Well, I have two weeks to get all caught up on this before I
get home! At least this semester has taught me that I do not have a future
career in blogging…
As promised, I will start with my trip to Prague. On March
8, I flew out of Oviedo to Madrid very early in the morning. Immediately after
landing, I checked the screen to find the gate to find my connecting flight,
knowing that I had visitors waiting for me there. Walking through the terminal,
I finally spotted Nana, waving at me. Tears came to my eyes as I sped up, just
wanting to hug her. Seeing someone from home was exactly what I had needed, and
I was so happy to see her! After freshening up after their long flight, Stephie
and Mom were finally making their way over to the gate as well. I met them half
way with huge hugs for them as well. I hadn’t realized until then how much I had
missed my family. We sat together catching up until boarding time, and then
flew over to Prague!
We had a very smart, friendly driver from the airport to the
hotel who taught us a lot about the city and its history. That night we snacked
on some food in the hotel room then ate a yummy French dinner at a restaurant that
Rick Steves wrote about. The next morning we had the first half of our city
tour with Rick Steves’ recommended tour guide, Yana. We toured the Old
Town/Jewish Town and it was gorgeous. Yana had such a passion for history, so
she knew everything about everything we saw and was able to answer all of our
questions. My favorite part was the Old Town Square and the architecture that
surrounds the whole square, but there were so many different buildings,
churches, towers, etc. that were just so cool and unlike anything else I’ve
seen in all my travels this semester. That afternoon, we visited Terezin Concentration
Camp. We had a pamphlet that Stephie read to us to explain all of the rooms and
areas throughout the camp. After learning about the Holocaust in school, I thought
I had a pretty good grasp on the war, but nothing could have prepared me for
this experience. Seeing firsthand the conditions the prisoners were forced to
live under (broken boards for beds, disgusting sinks, and a room full of “shower
heads” on the ceiling for showering) was horrible. We even saw the room where
all of the records of the prisoners were kept; each file marked with each
prisoner’s number. We saw the “doctor’s office”, the single and double cells,
execution grounds, and walked the tunnel that prisoners had to walk through in
order to be tortured/killed. We ended the experience with a visit to the museum,
where we saw things that were made by prisoners while imprisoned, pictures of
many people involved, and much more. This was where everything became the most
real for me. I was so overwhelmed by the whole experience and even was choked
up walking through parts of the camp and museum, but it was very interesting.
On the way out of the camp, I dropped and broke my camera. :( It was a sad afternoon.
We took the bus back into town and later went to dinner at a
Czech restaurant where we ate very typical Czech food: fried cheese, different
types of sausage, steamed cabbage…very interesting food and not bad tasting!
The next morning, we met Yana again for our tour of “the hill” which was the
castle and cathedral. They were all gorgeous and the top of the hill was a
STUNNING view of the city. Yana was without a doubt an amazing tour guide and I
think it’s safe to say that without her, we would have been lost in Prague with
no idea what we were seeing. We had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant and later,
dinner at a Mexican restaurant, that, again, Rick Steves recommended. Two and a
half months without Mexican had been a challenge for me, so it was a GREAT
treat!
The next morning, we slept in a little bit, ate a yummy
breakfast in the hotel then made our way to the airport and made our way to
Oviedo. :) Prague was an amazing city; it was such a great trip, but I was
ready to go back to my home in Spain.
We ate dinner in a restaurant that Pablo and Camino had
taken me to before, and we had some typical yummy Spanish dishes (lots of ham,
cheese, and potatoes!). The next morning, I had to go back to class, so my
family took a trip to a neighboring city called Aviles. When I got home from
class, I met up with them to take them on a tour of my beautiful city. It took
no time at all for them to fall in love with my city, as well, which made me so
happy. :) That night, I introduced them to Sidra. I demonstrated the rules for
drinking it, and Stephie, Mom, and Nana all followed suit chugging their cup of
Sidra, swishing around the last little bit, then dumping the rest on the
ground. Nana switched to wine after her first cup, but the three of us
continued to drink Sidra and eat some yummy tapas. We then went to Camino’s bar
for a delicious dinner. Camino and Pablo joined us for most of it, so Stephie
and I spoke Spanish most of the time and we all had a great time. Even Nana
spoke a little Spanish! They all loved my host parents, and, of course, Longo
:) The next day, I went to class and my family took the train to a different
neighboring city, Gijon. After class, we went to lunch at Camino’s bar, and
then Stephie, Mom and I went shopping for the afternoon. We went out to drinks
on the “Ruta de los Vinos” (Wine Street) for cocktail hour, then to an
American-ish restaurant for dinner. Mom and Nana were leaving early the next
morning, so we went back to the hotel after dinner, where we said goodbye until
May 19. :(
Stephie met me at my school the next morning and came with
me to two of my classes. My teachers didn’t even realize she was a guest; one
of my teachers even treated her like all the rest of us. We ate most of our
meals at Camino’s bar that week and spent all the time we could together. Sharing
my tiny bed in my TINY room was interesting, but we made it work. For her birthday,
I took her to the market in between my classes, which she loved. For dinner, I took
her to the restaurant with the BEST burgers I have ever tasted that Pablo and
Camino had taken me to during my first few weeks here. We then met up with
Paula and Luna, my advisors here, then went out to celebrate Stephie’s 22nd!
Her flight out was quite early the next morning…and when her alarm failed to go
off to wake her up, she ended up missing her flight. After some desperate calls
home to our parents, Mom found her a new flight for the next morning, which
gave her one more day with me! We spent most of the day watching movies and
talking about life. It was a great day :) we set a total of six alarms that
night between the two of us to make SURE she wouldn’t miss her flight again…and
she didn’t. I cried a little when she left because I knew that meant that I would
not be seeing anyone else from home until May 19, and that seemed so far away.
Having my family here was definitely a highlight of my
semester. Not only did I LOVE showing them my city and introducing them to my
family here, but it was what has gotten me through all of these months away
from home. I am so grateful to have the best family in the world :)
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