The Color Run

This past Sunday a bunch of AFSers from all over Spain and I joined over 20,000 people in a Color Run through Barcelona!

For those of you who don't know what a Color Run is, it is a 5 kilometer "race". Every one kilometer or so there are checkpoints of a different color (ex. after one kilometer you reach the orange station). At these stations powdered paint is being thrown by volunteers in every direction. The idea is that by the finish line you are covered head to toe in a rainbow of various colors!

My personal Color Run experience started bright and early at the train station of Barcelona Sants to meet up with all the other participating AFSers. There we changed into our super stylish (least flattering t-shirts I have ever seen) and pinned on our numbers as you do before a 5k. From the train station we walked to La Plaza de España to meet up with all the other THOUSANDS of people also participating in the run.

Plaza de España (stolen from the internet)

So once we made it to the starting line we had to wait a good half hour or so to start the race because they only let about one thousand people leave the starting line at a time so that the color stations didn't get too filled up. While we waited there was a DJ pumping up the jams getting us ready to go. However that was not the only source of entertainment! While waiting we saw quite a few interesting costumes including horse masks, pigtails and LOTS of tutus! Also while waiting we used the time to take a few group photos!

When we were finally able to start we ran... for all of two minutes until we realized we were going up hill. The first station we reached was the orange station. We quickly figured out that if you enter the color stations (they have a blow up ring around the entrance and are fenced in until you reach the exit) and walked along side the barriers you would get far more colorful than if you walked through the center because the people holding the color were right along them. 

Walking through these stops it is a VERY good idea to be wearing glasses of some sort because there is literally powder EVERYWHERE. Honestly if you looked inside my lungs after the whole thing I have no doubt in my mind it would look like a magestic rainbow in there because that stuff was just all over the place! It was so much so that some people wore those doctors masks over their mouths and noses while walking through because it was so bad!

Also at these stations there is obviously powder on the floor as well so if you didn't want to wait for someone to throw the paint directly on you, you could easily pick it up and do it yourself or roll around on the ground like some sort of animal to get covered from head to toe. There was plenty of both!

Moving out of the orange station we ran probably another two minutes, if that! Also while running to this station we past along side runners who had already gone through the next station and by a literal 1 in 20,000 chance I spotted Emma who was also doing the run with her friend and had come completely separate from me!

The next station we reached was the yellow station and these paint throwers were more energetic than the last! We passed through this station a little slower wanting to get as completely covered as we possibly could. Another 1 in 20,000 chance of running into my other host sister Ana who had also come separately from both Emma and I occurred at the yellow station!

They next stop (I am convinced it was not a full 5k because these stations were like five minutes walking distance apart and came way faster than you would expect) was the blue station! Again, these people were crazier than the last! Actually blue may have been the absolute craziest! You could barely see a foot ahead of you because the air was so thick of powder! The powder was super soft by the way, like literal colored powdered sugar! Unfortunately it did NOT taste at all like the stuff and equally as unfortunately it continuously found its way into my mouth.**

Moving right along we came to the green station. While I was walking along in this station one of the paint throwers looked straight at me and said "LOOK LOOK LOOK" and he was pointing at the ground right in front of me. Because I am 1000% gullible (or maybe just 1000% cautious and considerate of what other people have to say) I looked right where he was pointing. He then poured his ENTIRE bottle of green powder like straight into my ear. (It is been two showers later and I STILL have green dust coming out of my ear!)

After the green station was a drink stop where they gave us super good lemonade and then it was a little ways more to the finish line! The AFS group and I decided to sprint the last 50 meters or so and crossed the finish line as a team!

Once you had made it to the finish line there were about  a million things going on at once! You could get your picture taken in a photo booth (which I did I just don't have the pictures yet because they only give two strips to a group of freaking seven people), eat food, and most importantly enter the concert area! 

As you entered the concert area (keep in mind twenty THOUSAND people) you were handed a packet of powdered paint. On the stage on a part of a screen that was shopping random pan shots of the people in the audience (also made it onto that screen which was harder than you might think!) was a countdown. This countdown started over ever twenty minutes and when it reached zero the packets were thrown into the air so it would be a beautiful, powderful, colorful warp! 

Throughout the concert there were more paint packets being thrown into the audience, t-shirts, sunglasses THE WORKS! I am not too sure what time the concert actually ended (there wasn't an actual band, just a DJ and a bunch of prerecorded music) but we stayed until maybe one in the afternoon in which time we somehow, as a group of maybe fifteen or more, worked our way all the way to the very front of the stage where all the action was happening! 

After we made our way to the exit we took a bunch of group photos!

Once outside of the Color Run area it felt a bit strange to see strangers looking all clean and well not covered head to toe in paint! It took all I had not to run on up to someone wearing a clean white shirt and give them a huge ass hug just to see their reaction, but in the end I decided to play nice and let those lucky souls be. However, I guess our group in particular was quiet extraordinary or amusing or something because even though there were about a million other people covered in paint taking pictures only a little ways away, passersby came along and asked us if they could take pictures with the group. So that was pretty cool too I guess! (Unfortunately for me they did not ask for hugs.

After all that commotion we made our way to the train station. There we said our goodbye and parted for our separate ways. Lucky for me I wasn't the only color runner on my train, however that didn't stop anyone from giving me strange looks. I couldn't really blame them either! Once finally in my town I spent the entire fifteen minute walk to our apartment stretching and releasing (does that make sense?) to get the powder to come off leaving behind a rainbow trail in my wake. 

While doing this some guy came running from behind me and happened to be wearing a Color Run t-shirt as well. He kinda just stopped and looked at me for a minute until I gave him a knowing nod and point to our shirts. He then just smiled and kept running. He probably expected to be doing a bit more running during the "race" but let me tell ya the majority of the people there were not all about that and it was so crowded that it actually made it quite difficult for the poor actual runners to pass by. 

After that I finally reached home and took probably THE most colorful shower of my life and without even making a mess of the bathroom, which was a pretty big accomplishment if I do say so myself!

All in all it was a great experience and something that I won't be forgetting anytime soon! I hope you all had equally exciting weekends. I have my last AFS orientation coming up this weekend which I am sure will bring a few more stories to tell! Until then have a nice week! ADIOS!

The Italy Chapter

I think it's about time I do a short rewind of my trip to Italy. The majority of this post is just going to be pictures and explanations to go along with them instead of a fully detailed day to day experience. Here we go!

Here we have the classic airplane photo. I am BEYOND thrilled to report that there were no airport mishaps leaving or returning from Barcelona and I mean nothing! No delays, no forgotten passports, no security run through's NOTHING so that was pretty exciting for me! That night I was picked up at the airport by my cousin Daniela who I thought was going to be difficult to recognize (seeing as I hadn't seen here in person in  6 years or so) but nope! I step into the waiting room area and see a blonde wearing a hot pink coat and somehow I just knew it was her!

Fast forward to the next day and another cousin, Gianpaolo, drove in for a visit to Milan.

In Milan, in front of the famous Duomo (Cathedral) of Milan I met up with Feli, an Italian exchange student who was living in New York and good friends with Emma last year so that was really, really cool to be able to meet up with her again!

After our short trip to Milan, there is actually not too much to see there besides the Duomo and loads of over priced clothing, GP and I said goodbye to Daniela and were off to Trentino (a district kind of like Catalunya or Dutchess County) where we would visit some more towns like Trento and Stenico.

Now we have already established that I am no photographer so this picture was borrowed from the internet and isn't exactly where I was staying, but this is the kind of scenery that I was surrounded by the whole time there. It was such a refreshing change from the city like scenery that I have been living in for the past eight months, which don't get me wrong is nice too, but deep down I think I will always be a mountains and fresh water lakes person just like home! 

The next day we were up for a road trip 'round the mountain!

First was a walk along this river and crossing paths with a massive water fall.

Then we bought sandwiches and ate lunch on some park benches in front of these bad boys! Then one last short hike to a hidden mountain church overlooking another river. There we saw a bear (in captivity) because the story of the church was that "It was built by a man who just wanted to worship alone and in peace. For his trip he carried the things he needed on the back of a donkey. At one point during the trip a bear came along and ate the donkey so the dude just harnessed up the bear and brought him along to first of all carry his things and second of all protect the place from visitors." SO NATURALLY there was a bear there like a massive biggest-damn-bear-I-have-ever-seen-in-my-entire-life there, not doing such a great job keeping away all the visitors since we were all standing there gawking at it anyway.

After that little adventure it was back to the house for some down time then dinner. 

The next day we went for a walk around a local park with this view! 

So ya just a casual stroll there eating Gelato until it was time to head back to eat lunch, which was real Italian lasagna (it was just as good if not better than you are imagining right now) and I got to meet another cousin, Silvia, whom I became really close with throughout the rest of the trip!

After lunch we headed out to Riva, a touristy town with lots of little shops and a big lake!

(Silvia left, Lia right)

The following day GP and I did a bit more exploring in the morning then we picked up Silvia from school, ate lunch, then drove to Verona!

Some random street in Verona.  

This is the famous balcony of Romeo and Juliet. If you look closely at the bottom right side of this picture you can see the statue of a woman (Juliet? Maybe? I'm not sure.). Apparently it is good luck to go up and touch the poor girls boobs. Unfortunately I did not go up to experience the umm phenomenon because there were a lot of people waiting around so I didn't want to ruin their chances of touching the golden boobs themselves when I simply could have cared less.

This, also in the plaza of Romeo and Juliet, was a wall COVERED in chewing gum. At first we were completely grossed out until I realized that there were flakes of paper stuck to the gum as well so I think the wall was used to stick love letters to the wall... we can only hope. Also to the right (in reality, not the picture) there was a wall of locks ya know to lock in your love or something I don't know!

Here, the entry / exit walk way to the Romeo and Juliet plaza were two walls covered floor to ceiling in hearts with names written in them. Instead of getting creative and writing something clever, Silvia and I decided on just writing our two names together in a heart in the middle of the madness.

Next was a short walk along a canal, caught a bus, returned to the car and headed back home.

The following day Silvia skipped school so we could all go on a family trip to Venice! This was by far my favorite day of the whole trip! 

Venice is famous for their elaborate face masks and you literally can't escape these things. They are EVERYWHERE! There is Venice they have Carnival, similar to Spain, and everyone dresses up in fancy dresses and wheres one of these for the event. How freaking cool and completely terrifying at the same time!

Here we have the famous cathedral of Venice and to the right is where the Duke of Venice makes speeches. If you look really carefully about four or five windows to the right of the churchy part there is one reddish orange window which is only for the Duke. Legit, like royal king mine and only mine mentality going on there!

That orange brick building in the background is actually a tower where you can see all of Venice from. We didn't go up for two reasons. One the line was a bit long and two it was getting close to the top of the hour, which according to Silvia if you get stuck up there at the top of the hour when the bell chimes you will basically want to throw yourself out the window because it's so damn loud! 

Another fun fact about this tower is that way back when in some year that no one knew BUT SURELY EXISTED, the tower fell down like London Bridge is Falling Down style! Right there in the square. All throughout the plaza you can find pictures of people sitting at tables in the square having lunch with the tower just crumbled around the square in the background. So ya, that was a thing!

Next we have the entry to the main canal of Venice. In case you didn't know there are no cars in Venice, literally none. You either have a boat or walk your ass where you want to go. Here we have some gondolas which we didn't actually go in because they cost something crazy like 80 euros which is equal to 100 dollars or maybe a little more. Plus there were like seven of us so we probably would have had to take two. FUN FACT gondola drivers actually do wear striped shirts! They stand in the middle of busy squares and if you want a ride you just walk up to them, tell them you wanna go, and they take you to their "ship". 

And here we are, Silvia and I after stepping off our ferry we took up the main canal right before heading home. That night we went over to her house for dinner then played Just Dance after dinner for the whole families entertainment. At about ten or so Silvia and I walked back to her grandparents house where I was staying, since I stayed late after dinner to play. (The schedule change time wise like calling ten o'clock late for a school night was really strange to me! Spain has got my times all mixed up! OH and I eat slower now! Literally I was the last to finish every time! Readjustment may feel stranger than I thought!) After we got to her grandparents house we said our final goodbyes since I wouldn't be seeing her in the morning before I left. 

The next day we went to Trento for lunch before heading to Burgamo, a very rich city close to the airport were I would be flying out of. 

While there we got caught in a thunderstorm, which after I thought about it was my first thunderstorm in eight months! Ya it rains here in Barcelona, but there is never thunder or lightening, another thing I miss about living in New York. 

While in Burgamo we saw a few churches which you can see in the background above. They were super impressive, just as you would expect Italian churches to be. There I learned that the holy water thing I saw in Santiago is in fact a common thing because there were about three of the metal water holders in each church, goes to show how much I know thinking it was a one time thing!

Finally after a final dinner together of pizza *Side Note: In Italy you eat your own pizza. Like a full freaking medium sized pizza SOLO. I couldn't handle it, meanwhile the respectfully seventy something year old grandmother I was with could finish off her own in the time I ate a half... Safe to say us Americans are in fact NOT the biggest eaters in the world. After spending a week with them I can safely say it is hands down the Italians who win that prize? Moving on...* we went off to the airport where I said my last goodbye and boarded my flight home without a problem!

The plane was under booked so the flight attendant told me I could sit in the very spacious emergency exit zone all to myself! Let me tell you, you have never lived until you have had two full plane arm rests to yourself for a full plane ride! 

Then there I was back in Barcelona with a sense of home, which was such a refreshing feeling. Barcelona is truly my home away from home where I have a family whom I truly consider to be my own! Finding Roman went without a problem this time (unlike after El Camino...) and I was home by 1 AM in bed for 6 hours before going off to school the following day! 

So there it is! Italy in a nutshell for you! A big fat thank you to everyone who made this trip possible for me, you guys are the best! That's all for now I guess! Have a nice week! Ciao!

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.