That One Time In Slovenia

Let me tell you about Ljubljana. The air is fresh. There is nature all around and the river gives off a cool breeze. The temperature here is much closer to that of a Michigan summer. 

All the buildings are old and beautiful, decorated with extravagant detailing. The streets are filled with small cafés and people carrying ice cream cones. There is no way to deny that bikes are the most common mode of in city transportation. The shops all twist and turn alongside the river. There are tea shops and honey shops, toy shops and just about anything adorable you can imagine. 

As I went out scouting the area today I found a McDonalds, a vegan restaurant, a crepe shop, small bread stores with croissants, falafel, raspberry nestea, a place that sells pizza by the slice and watch out world- a wok Asian restaurant. I'm in business.

My hostel is right next to the dragon bridge and the castle is just behind it all the way on top of the hill. There are rides up a glass elevator you can take to get there though the woman at the front desk told me she suggests I walk.

I love the small town charm and the fresh air. I love the breeze and to finally not be drenched in my own sweat. I love that most of you reading this have no clue where Ljubljana or even Slovenia is on a map and yet here I am surrounded with Slovenians themselves happy and proud as could be to be Slovenian. It's still, even 25 years later, very evident of it's past history. The broad Slavic, Yugoslavian, communist, Napoleonic, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, fascist, roman and everything else under the sun comes through in the people the architecture, the food, the way of life, etc.

People have to cutest dogs here too. 

I've had a weird day, you know waking up in Istanbul, the first time in 2 months I didn't wake up in Spain, running to my gate in the airport getting on a plan to Ljubljana, finding my way to my hostel and getting all things settled. 

I'm not sure how adventurous I truly want to be here, I'm very tempted to just relax and lay low, get some sleep and work on my school work.

I'm glad that I'm here for at least 2 more full days. 

I'm currently on a park bench and two little girls are playing and pointing at me and in sync yelling beetz-kee beetz-kee beetz-kee over and over I keep smiling but for all I know they are saying ug-ly ug-ly ug-ly or stu-pid -amer-ican, oh the thrill of being abroad. 

Landing in the airport today though was a dream. Slovenia is picture perfect. 

That One Time In Turkey

I don't have words. If travel has ever made me speechless, well I don't know I was pretty speechless at the Taj Mahal, but today, man, Istanbul, Turkey, you have taken my heart. I've been here for approximately five hours and I wish I didn't have to leave. 

Every second as I sit here it gets better.

I know it must seem like I'm always crying, but I am fighting tears of happiness right now. 

Where do I start. This day deserves the best post. I'm too in the moment. 

I'm at a restaurant ate pasta, drank mint tea, got bread and hummus with my meal, and met a British lady who's plans are to visit every country before she dies. She said traveling has restored her faith in humanity and that she's a free spirit. 

Everyone was out in the streets today surrounding the Blue Mosque preparing meals to eat once sunset. They all sat in the gardens practically knee to knee on blankets with plates and dishes full of food being prepared. The Mosque played a loud prayer (I believe) over a speaker  just after sunset and everyone began to eat. It was beyond magical to watch. I don't have words for how lucky I got to be here in Istanbul on a Saturday night of Ramadan. Which by the way in Turkish is Ramazan.

I cannot believe how much culture I witnessed in just a few hours here. 

Turkish is quite the interesting sounding language as well I might add.

I'm just full of joy. Joyful I get to experience the world, witness the human condition, live, taste, hear, smell, see, and touch everything around me.

Today I went to a new country. And tomorrow I'm going to another. I'm living my dream and loving every minute of it.

Until next time Turkey, may our paths meet again some day.

Adios España, Hello Five New Countries!

Today is my last day in Spain, we leave Toledo early in the morning to head to the Madrid Airport. It's crazy that my Spanish study abroad trip is already over.

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE!

Stay tuned on this blog to hear about my adventures for the next two weeks as I do some solo travel across Europe!

Tomorrow I'll be flying to Istanbul, Turkey to spend just one night. Then in the morning on Sunday I'm off to Ljubljana, Slovenia for three nights; I'm going to catch a train to Zagreb, Croatia for four nights, and hopefully make a day trip out to Plitvice National Park. Next I'm taking a plane to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina for five nights and my final stop will be London, England for one short night, before heading back to the ever so lovely Detroit, United States of America.

I can't say I'm not nervous, but I can say I've always found that doing the things you fear are usually the most worthwhile.

On that note- stay tuned!

Adios España! You will be missed!

The Lessons from Spain

I think I finally figured out my life lessons from Spain. 

As I looked in the mirror getting ready to head out to our fair well dinner tonight I thought: I've changed, I'm different, I've learned a lot. Which sparked the question, well, what did I learn?

So, here's the list:

1) Step outside of your comfort zone. 

-Not  like do something crazy like ride an elephant, no no, not like something that's scary but you've always dreamed of doing. No no, do something you never in a million years thought you'd be apart of- and to be honest never really wanted to. Like for me, go to Spain to study Spanish in college, sit at cafés for tapas and sangria, stay out until 8:30 am at discotecas and walk home in the daylight, spend some of my travel fund on a pink tank top and new wedges, and at the end of the day decide Europe is a pretty cool place.

2) Stick to who you are even if it's not who anyone else is.

3) Money isn't meant to be saved when there is travel to be had.

4) Live a little.

- I repeat: stay out until 8:30 am at discotecas and walk home in the daylight... (I'll only be 21 in Spain once right?)

5) Don't judge a country by it's continent, (my personal version of don't judge a book by it's cover.)

-refer to description for lesson #1

6) Loving yourself, and even taking some pride in yourself, is the quickest way to inner freedom, (okay so maybe I knew that one already, but it was reinforced here, okay?)

That sums it up perfectly.

It Couldn't Possibly Already Almost Be Over, Right?

The title says it all. This trip was too short. While everyone else here is for the most part on their first trip abroad or away from home at all, and they are counting down the hours until they are home, I'm wishing we could stay here longer. I've been in their shoes before, but I'm glad I'm not right now.

The more comfortable I am with a place the more I love it. I love being able to wander the streets alone and find my way home again. Today I walked around by myself for I think the first time in all of the seven weeks. My heart was heavy. I knew exactly which stores would likely have what items I was looking for. I knew what prices were good and which were complete tourist traps. I knew the names of some of the streets and neighborhoods and passed some of my favorite spots in this beautiful city. 

Spain is crazy. Spain is beautiful and so much like I expected it to be, and also nothing like I expected it to be.

It was easy for me, comfortable. The shower has hot water, and even though the tap water tastes like pennies you don't die or even get sick, not even a tummy ache, if you drink it. I had a bed here with a mattress, and who needs a door anyway? My clothes were washed for me, in a... get this- washing machine, and hung on line to dry. They drink fanta here, just like every Spanish speaking country in the world, or so I'm convinced. They eat weird food, but they have a McDonald's next to a Burger King in the city center. I've had dunkin donuts here twice, but I've also eaten Spanish Tortilla (which is probably not what you think it is), and pisto, delicious pisto, man I'll miss the pisto con huevos fritos, gazpacho galore, fried calamari, more gazpacho, and so on.

Some things are different. Others not.

Spain isn't America, Spain isn't Michigan or Ohio or any city I've ever visited in the US of A, but for Spain too, I can now use that happy little four letter word. Home.

I can't even write this because my eyes are flooding and I have to keep my act together to avoid having to explain my emotions to Angelita in Spanish, because  that'd be a challenge. 

Two days ago Angelita, my host mother, told me she would cry when I leave. She's gotten used to having me here, coming home to me, and cooking me dinner. She's gotten used to me on walks and in her car driving to Angela's to take a swim. I teared up when she told me she would cry when the time to say goodbye came.

It's strange how your heart acts in foreign countries. Maybe it's just me but it's so much easier to welcome strangers into your heart when everything around you is new and different. 

Literally not sure I can keep writing this that's how in love with Angelita I am. 

Blinking back the tears.

If you know me at all, or at least me cerca 2007, you probably know my passion for the television show Gilmore Girls. Before I left I was scared of what a Spanish family would be like. I knew little but I did know that I was living alone with a mom, but I knew she had a daughter, among a few other things. I said to my mom, the real one who birthed me and so on, "maybe they'll be like Lorelai and Rory". Angelita and her daughter Angela laugh everyday until they cry at least once a day. They care for Angelita's mother Juanita when she comes to stay from Madrid, and daily, hourly, every minute and second love baby Irene to pieces. Among the many other members of the family the four generations of these women that I've met, lived with, shared meals with, laughs with, and more are by far the closest I've come to a live version of Lorelai, Emily, Lorelai II, and Lorelai III (Rory). Again if you know me, you know how much that means to encounter.

Its about being 21 and having your mother take your plate and take the fish off the bones for you then taking the bones off you plate so you don't have to look at them while you eat. Which is what just happened. She takes care of me. She feeds me nisperros, which are one of the strangest fruits I've ever eaten. She does it all because she knows I'm foreign, and being foreign makes you feel like you're 7-years-old all over again. You're lost and you're hot and you're grumpy, you want nothing more than your mom, and for her to buy you a Happy Meal. You don't know how much money something costs so you just hand over a bill that you know must be big enough and hope they give you correct change. The currency is strange and you can't understand the language is pretty much the same as what US dollars and English is to a 7-year-old.

Okay so I'm all over the place here: sorry. Maybe it's a perfect reflection of how all over the place I am in life. I'm already 21 and in Spain with quite the track record for travel and packing and taking classes and eating weird food and learning foreign languages. I'm only 21 with barely the next day of my life planned let alone the next year, two weeks of solitude and adventure await and then onward to that fabulous house I once lived in for another two weeks of even more adventures. I'm lost and I'm found. I think that wraps it up perfectly.

I'm not sure I'm ready to leave, but I'm definitely ready to go. That's how I usually feel around this phase of my travels. All I can say is: thank goodness I have two weeks left on my European adventure. I'm not ready to be done exploring, and I'm in desperate need of some alone time.

May you all be lost and yet found as well.

(Also my card reader is broken and has been for several weeks so I can't upload any photos... Sorry! Hoping to get a new one this week!)

Barcelona

We went to Barcelona this past weekend. Too much to say. Too many stories and memories. But I officially have been to Barcelona. Not sure I'd recommend it but hey, I went to Barcelona.

A Packing Guide: To Anywhere

Busy as ever I haven't had much time to blog, but all that being said I'm still living abroad, stuck wearing the only clothes I brought and running out of my favorite secret deodorant sooner than I should have. As these little issues become my daily life I'm realizing how grateful I am for something's and how much I wish I had others. 

Here is my packing advice that all the blogs I read left out:

1) check the weather of where you will be  going- and pay specific attention to the time of year you are going to be there for. Even if you've been to a boarderkng country in the past six months- news flash the weather changes with the seasons in most parts of the world. And it doesn't take that much distance for the weather to change completely. 

A) Spain, or central Spain is HOT in the summer. Don't pack jeans and think oh all my shirts will just match my jeans! You never wear your jeans because you value your health and safety and then you are left with two tops that match your two other pairs of pants and a sundress or two. Summer in Spain? Plan on sun dresses, sandals, skirts, tank tops, not the kind you wear with a cute stylish scarf either, like tank tops you wear because you're sweating your life away. And maybe a light cardigan for the mornings. 

B) Delhi and Agra are much hotter. 

C) Kathmandu less hot, but I only know of summer months. 

D) Morocco is cold in the winter. Jeans and light coats will make you a happy camper, capris and t shirts- won't. 

2) travel packs of Kleenex have always proven themselves useful. Need to sneeze? Check. Need to blow your nose? Check. Need to wipe your butt in the middle of no where at a cow dairy in Morocco? Check. Shove them in your bra to sop up some sweat on a hot summer day in Spain, roll one up around a bra wire that's stabbing you. Wipe the sweat from your brow. Wipe dog crap off your shoe in the streets of Kathmandu. Clean your seat off at a less than clean restaurant when you're wearing white shorts. Okay so I've only used Kleenex for a handful of the situations but really when you neeeeeed them you'll be glad you have them. 

3) face cleaning/ make up removing wipes- every use I just listen for the Kleenex above and BEYOND. These packs clean ANYTHING you need to, life savers, really, truly mean that. Just think of how you'd feel after a flight from Philadelphia, USA to Doha, Qatar... 

4) simple/cheap flip flops. I'm talking the black Old Navy kind. The ones that match with everything and can go with shorts, sundresses, jeans, yoga pants, skirts, just about anything. They are comfy, your feet form to them, they aren't hot to wear, they don't leave bizarre tan lines, it doesn't matter if they get wet- can you say hostel showers. And- if they break? Oh well one less thing to pack for your return flight!

4) a sweatshirt, I mean it, maybe not the heaviest one you own, but almost any where you go a rainy windy day is inevitable at some point and being able to cuddle up in something so normal to you is the best feeling ever. Nothing like feeling cozy abroad. 

5) a baby blanket- small, thin, takes no space to pack and you'll use everyday. Blanket, sheet, pillow, towel, head scarf, and hey it smells like home, for the first few weeks at least. 

6) jewelry, when you don't have room to pack you're entire wardrobe at least you can mix it up and feel less frumpy with a cute pair of earrings! 

7) books. The real kind. When electricity becomes an issue, as it tends to abroad, have a hard copy of a book that requires no charging and you don't have to worry about it dying on you just when you get to the good part!

8) a side bag- sure while traveling all you care about is your suitcase but once you get their you'll need a bag for a day in the city, an over night bag for weekend trips, a beach bag, a backpack for class, or so on, think a head.

9) zip lock baggies. Everytime I pack my mother tries to tell me to take baggies and I'm always so confused as to why. I turn them down each time with disgust only to desperately need nothing other than a plastic baggie hours later. Make up, wet clothes, trash, handfuls of snacks, memory cards and camera batteries, really this list could go on forever and ever and ever.

10) food. I don't joke about this one. A box of cheese it's will last longer than you think when you know once they are gone they are gone until you get home again. Cliff bars make a perfect breakfast when you have no clue where to buy anything and it's a cheap meal you can eat anywhere. Fruit chews for when you get fed something nasty and need a sweet reminder of home. And if you have the space or the weight to spare a jar of peanut butter. Almost anywhere you can find a piece of bread or bag of pretzels or crackers and peanut butter is one of the rarest things to come across abroad. 

Now there: that's my list of truly helpful packing tips.

Una familia nueva

Every time I travel I feel like I'm in search of something. Some form of self discovery, an answer to some question, a discovery of who I am or what I'm supposed to do. It's always a challenge. Being somewhere strange with people you aren't used to speaking a language you don't know. Here in Spain things are pretty "western" so I honestly don't think I can call it culture shock. I've no doubt experienced culture shock so I know how it feels. 

This feeling it isn't quite as julting. I think it's just the feeling of knowing you're learning something, without knowing what you're learning yet. Those little moments of self discovery often come from realizing the things I miss most. 

I made a list yesterday and sent it to my mom, the things that make me happiest. I ignored things I do often, the things people want me to say, the common stereotypical happy things. I listed the things that if I could plan a perfect day would be included. Maybe that's what I'm learning here, maybe it's learning to be more comfortable in my own skin. 

Either way, the challenge hasn't been to fit in here with the spaniards. Missing home maybe, and my Americans, maybe, but finding spaniards to take me in has been the opposite of a challenge. 

I dare say this family has brought me to be part of their family more than any other host family I've stayed with. I can't say they are my favorite because, well because Jenica, but man these people are up there on my list. 

Yesterday we took a "walk" that lasted 5 hours, included 2 stops for cañas and 1 for dinner. We walked and talked and walked and ate and drank and walked and stopped when we ran into more family or friends. 

Everywhere we go my host mother Angelita, is so beyond proud to introduce me and tell them that I understand Spanish "perfectamente" followed by me being completely lost in their rapid highly accented conversations. She spanks my butt when I do something she's proud of, she cuddles up next to me on the couch to Facebook stalk all my best friends from home, she does my laundry, makes me food, is insanely protective of people such as my host brother trying to get me to try meat when were out at restuarants. She buys me fruit even though she doesn't like it, she tells me I'm boring and makes fun of me but defends me to everyone else that I work too hard when I'm home in the states and this is my chance to relax. She's patient with my Spanish and is so sweet trying to learn some English and oh man let me tell you we've shed many tears laughing so hard over her attempted pronunciation of the work plate which sounds much more like plaís. She let's me throw out the food I don't really want and feeds me more of what I do like. She offers me everything I need and even replaces more toilet paper rolls in the bathroom before I even run out. She helps with my homework and takes me to get churros for breakfast before a long day of travel. We talk about everything under the sun.

My host brother makes fun of me every chance he can get just like the brother I never had. My host brother in law makes smart comments to try and confuse me, saying funny things with a straight face, and anyone learning a foreign language will tell you the hardest thing to understand in a foreign language is humor. My host sister in law is sweet and caring towards me, hesitant to confuse me and yet so bold in her ways. My host sister is an unbelievable amount of kind and patient towards me, protective and funny. Emma just turned 6-months-old and has the most beautiful big brown eyes, spits up a lot, and knows how to cry when she needs to. And man Irene, I think I could leave it at, I'm planning on smuggling her back to the states with me in my suitcase. Her cubby checks, her big practically toothless smile, her baby pout, the face she makes when she eats food she doesn't like for the first time, like gazpacho, when she curls her lips and wrinkles her nose and looks at her mom is sadness of how could you feed me something so awful, when she claps, waves good bye, give you a kiss when you ask her to, when she walks around the streets of Toledo holding my hands, when she tried fried calamari with me for the first time, her dresses, her shoes, her little tears when she wakes up grumpy. 

I can't leave these people, I love them, and I just wish my Spanish was better so I could just feel like one of them.

To a few cousins yesterday I think Angelita was telling them that she hopes that if I ever come back to Spain that I will feel I have a family here. She makes my soul happy. 

While everyone else in my group hangs out I hang out with my family, and they all say you spend too much time with them tell them you need to see your friends, but in the end I'm so happy to spend time with my family. 

Maybe my lesson from Spain is family, maybe it's no more complicated than that:... family. I think I'd be okay with that.

Today I went to a park near my house to read, a tour group stopped right next to the bench I was laying on to talk for 15 minutes and a woman asked if she could sit. It was uncomfortable as five other women smushed onto the bench I was on but, the woman next to me looked at me and told me I was pretty/cute, then thanked me for letting her sit. Spain isn't all that bad I guess.

Corpus Christi

It has finally come, the night before Corpus Christi is upon us. 

The magic is the decorations, the excitement, the concerts and activities, little girls with bows the size of their heads in their hair, and monster dolls and giants roaming the streets with plaster faces that will no doubt give me nightmares.

The reality is too many people in the streets. Over crowding. Hunger. Confusion. And chaos. 

Nothing quite like having to get home in time to meet your friends, leaving your family in the plaza and getting to feed yourself dinner, especially when you're home alone, and can shove half a loaf of bread, smothered in the butter they neverrrrr use with some Toledo cheese down your throat. 

Ahhhh Corpus Christi in Toledo.

Valencia

This weekend a bunch of us all went to Valencia to hang out on the beach. The weather was beautiful the whole time and we got to just relax which was nice after a long, stressful week of classes. A few of us found some grocery stores while there to just buy some bread and cheese and fruit to take to the beach. While we got lost a few times, among a few other hiccups the weekend went great. We stayed at a great hostel and were able to take a cheap bus to the beach. Valencia is exactly how I pictured European cities to look, and it also had some amazing restaurants! I had delicious pasta, a great goat cheese salad, and we even found an Asian restaurant with stir fry, oh mannnn it was good.

Now that we are back in Toledo, Corpus Christi is this week which is the biggest holiday in the entire year for Toledo. Each city in Spain pretty much has their own special celebration or holiday. We've heard of some crazy things going on here this week and we are so excited to see the entire city transform.

Keeping it short and sweet for now, but go check out the photos I just uploaded from our day in Segovia last weekend!