Barcelona and Beiber

Hello readers! This weekend I went to Barcelona for a Justin Beiber concert. Now, those of you who know me well probably know that I'm not really a fan of Beiber. So why would I go to a Justin Beiber concert? Well, a girl from a few of my classes (Nicole) had an extra ticket and invited me to go. Since it's Barcelona, how could I refuse? It was a great excuse to go.

My trip to Barcelona began as most of my trips have begun (I'm developing a pattern apparently). I left class, ate lunch, grabbed my stuff and the food Carmen packed, and headed off to the bus station.

On my way to the bus station, I saw this bus playing music drive by. Then another followed by a crowd of running/biking and chanting Basque people. I recognized the design on the buses from a banner that I'd seen hung around Pamplona which help me know they were Basque. It was really interesting because there some people running while pushing strollers. Them Basques are fit!

I met up with Nicole in the bus station and we then waited for our bus. The trip was largely uneventful. It was about a 6 hour ride with a 15 minute stop halfway. I was able to finish the book I was reading and start reading the Host in Spanish. I couldn't justify rereading it again without reading it in Spanish and I want to reread it because the movie is coming out. Nicole and I also had plenty of time to chat and get to know each other better.

We arrived in Barcelona at about 11pm and took the metro to our hostel.  Barcelona has this nice system of a 10-trip metro card (that's shareable incidentally) instead of only having the option of buying per day (as it is in Paris). We got off the metro and found the hostel without too much difficulty. I had learned my lesson from Portugal and was careful to know exactly how to get there. I bookmarked the map on my phone and we used it to get us there.

Now, I made the mistake of leaving my passport at home. This was intentional because I figured I wouldn't need it since we'd still be in Spain. I have a fear of losing my passport and not being able to go home/get my identity stolen. Maybe someone told me this, but I really don't remember if they did, but I should have made copies of my passport and taken it with me. The receptionist said I should at least take copies of my passport if I'm traveling within the country and don't want to bring my passport. Good idea. It'll be good to have the copies if I ever lose my passport as well. Luckily, she let me stay anyway and I emailed Carmen for the info. She scanned it for me the next day and it was all fine. You live and learn.

We got up early the next morning so we could have a full day seeing the city. We took the metro to the city center. The stop where we got off is called Diagonal, which fueled my inner Harry Potter nerd. I went Diagonally! Anyway, right as we emerged on the street, I saw a Starbucks and had to make a stop. I really miss having large to-go mugs, so I always take advantage of a Starbucks when I can. Plus I hadn't had my morning coffee and my throat was hurting.

After I had my Starbucks fix, we starting walking around. I had brought my Rick Steves' Spain book with me and there were several self-guided walking tours in the book. We followed the tours the best we could through, the Gaudi apartments, Las Ramblas, the waterfront, and the old part of the city.

To the left you see (I feel like a tour guide) an example of a Gaudi apartment. Gaudi was a talented architect and you see his stuff all over Barcelona.

The Rick Steves' self-guided tours were very informative. For instance, in the cathedral in the picture to the left, the charcoal marks you see are from when revolutionaries burned the furniture in the cathedral in protest to the cathedral's support of the dictator Franco. This is the cathedral, Santa Maria del mar, or Saint Mary of the sea. Sailors used to come in and leave replicas of their ships at the feet of the statue of Mary for luck. Very interesting.

Nicole and I spent the morning talking only in Spanish, but then we felt awkward because Barcelona is in Cataluña and they're a little anti-Spain right now. If you haven't heard, Cataluña is trying to secede from the the union  so to speak and become their own country. Catalans speak their own language and have a distinct culture. In fact, I felt like I was in a foreign country because all the signs were in Catalan. The impression we got is that it's better to just speak English in Barcelona.

Since we were on a budget, unfortunately we didn't go into any museums or anything, but since I'm going back with my parents for a day we can hit the things that I want to see. It was very nice walking around the city and seeing the sites that Rick Steves recommended. We visited several cathedrals, nice parks, and other interesting sites. On of which was La Boqueria which is a giant market and I bought a yummy fruit drink/smoothie thing that the receptionist at the hostel said is something you have to try. It was quite good!

For lunch, I got a kebab and Nicole got some pizza and then we sat back the waterfront and had a nice picnic. It was extremely windy, but it was also very relaxing. Then we slowly started making our way back to the hostel for the concert.

As we headed back to the hostel, we saw a group of people doing a video of the Harlem Shake on the metro. The Harlem Shake has gotten a bit old, but it was still cool to see someone making a video of it.

When we got back to the hostel, we switched around our stuff and got what we needed for the concert. Then we were off!

Once we got to the concert, we saw an enormous line of people already there. I used my height advantage and saw a T-shirt vendor so Nicole could buy her T-shirt. Then we got up towards the front and waited for the doors to open. They were supposed to open at 5:30, but they didn't open until 6:30, when the concert had pretty much started. Nicole and I were lucky that we were able to get in and see the first performer, Cody Simpson. A lot of people didn't get in until Justin Beiber, which is lame because they missed Cody Simpson and Carly Rae Jepsen. I would not have been happy if I had missed her. Bad organizing, Barcelona.

It was funny to hear the Spanish girls cheering. They pronounced Justin Beiber differently. Like Ya-stine Beeeber. At first we didn't know what they were saying. Moreover, just the way they said cheers were different. We did do the wave though! That was cool.

When Nicole and I got into the pavilion, we didn't actually sit in our seats. We found a spot near the stage by the railings and watched Cody from there. After he was done performing, we had to move on. I left Nicole to use the restroom and fill up my water bottle. When I went back into the hall, I went to where we had been standing before to see if Nicole was still there. Instead of Nicole, there was this large crowd of Spanish girls asking this guy for an autograph. I didn't recognize him at all, so I assume I was a Spanish star or soccer player or something. I stood there trying to figure out who he was but then the people he was with took him somewhere more obscure and then I went back to our seats to find Nicole.

We ended up watching Carly Rae Jespen in the front row of the section where our seats were, but not our seats. She sang "Call Me Maybe" and "Good Time" with Cody Simpson, which made me very happy. Those are the only two songs I know by her. She was so cute on stage, very bubbly and excited to be there. She did a great job.

After Carly Rae Jespen was done performing, the people whose seats we were in showed up and so we went back to ours. However, there were people in ours so we went back to the area where we were when Cody Simpson performed and sat in some seats there. Then we found some seats in the bottom section right near the stage from the side. We stayed there the whole night and were really close. It was awesome.

Honestly, I couldn't hear Justin Beiber singing very well over the crowd of Spanish girls cheering and singing and he just wasn't singing all that clearly. However, it was a great show. He danced with his dancers and the dancers were really good as well. Each song had a theme. He even did songs where he played the guitar, drums, and piano each. All in all, it was a great show.

When the concert was over, we headed back to the hostel. The bus ride back was absolutely packed, but one of the girls was playing Beiber music on her iPad and a lot of people were singing along. It was kind of cool.

When we got back, we pretty much went straight to bed. One of the annoying things about this particular hostel was that you had to pay deposits for pretty much everything you wanted to use. We had to pay a deposit for the room key and another for a towel. Therefore we only got one room key and had to pay if you wanted a towel. We got the money back when we checked out, but it's so you don't steal them. I also bought a lock for the locker in our hostel. Anyway, we shared the key which was kind of a pain but we didn't want to get another one.

On Sunday, we were planning on going to La Sagrada Familia for mass, but you had to pay to enter and wait in a long line so we went somewhere else (see picture to the right). La Sagrada Familia is a Gaudi cathedral that is still not completed so they overcharge for everything to get the building done. However, it is gorgeous, even from the outside.

After the mass, we went to La Sagrada Familia to look at it. I wanted to go in, but there was a huge line, so I'm thinking I'll go with my parents. Maybe we'll buy advance tickets online.


I checked my Rick Steves book for more things to do and I saw that it's really easy to hop on a bus and get to this really pretty park (Montjuic) that has an art museum. We saw that we had 25 minutes until the bus came, so Nicole went to Subway to get lunch and I got a tea from Starbucks. That took a while and we finished just in time to run and catch the bus.





The book didn't explicitly say what stop to get off at so we just kind of watched for landmarks nearby. I saw in my book that it was near Plaza de Espanya so we got off there. Well, the plaza was packed with people. Turns out we had stumbled upon some kind of run that ended in the park we wanted to go to. We worked our way through the crowd and climbed up to where the museum was. It's actually a castle that has been turned into an art museum.

We were up high enough that we had a beautiful skyline view of the city. It was there that I realized that it was Saint Patrick's Day--I saw a girl wearing shamrocks and otherwise dressed spiritedly. Saint Patrick isn't a saint that is widely celebrated in Spain. Only in places that have been Americanized/Irishized.

By the time we made it to the top, it was kind of time for us to head back to catch our bus to Pamplona. Got to the bus station area early enough for me to get lunch and Nicole to eat her subway. After that, we headed back to Pamplona. I read more of the Host and worked on homework for my literature class.
Now I'm back in Pamplona! I'm looking at taking a quick trip with some friends to Santander this weekend. Santander is a coastal city northwest from Pamplona. We're going to rent a car and do a little of the Camino de Santiago. Tell you more about it when I'm done!

The ordeal of printing something

People ask me what I miss from the States or cultural differences. Well, one thing I miss is the free and easy printing back at Presbyterian College. 

I think I took printing for granted at PC. You can just go on one of the many computers in the library and print like you're at your house. I remember that we all started complaining when we had to enter our usernames to print. Well, at least you don't have to pay and go through the complicated process here.

Today, I have an assignment due for class. It's not necessary to print it, but I typed it all and wanted to print it. The problem is that, to print, you need to have a card for the printers. However, for my trip to Barcelona, I emptied my wallet of random cards that I wouldn't need to in Barcelona. Naturally, that included my printer card. In my rush to get out of the house this morning, I forgot to restock my wallet. 

I have spent the last hour trying to print one assignment for my class. There's a box by the printer that looks like you'd be able to put in some coins and print. Well there are only two options on that box: buy a card or recharge your card. It costs 2.50 euros to buy a card, which I didn't want to do because I have one already.

I tried to go to my professor's office to print the assignment, but he wasn't there. I was at a loss for what to do. Then I remember that there is a copy room downstairs. I went down there and asked if I could print. My Word document was on Dropbox and, guess what, they don't have Internet down there. So I had to go e-mail it to them and then get it printed. So complicated!

I write this to my friends back at PC. We have got it made with our printing system. 

Just thought I'd share. Over and out! 

A Navarran Day Trip!

I think I made up the word Navarran, but I like the way it sounds. Anyhoo, this Sunday, some students who are on the international committee decided to organize a day trip to a few locations in Navarra. We went to the Irache Monastery, Larraizar Winery, and Las Bardenas Reales.

I actually didn't know about the trip until my French friend, Clara, told me about it after Spanish class. I get about 10-15 event invitations every week on Facebook, so I've gotten to the point where I don't read them anymore. They're usually either from PC (my college back home and naturally I can't go to those) or party invitations, which happen practically every day so the novelty has worn off.

When I got home after Spanish class, I checked the event and saw that I still had time to sign up. It cost 25 euros, but that included absolutely everything--the food, the wine, and all the transportation. All of which get really pricey really fast here. It was an excellent deal.

We met up Sunday morning at 10:00 in front of the Edifico Central (the campus' main building) and headed out. It's always funny to me that Europeans think 10:00 is really early. For us, 10:00 is an excellent time. 6:00 is really early. Everything on the Portugal trip started at 9:00, which was fairly normal, certainly not ridiculously early. It's just funny.

First stop was the monastery, which was about a 45 minute ride. The monastery dates back to the 8th century. I wish we had been able to have a tour guide or someone who knew a lot about the monastery. As such, we basically just walked through it and took pictures in the courtyard. We couldn't spend a lot of time inside as a mass was going on.  If it had just been me, I'd have stayed for the mass, but since it was a huge group we moved on. We then walked around the monastery and got a nice mountainside view of the pueblo (village) in which the monastery is located.

After we had taken our fill of pictures, we walked back to the bus and they distributed our bagged lunch to eat at our leisure. It consisted of two bocadillos (sandwiches), an apple, a can of Pepsi, and candy. I kind of munched on the food throughout the day. When we all had our food, the students led us down the hill a little bit to a wine and water pump--no joke. There weren't any cups so those of us who had water bottles filled their bottles with wine. I tried someone else's before filling mine and it was too strong for me, so I just refilled my bottle with water.

A little while later, we hopped back on the bus and continued on to the winery. There the women working there led us on a tour through the winery. We watched a video from the owners explaining a little about the monastery. It was in Spanish, but I understood a lot of it. The woman giving the tour gave the tour in English. I wish she had done it in Spanish, but I think a lot of people in the group don't study Spanish here so they wouldn't have been able to understand.

Side note--it truly fascinates me that English is the unifying language for everyone. I have a group of friends who come from all over Europe, with their native language certainly not being English, but they talk with each other in English. They learn English in school and therefore know it very well. All of the international events are conducted in English, so hopefully you can speak English! I suppose they think it's more likely that most of the people will speak English than Spanish, or at least be able to speak both. A lot of the exchange students here are studying business or communications and their classes are in English. They don't even really need to speak Spanish besides the basics. That was like me when my family lived in Germany. I went to an American Department of Defense School where all my classes were in English. I took a German class like we take back home, but I only learned a little German.


To go back to the trip, after the video the woman took us out to the vineyards and explained the growing and harvesting process. The first vineyard section we saw was the experimental part, where they try out new growing techniques. Then we went through a gate and into the bigger part of the vineyard. I wish it had been growing season! I could imagine how gorgeous it will be when the leaves are green and the grapes are growing. As such, we still had a beautiful view of the pueblo and other mountains.

After touring the vineyard, we walk into the back area where they make the wine. She explained the process and then we went to where the wine is stored. My friend Clara told me that the wine on the top is the newest and the oldest is on the bottom where you can try it. Very interesting. After that room, the tour was finished and she took us upstairs for the wine tasting. I was excited, because I've always heard of wine tastings, but I'd never actually done one.

Before we could try the wine, however, she taught us the "proper" way to hold a wineglass and to taste wine. You have to hold the glass at the stem with your first three fingers and taste the wine by swirling it around in  your mouth to get all the flavors. Too elegant for me. We tasted two types of wine that they produce at the winery. They were both really strong for me and I didn't like them too much. But the cheese and bread they served with the wine was excellent! I'm a fan of cheese.

Once we finished the wine tasting, we got back on the bus to head to Las Bardenas Reales. The Bardenas Reales is a desert in the south of Navarra. One of the James Bond movies was filmed there. I don't know which one because I've never seen a James Bond movie, but fun fact!

Anyway, It was about an hour long bus ride from the winery and an hour and a half or so to get back. I took a nap on the bus. I've found that wine makes me really sleepy. I had that problem in Portugal when the Fado singers were performing, I struggled to keep my eyes open! I blame the wine. And the exhaustion from sleeping on a train the night before and touring a city all day.


The Bardenas Reales was my favorite part of the trip. I've never seen anything quite like it in real life. I imagine that's kind of what the West looks like with the Grand Canyon and deserty areas. It was absolutely gorgeous. We went to two different sites. Basically all we did was walk around, explore, and take pictures, but it was glorious. Clara and I both agreed that it would be great to spend a whole day there and have a picnic.

 The first sight we went to is hard to explain, but I have a picture so hopefully you'll understand. The only picture I've included from the first sight is the one that kind of looks like a desert statue or something. See all the sand dunes? Clara and I walked around those and explored a little (on the right of the picture). Then we rejoined the rest of the  group who were in the left area and took more pictures.

After that, we climbed back on the bus which took us to our second location. It consisted of the part in the picture above and the mountain below. The group was kind of free to do whatever, but a lot of us climbed the mountain first. There was a staircase, which made it pretty easy to climb. The only problems with the staircase was that a few of the steps had fallen off so you had to navigate around that. I guess when it rains, the steps get loose in the mud. Eek! Glad it was dry that day. It's funny how Europe is just like, if you're too stupid not to be careful, then don't climb the mountain.

The view was absolutely spectacular. You could see for miles. I kind of felt like Simba sitting with Mufasa in The Lion King, because there were large shady parts covering the land. "You must never go there, Simba." I don't think Spain has elephant graveyards though, wrong continent.

After the mountain, we climbed down and climbed onto the structure/mountain/thing in the first picture I have up there. Again, awesome view.

It struck me as odd how different everything looked in the Bardenas. As you can see in the picture of me that Clara took, there are green parts along with the sandy parts. On the bus ride back, I saw a few hills that looked perfect for a golf course. There were also hills of sheep that looked like a scene from Scotland. Some of the landmarks looked like the Outback in Australia and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Truly amazing.

We left at about 6:00 and rode back to Pamplona. It was a nice full day and a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind going back to the Banderas. It would just be a matter of transportation, which can be tricky.


I had no idea that Navarra had a desert before coming here. The things you just happen upon.

That's all for now, folks! Until next time.

Hey, Lisboa!

All righty! Here is my overdue blog post about my trip to Lisbon, or Lisboa, as it is in Portuguese (I'll probably switch between both names). Sorry it has taken so long, but I was abnormally exhausted when I got home last Monday and I had an extremely busy week at the university afterwards. I think once I finish the blog, you'll see why I was so tired and why I took Saturday off this past weekend.

To begin, Pamplona is a great city, but it's not a hub for travelling, so normally I have to catch a bus to another city to travel to where I want to go. This time, I caught a bus to San Sebastian to be able to take a train to Lisbon.

It was a rush to get out of the door. I was catching an afternoon bus (4:00) to San Sebastian, but my Spanish grammar class doesn't get out until then. So I left class early, at 3:00, in order to get home, grab my stuff, and eat. Of course, on the day that I don't have time to eat slowly, Carmen cooks me something really good. Ah well.

But speaking of Carmen cooking, she had prepared me a bag of food to get me started on the trip. It consisted of three sandwiches, some fruit, crackers, and a bottle of water. So nice!

On my way to the bus station, I realized that I had left my phone charger at home. I considered just letting my iPhone die, but then too many people wanted me to check in with them for me to be able to do that, as in my mom and my host mom. Plus, my iPhone is my camera so I wouldn't have been able to take any pictures.

When I got to San Sebastian, I had a couple hours before I had to catch the train. I found the train station, got my physical tickets (I'd ordered them online), and then went to go find a phone charger. I figured it would be pretty easy to buy one since so many people have iPhones. And it was. I had to try a few shops, but I eventually found one an Apple store. It was really weird that I just stumbled upon one. I'm used to those being really rare and hard to find.

After that, I returned to the train station. There wasn't any wifi in the actual station, so I had to go to the next one over (for more info, see my post about top secret wifi). When it was time, I got on the train.

I found my train tickets for a heavily discounted price online via Logitravel.com. I basically got round-trip tickets for less than the price of a one-way ticket. It was awesome. However, as they were so cheap, they were the basic tourist tickets, as in, I sat in a seat the whole way there. And it was a 8-10 hour night train. I got a lot of reading done, at least! Luckily, the guy sitting next to me got off in Salamanca and I was able to stretch out on the seat and sleep the rest of the way.

The train arrived in Libsoa promptly at 7:15 in the morning. I was supposed to meet my friend Mary Catherine at 8:15 in her hotel. Luckily, it was only a 20 minute or so walk from the train station, so I had time to make a few wrong turns and still get there early. However, I had printed off a map back in Pamplona, so I really didn't have too much trouble finding the place. The cool thing about the iPhone is that the "Maps" app doesn't need wifi to tell you where you are, so I was able to keep my bearings very well.

As I said, I arrived at the hotel early, so I found an outlet where I could charge my phone and sat there reading until Mary Catherine showed up. She took me up to her room so I could leave my backpack there. They had a great set-up in that hotel. She was sharing the room with 2 other girls, however they had plenty of space. It was sort of 3 room in one, even though there were no doors separating the rooms, the curve of the rooms separated it into 3 distinct parts. There was a bed right as you walked in and then two more the back room area, which looked like your typical hotel.

After that, I went with Mary Catherine to get some coffee and fruit from their complementary breakfast area. I had eaten my last sandwich for breakfast, but I never say no to coffee or fruit. We saw the professors who were in charge of the group and, to my surprise, one of them was Dr. Campbell, who I had had for a general education history class the semester before. I, of course, knew who the other professor was, Dr. Heiser, but we had never been formally introduced, so I introduced myself and thanked both of them for letting me tag along.

Once I was finished with second breakfast, Mary Catherine and I went down to the lobby to meet up with the rest of the group. I pretty much recognized everybody (PC is a small school, after all), but Mary Catherine was the only one that I was actually friends with before the trip. There was a group of soccer girls on the trip, a few guys, Dr. Heiser's daughter, and one of mine and Mary Catherine's sorority sisters who is a freshman this year.

The first thing we did was walk to the highest point of Lisboa, which is St. George's Castle or Castelo de S. Jorge. It consisted of a medieval castle/fortress, a little museum, and nice places to look around. I took some really nice pictures up there. It was fun, of course, to explore a castle. It was kind of strange how many cats and peacocks were hanging around the castle. We all got a kick out of the male peacocks showing off for the female ones.

Visiting places like the medieval castle, reminds me that I'm in Europe and not America. The first reason is obvious. America is too new to have medieval castles and landmarks. However, the other reason is that America focuses so much more on safety that places in Europe. If you fall and break your neck, well too bad. You should have been more careful. In the US we have such a problem with lawsuits, that the more dangerous parts of the castle would have been blocked off.

After that, we went to a cathedral with cool cloisters that the other students had learned about in their classes preparing for the trip. A couple of students did a presentation outside of the cathedral, explaining the history behind it. I could tell you some of the history, but I just can not remember the name. Sorry. Anyway, we were also really distracted by a gypsy lady who was walking around behind the two students presenting and begging passersby for money.

For us to see the cloisters, they made us pay. For some reason, making people pay inside a church for things bugs me. I guess, I'm used to churches asking for donations, but actually making people pay is different. Especially while a mass is going on. I guess cathedrals have morphed from a place solely for worship into a tourist attraction that happens to still have worship services. This one was also selling souvenirs, like the cathedrals in Paris.

After the castle,  we headed down and went to a Fado museum, which is a type of Portugese music. We were going to a Fado dinner that night, so the professors wanted us to learn a little about it beforehand.

We split up for lunch and had a free afternoon afterwards. I learned that I have a really good sense of direction for places that I've already been to. I was able to find my way back to the shopping center, bank, and hotel. Mary Catherine and Emily, our sorority sister, were with me and I'm pretty sure that thought I was going to get them lost, but I did good. I was real proud.

We went shopping for a little bit after lunch. Then we went back to the hotel so I could get my backpack and Mary Catherine and I set off to find my hostel. It took us three hours to find it. It was in a really out of the way place and no one knew where it was. We asked for directions like 10 different times, got told different things every time, and eventually tried to find it by taking a taxi. However, the taxi driver didn't know where it was either, so he took us to the right street. Then it took us about 15 more minutes to find it from that street. I was so afraid the hostel would be really sketchy, since no one knew where it was, but it actually was very nice. Just in a really weird place.

On top of all that, Mary Catherine and I had to navigate through a giant protest several times to get to where we wanted. Spain and Portugal, along with Greece, have the worst economy in Europe right now. There are protests all the time. We definitely had an adventure that afternoon.

After I got settled into the hostel, we headed back to the hotel to have a quick break before dinner. I noticed that the hostel didn't provide towels and as I hadn't brought one, Mary Catherine and the other girls graciously let me use their shower. As I hadn't showered since the day before (night train, remember?), I was really feeling the shower.

The professors had invited us to get drinks on the rooftop before heading out to dinner, so once I finished my shower, I met up with the rest of the group. We all tried different drinks and tasted each others. I got some kind of Brazilian mix thing. It was very good, but cinnamony so some people didn't like it. I love cinnamon anything, so I loved it.

We walked to the Fado place and sat down for dinner. It was probably one of the fanciest dinners that I've ever been to. There were several courses and plenty of wine. Intermittently, a Fado singer would get up and perform for us. They were all really great singers. I really enjoyed how strong their voices were. I was also amazed at how much I could understand. Portugese and Spanish are extremely similar  I could understand about 30% of the song.

The dinner cost more that I want to say, but all in all, the cultural experience was worth it. I will say, however, that travelling with professors is much different than travelling with friends. Professors have much more expensive tastes than students on a budget. The other students on the trip had already paid up front, so it didn't matter in this case.

Eventually we were too tired to stay any longer, so we headed back for the night. Once we neared where my hostel was, Dr. Campbell sent some other students to walk me back, which was very comforting since the hostel was in an out of the way location. When I got back, I utilized the free wifi of the hostel and then crashed. I talked a little bit with the girl who was sharing my room, but I was too tired to talk for too long. I did learn that she's another American who is studying in Madrid for the semester. She came down to visit Lisboa for a weekend as well.

The day started early, and I headed out to meet the rest of the group at the hotel. My hostel provided breakfast, which was nice so I didn't have to worry about that. However, I did make a stop at Starbucks on my way to the hotel. Worth every penny.

Our first stop on the agenda was Jeronimos Monastery. It's a gorgeous macdaddy monastery designed by a monk ages ago. It was actually supposed to be bigger, but they never completed it fully. I think it was big enough. We spent some time looking around in there.

Once we finished touring the monastery, we walked through an outdoor market on our way to Belem. I hope that Pamplona gets more outdoor markets when the weather is better. I really love looking around at the goods.

Belem is a part of the city dedicated to the Age of Discovery. Fun fact: Belem is the Portugese word for Bethlehem. There is a landmark that honors the explorers. There is also the Belem Tower which used to serve as a check-in point before ships could enter the city. It was quite lovely. We climbed up the top and had a nice view of the harbor.

After looking at the harbor, we went by El museo de coches (I think I said that in Spanish and not Portugese... whoops) or the Museum of Cars. Now, we Dr. Campbell said this, I groaned inwardly. I'm not a car person. However, it turned out to be about carriages that famous and royal people had ridden in. They were all ornate and gorgeous. I didn't mind looking at them at all. Glad the museum was not what I expected.

For lunch, most of us went to this little kebab shop next to the hotel. Since living in Germany, I've had a love for doner kebabs. In my stay here, the kebabs I got in that little shop were the best (I got a falafel kebab for dinner as well).

After lunch, we had a free afternoon again. A lot of people went to an art museum, but I decided to stay back and study for an exam that I had on Monday. I found a little outdoor cafe and sat watching the city. It got to be really annoying, however, because people would shamelessly come up to the tables and ask for money. It really bugged me, because I was trying to study and they made me feel bad.

Once everyone got back, we all took naps. I had to take a quick one because I had to catch my train. I took a 30 minute nap and then took another shower. I said goodbye to Mary Catherine and headed to the station. I had a little freakout at the station, because I thought I had the wrong train, but it's because the signs are really confusing for trains and only say the final destination, not the other ones. So it was fine. I got on my train with no problem.

I decided that for the ride back, I would try to upgrade my ticket to get a bed. So once the conductor asked me for my ticket, I asked if there were any beds open. There were! He showed me to a compartment with two bunk beds. It was very tight (tourist class), but it was a bed. He took my ticket and said that I would be charged the price difference. Well normally these beds costs 90 euros and the seats 50 something euros. Well, I had gotten mine for a discount, so I was afraid that they'd charge me a lot, but I really wanted a bed so I would have paid it. However, they only charged me 25 euros, which was so much less than I was expecting. I gratefully paid it and sleep great the whole way back.

It still amazes me how smooth my return trip went. I got the train bed, I easily caught my bus back to Pamplona in San Sebastian, and made it back in perfect time for my exam. The only stressful part was that I had to catch a taxi, which was a pain. I'm pretty sure he charged too much, but I didn't have time to question it. I had an exam to take.

There you have it! My trip to Lisbon in a nutshell. It was a great time! Sorry it took so long to post.

Los coches

Okay, I'm no car person, but I have a hankerin' to write a blog post about cars.

Cars are one of the first things that make you realize that you're not in Kansas anymore, I mean, America. It was one of the first things I noticed as I landed in Europe in January and that still strikes me every once and a while.

Why are they so different? Firstly, the style is just different. They are smaller and somehow look distinctly European. Moreover, you don't see as many new cars as you do in America. Europeans, in many areas, buy things to last. Many Americans buy cars, and other things, to have for a few years and then buy the next big thing. Furthermore, there aren't very many SUVs and minivans. The roads are so narrow that it's impractical to have one, so they don't.

I may have said in an earlier blog post that Carmen doesn't have a car. Until this week, I thought she didn't. Well, surprise! She has one. She rarely uses it because she prefers to take the bus. It was also broken until this week. It's been broken for over a year and she finally got it fixed this week. I went with her to pick it up, which was fun because the place where she got it repaired was in a barrio I hadn't been to before.

After she picked up her car, she had to get it officially checked out. In Spain, you have to annually get your car checked out by certified mechanics to be able to legally drive. If your car checks out, you get a sticker to stick on your windshield saying that you're cleared to drive. We don't do this in America, so I thought the process was really fun.

Once we got through the really long line, the mechanic started the process. He was kind of grumpy. I could tell Carmen didn't like him much. Anyway, he started telling her all these things she needed to do. Like, "headlights," so she turned on her front lights. Then "break lights," "signals," "windshield wipers," etc. He went through the list. When he got to the emergency lights (the red triangle on the dashboard), Carmen didn't know what he was talking about so I pressed it for her. She had forgotten where a lot of things were in her car because she hadn't driven in a year.

After that, there was a wheel test. Then they lifted the car up and looked under. I guess they do all these things in America, but it's not mandatory and you're not usually with the car watching.

When that was finished, we went to the giant supermarket. Except "supermercado" isn't the same as our version of "superstore," they call it "hípermercado" which would translate as a hypermarket. Kind of call, huh? Anyway, one of the interior lights wouldn't turn off and Carmen couldn't remember how to turn it off so she just popped it out and pulled the plug to turn it off. I would have sat there looking for the switch, possibly for a good fifteen minutes, and never think to do that. I thought it was really funny.

We also went to get gas, which was a different experience for me as well. For one thing, there is a gas attendant. Unless you live in New Jersey or Oregon, you have to pump you're own gas in the United States. So that was different. Then, I tried to compare gas prices to ours, but I failed. Not because it was in euros, but because they fill up their tanks based on liters, not gallons. We really need to switch to the metric system. No one else uses the one we use and it's a pain to have to convert everything. I have to convert temperature, my weight, my height, serving sizes, and the list goes on. So annoying. But, I digress.

I've also noticed that they have "Stop" signs. That say "Stop" on them, in English. Not "Parada" or another form of the Spanish verb for stop. Very interesting.  

Pamplona has a lot of traffic circles. I don't know if that's a city thing in general or maybe it's more common in Europe than in America. Not sure. Just an observation.

You also definitely have to be a much more vigilant driver here. People cross the streets without looking. Drivers only signal sometimes (Carmen included). Overall, it's a more assertive way of driving.

It's also really rare to have an automatic car. Most people still drive stick shift. I asked Carmen how to call that in Spanish and she just said "car." If there is a word, she doesn't know it. If you have an automatic car, then you classify it, but the norm is the manual/stick shift. Which is the opposite in the United States.

Anyway, I just thought I'd write something about cars, even though I know virtually nothing about cars.

Finances.

Over the past month or so, I've heard people express curiosity about my financial costs. On the whole, I've been reluctant to talk about that because I'm not very organized when it comes to finances. Maybe that'll be more helpful though, at least for other unorganized people.

This is solely based on my perceptions and experiences. I'm pretty good at saving my money and making sure I don't spend too much, but I don't make budgets. Maybe I should. Perhaps when I actually have a real job and pay taxes and bills. Bleh. Don't want to think about that right now.

Anyway, to begin, my parents gave me 200 euros as a birthday present/aid to help get started here so I wouldn't have to worry about transferring money right when I got here. So that's what I started with, essentially. I was kind of shocked how fast that got spent. You see, in the efforts to pack light, I did not pack things like shampoo and the rest of the products I use for my hair, certain other toiletries, and just some things that I ended up needing when I got here. For instance, I did bring an umbrella, but with the amount that it rains here I decided to buy a pair of rain boots.

To pay my rent, my parents and I decided it would be best to open a Spanish bank account. I have a Spanish bank account right now with enough money to pay my rent as well as some extra spending money my parents were kind enough to give me. I try not to use that money for several reasons. 1) I don't want to spend too much that I can't pay my rent and 2) I'm saving that for trips when the weather is better. My plan for this is to see how much I have left and then I can do whatever I want later on. So many of the other exchange students have been going on trips every weekend and more, but I decided early on to save my money for later in the semester when the weather is better for travelling. I think I'll be glad of this later. Plus, I've already gone on a few awesome trips anyway! It's not like I'm lacking anything.

Furthermore, I don't have food costs and I don't have to pay for things like sheets, toilet paper, etc (I know some people who had to go buy those things). Because of this, I really don't spend that much money. Most of my money spent on a weekly basis goes to coffee and paying for the bus, when I decide to take it. Occasionally, I'll have to restock on toiletries, but overall I really don't spend much on a regular week.

Now, trips are a different story. I try to save as much as I can, when I can, so I can splurge on certain areas. I withdrew 200 euros for my Paris trip as spending/just in case money and only spent about 50. That doesn't include the hotel and plane and bus tickets, which was probably around 180 euros (I got some good deals!). My Portugal trip cost a lot more. I probably spent around 200 euros, including my hostel and part of my train ticket. I ordered my train tickets online, but while I was on the way home I paid 25 euros to upgrade my seat to a bed.

Why did my Portugal trip cost so much? Well I'll go into more detail when I finish my blog post about the trip, but I'll touch on it now. Basically, I blame the professors' and their expensive tastes. I'm kidding, of course (sort of), but we definitely did a lot of things I wouldn't have normally done if I had been planning the trip. We went to several museums, which we had to pay for on Saturday, and then we went to this really pricey dinner Saturday night. It was a dinner with Fado music as entertainment, a Fado dinner if you will. Fado is a type of music typical to the Portuguese and it's characterized by "coming from the soul." A lot of the songs are sad, but others are more upbeat. It just depends. The food was really good and the music was excellent, but it cost 60 euros! I was told it would cost 49, but it ended up costing 60 because they didn't know that 49 didn't include the drinks. These costs were included in the price that the other students who went on the trip had already paid, so they didn't really realize how much it was. Ah well, it was a great cultural experience. As my mom told me, the money I saved by going to a hostel was able to be used for the dinner.

If you're going abroad or are abroad, here are a couple tips that I've learned in regards to money saving.

• Getting a library card. I'm am avid reader and movie watcher. I go into bookstores all the time and see books that I want to attempt to read in Spanish. Same for movies. Instead of buying them, I got a library card. I rent at least one movie to watch per week in Spanish and have one or two books every month. Granted, I don't always read said books because I also have a Kindle and read books on that.
• Trips. Pick and choose. I get bombarded every week with trip opportunities. I want to go on all of them, but then I have to remind myself it is just not feasible. Pick the ones that really excite you and spend the other weekends experiencing where you're living. If you're going on trips everywhere every weekend, you haven't gotten to know you're host city, which is a shame. 
• Transportation. In Pamplona, you save money for riding the bus if you get a bus card. I think it was free, if not, it was really cheap. Normally it costs something like 1.35 euros to ride the bus, but if you have a card it's only 65 cents. You recharge you're card at certain shops whenever you're running low. It's really easy and saves a ton of money. So wherever you are, figure out what's the best way to save money. Sometimes it's a metro card instead of a bus card. 
• Texting/Phones. I happened upon an after Christmas sale for my phone, which was incredibly lucky. I managed to get a basic flip phone for 9 euros including a 5 euro time card. Now, the phones here are normally pre-pay phones so each text message costs money. I brought my iPhone from the states with me and I use it for iMessaging and the apps. A lot of people use an app called "WhatsApp" which is a free texting app. I bought it ($1.99) and put my Spanish number on the app. People with "WhatsApp" can text me and I don't have to pay the texting rate.  Very handy. 
• Food. Even though I don't have to buy food, I've picked up from the other students that you ought to limit how much you eat out. We have a delicious cafeteria at the University and it's so easy to eat there every day. However, it all really adds up, so it's a good idea to eat most meals at home and eat out every once and a while. This is true for back home too, of course, but I think the temptation to eat out more is higher in a foreign country. 

Well, that's all I have for now. Again, feel free to leave comments, including any questions you might have!

"Top secret wifi"

Getting wifi here when traveling is such a struggle. You'd think a train station would have public wifi. Nope! You have to pay and make an account. I don't want that hassle.

I'm currently in route to Lisbon to meet up with a spring break trip my college is taking. I took a bus to San Sebastián and from there I'm a night train to Lisbon. My friend Mary Catherine is going on this trip and she's been my contact person for meeting up with them.

Therefore, when I was in San Sebastián waiting for my train to Lisbon, I found a café nearby and asked the bartender for the code. At first when I asked, he said they didn't have it. When I asked him if he knew where I could find somewhere with wifi, he turned around and started writing something. I thought it was directions; however, it ended up being the code. He gave it to me and said "top secret." So I ordered a coffee and was able to use the wifi to check in and make sure Mary Catherine hadn't sent me anything. So much work!

This trip has been very last minute. I saw a Facebook status that Mary Catherine posted about being excited to go to Portugal. I messaged her and asked her to send me an itinerary of the trip. This was Wednesday. On Thursday (yesterday) I found really cheap train tickets from San Sebastián to Lisbon and it all fell into place after that. I can't stay in the hotel with them, so I'm getting a hostel for one night--which I'm excited and apprehensive about because I've never done one before. The other two nights, I'm sleeping on the train.

So far, the trip has gone by very smoothly. I was afraid there would be a ton of problems, because I didn't plan my trip until yesterday. But so far so good! I'm very excited about it.

Also on Wednesday, I went to this Q&A session about the Pope. I learned more about the Catholic tradition that I didn't really know, such as about the Conclave of cardinals, how the bishops work, and that the Pope is also the Bishop of Rome.

I also heard a new argument about why women can't be priests. It has to do with the idea that priests are the physical representations of Jesus and for whatever reason, Jesus was a man. The priest who said this said that maybe if Jesus was a woman that the priests would be women. I hadn't thought about it that way before. I can't say that I necessarily agree, but I understand now.

Well, this is a hurriedly written blog update for you until I write about Lisbon! I've got a train to catch.