I've come to realize...

...how hard it is to actually "study" abroad. Take, for example, this past week...I kept trying to read for my religion classes and for some reason I can't do it. I find myself on Facebook almost every five minutes and if it's not that then I'm looking at my calendar to see what trips I'm booking for the semester. And now I'm writing on my blog. Such great progress. I keep forgetting that the main reason I'm here is for school; it's just too absurd for me. I'd rather explore slash party allllll the time. Speaking of exploring, I recently visited Toledo for the first time! It was really cool, it's a pretty small and very religious city known for its gold and steel production and filled with lots of important/historical sites to see. Me and my friend Dom went to the famous Gothic cathedral, which was huuuuge and filled with incredible paintings by Greco. A couple was getting married while we were there- you should've seen how many people lined the streets, rice in hand and everything, it was madness, but so beautiful to see such happiness. I decided then and there that if I ever get married (to a Spaniard of course), its for sure happening in Spain. Anywho, we roamed around parts of Toledo for the rest of the day and stopped at a lookout with a gorgeous view of the whole city before we left.

The beautiful bride

Her chariot

said people with rice in hand

cutest doggie everrr

yup, he's got SIX toes

check out that viewww

I <3 Toledo

The following week progressed along with many classes, assignments, readings (that were never read), etc. until finally another weekend...and have I already said that the Spanish know how to party? Well, they do, and they party HARD. I haven't really gone out a lot in Madrid in the past week since my last post, but the party I'm referring to is Ibiza (or Ibitha, as the Spanish would say). For those that don't know, Ibiza is an island off the coast of Spain and is the motherland of clubs, party, raving, you name it, it's aaallllll there. It's one huge party and you don't ever stop dancing. Can you guess where I went this past weekend? :)

AND IT WAS EPIC. Sooo much fun let me tell ya. I would highly recommend going there at least once in your lifetime. But anyway, me and Kelly got there Thursday night and we started with a bang! at Pacha Ibiza. David Guetta was headlining along with other great DJs (which I don't remember ha) and he definitely kept the party rockin'. I don't know how we managed this seeing that Pacha was PACKED to the max, but we ended up being front row all night long and it was awesome. People were going nuts (I among them) and danced and danced and danced to the electro beats at Guetta's fingertips. I took pictures on my phone that night but unfortunately it broke (I'll explain later) so I can't show you :(. The next night, our crew headed to Privilege, the largest club in the world. This place was pretty sick, but we didn't stay long so I couldn't tell you a lot about it. Highlight of Privilege? When we walked in they were playing awesome funky house music which was aiight, then all of a sudden the DJ plays the King of Pop (aka MJ) and I was all on it, dancing and gettin my groove on, it was fabulous. 

2nd night in Ibiza, we couldn't stop laughing...

Privilege! Gettin' down to Michael Jackson

2nd floor of Privilege

And thennnn, the next day, was the boat party booze cruise. This was hands-down, my favorite part of the trip. I don't even think we sailed to a certain destination, but man was it a fiesta the entire time. The DJs were awesome and made everyone dance...like you couldn't just sit on this boat, the music was too good to pass up. The "bartenders" if you could call them that, just kept pouring sangria and beer nonstop and they even had food on board! Seriously, I can't get over how awesome this was. OH and then, the boat stopped for a good hour or so in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea for everyone to jump out for a little swim. I didn't go in because I forgot a swimsuit but everyone else had a blast until the swarm of jellyfish attacked them but hey, it was STILL all in good fun :). As the crew was preparing to leave back to the port, this beastly freak-of-nature wave hits the front of the boat with full force at the exact spot where I was standing and completely soaks my front side from head to toe. I thought it was hilarious until I opened my purse and couldn't turn my phone or camera on. But oh well! And the party continued... 

scenic pictures for the win!

SANGRIA :)

hell yeah DJs

resting point

before the jellyfish...

ummm

USD IN IBIZA

After the epic boat ride, our last night in Ibiza we went to esParadis, a club near San Antoni's port. This club was super different, you walk in and the lights were on so you could pretty much make out everyone's faces, the dance floor was in this white, round arena that tiered downward, and every now and then they would spray this white fog stuff that smelled like baby powder. Weird. It was decorated in such a way that I seriously thought I was in Wonderland with Alice. This was actually my favorite club there...the music was awesome and the people were ready to party, aka I had the best time ever. After that, it was time to say goodbye to the wonderful land of party people and head back to Madrid.

So those are my two biggest updates, other than that I've just been hangin out and adjusting back to the normal life in Madrid. One of the greatest things I've discovered here is el Parque de Buen Retiro. This park is enormous and soooo unbelievably beautiful, it's the perfect date spot. It's got gardens, sports fields, fountains you can gaze at, fountains with lakes that you can row boats in, grassy fields to share a picnic with someone, EVERYTHING. It's got everything you need to have a romantically good time. Another gem I've found in Madrid is churros con chocolate. Mmmmm it is a slice of heaven I tell you. One night me and my girls were supposed to go out clubbing but the line was too long and we had to pay to get in so we said fuck it, and headed over to San Gines Chocolatería right behind Joy. We got two plates of churros at first, but when we saw what porras looked like (the huge version of churros) we decided to get another plate of those too, with no shame whatsoever. IT WAS SO GOOD. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. I'm desperately trying to find a way to ship these heavenly creations back home when I leave but I'm not too sure how that'll work out, we'll see.

garden in Parque de Retiro...I have such beautiful friends

step 1: once the churros are gone, lick the chocolate

step 2: after licking fails to satisfy, devour the chocolate

step 3: you can choose to clean up with a napkin or hand, whatever is available first

Oh and one last thing, while the whole world and their mom is at Oktoberfest this weekend, all of us USD kids who stayed in Madrid went to go see Afrojack for only €23! We got to the venue at midnight and talked to some peeps who were all either American or British (apparantly Afrojack isn't that big in Spain?) which was refreshing to meet new people other than USD but weird not to hear Spanish. I met the sweetest girl from London and other people from UC Irvine and Santa Barbara. Eventually we went into the club and waited FOREVER for Afrojack to play (I was getting a little nervous at one point) but then he finally came on and kiiiiilllleddddd it. He played the best songs ever; I honestly did not stop dancing the. entire. time. Before I knew it, it was 5 in the morning and I was still dancing. At one point I even tried to stop dancing but nope. Didn't happen. I could dance 24/7 for the rest of my life. After Afrojack finished his set, this other DJ came on and did his thing, and he looked EXACTLY like Justin Bieber but with blonde hair. It was kinda funny but once he started jammin' Avicii's "Levels" and Swedish House Mafia's "One" and finally a Red Hot Chili Peppers remix (I DIED) I was hooked...it was such a great time. We finally left in the early a.m. to the metro, got home at around 7, and passed the fuck out until 5 pm. It has never felt so good to sleep. 

Pre-party at metro stop #1

Pre-party at metro stop #2

my roommate is so beautifulllll!

dancing MACHINE

pseudo-roommates :)

go-to pose

sitting on stage in front of Afrojack attempting to dance without shaking my booty

6am metro dat's wassup

Until next time kids! :)

Un beso grandote,

J.

Mi vida en Madrid

SOOOO, I knew I'd be horrible at updating this thing; I'm deeply sorry for such a long delay...as such this entry will probably be super duper long, so I apologize for that as well. I've been in Spain for about 2 weeks now, spending the first week traveling with the USD gang to some of the major cities in Spain and now my first actual week in Madrid. All I can say for now is that I am absolutely in love; I never want to go back to America. Yes, that is a bit dramatic and possibly exaggerative (if that's a word) to say, especially since I've barely started my journey but it's the truth and I just had to get it out. Spain is just the shit, to be blunt. I'll start from the beginning...so I arrived to Madrid with mah girl Kelly, as scheduled on that Wednesday night (31st of August) after almost missing the connecting flight in Frankfurt, Germany because of the ONE hour layover to get off the plane, go through customs AND security, and run across the world to get to the terminal. Ridiculous. But we made it, and life couldn't have been any sweeter. The cab ride to my host mom's house was wayyyy better thankfully. My driver was super nice and gave me a 20 minute crash course on the pros/cons (but mostly pros as far as I could tell), and overall lifestyle of Madrid. He even took the short route apparantly and I only had to pay £25! :) I finally arrived to my host mom, Señora Carmen (who is the cutest, nicest yet strong-willed Spanish woman), and my two other roomies, Melody and Nancy...I can't express all the excitement in our house. After a delicious Spanish dinner which included the traditional tortilla española (FAVORITE Spanish food ever since), we went out for my first night in Madrid in the heart of the city: Puerta del Sol. First, some hookah place to meet up with some USD peeps, then the famous Dubliners (an Irish pub) to meet up with more USD peeps slash get drunk, and finally, some gay club that I still don't know the name of, to meet up with even more USD kids slash get drunker slash dance the night away. I wish I had documented at least some portion of this night but in the midst of all the emotions and excitement, I completely forgot my camera :(...all I can say is, Madrid did me dirty that night and it was SO much fun.

i love my roommates!

Next began the Travel Seminar...a full 9 days hitting the major cities in Spain: Toledo (which I missed because of the Hurricane...see previous post), Barçelona, Valencia, Granada, Sevilla, and Córdoba. Each city was so amazing in its own way and I enjoyed every minute of it - Barçelona with its mix of Spanish and Catalonian culture, plus the extremely crazy/intense nightlife; Valencia- the little town with weird and beautiful architecture by Gaudí; Granada, with its young, college-y feel plus the world-renowned Alhambra palace, Sevilla's Gothic cathedral and bell tower over-looking the entire city, and Córdoba's famous 2-in-1 cathedral and mosque. ALL of it was spectacular and an experience I will never forget. I would go into more details but then this would be a novel, so picture time!

Just outside Club Shoko in Barcelona, first steps in the Mediterranean Sea!

La Sagrada Familia

Las Ramblas, Barçelona

Palau Saint Jordi

Plaza de España, Barçelona

La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencas

Look at doz fishies!

Granada! My favorite place

My lover, Maddie <3

Plaza in Granada

La Alhambra, Granada

Beautiful garden in Alhambra

Bell tower overlooking the city of Sevilla

the gang

Some European breakin it down..........Sevilla

Córdoba

The man who started it all...Pablo the tour guide

Opon our return to Madrid, I got sick, inevitably (and am still trying to recover after 6 days). We went out every. single. night. Seriously. (okay, so we maaaybe stayed in once or twice, but you get the message). The Spaniards definitely know how to party. But anywho, me and Melo didn't do anything but sleep the rest of the night Friday and all day Saturday in order to save up the little energy that we had to get to Kapital, a SEVEN-story club in Madrid. Not real. And let me tell you, this place was BAD-ASS. Every floor had different music, I forget what floor is what but I spent most of my time on the 5th floor...Spanish music :). Sick of dancing? No prob, just head on over to the roof and take some me time on their comfy couches. No big deal. It was INSANE. Only problem, its superrrr easy to get lost (take it from me) so stick to someone! It was a grand old time.

Theta kite with my roommateeee

Pre-Kapital at Dubliners, of course

Me and Maddie, we're gonna get married soon.

The next night, me Melo Amanda and Kelly went out the night before school started (of course, cuz its Spain) to watch some American football at Dubliners which was aiight...not that into football but the main highlight was the deee-licious crepes with nutella afterwards. Mmmm que rico ;). Yes, we're ready for our primer día de escuela. The first day of school was pretty exciting to be honest, mostly because it's in SPAIN (still can't get over it, as you can tell). I'm only taking core classes but they are pretty interesting so it works. During one of my breaks, my new best friend Maddie (whom I'm obsessed with and can't believe we just now met...go read her blog, you'll see why) and I went exploring in Madrid and happened to find a cute little park with little market stands everywhere, and Spaniards chillin as they usually do. Perfect place to reflect and just be. It's the little things like this that make me realize how great life is, and how lucky I am to be here. To continue, the rest of the week was pretty much like this day...super laid back, with more and more knowledge to gain every day. Today was the last day of classes for the week (cuz there's no class on Fridays!!!) so I'll be going out pretty hard tonight, especially since it's opening night for all the clubs. But first, it's time for some dinner with my wonderful Spanish mom and two roomies...don't worry, I'll be sure to save some leftovers! :)

she so prettay

random little park in the middle of Madrid

Un besito,
J.