My Other Family

I figured since I go home in a couple of days, now would be a good time to write about my family from Spain. I couldn't have asked for a better family while here. They have truly made my experience memorable. I became just another member of the family...another daughter for them (that makes 4 girls and 1 boy) and a sister. In turn I consider them part of my extended family. I love them all and will forever. I have an open invitation to come and visit any time I like and I have said the same for them. Anytime I come back to Europe for my travels I will definitely come to visit them. I know we will always be a part of each others' lives. The parents, Eva and Franscess, are amazing. Eva is a great Mom and always included me in everything. She is also a wonderful cook. She loves learning Enlglish and has been speaking it since she was in high school. She is very proficient in the language. There have been times when we don't undrstand each other, but the spanish/english dictionary usually takes care of the problem. Franscess doesn't speak English, but that did not stop us from communicating with each other. We would find one work that the other knew and be able to figure out what the other was saying. There ways also some pointing involved. It always amused the rest of the family how we talked to one another. Marc, the oldest, is 20. He goes to Barcelona University. He loves futbol (which is quite typical here) and plays on a team. We only talked a little to each other because in the beginning he was shy and then later on he didn't want to speak in English. Even though he can understand and speak it a little, he hates languages. He much prefers to speak in Catalan which didn't offend me at all and I was ok with. It just made it difficult to get to know him well. Although, he frustrated his Mom becuase she couldn't understand why he wouldn't take advantage of speaking with me in English. Mireia is 17 and in her last year in high school. She takes her work very seriously and is always studying for some test. She is on a roller skating team which is very popular here. It's like ice skating, but on roller skates. She just came back from a world championship in Germany and placed 7th for individual which is very good for her first time. The group skating also just competing the world championship and the club placed 2nd for the first time...which is a very big deal. Cristina is next and she just turned 16. She is the most like me. We are both middle children and hate school...I can totally relate to her :) She fights with her younger sister like I fought with my younger sister...way too funny. She is also a skater. She also competed in the world championship and was in the same group as her sister. Skating practice takes up a lot of time. They sometimes have 2 practices in 1 night. In the summer I would cart them around and most days it would be 2 or 3 practices in 1 day. It is way intense! Anna, the youngest, is the little diva, but not in a bad way. She will be 14 next month. She is very much into being the comedian around the house and is alwyays trying to get a laugh out of everyone. She is always looking for attention at home, but in public she can be quite shy. She loves speaking in English and will be the best in the family because she started at a young age and likes learning it. She especially likes saying bad words becuase she doesn't really know the meaning and they are fun for her to say...even when I tell her not to say those words (which is why I think she does it). Her sport is tennis and she take piano lessions. The 3 girls definitely remind me of me and my sisters. Even some their characteristics are similar to ours. It was really crazy to witness...it was like seeing me and my sisters almost 10 years ago. I will definitely be sad to leave them all. However, knowing that I will come back one day soon makes it easier to leave. I look forward to seeing everyone when I return home. Less than 2 days!!

Random Facts

Houses in Almoster Above-the Church in Almoster, Below- The Bar in Almoster My time in ending in Spain and I realized that I haven't really talked about the things that I have witnessed, heard about or seen while here. Almoster, the little town I reside in is like most small villages in Spain. There is a grade school, bakery, pharmacy, public pool (that costs money to enter), a tiny, tiny grocery store, bar and a church. The church in each village is always the highest building so in the distance you always see the church tower. They are usually at the top of a hill. The bar area is usually the meeting point for people. Each village I have entered has exactly the same set-up. During the day the old people are always out and about taking their walks or going to the bakery. The old men are always congregated together in the little square. I see them every morning during my run. The population here is rather small. This area that I'm in is condisered the country because it's up in the hills...it's definitely not what we consider the countryside. Down the hill from us and a few minutes away is Reus, the city. Here is a list of random things that I have noticed during my stay: -Every single family has an alarm system in their house. -Every house is surrounded by walls and fense. -Most people have huge dog(s) in their yards (I think to scare away potenial robbers). -On occasion some of these dogs have wanted to take a bite out of me...they can usually see over the fense and as I am running by they like to pop their head out and start snarling/barking at me. I have learned which houses to steer clear of. -There are no public rest rooms. Restaurants do not let you use their's unless you are a paying customer. -In the streets of Reus I have seen mothers with children of the potty training age just pull down their kid's pants and let them go to the bathroom right there in front of everyone...they usually find a patch of dirt, but come on!! -There is really no grass to speak of unless it's in a person's backyard or in an abandoned field. -Facial piercing are huge over here. The majority of teenagers have at least 1 or more kind of pircings on their face. -I'm sad to say that I have seen guys sporting mullets. I don't know what they are thinking, but it's a terrible look and the 80's are definitely over...I guess they didn't get the memo. -A popular type of pants that I see are where the crotch of the pants is at the knees. I don't know who thought of this, but it makes the kids loook like they are waiting for a flood. Plus you can't walk very fast in them. -High School starts at age 12...they don't do junior high. Right after grade school they go straight to hight school. I'm not sure why since there is such a huge age difference between 12 and 18. -The driving and drinking age is 18. However, if you want a motorbike then you can start driving a small one at age 14. Does anyone understand that logic because I sure don't?! -Most kids come home from school for lunch for about and 1 1/2 siesta and then it's back to school until 5:30. -Most shops close during siesta as well and are closed all day on Sunday. -Majority of cars are manual, only a few are automatic. Round-Abouts are everywhere with hardly any street lights...I HATE round-abouts. -There are playgrounds everywhere...usually randomly placed throughout the city. -Betty Boop and Hello Kitty are very popular right now. Every store usually carries some kind of merchanise for one of these brands. -I also see figurines of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs everywhere as well. There are no malls...only shops on the street (kinda like what you would see on Birch street in Brea, but on a bigger scale). -Estrella Damm is the choice of beer. -Graffiti is on most walls and buildings. There is a section of wall in town where it looks like they let people do their own mural. On this stretch of wall there are probably about 50 different murals...some are really good and some are just way too random and weird. -Many families that I have met eat cereal out of a mug instead of a bowl. -I hear American music on 2 different radio stations. Plus when I am out and about in town I also hear it. -Since I am living in Catalonia, I learned that these people hate bull fighting and flamenco dancing...that is south of Spain, thank you very much. They want nothing to do with it (they think it's so stupid) and when people stereotype the whole of Spain with these 2 activities they get very angry. -Catalan people are very prideful about where they come from. Many would like to be separate from the rest of Spain. I mean, they even have a different language from the southerners. -Many consider themselves from Catalonia first and Spain second. I am sure there is much more, but that is all I can think of at the moment.

Castanyada (aka Halloween)

Halloween is celebrated a lot differently in Spain than in the States. There is no trick-or-treating and no one dresses up (except for maybe the big cities). I was a little sad not to dress up, but I made up for it by still going to a party. That afternoon I carved pumpkin with the youngest daughter. It was lots of fun because that was her first pumpkin carving. Her reaction to taking out the insides was, "ewww, gross!" It is popular for people here to get together with friends and roast Castanyes, which are a type of nut and not too bad. Days before people were selling these all over town. A popular dessert is Panallets which is a cookie made with almonds and potatoes. It sounds gross, but it is actually really good. That night I went to a party in a farm house with my friend, Ari, from Barcelona. The house wasn't that far away, but we had to take this country road for about 10 min. It was extremely dark because there are no lights and there were lots of curves. It was a pretty scary drive and I would not want to do it by myself. I was able to meet all of Ari's friends and they all were super friendly...even though they all spoke Catalan/Spanish (only Ari speaks English). I tried to talk to them with my high school spanish, but it's been years since I have really used it and it didn't quite work out. Therefore, Ari was my translator for the night. After a few drinks, though, it helped with our communication with each other. We had a big dinner first and later we weredrinking and dancing. One of the guys at the party is a DJ and brough his equipment with him. Around 3am we went to a little disco in town. The bad thing is that smoking is allowed inside so my clothes and hair reaked of smoke by the end of the night so that was pretty disgusting. I am so happy to have met Ari and her friends. They all made me feel part of the group. I'm sad that I am leaving so soon after meeting them...if only I met them months ago.

Italy

Tuscany countryside Inside the Colosseum Roman Ruins Trevi Fountain St. Peter's Basilica What can I say about Italy? It was the one country that started my bug for traveling. Ever since I can remember I had always wanted to see Italy and I can't believe I finally was able to go. The guys there are pretty shameless...they will just stare you down if they are interested in you or think you are good looking. I must say that everywhere I went I saw cute Italian guys which was a nice sightseeing attraction! ;) The driving is the worst I have ever seen...and I have seen lots of different driving from different countries. They just do not follow any driving laws. I don't think they have any rules. Crossing the street is an art. I was scared for my life more than once. Cars and pedestrians just kinda do whatever they want and I think pray for the best. The cars horns are used all the time. I think it's their most used form of communication. The only downfall was the graffiti. It was such a shame to seeing tagging on almost ever single building I walked passed and I am not even exaggerating. It just makes the city look dirty. The gelato is to die for. I am not a big ice cream person, but this stuff is the best I have ever had. I don't know what they do differently, but I wished we made some like it. I think I had a gelato every day I was there. Of course, the pasta and pizza were amazing as well. I don't know how people living there and eating this kind of food stay in shape. It would be a difficult task, for sure. I was surprised to see how big the city is. I, of course, walked to all the main monuments and cathedrals. Walking is the best way to see the city. I was usually exhausted by the end of the day, but it was well worth it. Friday I did a Tuscany tour and we stopped at 2 towns. there were only 5 of us, but that made it better. We were able to get to know each other and wlak around together. The weather sucked because it was windy and rainy, but it didn't take away from the quaintness of the towns. We were able to do some wine tasting and visit wineries. We also had this absolutely, amazing lunch. It was some pasta, meat and a fabulous dessert. That night I went out with my 2 Brazilian friend I met from the hostile. We walked around the town and stopped in a bar. In this certain area many people will just meet in the street, drink and stay there most of the night. Saturday I had 2 tours. In the morning I did the Vactican and Sistine Chapel. For some reasomn I thought the Sistine would be bigger, but it was still spectatular. Almost every inch of wall and ceiling has painting on it. Too bad no pictures were allowed. Laster I went to St. Peter's Basicila...which is were the Pope comes out to be seen and do mass. It is a huge cathedral. Inside there is just so much to see from the statues and paintings. That afternoon I did a walking tour of Rome. I saw the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Roman Ruins and Colosseum. Of course, at the Trevi I had to throw in my coin. They say that if you throw your coin in backwards you are destined to return to Rome one day...I guess I'll be going back someday in the future. The Colosseum is gigantic. We were able to go inside and look around. The structure itself is amazing, but it's really sad to think about what took place in the past. My tour guide said this venue was for entertainment purposes. It was to help people destress from life. How sad is that!! Watching people and animals die as entertainment. They would use any and every animal they knew of that was in existence at the time. Italy is a place where they build on top of past ruins. Instead of demolishing old buildings they would just build over them. I have pictures where the ground level used to be in the past and where it is today. It is many feet higher than it was in the past. It was very interesting. Sunday I went to Venice. Oh, Venice!! I think it's a magical place. Some people don't like the place, but I am not one of them. Everything about it is just so different from any other place. Who else lives on canals and uses boats as their only form of transportation. There are no cars or bikes in Venice. Well, you can have a bike until you are 5, but I don't that really counts. It was crazy to see many doorways on the canal. St. Mark's Basilica was huge. Pigeons are everywhere and people were even trying to get them to perch on their shoulders and hands. Now that is just gross if you ask me. Who knows where those birds have been. I don't even know how to explain Venice properly, but that it's special. Now it isn't somewhere you would want to spends weeks at (unless you live there) because you would get pretty bored. But I think everyone should see it once. There were gondolas everywhere. Although, I didn't get to go in one this time. I just couldn't bring myself to go on the gondola by myself...that's just depressing. It just means I'll have to go back again and not by myself! It was a great trip and I took tons of pictures. Still I had a lot of transportation changes. From the flights to the trains and buses I am glad I'm not going anywhere for awhile. All that traveling take a lot out of you. Just to give you a taste...On my return home from Italy I took a bus from Venice to the airport. When I arrived in Spain I took another bus to Barcelona. Then I had to take the metro from one spot in Barcelona to a main station in Barcelona. From there I had to take the train to my town. Phew!! Just thinking about it again stresses me out. Venice St. Mark's Basilica

Spanish Holidays

Human castle- this group actually walked around like this (very scary) The giants The big heads A couple of weeks ago there was a religious holiday. Now what is surprising part is how many holidays I have participated in while living in Spain whether it be a religious or just a regular holiday. There has been one almost ever month I have been here. Plus they usually last from Friday to Sunday and sometimes even longer. If it's on a weekday then the entire town shuts down just like it does on Sundays around here. No work or school or shops are open. Now why don't we have something like that. I don't know about anyone else, but I would love to have that many holidays. I think they the Spanish are in the right frame of mind here. Holidays bring the community together and you much much needed time off. I'm ready, sign me up. This particular holiday had a rosary Friday night. It was really nice to witness. The people met in a plaza and everyone lit a candle. Then they all walked from the plaza to the church and in the speakers you could here the priest saying the rosary. Saturday afternoon was a huge mass said by the Bishop and many of the surrounding priests were part of the service. Mass had to be said outside because so many people attend. Afterward, there was a big parade. The parade here are different. They do not have floats like we do, but instead it's a parade of people all dressed in different costumes with music playing. There were also people that dress up in these huge heads or have a dragon or lion body, the giants (these huge people-like dolls that probably are 15-20ft tall) were there as well as the human castles.

I Survived Oktoberfest...I think!!

View from the plane of the Alps coming through the clouds Germany...The first impression I had flying over Germany was how green it is and it's very mountainous. The mountains are so high and many were coming through the clouds. It was such an awesome view from the plane. Throughout my travels I have been through many metro systems. Let me tell you that Munich's was the hardest by far. It was so confusing and and the stations are 3 stories high. Thankfully, there were many nice people willing to help out. In our Dirndl Kristin and I arrived to our couch surfing house where we met our host Olaf. This guy was so great. He was extremely nice and has traveled all over so it was nice listening to his stories. The first night Kristin and I just walk a around a little, got some food and ice cream and then went home to watch a movie with Olaf and his friend Mathias...Mathias was also there for the weekend. Saturday we had a traditional German breakfast of white sausage and pretzels with sweet mustard which was very good. Then we went shopping for a dirndl...a traditional dress the women wear and the men wear lederhosen. People will wear these outfits all through Oktoberfest at work, walking around the town and for the festival. That afternoon we went to Oktoberfest and I can not believe the enormity of this event. It is a huge carnival with rides and food and also the beer tents. People were everywhere and if you get lost you have no hope of finding your party. Kristin and I made sure we were not separated from Olaf and his friends. Everyone I met at the festival was extremely nice and friendly...it could be for the fact that everyone was drunk, but none the less they were nice. I have many pictures with random people that we met throughout the night. At first we were outside one of the beer tents because it was so crowded in all of the tents. But it didn't matter because we could still have some drinks. Now the beer was much bigger than I thought it would be. Each mug is 2 pints which equals 1 liter and holy cow it was so heavy. I had to hold it with 2 hands. The waitresses could carry 6 at a time. You really have to have arm and hand muscles to be able to hold 3 in each hand. My right hand even has a bruise from holding it. Later that night we finally made it into the beer tent. We made it in through a side entrance. I am glad we got inside or else it wouldn't have been the same. Inside is so gigantic. There are tables upon tables of people drinking beer. There is also a band playing and everyone is standing up on the benches dancing and singing. I even learning a couple of phrases and songs. Don't ask me what they are because I don't remember them and probably only will when I am drunk again. I know for sure that I had 4 mugs of beer. After that it's a little sketchy. I can't even explain how much fun we had. I lost my voice by the end of the night from all the singing and yelling. In between we had some some food...if I remember correctly a German sausage sandwich, cheese bread and a huge hot dog. Oktoberfest closes ever night at 11pm which is a good thing. If it was any later than I wouldn't have been able to last. I am told most people go to this thing 3 or 4 nights during the week. I have no idea how they can do this. There would be no way I could have done that twice...I was finished after the first night. Olaf told us that most people go to work hung over and feeling terrible which is understandable. Beer #1 Back: Sasha & Mathias, Front: Olaf, Kristin & I Some new friends I met from New Zealand The beer hall we eventually entered Inside the beer hall Sunday morning was difficult. I wasn't feeling my best which may be an understatement. When we all finally got up we had some bread and a variety of toppings to put on. Then we walked around the city. We went to the English Garden which was several meters big. We didn't even go through half of it. The is a river that runs through it and in one section there is a natural, continuous wave. Here there are people that will surf on it. There are also many beer gardens and in one section a nudist colony. Thankfully, one was was there that day. Then we took a drive through the Alps to the Neuschwanstein Castle...this castle was the inspiration for the Disneyland Castle. FYI-There is a highway in which there is no speed limit. Olaf, as I'm sure most Germans do, took advantage of this little gem. Let's just say that I was a little scared for my life. At least we were not on it for very long. The drive took about and hour and a half, but the view made up for it. It was just so green and beautiful. I still can't get over that fact. When I thought of Germany I never expected the green countryside. it was a delightful surprise. The castle is amazing. It is in the mountains on a hilltop. It take about 30 minutes uphill to get to the castle. It was quite a workout. We didn't go inside, but just seeing it was well worth it. Looking down at the valley below was green and gorgeous...they are also many lakes which I didn't expect. We were able to walk all around the castle. To get to the back though you have to hike up anther hill and then go on a scary bridge for the back view. It was really wobble and not something I wanted to be on for long. Walking back to the car was easy because it was all downhill...thankfully! The Neuschwanstein Castle Scary bridge to see back of castle View from top of hill by the castle Monday Kristin and I walked around for awhile and had breakfast at a cute little cafe. Surprisingly, most everyone we met spoke English which was good for us. Although, I shouldn't be too surprised because most people I met on my trips the locals know some sort of English. I guess I was just shocked by how many people spoke it and how well they did it. Munich was a great experience and I hope to go back someday. As a side note: I never realized the German people are so tall. Unlike Spain I saw many cute guys :)

My Spanish Car

I have been driving in Spain for the past few months which usually woudn't be a big deal. However, the typical car in Europe is a stick shift. This was a problem for me since I had only ever driven an automatic at home. Therefore, learning to drive this new car in a foreign country was quite interesting. Learning to drive with 2 legs was bad enough, but the streets here made it more of a challenge for me. I still have trouble with the hills. I hate how the car rolls back and I feel like I am going to hit the car behind me. Most road only have round-abouts with only a few stop lights here and there. Trying to naviagate these round-abouts can be quite scary. There doesn't seem to be any rules when going around them, except to not get hit or hit anyone in the process. You just kinda go when there is an opening. I have the hang of it now, I think. But I still worry sometimes. There are also many one-way streets and cobblestone roads. Sometimes the road is so small that the car can barely get through it. At what should be a four-way stop (there are hardly any stop signs), I never know who has the right of way. This makes it very frustrating because I don't know the rules. Although, I don't know how anyone could when there are no signs posted. I have been learning by trial and error which I'm not sure is good or not!! Parking is a nightmare. You have to pay for most parking on the street and there are really no parking lots. Thnakfully my car is small so it is easier to park. It is quite interesting to watch people park their car. They will be going down a street, see parking spot (mind you they are way past the spot already and the car behind you is now there) and then decide to back-up to get to this spot. It doesn't matter that there are four cars behind this person...everyone will back-up for this one car so they can have the spot. WHO does this I ask you?I like our way much better...If you miss the spot then you are SOL. I once didn't back-up fast enough for one car and it just kept on coming and I was almost hit in the process. They just do not care. Also, when you park on the street people do not leave any room in between the cars which obviously makes it difficult to get out of the spot. However, they solved this little problem by hitting the car in front and behind them. It's very simple, no room so hit other cars. Not that it's a hard hit, but I see the parked cars move quite a bit from the impact. Again, people just don't seem to care if their car is hit. I really don't understand!!