Sevilla, Amsterdam and so much more!

Oh wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote anything! The time has just flown by and so much has happened! The semester is well underway and I have been super busy all the time! But, let's start at the beginning...

I worked for IES during Orientation helping do the busy work that the staff doesn't have time to do. That consisted of making copies of all the new kids' passports, alphabetizing them and that sort of thing. I also did a bunch of work on the computer for the academic department making lists of classes and such...not the most exciting thing ever but someone has to do it. It was just one week but I got a good look at how things work on the inside. Also, my last day, Alvira, the director came in and asked me what I was going to do after this semester. Turns out she wants me to stay into the summer and help them out some more since two of the staff will be on pregnancy leave. It would be great to do but I have to get home for Jeffrey's graduation and then kamp. I'm going to get some more information about it but I think by May I'm going to be ready to get home! But I'll let you know how that goes...

School has been good. I'm taking 3 business classes, an internship seminar, and a literature class on Gabriel Garcia Lorca, a great Spanish poet. They are all going well and I think they won't be too hard. One of the business classes is given by a professor I had last semester for finance. Last semester I was just hoping to pass his class (which, by the way, I got an A- in) because he was really hard to understand and I knew nothing aboout finance anyway. But, this semester he's much easier to understand which is b/c I listened to him all last semester. So that's nice. I also have an internship this semester at El Corral de la Moreria. If you want to see more about it go to www.elcorraldelamoreria.com or google it. El Corral is a flamenco tablao which means it's a restaurant with flamenco shows every night. It's probably the most famous in the world and lots of famous people have been there. Unfortunately, I don't do anything with the dancing side of the business. I'm working in the Marketing dept. doing an internet study of the competition. Not the most exciting thing but I like it okay and I'm getting to know some other Spaniards. It does make my schedule a bit crazy though b/c I have to work 10 hours a week b/c of Trinity requirements so I'm constantly running around. I'm also still teaching my 3rd graders English and they are more precious now then last semester! They were so excited to see me back and then got even more excited when I passed out candy canes (which we had talked about before I left so there was an educational purpose!)

I have also made some new friends that are pretty cool. I'm not sure they will top my friends from last semester (who were basically amazing), nor my friends from home but they're all right. My roommate is named Lisa and she's cool. A little less Miss Personality than Lauren but so are most people. There aren't any kids from Trinity this semester which makes me miss the three that were here last semester more. I think I'm gonna meet one of them, Clint, in Ireland one weekend though, so that will be fun. He's in England now so that's pretty close.

As far as travelling goes, I have been to Sevilla and Amsterdam. Here are the highlights as I don't intend on writing any novels in my lifetime and this will soon turn into one if I don't quit.

SEVILLA: A beautiful city that has lots of charm. I wasn't quite as impressed with it as the reviews I'd heard but that could be because it was raining and freezing. I did meet up with a girl who is friend of a friend from OU and turns out I used to know her forever ago. We met up with her and a couple of her friends for dinner one night and it was fun. They are crazy girls but it was nice to make friends while there. We also saw several brides at this plaza taking wedding pictures that were gorgeous even though it was raining a bit. Overall, I liked it alot.

AMSTERDAM: First, let's talk about how I had no idea there were canals in Amsterdam. They add so much charm to the city! Amsterdam seems very European to me after living in Madrid which is way more Spanish then European. Not only are there canals, but everyone rides bikes as the main mode of transportation. It's so cute! I loved it alot even though it was about 10 degrees colder there and rained a bit one day. I got to see Anne Frank's annex where she hid with her family, 3 Holocaust museums of different things, the Van Gogh museum, and Rembrandt's house/museum. I am one of those morbid people that is fascinated by the Holocaust and love learning about it as much as I hate that it happened. Van Gogh is not really my cup of tea but I did get a print of one of the pictures I did like. Lisa and I also did alot of walking around and seeing the city.

Well, I will put up pictures of all that later...and I promise to update more often! Hope everything's good on the other side of the pond! Hugs to all!