Day 17: Beach and Zaragoza

This morning we drove an hour and a half to a beach right outside of Barcelona!! I sat next to Chase on the bus. We had a bunch of fun at the beach.. some of us played a bit of volleyball, some even got to go kayaking and paddle boarding! I was able to record some footage in the water, and I let Dylan use my gopro again in the water! I was also able to record the famous Chester the Dolphin (Heath) in the water :) it was hilarious.

After hanging at the beach for a few hours, we went to lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. We had a pizza thing.. and we thought it was our main course...but found out it was our appetizer and by that time... I was already full! We had chicken and fries for the main course, and it was very good! I sat around Thane, Haylie, Alex, and Michael.

After a GREAT lunch we drove to few hours to a Palace in Zaragoza. The Aljaferia Palace was built in the 11th century and was a mix of Islamic and Spanish architecture. We got to explore alot of the rooms, and got to see where they hold official meetings for a regional parliament. We got some amazing pictures of the architecture, and then left for our new and 2nd to last hotel, and dinner.

We stayed with the roomates we picked! I got Megan and Haylie!! We stayed in a pretty nice place...in the middle of no where....we had some paella for dinner at the hotel. I sat with Dylan, Julia, Alexandra, Shiv, Avi, Chase, Edward and a few others at the other end of the table. We gave Stefano (bus driver) and Markus some thank you gifts, because tonight is the last night we have with Stefano! :( He drives us to our hotel tomorrow and we wont see him after that!!!! :(

We've got an early morning tomorrow to go to Madrid, because the bus ride is 4 ish hours long.

Day 16: Spain, Barcelona -- Day 4: Homestay

Today we leave our home stay :(

I gave the family some american tshirts from Old Navy, and they really liked them! We talked about my blog, college, summer vacations, and life in the car ride over to the school where we were all meeting.  I got some pictures with the family, and we were on our way.

We went to a mall, where I got to go into Zara, and Primark! I was most excited about Primark, because all of the british beauty gurus I watch on YouTube, go to Primark and buy cute clothes and things. We dont have a Primark in America, so this was the one and only store I wanted to go to in the mall.

Haylie bought a beautiful leather jacket, that was VERY expensive.. but very beautiful and worth the price. Emily, Donisha, and Austin bought some stuff at H&M, and were excited about it.

FINALLY! At Primark, I got a duffle bag, which Im sure im gonna need, and a cute makeup bag. I didnt have enough time to try on anything, so i just stuck to those two items. Austin was in the flip-flop section, and we picked out some flip-flops for Markus- he only wears flip-flops.....EVERYWHERE WE GO THATS ALL HE WEARS. I picked out the American Flag ones, to remember us by. Donisha got some dressed, and Austin got some ties.

After our fun time at the mall, we went to make our own paella! I sat with Thane, Austin, and Ana. We mixed and cooked our own food! It was very cool, and didnt taste too bad!! I kinda.. liked it! After that we went and saw some amazing work by Antoni Gaudi and we saw the Sagrada Familia!! We didnt go inside but were able to see the amazing construction on the outside.

We went to dinner, and saw some Flamenco dancers. We had a dinner and a show! Even Dylan, Heath, Tori, Ana, and Andrew went up there and danced with them!!

Day 15: Spain -- Day 3: Homestay

YAY! Today our small group went to the park where all the other delegates were. We had water balloon fights, and Edward got soaked.... I got Ms. Fields pretty good. Dylan, Andrew, and a few others had a truce that we wouldnt get each other.. and Im happy to say everyone stayed true to their word. I got Megan, which i felt bad about....but it was funny so it was ok. Aubrie was throwing one at Dylan..but she missed and hit an bench where an elderly man was sitting....the water got all over half of his back. She felt very bad, apologized, and the man said "its just water, it'll dry", so at least he was understanding.

We hung out for awhile, and then everyone but our small group went back to school (HA HA!!!!) at 1pm. We "played" volleyball-just hit the ball to someone and tried to keep it up as long as possible. We played some other games, laid down, hung out, swung on the "grunxador" (groon-sha-dough) -swings- and i made a weird bracelet out of a fresh branch of a tree and gave one to Holli and Laura. Holli, Nathan, and Aubrie got picked up and went back to their houses... while Chase and I walked back our houses..which was kinda far, but the walk was ok. I got to meet Laura's "almost boyfriend" they are super cute together!!

After walking home, Laura changed into her black outfit for her orchestra concert. They had a practice before they had the actual concert...so I got to hear some of the song they were playing... and they sounded amazing! I actually really enjoyed it. After practice I got to meet some of Laura's friends, and a guy came up to me and knew who I was. He said someone who's staying with him knows me, he said the name of the person, and it sorta sounded like Thane, but I knew Thane had a girl...so it couldnt be him. I showed him a picture of our group and he couldnt find his person...so I have no idea who this boy had...but he knew me! Aubrie, Nathan, and Holli came to support Laura and Catty. Our Laura-from our delegation- was also there, her girl played in it too, along with Austin's guy (who was the friend that sang in the all boys choir at Montserrat). Chase and his guy had to come late..but they got to hear one song.

After the AMAZING concert, we walked back home, which took about 20 minutes, but we got to talk so that was cool! We had a cheese omelet with potatoes for dinner, which was very good! I actually really enjoyed it! The recipe is her grandmothers, and I loved it!

We had another late night, and an early morning tomorrow, because we leave our homestay and get back with our delegation. Im not excited to wake up at 7 because Ive been waking up at 9, and 10 at the house........

Day 14: Spain -- Day 2: Homestay

Today, our small group went up to the Montserrat Mountain to check out the church and the all boy choir that sings there. Holli's girl, and mine, knew a friend that used to be part of the all boy choir... its a great honor, and they sounded amazing.

We waited in line for a few hours, touched the ball that the virgin Mary was holding (for good luck), and then had our lunch on the step in front of the church. Laura's mom packed our lunch..we had sandwiches, and bananas!

Laura had saxophone lessons/practice but was an hour late because when we got on the train to go back down the mountain, we didnt get off at the stop, so we went back up the mountain, and down one more time! So after going up and down twice, we finally got off the train and waited for the right train toward Barcelona. Once we got off at our next stop....we almost missed our next train, we had to run!


Laura and Catty (i dont know how she spells it--Holli's girl) had choir practice at 8pm, and was 2 hours long...  Heath's girl was also at choir practice, but he didnt come inside like Holli and I did...so we face booked messaged each other so we had something else to do.

After a late night, Laura and I had some great pizza her mom made!!! There was four cheese and BBQ.. they were both very good, but cheese was my favorite!

I go to bed pretty late, and tried to catch up on my journal and blog... but i dont have wifi... so I have to find somewhere else to upload.