It's almost April?

Well hello everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. There hasn't really been too much going on here in España, but I'll provide an update anyways!

Since we've been back from Paris, I've pretty much just been going to class and hanging out with the other WIP kids. Kate's boyfriend Jesse got to Madrid on the 10th, and unfortunately she couldn't come with us on a program-planned excursion to a region of Spain called "Extremadura". It was weird traveling without her, but it also gave me a chance to get to know the other kids in the program- I'm especially getting close to a few girls from Madison, who are all so fun and sweet- I really can't wait to roadtrip there next year!!

Extremadura wasn't too bad- it was a very roman-esque trip: we saw a lot of ancient ruins and walked around the different towns, learning about their history and culture. The weather was wonderful though! Extremadura is the region of Spain right next to Portugal, so there were a lot of palm trees and temperatures in the upper 60's! We all got some sun, and spent a lot time just sitting outside enjoying the days.


After checking into our hotel, we had about an hour to relax before dinner. The program had everything paid for us, so of course we took advantage and our table decided to enjoy all of the free wine. It was one of the funnier moments I've had in Spain, having our program director come over to tell us we were cut off. (he was sort of kidding though, so it wasn't a big deal- just really embarrassing) The next day we walked around some more and saw some amazing views of the Spanish countryside.



This past week Kate and Jesse were in Mallorca, and island off the east coast of Spain, so I spent most of the week over at my friends' Whitney and Andrea's apartment. It was a really fun week- I love, love, love only having classes Monday and Tuesday- it frees up my entire week! I just wished I liked my classes more- they're not so bad content wise, but it's always really hard to follow the professors, and they're an hour and half long which is longer than I'm used to. I'm taking an art history class about the paintings found at the Prado, and then on Wednesdays I get to go to the Prado museum for free for two hours to actually see the paintings we've seen in class and learn more about them. This class is definitely my favorite. I'm also taking a Spanish Grammar class (as a review), a class about Greek Mythology, a Latin American History class, and a Spanish Film class where we watch a different movie each week and then write reviews about them. This class is pretty cool too, and there are a ton of the WIP kids in it.

Saturday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day: Madrid Style! We spent the majority of the beautiful day outside at "Parque Oeste", drinking sangria, socializing, and having a great time. A kid on my program, Pat, had his dad in town so he spent the day with us too. It was so awesome having our first parent visit- I'm so excited to meet everyone else's families and friends. In true Irish fashion, we left the park, got some food, and hit up some pubs! I was so excited to meet back up with Kate! All in all it was a really great day.


This week I've been hanging out, getting some errands done, studying for my midterm I have on Monday, and preparing for everyone's arrival!! I am SO excited to see everyone on Saturday- it's going to be an amazing week- and we leave for Lisbon, Portugal on Thursday, which is somewhere I have wanted to go for forever, and now I get to go with all the people that I love. The timing works out really well too, because after my fam leaves on the 1st, Kate's mom and sister come here, which will also be really fun.

I can't believe that it's almost Spring Break- this is what I have planned for the rest of my time here:
after Kate's family leaves we have about two weeks before our awesomely planned trip to Edinburgh and Glascow, Scotland, Dublin and Galway, Ireland, and Amsterdam. Then it's May, where I am planning on going to London to visit my Purdue roomie, Whitney, who will be there for the summer- hopefully getting to see my friend Ray from Liverpool also! Then we finish classes and take finals- finals are done in June, and then anytime after the 25th we are off to Greece to spend the rest of our time with Kate's family friends at their place! Home on the 3rd o July! Woah! So surreal..

All right, gotta go study! Keep in touch everyone- I've loved all the emails! And be sure to check out my photo site for more pics from Madrid and my trips.


Love you all!
-Nicole

PS MY MOM AND BROTHER ARE COMING TO VISIT!! YAY!! I AM SOOO EXCITED!! :)