Tapas, Travel, and Textbooks

After Morocco, I spent a few weekends just in Madrid doing homework and studying for tests, but then  my roommates and I decided to head over to Barcelona for a day. We took an early morning train straight to Barcelona and after a 3 hour train ride, we finally arrived and made our way to Park Güell.  Park Güell was a very cool place to go but it was definitely a good idea to get tickets ahead of time because it was very busy and sold out on the Saturday we were there. We spent around 2 hours walking around and it was a beautiful day to do some sight seeing. Some history behind Park Guell is that Park Güell is an architectural masterpiece designed by Antoni Gaudí The park was originally conceived in 1900 as part of a luxury residential project initiated by Eusebi Güell, Gaudí's patron. Güell originally envisioned a garden city with 60 plots for homes, but the project was not commercially successful, and only two houses were built. In 1926, the site was transformed into a public...

Hola! I can now officially say that I've been to Africa. Although if I'm being honest, I never really felt like I was in another continent especially when Spain was so close that I could see it across the sea. Either way, this trip to Morocco is one of the coolest weekend trips I will probably ever get to go on.  After getting up early on Friday morning, we hopped on a Ryan Air flight to Tangier and met our tour guide Mohammad or as we called him, Momo. Momo took us to a shawarma place to go get some lunch as we were all pretty hungry after our flight and two hour long wait in the customs line. Then we headed over to our hotel where we dropped off our bags and began our walking tour of Tangier. We were led through the very narrow streets where we saw at least 50 stray cats as well as many little shops and homes. Eventually we walked into a herbal/spice shop where we got to hear all about what Morocco is mainly known for: argon oil.  This was a very cool experience because we g...

Hola! I'm very sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but a lot has happened in the last few weeks. To start off, Valencia was an amazing day trip to the beach where I ate paella and drank orange juice by the sea. It was the perfect day for the beach as the sun was shining and the water was the perfect temperature. The drive was long and tedious, but we did get to stop at a diner type place where I got a cafe con leche and a croissant the size of my head.  Once we actually arrived in Valencia, we immediately headed to the beach and we played some volleyball, swam in the ocean, and sunbathed for a bit. We even got to see dolphins in the distance which was a really cool surprise. And true to the European beach experience, we did see some people who were more appropriately dressed (or rather undressed) for a nude beach. Regardless, I had a lot of fun at the beach and really enjoyed my day there. After another uneventful week of classes, we stayed in Madrid for the next two weeke...

Hola! I have officially completed my first week of school in Madrid and I am looking forward to my classes. I am taking a majority of nursing classes with a couple of honors requirements, which is exciting because I'm finally starting to learn how to be a nurse.  My Health Assessment professor, Prof. Buckley, is probably my favorite professor for the semester which is good because she teaches three of my seven classes. She is teaching my health assessment lecture and lab along with my IPE course. Prof. Longeway is also a really good professor who teaches a very engaging lecture where he relates all of the ethical concepts we talk about to stories from his career. My physiology professor, Prof. Boal, is a 25 ish year old physical therapist who works mainly for sports teams in Madrid. His class will be difficult due to the amount of material we need to learn, but it'll be fun. My last professor is Prof. Nelson who teaches health promotion and she is probably my least favorite pro...

Hola! Saturday was my first weekend trip to Toledo! We took an hour and a half long bus ride to the old town where we then proceeded to get a small tour from a local tour guide about the history of Toledo. Toledo, often called the "City of Three Cultures," is a historic city in central Spain known for its rich blend of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish heritage. Its history dates back to ancient times, and it has played a significant role in Spain's cultural and political development.  Toledo's history begins with its founding by the Carpetani, a Celtic-Iberian people. It was later conquered by the Romans around 193 BCE, becoming an important administrative center. The city was known as   Toletum   during Roman rule and prospered as a hub for agriculture, metalworking, and trade.  In the 6th century CE, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Toledo became the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom. It was a crucial religious and political center during this time, particularly un...

 Hola! It's been a while since my previous post, but quite a lot has happened over the last few days. Last Saturday we went to the Sofia Reina which is more of a modern art museum which, I'll admit is not my favorite style of art because most of the art looks like either a five year old made it or it just doesn't evoke meaning. For example one of the displays was an empty room that held 4 stone walls/ bricks and it was called a "Masterpiece of Mystery". The only mystery is how the artist convinced a renowned art museum that is home to some of Picasso's art to display it. Regardless there are some famous pieces in the museum such as the Guernica.  Guernica is one of Pablo Picasso's most famous works, created in response to the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. On April 26, 1937, Nazi German forces, supporting Francisco Franco's Nationalist faction, bombed the town, killing hundreds of civilians. The attack was one of t...