GET ME OUT OF HERE

Well yesterday pretty much sucked the big one. We thought Barcelona was super pretty and were having a great time... until someone ROBBED Magda's bag! It was absolutely terrible. We were sitting at the beach and she took her hand off her bag for a second so she could take a picture of the water. (At this point in time I was looking at a pretty white rock that I found in the sand) As she was taking her picture and I was looking at this rock, a skateboarder went behind us and was obnoxiously close. He swooped down and grabbed her bag. We tried to find out who it was, but he was gone in a flash.

We then decided to go straight to the hostal so that we could cancel her cards before going to the police. The problem is that at this point in time, I had no cash. So we went to an atm in order to get money to take the metro, and my card would not work! Just what we needed. NOT! So we ended up having to walk all the way back to the hostal. She called her bank and her parents and I fixed my card. Not exactly sure how I fixed it but it now works.. so?? haha.

After canceling her cards we went to the police station to file a report. We know she is not gonna get anything back but we figured it was good to do anyway. There were a lot of people there reporting theft! It was insane.

We then had to go deal with her luggage. She had left her bag in consignment so that we did not have to carry all our bags with us. However, when her bag was stolen, so was the key to the locker! Luckily we were able to get it.

So that was our day. Thanks spain! Barcelona was REAL NICE to us :(

Barca

Well- I did it. I said 'see you later' today to all of the people that have come to be my family over the last 5 months. ( Apart from Mags and Dora that is, because they are here with me in Pamplona) Thank god they came with because there is no way I would be able to handle leaving everyone at once.

This is how it went : I spent friday packing and preparing. Then we did our secret santa exchange, with was a ton of fun. After that, we went to the cocktails of the world party and were there until 3 or so. We then went to reverendos for a party. We then went home so I could finish the packing. After packing I was able to go get baked goods with my friends and then we went to the train station. I had told myself that I was gonna hold it together, but I of course was an epic fail at that. haha. I am going to miss everyone so so so so so much.

I am now in Barcelona. I didn't get to do much today cuz I was exhausted from not sleeping, however I will do some tomorrow. Also- I will post pics from my last few days in Pamplona soon. We had a ton of snow over the last week! It's been crazy.

I will see you soon xoxoxo

It's surreal-

Well, as I sit here writing this message. I am in a room that has been de-personalized. I am looking at the contents of my life for the past 5 months condensed into two suitcases. It's insane to think that it was so long ago when I moved into this room and UNPACKED those gigantic suitcases and turned Spain into my home. Now I have once again folded and shoved my life into those same two suitcases to return to the place I came from. I warn you all however- the girl that is returning is not the girl that left you. I come back to you a stronger, more mature woman who picked up her life, went to a foreign country alone, and survived. While the outside might look the same, just as with the suitcase, the contents on the inside are not. I am not leaving here with the same belongings as I came with. Nor am I coming back with the same frame of mind I had when I came. I was forced to remove the barrier between myself and other people (the shy barrier that is) and make friends with complete strangers. I moved into a piso where I knew no one, and came out with friends that I will have for the rest of my life. I met people from all around the world. People who have come to be like family to me. Now, don't worry guys. I am still the same crazy, silly Yvonne that loves to have a good time. I'm just a better me.

On the first day of orientation I asked the head guy 'what is the meaning of life.' I will be happy to report that although it wasn't from his response that I learned the answer to this question. However I do have an answer. The meaning of life changes from person to person. For me, the meaning of life is to experience as much as you can. It is to meet as many people, make as many friends, and to truly enjoy the life that you have. I have done this. I can go back to the states and know that I have made my life mean more by taking part in this experience.

Slide Show

This is the slide show that a friend of ours made for the official going away party a few weeks ago. It was quite funny. Pay special attention to the random photos that come up of my group. They are never normal! bwahaha

Tis the season-

.. to cry. It's officially the goodbye season for ERASMUS/EXCHANGE. Kamilla left on saturday and it was definitely a shocker. I'm not ready to say goodbye, so I didn't allow myself to say it. (In all honesty, I couldn't say much of anything through the tears) however I did manage to say 'see you later.'

For remember guys, it's not Goodbye, but rather 'I'll see you later.'

You cannot get rid of me that easily :)

--- but seriously, no one else is allowed to leave. Got it?

San Cristobol

On Friday, we decided to make ourselves an adventure. The weather was pretty nice, even though it was cold, so we decided to hike El camino de San Cristobol, which is a small mountain nearby. At the top of the mountain there is an abandoned prison. Let me tell you, it was creepy!

In the morning it was super cold, so we dressed warmly. Also, it was really foggy, however we decided to go anyway because we had planned on it. We figured if nothing else then it would be excellent exercise. Honestly, I'm glad that we went because it was so amazingly cool. Once we hit a certain point, it was sunshine and beautiful views. We were above the clouds, which is probably cooler than seeing the city below us! I even got sunburned! In December! hahahaha. Although now it's freezing cold. The weather here is so very strange.

Anyway- the hike was amazing and the view was fantastic. We even made friends with this crazy old woman and old man who said they hike up there 2-3 times a week. They told us which trails to take, and it turned out to be the hardest ones. They did it like it was a piece of cake! It was incredible. Everytime they saw us they would start dancing and singing and tell us that we were close. I want to be like that when I'm old.

Here are some pics from our lovely hike! Enjoy!

This will make your life 1000X better

Haha. So today, instead of studying Nerea decided to do these fun little videos for us :)

It pretty much made my life 100 million trillion times better :) I hope it does the same for you!

This is how we... study?

Yes. They do it in Spain too. WE have been studying like crazy for our final exams. I am lucky and am finished in just 12.5 hours from now. However, others are not so lucky and have exams until December 18th! I would just like to share with you all a few pics demonstrating how we have decided to make studying... a little less painful :)
Tip #1: Study with people.
Tip #2: Take frequent breaks
Tip #3: Discuss with your friends
Tip #4: Drink a bit of coronita( or any beer for that matter)
Tip #5: Be sure to eat
Tip #6: Hookah calms the soul :)

I will have you know that I rocked exam number 1 using these techniques, and I hope to do just as well with exams 2 and 3. I will let you know how it goes!

Besos :)

A quick tidbit-

So in the midst of studying for exams, I have also been dealing with attempting to register for classes back at UW so that I can graduate on time in June :) I had been having a little trouble getting into a Spanish 303 class, but thank god they opened another one because there were SO MANY students needing to get in it.

But now my schedule for next quarter is official. All I need to do now is pass all these lovely classes. hehe. Here is my schedule for your viewing pleasure. Please note the days/ start time / end time and you will realize why if you see me next quarter I will most likely be a zombie. Don't be offended if I don't see you. I won't be seeing much of anything after these days!

For your viewing pleasure! XOXO

Course	Type	Credits	Title
SPAN 303 C	LC	5.0	STYLISTICS & COMP
I BUS 491 A	SM	1.0	CISB SEMINAR
MGMT 300 D	LC	4.0	MG ORG EFFECT
MKTG 340 B	LC	4.0	ADVERTISING
OPMGT 301 A	LC	4.0	PRIN OPER MGT
Total credits: 18.0

For your viewing pleasure :)

Here are a few random pics to keep you entertained until I am done studying for my stupid exams and can get back to telling you all real stories!

Goodbyes

Last night we had a going away party for the international students. We did it now so it doesn´t get in the way of finals. But I really must tell you that it was hard to watch. When the slideshow came on it was everything I could do to keep from crying. The realization hit me that I actually was having to get ready to leave. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see my friends and family and enjoy the Christmas holidays. However, I am not quite ready to leave all of the amazing people I have met here. This really has been the adventure of a lifetime. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I've had and the things I've been able to do/see while I'm here. So if it's alright with all of you, I'm going to wait to say goodbye because saying goodbye means it's over, and I'm not ready for that.

DECEMBER

Ok so here we go guys. This is the calendar of my next month .

Tomorrow ( Dec 2nd) : LAST DAY OF CLASSES!
Monday Dec 7th : Economia Mundial Final
Wednesday Dec 9th : Spanish Art History Final and Applied Economics Final
Saturday Dec 12th : Say goodbye to Kamilla :(
Friday Dec 18th : Final Goodbye Party :(
Saturday Dec 19th: Head to Barcelona with Magda and Dora
Tuesday Dec 22nd: Take flight HOME!
Wednesday Dec 23rd: Drive to Vancouver
Thursday Dec 24th: Christmas Eve in Cathlamet
Friday Dec 25th : Christmas with the Fam
Saturday Dec 26th : Family Gathering
Tuesday Dec 29th : Move back into My house in Seattle with Courtney! :) :)
Thursday Dec 31st : New Years Eve in Downtown Seattle !
Friday Jan 1st : Star work at the Dirty once more.

Now that I've put it down like this, it's incredible. It looks like absolutely nothing at all. I will be back with you in Seattle in just a bit of time. Unfortunately though, this means leaving all of the people that I have come to love here in Pamplona. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place!

SNOW

Imagine looking out your window the moment you wake up to see large snowflakes flying past you. What an incredible sight this would be! Now imagine where you are when you see this sight? Colorado? Switzerland? Any mountain? NO- You're in Spain.

Wait. I know what you're thinking. " It doesn't snow in Spain!" Well my friends apparently it does. I woke up this morning to a lovely winter storm brewing outside my window. It was complete with thunder/lightning. However unlike a normal thunder storm, instead of rain it was complete with snow. It was quite a sight. These are some pics I took. Sorry- it was too cold to actually go outside and take pretty pics. Also, the snow had just begun to stick, so there's not much on the ground.
I think it's safe to say my friends, that the Christmas Season is officially upon us :) Happy Holidays my friends!

American Thanksgiving in Spain!

Since I couldn't be at home with my family for Thanksgiving, I decided to put on my own Thanksgiving with people here. It was such a fun time. Although I did miss my family, it was amazing to spend it with my new friends/people that I have come to care about. I spent it with my pamplona family :) My menu consisted of:

*turkey
*stuffing
*mashed potatoes
*macaroni & cheese
*green beans
*rolls
*olives
*pickles
*fruit salad
*pumpkin pie
*apple pie

Everything was delicious!

The real London post :)

Ok! Sorry this has taken so long guys! I've been feeling a bit sick lately so I've been just doing absolutely nothing. BUT- here it is, what you've all been waiting for! My whirlwind trip to London!

Diana, Cate and I took the 8:15am bus from Pamplona to Zaragoza as that is where we were flying from. The bus ride was 2 hours long, but it was fine because we slept the entire way. We got to the bus station in Zaragoza and had to wait for another bus to take us to the airport, so we sat in a little cafe waiting for the bus.

Once we got to the airport we had our passports checked and everything and decided to get some lunch. I ate this disgusting salami sandwich, but I was so hungry so I ate it anyway. We then had to go to our gate only to find that our flight was delayed. *insert huge groan here*

We finally got on the plane and into London Stansted. Once we got in we had to take a bus to Liverpool street so we could take the metro to Cate's aunt's house. It took an hour to get to Liverpool street and then a 45 minute metro ride to get to Cate's aunt's. We finally arrived around 6:30 or 7. We were soooo tired. We hung around and ate dinner and then decided to go with Cate's cousin to a pub close to the house.

We went to a cool little place and drank some cider/beer. I had cider and it was really good. Very comforting. Then some of her cousins friends met up with us and we went to a different place called Ruby. This place was a little more upscale. They had a lounge upstairs and dancing downstairs. We had a drink and then went downstairs to dance. We danced for awhile and then we decided to go to a different place. Cate's cousin went home because he had to work the next day, but we all went to a different place called The Globe. This place definitely had a lot of character and a strange array of people, but it was fun nonetheless. After this place, we went home and decided it was time to sleep. We went to bed around 4 am.

I was hoping to wake up super early and get a head start on the day. However, we all know how much I like to sleep and we didn't get up until around 10am. ( Not too bad, but definitely not the head start that I wanted!) We got ready and left the house a little before 11. The first thing on the list was Portabello Market. It's a cool little market in Notting Hill ( which is where Cate's aunt lives). We had some fun and did some shopping! I bought a funky dress, which you will all see in pics/when I come home!

After Portabello Market we took the Metro down to the river Thames where we saw the Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, the London Bridge,and the London Eye! It was stormy weather but it was incredibly cool even so.

After looking here, we decided to walk to Trifalgar Square. In all honesty I had never heard of it, but Cate said it was a pretty cool place and she said something about it being kind of important, but I have no idea why. On the way to Trifalgar Square, we passed the famous guards. ( You know the ones where they aren't allowed to break their facial expression so people try anything and everything to get them to break character) I must say, these guys are good!
I was nice and didn't try anything. I actually felt bad for them. People were doing some pretty crazy stuff! We kept walking and we finally got to the square. It wasn't a terribly long walk, but it was definitely cold. Also, at the square, I got to take a picture in one of those cliche phone booths that you see in movies. The red ones that say 'Telephone' on it in case you weren't sure what they were for! Haha. I felt as though I was in Harry Potter and any second I would be transported into the Ministry of Magic. ( yes- I'm a Potter nerd. Deal with it)
After this, we decided to walk from Trifalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. I couldn't very well leave London without paying a visit to the Queen could I? I mean honestly, I am her future grandaughter-in-law, seeing as William and I will be married one day, but that's another story for another day ;) To get to the palace, we walked through this very pretty park. There were still lots of autumn leaves on the ground so it was quite beautiful.

Then came Buckingham Palace. Honestly, I'd have to say I expected it to be a bit more... elegant I guess. I'm sure it's very pretty on the inside, but I felt the outside to be a bit too.. simple. I don't know. It just wasn't very pretty, as I had expected it to be. (I'll have to do a bit of remodeling once I'm living there)


Once we looked at Buckingham palace for a bit, we decided to walk to Picadilly Circus! No I know you've all heard of this, but does anyone actually know what it is? No? Good I didn't either. haha. Basically it's just where all the major roads meet in the West End of London. It was really cool to be able to see it because all of the christmas decorations were up and we got to see it all lit up. It was really quite a beautiful sight.
After Picadilly Circus, we went to Harrod's because grandma told me I absolutely had to go. We went. That place is spendy! It's very pretty though!

After we went to Harrods, we had to go back to Cate's Aunt's house because she was putting on a dinner party. We went back, took showers, got dressed and ready. We had a lovely dinner and then we went out for Diana's 20th birthday. We went to this pretty cool underground hip hop club. Then after that we went to a house party. We didn't get back home until 5:30am and I had to get my cab at 6:20am. I took a quick nap and then embarked on my trip back home.

I fell in love with this city. I definitely want to come back and explore some more :)

London

Hey guys!

Just an FYI I did in fact make it back from London ok :) I will post pics and everything soon, but I accidentally left my camera with my friends in London, so they are bringing it to me tomorrow :)

So i will write the blog and tell you all the fun things i did, when i can put pics up to show it!!!!

Also- On thursday I will be giving a thanksgiving dinner ( since i can't be home to be with family) I will put pics up from that on Friday!

XOXO

Starting tomorrow,

I will be in London! Therefore I will be out of touch until Sunday night, but you better believe that the minute I get back pictures and stories will appear on here and on facebook! I hope you all have a nice weekend, I know I am going to!

XOXO

Even in Spain...

.. this day tears at my heart.


Love you and Miss you. No matter where I am.

XOXOXO

My letter to Spain

Dear Spain,


I love you to death. You have done wonders for me. I enjoy our nights of dancing til 7am, the delicious chocolates and goodies that I can buy in your pasteleria's, the fact that I have gorgeous 60 degree weather in mid-november, 2-hour lunches, the friends that I have made, and among many many many other things the way I feel since I have been here.

There seems to be just one slight problem that I'm having a bit of trouble dealing with. I CAN'T SLEEP EVER! I don't know how many more nights I can lie awake until 6am! I just can't do it.

So, my dear friend in hopes of salvaging this loving relationship that we have I beg you to fix this insomnia you have given me.

With all my love,
A very tired Yvonne :)

Sorry Sorry Sorry!

Hello guys!

I am so sorry that I have not updated at all lately! I have been super super busy! I had an exam yesterday so I spent the entire week closing down the library and studying until 5am! (Unfortunately I am not kidding about the 5am part, you can ask my parents they were the lucky recipients of my many late night skype calls.)

Although I must say, I don't know why I studied! The exam pretty much murdered me.

Anyways, what I can do now is tell you what I was up to BEFORE the exam madness started.

Last week there was a Colombian Party that we went to because we wanted to get free tickets to our favorite club Marengo! (which we did !)

On Thursday, I wasn't planning on going out because not really any people could and I wasn't sure if I was up for it. However on facebook I got a message saying I had been chosen to go on a list where I could get in for free to Marengo! My friend Dora also got it, so we decided why not? We went just the two of us. It was pretty fun!

On Friday we reunited the group to make a comeback sensation! It had been quite awhile since we had all had the chance to go out together! We hit the cocktails of the world party and danced and had a blast. Then we went to the Chupitos bar because we hadn't been there in awhile. Followed by: MARENGO! We went and had a blast dancing til 7 am. I must say dancing until 7 is probably one of the main things I will miss when I leave Spain!

On Saturday, I slept in. Then I went over to Nerea's because our friend Miya was coming over to teach us how to make dumplings! I now know how to make real Chinese dumplings! They were absolutely delicious!

Sunday was an easy day. I didn't do much. Just slept, watched tv, and relaxed. Then came Monday and that was when the study madness began!

Here are some random pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Because I hate studying:

So I of course am a procrastinator and therefore am waiting until the absolute last minute to study for my 2 exams tomorrow. Thus, I will spend a bit of time writing this blog post and lolly-gagging (sp?). I was thinking about how I only have 50 days left in Spain, which then led to things I can't wait to do when I come back. Here is the list: (no particular order)

*Movie Nights w/ the gals and lots of goodies
*Eastlake on a friday night
*Bowling
*Build a snowman in the quad
*Work- I know, this one surprises me too, but I miss it
*Make no-bake cookies and coconut brownies
*Have One Tree Hill marathons
*BAKE Christmas Cookies
*Shoe shopping with Nancy, Court, and Jade
*Karaoke @ Finn's / The Little Red Hen
*Eat a chicken quesadilla w/ xtra creamy jalapeno sauce at T-Bell
*Hug my family
*Walk through Red Square in the rain to watch everyone fall on their asses
*Watch New Moon 6 times in theatres :)

These are just a few random thoughts. Guess I should get back to studying. I just thought I would throw a few of these down.

Night of Mayhem: Spanish Style

This weekend was Halloween! We came up with such a good halloween idea: m&m's! I was yellow, Nerea was blue, Kamilla was purple, and Dora was red! It turned out really cute! Hehe. Here are some pics!

These are our mustache and beard thinking faces :)

In order to keep from messing up our m's, instead of doing the spanish kiss, we did the eskimo kiss.
Dora's butt said 'zexy', nerea and kamilla's said 'don't touch', and mine didn't say anything so they wrot 'eat me, i'm sweet' on it..
The back of our shirts are hard to read, but it says 'melts in your mouth not in your hands'- go m&m slogans!

Children at heart. This is characteristic of the m&m's :)

Apparently vampires like to suck the chocolate out of m&m's like they suck the blood from humans.