This was a note in my phone from May 26, the day I left Spain.
"It's official. As I write this I'm on sitting on the plane from Philadelphia to St. Louis enjoying my first real Diet Coke in 5 months. And I know it's hard to believe but the "culture shock" of being back in the United States is almost even more shocking than arriving in Europe. Being surrounded by English is very, very weird. Purely American English at that. And I haven't even left the airport! So anyway, if you know how my semester's been at all you can expect that leaving this morning was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time. I absolutely promised Pedro and Asuncion that I would come back to see them, and I will hold to that promise. And the goodbyes with many of my other friends were spread out over time, because people have been gradually leaving since April. So I guess that makes it easier, but not by much. Because I'm not saying an official "goodbye" to my friends...I can always keep in touch with my international friends and the ones from across America...and I'm not saying bye to Alicante, because surely I'll come back. I'm saying goodbye to the semester and OUR Alicante experience that we will never be able to do again. But what makes it slightly okay is that I know I lived this semester to it's absolute fullest. Every single day in Alicante or traveling was spent meeting new people, challenging myself in one way or another, and just having a freaking blast. I've never felt anything like how I felt there, and whatever it was was good. So in my last post I got all emotional about my host parents, but this one goes out to my Mizzou/Alicante friends. Sometime about a month ago is when the first one of us left to go home, so naturally the night before the group of us (including French Charlie) grabbed some bottles of wine and headed to the beach specifically for a late night memory discussing/tear jerking pow wow. We popped champagne and each went around and made toasts - to Alicante, to how grateful we are for each other and the amazing friendships we created, to the semester turning out 10 times better than we could have ever imagined...we got pretty detailed and deep. To hear each one of us, especially the guys, open up about how much we all mean to each other...that was pretty awesome. It's so apparent that this semester had a huge impact on all of us in some way or another, and we can see it in each other. We've literally grown together over the past 5 months and have seen each other at our best and absolute worst moments." So that's where I stopped typing. I'll leave the "absolute worst moments" up to your imagination, but I know my crew knows what I'm talking about. So what about now? I'm back in the swing of things. People stopped asking "How was your trip?" and it's turning into a thing of the past. I use that exact quote because that's the question I got most often, and it honestly bugs the hell out of me. Which trip? My trip to Morocco or Dublin or Budapest? Certainly they can't mean Alicante, because that place was my home. To wrap up the iPhone love note, I've got three words to my Alicante friends: somos una piña. I've explained it in some post before because I think we started using it when we were in Prague. It literally means "we are a pineapple," but in Spain it's a way of saying we are all one, we're united, we're a team. Cheers to my pineapple. The semester would not have been the same without you guys.
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There's no way I could actually put the Camino into words, but I guess I'll attempt...it was unbelievably beautiful. The scenes I saw and the air I was breathing was like nothing I've ever experienced. On top of that it was extremely challenging, mind opening, thought provoking, and rewarding... This post is going to sound very contradicting because I have to tell you that the entire time we were actually in a lot of pain, pushing ourselves to the limit and walking up steep hills with backpacks when we could have easily collapsed. Basically my joints and muscles still feel destroyed...but pain is glory, right? But we're wimps, honestly. We walked about 105 kilometers over 4 days. During that time we met people, many who appeared much older than my parents, who had been walking the Camino for several weeks or over a month. The entire Camino usually takes a few months to complete, and all year long there are people out there from all over the world completing the journey for whatever reason - religious, personal, spiritual, or undecided by the peregrinos (pilgrims/what we were referred to the entire way). Armando told us as we started out on the first day that it's essential to think about our potential reasons for doing the Camino while we walked - and "for class credit" or "exercise" doesn't count. In the end, we would officially mark down our "reason" when we became official peregrinos in Santiago. The first day was the longest and the hardest. We slept on an overnight train until 4:30 a.m. and then started walking in the dark from the town of Ourense. As the Sun came up, we walked up the longest and steepest hill you could imagine, that was ironically named "little hill" in Spanish. If that stretch would have been at any other time in our journey than the very beginning, I think we'd be crawling. So we went on...during the entire Camino, our group of 18 or so would divide into smaller groups or pairs, come together again, eat together, separate again...we felt like a team but at the same time we could separate to the point of getting lost, which we did...a couple times. That first day we met together for a picnic lunch in one of the towns, in an open field next to an old stone cathedral. After all that walking, giant loaves of bread, fresh churrizo, cheese, tomatoes, and unlimited wine was exactly what we needed...and afterward the entire group passed out in the field in the sun for a good 45 minutes surrounded by the remains of our feast. The scene had to have looked hilarious to passerbys. So the entire Camino went as such. We'd walk for hours on end, following the shells and yellow arrows (symbols of the Camino), then come together to eat unreal amounts of carbs, walk again, stop to chill at beautiful secluded spots, give each other much needed back massages, stretch, and walk again. One of the days we stopped at a river to jump in the freezing bright blue water under a bridge that's older than Jesus...casual. We'd go hours with great conversation and we'd go hours just being - one foot in front of the other, listening to music or nature or nothing but our own thoughts. Sometimes we'd stop in towns to grab a beer and put a stamp in our stamp book...all peregrinos receive a book and collect stamps as they go from village to village. And then we'd reach the albergues, the shelters where we showered and slept, which weren't too much different than your average hostel. Except the second day....after Christina and I wandered off and lost the group for a good few hours/several kilometers out of the way, we finally got to where we needed to be....Our delusional, worn out selves found the entire group drinking wine and relaxing poolside at a beautiful old lodge in the mountains called Casa Grande de Fuentemayor. It was dreamlike....like something out a wedding video. After wandering for hours with our backpacks and pained feet, I literally busted out laughing at the sight of the whole group. It was a "this can't be real" kind of moment. All along the Camino we'd pass by other peregrinos or people living in the villages and exchange the words "Buen Camino" every time. It was just a mutual understanding between everyone along the route and a little piece of encouragement. As we passed one church getting nearer to Santiago, a group of 20 or so people jumped out of the door and came out clapping and cheering for us saying "Buen Camino!" and wishing us luck and congratulations. We could not stop smiling for a long while after that. For many more reasons than that, I decided Northern Spanish people are some of the nicest there is. Finally reaching Santiago on Monday was an awesome feeling. But honestly, most of us agreed that we could have gone for longer...if we started taking it a little slower and tripled up on Ibuprofen. On the fourth day the Camino was beginning to feel like a lifestyle...but I also can't say my body was complaining when we finally got to rest. In Santiago, we visited the tomb of St. James in St. James' Cathedral (which is the traditional "destination" of the Camino - also referred to as "St. James' Way"), and then we attended the official mass for peregrinos there. It was a surreal feeling being surrounded by all these "fellow Camino-ers," as we more commonly called them, in the exact place where people have been completing their journey for centuries. And after the priest read off a list of that day's peregrinos to pray for, including "el grupo de estudiantes de Alicante," they raised a giant incense container up and made it swing like a giant pendulum down the aisle until it almost touched the ceiling of the cathedral. I mean about ten men in robes were pulling down a giant rope to make this thing swing to the point where we had to lean our heads all the way back to watch it soar across the cathedral...it was the coolest thing I've ever seen in a church that's for sure. So that's that. I truly want to come back and do a different part of the Camino for longer time, if the busyness of life allows for it. Well honestly it's more like if I allow it into my life...ooh gettin' deep there. Basically, the Camino de Santiago was a walk to remember....lolz. But really, I'm very glad I did it.
Other stuff. The end is near. I'm sitting at 9 days left in Spain. I'm going to Ibiza next Thursday-Saturday, then will only have one more day in Alicante. I seriously can't express how painful it is to leave this place behind. I never expected coming to Alicante that at this point I would walk around the city running into people I know, being welcomed with open arms by all these new, good friends of mine from all over the world...that I might never see again. I've become so comfortable with this city and this country that it feels like a part of me. I'm speaking almost fluent Spanish for Christ's sake, who knew that would happen? And what really gets me is leaving Pedro and Asuncion. It's all manageable until I think about the possibility of not seeing them again and I could cry at the drop of a hat. I have seriously become so close with them, to the point where they know everything about my life, we have inside jokes, we have debates, we have nights where they argue with each other about the type of person I'm going to marry...we are quite the trifecta. I am going to have a huge hole in my heart without them. And they're actually about to have another girl live with them this summer, just for a month or so. They just found out yesterday and she's already coming tomorrow, so I get to meet her. I'm going to be honest, right when they told me I felt like a toddler who just found out her mom's pregnant. I'm being replaced?! But I am truly happy for them and hope the new girl is awesome. Pedro and Asuncion are meant to do what they do, seriously. They have impacted so many girls lives and have "daughters" all over the world that feel the same way I do. That's pretty special. I'm excited to meet this new girl... should I haze her or what? Just kidding. I get to tell her that she's in for the best summer of her life. And hey everyone back home - despite how depressive I sound about leaving, I am getting pretty pumped to see you. It's bittersweet, but being able to come home to such amazing people will always be a blessing. Hopefully I'll get another post in after Ibiza. Thanks for reading people. Ciao. If Spain knows how to do one thing, it's celebrate. And there seems like there's another festival every week...I'm going to try to give you an idea of these crazy experiences over the past semester: Carnaval, Las Fallas, Semana Santa, and Santa Faz. Carnaval This one was back in February and is pretty much Spain's version of Mardi Gras (celebrated on that Tuesday before Lent), but looks more like a cross between that and Halloween. People take Carnaval seriously - kids and adults alike dress up in full-out costumes and rage in the streets literally all night long - I'm pretty sure I went home at 7:30 am and there was still tons of Spanish people out. We had no idea what to expect...We all threw on some costumes (I was a butterfly) and headed to La Rambla to find huge concert stages and the entire street flooded with people dancing. It was awesome. Small side story...when I left for my friends' apartment to get the night started, my host mom sent me off with more food than any one human should ever consume, so I did something a little different. There's homeless people that I walk past every single day on the same street, so I went up to three or four along my usual walk and handed them muffins. The funny thing is that I was dressed in a full-out butterfly costume that made me look like a magical fairy passing out muffins to these homeless men for Carnaval. Their reactions as they looked up at me with my full-out makeup and wings was priceless. I got "Eres un angel" and much more. Las Falles This one was in March, right after my trip to Dublin. Las Falles is celebrated throughout Spain, but the really big one is in Valencia, so we spontaneously hopped on a train and went there for the night. I still don't understand exactly what it's celebrating and what everything symbolizes...all I know is what I saw was insane. They make giant colorful monuments (like several stories tall) that represent people or events from the past year. During the day, people shoot off fireworks. All day there were huge explosions going off, like the loudest I've ever heard in my life, while everyone's in the streets eating, drinking, and watching parades of bands and people dressed in traditional huge ornate Spanish dresses. Then at night, there's a huge fireworks show and then they burn down the huge displays one by one, all night long. Imagine huge crowds of people in the street watching these gigantic statue displays go up in flames until at least 4 in the morning. I have definitely never seen fire so big or anything like this at all...I didn't have my phone for fear of being pickpocketed so unfortunately no pics of that wild sight...but like I said before, there's no way this would be legal in the United States. It was unbelievable, but it was awesome. Semana Santa Holy Week in Spain! What do you think everyone does? Party in the streets, again. It cracks me up that days that would maybe be a holy day of obligation for Catholics in the US or might not be recognized at all (Holy Wednesday, for example...what is that...) are treated as a nation-wide huge festival. Then again, everyone in the US religious or not celebrates St. Patrick's Day as an excuse to drink when that doesn't even serve nearly as much importance as, say, Good Friday....just something funny to think about. Anyway, for Alicante, every day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday was filled with huge parades and celebrations (although I left Thursday for our Barcelona/Italy trip). Every day there were huge processions of bands and big displays of religious scenes that people in in pointed hooded robes carried on their shoulders. Some parts were a little strange, but overall it was very interesting and pretty cool...they would do dances with these huge things on their shoulders, and on Wednesday night there was a part where the procession would run through the narrow streets of El Barrio all the way up to this other Church, like a stampede with these huge Jesus figures being held in the air...like I said, very interesting to see the level of outwardly celebrated Catholicism here and crazy to compare it to the United States. Suddenly it became very natural for all of us to want to get in the spirit, watch the processions and be where the action was. Here's a super short video of what I was looking at any random night that week: Santa Faz
Santa Faz is just an Alicante thing, which makes it even cooler. Kinda like Las Falles, I had very little idea of what we were actually celebrating. All I know is tons of people in the city wake up early and grab a giant caña (cane, more like a bamboo walking stick with rosemary coming out of the top), fill a "borrowed" grocery cart with food, beer and sangria, and walk several kilometers or a few hours over to San Juan. The Camino de Santa Faz (the walk) is what makes the whole thing...it was hilarious. There's golf carts following the crowd with EDM blaring and Spanish teenagers running around drinking and people of all ages just walking and having a good time. Surely this Santa Faz guy did a similar journey...then spent the rest of the day hanging out at San Juan beach like us. The three of us Pi Phi girls over here (Sami, Lauren, and I) had planned our "spring break" trip at the very beginning of the semester, and it blows my mind that it already came and went. I use the term spring break loosely because we're basically done with classes, but that's what we're gonna call it. Barcelona If you're close enough with me to want to read this post, you've probably heard about my passport fiasco during my family's Euro vacation last summer...quick refresher: my passport was expired, family went to Barcelona and left me wandering New York City Home Alone style for a full 3-day weekend (which was actually really fun) and I met up with them in Barca just hours before moving on to the next country. It's funny because now here I am studying abroad in Spain, the one stop I missed, and somehow STILL hadn't made it to Barca until now...so it was definitely a big "FINALLY" kind of feeling wandering La Rambla, the Born neighborhood, the Sagrada Familia, and everywhere else that my family had raved about. What I learned: 1) Gaudi is a boss. All of the strictness and uniformity of the Catholic Church is challenged, in my mind, by his trippy style and faith in using his art to satisfy God, not the money makers. 2) Always triple check the price of sangria when you're on a budget, preferably in multiple languages just to really make sure. 3) Those hop-on-hop-off tourist buses with the open tops driving around are actually the greatest way to see a big city in a day...and oh did we take advantage. If you lose your ticket, don't fret! Pass backs from the top of the bus work just like the balcony at Big 12. 4) Equity Point Centric Hostel is the way to go....even if you overstay your welcome to the point where the employees have to shake you awake in the common area to tell you they're closed... 5) In reference to the above, if your flight out is at 6am, no hostel needed! Get a locker and a couch and you're good to go. Milan Next we landed in the fashion capital of the world and the city we'd heard so much about from one of our best friends that studied there (lookin at you Truss). We stayed at Mina's Hostel, which was definitely wins for the "cutest" hostel room we've stayed in so far...I feel like I keep claiming hostels as the nicest but this one was also pretty sweet. The first night we checked out Naviglie area, where Truss lived, and it was also the cutest for lack of a more accurate term...all restaurants and bars with outdoor seating were lined up along the canal. We tried out Italian "aperitivo," which is their "happy hour" but really means buy one drink and get a full unlimited buffet...that sounds pretty happy to me. The next day was Easter. Weird to not be at Lake having a competitive Easter egg hunt with my 23 and 25 year old brothers (yeah, we still do it), but Italy was not a bad place to be either. The Duomo di Milano, one of the largest cathedrals in the world, was absolutely breathtaking and even cooler to be inside on such a special day. We climbed to the top of it for the full view of the entire city. What I learned: 1) Pizza and Diet Coke (oops...Coca Cola Light) outside the Duomo listening to an amazing street performer sing Coldplay songs makes a perfect Easter brunch. Being with two best friends on a beautiful day doesn't hurt either. 2) Italian is not too hard to figure out. Somehow we ended up speaking a mix of Spanish and English with an Italian accent and were able to build a little friendship with some pizza chefs and plenty of strangers on the street for directions. 3) Speaking of strangers giving directions...this goes for way more than just Milan, but locals in general can be so incredibly helpful. At one point we referred to a couple as the Italian version as Pedro and Asuncion, because they didn't speak any English and took us all the way to the tram we needed to be at. Then the people on the tram caught on to our cluelessness and made sure we knew where to get off and connect to the bus...all communicating in this broken Spanish/Italian language we made up. Bottom line, I'm paying it forward when I get back home and helping anyone who seems confused. 4) "Prego" is the Italian response to literally anything...it means welcome, you're welcome, what can I do for you, and I'm pretty sure everything else. Of course we started using it with our newly developed Italian accents. 5) Milan's whole atmosphere is beautiful. We had heard mixed reviews from people back in Spain, but we were beyond impressed. Florence Here we had a totally different experience, because we stayed at our friend's apartment and hung out with his study abroad friends. He took us out, showed us around, and even cooked an Italian dinner for us the second night...seriously. Mason, you rock. What I learned: 1) Florence is sick. Definitely in my top favorite cities I've been in. It's not huge, but every corner is another open plaza, cathedral or beautiful building. Someone we met called it the Seville of Italy, which I thought was pretty accurate. It's the cooler, smaller, more stylish version of the capital. 2) Pino's Sandwiches are bomb. 3) The goal in every city is to get as high up as possible for a view, and it's worth it. 4) You don't have to pay to go in museums to appreciate the old Italian art and architecture. 5) Somehow after seeing COUNTLESS cathedrals this semester, seeing a new one can still be breathtaking. I've been lucky enough to see some of the biggest and coolest in the world now without even really seeking them out...Barcelona, Rome, Seville, Milan, Prague, etc. Still, the Duomo di Firenze was unique and jaw-dropping awesome. 6) I'm now a card-holding member of the Jazz Club in Florence, in case we ever want to come back. 7) It's legal to carry around open bottles and drink wherever you want. Convenient. 8) As seriously awesome as Florence was, I'm so glad I'm studying abroad in a city where no one speaks English. I haven't seen or heard that many Americans this entire semester or had so many random people speak English to me right away. Of course it was nice, but Alicante is ideal for challenging my Spanish. 9) This goes for many many more places than Florence, but I'm really recognizing how cool it is to meet so many other kids studying abroad everywhere I go, whether they're American or from anywhere else, from Mason's friends to people we meet at hostels or in other cities or all the European people studying abroad in Alicante. Our lives are so relatable and connecting...I love the standard questions: "Where you from, where you studying, where have you traveled - oh cool, I've been there too, did you see this? Oh no way, we somehow know 15 people in common?! Here, Whatsapp me so we can find each other in the next country." It's real. Cinque Terre Have you ever been somewhere unbelievably amazing and known you wanted to come back someday, but it's not the most realistic idea? Maybe not, I don't know, but that's the exact thoughts I had in Cinque Terre with my family 11 months ago, and I had zero idea that would ever actually be possible. It's simply the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life, five little villages of colorful buildings stacked on the mountainsides of the western Italian coast. When I was with my family, we stayed in an apartment in Riomaggiore. With Lo and Sami, we stayed in Corniglia in a hostel dorm room with 5 other strangers. It was different in the best way to experience other parts of Cinque Terre with my friends. What I learned: 1) Give us a small town and we'll know all the locals, fast. It got to the point where three different familiar faces said "Ciou" to us on our way to breakfast and a group of guys from Corniglia befriended us and offered to show us around Venice since he was traveling there at the same time as us. The concept of being from Cinque Terre really blew my mind. 2) Hiking in beautiful places is one of my absolute favorite things. It was challenging, it was mind-clearing, it was shockingly pretty, and on that note.... 3) Ooooh boy am I out of shape. And on that note... 4) Gelateria Artigionale in the village of Monterosso has the best gelato in Italy in our opinion. And we tried an embarrassing amount to compare it to. 5) Traveling on a tight budget makes things 10 times more hilarious. I can't count the number of times we'd end up in the funniest situations because we didn't/couldn't take the easy way out. This is what makes the difference between a "vacation" and "traveling." On a vacation, you take cabs, eat at nice restaurants, and relax. When traveling, every second of every day comes as a surprise, a challenge, and a hilariously good time. Venice
All I knew about Venice before coming was what I had seen in pictures and The Italian Job. But to my surprise, there were no high-speed boat chases through the canals and honestly not a whole lot going on at all. It's a beautifully interesting place...It does appear as if it's floating on top of the canals, but it's really just separate islands with buildings built on top of them. I have never seen anything like it. And it's evident that tourism is almost all that's left of the place. Most of the residential buildings looked nearly abandoned to the point where we felt like we were just walking around this dream-like island from centuries ago...the only way I can describe it is unique. What I learned: 1) A gondola ride is so worth it. We were right at the end of the trip and not too apt to spend money, but it was the best way to see all of Venice and hear about it from our awesome driver Luka. 2) Venice is very very slowly disappearing. It's not that the land is sinking, it's that global warming is causing the water to rise. Eventually, the sea level will be above Venice. We were shocked to find out that every year 40% of Venice completely floods. 3) My theory is now proven that I can eat pizza every day of the week and not get sick of it. 4) Again, asking strangers for directions is always a good idea, even if you don't speak the same language. Somehow we ended up following a funny old Italian man on a bicycle to our one-star hotel (literally), which turned out to be just as good as any hostel we've stayed at. 4) Sami, Lauren, and I can entertain ourselves doing absolutely anything and are probably the most easy going travel companions out there (or we've grown to be, anyway). I cannot even explain how awesome this entire trip was spending every second with the two of them and finding ourselves in the most beautiful places having the most amazing, hilarious, completely unexpected experiences everywhere we went. When I left for Spain in January, my parents weren't intending to make the trip over here to visit...but the weeks went by, they met my host parents via Skype and read my world-famous blog to discover how much fun I was having...and next thing I knew flights were booked. Last Wednesday, I waited for them to arrive at the same hotel I had stayed at my first couple nights in Alicante...and sat in the exact same spot where I had waited for my host parents to come meet me for the first time (insert chills here). Anyway, reuniting with them and having them in Alicante was the greatest feeling, and I got to play tour guide and translator the entire time. We stopped at several little places around town or along the beach for coffee or wine, ate tapas in El Barrio, and climbed up to the Castle for the full view of my favorite city. It became a joke of the trip that I'd make them climb a mountain in every city we went to...because the first full day we drove an hour out to Calpe to really hike. I've been to Calpe and blogged about it, but as a refresher- it's quite the rocky hike around a steep mountain (might be considered a tad bit dangerous to some..) and has the most breathtaking views of surrounding cities, mountains, and the Mediterranean. Needless to say, Vic and Steve loved it. We rushed back to Alicante that afternoon to have comida with Pedro and Asuncion, the moment we've all been waiting for (or I have)! They had the table set up beautifully, and we had seafood paella (of course) with all the usual extras - salad, Spanish ham, roasted almonds, and cinnamon-drizzled oranges and strawberries - and then all kinds of sweets and coffee and wine for dessert. As you can tell life has been really hard over here. Anyway, seeing the four of my "parents" interact was priceless, because of both how special it was to me and how hilarious the language barrier was. But with my help and a whole lot of facial expressions and hand motions, they were able to communicate pretty well! And I spent a lot of time just going on in Spanish with my host parents like usual, forgetting that my real mom and dad weren't really catching on. It was honestly so funny and pretty awesome being the one person in the room to understand everything and going back and forth. So of course I also made my parents spend a good amount of time in Austin Bar, meeting my friends and getting the real Alicante experience. The last night we went there and were surprised to have Pedro and Asuncion there (that never happens!), Sami's mom and grandma that were visiting, her Spanish madre, AND Katie Link who came over from London! We sat in a big group outside switching back and forth from Spanish to English with this big mixture of new friends; it was the best. Seville After our three days in Alicante we set off in a rental car for Seville. There's a few things in the rest of the story that I need to be brutally honest about. Number one: I am never renting a car in Europe after this experience with my parents. And if I do, I'm investing in a GPS that doesn't need cell phone data and not listening to anyone but her (the GPS). Number two: my family is weirdly obsessed with Rick Steves...a series of countless travel guide books written by the world traveler himself. Instead of mapping out the city, giving several suggestions, or whatever, he pretty much tells you exactly where to go, and the readers (us...) eagerly follow. So we decided to follow the Rick Steves' Southern Spain book (that of course I made fun of my mom so much for bringing...why am I putting this in my blog again?) and it led us through alleyways to an unmarked door where apparently we would find some flamenco dancing...which brings us to the third point I need to be brutally honest about: this place was flat out strange, the people were dead serious, and my parents and I could not keep a straight face. It was flamenco dancing at it's weirdest; think close to a hundred Spanish people in a bar all facing the front watching a manly woman with an angry face dancing while a man plays guitar worse than I would...and they'd "Shh!" us when we'd make a comment. That's the short version; it was hilariously odd. After that we found a different bar with impromptu flamenco that was literally the complete opposite and one of my favorite Spanish bars I've seen all semester. There was a band playing awesome, upbeat flamenco music and men and women of all ages flamenco dancing like performers right there on the dance floor - it was romantic, it was fun, it was brimming with great vibes. My parents and I danced of course but had more fun just kicking back with a cerveza watching everyone do their thing. The next day we went to the Cathedral and then Real Alcazar, the beautiful ancient Moorish palaces of Seville. We literally got lost in the painted tile-covered palace buildings and seemingly endless mazes of gardens - it was very cool. The whole place was a representation of Seville's evolution over past centuries all the way up to today, as now it is the oldest royal palace in Europe that is still in use. I wish we would have had more time to wander the gardens and to wander Seville in general, because after that were already off to Lagos, Portugal. From the small taste I got, Sevilla was incredible and I'm going to have to go back sometime in my life to get the full experience. Lagos One more thing I need to be honest about: It rained almost constantly from here on out, but still didn't dampen our vacation (dorky knee slap followed by crickets). We met up with my mom's friend/coworker's daughter who lives in Lagos for coffee our first afternoon, which was very cool to have some input and suggestions from a local. The main square of Lagos was quaint and cute, with all the streets made of patterns of little white square tiles. There were plenty of little shops and restaurants leading down to the port. After meeting with Emily we ate at Linda Beach Bar, an enclosed porch restaurant right on the beach - wouldn't that be a perfect place to be during a storm? Because good news - it started pouring down more then I've seen all semester (it truly doesn't rain in Alicante). But it didn't bother us. There's something incredibly relaxing about not rushing to see the sights and not being able to do anything but just sit there and enjoy the sangria and time with family. What else? We had some amazing fresh seafood, we watched the Cardinals' opening day on my dad's "Girlfriend" (his tablet), went to nearby pubs, and we took advantage of our hotel's amenities...yeah, I'm studying abroad and going cool places all the time, but that does not mean I'm used to anything close to a hotel. I mean a big bed...and a pool and a WORKOUT ROOM...I haven't seen any of that stuff in ages, so I happily took advantage. Lisbon When we got to Lisbon I felt a little more like I was actually in Portugal. The rain held up enough for us to get a good walk around town with our umbrellas readily available...and by town I mean huge city. Lisbon is all around sweet - the steep, narrow cobblestone streets, the castle, the clock towers and churches, and the old yellow trolleys whizzing past us gave it a colorful personality. We wandered up through the streets, past casual guitar players and countless cute restaurants, and made it to a panoramic vista of the city just in time for the rain to stop and the sun to set. We went to a restaurant that's apparently the oldest one in Lisbon called Martinho da Arcada, where we were given Port (traditional Portuguese liquor...can't say I loved it) and "pasteis de nata," custard-filled pastry cups that tasted like heaven. We actually went back to that same place later for a very nice dinner, stopped for a couple drinks at the Beer Museum and headed to Bairro Alto for the nighttime bar scene. I'm really just putting all this in here so that I remember, but everywhere we went was great and the company even greater. The one thing that really surprised me about Portugal was how incredibly similar the language is to Spanish. I could almost understand people and could read it to a certain extent. And our cab driver communicated full stories with me, in kind of a half-Portuese half-Spanish language while I spoke Spanish...it was hilarious. The whole time having my parents in Spain and Portugal definitely made me realize how much my Spanish has improved. Maybe it was just because it was being compared to my dad's confident but mispronounced one-liners with my host parents, but I like to think it's more than that. I get to help my parents out every step of the way, which was a pretty cool feeling. After Lisbon, we drove back to Madrid and spent a night there before my parents flew back in the morning and I hopped on a train back to Alicante. It went by so fast but I am incredibly thankful that my parents could come over here and see what my life is all about. And my host parents won't stop talking about them, so that's a good sign. I've got a whole lot more stuff to blog about so we'll see if I can crank one out in these next few days...life in Alicante has been better than ever. It's starting to scare me that there's only about 5 weeks left and ton of my friends in other programs are already leaving this weekend. I'm never going back! At least now my Mom and Dad might understand why. Hasta la próxima, ciao! I can't believe it's almost March...time doesn't feel real here. I've been blogging so much about trips that I haven't said too much about my daily life. So where do I start?
I've been teaching English to an 8 year old Spanish boy three times a week for a month now, and it's going pretty well. He's pretty hilarious, but doesn't have much interest in learning the language. I've never been a teacher before, and I've never been the most entertaining babysitter either, but if there's one thing I do know in this foreign country it's how to speak English! So I do what I can. I write sentences for him to correct, we play word games on the computer, and we have discussions, which get pretty funny with a little Spanish kid. His answers have prompted a "stuff Noam says" page in my notebook. For instance, I asked him what age he would want to stay for the rest of his life and he said "Eighteen, because you have the most girlfriends." And his response to if he'd rather be an artist, race car driver, or be in a band, his immediate response: "Play guitar in a band. That's how you get girlfriends." The kid's got his head on track. Other questions are even more ridiculous...I asked him what he thinks the world will be like in 100 years, and he grabs my laptop and types in Google Images "El fin del mundo" (end of the world) and starts showing me pictures of the zombie apocalypse. What are kids watching these days? He also refuses to do any writing exercises without holding a Nerf gun pressed against my head with his finger on the trigger, holding me hostage. Whatever gets him to do it is A-okay with me. Oh, and he lent me his Spanish version of the first Harry Potter book, which I'm pretty psyched about. Teaching Noam is quite the learning experience, and I love it. First of all, I can relate to him. When he's trying to describe something and can't come up with the word in English, it's like me with my host parents. It's frustrating and challenging, and I get it. Noam's lucky because even if he's not too thrilled about it, I'm passionate about the importance of learning new languages. I'm not messing around - I want to have a positive impact on him and for him to improve by May. I'm jealous of him too; the kid knows Spanish, Catalonian, French and English. It's amazing how capable your brain is when you start out young. Bottom line, my future little kids are definitely watching Dora the Explorer. So that's where I'm at Monday-Wednesday evenings. Other than that, you can find me at the university during the day or (more often) on the beach. The weather's been warming up a bit and beach volleyball is becoming almost a daily thing. Everyone comes together and meets at the same spot, meeting new people and hearing three different languages in one game. Although we shout "Tengo!" and "Tuyo!" instead of "I got it!" or "Yours!" it's just like any friendly competition in the States. Shout out to the Sandy Bottoms team back home. :) I've also been running as often as possible, which isn't too difficult when your route includes views of palm trees, sailboats, and great looking Europeans. Yesterday I realized I left my planner at the university and didn't feel like using a trip on my bus pass, so I decided to run there. It's usually at least 30 minutes away by bus, so going by foot and seeing the outskirts of Alicante up close was quite the adventure. I've also been using my roller blades that I bought at a pawn shop here. Yup...I'm taking advantage of the fact that it's not weird here and am almost definitely going to be using them to get to class back in the States. I've got to work off all of this amazing food somehow! Then at night, we head to El Barrio (translation: the neighborhood, actually: the fun area where all the bars are). The bartenders at Austin's are the same people we play volleyball with, and Sami actually started working there too, so that's almost always our first stop. You'd think we would feel like least bit uncomfortable in Spain...instead, we're the ones running into people we know (of all nationalities), giving kisses on the cheeks of our bartenders, going behind the bar to change the music, offering to clean up at the end of the night...it's comical. There's a bar for almost each day of the week, which is also not a foreign concept for us. On the weekends of course we head to the discotecas (clubs) and dance the night away, losing track of time and each other until about 7 in the morning. These places make Ten Below look like a high school birthday party. I've never had more fun at clubs in my life...Kapital in Madrid still has the number one spot though. And the experiment has been confirmed: I am actually 100% more fluent in Spanish after a couple bebidos. And instead of taking those salsa lessons I was planning on, I've had Spanish guys teach me how to salsa to dubstep...I can dig it. But with all of that aside, my daily life really can't be summed up without Asuncion and Pedro. I'm with them for every meal and more. We always have long talks before bed unless I go out, and they help me with anything and everything I need...or don't need! It's amazing how quickly these two have become like my own parents. There are days when I'm not in the best mood or I forget to do something they asked or don't tell them when I won't be home for a meal...and we talk and we work through it. It's a learning experience. Let's see how many times I can say that in my blog, ha. But it's true, especially when all of it's in Spanish. I'm really starting to see how challenging this semester is. Not "challenging" in any sense of the word that I've known before. It's definitely not an overload of work, not cramming for exams or juggling deadlines. It's forcing myself into a foreign environment and to interact with people whom I have no idea what their lives are like or what language they speak. My classes here, although taught in English, are filled with countless nationalities of people: German, French, Irish, Finnish, Swedish, Italian, whatever. In my retail marketing class I remember one of the Americans about to give an example about successful advertising, and asked the teacher, "Are you familiar with or have you heard of Geico?" She hadn't, and it just kind of made me laugh for second. At Mizzou, we can raise our hand and start talking about the St. Louis Cardinals or the Lake of the Ozarks without a doubt in our mind that everyone would know what we were talking about. I've just never thought about how easy things are when you know that every person you approach speaks your language and has about the same manners and general knowledge. The class thing is just a tiny example. What's cool about being here is adjusting. And there are no assumptions allowed. What's the other half of the challenge? Being on the other side of the world from everything I'm used to. Yes, there's a beach here. Yes, I have friends and great host parents and it's amazing. But that does not mean that I don't have days where I feel like I'm alone on another planet. Anything I would usually do or anyone I would turn to when I'm having a bad day, I don't have here. I think what's gotten to me most is when I don't have wifi and just want to talk to someone - in English! It's probably further proving my serious addiction to my cell phone, but it really is a trapping feeling when you can't call your mom or best friend. It's all part of that fun thing I keep talking about - the learning experience. Yes, I miss all you guys that are (hopefully) reading this, but I'm so incredibly glad I'm here and wouldn't want to cut it short by a minute. So that's a wrap. If you read all that, I'm impressed. Like it on Facebook so I feel cool. Ciao! The answer was si, por qué no? We literally bought our tickets the day before leaving and solidified our romantic Valentine's Day weekend plans to ride camels, hang out with monkeys, walk through caves, and experience the most unique culture in the colorful cities of Morocco. We booked the trip through a student excursion program that brings together international students throughout Spain to travel together with everything included- hotels, meals, transportation, etc. We figured this was the safest route for Morocco, and it turned out to be very worth it. We started in Gibraltar, a peninsula at the southernmost tip of Spain that is actually a separate British territory. It was like a mini piece of England. And it wasn't until we were there for a while that it hit me how accustomed to Spain I've become. This was my first trip outside of Spain this semester, my first time ordering food in English and hearing it spoken commonly on the street in almost two months. It felt pretty weird. So there we went to the nature reserve where all the monkeys were. If you ever visit, I advise you to not poke/touch/make any sudden movements, because they will hit you back, harder. While I was laughing at some other monkey jumping after a girl, one of them behind me grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. Not everyone was too thrilled but I thought they were hilarious. Besides that, we walked through the gorgeous St. Michael's Cave, stood at the point where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet, and got some good ole fish n' chips before hopping on the ferry to Morocco. If I thought I had a bit of culture shock in English-speaking Gibraltar, I had no idea what I was in for. Morocco was like nothing I'd ever seen in my life, and I loved it. I felt like I got a glimpse of what my brother Eric experienced during his study abroad semester in Egypt, with the Arabic language and Muslim influences everywhere. Of course, people wore long robes, women wore garments covering their heads, sometimes their faces...there was a loud "call to prayer" repeated over a loudspeaker to the whole city. There were belly dancers and Moroccan music at our dinner, there was a man in the back of the rug store that hand-makes fabrics all day with a wooden machine. There were markets along the dirty streets with every type of food laid outside, as fresh as chicken breast right next to the live chickens and fresh-caught fish that I actually saw a cat run up to and grab to-go. What blew me away most about Morocco was Chefchaouen, the blue city. Many of the cities in Morocco are themed a certain color. Out of the places we went, Tangier and Tetuan were white, and Chefchaouen was completely and beautifully blue. It didn't look real. I'll try and let the pictures below do the talking, but they really don't do justice. Walking through the streets of Chefchauoen felt like a different time and planet. Everything was incredibly simple but so lovely, and the people were so peaceful and friendly. They spoke to us in English, saying "welcome" even if we were just passing by on the street. When we denied a man trying to sell things to us, he said "Oh, that's ok. If you don't mind me asking, what's your name? Where are you from? Why are you here? Nice to meet you...etc. etc." I think the people from Chefchaueon are some of the warmest souls on Earth. Our tour guide (Abdul - he was awesome, and informed us with his happy accent that it was his birthday several times) took time to explain to us that to them, religion is not about following strict rules; it's about respecting the world and each other first and inviting everyone to pray in any situation or any place. I liked that. Our last stop was at the "pharmacy" where they make and sell oils in Tetuan. We got a full on description and demonstration of several oils...Moroccan oil for your hair, for headaches, hangovers, muscle pain, acne, anxiety, whatever. You could name any obscure problem and they've got an oil for that. I wound up getting a legit neck massage from the Moroccan dude and buying plenty of goodies for people back home, so I'd say that was a success. I loved venturing outside of Spain with all of these students from all over the world with the one common purpose: to travel and learn. That weekend made me want to see and experience as many different cultures as I can. Going to a place like Morocco opened my eyes to how much I don't know and how much I haven't seen, and how possible it is to connect the world thought traveling. At one point, I imagined myself as a dot on a map. I am in Africa, I thought. My whole life I've grown up with stereotypical assumptions and textbook pictures of other continents. I never thought that when I was twenty one years old, I'd be on this side of the world, communicating in another language and hopping country to country like it's nothing. I definitely did not think that on Valentine's Day I'd be on a camel in Morocco. But here I am, and this dot on the map has only covered a teeny tiny fraction of what's out there. It really puts things in perspective. So many young people I'm meeting over here have already lived and worked in several countries, know at least three languages, are currently learning one more...and I've never known much more than my flat drive from St. Louis to Columbia to the Lake. Really learning Spanish and forcing myself to adapt to these different places is exactly the kind of challenge I needed. This weekend turned out to be my favorite of the semester so far, mostly because we left Alicante with zero expectations, plans, wifi, or boys. Six of us (Lauren, Sami, Shelby, Christine, Christina) took off Friday afternoon for Benidorm, a city northeast of Alicante along the coast. It's a huge vacation destination, mostly for English people, with its long beautiful beaches and nightlife. It's also known for having the tallest buildings in Spain (which is really not saying much at all). We kept calling it "70s Florida" so can imagine that however you want to. When we got there, we wandered around with our backpacks for a few hours, stopping for some awesome sangria at a beachside cafe and stumbling upon a beautiful balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the entire length of the city and surrounding mountains. With the accordion player, sunset, waves, and the six of us, I'd have to say it was pretty romantic. We still didn't know where we were staying that night, but we could not have cared less. While the rest of us were taking pictures, Sami was chatting with some Spanish vendors that were suggesting hostels, and before we knew it we were following their hand-drawn map until we found ourselves at a sketchy-looking place with beads for doorways that turned out to be the best first hostel experience possible. We stayed in a room meant for four with a big outside balcony with a table. They might as well have given us a five-star hotel room - we were ecstatic. We converted the muggy room into our personal wine bar/hang out spot for the weekend. The next morning we got up and headed to Altea, a cute older Spanish town with all little white buildings stacked on the mountainsides. It was beautiful and practically deserted; the Spanish people don't like to go to their vacation homes in the "dead of winter" at 60 degrees. We hiked through the narrow streets and passageways between houses, finding breathtaking views, churches, and cats walking around every corner we turned. We stopped at a restaurant for some pizza, tapas, and wine before heading back to Benidorm for the night. Altea further proved to me how unique every city in Spain is. It was like it's own little world or something out of a painting; nothing like Alicante and certainly nothing like Benidorm. Sunday morning we left for Calpe, where we knew we wanted to hike but didn't know exactly where or how. From the tram window we could see a huge mountain that was more like a vertical cliff, and we joked that it was the mountain we were climbing. We got to Calpe, hopped on a bus, told the driver we were trying to hike, and were driven directly to the exact mountain we were joking about. With all of our stuff on our backs, we followed the paths around the mountain as they turned from grassy walkways to narrow ledges with slippery rocks, where we had to hang on to ropes to stay balanced along the edge of the mountain and up through a cave. It was nothing short of freaking awesome. The views got more and more incredible as we wrapped around the mountain, from overlooking Calpe and the surrounding cities to the mountain ranges to the Mediterranean Sea. Even the greenery surrounding us on the mountain was like nothing I had ever seen before. That day made me want to hike in different places as much as I can this semester. The goal is to see as much of the world as possible, right? Well the higher you get, the more you can see. :) To reward ourselves for a long hard weekend of beautiful views, we went to a seaside restaurant where we had seriously the best salmon and mussels of our entire lives and - surprise! Lots of wine. So that was our weekend, in short. I left out a few stories here and there, like how a random charter bus in the middle of nowhere took us to the right tram station and how taking advice from strangers worked 100% of the time. Everything went better than expected...if we would have had any expectations to begin with. Also, I don't think I've ever laughed harder than I have in one weekend in my entire life - clearly we needed some girls' time away (from our rough life at our university's beach town...yeah right). I cannot wait for all of our adventures to come! So my museum-based art class was supposed to meet at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning to leave for Valencia...In my defense, it's still dark out at 8 a.m. here and no one in their right mind is out and about at that ungodly hour (can you tell I'm adapting to the culture?). Anyway, I woke up at 8:10 to Pedro gently knocking on my door like the polite host father he is, and I leaped out of bed to call Armando (the man in charge) to see what I could do about being late. Armando said "no pasa nada," which is the Spanish response to literally everything; essentially meaning "no big deal, no worries." He said to come now and they would wait. I flew out the door and went straight to Plaza de Luceros where I found no sign of a bus or human in sight (it's the middle of the night for them, remember). Apparently another girl in our group arrived right after Armando and I got off the phone, he thought she was me, and they took off for the two-hour bus ride to Valencia. Great. I had never been to the train station before, but completely guessed the right street and wound up there checking out departure times and prices. As I was about to swipe my card to buy a 32 euro ticket, a couple came up to me asking in Spanish if I was trying to go to Valencia and if I wanted their extra ticket. Um, yes! I explained to them that I was a student here and my group left without me, which led to them asking me if I wanted to come along and travel with them since I had never been on the trains here before. How could I say no to that? Their names were Melissa and Junior, from Brazil, and I'm assuming they were in their late 20s, maybe early 30s. By the time we got on the train we ended up speaking English, because as their third language it was still less shaky than my Spanish. They had another girl friend, but I don't think she spoke anything but Portuguese and she slept the entire time...I just couldn't leave her out of the story. Anyway, we shared one of those Harry-Potter-like seating sections and got to know each other pretty well. Junior was working in Barcelona but was visiting Melissa in Alicante when they decided to head to Valencia for the day. They thought it was awesome that I'm studying in Spain for a semester at this age. When I said I was 21, Melissa said that's how old she was when she first went to the United States on her own. They strongly suggested that as soon as I graduate I should travel around as much as possible, no matter how little money I might have. It doesn't sound like a bad idea, as long as people like these magically show up offering me "extra tickets" everywhere I go...It's possible. I had been keeping in touch with Armando, but he didn't say anything to the rest of the group about meeting up with me. So when I arrived in Valencia and ran across the street to the charter bus and hopped on, it was a hilarious surprise for my friends. From there we went to the Mercado Central de Valencia, which was way cooler than any market I've ever seen in my life and puts any other's idea of "fresh" to shame...in the fish section, there were live eels slithering around and huge octopus tentacles just laying out for someone to buy (check out the photos below). I strayed over to the fruit section and bought some fresh-squeezed mango juice instead. From there we went to the Museo Nacional de Cerámica (Ceramic museum...lots of pots). Then the cathedral, the Museo de Bellas Artes, and the Museo de Arte Moderno de Valencia. The first two museums used to be palaces, so to me the architecture and design of the buildings were even more impressive than the art inside them. The modern art museum had a couple huge art displays that were made up of hundreds of little metal pieces placed on the ground that appeared to form roads and a little city. It really stuck out to me because it reminded me of my brothers' Brio train tracks that used to take up an entire room when we were little. I would have taken a picture but there were no cameras allowed....and we've learned quickly that museum security is pretty serious. We're not too intimidated by police officers in Spain, but show us a museum security guard and suddenly we're on our best behavior. To sum it up, Valencia was pretty cool. The more cities I see in Spain the more I fall in love with this beautifully historic country. I missed the visit to through the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias at the beginning because of my little travel fiasco, but maybe I'll come back and check it out later. Junior, Melissa, anonymous sleeping friend, and my inability to set an alarm clock made for a more interesting time. Hasta la próxima! News: - I got a job teaching an 8 year old boy English a few hours a week. - The trash people were on a serious strike and it finally ended - back to beautiful clean streets in Alicante and better wages for the workers. - I officially booked my flight to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day! I've been in Alicante for 4 weeks...I can't decide if that sounds short or long, but I know I feel like I've known this city my whole life. I've gone from asking random people for directions when I'm a block away from my apartment to some people actually asking me. Everything is becoming second nature - the bus ride to school, the tram ride home, trecking across the city to get from place to place, and speaking Spanish from the second I wake up each day. I've found comfort in running on the beach or through the parks, browsing through my favorite stores (Zara, Sfera, Bershka...) and trying wine or coffee or both at every place possible with Sami and Lauren. Other than that, a lot of my time is spent at the apartment with Pedro and Asuncion eating delicious food and chatting with them. My favorite food so far is Asuncion's seafood paella, made with rice and several kinds of fresh fish...shrimp, calamari, mussels, clams, tuna, and some others I've tried to ask about and she's tried to explain, but it's just not translating so I eat in anyway. I love everything she makes...pasta with churrizo, chicken cooked every way possible, lentil soup, some sort of awesome chili-like stuff that I forget the Spanish word for, eggs (for dinner), turrón for dessert (traditional almond/honey Christmas candy), hamburger patties because she thinks they make me feel at home....I could go on forever. The only thing I'm really missing is condiments. I had breaded chicken and fries the other night with no condiments, and I started to get really nostalgic about honey mustard, but I think I'll live. Asuncion is finally letting me clean my own plate and help her a little bit in the kitchen, which is a nice start. The culture here is just different. At the beginning I still felt like a guest and it didn't phase me too much that she refused to let me help out, but eventually it got ridiculous. I haven't sat at the table and waited for my mom to serve me without even offering help since I was a little kid, and even then I helped with the dishes or something at least. She has explained to me that it's very normal here, and if I was her real 21 year old daughter it would be the same way. She washes and folds my clothes, makes my bed, makes my coffee in the morning and sets out my lunch for me to take to school. I'm almost embarrassed to put all this in my blog. I've told her how strange this is for me, and that I'm sorry but I'm going to have to help out or I'll lose my mind. With that aside, I'm getting along great with Asuncion and Pedro. They are honestly some of the nicest people I have ever met. They're simply passionate about meeting international students and giving them the best experience possible; I'm pretty lucky. And they think I'm a hoot with my quick Spanish responses that only make sense half the time. When we're not joking around, we get in pretty deep conversations about everything from government, laws, and current events, to the Spanish reality TV show Pedro and I always watch, to our social lives. They're incredibly interested in everything about the United States, so I try to make us sound a little better than all French fries and Hollywood. So January is coming to an end, and that means my month-long Spanish intensive course is wrapping up and my schedule for the rest of the semester is about to start. I have an oral presentation tomorrow and my final exam the next day, so naturally I'm using this time to write a blog post (hence the URL). I have definitely learned a lot in my class this month, probably more than I've learned in any one Spanish class in my life; partially because we focus on actual "Spain" Spanish and phrases I need to use every day, and partially because I've never cared about the language this much in my life. My schedule for February and on is about to be minimal...I only have classes on Monday and Tuesday, and they're taught in English, which I'm actually not happy about. Including my month-long class, my museum-based class that's only a few weekends, and another traveling class that's in May, I'm getting 15 credits to transfer back to Mizzou and actually am not allowed to take any more. It's great that I have time to travel, but I'm also trying to challenge myself and keep up with my Spanish as much as possible. I'm going to participate in "intercambios," which is a program through the university to set international students up with each other to practice speaking different languages. It's more or less blind dates on campus with random students to chat in Spanish. If you enjoy chatting with someone, you can meet up with them another time. I haven't tried it yet but I'll let you know how it goes. Also, as I mentioned before I'm going to teach a Spanish boy a few times a week starting in February, so that will be a nice way to use my free time, get some experience and bring in some euros. I definitely need to find more useful activities to fill my time, whether it's volunteer work or salsa lessons (I actually think I'm about to sign up...) or anything else. I'm determined to make the most of this semester, and as much as I enjoy sitting around eating "dulces" with Asuncion and Pedro, I have a whole world to see. |
Renee Fleddermanncopywriter Archives
June 2016
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