                        Modeling :) 

This upcoming weekend, I believe 4 girls (Tessa, Celina, Aimee, Alice) and myself will be travelling to Porto, Portugal.  We have been looking at hostels, and they seem to be really nice - much nicer than I had been imagining  -->  hostelworld.com is a really good resource.  A fellow Loras student, Kevin, who studied in Santiago 2 years ago, recommended a hostel that we should stay at - so, parents, don't worry.  The tricky thing is, we are not sure how to actually GET to Porto.  We could take a train to Vigo and then switch trains or we could take a bus.  I'd rather take a train, but that's just me --- I think prices will determine how we will get there. I'm really looking forward to my first weekend trip! I'm going with a great group of girls, so I don't think we will have any issues finding fun :)

Anyway, it IS Sunday, so that means I should go finish my homework....uugh!

Ciao-Ciao and much love <3

PS - GO PACKERS!!! You have someone in Spain who loves you///rooting for you :) 

The sun EXISTS!!!

Hello all!
So...GOOD NEWS! After about a week of overcast weather and rain, we had a SUNNY day yesterday!

[Picture: Me, ghostly pale, basking in the warm sunlight - "OH HEY SHADOW! Haven't seen you in forever!"]

And right now, after a little mist, the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds - looks creepy cool with the dark horizon - probs another storm coming in - and the bright sun.  You have no idea how happy the sun can make a person until you are thrown into another country, where you know only a bit of the language and it rains CONSTANTLY. I'm a very happy girl at this moment.  Thanks, Mr. Golden Sun!


This past weekend, a few girls in my group and myself took a day trip on Sunday to Padron - only a 20ish minute train ride.  At first, we were somewhat pissed that we brought our bombies since it was not raining, just a bit overcast (umbrella -> bumberella -> bombie  ---- pronounced bOmbee ---- yes, my imagination is a bit crazy).  But as we were walking around the mercadillo (kind of like the 7-mile fair), the skys, once again, opened up and it rained for the rest of the time we were there (so in the end, I thank God that I brought my bombie).  I swear that market had anything/everything you could imagine: fish, meat (smelled horrible!), cheese, bread, churros (SO delish), shoes, boots, scarves, jackets, socks, undies, trees, flowers, fruit trees, pig noses (absolutely DISGUSTING!), octopus and so much more.  It was also VERY fun to people watch - I love how wherever you may be in the world, there will always be some strange ones...HAHA :)

SNORT SNORT - eeewwww!

URRRRSULA - from the little mermaid.
Yep, that's what I think about when I see octopus...I'm five years old.

But, I must be going - Celina, Tessa and I are getting together a little bit later to plan out some vacations and see where our next adventure will be :)

Much love <3
Hasta luego!

Viajes Viloria

So today was my second day at my internship at "Viajes Viloria".  As of right now, I have spent 8 out of 8 hours on their website - although very cool to see what they do, it was a bit boring and my eyes were definitely a little crossed when I left!  But the boss, Manuel, said (I think) that I would be doing translation from Spanish into English for brochures and such, so I think once I acquaint myself with the website and get to know a little bit more of what exactly they do, it will be a lot better.  At first I thought I was going to be planning trips for people - excursions in the coastal area, El Camino, Exploring Santiago - which I wouldn't really be good at because a) I've only just gotten here (don't know much about the area/things to do/what to eat/yadda yadda yadda), b) my spanish is not really up to phone-talking standards, c) I can't plan a trip for myself, let alone someone else. So, in a way, I'm glad I'll be doing mostly translating :) 
*Google translator and my Spanish-English dictionary are now my BEST friends.

If you want to check out Viajes Viloria a bit more and see what the company is about, here is the main website (there are a LOT of activities). The second website is written by a guy in my office, Andres (he writes "news" articles, tells you what is fun to do, etc.):
- www.galiciaincoming.com/es
- www.berenguela.com/es

But, I'm going out on the town tonight (with a bunch of people from my school) so I best be getting ready :)
Buenas noches <3