What you've missed out on!

I am back in the United States! I have been here for a week and it has been quite the adjustment. I truly apologize for not having posted ANYTHING about my last month in Burgos. It was hard to get onto the computer and write, however, because I had been traveling since my parents arrived on June 24th. Because I am already back, I'll just do a quick recap of the top ten things that went on in my last month in beloved Spain. 

If you'd like to know more, just give me a call or shoot me an e-mail at manewcom@marauder.millersville.edu

1. My parents came to visit me from June 24th to July 2nd. They were a hit with all of my friends and everyone loved them, which isn't surprising.

Mom and Dad enjoying some "cañas"

2. We celebrated my birthday on June 25th with a TIGER BIRTHDAY! My mom made 22 tiger tails (for each year) and everyone painted their faces to celebrate.

Tiger tails!

Some of the group ready to go out

3. My parents and I traveled to Barcelona so that I could show them one of my favorite cities in Spain.

My dad enjoying some lunch music

4. The day after my parents left, I traveled to Amsterdam with Thais, Hector, Rafa and Daniel. It is a beautiful city and I would recommend traveling there to anyone.

5. After spending a couple days in Amsterdam, we went to Bruges, Belgium for a night. It is a small city that isn't very well-known, but it quickly became one of my favorites because of how old it was.

Welcome to Belgium!

Sunflowers in a market in Bruges

6. Because we were feeling cheap, we spent a night in the train station of Bruges before traveling to Brussels the next day. I don't know if it was because I was so exhausted, but I wasn't as impressed with Brussels as I had expected to be.

Thais disappointed in the size of the "peeing boy" of Brussels

Daniel and I, very exhausted

7. We headed back to Burgos after Brussels for a couple days and I packed up all of my things to come home (bittersweet).

8. After dropping off our suitcases in some secured lockers at the airport of Madrid, Hector and I headed to Granada, Spain for one last trip. I LOVED Granada. It is absolutely beautiful.

Overlook of La Alhambra

9. The day before heading back to the USA, Hector and I met up with Thais in Madrid to do some touring.

10. I left Thursday, July 14th, to come home. It was so difficult to say goodbye to my friends and the country I fell in love with.

Thank you so much for reading my blog!

La Familia de Calle Santa Clara, 24

My friend Rafa made this. It's a picture of all of the internationals that live in our building, along with the building itself below. I love my Calle Santa Clara family!

Caetano and I

Caetano and I again...I already miss my big, Brazilian brother!

Happy Father's Day!

                Happy Father’s Day! I wish that I could be with my dad for this day, but fortunately I will be seeing him (and my mom!) this week, as they will be flying into Madrid on Friday! I’m ecstatic to see them and I can’t wait to introduce them to all of my friends. They are all pretty excited to meet my parents too, as they’ve heard a LOT of stories about them, and have even met them on Skype a couple of times!

Anyway, I’ve been pretty busy lately, so I’m sorry for the delay in updating my blog! I had finals the first week of June so I was busy studying for my exams, and then as soon as I finished my exams, my best friend from home Elizabeth Bard came to visit!

                I’ll have to admit, despite the laid-back semester the University of Burgos has, the final exams are SO hard. They are all in essay format and take about three hours. It was difficult, but I was able to pass all of my exams except for one. What’s nice is that the university gives its students a second chance, so I will be able to re-take it this Friday. I would be a little more disappointed about it, but I found out that over half the class hadn’t passed the test, so it makes me feel a lot better!

                Liz arrived in Madrid last Monday, and from there we flew to Rome, Italy for a couple days. It was so exciting to see a familiar face from home, and it was as if we hadn’t even been apart for four months! We met up with my neighbor Daniel from Brazil there and he surprised me by speaking English with Liz. I had no idea that he knew English, so it was quite the surprise when I turned around to see who Liz was talking to, only to find out that it was him.

                Daniel is by far the best tourist (besides my dad) that I have ever toured with. He knew exactly where to go and what to see, so he played tour guide throughout the whole trip. We visited so many places: the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Sistine Chapel, the Spanish Steps, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum. Everything was beautiful. I’m always in awe of everything we see, because I wonder why we don’t build such beautiful, intricate buildings anymore.

                We left early Friday morning to return to Burgos, and arrived around one in the afternoon. Unfortunately it wasn’t the greatest weather, so Liz wasn’t able to see the city at its finest. One thing that I noticed with Liz here was the amount of Spanish I actually speak. I know that I speak a lot of it, but with her here (and not knowing ANYTHING that was being said) I realized that a large majority of my time is spent speaking Spanish rather than English.

                This past week has been pretty quiet, as Caetano has left to travel throughout Europe with his girlfriend. Although I’ll see him in a couple weeks, it was a very, very sad goodbye. He was almost like a leader of our close-knit international group, and everyone was sad to see him go. With people leaving, it’s really making me realize that my trip is coming to an end, and I really don’t want to go!

In front of the Colosseum!

Liz and I

Daniel and I

Pantheon!

Before I threw my coin into the Trevi Fountain

The famous Spanish Steps

I took this for my Dad, because a cafe was covered in old newspapers. It reminded me of the collage made by my great-grandfather that we have in our kitchen!

Noche Blanca!

                So it is official…I AM STAYING IN EUROPE JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER! I was able to change my ticket from July 2^nd to the 14^th for a very reasonable price, so now I have another week and a half of Burgos Bliss. Actually, that time won’t be spent in Burgos, but in Brussels, Amsterdam and Prague with my roommates Thais and Caetano, and our friends Rafa and Daniel. I’m so excited to have some more time over here and I’m definitely looking forward to visiting these three cities.

                It was difficult to study for finals this past week, as my roommate and one of my best friends here, Monica, was leaving on Friday. It’s really weird that she’s gone because we spent every single day together, and I miss her a lot. It’s also making me realize that everyone will be leaving soon.

                Last week was uneventful because we were studying, writing and doing projects most of the week. Saturday, however, was a lot of fun because it was “Noche Blanca” (white night), a night in which all of the museums, the cathedral and the castle are open all night long, and performances are done in the Plaza Mayor. One of the performances was especially cool. A crane held up a large, white, circular object and people were hanging from it and doing a choreographed dance. Everyone in the city came out and enjoyed the festivities, which was a lot of fun.

Missing my Monica!

Rafa from Mexico, a good friend here and my neighbor

A little bit of roommate love

The cathedral all lit up for Noche Blanca

The lights changed every 15 seconds...very, very cool

It says "Burgos 2016" because Burgos is in the running for the capital of culture of Europe! (2016 is when everyone will vote.)

Awesome

In front of the lit-up cathedral!

"R" for "R-evolution"

The very cool performance!

A loving group...Almost all of the people in this group are from Mexico

Rosita, Alessandra and Tó with some protesters.

More of the performance!

There were R's everywhere!