Internet Cafe

   Hola! What is up? So I am just hanging out in my room waiting for lunch to begin… this is their big meal for the day so there are usually 3 or 4 courses… so good. School is over for the weekend! Heck yeah, and tomorrow we are heading up north to a little town that is very Celtic. Apparently it is beautiful and I am very excited. After we visit the little fishing town we are heading to la playa which will be very fun.

 

   I miss home a little bit… but hardly enough to be homesick. I am having the best time and meeting so many new friends. Tonight we are going out around midnight to hangout… wow I hope I can stay awake. The city doesn’t start partying until like 1 in the morning.. so crazy. Anyway I better be off. Just wanted to tell you all that I love you dearly! Keep up the emails so I know what is going on at home. In one month from today I will be back there with ya’ll. Peace out!

Random bus rides

   So what is up cyber world? Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I have been having too much fun and there is no wireless in my house so I have to walk (in the rain) and find wireless! Anyway Oviedo is awesome! 

   So school is awesome... not haha. No it is good, but it is super long. I like the last hour when all we do is try to talk in Spanish. I am horrible.. probably the worst one in our group but it's ok I will study hard! My teacher's name is Victor and he is really cool. The first day in class he wore a shirt with his baby on it... so mexican but I loved it. It is hard to concentrate in class because during the day it is usually sunny and then the second we finish it starts to rain.. oh well. 

   My family is pretty crazy. The old man just watches tv and yells at his wife all the time. And my mamasita just cooks and cleans all the time. Everyday I come home she has cleaned my room. It is awesome! But it is hard to communicate with my family and so they don't really talk to me. Oh well.

   I love this town, I have been lost so many times. Luckily I have my friend Jonathan who shows me where to go. He is awesome. The kids in the group are really cool, we all get along pretty well. Anyway I better be getting off, the herd is moving to a different cafe... there are like 10 of us that hangout all the time and just wander. So I will post more later! I miss you family and friends of mine!!! ADIOS!

Home Sweet Home

   Oviedo is a beautiful place in northern Spain. Fifteen minutes from a beautiful beach, and ten from high mountains. The people are friendly and the University is great… and this is where I will be living for the next 35 days. After a tearful goodbye with my dad this morning in the airport I sat and waited for four hours until it was my turn to board. After trying to figure out the gate and what flight I was actually suppose to be on I made it to the little airport where I then had to figure out the bus to Oviedo and the time it left. This is where I made my first friend! I don’t know his name but he is from Argentina and is studying to be a dentist. So we talked for a while, I showed him all the pictures I had and he helped me get on the bus. While on the bus I am proudly wearing my U of U sweatshirt (like Fernando told us to do so we could find eachother) I don’t see anyone else in red. Luckily one of the boys in my group found me and we decided to head to the cathedral together in Oviedo when we got off the bus. When I got there I was one of the two in U attire… I am such a dork, but I wear it proudly.

   Haha so after meeting our group we met our house mothers! Mine is great, her name is Maria Luisa and she is probably seventy and speaks absolutely no English. This was great when she was trying to tell what time dinner is served! She is a real OG. Maria hasn’t smiled since I have met her but I will make her laugh soon… you will see. So at this very moment I am sitting in my cute little room that just happens to be yellow… feels like home! And I am waiting for dinner. I am STARVING!! So I decided to open up the Jiffy Peanut Butter my mother so wisely threw in my bag, and dip my fingers in. Yummy. I am actually writing this post in a word document because I don’t have a clue where I am going to find wireless, but I will find it, and when I do I will post this baby.

   That is the update for now. I now know what it feels like to be a stranger in a strange land, or whatever that saying says. I am completely terrified but excited for the next weeks to come. My group seems nice and Maria is cool so this will work out. I better wrap this up because I need to go pray that we eat soon. I love you all, and I will keep you posted on my amazing life. Adios! 

She's On Her Way - Finally (Beth's Padre Guest Post)

Valet, valet, she's on her way.  We part company today after 12 days of father/daughter travel, and what an absolute pleasure it has been - at least for mi.  Barcelona, Sevilla, Arcos de la Frontera, Granada, and Madrid, and many desayunos, comidas, cenas, 500 miles in a car, primero class train ride, and many hours in flight.  Ample opportunities to impart great wisdom one to one, and she has taught me much.  

She will do well with Espanol - is my hope. "Dad, I used to know what that guy just said." "When?" I ask.   "About three weeks ago."  Valet, valet.  Esta es mi hijar.  

I will miss your smile and hugs and laugh and smile and hugs and laugh - a lot.  "Look, Beth, a Rembrandt."  "Like the toothpaste?"  Oviedo awaits -  do me proud, and I know you will because you always do!  All my love, Padre. 

madrid

   Madrid is where the heart is... or maybe that's home is where the heart is... either way we made it to Madrid! But let me start at where I left off...

   So Granada was an awesome place, my favorite town so far I think. It was some huge holiday called Corpus Christie while we were there so there were kids dresses up in flamenco outfits running around.. so cute!! We saw a lot of things... we went to the Cathedral in Granada and the Palace church and the Alhambra. Ok this place was freakin awesome! Just picture where Zorro would live and you got the right place! It was huge and had lots of details in the decorating. By the end of the day yesterday I was pretty tired from walking around so much. We did a little shopping and then went to eat dinner at this great place! I had the best steak I have ever had. It was awesome. 

   So this morning we woke up and had a three hour drive to Sevilla where we got on a train to Madrid. This train was awesome! We were one of the like four in first class and we got a cool meal and they gave us these little olive oils and vinegars. I was excited. So now we are in Madrid. I just took the best bath of my life... jet tub... bath salts... it was amazing. I needed a bath cause I was starting to smell like a european... Haha!

   Well it is sad that this part of the trip is coming to an end. I have loved getting to know my dad better. He is an awesome dude and I love him a lot! Anyway I better be going, I am starvin marvin!

Grrrrrranada!

  What it is? Hello all, so I am officially in Granada and so happy I have internet again! Arcos was gorgeous. We basically just walked around the whole time we were there and looked in little shops and things. This town has a great view of the countryside and has an awesome cathedral at the top of the hill. Anyway so we ate dinner in this little cafe near the cathedral and watched a little futbol with the natives. It was incredible. So Monday morning we woke up to a rainy town which I loved because I have a weird obsession with rain, and we were off to the coast! My dad and I drove down to this town named Marbella where we ate a healthy lunch of McDonalds and did a little shopping in their local Zara. This was a crazy town! So americanized... and a little bit trashed. So after we shopped we were on out way. We drove along the coast which was a beautiful view to our town Nerja.

   Nerja is a pretty place. There was this lookout over the ocean that is called the Balcony of Europe. It was amazing! There were some gypsies there trying to sell us herbs... weird. So we walked around town, I bought a dress, and I bought you something too Megan, and we got dinner and this great asian place, (Can you tell I am already getting sick of the Spanish food... uh oh)! After dinner we explored the town a little more and headed back to our hotel. We ended up watching employee of the month until the late hours of the night when I fell asleep. 

   Today we woke up and headed to Granada! This place is awesome. It is more bohemian than Barcelona and a lot more confusing. The streets make absolutely no sense so it took us a while to figure out where to go. So we found our hotel and our room had no electricity, so they upgraded us which was nice! 

   I am finally starting to see how weird my dad actually can be. He likes to take pictures of road signs and way too many nature pictures. Also last night in the middle of the night he woke up up and asked for all my change, I had earplugs in so I didn't really hear what he said, and when I came to my senses he was gone and so was my money. I was certain we were being robbed so I freaked out! Luckily he came back twenty minutes later and informed me he just wanted to send mom an email. Wow I was terrified. Anyway that is all for now. I will post again soon! Holla (that is for you Jess)! Haha Love You All!

Los Olivos

   I am back! Sevilla was amazing, so beautiful and in my opinion classier than Barcelona. We ended up not seeing the flamenco dancers because it was sold out but that was alright, we had a nice dinner instead. We went to this little place that the hotel recommended. I had salmon and dad has a variety of Topas including spinach, tuna in a tomato sauce, and two other fishy like things that were good but I had no idea what they were. Anyway after dinner we wandered around town and dad got some ice cream. It was a nice laid back night.

   So today we woke up and wandered a little more. We went to this Moorish castle that was converted into a spanish castle named Alcazar. It was where Columbus asked Ferdinand and Isabella to sponsor his trip to the Americas... Holla. Anyway then we took a taxi to the train station to rent our car.

   Dad put me in charge of navigating. It was awesome to be in charge and it drove him crazy that I wouldn't let him look at the map. I should have taken us to the beach... but we made it to Archos de la Frontera! It is this beautiful white hill town in the southern part of Spain. After we Ichat with the fam we will be out exploring! 

   Have a great sunday all!

Sevilla, Mama Mia!!

   So the internet at our last hotel was 23 euros for a day, which is about forty bucks! So I didn't get on, but now I am on and ready to type! 

   Barcelona is a beautiful town, very bohemian and has lots of awesome sites to see.  The first night we met up with Amanda by the Placa de Catalunya metro stop and she walked us down the Ramblas to the harbor and the neuvo playa. She was meeting friends for dinner so my dad and I ate at this great place near the beach. We had Paella which is a famous dish in Spain. It basically consists of rice with tomato sauce, and we had prawns and muscles in it as well. It was freakin delicious!! I am going to be a very happy girl these next seven weeks. After dinner we headed back towards our hotel and went to bed early because we were still a little jet lagged.

   Friday we woke up, dad brought me some breakfast of brioche, hot chocolate and fresh squeezed orange juice.  Then, we were ready to explore Barcelona with Amanda as our tour guide. Our plan was to go to the Picasso Museum in the morning and then meet Amanda at noon so she could drop her bags off in our hotel room. (She stayed the night because her rock star house mother kicked her out- well sort of cuz she was done with her study abroad). 

So after I woke up and ate I tried to blow my hair straight but guess what, my blow dryer burned out!!! Apparently I need to get a european version because the lectricity  is different over here... what a pain. Oh well, a girl can never have too many hair supplies. So my dad asked me if I was ready to go to the museum and I then told him I wasn't going. He replied with, "Beth you are in Spain, who are you going to see?". I don't think he understands that we take pictures on trips... Anyway Buzz went to the museum and didn't end up even going in. The line was too long. So we met Amanda at around noon and we were off! First stop, the Sagrada Familia. This is a beautiful cathedral that Gaudi designed. It was... well very Gaudi. Next stop... the Parc Guell which was another Gaudi manifestation. This was a pretty sweet park! They filmed America's Next Top Model's finale in this little cave looking thing. It was awesome. We also met a nice couple from Denver who turned out to be LDS. They were really great people. 

   After the park we rode the metro back down to the Montjuic funicular which took us to this Spanish castle on the hill. Another beautiful view. By this time I was super tired but we pushed ourselves to see this gorgeous government building. After this building we headed back to the Gothic Quarter (the part of town where our hotel was located). Dad took a nap and Amanda showered and I finally got to shop!!! I was so excited. So I shopped for about two hours and found nothing! Why is it that in Europe people love the potato sac dresses. They are not flattering on many people and I was heartbroken I didn't find anything. I guess I have a few weeks to look right? Of course Zara was full of great things Casey, Elise and mom! Haha I love you guys. 

   This morning we hoped a plane to Sevilla which is a lot more southern than Barcelona and very beautiful. We are going to go flamenco dancing tonight and I can't wait!! Well this post is long enough so I will get back to you all on how my Sevilla adventures turn out! I love you. Keep it real in the 801 for me! Holla!

   P.S. Dad bought Shants... Man Capri's... whatever you call them... what a dork! I love him anyway.

Las Ramblas

  Barcelona watch out! I am finally here and ready to shop! In the little walking we have done I have seen so many cute boutiques that I am ready to spend all of my money in. This place is beautiful, and very humid. I now know how curly my hair actually is. It is about 5:45 here and so that makes it 9:45 in Salt Lake City. I slept the entire plane ride so I am not tired at all... luckily! We are going to meet Amanda Nelson in about a half an hour at the top of the Ramblas, which is a long road full of shops, people and food. It goes straight down to the beach and has tall trees that line each side of the street. Absolutely gorgeous! I had my first meal in Spain, a ham and cheese sandwich  on a baguette. It was delicious! Well I am off to go roam the streets of Spain. Caio! 

   

JFK

   So I made it to New York! Of course the JFK airport is crawling and it took us a half an hour longer to get into our gate because we had to wait for a plane catering truck that broke down in front of our gate, but we are finally here! Happy and filled with chili's famous chips. Haha now I am leisurely sitting in the crown room waiting for the long half of the flying... nine hours to Spain... no bueno. It should be ok though because I have my handy dandy tylenol pm which seems to work wonders on airplanes. Especially since I didn't go to bed last night. 

   The flight was nice, I slept the whole way on my dads lap. Jonathen Fulton was on our plane. He is fresh out of the MTC on his way to Ukraine. It was pretty funny to see him and the group of missionaries he was with... their eyes were filled with fear and excitement. Good thing I was in a sweatshirt this time right mom? Haha. 

   Well I am off to go board the plane. I love you all and miss you already! 

  

Believe it or not...

   I am officially a blogger... this is weird. I never thought I would have one of these websites that anyone and everyone can read... but here I am, blogging. This thing is pretty cool though, but bear with me for the first little while because I have no idea what I am doing.

   Today is sunday and I am starting to get my stuff together for Spain. I leave on Wednesday and I will be in Spain for seven weeks. The first ten days I will be traveling around with my Dad and then I move to Oviedo, which is a city in northern spain, to study spanish! I am super excited but a little nervous. Hopefully everything will work out. I will keep you all posted on my life in Spain. 

   The jazz game is back on... better go watch... adios!