Biarritz

View from my room last thursday evening

After a week of struggling to get my life together (yes, I am exaggerating just a little) my friend Tef decided we should take a little day trip... to France. Nobigdeal. It all happened like this: Mon,Tues, Wed, and Thurs I had been freaking out about classes because none of the ones offered in English here would count toward my major and if they did they were only offered in spring semester and everything you could think of with my school schedule was going wrong. By Thursday right before the deadline I somehow figured everything out, which is typical considering that's how I normally finish things: right before their due. So thursday night I had my Business Communications class (the picture to the left is when I was leaving campus) and afterward my roommates and I hosted 'Mexican Night' at our apartment! I made tacos and rice for about... 8 people? (The Danish girls Laura and Kristina-better known as Heidi because I swear she looks like Heidi Klum, my three roommates Helen, Peri and Nick, Andi and Amy - girls from Bentley, Tasha came over for a bit-she's from Ireland, and myself of course). Helen made her chili again which was really good and Peri made nachos and Nick (while being supervised by me of course) made guacamole. Laura and Kristina brought over some kind of cheese and onion appetizer and Kalimotxo (wine and coke... sounds nasty but looove it) and Amy and Andi brought over some mexican beer which of course is essential to a proper Mexican Night. Anywho, it was nice hanging out with the girls and Nick all night and just relaxing. The following morning Tef planned our little trip for Saturday so we didn't do anything Friday night... By 8 am Saturday morning we were at the bus station and climbing aboard our bus to Biarritz.. not gonna lie I slept the entire way there which kinda sucks cause I wish I took pictures but I would have ended up carsick anyway so I guess it's for the better. When we finally arrived (the bus was only about an hour and a half drive) we all clamored out of the bus and began our search for food. Not realizing I was no longer in Spain but in FRANCE I had a really hard time reading the signs but thank goodness Peri happens to know some French.. she saved the day. We got some sandwiches and coffee then made our way down to the beach where we pretty much laid alllll day. A few of us (Andi, Amy, Amanda and Peri) got up around 3 and walked around the town and got lunch. Once again, as I have been doing ever so much over here, I ordered pizza. Haha BUT I did get a crepe. And let me tell you, that was the best kind of dessert i've had in a long while. I got nutella and banana. BOMB. Very very delicious. The city was really pretty and everywhere you went you could see the ocean.. I loved it. OOHH I forgot to mention that we saw like a dance practice? I guess you could call it on a stage next to the beach. It was like a contemporary dance routine and it was... interesting haha. I enjoyed it mostly because it was something i've never seen before so I figure it was part of my French culture for the day.

TIME FOR LUNCH!!

I'll write again soooooon.

Un beso x

Sevillllaaa!

So i've had my first successful trip! This past weekend I journeyed with two girls from my school, (Andi and Amy) and went to Sevilla to meet up with Kelli! It was kind of a lot of traveling but I'm realllly glad I went. It started on Friday morning with a 5 hour bus trip at 6am from Pamplona to Barcelona which was followed by a 2 and a half hour train ride to Sevilla... but once we were there it was amaaazzinnnggg. It was about... oh.... only 102 degrees. -_- haha it was incredibly hot. By the time we arrived it was 4:30 pm so the three of us went to our hostel and checked in.. when I reserved a room I was sure I asked for a private room for the three of us... little did we know we had a roommate. Named Sal. Or, we think that's what he said his name was... he was nice enough just reallllly shy. I mean it was probably intimidating sharing a room with three random girls but he dealt with it pretty well haha. Anywho, after resting from our journey, we got up and roamed around to find out that our hostel was in a prime location directly located near not 3 but 4 big American chains. That's right, we were located in the heart of the US. We found a McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, AND Ben and Jerry's ALLLLLLLL directly next to each other. It was kind of amazing even though i'm not a fast food eater... it was nice to feel at home... well kinda hah. We wandered around until around 7 or 8 then went back and got ready to go out to dinner. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but in Spain restaurants do not serve any kind of dinner-type meal until around 9pm EARLIEST... oddly enough i've adapted quite well to this idea of eating super late. (Above-left is a picture of Andi in her bunk at the hostel) We ended up eating at this cute little restaurant near the Catedral de Sevilla.. it had a pretty view of the Giralda (the bell tower) and the food was amaaazing! Afterwards we walked around more which was easier cause it was cooler and took some more pictures of the city and people watched. The next morning we got up and went on a bus tour which was fun and interesting.. the history of Sevilla is interesting. The only bad part was that it was 102 (again) and we were sitting on the top section of a double-decker bus, exposed to the sunlight. I think I lost about 30 lbs. sweating up there. Still definitely worth while. Around 4 o'clock I headed back to the hostel to meet up with Kelli... I was soooo happy to see her!! The entire time we got to spend together (which wasn't even a full 24 hours =/ ) I was just amazed that i've know her since 4th grade and there we were, in Spain together! It was truly amazing having her hang out with my new friends from Bentley and wandering around the city together. We went out on a pub 'crawl' which actually turned more into a history lesson about the city but I was ok with that. We had about 7 girls in the group and ended up calling it a night rather early.. I think all 4 of us were tired from all the walking and traveling we had been doing all weekend. The next morning I had to say bye to Kelli again for the second time in two months... needless to say that sucked. But it was nice being there with her for a night. Overall I thought Sevilla was wonderful and everyone was really nice there. OH AND for those who might be learning Spanish, their Spanish is SOO much easier to understand than that of my fellow Pamplonians. And i'm pretty sure i just made up that word but... you know what I mean. =]

Well I need to go finish up my marketing homework, seeing as how it's one of me three classes here. Haha no worries, i'll add some more classes... hopefully.

Un beso,

Ciara

From left to right: Kelli, Amy, Andi

Giant paella anyone?

So yesterday was our last day of our welcoming 'week' for international students.. and it ended with a lot of food!! It started off rather boring.. we had a lot of meetings and information sessions to go to and my orientation leaders Ana and Teph weren't there because they apparently stayed out too late partying haha. But after all the boring stuff was a nice coffee break (with yummy snacks provided) and a group of us went out to the grass area in front of the communications building to wait for our feast to begin. Now, I still hadn't tried paella before this so I didn't really know what to expect. Especially because I knew that there was going to be in a MASSIVE pan or skillet whatever it is you want to call that thing in the picture above. The weather was extremely odd while we were down in the grass area and eating.. first we were all dying in the heat with not enough trees for shade. Next thing we knew, the sun was covered by a cloud and we were in the shade. Then it rained. 3 minutes later, sun. Odd. So odd. But anyway, back to the food. IT WAS AMAZING!! I think I love paella. Actually I know I do. And for anyone who hasn't tried it, I highly recommend you get some. And I don't think anyone can't actually like it. They have sooo many different kinds... chicken, pork, beef, seafood, vegetarian.... it's amazing! I want to learn how to make all of them so when I come back to the US of A I won't miss it too much.

Later in the evening, Teph had people over at her apartment and I had a great time... I met a lot of people from Germany and Australia.. good times. =] Ah and I attempted to salsa. And I really do mean attempted.

This morning we had our first day of classes which was stressful... because I don't have any. And i'm still trying to figure out my schedule... it's difficult not getting stressed about things here. Everyone in Spain is so relaxed and takes their time even doing simple things like lunch... that can take about 4 hours!! Coming from a place where we know our schedule for the following year before the present semester is even over, i'm having a hard time adjusting. I guess i'm just scared i'm going to miss important information in my classes, which shows me that maybe I am actually a better student than I thought haha.

I plan on trying with the classes again tomorrow.. maybe I can get at least one class set up. That'd be nice.

Alright well it is time for me to go do some research about how to get myself to Sevilla this weekend... more soon!!

Love love and more love,
Ciara


Oh and just so my roommate knows I love her... I present to you, Helen Melon. <3