Home again!

Hello everyone! Well I'm finally back home in the US of A! I've been here for nearly a month now, and it's great to be back. It's been an adjustment to be "normal" again, but altogether I feel like I "fit" just fine here. Thank you for looking at my blog this semester! It's been fun to post pictures and tell my stories.















Our RUF group on the beach at Summer Conference















Holding my friend Amy's precious baby Emmie
















Playing games! (Or "housesitting," as some people call it...)














Beautiful Tech friends I missed so much!

Ronda

Blake, Michelle, Zach and I took a day trip to a pretty little town called Ronda. It's on top of a deep ravine, so there are lots of interesting bridges and waterfalls. Also most of the buildings are white stucco, so the city itself is beautiful. We had a great day!

This trip was our last... we finish class this week!!













Some of the white buildings with the beautiful view

Mi casa

At last some pictures of my house! Michelle and I live in an apartment on the 9th floor. We live with a Spanish family-- our dad Jose Luis, brother Oliver, and sister Diana. (I'll put pictures of our whole family up here sometime soon.)

Our beds.

Our shelves and the foot of Michelle's bed. (This is the view from the door)

The bathroom we share with our sister AND brother! I'm standing in the shower.

The kitchen

The living room

The balcony with clothes hanging to dry. There's a great view!

La Feria de Abril

Sometime long ago in Sevilla they started having a horse show every spring. People would come out into the street and enjoy themselves. Today it has transformed into a week-long party that people from all over Spain and all of Europe come to celebrate! The horse history remains-- horseowners dress up in their finest and ride through the streets of Feria, either solo or in fancy carriages. Families/ groups of friends own "casetas," which are basically tents where they eat and dance the night away. They are private and have bathrooms, wood floors, bars... the whole nine yards. The "uniform" of Feria is suits with flat hats for the boys and beautiful ruffled dresses for the girls. And by boys and girls I mean everyone from age 1 to 91! There's special food and drinks, music everywhere, and beautiful lights at night. Spaniards definitely know how to party!















Me next to the grand entrance to the fairgrounds


















My Spanish sister Diana in her Feria dress. Beautiful!

A carriage driver taking a descanso

A shot into one of the huge casetas

A tiny caballero with his lady!

Proud horsemen

So many people!

You could win prizes such as a guitar or other toy... or a leg of ham. :) I'm not joking-- that's Spain for you!

Friends from the last night of Feria. Can you spot the American? haha

A Tale of Two Cities...

... is a really great book that I read in high school. As everyone knows, it takes place in Paris and London, both of which I've now visited! Michelle and I spent the weekend with her family in London, and it was really great. We flew in on Friday really late and left Sunday afternoon, so it was a short trip, but totally worth it. Everything was green and beautiful, but it was rainy on Saturday. But what's a weekend in the UK without a little drizzle, eh?



















The famous phone booths














The Tower Bridge














The Queen's quarters at the Tower of London














Fish and chips! (With salt and vinegar, of course.) Delicious.















The London Eye















Me and Michelle in front of Buckingham Palace







































Westminster Abbey















Another shot. I couldn't take enough pictures of it!















Wonderful English breakfast at the hotel















Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (white building)














Picadilly Circus














I found it Melynn!














Classic double decker bus

Ooh la la!

Here it is-- the Paris entry. It was definitely one of the best weekends EVER! We flew into Paris Orly airport on Thursday afternoon and had planned on seeing the Eiffel Tower that night but ran into some hotel problems and were happy to call it a night after those were resolved. The next morning was the Palace of Versailles, then around lunch we went to the Tower (where we spent about 2 hours just looking and taking pictures!). Afterwards, Notre Dame, dinner with a Parisian friend, the Tower again (this time at night), and finally back to the hotel. A very full day!

The next morning, Saturday, we had a great crepe breakfast then headed to the Louvre. We saw as much as we could take in, including the Mona Lisa of course, but there was still so much more! We ate lunch back at the Tower, enjoying street performers and eating more crepes for dessert. We wanted to go up the Tower and enjoy the view, but the lines were horrendous. So instead we walked a bit and experienced French culture at its best-- an outdoor "market" street called Rue Cler. We saw, smelled, and/or tasted amazing produce and lots of kinds of cheese and beautiful flowers and fresh pastries. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip! After Rue Cler we went to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. Paris has so much to see! Again we went back to the hotel after dark, tired but happy. The next morning we flew out at 11am. And thus ended our French adventure.

I'll NEVER forget this trip. (It would be hard to with all the pictures and video I took!)



















The chapel in the Palace of Versailles














The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles














The gardens















Another part of the gardens. Look how far they go!














Crepes! This was seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten.



















One of my favorites




































Christmas card



















The Tower sparkling!














The Louvre-- there were so many rooms!














The actual Mona Lisa. Sorry she's so small-- it was hard to get close!



































































Arc de Triomphe