Mi Viaje de España!

I know this is very late, and I'm sorry! My Spain trip was an absolute blast and we had gorgeous weather the entire time. It was absolutely fantastic to see Adam, and I got to hang out with his host mom and some of her family as well! It was excellent to be back in Spain, and to get to explore Toledo more in depth than I got to when I visited in high school. The narrow streets, the people, all of the old markets that have been there for a thousand years just make this city truly a special experience. The food in Spain, although not much of it is vegetarian, is great as well. We went to a vegetarian restaurant (the only one in Toledo!) for lunch on Valentine's Day, and to a different restaurant for dinner where I had Paella! There were also several stops for ice cream or gelato throughout the weekend :) I also enjoyed the churros con chocolate, and the bocadillos (yum!!). Spain also has some surprisingly good pizza.

a view of the city from the tower we climbed

part of the cathedral

more views of the city

on top of the tower

Adam and I with Toledo in the background

Me with Adam's host mom, María Jesús

being slightly goofy while walking around xD

giving Adam a heart attack on the top of the mountain

Travel Anxieties AKA things that did and did not happen while traveling to Spain

Sorry I've been so behind on this blog. I've had a couple of bad days (I've been kind of sick), and I try to avoid blogging when I'm in a bad mood because I don't want to sound negative on here.

So, I've been meaning to write about my Spain trip for awhile. I will talk about what I did in Spain in the next post, but first I thought I'd share a couple of amusing things about traveling to and from Spain. I am NOT afraid of flying at all, but I am an extremely nervous person by nature, and all of the things that can go wrong while traveling (missed flights, lost luggage, getting lost in general..) are always going round and round my head while traveling. Anyways, without further ado: my list of things that did and did not happen while traveling to and from Spain!

Things that did NOT happen:

-stewardess cornering an old guy in the plane bathroom who is suddenly revealed as a young hot guy (this phenomenon was made famous by Britney Spears's song Toxic! http://vimeo.com/6997840 Okay, it was probably invented in the song Toxic....maybe this only funny to people in Bear and I's generation...;) ) 

-I lost any piece of luggage. I only packed cabin bags!

-I didn't know enough Spanish to get through customs. I only needed to know Hola and Gracias, because Spanish customs aren't as stupidly annoying as US customs! 

-I got on the wrong train. Public transport is much easier in Europe!

-I missed my flight. Nope, got there two hours early, in time to have a chai and a tomato/pesto/mozz toastie!

Things that DID happen:

-my phone ran out of minutes, and I thought I would have to sleep in the airport

-I waited about an hour and half for Adam to come and pick me up because of problems with el ave, and confusion over where I was supposed to meet him

-I FREAKED OUT when I saw Adam! it didn't even feel real. 

-we missed the ave. true, sad story. We had to pay about ninety euros for a taxi. 

-We got to Toledo, finally! and I got a tomato, mozz and olive oil bocadillo (I have an addiction to sandwiches with mozz and tomato in them...its quite a problem) 

Anyways, thats about it for now! I will write about my Spain trip more later! It was the best four days of my life :)

Pictures! (finally)

Recent Happenings-a bout of homesickness, a newly discovered love of brie, and Inklight

Last week, I'd been feeling really sad all the time, and just really like I wanted to go home.  I felt like it would never get better, and I was just counting the days to come home. Luckily, with a little chat with the IFSA coordinator, and some effort on my part, things have really been looking up lately! I'm sorry I haven't blogged lately...I didn't want to write a post when I was in such a negative frame of mind.

My "mood makeover" started on Saturday, when I went to Rascal's Bar with some various friends, and got an extremely good "French Veggie Burger", which was a delicious veggie patty with baked brie on top and carmelized onions. It really hit the spot! It was definitely vegetarian comfort food at its finest. Pub food is so much better here than at home, and it isn't hard to eat a vegetarian diet at all. I was worried about my diet when coming here, that I would find nothing to eat. I was so wrong and could not be happier about the fact that I was wrong! I have not had to revert to eating any kind of meat, and instead have found many delicious vegetarian dishes, both UK traditional favorites (brie and cranberry sandwich with "curly chips", anyone?) and ethnic foods, like Japanese, Indian and Italian.

The only problem with all of this yummy food is that I end up eating too much of it. (especially the brie.  Did I really think that I hated brie? I must have been delusional or something. I also have a serious addiction to chocolate fudge cake, since it actually tastes like chocolate here, and not icky corn syrup..) Luckily, I have found many great places to go running! I discovered a new path today, and went running for about forty minutes and still felt great afterwards. My good friend and honorary older sister Elle V. has asked me if I'll do the summerfest half marathon with her again, so I'm going to try and train for it over here. So far this is going pretty well. I'm going to try and build up to fifty minutes next week, and hopefully an hour after that, with some added "speed" work. (speed is relative when you're going thirteen miles..)

I have also joined the Creative Writing society, Inklight! I went to an open mic night tonight, and actually worked up the courage to read a poem. Since I have always dreamed of slamming a poem, or at least reading my work in front of hundreds of people (what did I say about being delusional?), I figured that I'd better start practicing. The Open Mic was such a blast! It was so fun to hear everyone else's work in the low key atmosphere of Aikman's Bar. Although I was shaking so bad that my paper was actually quivering, I had a huge adrenaline rush afterwards! I definitely will do this again (hopefully minus the shaking). It is amazing how differently you relate to a poem when you read it aloud, and share your own intimate thoughts with a roomful of other writers. I am going to try and make it to a workshop that Inklight is holding tomorrow regarding poetry and science, given by a post graduate student who majored in bio and english. I think it will be a great and helpful experience :) I am so glad I'm getting involved with Inklight.

Anyways, that's about it for now. I am traveling to Spain on Wednesday to visit Adam, I will definitely write about that :)

Reliant Robin Spotting!

While walking down the street today, I suddenly saw a Reliant Robin! For those of you who don't know what that is...it's a three wheeled car! I laughed super hard. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera or ipod so I couldn't take a picture of it :( but here is a top gear episode all about the lovely Reliant Robin!

http://www.wimp.com/reliantrobin/

Also, here is a compilation of clips of Mr. Bean bullying a three wheeled car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb54PRcekIY

Ceilidh Dancing!

So I have upheld the tradition of wild dancing in our family (spraining your ankle dancing on a table anyone?) in a very Scottish way! Yes, I went to my first Ceilidh last night. As I am not the world's most coordinated dancer, I was a little nervous, but luckily the band showed us how to do all of the steps. Most of them are fairly easy once you get the hang of it. I was grinning so big the entire time! Nobody has to be an expert at a Ceilidh -it's just pure fun. There are many dances in Ceilidh, none of which I remember of course :( But you can dance in couples, threes, or bigger groups, depending on the song. These dances are not for the unfit-there is a lot of spinning, jumping, skipping and the like involved.

 I danced maybe about five songs (each song is about 10-15 minutes) and I was exhausted by the end of the night. Needless to say, I am definitely taking it easy today. I'm really glad I got the chance to go Ceilidh dancing though. It was great exercise, and a ton of fun. I can't wait until the next one :)

Here is a sample of Ceilidh music and dancing. sadly we didn't get any pictures or video of last night, but hopefully we can at the next one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kgM3oPCZFM

First Week in Scotland!

A week ago today, we arrived in St. Andrews! A week ago (and a couple of days ago), I was curled up on a hotel bed in Edinburgh, absolutely bawling my eyes out because I didn't think I wanted a new home. I missed my family, pets and house itself. I am happy to say however, that I was completely wrong to be sad about being here. While Wisconsin is lovely, I have completely fallen in love with my new home for the semester.

St Andrews enchanted me from the moment we were in the outskirts of town, still in the Scottish countryside. The mist was rolling off the mountains into the valley, and there was a light sprinkling of snow on the ground. Then, when we were finally let off the bus, I took a deep breath, and the air smelled like the ocean and trees. I knew that studying abroad would be difficult, but that this place would make it worth it.

They say that the process of adjusting to a new university in a foreign country can be up and down, and that we should expect to feel some "distress" during it. Well, distress was one word to describe the way my friend (and roommate) and I felt upon walking into our new dorm room! The St Andrews University web site had pictures of University Hall on its website that were absolutely enchanting! I thought I was going to be living in Hogwarts! Uh, they completely "forgot" to picture the new addition to the hall. Our room, while okay, was nothing special. I've come to get used to it, and appreciate the small attached bathroom, but let me tell you, I still wish I were living in the "Hogwarts" section!

I have also met many other Americans (and a few people from other countries) studying abroad. While waiting in the foyer one day to go eat in the dining hall my friend (and roomy), Amber, and I saw a girl by herself. We got to talking and realized we were all English majors! So we have all become good friends, and often go to meals together, and hang out with each other in our free time. Many of the kids from the Butler study abroad program have also become friends. I haven't met that many Scottish kids yet, but I'm hoping that as the semester goes on, I will  make some Scottish friends!

Now, onto the food and drinks.(Mom, this part is for you..) Scotland actually has quite the variety of foods! I have eaten Japanese (mmmmmm) and Italian food here (again, yummyyyy), and I'm sure I will end up eating Indian food as well. Alsoooo, *insert drumroll*, I tried haggis! That's right, this vegetarian of five years broke her vegetarianism for sheep intestines? I blame Robert Burns's "Address to a Haggis" for this one. (please take the time to look this up if you have not heard it!) Anyways, I didn't really take a very big bite (breaking a diet you have adhered to for years is scary), so it didn't taste like much. But I definitely plan on eating at least a mouthful before I go. This little experiment also proved to me that, except for very special occasions, I will not be breaking my vegetarianism. It was really difficult to eat meat. It is just so foreign to me. I love my diet. I love tasting veggies, and herbs and all that good stuff! ANYWAYS...

The tea here is really exquisite. They are almost as obsessed with tea as I am! (okay, probably more..) I had fresh mint tea in an Italian restaurant that was made just with fresh mint leaves, and it was amazing! They also have great coffee and chai. They don't put a bunch of sugar or weird corn syrupy stuff in everything like they tend to back home. So coffee with milk and/or hot chocolate tastes real, not like someone dumped half a can of corn syrup in it! They also have this drink called the London Fog, which is earl grey with steamed milk and vanilla, that I really want to try.

The other thing about Scotland that is quite different from home, but that I really have to admit I like, is that the drinking age is lower! Now lest you call A.A. *cough*don'tdothisAdam*cough*, please note that I am not the type that enjoys partying or drinking in excess. But it is really nice to be able to order a beer or a glass of good red wine in a restaurant or pub and relax with friends. The attitude about alcohol here really seems to reflect my own: that it is totally fine to enjoy a drink or two once in awhile, but that going crazy and getting completely smashed and puking (or whatever), is disgusting. There is less of a taboo/obsession culture about drinking. And as someone who has known many people to go crazy with drinking to the point where I don't want to hang out with them anymore, this is so refreshing.

On that note, I think it is time for bed! I will talk about my classes and how much I am completely in love with them (but not the reading, nor Sir Walter Scott...sorry but ew.) next time! Hopefully I will post some pictures as well.