more pictures...

BACKPACKING TRIP

A bit late...but i thought i should record my last 2 weeks in Europe...

as you probably know, I'm back in Indianapolis, getting ready for a move to DC. I finished teaching in Madrid june 30, and despite a metro strike (they closed the metro for 2 days entirely!) had a successful last week in Madrid.

Following that, the very next day, my friend Kristen and I caught a plane to Budapest! we had our backpacks stuffed with 2 weeks worth of stuff and were ready to go! the trip went really smoothly, overall, and we met a lot of interesting people along the way. in fact, i thought it went so smoothly, that i could easily have stayed and traveled another 2-3 weeks. Once you get going, you just start itching to catch another plane or train and wind up yet again in a new city. I reallly enjoyed backpacking and hope to do it again soon.
Anyway, we spent a couple of days in Budapest and the surrounding Hungarian countryside learning about communism, seeing the sites, and walking along the Danube.
Next, we set out for Tuscany! We landed in Pisa, saw the leaning tower and the other extremely touristy attractions, ate plenty of gelato and pizza, and spent another day in Siena, another beautiful tuscan town, before catching a train to Milan (from the train window we saw the famous sunflower fields!) for our flight to Santorini...
and SANTORINI was amazing!!!! 4 days of swimming, volcano hiking ,and exploring the beautiful island villages with white buildings ...
lastly, we went to athens...which was great for me because it refreshed my memory on my trip there 5 years ago! saw the acropolis, and the new acropolis museum that wasnt there when i was before and enjoyed the downtown, and the amazing greek food! such an ancient city! the last day of our trip was the WORLD CUP, which sadly we watched from athens...it would have been great to be in Madrid that night, because the spanish were victorious!

anyway, i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking! and that wraps up this blog from abroad!

Wrapping it up

My time here is drawing all too quickly to an end...my classes are ending, some have ended already, and i am preparing to say my goodbyes not just to my home and this city, but to all the people i've met here--spanish, british, italian, and american, who won't be with me in the next part of my journey.
I have to admit that i'm absolutely devastated.
I returned to Spain this year to "get my fix." I reasoned I already knew Madrid well and loved it, so it would be a good homebase for a year of travelling--the teaching job was merely a means to support myself for my travelling. Travelling never seems to give one their "fix" however--it just wets your appetite for more . the more I see, the more I want to see. I yearn for more places as well as the places i've already been. My desires were in no way quenched, but my interests expanded. I would need 2 or 3 lifetimes to do this world justice.
As I said, I came with the intention to travel, to branch out of Madrid and what I ended with was so much more fulfilling--I became attached to people and even more invested in this place, in this community. I love my job. I love seeing the progress my students have made over the year, and being able to identify that as my work. I have an impact! I've done something with results!
But it's not just my students who've made progress--I can't deny being an entirely different person than i was a year ago. sitting in the various offices, homes, and classrooms around the city, I learned a lot of things. Not just Spanish, though that has vastly improved, but about culture, new ideas and opinions. About people's lives who have grown up on a different continent. Each of my students had something to teach me; there was a lesson for me in each lesson i taught. It is so rewarding uncovering a friendship, relating to someone and beginning to understand them through broken languages. The friends that have been on this journey with me this year are like family--we've been through the ups and downs, the penny-pinching, the crazy travels, the language barriers and we've come out on the otherside different--changed by this experience and one another.
Theres no way to put in words what i've learned and the way i've grown, but this experience has been absolutely unforgettable. I've never felt more autonomous, more capable, and more in touch with myself. I have been truly happy.

I have just about 2 weeks of teaching left, but nowhere near a full schedule. Just a few remaining, dear students. I will fill my free time with shopping sprees (!!), Retiro, cleaning out my room, the world cup along with everyone in spain, and any other things I missed in Madrid...hopefully not anything. And of course preparing for my big July adventure.
A friend and I are backpacking for the first 12 days of July--on the 1st we are headed to Budapest, followed by Pisa/Siena, Athens, and Santorini. We are back in Madrid very late on the 12th and fly to the states on the 14th. It's going to be an amazing adventure and a great way to wrap up an incredible year. I've done so much--and somehow theres still so much more in Europe alone!

Gijon, Asturias

Gijon, a coastal city in the northern region of Asturias, was AMAZING. it looks like Ireland or Scotland (or so i've heard...) We had the most beautiful weather. There were endless beaches, golden sand on some, and others rocky and wavy. You could walk along for miles along the cliffs and catch the views. everything was GREEN GREEN GREEN.
it was so relaxing and refreshing, one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen, and, like everywhere in spain, the people were soo friendly! we had an amazing weekend just walking along the cliffs and enjoying the beach! On saturday we had lunch on this grassy area above the sea. there were lots of people drifting around above us in hang gliders ( i think thats what they were?) it was also nice because it is not a very touristy part of spain, so we had great opportunities to speak spanish!
anyway, it was really perfect and no words will be enough...so i'll just post the pictures!! this weekend is a puente (a "bridge" which really just means its a long weekend) so we might go back to asturias!

ciao!

did you get lost in amsterdam?

Just came back from a sunny weekend in Holland! We couldn't have asked for better weather. The weekend was nice. The city is beautiful, and the people are diverse and very friendly! there are literally more bikes than cars and people combined. i saw people eating or talking on their phone while riding and carting aroudn children, musical instruments, multiple friends, and other bikes with their bikes...literally steering a second bike while riding. it was incredible. and the traffic lights are all for bikes.
so we obviously rented some...and rode around. that was definitely the highlight, along with the beautiful canals and flowers. the city was super interesting to wander around and the culture very different from other places in europe. they all speak english, and they have very high immigration.
anyway the other highlight was the van gogh museum. it was really amazing to see so much of his work up close like that!
in other news, kaitlyn was here last week. the weekend was madrid's saints day, San Isidro, so there was a huge party for that! glad she got to see that! we had nice weather and i took her to all the usual sights and we ate lots of tapas...

MALAGA!

Amy and I spent a weekend on the beach in Malaga!! It is a 6 hour bus ride from Madrid, on the costa del sol. To me, the bus is the obvious choice. Its like spending 20 euro for someone to drive you all through the Spanish countryside. Not painful, Fun!

So we arrived via bus, and headed straight for the beach. It was extremely windy our first day, and unpleasant to be out, but the second day was beautiful! We spent the whole day, picnicing, swimming, and enjoying the beach. We didnt go in til about 8pm, and the sun still hadnt set! Our hostel was directly on the beach, so all in all a very relaxing experience! Malaga also has a castle and a huge Andalucian cathedral, but we didnt see much of the city except in passing. It is very typically Southern Spain...mountains, palm trees, huge cathedrals, and tiny streets surrounding the plazas.

lately...

havent put up any pictures for awhile.
here is our hike in casa de campo and then from la pedriza. casa de campo is just some acres in madrid, la pedriza is a national park...you can see the difference! there is also a picture from my bday! i just came home from malaga today, will blog about that soon!