So all I can say is that I´m absolutely in love with this place, my title was inspired by the Queen song which I feel can pretty much describe how things are going. 1. I live on a cliff over the water so I get an awesome butt workout everyday going home. 2. siestas are bomb. 3. The people are so friendly here and there is no crime. 4. I´m in Spain! But I am having the best time and my spanish is definitely getting better. I have also been going out and making new friends which is  really fun. They are very shy people here so obviously I am funny to them because I am loud and will just walk up to anyone and practice me some spanish. My class is pretty cool because there are only 4 of us in it and my professor is in charge of this program so thats pretty sweeet. This blogging business is hard because I can´t remember any of the things I wanted to say when I finally get a chance to sit down and write! So please, if you have any questions feel free to ask! Agur! (thats basque for bye!)

Greetings from Italia, home of heat, side streets, rain, and the Jersey Shore.

This week was the middle of my trip, and it sure seemed like it. I had midterms in the beginning of the week, which went well. Then on Wednesday, my whole program went to the Papal audience, because our school was being mentioned in “noteable attendees” … or a “special blessing”. I thought us getting to see the Pope speak and hold mass was a big deal, and then I found out it happened every Wednesday (when the Holy One is in town). I would love to say that I cheered like a sinner when the LUC John Felice Rome Center was named… but I was asleep. The heat and Midterms really wiped me out. But don’t worry, the trip wasn’t a total bust for me, Loyola took us to lunch at a pizzeria after. The later half of the week was nothing special, went to class, planned on working, but took a nap instead.

People from our program went on a program-sponsored trip to Asissi on Saturday. The town of Asissi is a medieval mountaintop town, three hours north of Rome. The population is around 6,000, most likely half being nuns and priests, since the St. Francis of Asissi church is there. We went on a walking tour around the town, and visited the church. The priests and nuns who are with the church have taken a vow of silence, so obviously the church is pretty quiet… except when someone’s alarm goes off on their cell phone. Leave it to a Loyola student to make a ruckus in a church that has been pretty much silent for hundreds of years. I wasn’t the nimrod, but I did have to spend the rest of the weekend with her.

After we finished in Asissi on Saturday, me and two girls went on to Florence for the night. We took a two hour train ride into the city, and then got to the hostel. Our cheap accommodations were quite lovely; it looked like an Ikea ad, rather than a military barrack. It wouldn’t really had mattered anyway, since we got there around 9pm and had to check out at 10am the next morning. We got dinner, and learned that pretty much all over Italy, you will be served frozen food if you chose to dine in a main piazza, otherwise known as a tourist trap. It’s not a big deal though, you just need to find smaller restaurants on side streets. After dinner we walked around for a good two hours, and a good hour and half of that was spent being lost. Florence is one of the most confusing cities I have ever been to. There are so many side streets that aren’t on maps, and so many piazzas that look the same. It was ridiculous. We finally decided to just turn around and walk back the way we came. It turned out to be fine since there was a plethora of gelato shops on our route.

The next day we ventured out to the city again in search of the famous leather market, and other shops we saw on our confused tour of the town from the previous night. Being that we were there on a Sunday, many of the shops didn’t open until later or not at all. We putzed around, making sure to stay with the “in-crowd”, also known as the crowd who weren’t boneheads and actually knew where they were going. After a few stores, we decided to try to find the pizza shop that the cast of The Jersey Shore was working/filming at this summer. After doing some research the night before, post jaunt around the city, we found it pretty easily. The idiots from The Shore weren’t working that day, but we still got pizza, it was probably one of the best I’ve had so far. After we scarfed down the pizza with spicy salami, we then went to find the leather market. Naturally we got lost again. This time we ventured past the center of town to the outskirts, with only locals that spoke no English. The outskirts of Florence looked much like Cabrini Green, or how I would imagine it looked like in its prime. Thankfully we found a street name that looked familiar and that could be found on a map. After a little navigational genius, not involving me, we made it back into town, and the leather market.

Unfortunately no merchant had a pair of leather chaps for me to buy, so we headed out and strolled the streets a little more, because it always worked out so well for us earlier. And then much to our surprise, we randomly stumbled upon half the cast of The Jersey Shore sitting on the street being filmed. None other than Vinny, Pauly D, J Woww, The Situation, and Ronnie were just hanging out outside their building. There was a small crowd, most likely populated by dumb Americans, and a whole squad of security. The Jersey idiots started walking, so we obviously followed… staying a good distance behind, in hopes of not catching any diseases they were dishing out.

Then not even a block later, it started to rain. The cast and crew stopped to hide under an awing. And then a downpour occurred. After a little schmoozing with a security guard, who happened to be a “runway model” in California, my girls got two ponchos from him, while I was stuck with a dilapidated umbrella. The rain came hard, and my regret of sticking around for these Jersey juice-heads came even harder. As soon as it started hailing, they all ran, while we were stuck in an apartment building’s lobby, but the girls and I were able to hail a cab in the monsoon. Since our train back to Rome was in two hours, we headed to the station early to avoid the rain. Needless to say, I was a bit soggy, but thankfully I had an alternative change of clothes, which I put on right away. Because it rained hard for the entire two hour wait, when we went underground to get to our train platform, we had to walk through mid-calf high water. Not great.

I arrived safely back in Rome, after an hour and half train ride. The trip back was a bit uncomfortable, since the Italian couple I sat next to obviously judged my Pringle consumption. Pringles are sold like water in Italy, and I’ve definitely taken to the cylinder packaged snack. I have no plans for the next week, but I’m sure I’ll end up embarrassing myself in some way. I hope all is well back in the U. S. of A. and I miss all of you… along with Mountain Dew.

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One of the best things about studying abroad is being able to travel on the weekends. One of the best things about the JFRC is that they understand that and only have classes Monday thru Thursday, so students can travel.

Our first weekend travel excursion was with the JFRC to Pompeii. The sheer size of that ancient city is ridiculous. The most ridiculous, however, is the fact that they seemed to think pensis’ good luck. You can find them on walls as you’re walking along the ancient streets, or on the streets themselves, pointing you to brothels. Oh, the things history  books don’t teach us.

My next great weekend excursion was to Florence. Florence (“Firenze”) is wonderfully compact, ancient and touristy. You lose the hustle and bustle of Rome in Florence, but still find yourself walking amongst history that is just as impressive. We managed to hit all the main sites before we left. This included the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and THE David.

The Duomo is truly awe-inspiring, something like the 4th largest dome in the world. The entire outside is smothered in decoration and art. I didn’t really know what to expect from it, but it took my breath away.

Ponte Vecchio is also fantastic. It’s name means old bridge, and it is just that, currently full of classy jewelery shops. We had many a photo shoot there since my friend and roommate shares a name with the bridge.

And the David. At first I thought,” ah well, it’s just like all those pictures you’ve ever seen, right?” Wrong. In person, the size and detail of that statue makes you realize why it’s photo is everywhere and why it is so idolized. Things like the veins on his arm, the curls in his hair, and, unexpectedly, the handsomeness of his face are so poignant and wonderful, you really just have to appreciate it and MichealAngelo.

Also, overall, Florence is just quainter. You can find English spoken everywhere, because it is so full of tourists, but that’s ok. You can enjoy gelato or lunch in adorable little cafes (bars) right outside the Duomo. You can also meet many other tourists from across the world. We met someone from Ireland, Germany and California while there.

However, I do enjoy the size and vibes of Rome and am glad to be living here, even though Florence is so wonderful. So I’ve decided Loyola needs to make a sister school in Florence. John Felice Florence Center, let’s go.

Also, speaking of being in Italy, boy did we get a taste of that on the way home from Florence. Our first transportation strike experience! We show up at the train station to see that all regional trains are canceled. As we were discussing what to do, a man from Tennessee (I think) was explaining to us how no, that train was canceled too, and no, that one might be full, ect. ect. He then says “well, you can go and ask over there, but they’re all on strike”. AL ITALIA! So we waited in an exceptionally long line (thanks to the three people working not on strike) and had to pay an extra 30 Euro to take a fast train so that we might get home in time for classes. It was indeed an Italian experience!

¡Hola a todos! ¿Qué tal?

So, I have officially made it through my first two days of class at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. And as I sit here typing this, I look out my window and see a rainbow over the city. Yep, that’s right. A rainbow. That means rain. And it has been raining on and off for the past few days. Everyone has always said how little it rains in Madrid, but when I come, it pours. Go figure. 🙂

Bueno. At last post I was getting ready to start orientation, the final start. It was actually the shortest orientation I have been through to date. Only 24 hours. On 2 June, I checked into the orientation hotel in the morning, then because no one was there yet and the rooms were not ready, I headed out to get a few items, such as picking up my tickets for a Real Madrid-Bayern München Fútbal/Fußball/Calcio/Soccer game. It took a year, but at last I was going to go to a Bayern München Game! I know, I am in Spain- I should cheer for the home team, but alas for Spain, I could not bring myself to. Stern des Südens!!! But in the end, Real Madrid would have the last laugh as they won. Oh well. Anyway, around 12.00 most of the other students started arriving and checking in. Also, the rooms were available. Thus, I checked in, received my housing information, my orientation packet, and then had free time until around 19.30 when any students who wanted could go on a walking tour of the neighborhood.
Since there was plenty of time, a few of the other students and I, whom I met in the lobby, when to get lunch and walk around. Then we returned to the hotel and went on the walking tour, followed by dinner as a whole group  of USAC Madrid Summer 2011 in the Hotel Restaurant. It was a bit funny for me, as all the other students were jet lagged and tired, and I was  just dandy. Ah the joy of being used to this time zone. jaja
The next day, Friday, we had orientation, starting nice and early at 7.00 with breakfast, y despues (see I can write a bit of Spanish!) we were off the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos to get our library cards, see the campus, take the language exam, and have a general orientation. Seeing the campus was nice, but it was shocking to me that it is an actual campus. I was expecting more like Freiburg where there is a “campus” but it is not as a campus like in the US. The city just flows into campus in Freiburg-here it is more separate like most are in the US. But it is nice and I cannot wait to just do homework outside! Then it was back to the hotel to get our bags and make our way to our new homes.

So I live only 20 minutes away from Uni, which is really nice. Most people live 30-40 minutes away (some days I can even make it in 10!). I take the bus as it is the easiest way and quickest. I have my own room, which is wonderful, and I share a living room, kitchen, and bathroom with two Spaniards. I have been here about a week and so for it has been great. The language was a bit tricky at first, but as my Spanish slowly improves, it is becoming easier to communicate, but for the most part, we can. There are a few words here and there that are lost in translation, or that I simply don’t know in Spanish and they don’t know in English, so then it is dictionary time! jaja

Sunday was a great day: finally the Bayern München game. Our seats were great-we were able to see the whole game, and when it started to rain (rain? Madrid? Yep… figures, no?) we were sheltered. Then it was back home to sleep as Uni started Monday. So I have Spanish class Monday-Friday from 9.00-11.35. Somehow, and I am not sure how, I placed into a higher level than I was going to take… So far, we have been reviewing a lot, which is nice as after Italian and German my Spanish… well I can read it, but not speak it so well. But it is getting better. It is just hard to believe that I have now had a week of class! Midterm next week on Friday means there will be a lot of studying. But what is nice is that there are only 2 other students in my class, so we can go more in depth for topics we are unsure of, or might need more practice with.

After class I have been getting lunch, doing homework, and relaxing a bit, getting used to Madrid. And, of course, enjoying my last week off from training. In the evenings I hang out with friends in the various parts of Madrid and am enjoying all the city has to offer! Vale!

So stay tuned for the next post!

Monument in Park Retiro, Madrid