Las Fallas, Valencia

We only went to Las Fallas for the day on Friday and it was out of control. We left Madrid at 9am and had to be back on the bus at 2:30am on Saturday. Las Fallas is a celebration for San Jose who is a saint in Spain i guess, but for me it was a celebration with fireworks and fire. Artists spend a year constructing these huge statues called "fallas" and only one of the statues wins... the others get burnt to the ground. Some of them are as tall as a 6 story buildings. They are all made out of foam, paper, and wood and the detail of the fallas is crazy. I was able to buy fireworks to throw around the street so i was stoked. I was like a little kid in a candy store. My friends that i was with didnt like me playing with the fireworks to much, so at one point I kinda split ways from them so I could play with my fireworks. We watched the 3rd place winner of the contest get burnt to the ground and before lighting it on fire they had a firework show for it and then within a matter of minutes the whole thing was up in flames. Firemen were hosing the thing down to control the flames and everyone was getting ashes rained all over them. We had to run back to the bus to make it so we didnt get left in Valencia, but it was worth it. Las Fallas was awesome!

Barcelona

This last weekend in Barcelona went by way to quick. We definitely needed more time to see everything. On thursday night my buddy and I stayed in a hostel where we met someone who claimed to be Jesus and said he was from heaven. To say the least he was a pretty interesting guy. The next day we walked around the gothic part of Barcelona and then through a park and then down along the beach. We got lucky again with the weather because last monday in Barcelona it was snowing and both days this weekend was sunny and hot. We met up with our other friends from San Diego later on friday and then went to a few bars that night. On saturday, since it was only my friends only full day, we did a bus tour of Barcelona all day so we could most of the city. We went out that night as well and ended up going to bed at 5am and had to get up at 9am to head to the airport. We were all exhausted the next day. If you go to Barcelona DO NOT fly into the Girona Airport cause its an hour and half from the city by bus. Anyways it was a cool weekend and im looking forward to going back with my mom

Tanger, Morocco (Africa)

Where to begin with Morocco... It was an awesome experience. I went with my friends Heather, Katie, and Steve and we all had a blast. It was supposed to be raining the whole weekend and we lucked out because we had awesome weather the first 2 days and then the 3rd day was not that great. The hotel we stayed at was about a 15 min walk to the beach and about 15 min walk to whats called the Medina, or where all the little markets are. The first day we just wondered around and since Heather and Katie were the only 2 blonds in all of Tanger we were getting all sorts of comments. We thought it was smarter to just keep walking instead of talking back. We only had one person that was a kinda of hostile, the others just made remarks. We ended up on this cliff that overlooked the port of Tanger and we could see across the straight of Gibraltar to Spain. It was a sweet overlook. The next day we hired a cab to take us to a place called Grotto Hercule and its a cave on the Atlantic Ocean that was naturally shaped in the form of Africa. It was a really cool drive to the cave through the mountains and at the top it overlooked Tanger. The next day we went to a town about 2 and a half hours away called Chefchaquen and its a town that is right at the base of the Riff Mountains. It was a very cool little town. While we were on the mountainside overlooking the town it started to rain and by the time we walked back to the town center it was pouring. There were legitimate rivers flowing in the streets within 5 mins of this downpour. We were all soaked from head to toe. The whole time we ate at these 2 different restaurants because they were so cheap and we could get whole pizzas. We did eat some authentic food like kebabs and in the morning at the hotel they had what i think was authentic food. The 4 of us just hung out at night in the hotel cause we didnt feel like wondering the streets other than to the store and restaurant. Morocco was definitely an experience of a lifetime.

Granada

My trip to Granada was awesome. The weather was finally better, about 70. When we got into Granada we met up with a couple friends from San Diego and they took us up to this place called Albacin which overlooks all of Alhambra, the Sierra Nevadas of Granada, and part of the city. The views were awesome. Later that night they took us to a massive botellon. There was probably around 1,000 people there and it was crazy. The next day we spent all day at Alhambra. The views from Alhambra were incredible. We could see the entire city and all the snow covered sierra nevadas and its something you have to see in person because the pictures dont do it justice. Alhambra itself was very interesting and the arabic architecture and design was really cool. I think Granada has been my favorite place that I have traveled so far. On sunday, my family took me out to this place called Casa de Campo which is just on the outskirts of Madrid and its where the civil war took place here, but now it is a huge park. We just went on a run and my host senor was showing us all the old trenches and bunkers from the war. It was really cool. From Casa de Campo you could see a lot of the skyline of the city which was cool.

Weather

The weather here sucks right now. I guess Spain is having its 2nd worse storm in 50 years. It rains every day, which sucks because I have a 10-15 min walk from the metro to campus. Hopefully it will clear up soon! Tomorrow my buddy John and I are going to Granada and then coming back Saturday night. Ive heard a lot of cool things about Granada, so look for pictures soon. Also, my new family has a house in a town called Burgos in northern Spain and they said they would take me there sometime soon so im stoked, but for the next 5 weeks i have trips planned for every weekend. (Granada, Morocco, Barcelona, Valencia, and then either Lisbon or Malaga for spring break)

Toledo and Kevin Costner

Yesterday a group of us went to Toledo, which is about 30min by train from Madrid. It was a very beautiful and cool city. All the streets are very narrow with cobblestone and the architecture is awesome. There is still a wall that goes around the city. We went into a few different museums and other than that just cruised around the city checking everything out. We had lunch at a little cafe and in Spain it is very popular to get a hamburger with a sunny side up egg on it. It is really good. I recommend you try it at home. We walked down along the river as well for a little while checking out these old abandoned buildings or something of the sort. Then once we got back to Madrid, Jenna, John, and I all met up and went to Kevin Costner's concert. We got hooked up with free tickets to show thanks to my aunt and her old friend, who is friends of Kevins'. After the show was over we got to go backstage and down into the dressing rooms. We got to talk with Kevin and took pictures with him and then hung out in the room talking to my aunts friend Tim for awhile. While we were inside we got to talk to some of the other band members as well. All of them were really cool and nice. It was an awesome experience. Yesterday was a long, but awesome day.

New Family

Week 2 of school is over and tomorrow we are going to Toledo. After we get back from Toledo I am going to Kevin Costner's concert here in Madrid, so tomorrow should be a pretty cool day. Last night a few of us met up before we went to an intercambio to have a botellon, and then later we went to a bar/club. I changed families a couple days ago and so far it has been awesome. I am now living with a girl and guy who are dating and are in their mid-late 20's and they live with her father who I believe is 73 and retired. The girl used to teach spanish at the university I am attending so she is very helpful when correcting me and helping me say things correctly. Her boyfriend is from Canada and really cool. We try to talk to each other in spanish, but its easier to talk in english with him cause we both arent very good at spanish. I just met her father today but he is really nice guy. He helped me get my computer set up to the internet because it wouldnt connect, so we had to call their internet provider and he had to talk to them in spanish for me and then have someone call us back to speak in english. He was very helpful. I believe he has a house in Valencia as well, and was there this past week... Im hoping that maybe they will all go again and take me with!