So sad...I leave in 3 days!

It has been a good month in Oviedo! I have been to an espicha, eaten authentic Spanish food (paella, pinchos, tapas), tried authentic spanish drinks (sidra), and done Spanish things (go to the beach, party all night at clubs). It has been a good month, and I will miss it here!

While I have been here for school, I have gotten to experience an entirely new lifestyle, that I must say, with the exception of the 2-5 shutdown and late nights, I will miss. Everything is much more relaxed, and my return to the states will also come with a lot of stress. A LOT. Trying to find a place to live, going back to work, getting ready for school, and probably the most stressful, studying for my tests to apply for my master's degree. And as soon as September 28 hits, I will be doing all that at once, as well as some volunteer opportunities. But lets recap my wonderful trip so far (and I'm probably leaving a lot of things out):

In London I visited:
*The London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Picadilly Circus (lots of shopping), Buckingham Palace, Windsor castle
*Went out for a night in a London town, with the locals, and had real fish and chips and English beers.

In Paris:
*I had real French bread, paninis, brie, and other delicious foods. Had a great pub crawl.
*I saw: The Eiffel Tower, Basilique de sacre-couer, arc de triomphe, notre dam, avenue de champs-elysees, the louvre, red-light district

In Heidelberg, Germany:
*Went out for great german beer and tried weinershnitzel, which is similar to chicken fried steak, but porkchopish.
*Saw the castles in heidelberg, awesome days of shopping, and amazing views of the city from the top of the mountain with the castle on it.

In Montpellier, France:
*place de comedie, casual night out on the town during a festival. Got got drinks and good food.

In Barcelona, Spain:
*We rocked out. Went on a walking tour, tried sangria for the first time, did an amazing pub crawl
*Walked down Las Ramblas, went to an awesome outdoor market
*Spent our days on the famous Barceloneta beach--playing beach sports, and swimming in the thundering and lightning, and walking back on the boardwalk at 5am in the pouring rain, with not a care in the world.

In Madrid, Spain:
*We went on another pub crawl (although not as good). Tried bocadillos for the first time. Went on a walking tour
*Saw the famous sites and buildings of the area- palacio real, plaza mayor, puerta del sol, went into the Prado Museum, and the reina sophia museum, palacio cristal

I'm sure there have been many more things, that I just can't think of!!

In Oviedo/Asturias:
*Sanctuary of Covadonga, Beaches in Gijon, Luarca; La catedral in Oviedo, Cudillero, Los Lagos, Cangas de Onis, Puente Romano.




In a nutshell, I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity I've been presented with, and while I may be financially stressing now, I know everything will eventually turn out alright. I've seen SO many places, and I'm only halfway through my trip. After seeing 4 countries, I still have 3 more to go, and I hear they are the most amazing places. Italy, Greece, and Amsterdam. 17 days til I'll be home. Hasta luego!

Here we go again...

I have been getting pretty bad at writing in here it looks like. One reason being I've been pretty busy going around and doing things around Oviedo, and the other being that I've been pretty sick. It's unfortunate, but it really has put a damper on my ability to interact and do everything I'd like to do.
Yesterday was a particularly bad day for me, at the end of a bad week. I have been really shaky if I'm not extremely careful with my diet, and I'm hoping its just a part of getting over this nasty cold. I can't really eat any sugars, because then my blood sugar spikes up, and then drops too low it seems. Yesterday I was in tears with how horrible and weak I started to feel, and extreme nausea to boot which got even worse because of a curvy bus ride. But luckily I pulled through, although I did not feel well, and pushed through the rest of the day, which was hell in a handbasket.

But on to more positive things, or things of other topics. It is my last week in Oviedo! Which is pretty sad. I'm not looking forward to hopping around a ton on trains, but I'll survive! There's tons of wonderful sights to see still! I've got a lot to do to prepare myself before my departure, including getting some luggage, and doing laundry, and finding souvenirs, and and and. It's pretty stressful. ugh. Especially because I don't feel like doing any of it because I feel so ill! I'm willing to deal with it as long as I don't feel like I'm going to die during our travels though.

We've gotten to frequent the beach a lot here, which has been nice. Although I have enjoyed the hot weather, I definitely miss my Oregon, and will especially after these 100+ days in italy and greece! Every time I go shopping, I want to buy a bunch of dresses and skirts, but that's just not reasonably, considering once I'm back to the states it will be cold!

I'm all booked up on my flights, trains, and hostels for the rest of my trip, except a place to stay in amsterdam. Which I better do now...gosh, I've gotten bad at writing interesting blogs. Sorry. Only 3 weeks til I get to have a taste of taco bell though. YAY.

Only 2 weeks left in Oviedo!

I haven't written in here for a while...so I suppose I can write a bit of an update maybee. Well, as of today, as my title states, I only have two weeks left in Oviedo. It seems like such a small amount really. There's a 3 day weekend so I only have 7 days of classes left as well. CRAZY! But I also have 4 weeks left in Europe,which makes the time when I come home seem forever away. While I am looking forward to coming home, at the same time, I am not. Because while I'm in Oregon, or Cottage Grove, or wherever, I don't really have a home anymore. And it scares me. Everything is in storage, so even to go back to work I have to rummage through all my storage to find my clothes. And I hate being a burden, so who's couch am I going to sleep on? If I move to Eugene, will I hate living up there by myself? Or will it turn out to be a blessing in disguise? I don't want to live in an apartment at all, but it's all I can afford...Will I be able to get all the classes I need to apply for my masters? Will I have the time to work, take 16 credits, volunteer, do homework, and study and take all my standarized Praxis tests this term? There's SO much to do, it's so overwhelming and stressful to think about! Off to a better topic I guess, so I can get out of my grumpy mood.

I went to see bob marley's band the wailers in concert on the coast of gijon, spain the other night. It was amazing. And I had a good time with some of the girls I hadn't spent much time with before. 4 bottles of wine later, and we were safe and sound in our beds by like 2:30. So not bad.

This week has consisted of classes, a lot of walking, some shopping on monday, and just taking it easy. I got to try paella, and had some spanish ice cream, which is muy bueno. Tomorrow we are taking an excursion to some coastal city in spain I think, if I remember right. It will be an all day trip, but I'm excited, because I have had an extreme lack of exercise here. And my fat belly is starting to show through my shirts hahah. I've been counting the calories, and while not even feeling like I'm eating too much food, I'm easily reaching 2500-3000 calories a day here. And no exercise, so its killing me. The nearest place to buy hand weights or resistance tubing is madrid, which is like 5 hours away on train,and super lame. Because its a weekend, and monday is a holiday here, and tuesday is a field trip, I can't even try to go to a gym until wednesday. If I can even find one, and if they will even let me join for just 2 weeks. Ugh. But oh well.

I've booked my train tickets for the remainder of the trip, so we just need to get plane tickets and hostel reservations, and it will remove some stress off of me I think. Lots more to do, and not much time to do it! Especially in Oviedo. It really is a little gem.

As far as my spanish, I feel like classes are going well. I seem to comprehend everything the teacher is saying, but I guess I won't know until the midterm on tuesday! So wish me luck. I suppose I will do a little bit of studying. While I kind of wish I was faced with more of a challenge, I hope this will be an opportunity to boost my grade and gpa.

If I can't join the gym, I'm still planning on starting this little fitness kick, which will begin monday for running, and whenever I run out of groceries for the food. Because I've been spending a lot of money of food, so I have to suck it up and gain more weight before it can come off I guess. lol. I'm afraid that when I go back to the gym in the states I will be pathetic. And who knows if I can have a job there still, or if I should be looking elsewhere?

I think I want to go eat. hahah...more to come later, when I'm not so pooped. it is like 11 oclock at night here fools.

Being Sick Sucks. Although its not as bad in Spain.

all my groceries are Hacendado. It strikes me as funny, after all my history classes and learning about Haciendas and whatnot. The chips I have crack me up. the whole

package says CRSSSHHHH CRSSSHHH. no vowel. apparentely thats the sound a spaniard makes when eating chips. haha...now a time for pondering my life here, and

comparisons.

What I miss about the states:
ranch dressing
a gym to exercise in
a place of my own
being able to control my expenses more.
Not getting anything stolen there, (besides my car I guess haha)
The consistent summer weather. It's cloudy far too often here. :(


What I will miss about Spain when I leave:
*the packaged food. Much less preservatives, more real ingredients. Can eat more of it, because its not shit!
*the cozy feel of Oviedo. I feel safe here.
*ordering random things at a restaurant because I don't know what they are
*the price of my produce. For instance, I bought probably two pounds of plums yesterday for only $1!
*the variety, and beauty in everywhere that I've gone.

My brain hurts. I've spent the last 3 hours trying to budget out my trip and figure out which classes I need to graduate. It's definitely not fun.

Today I Used a Bouday...

Yes, that's right. I got bored after a long day and decided to see if its really worth it to have an additional fixture in every bathroom across Oviedo. oh yeah, i never even said that...hha. So yes. All of the bathrooms in the dorms, at least in
my building come equipped with boudays. And my verdict is...yeah, I guess it's nice. If you have a cush towel afterwards. haha. or realized you had to poop after you just got done taking a shower lol. People reading this now are probably like
wtf? jenni.fer has really lost it. Or who are in the program with me and thinking...WOW. lol. So anyways, I suppose you
care more about what I've been doing maybe in my town across the pond. Well...my bike at home seems to have been stolen first of all, which I discovered yesterday.
So lets see...hm. We have a local bar that we have decided to frequent often, which is the bar campa. Where we go and get "big beers", which are prob like 32oz, for just 2 euros. (i.e. $2.50). I must say everyone here likes to go out much more
often than I do, although so far I have sucked it up and tagged along. While it is going to be a crazy saturday night, I think I am going to be staying in, because I recently have got a cold. Which has turned into a cough. And after being in the sun all day, I am not feeling too hot.
We went on a walking tour of the old city on thursday, which just consisted of a dragged on lecture of the old cathedral, But on the brighter side, the program coordinators did take us all out for beer and sidra afterwards...so hooray.
Last night, Friday night, was probably the highlight of the week for sure. We went to an espicha, and had our first true Spanish experience. (other then our daily shot of espresso on our break). The espicha was like a party in a building, and
we had tons of food to eat, which came in little courses, almost like tons of choices from appetizers. There was meat, tortillas (which are what we say tasted like a cheese and potato fritata), little dinner pies, corn bready pockets,
calamari, cod, sausage, and sooo much more. And of course, all of the sidra we could dream of!!! Sidra is the Spanish drink, and to me, tastes like green olive juice. But I like green olives a lot better.So we went to the sidra at 7, and then found our way back to bar campa for some big beers, with everyone pretty buzzed by then. And don't worry, we travel in a pack now. lol. there's usually at least 8 of us at any one time. But Oviedo is a very safe place. So after big beers, we
went to a couple clubs and danced, and had a jolly old time, and came in at 3:30am, which is very early for here. I had a
friend carrying my keys, who had left earlier, so I ended up having to sleep on the couch without a blanket in the dorms.
Sad day.
So today we went to the sendero de oso, and walked around for hours in the beautiful mountains of Spain. It was a gorgeous day...probably 80-85 degrees, and laid by the river for a while as well. Lovely time. Although a very long day, and I'm pretty dehydrated now..so I'm not feeling too entirely hot. Ugh. I really hope I can uploads the pictures from my friends camera, since the only photos you guys can see are probably the ones I've been tagged in on facebook. oh yes, I've never even talked about friends! There's a group of 6 of us who are particularly close, but I've been making friends and talking to people here and there. I really like the people in the program. They're all super chill people, and 90% of them go to UO, so hopefully we'll actually be keeping in touch in the fall once we return. There's only one girl from Michigan, and I will miss her when the programs over!
I always have so many things I want to write in here, that I think are particularly funny, but I can never think of any of them. So oh well. signing off!

Bah. Oviedo is nice...but why'd I sign up for summer school?

Today was the first day of classes at the University of Oviedo. I take 4 hours of Spanish a day, hoping to improve my Spanish speaking skills. So far, the class I have been placed into is achievable, but who knows if it will become more difficult as time goes on. I already have homework, on this first day of school, although its not like I can say it is too extremely difficult. I'm tired. I've been tired a lot lately. Maybe it's just adjusting with the changing lifestyle. I have found I have been extremely weak in the mornings, even when I make sure to eat a good breakfast and snack. It could be stress...I still have a month and a week until I return home. I can only imagine what can happen from here on out, considering the last two weeks I have had already. I suppose I am in the homesick phase of the cultural adaptation.
We get washing machines here, although it is difficult to find one that is empty, and then we have to hang dry our clothes because dryers practically do not exist here. And the washing load takes an hour and a half to begin with, so yikes.
I always forget the keys things I want to talk about when I write these things...bah.

The first night we were here I went on a 30 minute run with two of the girls, which felt good. It has been weird not working out a lot. We did a little bit of abs last night, which, sadly enough, already made them a little bit sore the next day.
Oh yes, onto the Spanish schedule, and my struggles at adjusting. So Spaniards don't normally wake up too early. But, because we have class every day, and have to walk 20 minutes to get there, I usually wake at about 8am to get ready for the day. I found that I get extremely tired at around 12:30, which actually has been a problem, since I have a Spanish writing class, and even worse, a Spanish art history class from 1-2. It was the most challenging thing in the world today trying to stay awake during that class!
So, our classes get out at 2pm, which is the beginning of the Spanish siesta. Spaniards take a 3 hour siesta (which is, essentially, a nap), and so it lasts from 2-5pm. And everything gets shut down, while people go home for their late lunches and siestas. This has been weird, as it is after class that we like to do our errands and go shopping, and so we have to wait. I took my first hour long siesta today even. haha...
Another reason the siesta occurs is because people in Europe have much later night lives. Usually dinner occurs at 9 or 10 pm, and then casual drinks occurs, and the clubs don't even open until around 2am. We went to a club at midnight the other day in Madrid, and it was dead...which would have been like prime time back in the states. There is no alcohol cut-off hour, so people don't even go home from the clubs until like 5 am. Like in Barcelona, when I lost track of time and it was 5am and I had a train at 8. hahah.
Because of losing another camera, I am now officially 350 euros (450 dollars) behind budget just because of cameras. I really need a couple new shirts to wear, as the rest are worn and torn, and the weather here is different than expected, but I cannot afford to do so. Or afford to eat hardly...BAH. So, yes, it's been tough.
I am going to make my way to a fruit store after I am done writing this, to hopefully nourish my body since I feel like poop. I should probably try and find some vitamins or something, since I'm not eating as well as I should be. Milk doesn't come refrigerated often here either, so I haven't been drinking that. And we don't have a stove, so I can't have any meat!! So nutrition is tough. I should probably go find an iron supplement. Ooook. Off I go, to go nourish my body. Miss you all back home.

Hello Oviedo! Goodbye Madrid

I've got horrible luck with cameras. As if Jesus doesn't want me to document this trip for some reason. This time I feel the worst about though because it could have been prevented. I was leaving a club, which wasn't even busy yet, so I knew for sure my camera was right where I left it, but once you start to leave they make you leave, and stay out. So, I realized as I was walking out the door that I forgot my camera, and turned around to go back, but they wouldnt let me back in. Even when I explained to them, they were just big assholes about it. And I was willing to pay the cover fee again and everything, but they refused. So, I'm VERY very bummed. Madrid definitely had its highs and lows. We went to a pub crawl the first night, which turned out to be an absolute failure. We left after the 2nd bar because it was so lame. But Saturday was much better. After sleeping in until 11am, we went to meet up for a walking tour, with an extremely awkward tour guide, after the tour ended, at about 3, we went with a group from the tour and had beers and tapas. Which, by the way, I love tapas. We got paella, potatoes, bread + ham, and mozarella balls. And I chowed down. We then mosied around the town, picked up a bottle of wine for 2.50 euro, and walked to a ginormous park and kicked it in the 100 degree weather. The wine got way too hot for me to handle. We chilled with an Aussie and a guy from Chicago, who were both pretty cool. After that, I met up with Alyssa and Matt, who, if I haven't told anyone yet, both went to UO and have been traveling around Europe as well and they know Rachel, and we went to the Prado museum and the sophia (?) museum. AND I got to see real picasso and Dali art firsthand, real thing. fo sho. hahah. Sooo, after all the museumish, we were absolutely exhausted, and went back to the hostel to shower and get changed to go meet up with a bunch of people at another hostel. We played King's cup, and then we went to the outrageously priced (20 euro) club, which was 7 stories high, and were having a good time up until the point that my camera was no longer in my possession, and rachel was sick was too much to drink. I'm really bummed about the pictures, because we met a lot of awesome people, and I had taken a lot of awesome pictures from last night. GAY. at least I'm good about uploading them every other time, so all my pictures up until the point we went out that night were uploaded. And, as crazy as it seems, I need to get another camera. I'm now where I will be staying for a month and I want people to see my temporary home, as well as Italy and Greece after the program. But in terms of budget now, I'm very scared, because I'm waaay behind budget, because of these damn camera incidents, and I think I just need to go have a really good cry because of how stressed out I am. good day.