First day of school, First day of school!

School - We started school this past week and it was a bit interesting. Everything in Spain is overly complicated. We didn't have our schedule figured out until Wednesday and when we arrived at school nobody showed up to the one class. We did have one class which went well. But our last class,statistics, was horrible (not taking that one). Because of conflicts with scheduling and only taking classes in English, I am repeating classes I have already taken. The system here is so different, you are basically graded on a final exam at the end of the term and that is it. Most of the classes don't have midterms just lots of notes and readings. . I am not a very good test taker so I am still a bit nervous. I REALLY wish they offered a Business Information System class. I really miss my technology courses :( I miss my internship too!

About the City - Murcia is starting to feel a bit like home. I am missing home a lot and certain people I am used to seeing regularly. It's hard to keep in contact with people from home which has been a little frustrating especially with the people who don't know how to use Skype "cough" mom and dad "cough". I think they have it figured out now, I think...
 I really love the city of Murcia. It reminds me of a larger version of Corvallis because you can walk everywhere and there is a large amount of college students. Everything here is also cheap. Since it is so hot I have not been eating a whole lot but you can go and get tapas for about $3-6 and a drink. I have met a few locals but since I don't speak much Spanish at all and their accent is really weird it is really hard to communicate. Most of the people I have met are students from other countries in Europe mostly Italian and German and they are really nice. The university and the local bars have been hosting events for international students so we have attended a few. Last night there was a party at a bar that is basically the concession stands of the bull ring. We were there until 6 am so we met a lot of the locals which were the only people left put at that time.  Next weekend my roommate and I might join a group of people going on a trip organized by the university to Granada.

Weekend in Barcelona! - 9/12-9/16/2014

The second time I traveled to Barcelona this trip I was able to stay for 4 days. Which Barcelona is well worth more than my original 18 hour trip. I traveled to with two of the other girls from OSU, Fiona and Sarah. We took a really long and boring 7+hour train ride from Murcia to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona late in the evening and went in search of our hostel… The hostel was one of the worst places I have ever stayed. I slept on a large beach towel that I purchased the entire weekend, end of story. One of the few good things about this hostel was that it was less than a block away from the Rambla, which is the main street in Barcelona where most of the tourists go.

On the first day of our trip, we went and saw the Segrada Familia that is a Catholic church designed my Gaudi. The construction of the church began in 1882, and has yet to be completed (expected completion 2026). 

That same day Fiona and I had Tickets to the FC Barcelona Game against the Bilbao Athletics at Camp Nau Stadium. We were excited and even bought us some Nike Jerseys for the occasion. We both had this event on our bucket list and the experience was everything that we expected. FC Barcelona won the game 2-0. 

Messi after he scored
 the second goal of the game

Saturday night we went to one of Barcelona's Beach clubs called Opium and partied the night away. We had a blast and I would say the club was better than any I had been to in Vegas.  The next Morning we went on an adventure. We went...

Walked along the water front and got some breakfast

Walked through the Catalonia History Museum

Enjoyed Picasso's art at the Picasso Museum

And walked around the Barri Gotic area and enjoyed sights such as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia

After that we decided to go see Park Guell which is a famous park that contains much of Gaudi's Architecture and work.  It was a long hike to the top but the view and the art was worth it.

 On our last full day of the trip we went to MontJuic a near by hill that contains many historical sights. Such as the 1992 Olympic Stadium, The National Art Museum of Catalonia, Magic Fountain and much more. Those were just the main sights that we had time to visit.

Later that day we went and visited the Chocolate museum, ate some Paella and Ciutadella park. The park contains the Castel of Three Dragons, Cascade Monument, and  Arc de Triunfo of Barcelona.

 Later that day we walked a bit down the Rambla and did some shopping since Barcelona has almost every major brand of clothing store imaginable on one street. I didn't buy anything but my wish list is quite long now.  Along the same road there is also two other works of Gaudi - La Padrera and  Casa Batillo.

The next morning we returned to Murcia by train. When we returned it was actually raining and cooler than it has been. I will post about Murcia soon. 

Mykonos, Greek Isles - 8/17/14

We were lucky enough to have one of our stops in the Greek isles. Mykonos is an awesome little island. The town of Mykonos reminded me of Venice in a way with the small winding random streets except that everything was white.

It was beautiful and there is a little hill that has windmills on it. It is like a Greek island that you would only imagine.

We just wandered around the city for most of the day getting lost and exploring shops. At the end we stopped and my mom made me try Ouzo (YUK, I hate black licorice) and we had spinach pie, which was so tasty!

Before we had to go to the boat, I got to swim in the Mediterranean, which I was determined to do. It was so warm yet refreshing. 

Los Alcazares, Spain - 9/7/14

Spent my Sunday at a nearby beach (1 hour bus ride) called Los Alcazares. Very quiet little small town that seems to be a vacation spot for Spaniards. We enjoyed some drinks by the beach, tanning and enjoying a swim in the beautiful Mediterranean. There were people on one of the beaches taking mud baths, kite surfers, sailboats and a few paddle boarders (really wanted to but it got to windy for me.). The Swimming was a bit complicated because there were jellyfish EVERYWHERE. A few locals assured me that they don't sting but I still didn't want it to touch me. Will defiantly return to this cute little beach or one of the surrounding ones. The beaches are quick, easy and really cheap to get to (about $5 each way).