Paris, Democrats Abroad, Cordoba and Granada

Hello family and friends!

Here is another crazy-packed entry with my activities the past few weeks. I can't believe how much has occurred! If you have access to facebook, that's been the easiest way to put up pictures and I already have too many albums up on that site. Let me know if you don't have facebook/ or know someone with it and I can try to send you some links.

 After the Rome trip, I spent two very nice and comparatively quiet weekends in Madrid with friends and my host family. The following weekend, my amazing friend from Charlottesville, Emily Wheat, and I were able to meet up in Paris (que romántico)! Here are some highlights:

*Very political Frenchmen (every single one that we met) who were sure to share their opinion about why Emily and I should vote for Obama, if we hadn't already.

*Emily and I eating some wonderful meals on the quaint streets of Paris, able to catch up on our respective abroad experiences and look back to memories from high school.

*Visiting the top of the Eiffel Tower the first night. I was in shock at the beauty and size of this structure that I had read and heard so much about!

*Checking out Moulin Rouge while enjoying our freshly made crepes.

*Seeing the incredible Notre Dame at night and on Sunday morning for mass. 

*Walking the Champ d' Elysees with Emily and her friend from William and Mary, Stacey.

*Emily made a wonderful nerdy-english major walking tour, which brought us to several homes of Ernest Hemingway over his years in Paris and the historic Shakespeare and Company book shop.

*Climbing up to the beautiful Sacre-Ceur church to witness a gorgeous nighttime view of Paris

*Finding the stereotype of arrogant Parisians not to be true

Overall, it was an amazing trip, and it was so wonderful to enjoy it with a friend who also appreciated the beauty and fun.

In case I was in danger getting too much sleep (apparently not a possibility in Europe for me), two days after coming back from Paris, the Democrats Abroad program held a huge bash for any American citizens abroad on Super Tuesday (which really became Super Wednesday for us). Below is a more eloquent article from my friend Caroline that she wrote for the BC Heights about the experience.

It was so wonderful to be with Americans of all ages, from many different states celebrating the election night. There were people from both parties there, as there was no big party that we knew of for Republicans Abroad. Unfortunately, as I had class the next morning at 8am, I wasn't able to stay for the final result, but got pretty close, and received a call at approx. 5am from my mom telling me about the new president!

This past weekend the group from BC in Madrid went to visit Cordoba and Granada to witness some of the most gorgeous Arabic artwork and architecture. We enjoyed getting to experience the cities in a different way than usual, with some formal education included from our BC professor. 

While there we were able to partake in some traditional cultural activities of the Andaluz region such as: Turkish baths (a sauna with baths of different temperatures), delicious traditional meals, and a Flamenco show in the historic caves of the gypsies.

This week I'm trying to accomplish as much work as possible while getting ready to visit my cousin Robbie in London. Schoolwork is starting to heat up as we get closer to final exams.

I feel very disconnected from US life these days, with the exception of some pretty funny stories from Chris and my family, but I'm glad to hear that gas prices have dropped considerably! It seems that it's already only about 4 weeks until I head back to the US, so I'm trying to soak up every single moment!