Hey Team

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted anything. I always find something else to do . . . so let's see what I have done over the past week. I went to the cliff by el faro and ¡que bonita! It is so gorgeous around here, I can't believe what I have been missing by living in the midwest (not that I don't love it there too). We went out for Christina's Bday which was fun. On Sunday, I slept in! It was glorious since I hadn't been able to do it for so long. During the week, I had classes and not much exciting happened. I finished booking my first "solo" trip (It's with Merijke so it's only kinda solo). On Friday, I had my first intercambio meeting which turned out to be a middle-aged guy, but he's super nice and I think we will both benefit. Este fin de semana he viajado a Bilbao y San Sebastián. It was super interesting to see the Guggenheim (love the architecture!) and hear the reasons behind some modern art. The real treat for me was Sanse since I got to see Emily!!! It was so great to see someone from home since I was feeling nostalgic on Friday. Sanse is a very pretty town with edificios muy antiguos. La playa no es mejor de todas de Santander pero bien, supongo. I had my first hostal experience, it went very well! Cheap and nice rooms and the owner loves Americans. Yay! La Catedral de Buen Pastor es muy bonita, tambien. Anyways, hay una review de mi semana rapidamente.


I'm gonna follow Emily's lead and just post a link to all my pics, it's más facil para mí. 
My Pics . . .  so ya there´s all my pics so far, plus the few I stole from Emily since I figured two sets of the same pic is silly.


O and to steal from Maria . . . I too love snail mail so:

International Studies Abroad (ISA) Santander 

Attn: Alison Sanchez

UIMP-Campus de las Llamas 

Avenida de los Castros, 42 

39005 Santander, Spain

First Week Down

My huge room . . . all to myself!

The only bathroom

The view from the front door

Nico

Living/Dining Room

The view from my window!

Now that I have completed my first full week of school and almost a full week in my new home, I can officially say that it's gonna be fun! All of my classes are really great. I appreciate having so much Spanish every day I think it is definitely helping. I also have Culture and Civ and Spanish Art History. Both are taught by guys from the UK who are really fun and interesting. It's totally different from the ordinary math and science courses which is sooo great. Only a few presentations and a test! Today is one of my friends birthdays so I'm sure we'll be having a great time tonight and the plan for the gorgeous sunny day is to hike by the faro. I'm really trying to take advantage of all the sunshine cause it looks like next week the rain will finally be settling back in on us.

My New Home

This is the view from close to the top of the hill

This is the beach 5 min from school . . . we know where I'll be studying 

I'm on top of a cliff by the lighthouse . . . you can't imagine how fantastic the view is

I've finally arrived and mostly settled into what will be my home for the next 3 meses. (Get used to the Spanglish, it will only get worse) It's like the most gorgeous city ever. Basically its a hill-->bay  _/\_ sea. On the other side of the bay are montanas. On my walk to school (which is 30 min a lil disappointing) I can see the mountains and bay in the distance (be jealous). School is fine so far, if I'm lucky I won't have Friday classes in about a month and a half. My familia es super nice. My hermanitas are adorable and the 14 year old can speak some English (she's in bilingual classes). My Spanish is still un poquito rough but it should get better after this first week. My Spanish class is 3 hours every day so it better.

In Spain!

So I made it to Spain! It's kinda crazy and since I haven't reached Santander yet, I just feel like a tourist. Until I get settled in the internet is kind of spotty. But, I'm safe and enjoying everything so far. AMAZING food!

Getting Ready

1/1/2011

So I am finally starting to pack and prepare for my trip. Procrastination is really a skill of mine . . . in case you haven't noticed. The only reason I'm posting now, before I leave, is to make sure I know what this whole blog thing is all about. It seems pretty easy so far. As long as rambling is an acceptable form of writing :) Until I actually start living my Spanish life I thought a picture of where I am going would be nice so . . .

I'll try to keep up with posts at least once a week if not more. Until then, Feliz Ano Nuevo!