Cumple en España

Tuesday night I went out with a few friends to a local bar. There was free sangria and beer pong going on. It was fun, but I did have three classes the next day so I didn't stay out super late. Wednesday we had lentil soul for lunch and guess what for dinner? Pizza! My roommate and I were excited to have it and it ended up being pretty good. Wednesday I had class till 7 and afterwards I had coffee with a few friends and discussed traveling. As of Wednesday night I am officially going to Barcelona in 3 weeks! I am super excited, since that was the one other city I had to go. I already have a trip planned to London and Paris with Ashley in April, and we're going to Morocco with our program at the end of March. I've been looking at all the things to see there. I can't wait to see all of Gaudi's work: la sagrada familia, park guell, and many others.

Then it was Thursday, MY BIRTHDAY! I only had class till 11, and then Ashley met me. We looked for a cute little coffee place, but couldn't finding one with seats in the sun. Then we came upon Abuelas, an amazing looking gelato place that my roommate told me about, so we had to go there. Ash and I split kinder bar and mango yogurt gelato. They were both so delicious and way better than getting coffee. Down the street was the parasol, so we went and ate it on the steps, right in the sun. We sat in the sun for a good 45 minutes and it felt amazing. I don't think I've ever spent a birthday in the sun or in any weather other than cold. It got up to 68 degrees and it was fantastic. Then we had to go to our program's office and register for the classes we decided to take. While there I checked the mail, and I had two cards! I got a card and lots of Valentines from mom and dad and I got the cutest card from Steph, my roommate/best friend at Iowa State. Then we walked home for lunch, but went a different way. It's incredible the amount of tiny little streets there are around here. We found hidden little plazas and many cute bars and shops. When I got home my mom said she had a regalito (little present)  for me. She got me this really pretty bright coral scarf with a beige stripe and a few polka-dots. It was so nice of her! For lunch we had breaded/fried chicken and vegetables. After lunch I met Ash and we went to plaza de españa for a little while before she had class. It was such a perfect day there. We just sat in the sun and talked. I went back home ichatted my family and watched some greys anatomy. For dinner we had fish and vegetables. And then we had a torta (cake). She even got 2-0 candles for me (Which she has given to me, so I can remember my 20th birthday here). It was so cute and then I was able to get pictures with everyone, since mom had been asking for them. The cake was less cakey, but very yummy. It was like a cross between cheese cake, whipped cream, and ice cream. After dinner I wanted to go out for sangria, so I met a few friends. We went to a cute bar and shared 2 pitchers of sangria. It was just what I wanted. My friends Ashley, Lanae, and Rachel got me a cute pair of earrings. It was a great birthday, and one I'll remember.

Valentines

Cutest Card Ever from Steph

Scarf from my mom

Plaza de España

Ash and I

Birthday Dinner

20! 

Ana and me

Ana, me, and Ale

Ana, me and the aunt

Ana, Ada, Dana, and me

Ash and me, birthday night

Earring from my friends 

Friday our program had a visit to the Alcazar, which has a few palaces and beautiful gardens. One of my favorite parts was they had a little maze made from hedges, like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire except smaller and not magical. The building were pretty fancy, but I liked seeing the gardens better. Afterward was lunch and we had pasta. Ash and I went back to Plaza de España, to enjoy the sun. Then for dinner we had soup and hamburgers. After dinner I went over to Ashley's place and we watched Despicable Me in Spanish with her sister. That movie is cute in any language!

Maze

Gardens

Alcazar

1/2 orage ceiling

Today, Saturday, Ashley and I wanted to explore Triana, a neighborhood across the river. I saw there was a flea market in Triana on Saturday mornings, so we headed there. It was a super long walk, but we got to see a lot of Triana on the way there. When we finally got there is was crazy. There were so many people selling everything. We walked around the whole thing. There were lots of fruits and vegetables being sold, that looked really good. We decided we wanted a little snack, so we bought a euros worth of olives. So we ate olives, while walking back home. For lunch we just had chicken. She gave us so much, and with the olives, I couldn't eat it all. Also I made it through with out eatting bread.

It was really foggy today

AN IOWA STATE STICKER IN SPAIN!

All our olives for only a euro

Part of the market

Part of the market