Madrid and Toledo Pictures

Well I'm sure everyone has been DYING for these pictures...so here they are!

All the Aggie's with our study abroad group. Everyone else thinks we planned it. Lies.

We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we. True to each other as Aggies can be.

Palacio Nacional

Completely proportional if we were to live here.

No one was home to let us in :(

Plaza Mayor where we ate lunch in Madrid

Apparently you can't "gig em" in the metro.

Us in 50 years when we come back to visit the Real Botanico Jardin

Happy camper. She is glowing...literally.

Most cliche picture ever taken. Notice the father and baby, young couple and stroller, old couple walking, and of course the scenery.

Catherine was NEVER dehydrated. 1 and a half liters.

Street band!

Like we said...we have become artsy. Or just little chimney sweepers.

Owls seriously are all over Europe! You only choose once. Go Chi O. 

peas and blessings

Catherine speaking,

Hello friends! 

Sevilla is grand. It is the perfect mix of age and beauty along with the hustle and bustle of a European city. Yesterday we finally arrived to Sevilla and met our host families! Sarahbeth and I's family contains a mom, a daughter, and a perrito! They are wonderful! They are so joyful and always willing to help us with anything. One struggle: they speak no english...yikes. At least we will be forced to talk in espanol all day, errday! The language barrier should be entertaining for future interactions with our familia. We live in an apartment that over looks the city. Also, on the roof of the apartment complex, there is a pool and an area to lay out. So be expecting the peas to come back much darker!! To sum it all up, we love it here! The people are amazing. So relaxed and content with life. It is such a slower pace than America for sure, which is kind of refreshing. Sometimes we all just need a moment to stop and smell the roses, ya know? God is SO good. We could not be happier about our homestay. It all worked out so well. We feel so at home and comfortable with our family. 

Food has been interesante for sure. One item in particular that we have delighted in MANY times are croquettes! Croquettes are pretty much mozzarella sticks with ham in the middle. This probably won't be the healthiest asset to our summer "hot bod" plan. Sorryboutit. But, we love those little guys. Other than that, the food has been pretty good. Definitely not spicy and flavorful as Tejas food but we will survive. Also, coffee has become our new best friend. The caffeine is much needed with these long days. These Europeans pretty much eat bread for breakfast and dinner, then a bigger lunch... I guess that explains why they all are string beans!

Currently, we are chilling in a cafe for a little bit. Pictures and more news to come! 

Peas and blessings :)

Also, to end on a happy note... My friend showed me this video and I about died. If your heart does not melt, I don't even know what to say to you... Enjoy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwwpwY4lyOo

4 days down, 1 month to go!

Hola muchachos!

Today was the Peas' last day in Madrid and their first day in Toledo. Toledo is the religious capitol of Spain and in the Peas opinion, they liked it a lot more than Madrid actually. Madrid honestly was like a New York, european style with spanish signs. Toledo was BEAUTIFUL though and exactly what the Peas thought a Spanish city would look like.

Ok....no more third person. We thought it would be entertaining for a little but then it just got annoying. Sorry bout it. :)

On our first day in Madrid we went to the Museo de Reina Sofia (Spain's current queen) that was filled with contemporary art. We saw some amazing Picasso's and Dali's. Definitely better than any of the google images or high school slideshows we've ever seen. Our tour guide was a native spaniard named Mario who deemed us all "Marios y Marias" so he could call us out in a crowd. Most animated man we've ever seen. By far. Which actually made the art all the more interesting as he turned each piece into a "juego" as he called it (or game) each time we approached a new painting.

After that we went to Spain's version of Buckingham Palace, "Palacio Nacional" and even though Prince William and Kate Middleton weren't there to kiss on the balcony, it still was absolutely incredible. The whole palace took 26 years to build and one room even took 55 years to finish. The wallpaper of this one room was handwoven silk with gold thread in an extremely intricate design. Let's just say we got a few ideas for our house next year. Murals on the ceilings, our own throne room, all things granite and limestone and our faces carved into the walls. Get excited Corey, Meredith and Angela!

For the rest of that day we aimlessly explored downtown Madrid, known as Plaza Mayor, changed shoes...rough...and then spent some time wandering through the Real Botanico Jardin (Real Botanical Gardens). Considering the fact that our friend's we've made thus far (including us) have cameras with too many buttons and settings than we know what to do with, we attempted to capture the beauty of the garden. Amateur style. To say the least.

We woke up today and left for Toledo and have been exploring ever since. We also thought the bus ride was a lot longer than expected (probably because they said it in Spanish) and literally put in a movie as we were pulling into the city. I guess "Secretariat" will just have to wait for our 7 hour bus ride tomorrow. Or at least we think that's what they said. Toledo was amazing, if you ever come to Spain...it is a must.

Tomorrow we'll be heading on the bus to Sevilla where our home, and madre, will be for the next month!

Peas and blessings,
Catherine and Sarah Beth

Sooo....we have all these great pictures to add but the internet is a struggle here in our hotel so photos to come!

Adiós los Estados Unidos...

Bienvenidos a Espana!
Catherine speaking,
Well... we made it to Madrid!
The 9 hour flight went by fast since it was filled with movies, magazines, photobooth, and some good heart-to-hearts. Once arriving to the aeropuerto in Madrid, we looked like lost 12 year olds searching for their mothers as we looked for our study abroad group.We arrived at 10am  Spain time, which was 3am US time. You could say we have been a bit jet-lagged today. Madrid is so cool. It's pretty much a European version of New York. The foreigners have been kind to us thus far. We have been attempting Spanish in restaurants to order or with strangers. It's a struggle but we will get better...hopefully. We are currently forcing ourselves to stay awake so that we can get used to the time here in Spain! To sum it all up, life is good here. Here are some of our airplane entertainment that might entertain you as well...

Nothing like American girls

Definitely 3:00 in the morning

The delusional state

Siamese twins! We knew we didn't want to be separated this trip anyways.

pinch.

Males or females? You decide..

Anyone ever seen the ring?

Since we are in Spain, we are officially artsy. SOO, be looking for wittier posts and beautiful photos...

Sarah Beth here,

I won't give a repeat of our day since Catherine pretty much summed it up...and I also have 5 minutes until the free hotel lobby WiFi runs out so I'm going to do some speed blogging! As we were about to land in Madrid and are looking out the window, Catherine's first comment was "Hmm..kind of looks like Dallas!" And we wonder why people think American's are arrogant. 

We spent a few hours walking around the city and exploring the cobble stone streets looking oh so American with our messenger bags and cameras...not to mention walking with a red-head. Kind of a dead give away. Not that I look at all like a Spaniard. Maybe Swedish? I guess we'll just keep our mouths shut and let them decide! After struggling a bit whether to eat at the Azul Cafe, standing extremely awkwardly in the restaurant, wondering how to ask where to sit, we finally mustered up the courage. When ordering, it took a second to get our point across that we wanted tap (not bottled) water and chicken salads but we managed and felt accomplished in our newfound independence. 

After our meeting tonight we will most likely be in bed by 9:00 because staying up longer than 24 hours does not look to good on us. Well I guess I can only speak for myself but a shower and pajamas has sounded wonderful since 10:00 this morning. Until next time, adios!

Peas and blessings,

Carmen y Estefani 

(our spanish counterparts)