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I apologize for the lack
of blogging. I didn’t realize how far behind I had gotten, and now that I look
at it, it has been a month since I posted and I am overwhelmed. SO MUCH has
happened over the last month and I don’t even know where to start. Let’s start
with my birthday…
I turned 21 April 12! I
was a little bit homesick on my birthday because I wanted to celebrate with the
people I’m closest with, but it ended up being a great day anyway. I went to
the beach with Ali and Amanda in the morning, had a big birthday lunch
dedicated to me with a birthday cheesecake, got a homemade t shirt from my host
mom, ate a giant ice cream, and then went to El Barrio to celebrate that night. It
was overall a very good day!
Not to brag, but I have
been going to the beach almost every day and loving every minute of it. I am so
tan that my host mom told me when I go home nobody is going to recognize me! It
is such a beautiful life to have the beach right down the street every day. It breaks
my heart that I have to leave this place so soon!
I also had my first experience with a
Spanish style field trip. We came to campus and got on this
bus and then drove to all of these sights that were around Alicante, maybe an
hour or so away. Our first stop was this
random field of grass and dirt. We got off the bus and started walking and
climbing this hill where there were like abandoned couches and broken tvs and
it was the sketchiest thing ever. We were overlooking some battle field I
think, but I really have no idea. Then we got back onto the bus and drove to
the next stop which was this house that we couldn’t see because there were
gates all over the place…I have no idea whose house it was. The third stop was
a drive by because the professor said it would take too long for us to get off
and on the bus again. After that we went to this place that was near the OPEL
dealership, and I don’t have a clue what that was for either. THEN we went to
this little city and walked around and saw a few important buildings. THEN we
went to this other little abandoned area with like a couple of houses and this
bomb shelter you could go in if you wanted. THEN we thought we were done, but
we had to go to this random place that looked like a rest stop and watch this
movie that the professor brought with him that basically summarized everything
we were looking at all day. It was a very strange day to say the least. 
The next thing I want to talk about is the processions
during holy week. Holy week is the week before Easter, and every day and night
in Alicante (and many other cities in Spain) there are processions. It is
called La Semana Santa here, and it was just amazing to see. Thousands of
people filled the streets while people wore religious costumes, played music,
carried monuments and just everything was so beautiful I can’t even describe
it. It was definitely something I was happy to see. My host brother played the
trombone in the band during a few of the processions, and my host mom was in
one of them as well in one of the outfits (sorry I don’t know what they’re
called) and she was passing out candy. It was so cool to watch, I can’t even explain
it! 
After holy week, Ali, Amanda and I headed out for our
awesome Spring break adventure. I am going to make this a summary, because if I
go into detail about all of our trips it will be a 10 page post and nobody
wants to read that haha. But basically, we went from Alicante to Rome, Rome to
Florence, and Florence to Munich. Every single city was beautiful and full of
historic sights and culture. I will tell you all my favorite part of each city,
that way it is short and sweet. In Rome I got the opportunity to see the Pope
speak during Good Friday at the coliseum. That is something I will never
forget. There were thousands of people and it was a really special night. Definitely
the highlight of Rome for me. In Florence my favorite part was our bed and
breakfast. I know that sounds really dumb but seriously, that place rocked. Okay
culturally though, my favorite thing in Florence was probably Il Duomo, or the
dome. The dome is part of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, and you have
to climb up 400 something stairs to get to the top of it. But when you do the
view of the city is amazing. The only thing that sucked was the 3 ½ hour line
we waited in…but oh well. It was amazing. In Munich my favorite part was the Neuschwanstein
castle. This was the castle that the castle in Sleeping Beauty was based off
of, but we weren't allowed to take pictures so I’m sorry but I have no interior
shots to show. But wow it was beautiful and breathtaking. Hard to imagine
living in a place like that. 
After Munich, I separated from the group and went to meet
Will, my boyfriend, in Paris. It ended up being the best trip of my life. Yes, I get to live every girl’s dream and tell everyone for the rest
of my life that I got engaged on the Eiffel tower. So long story short, I am
the happiest person ever. The rest of Paris was incredible, and we had the best time together.
After our few days in Paris, we flew to Alicante so I could
show him around my home away from home for 6 days. We went
to Tabarca Island, a small island off of the coast of Alicante, climbed the
castle, ate a ton of food, went to the beach a bunch, went to the beach in
another city, went to a fair, and sooooo much more!
