a few lil updates

Hiiiiiii Sorry it's been so long since I've written on this...We had our exam week which was a huge shock seeing as we've been doing like zero work before that. I think everything went well, but I have no idea when I'll actually get my grades...Oh well, I think that's part of the laid back Spanish culture?

It's been super cold here recently, cold enough to break out the winter coat but this week we've completely lucked out and it's BEAUTIFUL! I think it was about 75 today and sunny. So, a few friends and I went to Retiro, the park, and went out on the lake in these little paddle boats! It was really cute and it was fun to be on the water and the sun was so great! But the fish were weird, they were jumping a lot and swam right near the surface and it was kind of creepy. Anywho, it was something nice and different to do on a beautiful day!

Now that most of my work is over (although not completely true - one more essay to write blah) I am supposed to be working on internship stuff for next summer ALREADY! It's required to have an internship for my major, and deadlines are coming up sooo soon, so I have to get on this..blah. But I don't want to because I'm lazy and burnt out after this past week. Also I never bring my laptop to school because it's huge and heavy to lug around, so I never go to the library at school and so I feel like I just can't get work done here in my room, I get too distracted. So I should figure out how to be a better student soon...wish me luck..

It's so pretty here right now though! the leaves are changing and it's awesome. Also I've noticed just how clean Madrid is - there are always limpieza people with brooms sweeping up leaves and cigarette butts and stuff off of the streets. It's nice.

So last friday we went to Segovia for the day, which was really nice. there was this HUGE, old, Roman aquaduct that was built in the 1st century AD!! It was a really impressive sight. We also went to a fortress that was awesome and I got some really amazing pictures - the lighting was really cool at that time somehow, I'll put them up soon.

This Thursday some friends and I are all going to go to Salamanca, a university city about 2 hours away by train. We're getting there around 6 pm - just in time to wander around a little bit and get some food, etc. (Sol told me that their Plaza Mayor is the most beautiful in all of Spain and one of the oldest so I'm excited!) Then we're going to go out, etc, and we are VERY ambitious in that our train to go home is at 5:45 the next morning.....So we'll see how that goes aka if we survive... But don't worry Suz/Jim that was just a joke, it'll be fine! And I'm really excited!

It's almost Halloween as you all know! I miss pumpkins and stuff but it's okay. Apparently Halloween is becoming more and more popular here. I'm supposed to look out for the little kids going to school on Friday dressed up in costumes! Ahhh I lOVE little kids they're so adorable in little costumes! We live right next to a school, maybe I'll take my camera with me out on Friday and take pictures of little kids in costume?? Or not, I guess that's kind of creepy. Oh well..

Ok sorry I can't think of anything fun or interesting I guess I should pay mor attention to this blog oops. Anyway, I miss everyone and love you lots! I definitely think of home and Duke a lot..I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but either way I do. I have only 7 weeks here left though! time flies..

xooxox

laura

and more

we took a train to belem and to cascais, and we thought that you only needed to buy one ticket, the guy told us that it was for both ways. well on the way home, at 7/8 at night when we were super tired after a long day of tourism/beach, the conductor comes by and 2 of us didn't have a second ticket, so we got kicked off the train to buy another ticket and to catch the next one (it only waits at the stop for about 2 mintues so we didnt have time to get back on the same one). it was suchhh an annoyance. but then we got to see the beautiful sunset!!

cute little house/hotel thing in cascais that i want to live in

lisbon

woman singing fado during our dinner. she doesn't look really happy right here, oops. but she was cute.

mas lisboa

BEAUTIFUL sunset. Note the legit portuguese man fishing to the right. yes, he was intentionally photographed.

really yummy pastry in belem. The pastry shop is super famous, and the little pastry thing is famous too, although i never caught the name of it. it's like a crust filled with custard stuff. mmm!

cascais beach!

the tower of Belem! we climbed it! beautiful view, overlooking water

lisboa, portugal

So I went to Lisbon, Portugal with 3 other friends for 3 nights! It was really awesome. Some of the highlights were the Aquarium/Oceanarium, Cascais (a beach), Tower of Belem, listening to fado while eating dinner (traditional portuguese music), going to a karaoke bar (we sadly didn't sing, we just listened), and eating sushi! (ok so it's not very portuguese but i miss it so much!)



at the oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal! we all wanted to dive with Vasco, of course

being fish. typical

THE HUGEST MONSTER FISH EVER. it can weigh up to 2 tons. it is CRAZY HUGE and it looks so strange. it has 4 flippers, and it uses the ones on top/bottom to swim. the weirdest looking hting ever. called an Ocean Sunfish, google it if you want...really

i found nemo! in his anemene (spelling?? too lazy to look it up)

even. more. barca.

inside gaudi's apartment. and by that i don't mean that he lived there, he just designed it. all the furniture and stuff was from way back in the day!

super cool chimneys!!! that's glass from bottles. same building.

La Sagrada Familia from the top of the Gaudi apartment! it's huge.

More from the celebration trying to get Madrid nominated as the host for the 2016 olympics! we lost :( here's a link to the aerial photos!! CLICK HERE

it's the one that says "corazonada de madrid"!

more barca

This is where they held the Spanish Inquisition. We didn't go inside or anyhthing though.

Another building by Gaudi, of course I forget what it is called. But it was really cool, the balconies represent skulls, the dead people that the dragon (picture below) has killed. There's this legend of some saint dude that slays a dragon to save the princess, i forget which guy it is though sorry. And at the bottom, the little pillar things look like bones. Creepy.

Can you see the dragon-ish shape at the top?

Apartment building build by Gaudi. We got to go inside on a tour of the place, it was really pretty. The cool thing is that evrything that Gaudi did, he was kind of made fun of, people thought he was insane. Now eveyone just thinks it's super cool and that he was a genius. But that's the way it goes. Also, he added this attic thing on the top, made of bricks b/c they're lighter, for the purpose of drying clothes and to insulate the building, so that the top apartment isn't either super hot or super cold depending on the weather.

Gaudi park

Park designed by Gaudi, super famous and such

cool inside

Lookes like a wave

it was pretty. all of this is the same outside park thing

barcelona

from the corazonada de Madrid, where they were trying to become thehost of the 2016 olympics! tons of ppl, it was crazy!

La Sagrada Familia, by Gaudi, construction started wayyy long ago, and it's projected to be finished in 2030...it's amazing though. A church, but it will be the biggest church i think in all of europe after all of the pillar things are built.

Inside la Sagrada Familia, there are 24 columns, each made of a different stone ( I think?) and they are designed to look like trees, so you feel like you're in a forest, and so you feel at home. Gaudi was really into nature.

Beautiful stained glass windows!