Thanksgiving in Spain...

This last weekend, all my friends from home were returning home to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. Most of us here at SUMC stayed in Madrid, or traveled for the weekend. I decided to stay in Madrid for the four day weekend. Suffolk arranged a Thanksgiving dinner for those of us who stayed in Madrid. About 20 people, both students and faculty, met at a restaurant where they prepared us an "American Thanksgiving meal." It was actually very good. My favorite food at Thanksgiving is mashed potatoes, and these potatoes were great! Although it was not my traditional U.S. Thanksgiving, it was so fun and great to be able to spend it with my friends in Madrid. And of course the delicious apple pie made the experience even better! :)

Lisboa =)

A couple weekends ago, I went on a school trip to Lisbon, Portugal. The school trips are always so fun! It was about an eight hour bus ride from Madrid to Lisbon, but I spent most of it catching up on sleep, so it did not seem very long. It is great to go to places with the school because they plan activities, meals, and expeditions for the group. The meals with the school were exquisite; they are usually 3 course meals catered to everyones´needs. During one meal, there were even Portuguese singers singing while we ate our delicious food!

We went to all the famous sites, the tower, the castle, the ocean. It was all so beautiful! Unfortunately, it rained all day Saturday, so it was difficult to see the castle with all the fog! It was very cold and rainy. However, we managed to get some laughs out of the whole experience, and then went shopping to make us feel a little better. :) The clothes, food, taxis, etc...are all much cheaper in Lisbon than in Spain, so that was a nice surprise. Overall, even with the unfortunate weather, my friends and I managed to have a great time exploring the streets of Lisboa!! I would love to go back to Portugal during the summer to enjoy the gorgeous beaches.