Africa Bound --Waka Waka Ah Ah!

So clearly I'm pumped to leave for Africa tonight but first thing is first... updates!

Well.. I experienced the other two service learning sites and of course.. I fell in love with the hospital. The hospital is huuuuge and is called San Juan Dios and is based on the Monk religion. So there were a lot of people walking around in robes... very neat! The woman who showed us around, Pilar, will also be giving me my interview. After the interview I will get placed on a certain floor of the hospital. The hospital is brick and also has many peaks and domes.. when you first walk in
 it seems almost like a really fancy hotel. (nicer than any hospital I have seen in the states actually) This hospital is for terminal illnesses so the floors consist of things like cancer patients or patients on life support ventilators. In the ground floor there is a children's program for kids who have had accidents and are re-learning to use motor skills or basic every day tasks. Unfortunately we don't get placed there because they said the children get too attached.. and I know I would be attached to them. I won't know exactly what I am doing until my interview is complete.

So.. after I get back from Morocco I will be going in for my interview with Pilar, hopefully my Spanish speaking and listening skills will be in tip-top shape!
I still enjoyed my first visit on Monday.. so another gal named Brielle and I (we both want to be PAs) asked our director Veronica if we could split our time between the hospital and the institution.. she said yes! whoo hooo :D ...so in two weeks we will be officially starting service learning :)

AND orientation is over.. thank goodness. Those 5 hour long night classes were just not my thing along with the 2 hour meeting in the morning. We had our final 4 hour exam this morning and I now know the classes I will be taking.. totaling at 21 credits! Which may sound horrible but I'm already done with 2 from orientation.. I get 2 for service learning (going, and papers) 15 for regular classes.. 1 for Granada Seminar.. 1 for phonetics.. done! It won't be bad at all. :)

Also in my free time I went with some friends to watch the BIG soccer game between Barcelona and Madrid which was a blast because the people here get Soooo into it! Then after that we went to a discoteca called Granada10... literally the coolest place I've ever seen. It reminded me a little of the reception area Amanda had for her wedding only it was veeerry tall and bigger. It had stairs and different levels with couches and a huge screen with DJs at the front. I was told it used to be an old theatre for plays and such. It was great! While there I met 3 men my age from Ireland (lovedd them) and another guy who lives with them from Australia.. and I also met some girls from England! They are all here studying as well. So in one night I was hanging out with people from the US, Holland, Spain, Ireland, England, and Australia. haha I can't believe how much bigger my world has become.. what a blast!

However with all the fun I've been having I think it may be wearing me down even though I am trying to get enough sleep.  Today I am sliiightly sick.. I think due to changes in my environment. In Spain, or at least Granada everyone and their dog smokes. My host father smokes aaa lot.. like right at the dinner table and so I am constantly breathing it in. I'll prolly have a grey lung by the time I'm back in the states I swear. However, I have no choice but to deal with it and I think because of this I have a sore throat and well just feel kinda crappy.. like an irritating cold. A lot of others seem to be having similar symptoms with the same speculations.. who knows! ha. Another thing that I'm getting used to in Spain besides the normalcy of smoking is the constant displays of public affection. So common.. like all the time in public places in the middle of the day... often more than kissing; puke. BUT It's something culturally different and it's something I'm trying to cope with. Otherwise.. things seem relatively similar thus far other than the food, language, and type of home (mostly high rise apartments) of course.

TONIGHT at 6pm.. We take a boat to Morocco, Africa!!! Needless to say I am STOAKED!
I feel like I'm living in a dream and someone is about to pinch me to wake me up... This experience is absolutely life changing already. I'm sure Morocco will be even more so.. considering their lives are very very different than ours. Below I copied and pasted a note about our leader, differences in culture, and our itinerary for the time we spend there. :)


We are split into 3 groups and my leader is Justin Davis. Our Morocco trip is from Jan 28th - 31st.

About Justin: I came to Morocco as a Peace Corps Small Business Development Volunteer and I now live an hour outside the Imperial city of Meknes. I'm originally from Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa in 2005. Before joining the Peace Corp I worked in Management/Sales in Raleigh, North Carolina. I've had the opportunity to enjoy some unique experiences in Morocco and I've been fortunate to be able to establish many friendships with Moroccans throughout the country. My time here has been very rewarding and I look forward to sharing my experience with you.

While there we will be living with a host family with 3 other people... they will feed us and we will be able to stay there in a room. If they are willing or have a shower, we can take a one at their home otherwise...


SHOWERS: You will have the opportunity to go to the "hammam", the traditional Moroccan public bath house, on your second night in Rabat. If you really need to shower before then, your host families can make that option available to you, but we find that most students decide to use the public bath only. For the public bath, women here wear just underpants (no tops) but if you're uncomfortable with that, you can choose to wear a swimsuit. Generally, students decide to "blend in" and just wear underpants, but you won't have any problems wearing a swimsuit if that's your preference. For guys, you will also wear underpants in the hammam. 


Also a clear difference is the attire.. which includes no cleavage/tank tops for women nor above the knee shorts for girls and guys. Additionally, the leggings and T-shirt look that is popular right now in Europe and the US is not really appropriate here. If you're going to wear leggings, please be sure that your top goes down to your knees, like a dress or a long sweater (cover your butt!). 

Four Day Program - Itinerary Example

Day One ALGECIRAS - TANGIER - RABAT

9:00 Boat journey across the Mediterranean Sea from Algeciras, Spain to Tangier, Morocco

9:30 Visit of the women's center DARNA and informal conversation with Moroccan students

about cultural diversity, education and woman's rights in Morocco

12:00 Lunch at women's center DARNA

Afternoon:
13:30 Drive to Asilah along the Atlantic coast

15:00 Walk through the Medina (old town) of Asilah

16:00 Drive to Rabat (3 hours)

Evening:

19:00 Meeting of the home stay families (Three students will stay with one family.)

20:00 Walk through the Medina of Rabat in small groups

20:30 Dinner with home stay families

Individual Time (showing pictures, visiting other families, going to a cafe, etc.)
Day Two RABAT
8:00 Breakfast

9:30 Facilitated discussion “West and Islamic worlds - images about each other”

11:30 Visit of the Roman ruins Chellah and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V

Afternoon:

13:30 Lunch with families

15:30 Exploration of Rabat's Andalusian houses in the Kashba and the street life in the medina market. Individual options: to spend time in the art museum or gallery, at the ocean or in the gardens of the castle. (This afternoon will be spent in small groups to create space for authentic experiences of the place and for personal connections. Two American students will be accompanied by one or two Moroccan students from AMIDEAST/Rabat University. )

18:30 Meeting of all students at the Oudaia gate

Evening:

19:00 Conversation with a Peace Corps Volunteer about living in Morocco

20:30 Optional hammam (traditional baths)

22:00 Dinner with family
Day Three RABAT - RIF MOUNTAINS - CHEFCHAOUEN

7:30 Breakfast

8:00 Drive to Rif Mountains

12:00 Walk in the Rif Mountains to a family in a mountain village (approx. 30 minutes)

Afternoon: (This is a personal visit: we will keep an eye on time AND be flexible for experiences.)

Lunch in the house of a family and conversation about education, simplicity of life

and economic challenges of rural areas in Morocco.

17:30 Drive to Chefchaouen

18:30 Short walk through the medina of Chefchaouen with some background information about its

Moorish and Jewish inhabitants and its historic link to Al Andalus.

19:00 Settle in hostal

Individual time for exploring the Medina (We will experience both how beautiful

Chefchaouen is and how damaging tourism can be.)

Evening:

20:30 Special celebration dinner in the Medina of Chefchaouen

22:00 Social time on the roof terrace: to share images and thoughts from our journey. (30 min)
Day Four CHEFCHAOUEN - CEUTA - ALGECIRAS
7:00 Optional: Walk through the Medina / looking down at Chefchaouen from outside the city gate

8:00 Drive through mountains, fields and cities to Ceuta (2 hours)

Breakfast on the way

11:00 Crossing the Moroccan - Spanish border

14:15 Boat journey across the Strait of Gibraltar (1or 2 hour time difference)

15:30 Good bye in Algeciras, Spain 

Sooo that's pretty much the scoop on life right now! It's going to be a busy time!
Orientation is officially over, headed for Morocco tonight, and who knows what it will bring me :)

OHHHH & a couple side notes
1. Kelsey and I discovered a great Mexican restaurant so we can finally get our taste buds on some tacos and chips and cheese!! LOVE. :)
2. Heather is sending me the third Hunger Games Book!! Whoo Hoo THANKS! :D
3. I got to eat kettle chips with lemon juice in the sun near palm trees yesterday (heaven?)
4. If you want more info about our Morocco trip.. this is their site http://www.moroccoexchange.org/moex_intercultural.php


....I'll blog again when I am back in Spain... Ta-Ta for now!

World Traveler In the Making

Hello All!

Life is still wonderful here in Granada :)
I will just jump right into things! Last Friday we didn't have to go into our usual class meeting at 9am.. I got to sleep in woot!! We got split into 2 groups and luckily I was in the later one. During the meeting we discussed our goals for our semester.

My main goals that I came up with included:
1. Becoming nearly fluent in the Spanish language by means of speaking and also writing and reading.
2. Befriending a Spanish man or woman... or both :) I've already accomplished this one!
3. Travel to at least 3 other countries.... I'll tell you more later :)
4. Be able to have an awesome conversation with my host parents without them thinking I'm stupid because I can't understand some of the words they say with their accents, eek!
5. To immerse myself in the Spanish culture and to truly understand it as a resident rather than a visitor.
6. Volunteer at some sort of health related organization (details to come!)
7. Finally... RELAX and enjoy the experience mistakes included :)

Friday night some friends and I went out on the town and met some Spanish people and also some folks from Holland and Germany... so fun to talk with them! I am learning so many new things about life... my world is already so much bigger; I love it!

Saturday... SHOPPING! woot woot! :) The deals here are absolutely nuts! In Granada they have great deals TWO times each year... One: Jan-Feb and Two: July-August
Sooo needless to say I am taking advantage of these deals. I bought a few new pieces of clothing and also shoes. I'm trying to save, but seriously I got jeans for 12 euro!
I've also been reading the Hunger Games.. SOooooo Great! I finished both 1 and 2 already haha bummer I don't have the 3rd with me here but it gives me something to look forward to in May when I'm back in good ol Iowa :) & someone brought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so that's my next read!

There are always street acts going on & we saw this one after shopping 

It was especially strange.

We also saw this: The many ways to travel in Granada// car, bus, bike, moped.. oh and donkey.

Sunday was an uneventful day.. woke up late, read, went for a run.. got lost, read, and ate. Ya, it was a chill day :) ... not next Sunday (I'll be in Morocco! eep!) but the Sunday after Tayler and I are going to go to church with Maria de la Luz and Paco! Should be interesting.. church here is at noon and lasts only 30 minutes and they are also Catholic. Can't wait to see the differences!

Monday we continued on with classes in the morning and again from 4-7pm at night!! That is suuuch a long time in a row I'm telling you, I forgot how to go to school I think. We also had an assignment with a group and my group had to find 2 theatres in Granada.. El Teatro Alahambra y El Teatro de La Isabel Catolica. The point of this "treasure hunt" was to get us lost in the city, learn how to use a map and ask for help. So, needless to say I was very lost considering I can't do map skills in the U.S. But we eventually found them after asking liiike 8 people and got the information we needed for our power point presentation we will give on Friday. I was quite proud of myself after we did all of this however :)

Monday night... this is the best part!
Brielle, Malissa, Kelsey, and I got together at a cafe had tea.. and booked flights!
I am now officially going to Paris in February, Canary Islands for Spring Break, and also Portugal for a long weekend all inclusive trip! I must be dreaming.. this can't be real life; but don't pinch me. :)
It was quite an ordeal working all of the payments and info out.. I am clearly a beginner at this because well, dad, you're a pro. THANKS for being patient with me through the confusion haha

And now for today.. no class in the morning all week! Horraaaay! Sleeping in :)
This afternoon I went on a service trip to a place called Huerta de Rasillo which is a really really nice home for people who have been severely physically injured or have mental handicaps. It is an absolutely beautiful layout ( housing, a pool, a plaza, workout center that's along the lines of rehab, arts and crafts center.. many others) and if I choose to volunteer here I will be basically hanging out with the residents helping them with crafts, sitting outside with them chatting, going out for tapas, or helping take them to a store to buy things they want. Awesome? Yes! Not only is it fun.. but I get to help others and make their day; so great.. seriously. I could already tell by the expressions on their faces when we walked in that they would be so appreciative of our company. The woman who gave us the tour was also very very nice and said she would absolutely love us to come volunteer! Alsooo there is a flamenco concert going on in February that we would take the residents to (I get to go for free!). It sounds so great! (Also, I saw some of the workers walking around.. and I was zero jealous of the fact that they have to help them get ready for the day and I get to hang out with them.. opposite of my job in the states) Horray!
....There is only one trouble.
Tomorrow I have two other service trips to check out.. one at a hostpital and the other at an institute for people who have mental disorders such as being bipolar.
I don't know how I'm ever going to choose which one I want to do! ...guess I will find out.
---how this works: During the semester this service learning counts as 2 credits! YAH! I need to go at least 3 hours a week however I want to spread out the time is fine.

After the service trip I went on.. I went to the beautiful park near my house and went for a run in SHORTS and a Tee! Yah, it's that nice here :) Can't say I'm sad I'm missing the snow at home, ha! I've been keeping up on my running here and we walk soooo much. All the women here have bird legs and I'm starting to see mine doing the same.. not mad about it :) We walk 40 min total to and from class in the morning and then 40 min total to and from class in the evening not to mention my run and the extra walking I do... it's great! Also because I'm eating so much bread here that I neeed to be exercising, lots. People looked at me a bit strange when I was wearing shorts.. not sure if it was because they think 62 degrees is too cold for shorts, or if they thought I looked weird. No one else here wears tshirts.. they all wear spandex like professional looking gear. They don't dress down here at all.
Also, on a side note I literally have seen ONE overweight person here so far. I didn't realize this until I was walking down the street and this overweight gal stood out to me and I realized it was the very first time I had seen an unfit person here. Seriously, these people are beautiful here and very well dressed both men and women.
I don't know whether it's the fact that they spread their meals so far out during the day and don't snack, all the walking, or the smaller portion sizes of certain things (seriously their coffee is the size of a shot).

Finally, tonight.. we had class and it was long and well boring as usual BUT after we had a meeting and we got to learn about flamenco! It was very neat and I cannot wait to actually see a show!

Until next time... Adios! :)

I'm Lovin' It.

Helloooooo!

Welp, things are still going wonderfulllllllllllly here! Classes are great and I love my professors so far they are hilarious. I can tell my Spanish has improved SO much already and it has only been one week since I left the United States, crazy!

We have gone on two tours aroung the city and today we went up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.. needless to say it was breath taking and I loved every second of it :) ...I'm a bad listener when I'm taking a million pictures so I won't have a lot of captions sorry! But they are beautiful photos.

Greeeeeen! yes it is actually nice here :)

A distant view of the Alhambra.

We saw a lot of different sites like this one on our way up the Sierra Nevadas.

Austin, me, and Zach sitting overlooking the city of Granada.

They played really well acutally!

This is one of our profs at the Univeristy showing us the public baths from years ago.. how crazy to think about nowadays showering in public with many many people; they saw it as a social gathering especially for women.

Sorry for the bad explainations of pictures, woops!

We also went out a couple nights ago to watch the BIG game of soccer between Madrid and Barcelona. It was a blast! Everyone gets really into it here and it was a great social event :) One of my friends inthe program has two host sisters one from Spain and one from Holland and they were with us too. Fanny (Spain) and Niki (Holland) they are both incredibly nice and it was fun to chat with them!

Holly, Fanny, Elizabeth, Niki, Kelsey, me, Malissa, Brielle (shes wants to be a PA too!)

Today we started something called intercambio which is where we have a Spanish "mentor" with 3 other students at about the same speaking level. We go places with them, do activities, and well.. speak Spanish! Tonight was our first time meeting one another and I got reaaally lucky somehow and got in an advanced group of speakers including Gen, Rob, Griffin, me and then Helena who is the mentor. She is awesome, and sooo helpful. She doesn't speak English along with everyone else we encounter, but it really makes me think about how and what I wanna say. I'm learning so much! ...but it's fun too! haha Our group went to a tapa bar and we all got 2 free drinks and 4 free tapas from the program... this is A LOT different then in the United States bc we would neverrr have an event school related buy us drinks, ha! riiight. Veronica is the coolest. yupp!

My group! Rob, Griffin, me, Helena, Gen.

Anyway.. other than that I've  just had classes and Malissa and I have been going on runs to burn off all the bread they push down our throats. Today was beautiful and sunny warm :)

Hope all is well at home!!

"Qué divertido"

Qué divertido (What fun!!) is the theme of our excursion in Spain this semester. :)

Paddy's Pub for Katie's Birthday ...met so many different people here Irish and Spanish! woot!

I have moved in and am living with a gal named Tayer Wessels who goes to Central but was abroad last semester in China!! ...how neat is that?
I never knew her until we moved in together and I'm thinking she will make a great roommate because she is not only nice, but she is a clean freak like me, PLUS! haha
My host parents are Maria de la Luz and Paco.. I love them! They are basically like a grandma and grandpa away from home, soo adorable. Maria de la Luz takes great pride in her cooking and has fixed us many many delicious things.. shocker really! I like it :)
For breakfast (9am) we have always had toast (but not like the bread in the US, harder.) with jam and butter.
For lunch (2pm) we have been eating mostly different kinds of soup such as some sort of vegetarian one with eggs and noodles and vegetables, lentil soup, and the other I think was egg drop; all great!
For dinner (9pm) we have had a variety of different dishes and sooooo much food. They are constantly asking us to eat more, blah! We have had french fries, fried ham and cheese, soup, and salad. Told you, lots! We also had a meal of soup and homemade ham pizza YUM. We always have the option of an orange or an apple after we have stuffed ourselves to the max as well.
...Maria de la Luz is great :) & Paco is so nice as well. He eats the same dinner every night.. coffee with milk and bread with oil.

The way of living is different in Spain. Our home is more like an apartment style in the US. There is a long hallway, 3 small bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room/dinning room, and a bathroom. Tayler and I share a bedroom and the eating experience is different here. The tv and couch are part of the eating experience. The table is in the middle of the dinning room and there is a heater below it because the homes do not have any sort of heater or air conditioning. Anyway, as we eat together one side of the table is chairs, and the other is the couch. During the entire meal, the tv is on and they seriously watch it... just different! I have actually seen a lot of the same shows here that we have in America so that's fun! The showers however uhhh. There is a water shortage in all of Europe so the showers are quick and cool :(

Yesterday their grandchildren Curro and Carla came to visit. They were adorable! Curro loved us and always wanted to fight us with his light saber so we had battles :) Such a chatterbox too!

Me and Curro right after an epic battle.. he killed me multiple times with his laser. So cute!

This is Carla and my host grandma Maria de la Luz :D

Sunday night after Maria de la Luz and her friend Carmen (they're bffs) showed us where the school is.. we went to Carmen's home to have tea and coffee. It was a blast! Malissa Larson and Alissa Winter live with Carmen so it was a great time for us girls to hang out and relax... absolutely loved it!

Our orientation with Veronica has also started and she is sooo fun! She has a personality that is hard to pinpoint into one word.. she's strict but hilarious all in one. We had a THREE HOUR long exam Monday which was just soooo long yuck. Otherwise we have been learning about politics and current events during the lectures and went on a tour of the city today with Veronica's assistant and one of the professors at CML. He showed us all around the city of Granada and told us about the history in the buildings... so awesome.

Me & Taylor at the Cathedral

This is a public toilet... & yes you have to pay to use it.

This is what can be considered Spain's "Central Hall"

This area is where the other students in Granada go to the University.

Housing in Granada.

Malissa, Alissa, Tayler, and I went on a little exploration today and found a really neat park where we decided we will go running at.. also, they have outdoor weights... not like ours. But, they also have a gym/spa but the price is through the roof. We also found a mall!! They are having a TON of sales here right now and it's about all I can do not to buy everything in site.. especially all the boots! gah! I'm pretty sure total today. . we walked 10 miles. OOFta. But great exercise!

Me, Malissa, and Alissa in the beautiful park near where we live.

It rained the last couple of days but today the sun was shinning and it was warm!

The escalator at the mall.. no stairs!

Tonight after class Tayler and I stopped and had my very first churros! Sooo delicious.

So far the trip has been great and I'm learning SO much!! Also... I booked a trip to Paris with 3 other girls aaaaaahhhh!!!! :D Is this real life?
I'm sure I'm forgetting things I've done here and there but you get the picture... it's awesome here :)

& clearly I am doing well ;)

Love you all!!

Courtney

We are HERE!!

We made it!! Whoo hooo :D

My friends and I made it to Spain yesterday at about 2pm Spain time. The journey was...well long.
The goodbye to my family was hard of course because I love them lots and I just have never gone somewhere far far away without them before.

                                        Me, Kylie, Ashley, Zach... and what should be Austin :)
During customs I got patted down and my bags searched because I forgot to take my hand sanitizer out which apparently makes me a bomb threat. BUT finally I made it through and for the first flight I was in seat 1A which was right by the emergency exit door and was a single seat. SO I had no one to talk to or comfort me in the fact that the door would not blow open and suck me out.. thanks for that visual mom! ha

We had a 4 hour wait in Texas where we met up with Austin and we grabbed a bite to eat at TGIFs. It was kind of interesting because since it was an international airport there were many people from different places. Anyway.. Kylie and I were sitting together on the flight from Texas to Madrid and we were asked if we would possibly switch spots with a woman and her baby because she needed the basket hanger we had in front of us. He then offered us free wine for the trip. So, as a given we took the offer and switched spots. This was also my first encounter with a woman who only spoke Spanish; a challenge but also exhilarating!

The plane ride went smoothly and when we landed in Madrid at about 11am Spain time; we got fast passes because our plane was late due to maintenance (scaryyy) and our flight to Granada was leaving in 45 min. We had to run to customs and to the train and down the escalators to finally find where our plane was to take off. Needless to say it was chaotic and we broke a sweat. ha!

The journey from Texas to Madrid

Chillin in the Madrid airport waiting for our connecting flight to GRANADA!

Our flight landed in Granada and the sights were beautiful!! .. I'll post pictures :)
The airport was extremely small but we figured out which bus to take... in Europe they are less concerned with time so we were told the bus was going to leave in 4 minutes but after we sat on the bus for an hour.. it finally left.

                                                       View of Madrid from our plane

                                    Sitting on the good ol' bus jammin' to some Spanish Tunes.
The bus dropped us off in the downtown part of Granada kind of by Hotel Melia which is where we will meet at tomorrow at noon for orientation and to meet our host families! :D Last night we stayed at the Best Western and it was quite the adventure trying to find it. We lugged around over 100 lbs of luggage up mountains and hills for what seemed like foreeeevr before we finally found it. The directions we got from some of the residents here didn't make sense to us :S yet.

We got all settled in, showered, and ready for the night. We hadn't slept at all yet but we were trying to get accustomed to the time change. We went out to a place called Murphy's which was a bar. My friends ordered drinks and I got a water (which costs money... sorry dad) If you buy drinks you get free tapas..which ours included chips drizzled in oil and 6 biscuit halves with melted cheese and onions. The cuisine is definitely different. The man who owned the bar was VERY friendly and spoke decent English so he asked us about our studies here and told us on Sunday nights they have an international speaking convention where people just sit and talk to other natives to better themselves in the language which is perfect for us! He also said if we want to watch American sports we can come any time haha

 

We explored more of the city and also ate at a restaurant which of course.. had seafood. I got the vegetarian lasagna which was still interesting even though it was the most American thing on the menu :p After dinner we headed back to the hotel and basically crashed. We stayed up until 10pm even though I could have slept at least 7 hours earlier haha

I ended up staying the night with a gal named Malissa Larson (crazy right?!) that we met on the plane to Granada. She was traveling alone and had a room booked for 2 so I stayed with her! She is super nice and will be in the Central program as well. We set an alarm for 9am and had the breakfast at the hotel.... for 9 euros grr. It consisted of things like toast, warm milk and cereal such as oats, kiwi, oranges, melon, and assorted meats. Like I said.. I'm still trying to get accustomed to the differences in cuisine.
After breakfast we embarked on our journey of the city and I got a phone! Although.. it's not that cool because it doesn't make international calls :( It will however make it a lot easier to keep in touch with other members of the Central Abroad program. We had lunch at our hotel's restaurant and I got a hamburger that was REAL ham in a circle with a fried egg. Zach got swordfish and Austin got salmon. Fish Fish Fish!!

                                                                       swordfish
Malissa and I met up with some other members of the program that arrived today and again explored Granada. :) That is about the extent of what I have done so far.

                                  We found the sign to where we will be studying.. CML.
LOVE you all so much!!
I would love to set up a time to skype with you family... miss you.

I know you texted me mom about tomorrow but we have orientation at noon here. So, maybe once I move in with my family tomorrow we can figure something out since you will be home on Sunday right?

Thoughts Before I Go..

Hello friends and family,

I'm going to basically use my blog as a journal for personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences I have while I am abroad in Spain.

Feel free to comment I'd love to hear from you! also.. since I won't be having a phone (weird) the best ways to reach me are on Skype or Fbook. I'll be sure to post pictures on Fbook and this blog!

Anyway.. tomorrow morning I fly out of Des Moines, IA with Ashley, Zach, and Kylie who are a few friends from Central and we will be meeting up with Austin in Texas. From Texas we fly to Madrid, and then finally to Granada! It seams surreal to me that this is actually happening because it has always been a dream of mine to travel... especially to Europe. I can thank Grandma and Grandpa Pete for the inspiration :)

Needless to say it's going to a long couple days of flying and the 7 hour leap ahead in time is also going to kick my tooshie but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough!

The things I am most excited for are the unknowns... which may seem scary, but as for me I cannot wait to learn more about the culture and language of Spain. I think the way Central sets this all up is perfect because at this point I know nearly nothing. I do not know who my host family or host sister will be. I do not know what "level" of Spanish I will be taking (that is determined by an exam we take there upon arrival), and therefore I do not know what classes I will be taking. All of this is crazy but thrilling because it forces me to get out of my comfort zone soooo far! I'm also excited for the warmer weather, tapas, and different scenery.

On this journey I also hope to become stronger in my faith walk with God and as an individual. I think being so far from the things I've known all my life will really help me explore different avenues and I'll find out new things about myself. I know there is bound to be struggles along the way but it will be neat to see how I overcome them.

As of now the plan is to travel to visit some friends who are also studying abroad in Wales and London and also to hit the Canary Islands for Spring Break.... can't believe this is actually happening... I'd also like to visit Greece and Ireland and ohh maybe Italy and Florence while I'm at it. Who knows!

I'm so excited for this adventure to begin! I'll miss you guys lots while I'm away but it's not goodbye..
it's more of a See ya Later :)

Love,

Courtney