. . . follows me to the beach! Well, kind of. Our first day in Barcelona we decided to hang out on the beach. After about 5 hours it started to rain, and when we got back to our bed and breakfast we discovered there was forecast for rain almost the whole time we are here! Lucky for us the sun came out today and it looks like the forecast will be good from here on out, good thing the weather people are wrong sometimes!
I am finally at a computer where I can upload photos, and as luck would have it, I left my USB cord in Salamanca! Oh well . . . the photo anticipation continues.
Zaragoza was an awesome town to visit. The Roman ruins were amazing, their central plaza was a great hangout spot, and for being a large city, it was rather quiet.
Barcelona is packed. The beach is packed, the tourist buses are packed, every thing is packed! I am loving it here, the sites have been great and I have enjoyed some sun, but I think the smaller cities are more my style, good thing our next town is tiny, and our bed and breakfast has a pool just for us!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Chris is coming!
I am very excited because Chris is arriving in Spain today. I am so excited to travel around with him, I just know he is going to love Spain. I am also excited for him to have some vacation time to relax . . . Spain style!
Since I am leaving school for the next two weeks I am not sure what my internet availability will be like, so I thought I would give you our itenterary so you at least know what we are doing.
1st Stop: Salamanca for 2 days. I wanted a chance to show Chris around the city that I have been staying in so he can fall in love with it too.
2nd Stop: Zaragoza for 2 days. This is a city a bit north of Madrid. I planned this stop because the trip from Salamance to Barcelona was so long and I wanted to break it up a little. However, it turns out that this is an amazing city in and of itself. When I told my teachers my itenterary today they both said that they loved Zaragoza and that it was very beautiful!
3rd Stop: Barcelona for 4 days. We are staying at a really cool bed and breakfast in the middle of the city. I can´t wait to see all of the sites and spend some time at the beautiful beaches.
4th Stop: Xativa for 3days. Xativa is about 30 minutes away from Valencia, and it is a pretty small town. We are staying at a bed and breakfast that is kind of out of town a bit. The house has a pool and one of the owners is a massage therapist! We probably won't do many touristy things here but instead we will spend some time relaxing.
5th Stop: Granada for 4 days. This was a last minute change. We were planning to go to Malaga which is a beach town in the south of Spain. Malaga proved hard to get to from Valencia and so many people I have talked to told me that Granada is their favorite town in Spain. So I found a hotel in Granada and cancelled the one in Malaga. Granada is home to one of the most visted castles in Spain and I am so excited to go there!
Next we will spend the night in Madrid and Chris leaves the next morning. I have one more week in Salamanca and then I will be home as well! I'm sure the time will fly by, but hopefully not too fast!
Since I am leaving school for the next two weeks I am not sure what my internet availability will be like, so I thought I would give you our itenterary so you at least know what we are doing.
1st Stop: Salamanca for 2 days. I wanted a chance to show Chris around the city that I have been staying in so he can fall in love with it too.
2nd Stop: Zaragoza for 2 days. This is a city a bit north of Madrid. I planned this stop because the trip from Salamance to Barcelona was so long and I wanted to break it up a little. However, it turns out that this is an amazing city in and of itself. When I told my teachers my itenterary today they both said that they loved Zaragoza and that it was very beautiful!
3rd Stop: Barcelona for 4 days. We are staying at a really cool bed and breakfast in the middle of the city. I can´t wait to see all of the sites and spend some time at the beautiful beaches.
4th Stop: Xativa for 3days. Xativa is about 30 minutes away from Valencia, and it is a pretty small town. We are staying at a bed and breakfast that is kind of out of town a bit. The house has a pool and one of the owners is a massage therapist! We probably won't do many touristy things here but instead we will spend some time relaxing.
5th Stop: Granada for 4 days. This was a last minute change. We were planning to go to Malaga which is a beach town in the south of Spain. Malaga proved hard to get to from Valencia and so many people I have talked to told me that Granada is their favorite town in Spain. So I found a hotel in Granada and cancelled the one in Malaga. Granada is home to one of the most visted castles in Spain and I am so excited to go there!
Next we will spend the night in Madrid and Chris leaves the next morning. I have one more week in Salamanca and then I will be home as well! I'm sure the time will fly by, but hopefully not too fast!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Finally Good Food
Although I had good food in San Sebastian, I had yet to find any in Salamanca and it was making me sad. There is this girl named Jessica that I met here, she is from Colorado. Jessica, like myself, was in great need of some good food. Altough they were a bit more expensive, we decided to start going to some of the restarants that are in our traveling books to see if they were any good.
First we tried a place called Bambu. It was amazing. We got stuffed peppers and a salad and some calamari. It was so delicious! I was so happy to finally have a good meal.
Next we tried a place that I cannot remember the name of. Jessica's book stated that it was a favorite of the locals so we figured that was a good sign. The food was, yet again, amazing! So amazing that I made a reservation for Chris and I to eat their on Saturday night when he arrives.
After that some of our classmates found a little cafe close to school that sells churros and chocolate. They put the churros on the side and then give you a thick hot chocolate to dip them in. They were awesome.
We also found a convent of nuns that sell sweets. I will be bringing some boxes back home for everyone, the sweets are that good.
I think we have been successful in finding good food, but as always, the search continues . . .
First we tried a place called Bambu. It was amazing. We got stuffed peppers and a salad and some calamari. It was so delicious! I was so happy to finally have a good meal.
Next we tried a place that I cannot remember the name of. Jessica's book stated that it was a favorite of the locals so we figured that was a good sign. The food was, yet again, amazing! So amazing that I made a reservation for Chris and I to eat their on Saturday night when he arrives.
After that some of our classmates found a little cafe close to school that sells churros and chocolate. They put the churros on the side and then give you a thick hot chocolate to dip them in. They were awesome.
We also found a convent of nuns that sell sweets. I will be bringing some boxes back home for everyone, the sweets are that good.
I think we have been successful in finding good food, but as always, the search continues . . .
Saturday, July 17, 2010
San Sebastian
Sorry that I am being a horrible blogger while in Spain, I will try to be better. It looks like you will all have to wait for pictures, unless I can figure out how to transfer some of my friends pictures from facebook to here!
This past weekend I took a trek with my roommates to San Sebastian. It is a coastal town in the north of Spain really close to France. The goal for the weekend was sun and beach, and then more sun and beach! However, when we got there on Friday night it was raining :( Despite the rain (it was more like a light drizzle) we decided to walk over to a free concert on the port that someone from our hostel told us about. It was amazing! The traditional language in San Sebastion, along with much of the north of Spain and the South of France is Bosque. I had never heard of this languge before so it was amazing to see it written all over the street signs. The concert was of traditional Bosque music. It sounds alot like Irish jig music. It was amazing because every song they played seemed to have a dance to it and all of the locals would start dancing along. It was pretty basic jig type steps, so after watching a couple of times we started dancing along, it was so fun!
The next day it was still raining so we did what one always should do when it is raining, we went shopping! We found some good stuff but eventually we grew tired of this so we decided to take a hike in the rain. They have a statute of Jesus up on a mountain that is overlooking San Sebastian and the Ocean. It was a long and treaterous (maybe I am exaggerating about that) hike, but eventally we found Jesus :) It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. At night we went to this tiny, packed, local mussel restarant. We were packed in like sardines and after you finally get a chance to order they just give you your order on the bar and you eat it and leave, no seating required! I LOVED the mussels, which means they must have been pretty good because I usually don´t like seafood. After we went around eating some more tapas (I finally found good food in Spain, these tapas were amazing!!!) we decided to call it an early night because Anne and I´s allergies were flaring up.
The next day it was beautiful and sunny, so we spent the day lounging at the beach.
It was a great way to spend my first weekend in Spain!
This past weekend I took a trek with my roommates to San Sebastian. It is a coastal town in the north of Spain really close to France. The goal for the weekend was sun and beach, and then more sun and beach! However, when we got there on Friday night it was raining :( Despite the rain (it was more like a light drizzle) we decided to walk over to a free concert on the port that someone from our hostel told us about. It was amazing! The traditional language in San Sebastion, along with much of the north of Spain and the South of France is Bosque. I had never heard of this languge before so it was amazing to see it written all over the street signs. The concert was of traditional Bosque music. It sounds alot like Irish jig music. It was amazing because every song they played seemed to have a dance to it and all of the locals would start dancing along. It was pretty basic jig type steps, so after watching a couple of times we started dancing along, it was so fun!
The next day it was still raining so we did what one always should do when it is raining, we went shopping! We found some good stuff but eventually we grew tired of this so we decided to take a hike in the rain. They have a statute of Jesus up on a mountain that is overlooking San Sebastian and the Ocean. It was a long and treaterous (maybe I am exaggerating about that) hike, but eventally we found Jesus :) It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. At night we went to this tiny, packed, local mussel restarant. We were packed in like sardines and after you finally get a chance to order they just give you your order on the bar and you eat it and leave, no seating required! I LOVED the mussels, which means they must have been pretty good because I usually don´t like seafood. After we went around eating some more tapas (I finally found good food in Spain, these tapas were amazing!!!) we decided to call it an early night because Anne and I´s allergies were flaring up.
The next day it was beautiful and sunny, so we spent the day lounging at the beach.
It was a great way to spend my first weekend in Spain!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Me gusta España mucho!
I made it to Spain! I have been in Salamanca for 3 days now, and I am loving it. The pace of life here is so leisurly. Everything closes down at siesta time so everyone can go home and rest. Then everyone (and by everyone I mean everyone, old people, kids, everyone!) comes out for dinner around 10 and stays out late hanging out in the plaza mayor (an amazing plaza in the middle of the city, it has won the best plaza in Europe mutiple times!) When I first got here I walked around very "American." Fast and in a hurry with a place to go in mind. I would get funny looks from people I passed and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized that people in Salamaca walk at a leisurly place. They take in everything around them and they are never in a hurry. It is amazing how much more I take in the things around me when I walk at a Spanish pace :)
I have met so many people from around the world, which is very fun! Most people know English, but we try and practice our Spanish as much as we can. In my class I have two people from Australia, one from Holland, and one from Turkey. Class is hard but very informative. The teachers refuse to speak English and so it makes for an interesting time when they are trying to tell us what a word means, we are learning though!
The weather here is amazing! In the morning it is cool at about 65 degrees. Once the sun comes up it can get up to 100 degrees, I love it!
This weekend I am going to San Sebastian with my flat mates. We plan on sitting at the beach and eating all of the local seafood, it should be amazing. It will also be my first time staying in a hostel, so wish me luck!
I still haven't figured out how to put my pictures on the school computers, but if I do I will surely post some.
I hope everyone is doing well back in the states. I will post when I can, unless the pool is calling my name :)
On my first night here I got to watch Spain win the world cup at the plaza mayor. It was amazing, people went crazy when they scored and I got it on video! I will post it when I can.
My typical day so far starts with school from 9-1. Then I go home to do some homework. Once my homework is done I haul myself to the pool (they have many beautiful public pools) to take my siesta in the sun. There is no air conditioning so it is cooler to be at the pool. If I am not at the pool then I am walking around the city, taking in the sites. At 7 I have cultural class at school. After class some friends and I go to find a good place for dinner. After dinner we walk around until we get tired.I have met so many people from around the world, which is very fun! Most people know English, but we try and practice our Spanish as much as we can. In my class I have two people from Australia, one from Holland, and one from Turkey. Class is hard but very informative. The teachers refuse to speak English and so it makes for an interesting time when they are trying to tell us what a word means, we are learning though!
The weather here is amazing! In the morning it is cool at about 65 degrees. Once the sun comes up it can get up to 100 degrees, I love it!
This weekend I am going to San Sebastian with my flat mates. We plan on sitting at the beach and eating all of the local seafood, it should be amazing. It will also be my first time staying in a hostel, so wish me luck!
I still haven't figured out how to put my pictures on the school computers, but if I do I will surely post some.
I hope everyone is doing well back in the states. I will post when I can, unless the pool is calling my name :)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
A preview to Spain
When in Spain I will be staying in the city of Salamanca, It is to the left of Madrid close to Portugal:
It's beautify huh?
Here is a picture of the city:
The school I am studying at is called Don Quijote, they have a lot of language schools all over Spain and Mexico. Here is the promotional video:
There, now you know where I will be staying and studying. I am sooo excited!!!
Countdown to Spain . . . 0 days!!! (i'm probably on the plane right now as you read this . . .)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
My first 5K
This summer it has been hard for Jill and I to find time to get to the gym. It takes so long to drive there, workout, then shower and head to work or home. We decided that instead of going to the gym this summer we would go jogging instead. Jogging is nice because you can do it anywhere that you find convenient. For us it is convenient to jog at 6:30 in the morning at Jill's house (well maybe not convenient, but the only time we could find.) Jill lives right on the light rail so we can jog close to her house, shower at her house, and then I can go straight into work on the light rail. It has been a good system to keep us working out.
After a couple of weeks of this we decided that we should run a 5K. Having a goal would help us run harder because we knew we were building up to something. We signed up for the Hot Dam Red, White and Boom 5K that took place on July 3rd at 6:30 in the evening in 90 degree weather!
Here we are showing off our free tee shirts:
And we're off:
Our goal was to run it in under 30 minutes. We didn't pace ourselves really well in the beginning, so we ended up at 33 but we were happy with that. Here we are running really fast at the end, once you see the finish line you can't help but run fast!
We were definitely hot and tired!
But we were happy that we had finished!
(thanks to Chris for being our photographer!)
We plan on running another one in Late September/October. This will make sure that we keep on working out when I get back from Spain, and will give us another goal to work toward. We are definitely going to train better next time, and we will try and remember to pace ourselves!
Countdown to Spain . . . 2 days!!!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Twins Game
Along with getting free lunches, working at a firm this summer has other perks. We get to do lots of fun events, like tour a brewery, attend a judges panel and meet the judges, and many other things. Last Thursday we all got to go to a twins game to see the new stadium.
They had extra tickets so Chris got to come along.
It was a lot of fun to eat lots of food and hang out with everyone. Here is another picture of the field and Nicole, one of my favorite summer associates. She goes to Mitchell too and she is awesome!
They had extra tickets so Chris got to come along.
It was a lot of fun to eat lots of food and hang out with everyone. Here is another picture of the field and Nicole, one of my favorite summer associates. She goes to Mitchell too and she is awesome!
And here is one of Cara and I, she is my other favorite summer. She goes to UC Berkeley. I will for sure miss her once we finish up work on Friday!
All in all we had a great time!
Count down till Spain . . . 4 days!!!!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Rejection and Acceptance
So there is this thing called Law Review. It is a journal that just about every law school in the country puts out. Ours is called the William Mitchell Law Review. It is very prestigious to become a staff member on Law Review and even more so to be an editor. Each year the William Mitchell Law Review puts on a write on competition. A couple of days after finals they give you a packet of a bunch of information and you have three weeks to write a 16 page case note and complete an editing exam. This year 46 students were chosen to be staff members from the write on competition, and 4 were chosen because they have good grades.
My long term career goal is to be a Federal Judge. The first step to this career is to clerk for a Federal Judge when I graduate from law school. The only thing is, to do this you have to have awesome grades and be on Law Review. So of course I chose to put myself through three weeks or writing craziness to try and get on law review. It was long, and it was grueling, but in my head it was worth the chance to be on a journal.
So you can imagine my disappointment when three weeks later I got the "sorry you weren't chosen" e-mail. I was disappointed, but mostly my pride was hurt. I slumped around for a couple of days being sad and disappointed. Then I realized that there is more to life than law school, and that I could always try again next year and I accepted the fact that I had been rejected and moved on with my life.
Then came Friday. I opened up my e-mail to a great surprise. I had an e-mail from the William Mitchell Law Review Editor in Chief. I had graded on to Law Review. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I'm pretty sure my office mates thought that I was crazy :) Safe to say I couldn't do anymore work that day, I had to run to meet Chris and tell him the good news!
So now I am officially a staff member of the William Mitchell Law Review. I can also officially say that being rejected from something you want so bad is an awful feeling, but you will be a much happier person if you learn to accept life as it comes!
Happy 4th Everyone
Count Down to Spain . . . 6 days!!!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Dumbo
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