a little piece of alcalá

it's official. i live in a romance novel. 

creamy pastels? rose bushes? gazebos?
now let's just find mr. tableta de chocolate to complete this picture.

these ivy adorned apartment windows, half-hobo-half-artists-with-two-foot-long-beards and beautiful spanish architecture has me thinking, "i can't believe i live here".

~la universidad de alcalá original~
we toured the original universidad of alcalá. we learned that the students there originally had to wear the catholic priest robes to school (real cute) and punishment there was slight of severe. if a man was caught speaking in english or spanish (they could only speak latin) or talking to a girl, he was thrown into the cellar for three days...without food.
let's hear one for the 17th century!

~madrid spain study abroad fall 2012~
that's a lot of estrogen

~plaza de cervantes~
the platha de thervantes is the #1 hot spot here in alcalá.
every elderly person in town emerges from his alcove to come watch the community hang out. children run around while young lovers (and the old people too) make out on the benches. it is actually my favorite.

~five spaniards on a bench~
the older folk really do hang out on the benches. look, all five squeezed on there.

~let the ferias begin!~
our group arrived just in time for the ferias, a week long festival with music, parades, dancing and a lot of happy people. the night activities begin around 8:00 and end around 2:00 in the morning.

see that balloon guy on the right? these guys with balloons purse their lips and make this super obnoxious squeaky sound to get your attention. at first, you think the squeaky sound is cool, but then you walk five feet and find two more squeakers. then three more. then suddenly you're surrounded by the squeakers.

we are hoping that these lights stay up for the next few months!

~dancing~
so maybe the couples don't have the best form, but i love that the whole community comes out to enjoy a night on the town together.

and dancing can help anyone to fall in love.

that's real love right there.

bienvenidos a españa

¡bienvenidos a españa!

i'm a little late getting to posting about my spain adventure thus far since i've been touring the city here and posting about skydiving (life's tough), but i have some stories to share. let's begin with the airports.

after some nearly teary-eyed farewells to the mama and papa, i gathered my three months worth of baggage, put on my brave face and strolled through those security gates - by "strolled" i mean was patted down by tsa guards, waited for my bag to be checked twice, drank the entire remains of my water bottle in one gulp and tip-toed through the scanner to avoid whatever foot fungus lives on that nasty floor headed for a trip to spain. after two flights and a six hour layover, i found myself sleeping on the floor of the madrid airport with other girls from the group. we, the group of slap-happy-american-girls, created a small room out of our luggage and stolen plane blankets to create a very suitable napping area. thanks to my lavender, silky eye patch, i was ready for some zzzzzs. 

{sidenote}: do you think people who use princess looking, but very practical, eye patches should be a topic of ridicule? me neither. i'm perfectly content with my eye patch guys. on the plan ride home, you'll be jealous you don't have one.

after conversing with some jolly spanish employees, which was quite the 180 from the u.s. airport employees who take the cake for roz look-a-likes...

we headed for alcalá de henares!

kensie, my darling roommate and super hispter friend, and i jam-packed our things into our mamacita's car and later arrived at our little apartment that has become our home. as i unzipped my two suitcases, it soon became apparent that i way over-packed for this trip. well done self. on the bright side, i now have a drawer dedicated to all things medicine. if you have an asthma attack, come to me. allergies? right here. headache? sleep-aid? gas? stomach problems? i got you covered.

oh, and i also have three bottles of hand sanitizers. freshly scented as cucumber melon, that is.

~our happy room~

it's even happier now that we have fans...i don't think i've ever sweat so much in my life.
 no more dainty perspiration rescue for me.
 something about "odor-fighting 'atomic robots' that 'shoot lasers' at your 'stench monsters' and replaces them with fresh, clean masculine 'scent elves"seems a little more satsifying than fresh pear

~futbol all day, er' day~

but really. it's on all of the time. in the morning, during meals, during siesta, in the evening. papa antonio sometimes gets jazzed too, by talking to the screen in in his husky spanish.

 i need a video...

photo 1: mama nieves with her compinche

photo 2: david, our brother

photo 3: toy el vampiro.

toy, the little toy poodle who sometimes decides to be really upset with me for no reason, has teeth that stick outside of his mouth. but better yet, they are his bottom teeth. it's awesome. i'll get a better picture to show his vampiric glory

españa: let the adventures begin!

adventure: a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

i've begun another one.

WELCOME TO SPAIN!

i will be living in alcalá de henares for the next three months - eeeek! 

stories to come...

"to live or to be lived by others"

~"to live or to be lived by others"~

i heard that quote today and thought it to be perfectly appropriate for this post. 

i'm not saying that skydiving was that one moment that i decided how to live my life, but i felt it was a great example for this yearning for life and adventure in my soul. 

and i sure am grateful my mama shares that yearning

i love to live.

more specifically, i love to experience. you see, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in, you are constantly gaining more experiences (and better stories) that allow you to learn. perhaps you find yourself running for middle school class president with one night to prepare a speech for the school and your mom convinces you to concoct a smoothie of food that would make you a cheese-y and nutty but eggcellent president. perhaps you see all of your opponents in suits with flashcards and you are about to make a  concoction on the school monitor without a practice round...using string cheese and peanuts as great political propaganda. what do you do?

you do it. you live.

then you smile for the camera and run to the school bathroom as quick as you can before that smoothie lands on the carpet. 

so i didn't become president (embarrassing to admit that was a true story, but it was), but i lived. 

and i learned that a smoothie is always more exciting than a stack of flashcards.

~my mom's a rockstar~

maybe someday i will be as cool as her

one thumbs up + another thumbs up + one more thumbs up = excited!

sidenote: sister, when you make your first jump out of a plan, you better throw a thumbs up in my remembrance

mama found some cheap groupons online for skydiving and asked me to go with her. 

you can guess my response. it included a lot of jumping and squealing.

if you have the opportunity, please do it. 

that first step out of the plane is unlike anything i have ever experienced. and then free falling through the clouds with the earth underneath you...wow. 

my first jump is definitely not my last.

i am so glad i shared this experience with the one person on earth who understands me best: my mama.

goodness, i'm nearly teary eyed just typing out this dedicatory post to my mother. i truly could not love this lady more. her enthusiasm for life, her ability to make any situation seem golden, her deep love for her Savior and constant sacrifice for others make her one heck of a woman. how did i get so lucky to be raised by this mama o' mine? 

thank you mama.

thank you for your constant laughter, your bedtime snuggles, your birthday fasts, your help with last minute school projects, your big-fat-kisses and your example of love for the Lord and service to others. 

thank you thank you thank you

fambam

~dress up with the girlies~

#3 and #4 came over to hang out. naturally, we ended up in the basement ripping tutus and dance recital costumes to create the perfect outfit for a princess.

"wow, you are way too old to be doing that", you may be thinking.  think what you may, but this is only preparation for what's next. when i'm a momma, i will show my kiddos how a real dress up champion does her thing. 

#1 and i got smoothies together. i introduced her to my personal favorite at tropical smoothie: the legendary...bahama mama. 

#3 and #4 made quite a memorable salad

~mozart in the making~

one of the better joys of life: licking the spoon after something delicious is made

one of the best joys of life: licking the bowl after something delicious is made

~do not fear! tape girl is here~

"tape girl" carefully explained to me (and my video camera) how her abilities could save any problem, even a torn piece of paper

~this moment~

it's the moments like this one that remind me why life is so beautiful.

~get a room~

my momma and papa love each other. after papa spent 10 days on his macho man trip (hiking the rocky mountains, golfing...all that jazz) with my brothers, the look in his eyes when he saw my mom walk up to him at the airport was truly precious. goodness, i'm too blessed. i have the most incredible people as parents.

xoxoxo m&p

~my papa the mountain man~

this is what happens when you set him in the wild. 

...also, my dad is santa claus