tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31200388126450709852024-03-04T22:42:31.167-08:00Adventures AbroadTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-85325027544007440812011-05-10T11:21:00.000-07:002011-05-10T11:21:41.393-07:00Last day in SalamancaKind of feel like I am in the twilight zone. I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone and that I will be heading back home tomorrow after 3 and half months in Spain. Definitely a bittersweet moment. I am so anxious to see my family and friends, but I will miss Salamanca, my host family as well as the friends that I have made here. I will miss passing time between classes at one of the numerous little tapas bars or just sitting in the Plaza Mayor. I can honestly say that choosing to come here, choosing to study abroad was one of the best decisions that I have made in my life to date. I have learned so much, not just with respect to the language or the culture, but about myself. I have grown up in many ways and have a renewed appreciation for all that I have. I would tell anyone to take the opportunity if it presents itself. It's not easy, but it is SO worth it in the end. I won't lie and say that I enjoyed every moment. I won't lie and say that there wasn't days that I hated being here or hated everything about Spain. That's what people fail to tell you. Not everyday is perfect. You get homesick. You miss your "norm." But the majority of days, you sit and think "WOW this is such an amazing experience, I am so happy that I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and just went for it." It probably sounds cliche, but studying abroad truly is one of those things that you will never forget in your life.Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-647315971219497372011-05-10T10:34:00.001-07:002011-05-10T10:34:21.550-07:00Family's Trip to Spain<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Started this a couple weeks ago and finally finished it….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mom, Dad and Conner arrived safe and sound on Saturday afternoon (April 27<sup>th</sup>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Started off the trip on a high note….not. Again as is almost customary for my time here in Spain, my plans cannot go smoothly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Took the train to Madrid to meet the family when they arrived at the airport and made it with about 20 minutes to spare before their plan landed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked at the arrivals board and it said that there was only one flight arriving in from London (btw the family traveled from NY to London and then to Madrid) and it would be landing in terminal 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I anxiously waited at the gate, fully prepared to jump up and down and wave like and idiot when I saw them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they didn’t walk out of the gate at the expected time, I didn’t panic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured that they just must be held up getting their luggage or passing through customs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, slowly the minutes ticked away and before I knew it an hour had passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As my parents did not bring a cell-phone with them, I had no way of contacting them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really was unsure of what to do, so I kept waiting for a few more minutes, thinking that if they had landed and were already out of the gate and could not find me, my mom would have called me on a pay phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when I received a call from an unknown number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The call had ended before I could fish the phone out of my pocket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called the number back and it was the personal cell-phone of a woman that worked the information booth in terminal 4, telling me that the family was there and waiting for me (the only terminal at the airport that I could not walk to, but rather needed to take a shuttle bus).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I arrived at the terminal, I spotted my dad right away (there are VERY few tall Spaniards so he stuck out like a sore thumb).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well let’s suffice it to say that my dad and brother were a little tense when I walked up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad was worried sick about me because I am generally very punctual and he thought something had happened to me, but also pissed at my mom for not giving me the specific flight number so that I would have known that I had found the wrong flight on the arrival board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conner was equally stressed, rambling on about debating whether or not to call the Embassy and report me missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom however, walked up laughing a little and gave me a big hug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After hearing all of my previous travel drama, we both kind of figured something like this might happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally reunited, we headed with the driver to the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more excitement for the day Thank God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We checked into the hotel without issue, relaxed for a little and grabbed some dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went to bed early, falling asleep while watching the Real Madrid versus F.C. Barcelona game.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The next morning (Sunday) we were scheduled to take one of those double-decker tour buses around the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got up and ate breakfast and then headed to the Plaza Mayor to get our tickets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On our way, we walked along side the full marathon that was taking place through the streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a really cool experience and there were people lining the entire roped-off course, chanting and cheering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily there was a brief break in runners so we dashed across the street into the plaza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we got our tickets, we grabbed some coffee at one of the little cafes and waited until it was time for the tour to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tour was awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got an almost 3 hour tour, while also being able to soak up the sun on the upper level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom took a ton of pictures and we just relaxed and took it all in. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">So I would be remise if I did not mention one of the best parts of the entire trip, the FOOD! Oh my god AWESOME! First of all, I can not describe how awesome it was to not only choose what I wanted to eat, but also eat when I wanted and how much I wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although my host mother is a great cook (despite her food-pushing ways), I wanted foods from home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically I wanted Italian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caprese salads (tomato, mozzarella, basil), pasta in various forms, chicken Parmesan, bread with oils, it was just so YUMMY!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention steak and delicious salads and veggies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing that was not tasty however was the pizza we ordered one night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NEVER eat Telepizza’s Four Cheese pizza, it’s DISGUSTING…seriously. That’s all I am going to say about that, as I am trying to block that meal from my memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did have some traditional Spanish tapas a few times as well and the family really enjoyed them; Tortilla, Calamari, Croquetas, Iberico ham and Manchego cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will admit that I will miss them a lot when I leave.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On Monday, the family and I took the train (for 2 ½ hours) to visit Salamanca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We actually saw my brother’s girlfriend’s doppelganger on the train (shout out to How I Met Your Mother!) and we totally creepily took a picture of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well anyway, it was awesome to show my family around the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took them to see my school as well as the house that I have been living in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also got the opportunity to introduce my family to my host family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so cool that they got to meet and spend a little time together despite the language barrier lol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely had to be on top of my game that day, switching back and forth between Spanish and English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On our last day in Madrid, Tuesday, my mom and I woke up early and went to the Prado museum and the Botanical gardens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nice to spend some one on one time with her as well as see all of the artwork that I did not have the time to see during my last trip to Spain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent more than 2 hours looking at different artwork and then made our way over to the gardens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom was in her glory and she was once again snapping away with the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we headed back to the hotel to get my dad and brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We passed the rest of the day doing a little shopping and then had a early dinner and headed to bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wednesday was a travel day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took the bullet train to Barcelona for the second half of our vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bullet train got us to Barcelona in about 3 hours and the regular train would have taken about 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say we all supported mom’s travel decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conner and I passed the time watching Little Fockers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much like our first day in Madrid, we settled into the hotel and relaxed for a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hotel in Barcelona was AMAZING!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had a beautiful rooftop terrace with a pool, 2 restaurants, a lobby bar, and of course other important things like SUPER comfy beds </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh and it was located on the Saks Fifth Avenue of Barceloina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was everthing from Lacoste to Coach to Tiffany & Co. We asked the concierge for tapas bar recommendations and he sent us to this great little place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The food was so good, we ended up going back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">On Thursday we took a bus tour of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an equally good time and the weather was great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got the opportunity to take a tour of the 1998 Olympic Stadium and got to see the beautiful harbor.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unfortunately Friday was rainy and because it was Good Friday everything was closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took the day to just catch up and enjoy being together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lucky for us, Saturday was as sunny as Friday was rainy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also an important holiday; the day of the books and roses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The streets were filled with vendors and my dad bought both my mom and I flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided to walk back down to the harbor and visit the aquarium as well as grab a drink overlooking the water.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sunday came tooooo quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was sad to see my family go home and have debated begging them to take me with them lol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course there was a little drama with my boarding pass, but it was obtained nonetheless and all of us made it safely back to our destinations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was overall a really incredible week and it was great to have shared the experience with my family.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Love, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tayler<o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-29017942709719142742011-04-06T03:31:00.000-07:002011-04-06T03:33:19.975-07:00Real Madrid 4 Tottenham 0Had another fabulous night with the girls :) Siobhan, Alexa, Daryl, Stephanie and I went to watch the Real Madrid versus Tottenham game at an Irish pub called St. Patrick's Museum. The pub was below street level and had lots of stone work and built-in benches and such...it had a lot of character and I definitely think we will be making another trip there in the foreseeable future. It was really cool to watch the game in the presence of other Spaniards. Its hilarious but also inspiring to see how into the game they get. Picture how intense Americans get during March Madness as a comparison.<br />
<br />
After the game Siobhan, Alexa and I went to a little Mexican restaurant near the pub. I had a delicious chicken burrito. Not the best Mexican food I have ever had, but not bad at all. Oh and my family will understand this.....the restaurant was automatically better because it lacked a certain person wearing leather chaps and playing the guitar ;) The only problem I had with the restaurant was that I did not see margaritas on the menu...lame, but I survived.<br />
<br />
Absolutely beautiful out again today. I don't know if its the great weather we have been having or the fact that it has really set in that in just a few short weeks I will be leaving Salamanca to return home, but I am really branching out and filling my social calendar lol. Siobhan and I spend every minute we can outside of the house, walking the streets, stopping for coffee.....embracing any piece of the Spanish culture that we can find. It may have taken me 10 weeks to really find my grove here, but I am having the time of my life!<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
Tayler<br />
<br />
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P.S. Siobhan and I have picked our next destination...........Paris, France!Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-87224887874779604652011-04-04T04:28:00.000-07:002011-04-04T04:32:52.373-07:00Just popping in quickly. Had a fabulous weekend. As you all know Friday was absolutely gorgeous weather and Siobhan and I made the most of it, spending much of our day hanging out in the Plaza Mayor. We did indeed buy ourselves some red wine (though we actually have yet to drink it lol) and watched Black Swan. We were both literally speechless when the movie ended. Excellent acting performance by Natalie Portman.<br />
<br />
On Saturday we planned to go bike riding with Alexa, Stephanie, Amanda and Daryl. Surprisingly (please note the sarcasm) Stephanie, Amanda and Daryl did not meet us at the allotted place and time so bike riding around Salamanca did not take place. Siobhan, Alexa and I would have gone by ourselves, but unfortunately Stephanie and Amanda were the only two that knew where the biker rental was located. Instead, the three of us walked around a quaint park near Alexa's house. We just took our time walking around, enjoying the nice weather, and chitchatting. We stopped and got ice cream after and sat people-watching in the Plaza afterwords. An adorable little girl that could not have been more than 3 came over to play with us for about 15 minutes. We all returned home for lunch, but then met backup for dinner at Cafe & Te. I had a delicious crispy chicken sandwich! We then walked back to the Plaza and grabbed a seat outside at one of the numerous cafes. We grabbed coffee and continued laughing and reminiscing about our time thus far in Spain until about 11 pm. It was a great night!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLZzDPYqV27pG0ZYNh2gPG8a3mM-hu-9cHlQihO-ekbZ9oUeBzp2PFmODE5L4D8WvJeC2ER8UnVol9D_cl_BeBLzljjgrf3y8ZYzGNzhDt0eHoBdXO1yjRh6NPWz5N-uI4XWeDPMn8Gk/s1600/IMG_2662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLZzDPYqV27pG0ZYNh2gPG8a3mM-hu-9cHlQihO-ekbZ9oUeBzp2PFmODE5L4D8WvJeC2ER8UnVol9D_cl_BeBLzljjgrf3y8ZYzGNzhDt0eHoBdXO1yjRh6NPWz5N-uI4XWeDPMn8Gk/s320/IMG_2662.JPG" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quick pic in the park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebiKyV3zGlJAHC-qVWaPnX3N0K0O30iLBs7apFKSwFwu_Dk7kiKWqh1PjbZjhN9shd82o2LsQYLKOCfYUgmBtx_xWF46WteQpLuTX8RN9fqyZ5phBgwU2PamR-WsyEE9Cmme-J937okE/s1600/IMG_2668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebiKyV3zGlJAHC-qVWaPnX3N0K0O30iLBs7apFKSwFwu_Dk7kiKWqh1PjbZjhN9shd82o2LsQYLKOCfYUgmBtx_xWF46WteQpLuTX8RN9fqyZ5phBgwU2PamR-WsyEE9Cmme-J937okE/s320/IMG_2668.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying my ice cream!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sunday was a lazy day, spent studying for an upcoming exam and relaxing a little. Although Siobhan and I did take a break and watch Love and Other drugs. Another awesome movie! I was laughing and crying throughout the entire thing lol.<br />
<br />
Bonus of the weekend....I got to Skype with Amanda and Katherine! It was so nice to get to catch up with both of them and see their gorgeous faces :)<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-52242718967542044002011-04-04T03:36:00.001-07:002011-04-04T03:36:46.125-07:00Just thought you would all like to know.....<div class="WRprintTitle" style="color: #003399; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, 'Sans Serif'; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>10-Day Forecast for Salamanca, Spain</b></div><div class="Print_contentIndent" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, 'Sans Serif'; font-size: 10px; padding-left: 10px;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; width: 590px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="left" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="TOP"><div align="CENTER"><table align="CENTER" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="Basic" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(248, 246, 231); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(248, 246, 231); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(248, 246, 231); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(248, 246, 231); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, 'Sans Serif'; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 490px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="TOP"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="f2" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#F1F4F5"><td colspan="3" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://image.weather.com/web/blank.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="1" /></td><td align="CENTER" class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="MIDDLE" width="100%"><b>High /<br />
Low (°F)</b></td><td align="CENTER" class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="MIDDLE" width="100%"><b>Precip. %</b></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://image.weather.com/web/blank.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="1" /></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="15%">Today<br />
Apr 04</td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="10%"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/34.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="35%">Mostly Sunny</td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="25%"><b>67°/40°</b></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="15%">10 %</td></tr>
<tr><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Tue<br />
Apr 05</span></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>76°/44°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Wed<br />
Apr 06</span></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>77°/46°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Thu<br />
Apr 07</span></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>76°/47°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Fri<br />
Apr 08</span></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>77°/48°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sat<br />
Apr 09</span></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>77°/49°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sun<br />
Apr 10</span></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>74°/45°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Mon<br />
Apr 11</span></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/32.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>69°/45°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Tue<br />
Apr 12</span></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/34.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Mostly Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>70°/42°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Wed<br />
Apr 13</span></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img border="0" height="31" src="http://image.weather.com/web/common/wxicons/31/34.gif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" width="31" /></td><td class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Mostly Sunny</span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><b>68°/41°</b></span></td><td align="CENTER" class="f2a" style="background-color: #fcf1d0; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">0 %</span></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" class="inDentA" colspan="5" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, SansSerif; font-size: 11px; height: 40px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="blkVerdanaText10" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Last Updated Apr 4 11:21 a.m. Local Time</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-25113830495832786682011-04-01T09:43:00.000-07:002011-04-04T04:31:18.626-07:00Did I seriously do that??Quick post for you all. So Siobhan and I decided to pull on our big girl pants last night and go out for a little fun with Daryl and Amanda. We did not go out until 1 am and then did not make it back to our house until 4:30 am this morning! I can honestly say this was a first lol. Had a great time with the girls and had the opportunity to see many friends and classmates throughout the night :) Needless to say Siobhan and I did not set an alarm and still had to drag ourselves out of bed at 11:45 am today. However, the amazing weather in Salamanca today made it worth it. We have cloudless, sunny skies and a high today of 77 degrees! Siobhan and I spent a couple hours sunbathing in the Plaza Mayor and.....I am already evenly sunburnt. Not complaining though. I will take sunburn over frostbite any day of the year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obviously I was pretty pumped about the nice weather and wanted to document it</td></tr>
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Not really sure what the rest of the day will bring....perhaps some ice cream! Siobhan and I are thinking about throwing ourselves a party in our room tonight lol. Some wine and cheese, as well as a movie (either Black Swan or Love and Other Drugs).<br />
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Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-77870584420085980442011-03-30T11:05:00.000-07:002011-03-30T11:05:08.002-07:00Just a general rundown...Hello all! Figured since I had some free time I would try to put up a quick post. Not too too much going on here in Salamanca. Siobhan and I are still pumping iron in the gym on a weekly basis and of course going to classes although begrudgingly sometimes lol. <br />
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After traveling for 3 weekends in a row, it was nice to just be in Salamanca and relax a little. Siobhan and I did a little shopping on Friday and on Saturday headed to the gym and then spent the rest of the rainy afternoon snuggled in our beds reading. Btw just finished Her Last Letter by Nancy C. Johnson.....highly recommend it :) On Sunday the weather was much better and we decided to finally visit the new cathedral in Salamanca, after simply walking past it for 2 months. We also went to Cafe & Te to grab some coffee and Skype with the family. I tried the coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream liquor....it was fabulous :)<br />
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So far nothing big this week. Siobhan and I have a coffee date with our friend Sara tomorrow, whom we met on our trip to Granada and Sevilla. Have not had the chance to talk to her since we returned from the trip, so it will be great to catch up! We are also planning to do a little more sight-seeing in Salamanca this weekend. I am hoping to tour the old cathedral and visit the museum of art nouveau and art deco. In addition we are looking into what else there is to do in the city in terms of live theater performances or concerts, etc.<br />
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Still thinking about planning another trip or two before our time abroad is up. The options are Rome, Paris, and/or a city in Portugal. I will keep you guys posted as we make arrangements.<br />
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Fun Fact for the Day:<br />
Found out that the opening scenes from the American movie Vantage Point was filmed in La Plaza Mayor in Salamanca!<br />
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Thats all I have for you all right now. Hopefully I will have more to share soon!<br />
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Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-20292611475467616812011-03-28T10:37:00.000-07:002011-03-30T09:14:46.225-07:00First trip out of Spain, First trip solo....and everything went smoothly! Apparently I can only travel by myself in the future…..no offense Siobhan and Alexa ;)<br />
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This particular trip (to Florence, Italy to visit Marisa) was extremely last minute. I bought my plane ticket on Tuesday, March 15th and I flew out on Thursday, March 17th. As there was only one direct flight from Madrid to Florence, it was absolutely necessary that I miss both of my classes on Thursday....what a shame :P<br />
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The trip came at the perfect time as I was starting to feel a little homesick, the number of weeks before my family was to arrive in Spain seeming daunting. Fortunately not only was I able to visit with Marisa, but because she was on spring break Mr. and Mrs. Martino were also in Florence! In addition, Mrs. Martino’s cousin, her cousin’s daughter as well as two friends came and spent time with us on Friday and Saturday. Oh and Marisa’s brother Dom came in on Saturday! It was so nice to see so many familiar faces and because Marisa and I spent most of our time with Mr. and Mrs. Martino it was very stress free. Mr. Martino is super organized and great with a map…my favorite part was that at the beginning of the day he already had reservations for dinner!<br />
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I really enjoyed getting to see Mrs. Martino in her element. I was fascinated watching her speak fluent Italian. I told her that once I am done with school, I am going to move in for a summer so she can teach me Italian….my new life goal is to be trilingual lol.<br />
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While each day in Florence was incredible, I also really loved the one-on-one time Marisa and I got every night before bed. It was great to be able to lounge around Marisa’s apartment (which is AWESOME btw) drinking tea, chit-chatting about our experiences abroad and life in general, as well watching the episodes of Glee that we have missed this season.<br />
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So appreciative that I was able to make the trip to Florence. Marisa and I had thrown the idea around over Christmas break, but neither one of us was totally positive it would come to fruition.<br />
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My mini-vacation as I like to call it lol was spent not only with great company, but also with fabulous sights, even better food and great wine!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jp-XJ5zgsoq0EFeA373mrPQdakGD3AHKaaaec4F9_x-PboJ88Hq23plumlkm6gok6eUvkYVgHL6Qjj8z2dlmympvfCW-5PQNbb5R6K599EqwOXmhg6KGtPJjDEW3L0bYKNm7D6u2ilk/s1600/IMG_2417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jp-XJ5zgsoq0EFeA373mrPQdakGD3AHKaaaec4F9_x-PboJ88Hq23plumlkm6gok6eUvkYVgHL6Qjj8z2dlmympvfCW-5PQNbb5R6K599EqwOXmhg6KGtPJjDEW3L0bYKNm7D6u2ilk/s320/IMG_2417.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four views of the Duomo, a cathedral </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiEIKgJKU9kEZ408qpz-yjaen86H7qUPvYKitTc1v_aCcLSmoOKkQZSTxS0x3tvA3HkyqsvdTwhbdWm09ic1oHu64SAv54jEHal5jk-u7aKzTINLiaUjDyIcD6hwfKLy8JJGtX4FzaBc/s1600/IMG_2442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiEIKgJKU9kEZ408qpz-yjaen86H7qUPvYKitTc1v_aCcLSmoOKkQZSTxS0x3tvA3HkyqsvdTwhbdWm09ic1oHu64SAv54jEHal5jk-u7aKzTINLiaUjDyIcD6hwfKLy8JJGtX4FzaBc/s320/IMG_2442.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basilica Di Santa Croce, another cathedral</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgLXutv8GIawy1AXxo5XqZbxmiI9w1_MGqk8yuwgC9el9n_mb7hbvsvcOTOYTnSUbsaVMsAuHfFE1lt60Uv-DV7QzcIXih09FKkjXZUsTIINKAbJYqX_0Wn5pX0g8GgJtukoViBOxjqU/s1600/IMG_2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgLXutv8GIawy1AXxo5XqZbxmiI9w1_MGqk8yuwgC9el9n_mb7hbvsvcOTOYTnSUbsaVMsAuHfFE1lt60Uv-DV7QzcIXih09FKkjXZUsTIINKAbJYqX_0Wn5pX0g8GgJtukoViBOxjqU/s320/IMG_2396.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marisa and I on the Pointe Vecchio, Florence's famous shop-covered bridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some awesome street art!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4FtzMfjMbOde6NU_eI275dJ6H3GCRYV45EsXt6YqwLSnErAPvwlUnABMFrhKh1zMio5zS-cG9L5a2Tqk63wvxmAOzw716oiCHERXOvqkvpYDmqfbOKcy9Z_VZlPPjb-ZQgb5UE4w-vQ/s1600/IMG_2528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4FtzMfjMbOde6NU_eI275dJ6H3GCRYV45EsXt6YqwLSnErAPvwlUnABMFrhKh1zMio5zS-cG9L5a2Tqk63wvxmAOzw716oiCHERXOvqkvpYDmqfbOKcy9Z_VZlPPjb-ZQgb5UE4w-vQ/s320/IMG_2528.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five shots from the top of the Piazzale Michelangelo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQY3g4XDjJWARx4Qqx12jENKBJ5g8o49E6nJ5ZrqenRJQGSebj_DHtTXsSgMej6-TuqZMaGRU6MAUxTslPKp4c3u-VAe4ySGEm3LgvZPot9L751q5aYVT0xEzGvKTzhnJgO_15amO9lU/s1600/IMG_2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuQY3g4XDjJWARx4Qqx12jENKBJ5g8o49E6nJ5ZrqenRJQGSebj_DHtTXsSgMej6-TuqZMaGRU6MAUxTslPKp4c3u-VAe4ySGEm3LgvZPot9L751q5aYVT0xEzGvKTzhnJgO_15amO9lU/s320/IMG_2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><3</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3TpA7UFdD1Jtp5UOOTK4bxnnMLXZmswc4m-glFzLUqEofg1-EioQnm8jetlHVEPzfZ8TS2HJ67dTY9UL31TCAdRmy2mnM-GLdUhOVmlxiwGDHgXwGyk96bUQeTRsWkJfRCDlquIvhjlA/s1600/IMG_2541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3TpA7UFdD1Jtp5UOOTK4bxnnMLXZmswc4m-glFzLUqEofg1-EioQnm8jetlHVEPzfZ8TS2HJ67dTY9UL31TCAdRmy2mnM-GLdUhOVmlxiwGDHgXwGyk96bUQeTRsWkJfRCDlquIvhjlA/s320/IMG_2541.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martino Family!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxCiHh6UPv0SSodzpwZ-vt4v_6ECeGct4DqMGVTNbnqobV67xyaH4jB8KQilT5W_4-pmc5yqq0_egprXCSnRLm5nH5doMpEML5cCAFPNEO9Uu_FQw0EnKmykw_koO0qEOkhULG0q2VYg/s1600/IMG_2583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxCiHh6UPv0SSodzpwZ-vt4v_6ECeGct4DqMGVTNbnqobV67xyaH4jB8KQilT5W_4-pmc5yqq0_egprXCSnRLm5nH5doMpEML5cCAFPNEO9Uu_FQw0EnKmykw_koO0qEOkhULG0q2VYg/s320/IMG_2583.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iYB0GgeQ1xi-SNADWJzDXec6XH9Oj0U3RL2Vv3aDEsH3BpKkJm5aptGCtnbnEFyCLlZEKkwiygsiQnEgDyVbsLbI395m4JshGRQTU2G5y-16LsuAgQehmCbqHN8y69BQHG1YfcqaMVk/s1600/IMG_2588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iYB0GgeQ1xi-SNADWJzDXec6XH9Oj0U3RL2Vv3aDEsH3BpKkJm5aptGCtnbnEFyCLlZEKkwiygsiQnEgDyVbsLbI395m4JshGRQTU2G5y-16LsuAgQehmCbqHN8y69BQHG1YfcqaMVk/s320/IMG_2588.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some fun shots from my last dinner in Italy :)</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-43990123095848400882011-03-23T10:52:00.000-07:002011-03-25T12:01:51.275-07:00Where to next...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>So two weekends ago (March 11th to the 13th) Siobhan and I traveled with a group of 43 other University of Salamanca students to Sevilla and Granada, two cities in the south of Spain. Overall the trip was great and we took a TON of beautiful pictures. However, the trip as ALWAYS was not without a few bumps in the road.<br />
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Not a bad thing or a "bump in the road," merely just something I felt was worth mentioning. Out of the 45 students, 9 students (including Siobhan and I) were NOT oriental. Consequently I learned from this trip that one particular stereotype of Japanese girls is true; in almost every picture the girls would put up the peace sign close to their face. Further, I learned that orientals are also shameless observers. In fact, I caught one of the young men sitting across the aisle from me on the bus starring numerous times and when I began to sing Katy Perry's "Firework" to Siobhan, he blatantly giggled in my face. Again not a criticism, just sharing my experiences/observations.<br />
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We made it to Sevilla with no problems. We checked into the hotel and visited the cathedral with no problems. It was very interesting to see the mix of the original arab mosque and the cathedral that the christians developed within it after conquering the city years later. It was also awesome to climb to the top of La Giralda (the bell tower) and look out over the city...what an amazing view.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXydEsV5u-0BjRhK1FueNEDy_EI4eJmdUMWGp6MIeow3IWQ7_YSxdBrX_4qjy2P60mcv1IS8IfPXdZGul1yDHyoTnq5BPbWB6x4M__xnRSAAZVyoZhBppEgLIKg5WIMrn3-OR955ska1I/s1600/IMG_2132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXydEsV5u-0BjRhK1FueNEDy_EI4eJmdUMWGp6MIeow3IWQ7_YSxdBrX_4qjy2P60mcv1IS8IfPXdZGul1yDHyoTnq5BPbWB6x4M__xnRSAAZVyoZhBppEgLIKg5WIMrn3-OR955ska1I/s320/IMG_2132.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Giralda...trust me it is much much bigger in person. We had to climb 37 flights to make it to the top.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_P0QR_nUa7Jny8KP-DUOoJooioC5A465EIa33gF3Wqf-5kfHiIGjad9pRr1jGRo6ctVu14NClVohb1oZQbwmnZ4L48S3djF_X6vM4iat9v7bG4liQlgcXD9UN2aspcQlN6PLWyJSxTM/s1600/IMG_2009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_P0QR_nUa7Jny8KP-DUOoJooioC5A465EIa33gF3Wqf-5kfHiIGjad9pRr1jGRo6ctVu14NClVohb1oZQbwmnZ4L48S3djF_X6vM4iat9v7bG4liQlgcXD9UN2aspcQlN6PLWyJSxTM/s320/IMG_2009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some views of the cathedral as we climbed to the top...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJiFBpGGsIDeM0RCcISdJPAeQ9p3zhdMw0cRsJeJ6o7DDq-hkS-VKUKPwN3GECjI0v_UMKxTSHhyphenhyphenXvNrBMThTJMbyF-PLu-0MwGNGQEr6zdH-QY4jcjWPvF-ups2pxoDmf0RvarJtLY0/s1600/IMG_2014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJiFBpGGsIDeM0RCcISdJPAeQ9p3zhdMw0cRsJeJ6o7DDq-hkS-VKUKPwN3GECjI0v_UMKxTSHhyphenhyphenXvNrBMThTJMbyF-PLu-0MwGNGQEr6zdH-QY4jcjWPvF-ups2pxoDmf0RvarJtLY0/s320/IMG_2014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTzCZobty3BjJ5pn1bkRl6BvhABu7AcyTR462H5vEilMUwdT7vCcRHey6ULyhf_Bd8n9I5uao-212nlNNyS_kQTsYx6sBAYJPHrExh-92stiPEwCfkswcpAvMHgMxDsixRaWuWpW5B44/s1600/IMG_2021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTzCZobty3BjJ5pn1bkRl6BvhABu7AcyTR462H5vEilMUwdT7vCcRHey6ULyhf_Bd8n9I5uao-212nlNNyS_kQTsYx6sBAYJPHrExh-92stiPEwCfkswcpAvMHgMxDsixRaWuWpW5B44/s320/IMG_2021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddUBQz2AHLOf0XJtac2049EdST8mebrsmQ_dVWHqgGoPY-yKBwxiLtBDD4q7kja7OT7qTIqchNDLeO3aQtBEw6PfZ8d2Uy7_usduuyktNOh_B-sASMA-nYtmxbLTGBhgsUCw5tUs8T2E/s1600/IMG_2025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddUBQz2AHLOf0XJtac2049EdST8mebrsmQ_dVWHqgGoPY-yKBwxiLtBDD4q7kja7OT7qTIqchNDLeO3aQtBEw6PfZ8d2Uy7_usduuyktNOh_B-sASMA-nYtmxbLTGBhgsUCw5tUs8T2E/s320/IMG_2025.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views of the city from the top of the tower...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5N8LPdcx6wo5QA3qTGwl1dNKBQVDyGt9dHcNdndF-15fpWtynhBq2LyGbnsMNpxo6bY0QblIS4pjIk3AWMihCYkrp2ve7-sqMwfJttakRF8qcKFNLOIarLOCnFwlB5tUXqwQtdAFz6yw/s1600/IMG_2026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5N8LPdcx6wo5QA3qTGwl1dNKBQVDyGt9dHcNdndF-15fpWtynhBq2LyGbnsMNpxo6bY0QblIS4pjIk3AWMihCYkrp2ve7-sqMwfJttakRF8qcKFNLOIarLOCnFwlB5tUXqwQtdAFz6yw/s320/IMG_2026.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGXUAR4f8K1aENu3Q2lP9ZRcNW2jcncN7CJkdIqA6ZLKOJps2aWnC4T9nHkDbQuYopC_Ul5M4vVpVVuN7Zd7xJBL0poc4w4kxk9-y4roH_PAj0t1ybgkUs8igzJH5ZJMM-S7XRdDZoyM/s1600/IMG_2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGXUAR4f8K1aENu3Q2lP9ZRcNW2jcncN7CJkdIqA6ZLKOJps2aWnC4T9nHkDbQuYopC_Ul5M4vVpVVuN7Zd7xJBL0poc4w4kxk9-y4roH_PAj0t1ybgkUs8igzJH5ZJMM-S7XRdDZoyM/s320/IMG_2024.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of the bells which were added to the tower when the Catholics took over</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After we finished the cathedral tour, we had some free time. As our hotel was located in the middle of nowhere, with not so much as a restaurant to eat in, our chaperone decided we should remain in the heart of Sevilla (where the cathedral is located) to eat dinner, walk around, etc. Obviously we were all thrilled with this decision and quickly parted ways. Along with our new friend Von'Travis, Siobhan and I grabbed a bit to eat and then got Starbucks! Yes like the real Starbucks....needless to say it was probably the highlight of my day lol. Tired from the 6 hour bus ride to Sevilla and the subsequent 2 and half tour of the cathedral, the three of us decided to call it a night early and began our adventure back to the hotel...and yup you guessed it...I choose the word adventure for a reason. In order to make it back to the hotel, we had to take the city bus. Our chaperone told us which number and we made it to the bus station without incident. We paid for the ticket and took our spots on the bus waiting for our stop to be called. I will save you all the torture and flash-forward 2 hours...hahahahahahah 2 hours! Long story short, we realized after the fact that we got off one stop too soon and did not realize how far away we actually were from the hotel because neither the hotel nor the surrounding streets were located on the map that our chaperone gave us...yeah SOOOOOO helpful. After walking aimlessly and asking for assistance numerous times, we finally just took a cab back to the hotel. I was shockingly (please note sarcasm) near tears, but after a quick bitch session to mommy I was fine. Finally changing into our jammies and relaxing with some snacks in front of the television, we could laugh at the entire situation and find the one positive: we bonded with our new friend Von'Travis :)<br />
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The next morning (Saturday) we saw Los Alcazares Reales (the Royal Castles). The gardens were beautiful and many original arab decorative aspects were present. After the tour, we hopped back on the bus and headed another 2 and half hours to Granada.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8VV9xNcAyKjz_eQXqU3vgG1r2Gmk-TrmpeFuOeEuMtFuRMryyGLV2mqVggF9xq71YOgehfr6wH3kdER1Jg4Uprp3qjC42o0mrHPcXaN3yTQOorIT2kyLPVgwuXWzX9I8eq96P0PCMwI/s1600/IMG_2072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8VV9xNcAyKjz_eQXqU3vgG1r2Gmk-TrmpeFuOeEuMtFuRMryyGLV2mqVggF9xq71YOgehfr6wH3kdER1Jg4Uprp3qjC42o0mrHPcXaN3yTQOorIT2kyLPVgwuXWzX9I8eq96P0PCMwI/s320/IMG_2072.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple pics of the gardens...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmtuSpFeq0-W_KH5rB2pBp1pyrVhnE_U50A-Gq-Ssz-vEiuuvX3tN9Su99yWE1L-CyKAXo7PIk-c71YBtw-Ur2toejEH9p5GGCuHqJzQsf2j7lKvtbc_JstOQ-6RkIb1Ae5yJPcgMk-E/s1600/IMG_2064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmtuSpFeq0-W_KH5rB2pBp1pyrVhnE_U50A-Gq-Ssz-vEiuuvX3tN9Su99yWE1L-CyKAXo7PIk-c71YBtw-Ur2toejEH9p5GGCuHqJzQsf2j7lKvtbc_JstOQ-6RkIb1Ae5yJPcgMk-E/s320/IMG_2064.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFm5ZszBfGZk8dUnkcLlEsbXl4Z9n9IC1PPIkZvqRPNlmcXg7709n5p2BDPgpGBL7hzriCr2pR5D8oC2aIfHXFRbtHl3wgNZTfb5GhmxI5Umhmffqjfmk-JpCITUwSD6G_mgDxrNwYpQ/s1600/IMG_2065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFm5ZszBfGZk8dUnkcLlEsbXl4Z9n9IC1PPIkZvqRPNlmcXg7709n5p2BDPgpGBL7hzriCr2pR5D8oC2aIfHXFRbtHl3wgNZTfb5GhmxI5Umhmffqjfmk-JpCITUwSD6G_mgDxrNwYpQ/s320/IMG_2065.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Lb1HqJm7kHtRg0G5HdYxhkd2pDlnpA2J8PNACxiJuT9qCXAZ1230Kv5QL-smOqzqWgmrar38dOQ2wl-4-GZuSAuANcYlFKf6tIhtJuM7FyOHUM334GwKUPy9YpNeWzcwms5Wh4P_7F8/s1600/IMG_2066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Lb1HqJm7kHtRg0G5HdYxhkd2pDlnpA2J8PNACxiJuT9qCXAZ1230Kv5QL-smOqzqWgmrar38dOQ2wl-4-GZuSAuANcYlFKf6tIhtJuM7FyOHUM334GwKUPy9YpNeWzcwms5Wh4P_7F8/s320/IMG_2066.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the original arab decorative aspects....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As we arrived in Granada late afternoon, we quickly saw the outside of the cathedral (yes there is one in EVERY city). Siobhan and I then grabbed a bite to eat....well we wanted a full dinner, but as it was ONLY 7 the restaurant was not yet serving dinner (I will reiterate that dinner does not start in Spain before 9). Therefore, the only option we had was to order a full order of the available tapas. However, Saturday night was AWESOME! Everyone that came on the trip paid to go to a Flamenco show. It is honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen. There were 2 females singers, 2 men playing instruments, 3 females flamenco dancers, and 1 male flamenco dancer. The big surprise...there was also a belly dancer! Every person involved with the show was extremely talented and Siobhan and I were super super pleased that we had decided to go.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajg9sdCL2ucoN-qX2BZRd5GrJyXaczi6nWGG0iwAoJwqjc8Spvfm51pGNbltJg4mIPWKS8j8odA989w8djk1vAgJ_rl7EFN29-NxSU2xRuxS-cBP-MJj4I66MACpBGYve4MsZY3KQ4kE/s1600/IMG_2135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajg9sdCL2ucoN-qX2BZRd5GrJyXaczi6nWGG0iwAoJwqjc8Spvfm51pGNbltJg4mIPWKS8j8odA989w8djk1vAgJ_rl7EFN29-NxSU2xRuxS-cBP-MJj4I66MACpBGYve4MsZY3KQ4kE/s320/IMG_2135.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cathedral in Granada</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLZGJFYkeRC0kqqvAYxh5ngk6kwzAXqwtheTMj-F2ZQ4ATbqx1mgE4t1MOSZCT6pxBxRoTtY14riCb5Hy4gwkEGbM_rdVnpzxgl7qT3ypDYl9FcnW-wMTbYrkcAyKQAShvYUv-cEmCNs/s1600/IMG_2149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLZGJFYkeRC0kqqvAYxh5ngk6kwzAXqwtheTMj-F2ZQ4ATbqx1mgE4t1MOSZCT6pxBxRoTtY14riCb5Hy4gwkEGbM_rdVnpzxgl7qT3ypDYl9FcnW-wMTbYrkcAyKQAShvYUv-cEmCNs/s320/IMG_2149.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiDt3AZGFbK2gj7AfThzHEqflkyd6hBz_ZSwDdzpdupyN6I-MA3AovBsYmuHIyEKrQpvGYUprNJ_Jm70lqbTDkUDOTOa5vwAZLjgvcbanJ8uhO-9e78IEpkVueunVkM5ax_zoRmsA6X0/s1600/IMG_2154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiDt3AZGFbK2gj7AfThzHEqflkyd6hBz_ZSwDdzpdupyN6I-MA3AovBsYmuHIyEKrQpvGYUprNJ_Jm70lqbTDkUDOTOa5vwAZLjgvcbanJ8uhO-9e78IEpkVueunVkM5ax_zoRmsA6X0/s320/IMG_2154.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVLcROIEF4_hA4fyXVDReQDLyL9XR7ta8Mlr8jobk2GFCROk4bUzRA9HwXCpzFUkxwhAE9KPIYEFvvI1M9y7KUJmZDff5LQW7htYNwjipAB9cKkWOe2bja4H055sVqIGPhU21pVVIocI/s1600/IMG_2160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVLcROIEF4_hA4fyXVDReQDLyL9XR7ta8Mlr8jobk2GFCROk4bUzRA9HwXCpzFUkxwhAE9KPIYEFvvI1M9y7KUJmZDff5LQW7htYNwjipAB9cKkWOe2bja4H055sVqIGPhU21pVVIocI/s320/IMG_2160.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 3 female flamenco dancers!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKFQoLvfzbj1iFAUAX3JTrbjuo5ajsvgViBbk5OZDR-zzm1nkLQGwu_FP2GEvCgkWe370lFsRUeyX2tzLLGS1oqhMGWgXhBer8YK7rOQtdk8oQT5RQoxBwAWdmvkXdSh52JvDPMic6vY/s1600/IMG_2190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKFQoLvfzbj1iFAUAX3JTrbjuo5ajsvgViBbk5OZDR-zzm1nkLQGwu_FP2GEvCgkWe370lFsRUeyX2tzLLGS1oqhMGWgXhBer8YK7rOQtdk8oQT5RQoxBwAWdmvkXdSh52JvDPMic6vY/s320/IMG_2190.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Male flamenco dancer...hahaha check out the sleeping man in the front row!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPEe1JA4r0RLw2jiYMJnj5UQyu-iy4hNgSbEdS3wQrdYm5H4MX8m2SR1nsh3vnNSuwMWXTzwJBGSt9cOW7ebCnD1Ion-lqH9AYcBZOFQnTmaLp8OJllL3VlA0tS69M8EeHg0PN_c_TGo/s1600/IMG_2182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqPEe1JA4r0RLw2jiYMJnj5UQyu-iy4hNgSbEdS3wQrdYm5H4MX8m2SR1nsh3vnNSuwMWXTzwJBGSt9cOW7ebCnD1Ion-lqH9AYcBZOFQnTmaLp8OJllL3VlA0tS69M8EeHg0PN_c_TGo/s320/IMG_2182.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belly dancer!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHBw-gpXRAg3UaXTsNC1pgfxvQzFBbIlT_qHIt4VeoDYAxH4BE-DzRVjSDirgbx-iTvpElw_lXfuZFahBWtSI6ZQC20aorM0cqfUMXF6FGbH3suEBEy4sWmvEFfuXM7ZuOYcaH3DEBtek/s1600/IMG_2168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHBw-gpXRAg3UaXTsNC1pgfxvQzFBbIlT_qHIt4VeoDYAxH4BE-DzRVjSDirgbx-iTvpElw_lXfuZFahBWtSI6ZQC20aorM0cqfUMXF6FGbH3suEBEy4sWmvEFfuXM7ZuOYcaH3DEBtek/s320/IMG_2168.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the singers...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The best part of the whole trip though came on Sunday morning when we went to visit La Alhambra. It was sunny and in the 60s, a perfect setting to see the breathtaking palaces and gardens originally built by the arabs when they ruled the Iberian Peninsula. I have been learning about the history of the arab culture and influence in the history of Spain and it was nice to see everything I had taken in in class come alive before my eyes. We spent 4 and half hours visiting every piece of what is technically considered a little city. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4jpa2nB1k0OkFM72Jc3QYHMh882w_Fs2gALKB13fV5Y9vUmelUY7hnB6bpHE8E2CsICOEsr7eqNcClXekD9uX6qde1ACaM1l3qsan5iIMo1FnUil6z_vvnJApDWgiWKddh0H4aeGa9M/s1600/IMG_2233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4jpa2nB1k0OkFM72Jc3QYHMh882w_Fs2gALKB13fV5Y9vUmelUY7hnB6bpHE8E2CsICOEsr7eqNcClXekD9uX6qde1ACaM1l3qsan5iIMo1FnUil6z_vvnJApDWgiWKddh0H4aeGa9M/s320/IMG_2233.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 pics from inside the palace of Carlos V</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIi1E6fF6EbGBBzw1WGXQ0I0OMyaBSOel_2GSpDilaQ31I01tH1NSJRsNPbDQ68iws220DncujXqdGu2N84TygQ8QylclWPviBQY5x6h9RIT8bU4ybo-0hALuvMPjNfmx6l_H41Ladbs/s1600/IMG_2264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirIi1E6fF6EbGBBzw1WGXQ0I0OMyaBSOel_2GSpDilaQ31I01tH1NSJRsNPbDQ68iws220DncujXqdGu2N84TygQ8QylclWPviBQY5x6h9RIT8bU4ybo-0hALuvMPjNfmx6l_H41Ladbs/s320/IMG_2264.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRECk12vu56tcEdzePVGGwPKscJjxOz2jyMSwwp0TF5gIdo433c4VkglqUS-36hH3ilkDJ-lk2URhf2a8LCJS0fHk68AgbBFtqu52b4JWDP1COWGK631WuAFyQ5RVmUYPxcpMCWDZH9no/s1600/IMG_2312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRECk12vu56tcEdzePVGGwPKscJjxOz2jyMSwwp0TF5gIdo433c4VkglqUS-36hH3ilkDJ-lk2URhf2a8LCJS0fHk68AgbBFtqu52b4JWDP1COWGK631WuAFyQ5RVmUYPxcpMCWDZH9no/s320/IMG_2312.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some other pics from inside La Alhambra...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGlccSq5SrO5vZ_-R_eapigwlpz69EOzQY3CC_DVxDzxj1hgOJaoVIeaLkXDAg9wkaHRknmkttPxPZOvMFHbTKVV-OExVPBaCljPY78tsrKT6RPmSgLg-18gdNC2yvb3Dsafj_Dm1Ti4/s1600/IMG_2254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGlccSq5SrO5vZ_-R_eapigwlpz69EOzQY3CC_DVxDzxj1hgOJaoVIeaLkXDAg9wkaHRknmkttPxPZOvMFHbTKVV-OExVPBaCljPY78tsrKT6RPmSgLg-18gdNC2yvb3Dsafj_Dm1Ti4/s320/IMG_2254.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJYfUCfGpxqsgZHKQ-tQTbtPiuTl4MSR71dHEQQI6qtMsLRpnAuxQ14odx-H_PUEZeJ8GaNegK_4KX6liAFOQcc6D6t3hTaieFZr_7ls_XK_DLdXBTfhlU2dAfdCzAnMqZjAcetYfMAw/s1600/IMG_2275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJYfUCfGpxqsgZHKQ-tQTbtPiuTl4MSR71dHEQQI6qtMsLRpnAuxQ14odx-H_PUEZeJ8GaNegK_4KX6liAFOQcc6D6t3hTaieFZr_7ls_XK_DLdXBTfhlU2dAfdCzAnMqZjAcetYfMAw/s320/IMG_2275.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYy_lauy3ftR3Y0ocvPtRO94ibG3CfE4Ojob_l7Bx_2U_nOtbwb1fR7V9v0bTnthlzc6pxEJ9AguyLNvt-gDWsDgEI1FxlzJ3IJSlq11wVW9ffL8oH2-Cm91lxTZmRRCFHgdbNJYNJto/s1600/IMG_2279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYy_lauy3ftR3Y0ocvPtRO94ibG3CfE4Ojob_l7Bx_2U_nOtbwb1fR7V9v0bTnthlzc6pxEJ9AguyLNvt-gDWsDgEI1FxlzJ3IJSlq11wVW9ffL8oH2-Cm91lxTZmRRCFHgdbNJYNJto/s320/IMG_2279.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 different decorative elements....</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrayY5hLvOMGJu6o3HCkGzerxlTbolj42cbQx_zLgrNsJpyBm4GRAAsPE4vyVnLe4Z97_b3m6TfZzc7_hGQ_ZVyhhHIwZJOAYzAR5gD5Pk3gooMcxLBkUjswJRAeo0ntIftNxP2VLBYk4/s1600/IMG_2324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrayY5hLvOMGJu6o3HCkGzerxlTbolj42cbQx_zLgrNsJpyBm4GRAAsPE4vyVnLe4Z97_b3m6TfZzc7_hGQ_ZVyhhHIwZJOAYzAR5gD5Pk3gooMcxLBkUjswJRAeo0ntIftNxP2VLBYk4/s320/IMG_2324.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 pics from La Alcazaba...the castle which acted as the city's defense center</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMN1G5adOIhGnY73HqKzS3j1qvmVkER3w_7ndQFhqNRS3zSJickUHaIG5ik4_vczulGSp8nWFJZK3dpuvIBmoDfeQzm7HH76ZBUDxiXx-widob4ksEnuPsApYE9_eOFjMDS75T_s6OO9I/s1600/IMG_2346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMN1G5adOIhGnY73HqKzS3j1qvmVkER3w_7ndQFhqNRS3zSJickUHaIG5ik4_vczulGSp8nWFJZK3dpuvIBmoDfeQzm7HH76ZBUDxiXx-widob4ksEnuPsApYE9_eOFjMDS75T_s6OO9I/s320/IMG_2346.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCbP9DMjYaZZd_OPTPjUglQgZ4XaN6xZ-wbb1XO_KyV9G8Xnx8BQcVQBf3-xFVIJqbvYbeHVBrFB75Yqor1XUgWKOJ7si8oME56vTMG8pTflrJAGZ_a7v-XTMf-wJ8Zq-jTrArOrzTA0/s1600/IMG_2347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCbP9DMjYaZZd_OPTPjUglQgZ4XaN6xZ-wbb1XO_KyV9G8Xnx8BQcVQBf3-xFVIJqbvYbeHVBrFB75Yqor1XUgWKOJ7si8oME56vTMG8pTflrJAGZ_a7v-XTMf-wJ8Zq-jTrArOrzTA0/s320/IMG_2347.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13wMZJt0KYHzOmAKaQGqEVNuoPZRoy9OgXcLuarYcz-Tb4aKvbNEOguu2DneOFpFhnjocUC-Ed8aEfmYTzY416ifMQ_DvPm4s1RWJUp1XFTebqNUYGRLSSQmvYkMx0vCW1ZYIj3uASdQ/s1600/IMG_2351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh13wMZJt0KYHzOmAKaQGqEVNuoPZRoy9OgXcLuarYcz-Tb4aKvbNEOguu2DneOFpFhnjocUC-Ed8aEfmYTzY416ifMQ_DvPm4s1RWJUp1XFTebqNUYGRLSSQmvYkMx0vCW1ZYIj3uASdQ/s320/IMG_2351.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pics from the gardens in the Generalife</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Although the visit was great, we were all ready to start making our way home and relax. The 8 hour bus ride home was a little daunting and seemed to drag on forever. Of course it did not help that about 4 hours into the ride, therefore 4 hours away from home, one of the kids on the trip threw-up on the bus. Obviously we had to make a pit-stop to let the kid change clothes and air out the bus.........<br />
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We finally made it back to Salamanca at about 10 pm. Fortunately the bus station is like 5 minutes from our house and we were back home in no time. Our host mom whipped us up a quick dinner and offered to wash Siobhan's backpack, which we realized on the walk home was covered in vomit which had slid to the front of the bus (oh god I want to hurl just thinking about it). <br />
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Overall we had a great time, saw some amazing sites, and made some new friends :)<br />
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Next blog will be about my trip to Florence, Italy to visit Marisa!<br />
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Love and miss you all!<br />
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P.S. I have another niece...Welcome to the family Ella Katherine <3<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-30842113114697972662011-03-16T11:57:00.000-07:002011-03-16T11:57:27.078-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;">Lots of catching up to do guys...be prepared for several posts in the next few days. As I mentioned in my previous post, Siobhan, Alexa and I were planning to go out to dinner at McDonald´s lol and then heading to the movies to see the Spanish comedy "Primos." Dinner was hysterical, as we snapped pics in the restaurant and had a little piece of America. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4o3Cx4UvcFKHqArCLz2zO4cQMSBvAE-lYpq69UAUlJ-ii08Mi_ZG3mkYwjsbGsx0z9X8ki4aqpWmHb6Ejv8mAAaNBkT6Xb_4b9NUqOMNYuLmwIsKs115J7LLKgwKusucclrCJysm7CcU/s1600/IMG_1785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4o3Cx4UvcFKHqArCLz2zO4cQMSBvAE-lYpq69UAUlJ-ii08Mi_ZG3mkYwjsbGsx0z9X8ki4aqpWmHb6Ejv8mAAaNBkT6Xb_4b9NUqOMNYuLmwIsKs115J7LLKgwKusucclrCJysm7CcU/s320/IMG_1785.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheeseburger Meal :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1E5t6lk1klj0Ol9-wYAF_MGN8wWd0rsKu0IZ4mVq3KG6gXwRNKUCen_mD1NeLqAltvJ8-pmVVGqGabVmrO8aRj7sEr0e3ZK_kX5qZ0tXhqItuBPadAjrMU25M25R8EiQHscqcLAQghMU/s1600/IMG_1789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1E5t6lk1klj0Ol9-wYAF_MGN8wWd0rsKu0IZ4mVq3KG6gXwRNKUCen_mD1NeLqAltvJ8-pmVVGqGabVmrO8aRj7sEr0e3ZK_kX5qZ0tXhqItuBPadAjrMU25M25R8EiQHscqcLAQghMU/s320/IMG_1789.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I will admit...I was in heaven!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The movie was actually really great as well. It was difficult to understand every detail, but we all definitely got the main points. We all burst out laughing in the theater however when the 3 main characters in the film began performing a song by the Backstreet Boys. I had serious flashbacks to middle school. It was nearly 1:00 in the morning when Siobhan and I got home. We quickly packed for our trip to Valencia and then went to bed.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">On Thursday (March 3rd) I bounced around all day with excitement. Both of my classes seemed exceptionally long and I basically ran out the door when it was time to get on the bus to Madrid to catch our flight to Valencia. Per usual the trip started off great and then we hit some problems. We all made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and were feeling good. We decided to get our boarding passes, pass through security and then get something to eat as we had 5 hours to wait before our flight (we were so early because there was only one bus from Salamanca to Madrid's airport). We were not looking forward to the long wait.....but in hindsight we were very fortunate to have the extra time. Siobhan and I used the self check-in with ease, successfully printing our boarding passes. However, Alexa was not so lucky. After the self check-in told her that they didn't have a flight booked under her name she remained calm and went to the actual ticket counter. With confirmation number in hand she once again attempted to obtain her boarding pass....FAIL. Although she had a confirmation email and number and the airline had her name, phone number, and email address along with the same confirmation number, there was no flight listed along with it. This is where panic set in. Now the only way for her to come with us was to purchase a new ticket, sounds easy enough...WRONG. The only roundtrip tickets were over 300 euros..not dollars, euros. In short the ticket was RIDICULOUSLY and UNNECESSARILY expensive. Obviously she was not going to pay this much money for the flight. To save you all some time...and torture...I will fast forward 2 hours...YES 2 HOURS! Alexa ended up having to buy a one-way ticket to Valencia (which still was priced to high, but not 300 euros) and then buy a train ticket back to Salamanca for Sunday instead of flying back (the train was way cheaper and she would have taken it to Valencia as well but of course by the time we thought of this she had missed the last available train of the evening..womp womp womp). Oh and let me not forgot that when Alexa went to purchase said airplane ticket her card would not work...so actually Siobhan bought it lol. With now only 3 hours until our flight left we treated ourselves to yup yup more McDonalds (DO NOT JUDGE!) Fortunately we made it to Valencia without further issues.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Valencia was AMAZING! First of all, it was extremely exciting and relieving to see familiar faces. I think I literally almost cried when I say Dr. and Mrs. Reyes, Dr. Costanzi, Ashley and Ang. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbefbbwTHRO99XtfEex7QseBddecNU3cCBvFk1YSPH2ezcBCtPDC5FU4A5naWkLRoyGFg6B4olEsifiQmSIWdtYMJbXh1wuyk5jHPi26gugpyXkQVtPvztEzWoB3cEw4wQ25Oj9SrZWPo/s1600/IMG_1850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbefbbwTHRO99XtfEex7QseBddecNU3cCBvFk1YSPH2ezcBCtPDC5FU4A5naWkLRoyGFg6B4olEsifiQmSIWdtYMJbXh1wuyk5jHPi26gugpyXkQVtPvztEzWoB3cEw4wQ25Oj9SrZWPo/s320/IMG_1850.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marywood <3<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4f8zDxCfl9LWKb1OIkbjHn0qaAYVnn9jyDSo9lv7pxmHZkUFCOxdwepYU9kVp4AWlkxkxFsljO1oX72StUycZ0Ac6iOjsBSa1QUPJhEArD6SrVX6hwAEPJQ9GhMkEm5Dn_E4t5X_xrRQ/s1600/IMG_1831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4f8zDxCfl9LWKb1OIkbjHn0qaAYVnn9jyDSo9lv7pxmHZkUFCOxdwepYU9kVp4AWlkxkxFsljO1oX72StUycZ0Ac6iOjsBSa1QUPJhEArD6SrVX6hwAEPJQ9GhMkEm5Dn_E4t5X_xrRQ/s320/IMG_1831.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Ashley<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVYJ8AqMnk7ND-7xvg6CExdnjZcSJ83LPqrTev5Ad4sI1j8w7Po_8pnD4YYY3tpX1nJPe2__XaPtBsubqak9UNtzg4_eHyBmUMdygeVvjN_ppNNI6CwbFox_Gn78YySUzbRAoLtXDBG0/s1600/IMG_1848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVYJ8AqMnk7ND-7xvg6CExdnjZcSJ83LPqrTev5Ad4sI1j8w7Po_8pnD4YYY3tpX1nJPe2__XaPtBsubqak9UNtzg4_eHyBmUMdygeVvjN_ppNNI6CwbFox_Gn78YySUzbRAoLtXDBG0/s320/IMG_1848.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Ang</td></tr>
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Although the weather did not fully cooperate, we still got to see plenty of the charming city. I was most thrilled when we got to see the church where Dr. and Mrs. Reyes were married and of course the one sunny day that we got to take a walk on the beach and then eat AMAZING paella in a beachside restaurant. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-YXkHcqIqZvg82phfeb84Io_BIRcAxTTw3xd07X-3-rAUvXAsEc_VV2lPyJSZQb_l7Z-Mb5CFz07EN1aHZDxfIithYJKit1boHcLrIW76wVNgs3dwe5xgwkyVizYkxZ93zglaheEgYI/s1600/IMG_1813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs-YXkHcqIqZvg82phfeb84Io_BIRcAxTTw3xd07X-3-rAUvXAsEc_VV2lPyJSZQb_l7Z-Mb5CFz07EN1aHZDxfIithYJKit1boHcLrIW76wVNgs3dwe5xgwkyVizYkxZ93zglaheEgYI/s320/IMG_1813.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alter where Dr. and Mrs. Reyes exchanged vows!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOGy-o0j-iAKW3bXXyEWq2bqq9PI-iwpGjpHdsWj6rdtPYtBmk3iuy5w4xk9ie8EI1-tjMIgbkUWMfK3IH-5gYTWidH5TrKBuU7Wdj10x7hz7-FMgyspM384luacyJGG1Urk0fo_RDk0/s1600/IMG_1910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOGy-o0j-iAKW3bXXyEWq2bqq9PI-iwpGjpHdsWj6rdtPYtBmk3iuy5w4xk9ie8EI1-tjMIgbkUWMfK3IH-5gYTWidH5TrKBuU7Wdj10x7hz7-FMgyspM384luacyJGG1Urk0fo_RDk0/s320/IMG_1910.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Oh and I cannot forget to mention how cool La Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias was. One architect created this breathtaking complex of museums, unique architecture and artwork.....<br />
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However, nothing could top getting to see the first lighting of the decorations for Las Fallas, a very important holiday in Valencia. Large ornate, free-standing, metal pieces lined the various streets. Each one has millions of different colored lights on them. The minor streets were all lit earlier in the evening, kicked-off by fireworks. <br />
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The main attraction was lit later in the evening. I think pretty much everyone that lives in the city was in attendance, including all of the local news stations. Everyone got a little impatient waiting for the lights to come on...but it was WELL worth the wait. It was one of the most amazing, special things that I have ever experienced and not just the lighting and fireworks to open Las Falles, but the pride I saw on the people's faces to be a native of such a truly beautiful city.<br />
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More to come on the last 2 weeks...<br />
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Love,<br />
Tayler</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="goog_599119578"></span><span id="goog_599119579"></span></div>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-852470575385309122011-03-02T09:40:00.000-08:002011-03-02T09:42:06.789-08:00Checking in real quickHola all....nothing too exciting to report. Cannot believe that I leave for Valencia tomorrow to catch up with the Marywood gang! I have been talking about this weekend for it seems like forever and now it is finally here. Not holding my breathe for awesome weather, but as long as it is sunny I can deal.<br />
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Siobhan, Alexa and I are going to McDonald's tonight for dinner lol. We had to do it at least once during the trip. We would not be the stereotypical Americans if we didn't ;) After dinner we are meeting Amanda and Daryl as well as some of Alexa's roommates at the movies. We will be seeing "Los Primos," a Spanish comedy.<br />
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Actually I lied...BIG NEWS! WE HAVE INTERNET IN OUR HOUSE NOW! Ramon (my savior and absolute favorite person involved with the study abroad program) gave Siobhan and I an USB modem for our laptops so that we can have wireless internet at home. It is going to cost us 18 euros per month, but at this point I will take what I can get. It worked the first time I tried to use it in the student center and I am hoping I will be as successful the first time I try to use it at home.<br />
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Siobhan and I also purchased tickets for our next excursion today. Next weekend we will be traveling to Granada and Sevilla :) Also found one of the only cafes in Salamanca that allows you to purchase to-go cups of coffee...SO pumped!<br />
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That's all I have for now. <br />
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Hasta luego,<br />
Tayler <3Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-25961371728382482452011-02-26T09:52:00.000-08:002011-02-26T09:52:29.963-08:00Well we triedAnother interesting story for you all, I swear these things only happen to us. So on Thursday night Siobhan and I decided that we wanted to go out. Alexa had spoken to two of the guys that we met on Monday night (they are from Holland and only here for a week) and we planned to meet in the Plaza Mayor around 11 to get some drinks. I will give Alexa some credit here, because shockingly she was actually on time lol. Unfortunately the boys were being lame and napping so we headed to a cute little bar inside of the plaza to get a glass of wine. We sat for about 45 minutes enjoying our wine and chitchatting and then decided to move onto another place that Alexa had already been to. As soon as we walked into the bar (which was absolutely adorable I might add, it had a lot of character, but was practically empty this early in the evening) and I made eye contact with an older man at the bar, I knew something was gonna go down. And of course I was correct. Not 5 seconds later this man whom I have yet to even speak too appears next to me with 3 extremely dark drinks in his hand. Obviously having not seen the drinks be made, there is absolutely no way in hell we are going to drink them and we politely decline. He seems to take our refusal well, returning the drinks to the bartender. I am watching closely as the bartender then calls over another woman to take the drinks and don't you know she then comes back over to us and tries to give us the drinks. We politely decline AGAIN and she turns into a bitch. In English (with attitude and a bitchy face) she says "You know these are free right?" So I very <i>very</i> nicely (note the sarcasm) reply back to her "Yes I understood you the first 3 times you told me in Spanish and I still don't want the drinks." She had the good sense to stalk off at this point. I am convinced that all Europeans think that all American girls are socially stupid...well sorry to disappoint. Because we felt sufficiently awkward at this point we headed out. The creepy guy that started the whole damn debacle was still outside smoking a cigarette. We actually happened to run into the boys in the street on our way out, as they had finally decided to wake up and get dressed. As they wanted to dance, we took them to a place we have been to several times, Camelot. It is an old church that has been turned into a discoteca. This was SO not the scene Siobhan, Alexa and I were going for. We just wanted to relax with a drink. Therefore as soon as we got there we were already creating an escape plan. Side note, we failed to realize the last few times that we had been there that the clientele was young. All of the people dancing on the stage (and speakers) were like 16 at most. We were a little mortified to be honest. This was clearly not the place to be. Luckily Alexa quickly came up with a fool proof plan. She walked outside for 10 minutes, came back in, pretended that her roommate had called her because she forgot her keys at home and now needed Alexa to let her in. Siobhan and I being the good friends, would not let Alexa walk home alone so we had to leave too. It was brilliant and it totally worked. Alexa went home (because honestly its totally safe to walk the streets of Salamanca at night alone) and Siobhan and I did the same. So although the evening was interesting to say the least, at least we tried to go out and have a good time.<br />
The rest of weekend, Siobhan and I have just been enjoying the beautiful weather. For the second day in a row it has been sunny and at least 60 degrees. Yesterday we just walked around near the plaza and stopped at one of our favorite spots for chocolate and churros. Today our parents drove us to this awesome walking trail. We snapped tons of pics and tried to let our skin soak up as much sun as possible lol. I am got to Skype for an hour with the family at the lakehouse. Mom, dad, Aunt Linda, Uncle Rich, Aunt Lisa, Gram and Pop, Laura x 2, Mel, Joe, Kim....and little Miley :) It made my day to get to see and catchup with everyone. Its nice to know I have them at home cheering me on, proud of the big adventure I am taking, and anxiously waiting for my return. Currently sitting with Siobhan at Cafe & Te drinking chocolate milkshakes! Hahaha definitely going to need to hit the gym a little harder next week.<br />
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Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-67317588981651896592011-02-23T09:38:00.000-08:002011-02-23T09:38:11.840-08:00A weekend in MadridHey all....haven't had a chance to update the blog recently. Lo siento!<br />
Last weekend Siobhan, Alexa and I as well as our two friends Daryl and Amanda traveled to Madrid. Our program was hosting the excursion, so we decided to go hop on board for the free ride. Instead of returning the same day, we booked rooms in a Best Western so that we could stay the night and attend the Real Madrid v Levante U.D. game.<br />
As it always seems to go, the trip was awesome but there was a few low moments lol. To start, the bus left 30 minutes later than it was supposed to. And why you ask? Oh thats simple....because there really is no such thing as punctuality in Spain. Everyone kind of shows up when they feel like it. Nevertheless though we did make it to Madrid in a little less than 3 hours and after all I should not complain as I mentioned above we did not have to pay for the bus. After arriving in Madrid, we decided to first find the hotel and drop off our overnight bags. Well we did not do a whole lot of research into the hotel before booking it. We knew that it was a little out of the way as it was located near the Barajas airport, but did not realize it would take us an hour to get there by Metro. We had to change lines 3 times, got off at the wrong stop only once, but in the end made it to the hotel and checked in. Bonus was that unlike NYC you only pay for the Metro once ( 1 euro) and not every time you change lines. So while it took us an hour, it was very very cheap :) Also, breakfast was included and the hotel had free wifi (and for those of you that have been reading religiously..cough cough it better be all of you...this was a big PLUS in my book). Not to mention that it was only 10 minutes from the airport so we had to do very little traveling in the morning to take a bus back (one of the buses back to Salamanca leaves from the airport..the other in the way south of Madrid). We thought we were being very clever with this arrangement and were very proud of ourselves for doing all this without parents.<br />
After relaxing for a little while Daryl, Alexa and Amanda took off for El Prado museum. Siobhan and I having already visited this lovely establishment, decided to make our way down to the Real Madrid stadium and walk around. We found a Corte Ingles 10 minutes from the stadium (Spain's version of a mall) and walked around for a bit. The best part however was stopping into a Hollywood themed restaurant and having "American" food. It was nice to pick what and when I ate for a change ;) After dinner though things went a little down hill. The girls were late meeting us at the stadium. With 15 minutes to go before game time, we were finally about to make our way inside. I was finally starting to relax (and to be honest starting to lose the murderous feelings I felt towards them for being so late lol). Unfortunately as we approached the ticket scanner, our tickets would not scan. I was freaking out at this point obviously. We were told (in Spanish of course) to go to Gate 37 (we were at gate 14) and simply get new tickets printed for us. Ok awesome..the man at the gate did not seem worried and we thought ok lets go get our tickets and then take our seats...no problem. WRONG! There are no people at the gate, just a machine that prints out the tickets. Unfortunately though you need the credit card the tickets were purchased with to print the tickets. We of course did not have it as our program director had bought them and we had paid him back in cash. I am frantic at this point. We quickly make our way to the next closest gate and (in Spanish) try to explain the problem. We went through 3 people before someone understood. Luckily this wonderful wonderful man (I could have kissed him really) seemed to have had this happen before. He folded our tickets to make the other barcode able to pass through the scanner. Running with happiness we return to our appropriate gate to finally check in. The freaking tickets now do not scan again. And thats when I snapped. The poor man that tried to tell us that we had to go back to Gate 37 and print new tickets.....before he could finish telling us to do what we already had tried to do....I starting yelling at him rapid fire in Spanish and told him to keep trying to scan the tickets because it had worked before. They worked and we were finally inside. Yes I admit I was a TOTAL bitch to this poor, unsuspecting man but I could only take so much. And hey at least I yelled in Spanish..that should count for something. Alexa and Siobhan were thankful but a little embarrassed. Siobhan said and I quote, "Yo I wanted to apologize to him....you yelled at him and it was not his fault. What were you thinking...he was SO cute." Apparently if he had been ugly no one would have had a problem with my behavior lol. With 3 minutes to game time we took our seats. <br />
The rest of the night was AMAZING. Being at the game was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. Never have I gotten to see such beautiful soccer up close. And the atmosphere in the stadium was indescribable! Real Madrid won 2 - 0 and I captured the second goal in a pic! The rest of the night went off without a hitch. We made it back to the hotel and snuggled into bed.<br />
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In the morning we woke up and had a really great breakfast. We packed up our stuff and headed to the airport to catch the bus. We were feeling good, now appreciating how close we had stayed to the airport (which was a 30 minute Metro ride from the stadium). We walked into Terminal 1 and went to buy the bus tickets. Only one problem, we could not find the kiosk. After asking about 5 different people and getting a different answer 5 times, we finally found an information stand. Bad news...while you can take a bus back to Salamanca from the airport on Sundays, you cannot buy the tickets there. Yeah I know...makes perfect sense to me too. Not accepting defeat...we realized we COULD buy tickets for the train and take that back instead (it takes the same amount of time). So we bought our train tickets, got back on the Metro for 30 minutes, got on the train and made our way home. We made it home! We were so excited when we stepped out onto the streets of Salamanca. And then God had to give us one more obstacle. I kid you not the moment we stepped out of the train station and onto the street the skies opened up and it POURED! Alexa, Siobhan and I (forgot to mention Daryl and Amanda stayed behind in Madrid, opting to return later in the evening) burst out laughing. That was all we could do. After the events of the 2 days in Madrid it almost seemed like a perfect ending to the trip....a 20 minute walk back to the house in the pouring rain. We treated ourselves to a nice, warm cup of coffee on the way home lol to ease the pain ;) Drenched we came back into the house, put on comfy pjs and relaxed for the entire rest of the day.<br />
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A crazy weekend, but I would not take one moment of it back. I will forever remember that trip and am so happy I got to share it with friends :) Parts of the trip might have been miserable in the moment, but in the end at least I was able to have such a cool opportunity :) Although I have been a little homesick the last couple of days, it is these experiences (good and bad lol) that keep me going. Studying abroad..its a once and a lifetime thing and I am so grateful for it. <br />
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Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-47106597647457718282011-02-17T02:56:00.000-08:002011-02-17T02:56:19.332-08:00Announcement.....I am very happy to report that Siobhan and I have finally joined a gym! With all the food we have been consuming (some by choice, some....well lets just say our host mother is a bit of food pusher) we thought it best to try and combat weight gain from the beginning. The gym is only like a 10 minute walk from our house, and we can go anytime between 7 am and 1 pm. We had a great first workout yesterday and are very excited to go back tomorrow for pilates class. Oh btw there is a hot tub and a sauna in the gym that we are free to use.....Yahtzee!<br />
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I am also very happy to report that this Saturday Siobhan, Alexa and I will be traveling to Madrid...to attend the Real Madrid game! I am very very excited and am looking forward to hooking myself up with some gear :)<br />
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Love to all,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-1507236187066309082011-02-14T09:14:00.000-08:002011-02-14T11:17:33.406-08:00Just a little something...Not too much has happened since the last time that I blogged. Siobhan and I attempted to go out on Saturday night....attempted being the important word. At about midnight Siobhan and I had just finished watching Ladrones de Mentes...a horrible film starring Wesley Snipes. We had run into some of the girls earlier in the day, who had mentioned that they might be going out to a local bar for wine. They told us that they would send us a text and let us know for sure. So as I said...Siobhan and I finished the movie at midnight. As we had not heard anything from the girls, we assumed that they had decided to stay in. Changing into our pajamas, Siobhan and I went to work uploading some new Alejandro Sanz's music into our itunes libraries (complements of our host parents.) All comfy, relaxing in our beds, and don't you know this is when the girls decide to text and let us know that they were in fact going out and wanted us to be meet them. Not really wanting to go, but not wanting to look like bitches more lol we quickly threw our clothes back on and made the 15 minute walk to the bar. They are nowhere to be found. As we struggled to make our way through the incredibly packed and smelly (BO) bar, we cannot find them. Side note: I swear there are no fire codes in Spain. The amount of people in this one little bar was unreal. Back to the story.....so we cannot find the girls and after finally making our way back out of the bar (into the fresh air...and by fresh I mean does not smell like BO not clean..because with the way the Spaniards smoke there is no way the air could be clean) we walked the couple extra steps to La Plaza Mayor to see if perhaps they were waiting for us there. Nope...no luck. We sent a text to them...and after about 20-25 minutes of waiting we headed back home. Approximately 5 minutes from our house we received a response text with their location. Siobhan and I both laughed hysterically and........went back to our warm beds. Clearly it was just not ment to be....no hard feelings. There was one positive of the night however, Siobhan and I spoke Spanish to each other the entire way to the bar, while we were waiting, and the entire way home :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture I took after we returned home...sums up the night!</td></tr>
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In other news, we also saw a single stripper heel abandoned on a street corner today...Oh the irony I know ;) Took a picture of course.....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80qOQkccUnmOkoIhyphenhyphencpkg1J5Gw961N_ayOLWB8LD_7rDb2F46OIL6bqT1-1MtU8M82BFdvckIBERUE6psm06l5I9a5NLNReTaUO8aq8IZM6gV3QkpHE7roJIp9iwaPXWWrjARWV6n_8w/s1600/IMG_1641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80qOQkccUnmOkoIhyphenhyphencpkg1J5Gw961N_ayOLWB8LD_7rDb2F46OIL6bqT1-1MtU8M82BFdvckIBERUE6psm06l5I9a5NLNReTaUO8aq8IZM6gV3QkpHE7roJIp9iwaPXWWrjARWV6n_8w/s320/IMG_1641.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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Happy Valentine's Day to all <3<br />
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Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-60571622166631484192011-02-12T09:28:00.000-08:002011-02-12T09:28:09.973-08:00Culturally Confused...So I am currently sitting with Siobhan in a modern little place called Café & Té, where we are you guessed it drinking coffee and munching on double chocolate chip muffins. Based on the menu, the muffin looked very appealing and I was anxious to have a taste of what I thought would be some homemade goodness. I was wrong....out with the coffee comes a prepackaged Otis Spunkmeyer muffin. So not exactly what I was anticipating, but pretty delicious nonetheless. However, the situation has become increasingly awkward. Since taking our seats, I have listened to the Black Eyed Peas, the "Friends" theme song, among many other American radio tunes. If this was the first time I had heard some music from home while here in Spain, I probably would have been excited...happy to have a little piece of home. However, since arriving in Spain, American music is pretty much all I have heard and it is starting to grate on my nerves. Every discoteca and many of the stores play Lady Gaga and Beyonce, Katy Perry and Usher. Like seriously?!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Siobhan and I have kind of laid low this week, mostly because I came down with a bad cold last weekend and didn't much feel like venturing out at night. Feeling much much better now though..thanks to the Spanish cough medicine I picked up at the Farmacia, which by the way tastes 600 times better than Robitussin).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiIJrHoF97bFJIvxBU5tqaLSB5P_psJJWhN67HTSxSC8d9Nwp2s3vOWFTYxlZ7PaFiV0WUjaBsRkOnaYGOZfv4p7BpSESWH_UZQunN49FHcWeIjEO-A01uk5AXLrWoWQYuCpVbH1XQ1M/s1600/IMG_1574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiIJrHoF97bFJIvxBU5tqaLSB5P_psJJWhN67HTSxSC8d9Nwp2s3vOWFTYxlZ7PaFiV0WUjaBsRkOnaYGOZfv4p7BpSESWH_UZQunN49FHcWeIjEO-A01uk5AXLrWoWQYuCpVbH1XQ1M/s320/IMG_1574.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Have no fear though...we were not complete hermits. On Wednesday we went out with just the girls for a little vino. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fLCripv1RMCduK5U2au2ZzEqTioGE6n3LUR0HuHeI0saW2zUQlvn3h2Axv8onpgr7kZcDzD-LHH9PHqnwWZr-6NeIgqAkXOWx39ZjvJpciYzeRkinqj9RYI8errhBhH3YYLI1yLvHOc/s1600/IMG_1579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fLCripv1RMCduK5U2au2ZzEqTioGE6n3LUR0HuHeI0saW2zUQlvn3h2Axv8onpgr7kZcDzD-LHH9PHqnwWZr-6NeIgqAkXOWx39ZjvJpciYzeRkinqj9RYI8errhBhH3YYLI1yLvHOc/s320/IMG_1579.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
We also went out exploring again on Friday, taking plenty of photos to share with you all (I will be posting them to Facebook shortly), and last night we watched a terrible scary movie called "Darnkess" with our host parents. All in all not a bad week :) Its supposed to rain for the next few days starting tomorrow, so Siobhan and I are actively researching some activities to keep us entertained lol. <br />
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We are happy to announce that we have officially booked our tickets for Valencia and cannot wait to see everyone in just 18 days! So much is happening that it is difficult to include/remember everything here on the blog. I will do my best to keep you all updated on the good and the bad....and the hilarious of course ;) Siobhan and I have had some good laughs in the past 2 weeks...one of my favorites has to be seeing a women walk by us on the street carrying her puppy in basically a Baby Bjorn. The dog was strapped to her chest with its little feet sticking straight out in front. As not to be the stereotypically rude Americans, we resisted the urge to take a picture...Sorry guys :(<br />
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Love to all,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-10454144245752012802011-02-10T09:18:00.000-08:002011-02-10T09:18:49.350-08:0055 degrees and sunny...A beautiful beautiful day in Salamanca. Classes are finished for the week and I could not be more excited. Siobhan and I had big plans for this afternoon/evening, but unfortunately things did not pan out the way we thought they would. We had planned on watching a movie version of Lorca´s "La casa de Bernarda Alba" and then follow that up with a Mediterranean style cooking class. However, the dvd became jammed in the dvd player, making it impossible to use. We did make a friend though...Ian from Missouri. Further, we discovered that 10 people did not sign up for the cooking class (btw we were never told by our coordinator that this was necessary) so it would not be taking place. Nevertheless, Siobhan and I refused to accept defeat. Instead we spent 2 hours roaming around the city in the amazing weather, taking pictures and getting caught up in the indescribable charm. We finished our walk with a stop at our favorite local spot Cafe Novelty for chocolate and churros, sitting at a table in the sunshine on the outskirts of La Plaza Mayor. <br />
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Overall a great day :) We are hoping to take a tour of the cathedrals tomorrow and do some more exploring. Also trying to finish booking tickets for our trip to Valencia in about 2 weeks as well as plan out our other weekend adventures for the semester. <br />
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One of those days where you really realize how fortunate and lucky you are for such an amazing experience....totally worth it.<br />
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Love,<br />
Tayler<br />
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P.S. our host family´s oldest son is coming for a visit this weekend...can´t wait to meet him!Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-58576237137951011682011-02-09T08:39:00.000-08:002011-02-09T08:40:45.874-08:00Catching up....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorry for the lack of blogging folks. I cannot believe that I have almost been in Salamanca for 2 weeks! Siobhan and I have adjusted nicely. We have begun to explore more of the city a little and have started to do a better job taking pictures. Classes are still going well, but the homework is beginning to increase. Speaking of homework, Siobhan and I were not successful in completing our homework assignment for our cine, prensa y television course (aka project get a Spanish boyfriend). However this was not for a lack of trying. We spoke to two very nice young men who at first glance appeared to be hispanic. Unfortunately upon further conversation we discovered that they were in fact from France. Yeah I know...we felt like idiots and to not make them feel unimportant/hide our disappointment we took their pictures and numbers lol. The funniest part was that we also ran into them a few nights later (they were up on the stage of the bar dancing). Siobhan and I had a VERY good laugh that night. Back to my classes, I learned the arabic alphabet today in my class el mundo arabe en el mundo hispanico. Let me tell you...SO hard. We all attempted to write our names in arabic...and as the arabic alphabet does not have a "y" or an "e" it was a little difficult to spell my name. My teacher, who I am convinced speaks arabic and knows everything there is to know about the language/culture (well as she is teaching the class I suppose she SHOULD), somehow managed to show me how to write my name. Im still trying to figure it out. In other news, made a new friend today. Her name is Lizzie and she is from Massachusetts. She is a freshman and this is her second semester here. Yes your thoughts are correct folks....the very first university that she ever attended was the University of Salamanca in Spain. She has been applying from here to schools in the states for when she returns. Ballsy! I am very excited about this new friend because not only is she sweet, but she knows a lot of girls that our native to Salamanca. We exchanged numbers and she said she would invite Siobhan and I out to coffee or something with them so we could make some only Spanish speaking friends. So pumped....this is exactly what we need!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thats all I have for now...will be updating more frequently promise! For those that are curious..here is a photo of me and my "boyfriend" jajajajajaja (thats hahahaha in Spanish)</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQZxOLf6CPdcWR6aBROAKl2NSTOEmbGQlN7WhQXXohBckRiM3c3q8AMLalhDc6Dt-rTcNtBDL7rRSv71DP9IZPcLErC3teW1ZUypGvPKii9YDwBcMTjiYmQLcjL5KPBwwLbjt4wG5HDU/s1600/IMG_1512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQZxOLf6CPdcWR6aBROAKl2NSTOEmbGQlN7WhQXXohBckRiM3c3q8AMLalhDc6Dt-rTcNtBDL7rRSv71DP9IZPcLErC3teW1ZUypGvPKii9YDwBcMTjiYmQLcjL5KPBwwLbjt4wG5HDU/s320/IMG_1512.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Mr. France </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hasta luego,<br />
<div>Tayler <3</div>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-92174200729214910722011-02-02T10:49:00.000-08:002011-02-02T10:49:18.542-08:00You mean I actually came here to study....As I mentioned in my previous posts, classes began yesterday. I am taking 4 classes - lengua española (Spanish language), el mundo árabe en el mundo hispánico (the arabe world in the hispanic world), la mujer en la historia de España (the women in the history of Spain) and Cine, prensa y televisión en España (movies, press and television in Spain). All of my professors are fantastic and based on the first lectures, I think every class is going to be very interesting. I am pleasantly surprised with how much I am able to understand in class and I have already forced myself to participate! So far I don't have too much homework, just a little reading, however I did get one particularly interesting assignment for Monday. My professor for Cine, prensa y televisión told us that over the weekend our homework is to find a Spanish speaking boyfriend. We must be able to produce a picture of ourselves with said boyfriend as well as be able to provide his phone number. If we can accomplish both tasks, we get 10 extra points on our final exam. Obviously because it is a homework assignment I have to do it ;) Not to panic dad.....it is not necessary to actually date him, but her point was that the best way to learn Spanish is to become friends with the native students here in Salamanca. Not only is it a very inexpensive way of learning the language, but also a way to ensure that we are constantly using it.<br />
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Luckily, I only have 2 classes a day with the exception of Friday..YAHTZEE! Its great to have free time to explore and I definitely plan on doing so.<br />
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Hasta luego...and much much love,<br />
TayTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-14630426035835580172011-02-02T10:27:00.000-08:002011-02-02T10:27:38.904-08:00The First Night in Spain<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_vgTWS5wRz6oj9RTa767GuD64n3lqTaKmOZ17OaNMWn4CGmRIx1aroH0DU9hWNdwpCqLn2yRDu9H4rNoGmxlpBsp8M2m07kKj-mnBfWBj_OqzgqU_dM_zCLi2F0zZUBPLlfgCYsZ5_A/s1600/IMG_1480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_vgTWS5wRz6oj9RTa767GuD64n3lqTaKmOZ17OaNMWn4CGmRIx1aroH0DU9hWNdwpCqLn2yRDu9H4rNoGmxlpBsp8M2m07kKj-mnBfWBj_OqzgqU_dM_zCLi2F0zZUBPLlfgCYsZ5_A/s320/IMG_1480.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Restaurant where Siobhan, Alexa, and I ate dinner. We were joined by our T&E coordinator Marta and the 3 other girls in our program. Great food and even better company!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5kApI5O1QA0G8U8sbZKKCpCOP84d7lUJ8fpkEwhyqp_Ljqr0zecn2q9eOrZCSsCBdTiU8_SwRIqPws5L7Mv4owvrTY28kOgkUS94pIi47x9nFPwoBWna5jUSLbUROyhK0x2HiW3jOeY/s1600/IMG_1476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5kApI5O1QA0G8U8sbZKKCpCOP84d7lUJ8fpkEwhyqp_Ljqr0zecn2q9eOrZCSsCBdTiU8_SwRIqPws5L7Mv4owvrTY28kOgkUS94pIi47x9nFPwoBWna5jUSLbUROyhK0x2HiW3jOeY/s320/IMG_1476.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First drink of the trip!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uZCEzS9gN3zeogxLCdwXC_vxXW5Hk6Zrl3ZzO3aGaYc20mm3c2_WD8exZvmo9r9xGz2VnoXRal9uaiLqCcnFXYuVmUL6NljQ3xId4DgTeRlOelCNaWV_r2kCR8-axs7dyPLh8W3WEzM/s1600/IMG_1478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uZCEzS9gN3zeogxLCdwXC_vxXW5Hk6Zrl3ZzO3aGaYc20mm3c2_WD8exZvmo9r9xGz2VnoXRal9uaiLqCcnFXYuVmUL6NljQ3xId4DgTeRlOelCNaWV_r2kCR8-axs7dyPLh8W3WEzM/s320/IMG_1478.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After hours and hours of traveling, we look pretty damn good if I do say so myself ;)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5ZZpD6GJ9KVlGSpSwhce4oqkZWlNzZMezFcUylK56zASdDP2jYtS_wXkXH7raL2rCaCK3hkzX5tmYLo42LxER2Mu1RvoyrEDSdAzW3DxsjvQ45TMDSYcosRTXKHAMeI-SKtytZnRrHI/s1600/IMG_1483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5ZZpD6GJ9KVlGSpSwhce4oqkZWlNzZMezFcUylK56zASdDP2jYtS_wXkXH7raL2rCaCK3hkzX5tmYLo42LxER2Mu1RvoyrEDSdAzW3DxsjvQ45TMDSYcosRTXKHAMeI-SKtytZnRrHI/s320/IMG_1483.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bar that we went to after dinner. Apparently these chupiterías are all the rage (basically all they serve is shots!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtaYKmHFxW1qXhDG8KAFsnvDZVwEWh9EswPIoTMXYyYAY73NLfQB-npxOIKobZnvASd1Pv5H_Iuw0iv6jN1Ctd9hsxKkboG8S4gUoDgBqxWzAjE9Z6dw0AjaXcnQXcXTV7_IIx13c16g/s1600/IMG_1482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtaYKmHFxW1qXhDG8KAFsnvDZVwEWh9EswPIoTMXYyYAY73NLfQB-npxOIKobZnvASd1Pv5H_Iuw0iv6jN1Ctd9hsxKkboG8S4gUoDgBqxWzAjE9Z6dw0AjaXcnQXcXTV7_IIx13c16g/s320/IMG_1482.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When in Spain........<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-72736236979400284772011-02-01T02:29:00.000-08:002011-02-01T02:29:02.006-08:00The CityOver the past few days, Siobhan and I have really begun to find our way around. Although we end up at our destinations at times by accident, we are proud of ourselves nonetheless lol. Luckily for us our Spanish mother and brother gave us a 2 1/2 hour walking tour of the city and we are able to use the various buildings and monuments that they pointed out to us as reference points on our excursions alone.<div><br />
</div><div>The city of Salamanca is absolutely breathtaking and there is in an almost indescribable character. All of the streets are made of cobblestone and all of the buildings are constructed using the same colored stone. While the stone appears to be a shade of tan, we have been told that depending on the weather and the reflection of the sun the buildings vary in color from a lighter tan to a deeper orange.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Have not taken too many pictures yet, but I will definitely be stepping up my game as the days continue. Now that we have a better understanding of how to get from point A to point B, I feel more relaxed and am more willing to wander around, stopping to take in the sights around me. </div><div><br />
</div><div>More descriptions of the city to come as well as some PICTURES! Will also be filling you all in on how classes are going (they started this morning :) )</div><div><br />
</div><div>Love,</div><div>Tayler</div><div><br />
</div><div> </div>Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-68091816050274140652011-01-31T03:47:00.000-08:002011-01-31T03:47:16.741-08:00La familiaWell by some act of God Siobhan and I were placed with the same host family; a husband and wife as well as their 13 year-old son (Mario, Ana, and Alex). We are living in a small apartment about a 10-15 minute walk to the University of Salamanca. Siobhan and I share our own room and so far things are going fairly well. The family barely speaks any English, so both of us are having the opportunity to speak a lot of Spanish. <br />
We are slowly but surely adapting to the culture and just yesterday experienced our first siesta ( a break period in the day from about 2 to 4 where many of the businesses close, families return home together to eat the main meal of the day and take a very short nap before leaving the house again). For those of you who do not know, in Spain we eat a very light breakfast around 8 (we have been having warm milk and coco powder) lunch is served at 3 and is a HUGE meal, and then around 9 we eat a fairly decent sized dinner. The lunch yesterday was absolutely amazing. It is a little hard to explain, but we had beef that was cooked similar to roast and had half of a hard-boiled egg, a roasted carrot, a green olive, and a roasted red pepper in the center of the cut (I am still trying to figure out how she managed to do that). In addition we had the Spanish version of french fries and a large salad with a balsamic vinaigrette like dressing. The salad was very similar to something we eat in the states-lettuce, tomato, onion, green olives- but they also add cooked corn. For dessert our host mother made us homemade flan...YUMMMY! We washed the whole meal down with a great red wine :) I was definitely very happy to learn that our host mother can definitely cook!<br />
Dinner was sandwiches (it was similar to an egg salad but with fresh veggies and lettuce mixed in), chirizo (kind of like italian supasod (?) no idea how to spell it lol), cheese, and fruit. I liked everything except for the sandwich. I have a very strong aversion to egg salad....so needless to say it was hard to get that down and I did not have the heart to tell her I did not like it. I am simply praying that she never makes it again.<br />
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We do not have a lot of internet access at our house so we will be spending a lot of time at school and at the student center that has wifi lol. I will hopefully be updating every day or so and let you in on the new things that I have seen, eaten, or experienced ;)<br />
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Love,<br />
TaylerTaylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3120038812645070985.post-7869368019161102032011-01-30T07:26:00.000-08:002011-01-30T07:26:36.525-08:00The Travel Saga<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The trip started off fairly well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I arrived to Laguardia on time and made it through security without a hitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, I also managed to say goodbye to my parents without bursting into tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those close to me, you all know that is a huge accomplishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I was a little nervous to be flying alone on what I surmised would be a very small puddle jumper plane (it was just that by the way) I was also very excited to finally be on my way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After seven weeks of waiting, the day had finally arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sat in gate 6 reading my first book on the Kindle I received for my birthday (shout out to mom and dad for the sweet gift).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I was feeling confident as I boarded the plan, as I was now only a little over an hour away from meeting up with Siobhan and Alexa in Philadelphia and no longer having to travel on my own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the rest of the day all planned out; find my gate, get some dinner, and catch up with the girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately this is where my trip started to get a little more interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we make our way to the runway, the pilot suddenly kills the engine (we were being delayed an hour because of snow removal and air traffic in Philadelphia).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, of course, was panicking because I was afraid I was going to miss the connection in Philadelphia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily there was a very attractive 4<sup>th</sup> year medical student that was sitting next to me and throughout the delay and the entire flight we chatted it up about school and our profession (and no unfortunately I never got his phone number….my life is not like the movies lol).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I had great company I still had to race through the Philadelphia airport sans food in order to make the connecting flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I arrived at gate A19 sweaty and unable to breathe as I have worked-out minimally since soccer season ended in November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless I did make the flight and met up with the girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was finally able to relax….NOT. Our flight was then delayed 2 hours, we sat on the plane the entire time and I had not eaten since 11:00am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was now 8:30pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a 6 ½ hour flight, 3 very uncomfortable hours of sleep, we finally arrived in Madrid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took another 3 hours of waiting, a 2 ½ hour bus trip, and I had FINALLY FINALLY made it to Salamanca.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To say the least it was an overwhelming 2 days…but totally worth it. More to come on my first day in Salamanca and the host family that Siobhan and I are staying with!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Love,</div><div class="MsoNormal">Tayler</div><!--EndFragment-->Taylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15228518330808850538noreply@blogger.com6