Good bye 2013, Hello 2014!

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated this. I have just been so busy!!
Erin and I were fortunate enough to spend out holidays in France. We first went to Dijon for 4 nights where our friend Coline is from. Her family was so nice to take us in for Christmas. We had such a great time experiencing a French Christmas full of champagne, seafood and lots of laughter. Coline and her family were so sweet and made us feel so welcome. Although we were sad to not be with our families on Christmas, they made it much easier being away.

After Dijon, we made our way up to Paris for 4 more nights. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful city all lit up! It truly is a breathtaking place to be. And despite their reputation, Erin and I were treated very well and found Parisians to be very friendly and helpful.

Then, on New Years Eve we went directly to Zamora, Spain to be with our roommate and friend Alba! We had dinner with her family and ate 12 grapes at midnight. Here in Spain at midnight it is a tradition to eat 12 grapes to have good luck all year. After, we went out to the bars with all of her friends. We always are welcomed with open arms to Zamora and have such a great time!!

My new school is also going great. This year I have a lot more responsibility than I did at my other school but I really enjoy it. I am able to learn a lot of myself and teaching! I am working mostly with preschool and kindergarten ages children. But I cover all ages from 5 months to 7 years old. Those young ones are definitely not easy haha. Lots of energy and creativity is required but it is also so rewarding!! I have been asked to return next year and I have happily accepted.

The last weekend in January was a holiday for teachers so Erin and I took the opportunity to visit our dear friend Maggie!! Maggie is from Kansas and we met in 2010 in Granada studying abroad. We instantly clicked and became good friends. It was Maggie and Justin with whom I moved back to Madrid with! Maggie has been all over the place! After our first year in Madrid she moved to a small town in the southwest of Spain. And this year she is living in Palma de Mallorca, one of the islands off the east of the country.
We had a great time touring the island and catching up! i look forward to going back very soon!! :)

This year we have lots of trips planned!! Have to make the most of our time here and we have a verrrrrry long list of places we want to see!!So, I will be sure to keep this updated! :)
Love and miss you all!

Autumn in Madrid

These last few months have been very busy since coming back to Madrid.

First, I started working at a new elementary school. I am now working at a school in a town outside of Madrid called Las Rozas. Its a very nice town and only a 25 minute bus ride away. My new school is much different. It is enormous!!! There are kids from 5 months old all the way up to 18 years old. Not to mention, it is like a little village with an indoor swimming pool, theater and cafe! I am working with the young kids... 5 months old to 7 years old. I absolutely love it. The kids are so sweet but working with preschool and kindergarten is very draining. Luckily, it is also very rewarding!! :)

Since being back Maria and I took a weekend trip to Valencia! It was nice to get away, see the beach and have some delicious paella!

CIUDAD DE LAS ARTES Y LAS CIENCIAS

Two weeks ago Alba and I moved to a new apartment down the street. It is so wonderful!! We have so much space and now we all have big rooms with big beds! We are all so much happier in this place and feel like we really do have a home here!! Last night we had a housewarming party which was a lot of fun!

ROOMIES

Due to money, I'm unable to come home for Christmas this year. So instead Erin and I will have a French Christmas! We are going to spend 4 nights n Dijon, France with our old roommate's family. Then we will spend 4 nights in Paris. Right when we land back in Madrid on New Year Eve we are hopping on a bus to Zamora to ring in the New Year with Alba's family and friends. We feel so fortunate to have these unique opportunities and to have such wonderful people in our lives.

I'll be sure to keep this updated!!

Summer 2013

This summer has been packed full of non stop adventures!! As soon as school was let out for the summer, a group of us hopped on the first flight to Ibiza!! We got so lucky with an apartment right on beach! We spent 5 days soaking up the sun and relaxing after a year of work. We had a blast and made lots of life long memories!

The day after Ibiza I was off to a small town in Valencia to work at a camp. I spent the entire month with this view... Can´t complain!!

My time here was spent teaching kids between the ages of 12 to 16 in English through fun workshops, such as a newspaper class, dance class, yoga, etc. In the afternoon we got to tag along with the kids and do the multi adventure activities like kayaking and rappel. This camp was a great experience and I look forward to next year!

And to finish off the summer, I had to come back to California to renew my visa for my new job. Since I had to be here for 5 weeks, my friend María and I decided to make a vacation out of if! We have gone everywhere from San Francisco for the day, San Diego to visit Johnny and friends, Austin to visit my Grandma and a Tahoe girls trip! We have kept very busy and made our mark all over California!!

SAN DIEGO

AUSTIN

TAHOE

EL DORADO HILLS

Updates!!

Sorry to have gone MIA for so long but it has been a very busy month! At the beginning of the month we had a puente, so a group of my friends and I all went to a music festival in Murcia. Murcia is a city in the south of Spain, notorious for it's good weather. Good music and good weather...what more did we need???
At the festival we saw a mix of artists from all over the world: England, American, France, Spain, etc.
The festival also had "glamping" (glamour camping) so we rented the equipment and decided to commit to the full experience. I must say, there was NOTHING glamorous about this camping. Four of us squished into a hot, stinky and uncomfortable tent haha. But between the concerts and and strolling through the city we all had a fabulous time!


One of the bands we particularly like was Crystal Fighters. They are a group made up of Spaniards and Brits.


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Shortly after the festival, I was lucky to have a visit from Terri Miller! She came to Madrid for a long weekend and I had an absolute blast showing her around the city and introducing her to all my friends! Lots of laughs were shared and memories were made. I look forward to her next visit- and hopefully she can finally drag mom out here ;)

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In other news, I finish up school at the end of June and will head off to a summer camp in July. But before doing that I will head to the island of Ibiza for a few days with friends to unwind and soak up the sun!!
And in August I will be in California!!! I am very excited to see my family and get the chance to go to San Diego to see friends. My friend, María, will also be coming home with me so I will get to bring a little bit of Spain with me and show her my American life! :)
After the summer, I will come back to Madrid because I have been offered a job to work with another program with the Catholic schools. I am very excited to have the opportunity to spend more time here in Madrid but it's bittersweet as I am so sad to say good bye to my current school and students.

I look forward to a fun summer! and I will be sure to keep this updated more!! :)

SEMANA SANTA: ANDALUCÍA