Trip to San Sebastian =)

This past weekend, I went on a school trip to San Sebastian. Each semester, the school organizes three trips, and each student can pick one to go on. They are always very fun, but this one was amazing! It was my favorite school trip so far. Although it was a long bus ride (6 hours), it was well worth it! San Sebastian is in the north of Spain; since it is so close to France, we also visited two French towns on Friday. One was a French beach town that was absolutely gorgeous! It is a very popular vacation spot, and I can definitely understand why! We finished Friday off with a dinner with the whole group, which are always a lot of fun and A LOT of food!

On Saturday, we toured San Sebastian. I can´t even describe how gorgeous it is! There is a beautiful beach that is in the shape of a shell called Playa de la Concha (Shell). The water was SO blue! We went to the top of a mountain that looks over the whole beach and ocean, and even rode little boats around a little man-made river! The rest of the day, we went shopping, explored the old part of the city, and had some great food! It was an amazing weekend.

ZARAGOZA!

This past weekend, my best friend here and I went to Zaragoza. Zaragoza is a spanish city about one hour away from Madrid (on the train). I spent my junior year of high school in Zaragoza, and I lived with a spanish family. I went back for the weekend to visit them and to enjoy the city of Zaragoza. I visited at a perfect time; there was a huge, almost two week festival called "las Fiestas del Pilar." I had a great time catching up with the family, eating their delicious meals, and playing with my little host brother! In the city, there were a lot of street vendors and stands set up for the festival. During the day, my friend and I walked around, and of course bought a few things! At night time, we went to the center of the city to enjoy the festival at night! On Saturday night, there was a huge outdoor concert on the main street. There were SO many people! The whole street was packed with people, all dressed in their typical festival attire of red/black bandanas and overalls with the straps pulled down. Although the weather was much colder than Madrid, we had a fantastic weekend! :)

Well, the semester is already half way done! We have all received our midterm exams back, and I was very happy with my grades! I studied a lot for my tests, so it was refreshing to see my hard work pay off! :) This weekend, I am going on a school trip to San Sebastian, a beautiful city in the north of Spain.

:) Festival

These last couple weeks have been pretty busy. This semester has been going by so quickly! Midterm exams started last week, and I have three more this week. I spent most of this weekend studying, but I did manage to take some time on Sunday to go to a Latin American festival in Madrid. My Latin American studies teacher encouraged us all to go, and he promised that it would be worthwhile. He was correct! :) It was a giant parade with each of the Latin American countries. Each country was represented by people in the traditional, brightly colored clothes dancing through the streets to loud music. It was really fun, and nothing like I have seen before. The majority of the people there were of Latin American decent, and you could tell they were very proud to represent their country in Madrid. Usually Sundays in Madrid are quiet, but for this festival, LOTS of people crowded the street! After the parade, there was a free, outdoor concert of a famous Latin rapping group, Calle 13. I really wanted to stay to watch, but it was late and I had to go home to finish studying! However, my friend stayed and she said it was amazing! There are so many events like this that take place in Madrid, and it really makes me realize how lucky I am to be here! :) This next weekend, my friend and I are going to Zaragoza to visit my host family from my junior year of high school abroad! Midterms will be done, and it will be great to relax and see my spanish family! :)