hasta luego.

Tengo que irme.

There were times during this year when I would have given anything to get on a plane fly back to the U.S. get some yogurtland and give my mom a hug. I'm not gonna lie. But now that it is time to leave I can't believe it! The moment you are finally adjusted and want to stay, it's time to go. Así es la vida. Just as going abroad has been filled with up and downs there are plenty of things I will miss as well as not miss about Spain. Here's some of them (in no particular order.)

Things I will NOT miss about Madrid

Ham being the food of choice

Ham being used as decoration

Guys who think yelling “guappppaaa” at you is a good pick up method

Eating dinner at 10 p.m.

Stores being closed from 2-4 and Sundays

Everyone and their mom smoking 25 hours a day

Disorganized university system

People looking at me weird when I order under the name “Alyssa”

The exchange rate

Lack of ingredients in grocery store

Not being socially allowed to wear sweats

Having to sit behind people with gross dreads in class

Being late all the time being acceptable

Things I WILL miss about Madrid

Tapas

Ham being used as decoration (it’s kinda funny)

Being able to get VIP at Joy

The metro

Cobblestone streets

Cool buildings

Meeting people from all over the world

Being ridiculously cool because I am from California

Speaking Spanish

Palazzo gelato

My roommates and friends

The fruteria across the street

Traveling

Being able to go places like the Prado

Euros (they are way cooler looking that U.S. money)

Seeing people with gross dreads and other ridiculous hairstyles like mullets all over the streets (it's entertaining from a distance)

The Rastro on Sundays

Culture of everyone saying "hola" y "hasta luego" in elevators, shops, hallways etc.

During the last ten months I have done more than improve my Spanish and get an incredible introduction to seeing the world. After some adjustment, Madrid became my home not just my abroad location and I learned more than I can list here... but here are the highlights:

What I am most proud of: Becoming comfortable going about my daily life being a foreigner. Even before you open your mouth, somehow they can just always tell you aren't Spanish. Learning how to eventually not be phased by being perpetually out of my comfort zone I think has given me more confidence in general.

The hardest lesson I had to learn (aside from the vosotros form): Accepting that I just wasn't going to be the same person in Spanish as I am in English. Not being 100 percent fluent, in combination with the difference in humor from culture to culture, Alyssa in Spanish wasn't exactly Alyssa.

The most important thing I learned: How many different kinds of people there really are in the world. This year I met people from all over. I was confronted with a variety of perspectives about my own country (some bad, some good) but all made me think more about things in general.

This has definitely been the most unique and adrenaline filled year of my life and I am so, so lucky that my parents gave me this opportunity. It is impossible to describe the impact this experience here has had on me but I can say this:

The phrase that will remain in my mind as I leave Spain is: ¡PONTE LAS PILAS! Technical translation: put in your batteries, but basically it means "hop to it". Here I realized, more than anything, that the world is at the same time so big and so small and all you can do with that paradox is explore...so hop to it!

¡Hasta luego, Madrid! Ha sido genial.

day trippin.

I've been spending my last days in Madrid re-visiting the museums, saying goodbye to people, and walking around taking pictures of everything that has been my life for the past 10 months. I also went on two day trips to cities right outside of Madrid that I hadn't seen yet.

Aranjuez is 45 minutes away from Madrid by train. Mainly all it has to offer is a royal palace and some pretty gardens. I was pretty bored at first on the palace tour but toward the end some of the rooms were definitely almost as cool as the one's in Madrid's Palacio Real.




El Escorial is 45 minutes away by bus. It has an enormous monastery that was impossible to get a good picture of. I really wish I could have taken pictures inside though. Once I made it passed the repetitive religious art there were some intense tombs and a cool old library.


So even if you could get bored in Madrid (which I don't think you can) there is plenty to see close by.

morocco.

If you go to Morocco...


you will probably spend most of your time walking through narrow streets with never-ending shops, bartering for souvenirs.


You will probably almost get run over by donkeys carrying goods several times...


and in these street shops...


you will probably see everything you could think of being sold.



If you go to Morocco you will probably get offered free mint tea ("whiskey Berber") that is deliciously filled with sugar several times.


You will probably be constantly haggled by people...


and convinced to get henna.


You will probably eat tagine, the stew like traditional dish...


and sweet bars of nuts for dessert.


If you go to Morocco you might get offered 60,000 camels for marriage and learn how to tie a turban.


What you might not do in Morocco is take a taxi ten hours into the middle of the desert.


You might not ride camels to the middle of Sahara sand dunes and sleep under the stars in a nomad camp.













You might not get invited to one of your camel guides' houses in the village for another mint tea.


But if you go to Morocco you will definitely have an unforgettable experience that is most likely much different than you expected.

cool stuff in madrid.

With only 25 more days left here I'm realizing there should be more of the city where I live my life on this blog, not just the cities I visit. Here's some cool stuff in Madrid:


Las Ferias de la Tapa. One weekend, 38 restaurants, TONS of tapas. Inside a giant stadium. Tapas 1.20 each.



Larger than life photo exhibit up one of the main streets. Aimed at portraying a vibrant side of Africa to combat the bleak image Spaniards tend to have of their neighbor country.



Epic midnight snack. Chicken (or meat) and fries. Pay by how many sauces you decide to try. Wonder why this bar is always full.


Random Chinese restaurant inside parking garage that always has huge line 'cause it is authentic and HELLA GOOD.


Happy Days! Where we go for our taste of home. Cupcake shop and assorted American sweets.


Kapital. 7 story club with different music on each floor, 12 euro drinks, and a giant wind tunnel that goes off sporadically on first floor.


(Ok, this is more under the "hilarious-ness" of Madrid category) Our school cafeteria sells beer and martinis and the students definitely take advantage.


Ohhh, Madrid.

22 years later.

In May 2010, our tour of Vienna started at the Schönbrunn Palace, which used to the the imperial residence. It is a huge expanse with everything from a zoo and a glass palm house, to a carriage collection and of course an apple strudel show, all spread out within a labyrinth of greenery and fountains.







Apfelstrudel part 1 of 3.


Then came the Holocaust memorial. Designed by Rachel Whiteread, the memorial to the 65,000 Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust has more symbolism than being a bleak, concrete block. The outside was made to look like rows of hundreds of books to symbolize the Jews as "People of the Book" and the untold stories of all the victims. In addition, the "doors" in front are carved with no handle, driving home the message that it was a horrible time of no way out.





Of course there were lots of cool buildings like the Parliament house, and the always lovely European streets.



We didn't to see the famous Spanish horses preform, but we watched them get escorted out afterward. These white horses definitely get the celebrity treatment.


The crown jewels museum had so much gaudy stuff it was hard to believe it was all real. This royal crown was in the beginning, not even the final hurrah of the museum.


Usually when we try to eat at a place our guidebook suggests it is not there. But this time we actually found our destination and it was the best decision ever - a quaint cafe with only about 13 small tables and awesome open-faced sandwiches.



For some reason there were several over the top Swarovski stores in the center. They had glitter on the outside and inside, were three stories tall, and seemed more like a tourist stop than anything else. They even sold pencils.


The best part of our trip was the Opera House. You can wait in line 3 hours before the show for standing room tickets for only 4 euros! The cheap price is worth the wait to go inside the elegant building. It wasn't free-for-all standing either; they have velevt arm rests that mark spots and just like the normal seats they have the little screens to choose subtitles (English or German options) to help you through the Italian performance. It was a little tricky at first to balance looking at stage and down at screen, but really cool!






But none of these things were at the top of my list to see, nor reasons my reason for going to Vienna in the first place.


What was? Seeing the gorgeous hotel where my parents got engaged. I wonder if they could have imagined their first born would find her way out front of the same place only 22 years later.