Valencia and More

After returning from El Camino de Santiago my host family and I packed up into the car and made a three hour road trip down to Valencia. There we spent a quiet touristy weekend stepping in and out of random cathedrals, up and down the streets, and basically all around town. We stayed in a rented apartment which I suppose is very common here and the way to stay in Spanish cities because, besides my first night in Spain spent still with AFS, I have not stepped foot in a Spanish hotel! Since then it has either been apartments or hostiles and literally nothing else! I must say I prefer hotels, but hey these ten months abroad are all about new experiences so may as well just sit back and soak it all in. 

3/5ths of the family

We really didn't do anything out of the ordinary in Valencia. We took a fifteen minute touristy tram thing, then took a small motor boat out to the bay another day. Other than that it was strictly wandering and seeing what we happened up, for example a vintage clothes store which, by the way, are also very very popular here.

Easter was spent half the time eating the best paella (veryyyyy typical Spanish food composed of rice and honestly anything else, depending on the type, this kind was seafood) I have ever had. Coming to Spain I knew I would have to eat a lot of sea food, which I wasn't too stoked about before (come to think of it now either) HOWEVER paella is one of the very few seafood dishes that I actually thoroughly enjoy! So ya Easter was half eating and then the other half in the car on the return home. 

Between Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, and Easter I have simply come to realize that holiday celebrations are also kind of an American thing. I mean here, a holiday celebration is a good planned out meal. Meanwhile in the U.S., with my family at least, every holiday is a family affair! We get dressed up, go to church, have a huge meal together, probably take a bunch of pictures in the process, and basically spend the whole day together. Holiday celebrations are most definitely one of the things I miss the most about the U.S., but luckily I will have the rest of my life for those so for this year SUCK IT UP EMILY!

Monday was spent mostly lounging around the house dreading and stressing over school the next day. School here is honestly nothing to stress over, but just that getting back to reality after such a busy week off is never any fun, or easy. 

Tuesday came and, just like after Christmas break, I was the first to go back to school while Emma and Ana had this second whole week off. School went perfectly fine of course and was over before I knew it. After school that I had a dance thing with my class through our dance school. It was like an award ceremony, because around the holiday of Sant Jordi here there are many writing contests and here they announced the winners and my class, along with others from the theater program of the Preforming Arts School were like the after show.

Here's the video (I am only in the last out of the three dances because I wasn't around during spring break to practice with the crew):

Street Dance

Wednesday also went by smoothly and I only had a half day because here in Catalunya was the holiday of Sant Jordi. Sant Jordi is a holiday a bit like Valentines day. The boys give the girls roses and the girls are to give the boys books. In my case however, it was more of a family event and we went into town after I got home from school to pick out our own books and roses so that was cute too I suppose!

That brings us to today which is Thursday. It was just an ordinary day of school and then in an hour or so I have dance. Tomorrow we have a class field trip into Barcelona to see a show "La Celestina" in a nice theater which should be exciting and totally beats out a regular day of class! It's written in dated Spanish so I would say it's the equivalent of say "Romeo and Juliet" so I am not quite sure how much I am going to understand, but it should still be a cool experience AND excuse to get out of class so I am not about to start complaining about it!

Also, it's been out for about a week now but I just keep forgetting to mention it. My town Castelldefels did a promotional music video to the song "Happy" and I happen to make an appearance in it so that's kind of cool! If you would like to check that video out as well here is the link:

Happy - Castelldefels

Have a nice weekend!!!

El Camino de Santiago (Part 3)

Day four of walking came bright and early Wednesday morning and we were all a bit slow and draggy despite the fact that it was our last day of walking. We had to walk a good 2 or 3 kilometers to breakfast, the same place we went for dinner the night before, but it was part of the walk so if we had gone in the car it would have been cheating and I was NOT all about that after coming so far.

Breakfast was quick, stamps were gotten and we were on our way! We stayed more of a group this day than the others, I am not sure why, there just seemed to be a pull to do so. We walked for hours and again we given false hope about how long we had until the restaurant. We finally reached the place and I may never have felt so happy to sit down in my entire life.

We ate the same food we had been eating for a good few days in a row which was grilled chicken, beef, and french fries and had some really good cake that I really think was french toast. Again we stamped, loaded up on sunscreen and off for the final stretch.

We got on the path and could barely contain our excitement reading the pillars that read single digits! We took so many pictures just taking in the last bit of it all. Honestly it went by so quickly we couldn't wrap our minds around it! But of course we were not done yet.

Ummmm I have no explanation for what I am doing, but I was shaking like a lunatic my muscles couldn't take it.

We reached the very edge of the city and could see the very top of the church that was the finish line to the entire "race". At this point it got a bit difficult weaving in and out of crowds of people flooding the city. We got a few strange looks, but I don't think it was because of how we were dressed or the backpacks we wore since the people of Santiago are use to the type. I think it was because of how many we were (I pretty sure that is SUCH Spanish grammar, but I honestly can't think of how else to phrase it right now).

As we were walking someone shouted out "GUYS THAT'S THE TOP OF IT!" Clearly we were much closer this time so instantly we all took off running. Racing down the streets we went until the plaza opened up and the greatest wave of relief, exhaustion, excitement, and love crashed over my body. The largest I have ever felt in my entire life! We could not stops smiling and screaming! A mix between relief, happiness and sunscreen in my eye caused me to cry tears streaming down my face, but only out of one eye. Soooo many pictures were taken and we were honestly nothing, but happy and proud of the teamwork we had just accomplished.

However we still we not done. At 7:30 we entered the massive church to look around and witness a mass. They greeted our group of "pilgrims" as they call the walkers to the entire church, which I am sure is routine to do when a huge group such as ours comes along, but I still believed it was something special. Four from our group even did a reading in front of the entire church as well! The sermon was nice, but what was super interesting came at the end.

I believe this is something only the church of Santiago does, but I could be wrong. In the center of the church attached to an extremely long and extremely sturdy rope was a huge closed vase of holy water. The attendants (I am sure they have a much more prestigious name than attendant but that's what I am going with for now) start to pull the rope while the priest throws the vase. Gradually they pull harder and harder and the thing keeps swinging higher and higher spreading steam all over the church. I mean the church itself is probably a good 100 feet from floor to ceiling and it is just just missing the ceiling. The whole church gasping each time. It may sound lame, but trust me it was really really cool!

At this time we realized we had better get going if we didn't want to have any more plane fiascoes like the trip there. However the church had something else in mind. They decided to do a reenactment of the bringing of Christ to the alter (with a plastic replica not a literal human OBVIOUSLY). This little reenactment blocked the exit we needed. Not only that, but was taking place right where ALL of our backpacks were located making it difficult for ourselves as well as those poor men and women who I am sure were already having a hard time seeing due to the Ku Klux Klan type hates they were wearing (that's like a thing here).

Anyway we finally get our crap together just to have to listen to a volunteer instruct us about four thousand times on how to find a taxi. I swear to god it took him a half hour until he felt assured we knew how to catch a damn taxi. Did he not know all of the trains, planes and buses we had to catch to get there in the first place!?! I think not.

Anyway we got to the airport and everything went relatively smoothly from there. Our plane was on time, the gate was easy to find, it was a different company so no passports were needed even though I had the damn thing anyway. However once we got in the air it was the most painful flight of my entire life. My already swollen feet swelled up even more, and my ears WOULD NOT POP.

We landed had a bit of trouble finding my host dad to say the least but finally made it home by 1:30 am that night. It was A LOT! Today (being the day after getting back) I simply walked Quinn to the airport, made some brownies and soaked my feet for a long, looooooong time and as of tomorrow I am back on the road with the host family to go to Valencia to do even more walking and just make the most of my Spring Break in Spain. The week has already gone so fast and with every day I realize more and more how limited my time really is, but this trip alone has showed me how precious and simply beautiful a life can be.

So I hope you are all making the most of your Spring Break at home! I can't wait to tell you all about Valencia! I will see you before you know it and if you take anything at all away from these "stories" just remember you can only regret the things you didn't do. I may regret the state my feet are in right now, but I would not and could not regret this trip for a single second! Enjoy the week!!!

El Camino de Santiago (Part 2)

Day one of walking came and we were pumped and ready to go!

We walked through a bunch of dirt trails and over cute stone walkways and it was honestly just like the movies!

On this day we found a stream along the way and decided it was a good idea to all jump in. It probably averaged a solid 70 - 75 degrees with nonstop sun our whole time there so it did not take much convincing. After our dip in the river we headed to a restaurant for lunch. Then backkk to walking! All I can clearly remember is walking and talking a lot!!!

By night fall we reached our second hostel and dang did my feet hurt! We were a room full of whiny, achy kids all trying to help each other out with massages or whatever else we thought might help. As much as we tried, there was only so much we could do.

By dinner time there was no way I was putting my feet back into those stupid sneakers so I threw on my shower flip flops (wearing regular Old Navy type flip flops in public here is very rare and slightly frowned upon) and off we went. Dinner was just more of the same getting to know yous and so on.

***SIDE BAR***

I forgot to mention how the walk actually works, we don't just walk around like aimless idiots, believe it or not. The walk is a well beaten trail weaving in and out of cities, the countryside, rivers and so on. All along the trail there are these markers that look like a side way shell or another kind of marker is a yellow spray painted arrow. These arrows and seashells become your very best friends and you watch for them every step of the way. Some of the seas shells are located on pillars with a label saying how far left until Santiago. Luckily I didn't realize the significance of these numbers until they were down to fifty so I wasn't too discouraged looking at huge numbers in the beginning. Also, at the beginning of the walk we were given "passports" that you have to get stamped at each restaurant and hostel you stay at. At the end your passport with all your stamps is taken to some office and later on in life you are mailed a certificate for completing the walk, so that's exciting and stuff!

***

Morning came and day two began. We had been told that day two was hardest of the entire walk, which was true... up until day three happened. Mooooore walking. On this day we walked through a really cool town with a seaport, it may actually have been Vigo were we took the train to, just another side of Vigo. The bridge we walked over was beautiful and below us were fish swimming by the dozens.

Not exactly a high point in the looks department on my part, but it is what it is.
(Left to right, Quinn, Me, Haley (New Hampshire), Victoria, Caroline (Illinois))

More walking and talking and stopping occasionally at a car pulled up to the side of the road full of snacks and liquids provided by the volunteers. On day two our hostel was located literally in the middle of nowhere. The first sixteen people there were the ones to get beds (beds on a bed frame that is, the rest were sent to another room with just a bunch of mattresses spread out on the floor. In this same hostel you were provided with a shower time of two minutes. Safe to say it was my least favorite. 

However it was by far the hostel with the most personality because it was family owned and dinner was made and served by the mother while her husband and son set up the tables and laid out cups and so on. It was cute, but a bit less lavish than I was expecting after walking about 30 km a day.

Day three came!!! Poop you day three! After hopping in the shower the day before I realized my feet had started to swell (a hugeeeeeee understatement, but I'll spare you the details) so day 3 was a bit uncomfortable. We got to the restaurant for day three which I was pleased to see was outside and located along a river. It was super sunny on day three as well so I was even more pleased to see the nice canopy thing they had going on there. After filling up and loading on the sun screen we were off again.

There was a day, I cannot remember if it was day two or day three that, while walking through a city we bumped into the Google Maps car, like it was tracing out its trails to put the footage online sort of thing. So we could potentially be found around Vigo, Spain on Google maps street view, or we could potentially not because, well we acted like lunatics and anyone in their right mind would probably delete the footage... I am hoping for option A though!

We had justtt passed the Google car at this point.

When I say day 3 was the worst, I mean really, it was a killer. First of all, we walked only 11 km in the morning which may sound like a lot, but in reality is nothing at all. If you ever do this walk, always, always, always, walk more before lunch. After lunch we walk 22 or more km until the hostel and it was like walking a roller coaster track the whole time. Up and down and up and down again, with literally nothing but nonstop woods.   

We crossed paths with a volunteer going the opposite way to explain to everyone that the hostel was a bit off path and that we were almost there. WRONG! We began to reach civilization again and the girl I was waling with and I reached a fork in the road with the arrow simply pointing left. They were both to the left. Soooo we began walking up a dirt path just to find out it was someones drive way, get laughed at, then finally pointed in the right direction by the neighbors in hysterics. I was miserable and a sweaty mess so I was not finding what exactly was just soooooo funny. Anyway, we finally and I mean like walking 22 km straight nonstop with dirty clinging to your sweaty skin with rashy / swollen ankles finally, found our hostel and I could not have been more relieved!

We got our books stamped claimed some beds and headed into the shower and took what I could quite possibly call the best shower of my entire life, and guess what? No time limit or running out of hot water in this place! Honestly I should write these people a congratulatory letter because they knew how it should be done. 

After climbing into a nice comfy sweatshirt, yoga pants, and the flip flops again we were driven four by four to the town square to eat dinner also located by a river over looked by a massive church. This night was probably my favorite. Haylee from New Hampshire and I, being the first group there, had a little time to go to the grocery store and buy some more snacks and looks at some little kiosks where I got some cool new earrings before we headed back to eat. 

When we got there the tables were set up individually only seating four people. Us AFSers are a packaged deal and like to be together so we were not having that. Another AFSer and I took the liberty to make on long table, nearly breaking four glass cups at the time, so everyone could be seated together. The waiters were glaring at us the entire time, but one thing exchange has taught me is do what makes you happy, even if it means breaking a rule every now and then and ya know what, sitting as one large group makes us pretty damn happy! We ate a nice GROUP dinner and talked about a bunch of random things. 

Throughout the course of the meal a bread crumb was flicked into one girls eye making it swell out a good inch or so. Also (we have a gluten free eater) a waiter rushed over to our table telling her she had to be driven to the hospital because he thought beans counted as gluten. Fortunately neither scenario turned out too serious and the night went on just fine. 

After dinner we decided to venture on up to the massive church looming over our heads. There was a spot light shining on the whole thing and we instantly saw it as an opportunity to make weird and obscure images of the face of the church for the rest of the town to see!

Finally we were driven back four by four and off to bed we went. Day three of walking was over.

El Camino de Santiago (Part 1)

As of April 16th 2014 myself and about 40 or so other exchange students from all over the world successfully completed the walk of Santiago (Portugal branch) reaching from Tui (or Tuy) Spain up until Santiago, Spain. All in all this is about a 120 km (75 miles) plus walk all  completed over the course of four days. It was without a doubt the most physically demanding and trying experience of my entire life, but at the same time one of the most special and rewarding experiences of my entire life as well! Here I am going to try my best and do a day by day overview of my experience, but to be honest it is just a huge blissful blur so the details may be fuzzy.

Friday April 11th two of my AFS friends (Quinn from California and Alice from Canada) came to stay at my house so we could make the early morning drive to the airport the next day together. We ended up going to bed around 12 which was really smart considering we had to wake up at 4:30 am the next day.

Saturday comes and the alarm goes off 4:30 sharp. We got ourselves and our things ready to go and are in the car by 5, possibly cutting it a little close considering the gate to our plane closes at 5:55... ehh whatever. Roman drops Alice and I off at one gate then goes to drop Quinn off at hers because we had to take separate planes. We were flying with Ryanair and I had heard they were a bit difficult, just making it as hard as possible to enjoy flying with them. If only I had known just how true that was. 

I walk up to the front desk to get my ticket signed, one of the regulations they have with foreign travelers. I hand over my ticket and visa and the man behind the desk shakes his head, hands back my ticket and tells me I can only go with my passport. I don't have my passport because I was told one or the other and I figured traveling and staying in hostels I don't want it to be super easy for someone to steal my passport. Tough. I have to call my host dad have him run all the way home dig through all my drawers to find the thing and hand it over so I can get my damn signature and hop on the plane.

At the same time while I am waiting for him to come back I get a call from Victoria, the other AFSer I am traveling with saying her alarm didn't go off until 5:30 am and she was just leaving now. So literally as my passport is being thrown to me through the car window her taxi pulls up. We race to get those stupid, stupid signatures, run our butts off to security cut the line, of all of four people, don't even take the time to put our shoes on and are off through the airport as fast as our legs can carry us. Thank God the Ryanair part of the airport is its own separated part so we were able to find the plane and meet up with the other AFSers just as they were boarding the plane. Moral of the story for the morning of day one, always, ALWAYS get to the airport two hours early / nothing ever goes as planned.

Keep in mind this all before 6 am. We get on the plane, the ride goes really quickly, we are in Santiago caught up with Quinn by I'd say 9:30. From there we had to take a bus to the train station. The bus was very easy. Everyone else happened to be traveling to do the Camino as well, just different parts (this same walk has about 100 different paths you can chose spreading all through Europe including Russia, France, and even Ireland). We met a very nice guy who asked us where we were from (when AFSers are together they all speak English, don't know why, but we do) since we weren't speaking his language. So then we had a nice back and forth until we reached the train station were we caught our first train from Santiago to a town called Vigo. 

(Left to Right Haoxian (China) Alice (Canada) Victoria (Illinois) Me (New York) Quinn (California))

This train lasted about an hour and a half and we were in awe of the nature around us. The west coast of Spain could not be anymore different than the east coast. It is so incredibly green and covered with fields of grass, rivers, mountains you name it and I quickly found myself home sick for the country side that I live on at home. We arrive in Vigo to a seaport. We decided to split up half of us going to get some last minute sports gear while half of us went to grab some snacks from a grocery store. We met up later and had a nice lunch. Then we walked to another grocery store to get even more snacks along with a ginormous box of strawberries to eat at the train station while waiting for the train. We gave ourselves an hour of extra time, traumatized from our early adventures.

Our second train comes and the thing is two train cars. It was nice enough on the inside, but by far the smallest train I have ever been on in my entire life. This one was only about a half hour long and we made it to Tuy at about seven. However we still had to navigate our way to the hostel itself. We walked that town inside out and backwards until finally being given accurate instructions to the hostel in which we were staying, but the joke was on us because there was no more room in the hostel. We waited there for a half hour with all the other AFSers, totally overwhelmed and on the verge of sleep, doing our best to form accurate sentences reintroducing ourselves to these people we hadn't seen since September. 

Just a little while later we were lead to a nearby hostel, then off to dinner shortly after which was just a blur of getting reacquainted, then back to the hostel to a mad rush for the showers and bed to prep for our first day of walking ahead.

Game Day!

This past Wednesday a few of my friends and I had tickets to see the Barcelona soccer game in the infamous Camp Nou and it turned out that we didn't have school that day, so we decided to make a day out of it!

We started our day off pretty early, for a day of not having school. I got up and showered at around 10. The timing actually worked out perfectly because by the time I was dressed and ready I had time to say good-bye to Emma who left for the Canary Islands on a school exchange that day. So then I was off to the train station and met up with Victoria from Chicago, and Johanna from Finland in Barcelona. 

We had spoken earlier and had decided to make the half hour hike to La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a GINORMOUS cathedral that was built by the very famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. Sometime this year, I am not exactly sure when, is the 100th "birthday" of the building so it was under a whole lot of construction to get it looking its best for the event. However, all the commotion couldn't take your attention away from this building. There is just so much to look at, including baskets of fruits and baguettes sculpted on top of the towers!

Left to right: Johanna (Finland), Victoria (Chicago), me. 

After walking around it for a little while we decided to sit on a bench to talk and just take in the Spanish life around us. We were asked by a bunch of people to take pictures, and it is such a cool feeling to switch from Spanish (which we were speaking with each other) to English, because a lot of the tourists weren't from Spain and English is a common ground. As strange as it may sound, however Johanna agreed with me, it is so much easier to speak Spanish with other exchange students because we are just about all the same pace and are willing to take the time to listen and help the other understand or think of a word we can't, so Mom, for all the times I say I can't speak Spanish may faith is restored when I talk to these guys! It just all depends on your audience.

Next we decided to head back toward where we came from and look for somewhere to eat. We were all craving hamburgers, had to settle for a place that had hamburger meat, without the bun served with eggs (sunny side up, suppppppppper common here), and french fries (or the closest thing they have to them here). After paying and walking out the door we discovered that if we had just walk about half a block more we would have found a real hamburger joint with real french fries, the works. We were pretty bummed.

We kept walking and headed into a few shops. We were in the area of Barcelona called, Plaza de Catalunya. It's a pretty commercial area, but its very nicely laid out with a lot of stone work and walking space. Then it gradually turns into smaller winding side streets which are equally as cool! After a bit of wandering in and out of shops we headed to our favorite candy store Happy Pills. I am not sure if I have explained the store before, but it is so darn cool! You walk in and grab a plastic glove and a paper cone (kind of like what they serve Icees in). Then in front of you is just a wall full of different candies and you can pick and choose as you walk back and forth, back and forth, which candies you want. Filling up these cones is an art let me tell you, because if you do it right, small things on the bottom, big things on top like a cover if you will, you can get a heck of a lot of candy for the one euro you pay for these cones!

CLEARLY all of that sugar wasn't enough so right after those Johanna got frozen yogurt while Victoria and I sprung for amazing Gelato. If you ever find yourself in Barcelona, you MUST go to Plaza de Catalunya, walk along La Rambla, which is basically a fat sidewalk full of different kiosks. Look for an ice cream kiosk, it truly doesn't matter which one because all of the ice cream is to die for, and eat up. It is a bit expensive, two scoops for 3.20 euros but trust me its worth it! I also recommend getting two different flavors just because you're in Spain and you can!

After finishing up our ice cream Victoria had to head home to meet up with her family because she was going to the game with them. Meanwhile, Johanna and I walked around a few more stores because we had some time to kill waiting for her host sister to meet up with us before the game. After a bit, we met up with her sister Lucia and took the metro to CAMP NOU!

The trains were PACKED, literally shoulder to shoulder, butt to butt, awkwardly bumping into strangers ever time the metro decided to rear to a stop. At the same time, it just added to the excitement! You could tell the majority of the people were headed to the game by their Barca scarfs, hats, flags, and jerseys, Johanna, Lucia and I included. 

From the station it was about a ten minute walk, but you could see the lights from the field from afar. The very second we got through security it began to rain lightly. We had been watching the skies all day, they were looking pretty grey but didn't decide to let loose until the very second we got through the gates. But at this point we were so damn excited to be there, there wasn't really anything that could get us down.

We went to the bathrooms quickly before the game, to find them to be painted loud and proud in the Barcelona colors of blue and red, then we entered the actual stadium for the very first time. It was incredible. It was one of those feelings that you can't really explain, but the second you made it through those doors you knew you had walked into something special.

Camp Nou is the largest soccer stadium in all of Europe. Safe to say it was huge. We found our seats with only a little bit of difficulty and there was no waiting because it was game on. It wasn't exactly the most nerve wracking, edge of your seat game because Barca scored after about seven minutes and from then on it was fairly obvious who was going to win, but still to actually be there was pretty darn cool! 

It kept raining on and off throughout the game which actually turned out to be rather entertaining. Our seats were just under the awning of the level above us so the rain barely touched us. However and one point when the rain really began to pick up, everyyyyone in the stadium moved like a stampede to fill in the empty seats under the awnings. As I am sure you can imagine, there were a lot of people so it was a pretty interesting sight to see the waves of people flown to their new seats in herds.

Messi!

After the game, which Barcelona won 3-0, we were back off to the metro station, after taking about a million pictures of course. The station was twice as packed as before. Barcelona soccer games are obviously a worldwide attraction and so as we were waiting for the train I eavesdropped as as many conversations as possible and probably heard an array of languages greater than what I can count on one hand. Germany was a pretty popular one. 

Back we went to Plaza de Catalunya packed like sardines in the metro. Once there we found Johanna's host parents and we all drove to their house about an hour north of Barcelona. For the rest of the night we just ate some food and talked about movies and other little things of the like. It was actually quite cute and the perfect end to the perfect night. 

I didn't have school the following day either so I slept in until noon. I woke up to look out the window and see quite possibly one of the coolest Spanish towns I have seen so far! It was just like in the movies with a few windy roads and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance. I have really learned to appreciate the little things like pretty little towns and beaches throughout my time aboard, so this town was right up my alley.

Johanna and I ate some breakfast and took a walk to the beach with their dog. It's still too cold for any swimming activity, but it was still nice to take off my shoes, roll up my jeans and dip my feet in. We just talked the day away! It's amazing how two strangers, from complete opposite sides of the world can come together as exchange students and that common ground alone can provide hours upon hours of material to talk about!

We returned back home, had a bite to eat then walked back to the train station which was located right next to the beach. The train ride back home was about an hour and a half during which I just plugged in my music and stared out the window at the sea. The train tracks here are literally built six feet from a drop off to the rocky edge of the sea so whenever I am in the train I just plug in my music and stare out the window soaking it all in.

The rest of my day consisted of a mix of dance class, family time and birthday cake, since March 27th is Romans birthday. All in all it was a fantastic two days that I wouldn't have wanted to spend any differently!

(I am sorry this took so long to upload. I was waiting for the pictures Johanna took because they are much better quality, but I will just put up a full blog post of pictures ones we get through our technical difficulties!)