american beauty.

i was watching american beauty the other day on surfthechannel.com and this was the ending quote and it just seemed appropriate.

"but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes i feel like i'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst...and then i remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and i can't help but feel gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life...you have no idea what i'm talking about, i'm sure. but don't worry...you will someday."

this weekend

it was so nice this thursday to know that i didn't have to rush home, eat a quick sandwich and apple and head to the bus station to sit on a bus for hours-because i stayed in toledo this weekend because on friday we had a day trip to segovia.

it really has been a very relaxing weekend, which i needed. i am burnt out from traveling every weekend. also, it was so nice because i felt like i hadn't hung out with everyone in our group outside of school since we first got here. and after this weekend with our group-i honestly am love everyone! we had so much fun and really bonded i think with everyone.

friday we went to segovia on friday but thursday i went to o'briens for a glass (or 2) of wine. this was after i got my bangs/hair cut at the mall (just a trim) even though i was too nervous for her to cut a lot of my bangs off because i did not want spanish bangs. so i don't think she cut them short enough but they are better than before, much better.

then we left for segovia at 830 on friday. it was such a nice day-in the afternoon i didnt really need my coat. segovia is only an hour away from madrid so it didnt take too long to get there and we went to see the roman aqueducts there. our guide said that people from italy come to segovia, spain to study the aqueducts because they are still better than the ruins in rome. and it really was a sight! they are huge and completely made out of stone without cement, which i think it amazing that they are still standing-and they were built before jesus' time (to give you an idea). i think that is so amazing. i was standing there looking up at them and i could almost imagine standing there thousands of years ago with roman soldiers patrolling and walking around in white sheets and sandals. then we went to the cathedral there that is the same style as the one here in toledo but it is a little smaller. but it had a very realistic sculpture of jesus right after he was taken down from the cross-the fingernails and holes in his feet were the most realistic. then we had headed back to the bus where we played mafia ( a card game that we played with coins because no one had cards) the entire way home (2 hours). great way to bond.

friday night we all meet up at o'briens, normal. and then went to dance at circulo! my favorite dancing spot.

saturday we went to the mall for the chinese buffet. their egg rolls were awesome and just what i wanted-and the lo mein. we saw fabian working and he told us to come over. i was excited for everyone to meet and hang out with them because they are my favorite spanish boys! i think that talking/hanging out with them is probably when i feel i can speak spanish best. because jose-fabian's brother-can only speak spanish and it's weird how i think i get along with him the best and i can only speak spanish-i actually love it and am proud of myself that i can actually communicate with him and tell jokes, stories, etc. it's a good feeling to have a friendship completely in spanish. we both love to dance, like rap and youtube. i know i am going to miss them when i go back home...hard to believe i only have two weeks here. and after this weekend, it is going to be so hard to leave!!

running.

my favorite day here, or at least one of them, was the other day. it was nice enough in the afternoon to go running.

my house overlooks the river and the old bridge here but i haven't been there yet. so i put on my northface, nike pants and tennis shoes, grabbed my ipod and headed down. the stairs that lead down the bridge are probably the prettiest (and coldest) stairs i have ever seen. they are in stones and polished rocks and so are the high walls.

i found the don quixote route and followed it. it was the best run because it was so pretty. the path is on the side of the mountain with parts of the rocks jutting out into the path. on the left is the river and across the river are more mountains, trees and shrubbery. it almost doesn't look real.

it was nice to actually exercise (other than walking up and down hills every day), sweat, and have some time for myself.

views of toledo from this week and me with fabian & jose.

BARCELONA

corodoba

corodoba

this past weekend a lot of people stayed in toledo but i really didn't want to because usually by the end of the week i want to go somewhere-i look forward to the week during the week and i really wanted to go somewhere warm. so i decided to go to cordoba which is in andalucia (south of spain) with jasmine and adrienne. we got there after some confusion about our bus tickets (we usually just use our passports to get one because we don't have printers to print out the tickets we buy online but apparently we needed tickets) but we ended up getting on the bus and after 4 hours we arrived in cordoba.

it was soo warm! the next day we sat outside for lunch and i was literally sweating in the sun, roasting. i had gazpacho, which is a typical spanish soup-kinda like tomato soup but it's served cold. it's so good i asked mercedes to show me how to make it one day so i can make it when i get back home-she said it's really simple. then we got ice cream and walked around the mezquita which is one of the main attraction points there.

i don't know if it was the heat we weren't used to or just the fact that we have been traveling every weekend since we have been here and the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with our bodies- but after shopping after the mezquita we took a nap. then woke up, grabbed some dinner and headed out to find a bar. it took us more than an hour and a half to find  A SINGLE BAR or place where they served alcohol. we finally found the pub after realizing we had been walking around in a complete circle. the streets in spain will do that to you.

next day we walked around for a while trying to find somewhere to eat where we could eat outside and ended up finding a place by the mezquita and i had gazpacho again with chicken. so good. then we walked over and around the big bridge there. again took a nap and went out for the night to a dance club- i think we really are adjusting to the spanish culture where they don't end up going out until 11-12 but stay out until 6 or so in the morning. at one of the bars we took a picture with a guy who was on BIG BROTHER but the spanish version-first spanish celeb!

it was hard to leave the weather but it actually is heating up here in toledo- spring needs to spring!