Ohh Carnaval!

Hola Amigos!

So yeah, it's been a while since the last post, but not too much has been happening. Piso life is still good, although it has been an adjustment for Kate and I to get used to living with 3 guys. (not as clean as we would hope- sort of becoming little housewives, lol) It's working out great, though- having roomies who work at restaurants means that they'll cook for us every now and then, and take us out (free drinks and food!) whenever they get a chance.

Classes are probably the worst part about the whole experience (I know, I know, it is called Study Abroad) but they're actually really difficult. I'm trying to pay attention as much as possible, and take good notes, but the spanish the teachers speak is obviously more advanced, and it's usually hard to keep up. It's only been a few weeks, though, so I'm hoping that I'll get used to the pace. (5 1 hour and a half classes in a row would be brutal for anyone, even in english...so I'm not being too hard on myself)

This past weekend Kate and I (and a few other girls from WIP) all went to Cadiz, Spain for Carnavale! It was a mix of Mardi Gras, Halloween, New Years- pretty much any big party that we have in the U.S. times 5! There were a ton of people there (from all over the world) just having one big crazy party in the streets- not to mention Cadiz is right on the Atlantic- it was absolutely beautiful! We left Madrid on Friday at 2 and took the looong 9 hour bus ride to Cadiz at around 11, checked into our hotel, changed into our costumes, and headed out (with our awesome pirate tour guides) to enjoy the night!















Friday night was really fun, but not very crowded- we came home earlier than everyone else because we knew we wanted to sight see during the day, so it worked out really well. Woke up Saturday for our complimentary hotel breakfast (which was AMAZING- Spaniards don't really have big breakfasts, usually just some toast or a pastry with coffee, so having cereal, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, etc. was sooo perfect) then headed towards Cadiz to enjoy the beautiful day.












After walking around the town for awhile, we headed to the beach- sorry in advance to everyone at home, in the snow/ice...these are going to make you all pretty jealous.












We then headed back to the hotel to nap, shower, and get ready for Saturday, the last night of Carnaval. This time, we went a little more crazy with the costumes: flamenco dancers!! It was such a fun night- there was a live band that played (once again I didn't know any of the words), food and drink vendors all over town, huge crowds of people in the street, and really fun bars and clubs open late. It was a great, last minute thing but I'm so glad we went!


















Next up: Class all day tomorrow, packing, then heading out again- this time we're leaving Spain and going to Paris!! We've booked our hostel for two nights, and my friend from highschool, Melissa, is studying in Paris and is going to show us around and translate for us- pretty helpful since I'll probably get nervous and start speaking spanish (ha) I'm so excited!!

I'll write more after France- hope all is well with everyone! Love and miss you guys!

-Nicole