BIG NEWS!

So, ok, as probably every single person who reads this blog knows…my mom is coming to visit me this week for a LONG time!!!!! :D I AM PSYCHED.

I’m also grumpy as HECK trying to find a freaking flight to Italy and back for us!!! There’s been airline strikes in Italy, starting with the Air Traffic Controllers from what I understand, and now with Iberia as well – I’m not sure if they’re related, honestly, but it’s a freaking pain to plan around! Prices have jumped like crazy: tell me if this makes sense. I paid 70 E to Pisa, Italy, and 65 E from Rome to Sevilla. Right now, Iberia is running one-way flights to Pisa from SVQ for a WHOPPING 1,500 E and ROUND TRIP to Pisa 258 E. WHAT! Does this even make any sense to you?????

Ugh rage rage rage. I cannot WAIT to go to Italy again, I just wish the airlines made it a little easier for us ;). I resent the amount of work I have to go through for this!

(Side note: Mom, if you’re reading this and I know you are, YOU ARE WORTH IT. Ok? So don’t worry about it!! I’m just frustrated with the airlines and the nonsensical pricing!)

ANYWAY. I’ve been planning and plotting and Googling and can’t wait to play tour guide for my mom! This is just my type of “thing” – apparently I love steamrolling people into doing things (hehe!) and there is no better way to do that than play tour guide! I can’t deny it, I am a bit bossy, but it’ll be really fun to really show off “my” city. I think it’ll help me realize how many cool things are here too – there’s so much I haven’t done yet!!

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS!! :D

Time change

Also: I am now officially only 5 hours ahead of home, until next weekend at least! Daylight savings time in Spain ended Saturday :).

Little things.

The other night Loli made me Cream of Mushroom soup…well, not cream, but it was thick and floury, my favorite kind :). I think my eyes lit up when I saw it and I couldn’t stop telling her how much I LOVE mushrooms…and I lucked out because she gave me some the next day too!! THEN.

Last night my dinner was: sauteed mushrooms and onions. OMG. ONLY MY FAVORITE FOOD EVER(ish)!!! I’ve ALWAYS wanted to eat just that for dinner, too. Hehe. You should’ve seen how excited I was to see all that heaped on a plate.

So, a little deviation from the usual Spanish meal, but WOW. Yum.

BIG NEWS coming tomorrow! For now, bed.

sick.

Well, it’s been building up for awhile, but this weekend it’s come out completely: I’m sick. For the past few weeks I’ve been breaking out in night sweats and have suspected I have a fever, but since I had no way to tell, I couldn’t be sure. I was hoping it was just from the seasons (not) changing and traveling a lot, moving between different  climates, etc. But this weekend was my first in Sevilla for awhile and my body seemed to know it.

I’ve progressed through the stages of a bad cold pretty fast – it’s only been the last 3-4 days. But I’ve experienced the sore throat, the stuffiness, then the swollen throat, runny nose/watery, small cough turning into huge annoying cough symptoms. This morning I went to the doctor with a CEA director and came out 5 minutes later with 3 prescriptions – one for a cough, one for ibuprophen (I didn’t buy that, I already have some), and one for…well, I’m not really sure. It’s like Airborne I think, but for cold symptoms? I’m not really sure, but I do know that I accidentally read the Spanish wrong and tried taking one without letting it dissolve in water. EWWWW WORST IDEA EVER. I was foaming at the mouth with cold meds.

That was a mistake I won’t make again.

Anyway, just an update, and I’m still alive (although really all I want to do it pass out). Lots to do – tons of homework this week, not to mention I have a midterm or two this week, CEA excursion to Ronda on Saturday, and then the rest of my midterms sometime next week. Eek! Wish me luck!

Well hello.

Oh mannn I do not want to write my paper today!!! I’m updating everything I can possibly think of in order to avoid writing it. Which means I have about 500 posts to happily write for this blog – thank goodness!

So I'm sitting in my room with the door closed, because Loli (my señora) opened the windows in the dining room and said that it's cold out today and the cold isn't good for my throat.

It's 70 degrees out. Lol.

(Side note: have I mentioned I’m sick? For the past 3 weeks or so I’ve been waking up with awful night sweats, and my balance has been completely off. It’s become a joke on all the trips we take, waiting for me to trip on something at some point and completely fall over. Typical of me, but still! Anyway, it came to a head this weekend because we’ve finally had a weekend at “home”, and I’ve been plugged up, coughing, and then all sniffly and gross. Luckily, I think this is just a 3 or 4 day thing I have to put up with – I’ve already moved past the coughing stage from yesterday and last night!)

Anyway! I have much catching up to do about Switzerland & Italy the past two weekends before this! I’m slowly uploading all of my photos while I have the time, and the patience. I’ve been learning to keep up with things in small chunks. This blog is the next I have to practice with! So, some highlights from my trips these past weekends.

SWITZERLAND.

• I touched an alpine lake in Interlaken.
• Drank Swiss wine.
• Experienced the perfect fall day in Geneva.
• Hiked in the Alps!
• Saw the highest peak in Europe.
• Had tons of Swiss chocolate (YUM)
• Took a beautiful train ride through part of the Swiss countryside.

ITALY.

• I had real gelato! (let’s not count how many cups I bought in 5 days please!)
• Spoke Spanish to the Italian and managed to get by.
• Went inside the Colosseum.
• Wandered the Roman Forum.
• Walked in a gay rights protest (by accident, but still cool).
• Drank Italian wine on the Spanish Steps with friends.
• Took shelter in McDonald’s from crazy rainstorms in Rome.
• Ate real Italian pizza and pasta in Florence.
• Had the best coffee of my life in Caffe Taza D’Oro.
• Had the best coffee in general all throughout Italy.
• Was surprised by the Pantheon, just hanging out in the middle of the city..what!
• Tossed a coin into the Trevi Fountain.
• Bought a real leather purse at the mercato in Florence.
• Ate melt in your mouth just-baked focaccia.
• Saw the Sistine Chapel.
• Got lost in St. Peter’s Basilica.
• Was amazed by the opulence and beauty of the Vatican.
• Ran through the rain in Rome.

I had SUCH an amazing time on these trips. I’m so happy I was lucky enough to have the opportunity, and time, and money to see and do all of these things! How amazing! I’m lucky too that I had such awesome people to go with.

Alright, enough of the sappiness. I need to start that paper now…maybe.

weekend trip!

Off to Switzerland for the weekend!!!! Staying in Geneva, I cannot wait!!! :)