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!

you know you're an English teacher when...

you have dreams about the big problem of explaining the difference between "might" and "may" to a class of students

the 40th of May

So the Spanish has some expression...It's something like "Always wear your winter wear until the 40th of May." Which translates to June 10th or so. I'm glad my student explained this to me , because it finally makes sense why, despite the 80+ degree heat the past 10 days or so, people look at me funny if i wear a dress without tights, or even worse, open-toed shoes!
I maintain that this saying has to do with their insistence of being classy on the street at all times, but my student says it is actually for one's own protection...you know, in order not to catch a chill.
yeah..they're strange.

Besides this, everything is still good. Last weekend we went to La Pedriza, a mountain range about an hour north of Madrid for some really amazing hiking. There was a river rushing throught the mountains and parts of it were really green and foresty while other parts we walked along the sides of giant rocks.

We will see what this weekend brings...

Old lady birthday

Hello readers,

since Paris, I have hit the ground running in Madrid! I picked up a bunch of new classes and am working aroudn the clock. This is not a bad thing I guess, because I can save money for my summer travels. One of my new students is at a very advanced level due to his one year exchange program that he did in Muncie, IN! Small world, right ?
Last weekend was absolutely beautiful, and some friends and I spent a day hiking in the casa de campo...a huge green space within Madrid's limits. It is very hilly so we could climb through the forests and things and get great views of the city. We also took a long a picnic. very fun!
This past week, I turned 23, and am feeling old, although my European friends tell me that this is a very young age to be working and assured me that I am still very young. I had a nice day, despite the rain (it always rains on my birthday!) and most of my students wished me happy birthday. I went out with some friends that night to celebrate. Since then, the celebration has continued. Thursday night, my friends cooked me a curry dinner, and last night the women I lived with when I first moved to Madrid invited me and a few mutual friends over for a paella feast and a birthday cake! It felt like a real birthday.
The weather is not so nice today, but we're hoping to go back out to casa de campo for round 2 of hiking fun!

semana santa in FRANCE

bonjour mon cheries! I didn't actually learn any french in the 6 days I spent in France...it's a very difficult language!
Anyway, I took off last Wednesday for Toulouse, France, which is in the Southern part of the country and in the Pyrenees mountains. The city is known as Le Ville de Rose--the pink city because all the buildings are pink or red brick. It was very pretty and fun to walk around. good weather there, so it was pleasant to sit outside and walk along the river, and of course, eat fine french pastries, cheese, and bread! The best part of Toulouse was a peacock I saw in one of the gardens (or maybe the cheese fondue we had one night!). his feathers were all spread out. I didn't get the best picture of him ,because he was behind a fence, but it is posted above.
On friday morning, I had a 630 AM flight to paris. Thats not a fun time for me to be awake, but to make matters worse, there was some sort of fuel problem, and we didn't have enough fuel on the plane to make it to Paris. They spent a few hours deciding what to do, finally decided to put us on the plane, fly us to Montpellier (in the french riviera!), pick up more fuel there, and then continue to Paris. I woke up enough to look out the window as we left Toulouse to see the Pyrenees and at the Montpellier airport...beautiful, water everywhere, white birds. Finally got into a rainy, miserable Paris, was lost, cold, hungry, and exhausted. We waited in line for the Musee d'Orsay for 45 minutes...but after that our luck improved. I got into the museum for free (thanks Saint Louis Madrid ID card!), the museum was filled with Monets, Van Goghs, Degas', all in all amazing, and when we came out again, the sun was out, so we picknicked under the Eiffel Tower. (!)
We slept really hard that night, and woke up early the next day in order to attempt to see all the sights (we didn't even come close) in our remaining 2.5 days. We went to the Louvre the next day (for free again!), spent hours wandering around that massive museum, saw the Mona Lisa, then left the museum ,and walked along the river through the shops and street vendors to Notre Dame . All the main monuments are situated on one side of the river or the other, with gardens in between. we strolled for hours, ate nutella crepes, and returned to the glorious Eiffel tower. It was rainy and drizzly and cold all day with bursts of sun.
The next day was my favorite. We visited Montemarte, or the barrio de los pintures, as my students recommended it to me as. It is on top of the highest hill in Paris, and has sort of a San Francisco feel, artists painting on the streets, winding, narrow streets, boutiques, crepe shops, and great views. We stumbled upon an Italian man singing beatles songs on the steps of the Sacre Couer, the cathedral at the top of the hill. It was a magical moment, to sit on those steps, see Paris below you, and sing a long with people from all over the world. There was also a cool cemetary in Montmarte, and a lot of artists and cafes to check out. Supposedly this is the area where the Moulin Rouge is as well, but we never found it.
That night, we returned to the Eiffel Tower, and waited for dark so the lights would come on. It was AMAZING. the lights came on as the sun set, and then at 9pm, the Tower sparkles with little white lights all over, they flash for about 10 minutes, and it looks so cool! so many people were out in the park enjoying the sunset and the tower lighting.
the next day, unfortunately, had blue skies, but was only a half day for us. we enjoyed the jardins du Luxembourg (not nearly as impressive as Madrid's retiro park!) browsed the neighborhood streets, and headed for the airport.

and now here i am! back in madrid, and starting a full week of classes, i've picked up quite a few new ones in the past month or so, and i'm very busy with them as well as planning my glorious return to the USA, and what might await me there...
a lovely semana santa, and an even more beautiful day today in Madrid, the flowers and trees in Retiro are all blooming, and the weather is perfect.

Au revoir,

Megan

Spring, por fin.

The weather is finally changing around here, more sun, less rain, and goodbye winter coat! This, of course makes my students even more lazy...and classes have been slow. Retiro is blooming and beautiful and I might even have a little bit of a tan/sunburn from last weekend! I have this entire week off (starting from midday last Thursday!) for Semana Santa--holy week.
Nothing else particularly interesting is going on...but today i'm catching a plane to Toulouse, France for my spring break, i guess! After Spending a couple of days in Toulouse, I'm catching a very early flight to Paris on Friday and will be there through Monday (that's right, classes don't resume until Tuesday the 6th). My first trip to France, and I'm very excited!
Hopefully the weather is as nice up there, and the people, too? It seems no one has anything nice to say about the "gente" of France. i guess we'll see!

Valencia y mas

The second weekend of Nina's visit, we took a trip to Valencia, Spain, on the mediterranean coast. famous for paella and a spring festival known as Las Fallas, which we missed by a day. I'm ok with that, because what las fallas involves is a lot of things blowing up and a lot of noise. Also, busy, crowded streets and expensive food. Am I turning into an old lady or what? On Thursday night, we slept in the Madrid airport because we had a flight out at 630 am. We arrived sleep deprived, but tried to make it through the day by re-energizing with chocolate and churros. We then walked around ,where we discovered many of the streets were already full of the floats for Las Fallas. These thing are giant, and very interesting artistically, also unfortunately, the things that are blown up at the end of the week long festival. One of my students told me that you often see the artests and workers crying when their float is blown up. We also checked out the old center of valencia filled with the cathedrals and monuments of a typical spanish city. Valencia also had this really great market filled with all sorts of produce and fresh food. it was right across from our hostel, so we went for that every day.
We finally had to crash at the hostel for a long nap, and woke up for some late night tapas.
Saturday, the highlight of the trip for me, we rented bikes and rode them from the old part of town through Valencia's beautiful park all the way to the beach and then down the board walk. it was a sunny day, so a beautiful ride! The beach was a little chilly, but still enjoyable to sit and walk around in the sun before riding the bikes back.

In other news, we saw an American band, yeasayer, in Madrid on Wednesday, a very fun show. I think pretty much the entire crowd was Americans or other English speakers. I guess there are a lot of us here...
And last night, Carrie's flatmate, who is in a Spanish band, had a concert so we went out to that as well.
Nothing much else going on around here, enjoying the finally spring weather as much as i can. It's time to start preparing for my Semana santa (holy week) trip to toulouse, france and PARIS. we get the whole week off work so i am leaving a week from wednesday for Toulouse and then will spend Friday-Monday in Paris.

Besos,

Megan

Oslo, Norway

A quick update about last weekend's trip to Oslo! Nina arrived last week, we spent a couple of days enjoying Madrid (and me working, of course) then on Friday afternoon we headed north! The flight was 3 hours, the longest i think i've been on since being here! I was sort of skeptical, i must admit, but it ended up being an AMAZING weekend. The weather was beautiful---very very very cold, of course, but sunny. We both lacked proper footwear for all the snow, but we stayed warm enough. We even got adventurous--we did a 2km tobaggen run in the mountains above oslo and attempted cross country skiing! the first was terrifying , the second very difficult. First time in my life on skis...so i fell a lot (actually...walking around the city in my not-made-for-snow boots was treacherous enough). the city was beautiful, we visited the art museum which has a huge collection of edward munch, including "the scream" and the frogerparker (or something like that) park which is the most famous attraction in norway...a huge park filled with sculptures of all varieties of naked people!
thats it for now, time for class, this weekend off to valencia!

no rain!

Some crazy weather all over the world this year...In Madrid's case, that has meant TONS of rain...i might as well be in Indy! it's rained every day for weeks, but yesterday, at last, we had some sun! Sundays are already the best days in Madrid anyway, everyone out, at the sunday market, in retiro, in the shops, and cafes, but yesterday, the first day of sun in a couple of weeks, was amazing! We went to the Rastro, bought sandwiches and sat in the middle of plaza mayor with them along with everyone else in the city and watched the street performers and listened to musicians come through. such a nice way to spend the afternoon! the sun felt great! all the stores have put out their spring stuff and its very exciting, i have my eye on a great pair of sandals!

a busy work week, nina is coming on wednesday,so we will be busy catching up and enjoying madrid and friday we are headed to Oslo, Norway, where we will be very very cold.

FEBRUARY

This month always flys by! We're in the last week, and I haven't updated yet. I have been very busy.
Brent visited me and we spent a day in La Rioja, Espana, where all the grapes are grown. The bus trip up was beautiful, lots of green, fresh air, mountains, rivers. Very fun.I showed him around Madrid between classes during the week, and the following weekend we took a trip to Cagliari, Italy. Which is on the island of Sardinia. It was pretty! A big port with lots of sailboats, a beach, an old castle and cathedrals, and roman amphitheater spiraling up a mountain, and of course the pizza! that was my favorite part.
I was kept pretty busy playing tour guide of madrid, going for tapas, and visiting the museums . We visited one I hadn't seen before--the Thyssen. Perhaps my new favorite. the collection was amazing! a good mix of modern and older reinassance paintings. Van Gogh, Monet, and Kandinsky were heavily showcased.

THEN this past weekend, Carrie, Kristen, and I spent the weekend in Brugge, Belgium. It was quite an adventure--even getting there. Our flight was at 615 on Friday morning, and the metro doesnt open til 6am. Taxis are expensive, so we caught a metro before at closed at around 1 am and spent the night in the airport. We were not the only ones. I think there was easily 200 or 300 people camped out in the airport over night. we flew into brussels, and arrived in brugge around 12. We visited the North Sea and some thrift stores! which i was excited about, since i havent seen any since leaving the States. Ate a lot of chocolate, waffles, and french fries through out the weekend ,and rented bikes to ride along the canals. The city was beautiful! so well preserved. and still very antique. We liked it a lot. The local languages are Dutch and flemish in Brugge, Dutch being the one taught in schools, but dialects of Flemish being spoken at home. Someone told us that in Brugge there were more Flemish than Belgian flags flying and that the country would not make it to 200 years because so many different languages and cultures were around. People feel more loyalty to their particular language than to belgium as a nation. In Brussels, Dutch and French are the two languages, so it does vary quite a bit from place to place.
Anyway, here are some pictures from the past month or so!