Tres Americanos (Spring Break Part 1)

Whoa. It's been a big couple of weeks, and what fun they've been! It's taken me forever to write this post- I intended to get it done sooner- but better late than never, right? I'm actually so excited to write about my spring break trips with my parents, and I'm thinking it will take me several posts before I recount it all. So let's get started...

Buen Retiro

It all begins with me taking the night bus to meet my parents in Madrid on the morning of April 7th. (I can't believe that was almost a month ago now!) Anyway, the bus trip went smoothly despite the interesting characters that choose to take a night bus, and before I knew it, I had arrived in Madrid. Then came the most joyous reunion I've probably ever had with my parents. They were relieved to have made a successful journey, and I was so happy to have them with me at last. Because of their jet-lag and my prior knowledge of Madrid, I became the leader of our pack, so of course, I had us taking the wrong bus to the city center. Luckily, I can speak Spanish now and I somehow seem to be blessed by happy traveling accidents, so after a quick conversation with the bus driver and a new plan with the metro, we made it to our hotel and then to a coffee shop nearby, where we ordered three americano coffee drinks-- so fitting.  The funny thing about Spanish cities: they are almost completely dead before 9am, especially during holidays. My parents didn't quite understand my love of Madrid at this point because it seemed almost like a ghost town. Spoiler alert: this would change.

Anyway, we decided to head to the Prado Museum because it seemed manageable for our first morning together in Spain. Although I had already been there, it was great to re-experience the awe of the incredible artwork there. We wandered around for a few hours (swimming through the crowds that finally showed up), and then it was time for lunch-- a delicious calamari sandwich. No good lunch goes without a nap, and as my friends and I have come to know, "no siesta, no fiesta." So naturally, we took a nice 4-hour nap before heading out for tapas and drinks for our first night in Spain. It was a wonderful night filled with good company, classic Spanish cuisine, and of course, some red wine. 

Dad enjoying Menu del Dia!

The next day was spent walking all over in the beautiful Madrid sunshine. My favorite park in the world, Buen Retiro, was a hit with my parents, and the other highlight of the day was definitely the Menu del Dia lunch in Plaza Mayor.  After some drinks and tapas, it was time to go to bed so that we could wake-up early for our flight to Bilbao. Overall, Madrid was a great kick-off to our trip. I'm basically in love with Madrid (my favorite city I've visited so far), so it was a lot of fun to share it with my parents.

Now here comes the early morning wake-up that seems to happen at least once during all of my trips (I guess that's what I get for buying the cheapest flights), but everything went really well.  We arrived in Bilbao with very little difficulty. The only catch: nothing, literally nothing, is open in Bilbao on a Monday. Plus, this wasn't just any Monday-- this was the Monday after Easter, so it was a national bank holiday in Spain. But in the true Lundergreen travelling spirit, we made the best of what we had.

The funniest part of the day: my mom's hilarious conversation with a nice, Spaniard man on the bus who wanted to help us out. In Spanish, he asked my mom where we were going, but she thought he asked her where we were from. So when my mom said we were going to the United States, I think the man realized how much help we needed. When we got of the bus, he made sure that we had people to follow to our hotel. So there we were, packing our backpacks in silence through the empty streets of Bilbao behind a few men who were leading us to where we needed to be. What a wonderful/hilarious act of kindness!

Sitting in front of Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum.

Anyway, we pretty much spent the day walking around Bilbao, standing outside of cool places that weren't open, and of course, eating and drinking a lot. Bilbao was also good for another thing: siesta time-- my mom's favorite part. (Haha just kidding, Mom!) We were all rested up for the next leg of our trip thanks to a peaceful day in Bilbao.

Well, I'm going to stop myself there for now because I have a ton of homework to do (see, I do go to school!). Other things of interest lately: my host family moved!! I'm currently writing this post in my new room, looking out of my sunshiney window onto my own personal terraza. Needless to say, I love the new place. It was a little stressful to move while still trying to enjoy some of my last month here, but now all is well. It was also hilarious to pack all of our things down a few blocks with my host brothers. One night we didn't have internet for a while (which seemed like a catastrophe to us), so we played games and made some trips back to the old house. This has been another good bonding experience with my host family. I'm really going to miss them. My host mom bought some new things for my room, and it's decorated with pink. She's the best! I also made a whole day trip to Calpe (a nearby, BEAUTIFUL coastal town) yesterday, but that's for another post.

I'll be a blogging fool when I get a chance so that I can get this updated!

Mi Vida Española

Where has the time gone?! I just had the final for the third class in my course series, which means that I'm 75 percent of the way through my semester. I can't believe it. I'm excited, though, because it's time for spring break. In just a few days, I'll be meeting up with my parents in Madrid so that we can travel around northern Spain before we head back to Alicante. I can't wait!!! I'm looking forward to a little taste of home and a new set of adventures with some of my favorite people on earth.

That said, it's going to be a little strange to leave Alicante because I've really been getting attached to it over the last few weeks. I've had moments where it hits me how long I've been living here and how accustomed I've become to my Spanish lifestyle. Sure, there have been days of missing home, but for the most part, I've been feeling very connected to the people I've met and to the life I've made in Alicante. Here are a few of my most recent joys:

Playing board games with my host brothers. The weather has been threatening to bring rain, so this brought the perfect opportunity for us to play Monopoly. What a great time! Even if I was the first to lose in Monopoly-- I had the worst luck ever!-- it was still a lot of fun. My host mom made us popcorn as we battled it out to buy streets of Madrid, and there was never a dull moment. After eating dinner, I taught them how to play Farkle, and since then, we've started a new tradition of playing it after dinner almost every night. Unlike Monopoly, I've been the Farkle champion of Spain. (Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself!) Regardless, I really feel like part of the family now, and I cherish these times when I get to joke around and to play games with my new little brothers. We are going to move to a new apartment at the end of April, so my family here isn't that much different from my family in the states-- always on the move! Ha. But I'm sure the move will be another great family bonding experience, and it's rumored that our new place has a nice terraza for dinners outside.

Tapas. So it's taken me almost three months, but I've finally got this whole tapas thing under control. Last Friday night I went out for tapas with friends, and we had a great time. Not only did we eat some delicious food and drink some great wine, but we also got some of it for free. Night well spent.

Semana Santa a.k.a. Holy Week. Semana Santa is an important time in Spain because of the Catholic traditions of the country. Every day this week there are extravagant processions with images of Jesus being carried by masses of people. On Palm Sunday, I went to a nearby town called Elche with my friend Katie to witness a popular procession there. Everyone (literally everyone) was carrying palms and marching through the streets. The community really comes out for the celebrations, and they come prepared: dressed to a tee with strollers/carts/babies in tow. The day passed very nicely, despite the fact that I mixed up the train schedule so I had a moment of panic followed by a call to my host mom telling her that I was going go miss lunch. Her reassuring "no te preocupes" (don't worry) was just what I needed to calm down.

Local Adventures. Of late, I've also been exploring different parts of Alicante and of the surrounding areas, and this has led to days of great fun. Katie and I took a veryyyy long impromptu walk from San Juan probably halfway back to Alicante (take my word for it-- it's a long way). We then had to search desperately for a tram, and this involved asking for directions. But it's a small world. Sometimes too small. Of course, there's only one creeper in all of Alicante that we've been somewhat trying to avoid, so where else would he be except in this random street miles and miles outside of the city at the same exact time as us. Luckily, he does have a sense of direction, and we were able to make it to the tram stop safely. No harm, no foul.

Well, the sun is shining, and it's time for me to head to one of my final rowing classes. I love mi vida española.