Wedding 03.23.2018

The Colca Cayon

Breathtaking views at the Colca Cayon in Arequipa, Peru. It's one of the deepest cayons in the world

Adios Santiago de Compostela...

wow.. I have not blogged for the past few months maybe that is a good thing? means I´ve been busy having a good time or maybe just too lazy either way I want to update my life in Spain a bit before I say bye to this lovely country.

I've come to the conclusion that I adopt countries, lifestyles and relationships in different regions of the world. when you live in another place or abroad for a certain time this place becomes your new temporarily home, but when it is time to leave, that new home stays with you forever! most of the times it changes you, when you go back "home" you learn that you have a different perspective and outlook towards many things, sometimes you can no longer connect with older friends and they don't have to understand you because you have met likeminded people abroad that share the same interests you do... this to me is the whole point of living abroad, to grow as a person, to break stereotypes, to discover new life perspectives and adopt them and to meet likeminded and different people.




I´ve spend the last 8 months in Santiago De Compostela teaching English at an elementary school with the cutest children in a lovely small city in Galicia. Santiago is charming! it made me feel at home from the start, yes you can probably see it in a day or two, but I could never get tired of the beautiful old town, its delicious seafood and beautiful green surroundings. so when you live abroad for some time that place will always be part of your life, whether the experience was good or bad, you will most likely meet up with  friends you made there and you will always have so many memories to share and remember.

The things I miss about Santiago

1. Walking around the old town even during the rainy days ( almost everyday lol)
2. Seeing all the pilgrims reach the Cathedral after their long journey ( I have to do the Camino)
3. VINO Y TAPAS PORFAVOR!!  ( I miss that Octopus a lot!)
4. hiking to Monte Pedroso
5. going out with friends until 6am

Porto.... Portugal!

YES! I can say I made it to Portugal!

Porto, what a wonderfull city!! It is the perfect weekend get away if your looking for a romantic, affordable, fun beautiful city! It´s small and cosy with great food and ambient.



When I travel, I like to explore the local places to get a better understanding of the city and its people. I always end up getting advise from the locals of course. Luckily my roomate was from Porto so this is exactly what he recommended to visit while in Porto.

The Ribeira, Aliados, Rua de Santa Catarina, Casa da Musica, Se´s Church and the surrounding area, Clerigos ( the bookstore lello) and the Palacio de Cristal




La Ribeira

Visit the Port wine cellars




you must try the Francesinha, it is a delicious speciality from Porto, but I must warn you it will most likely give you a food coma.  My friend said that it could be found in many places but the best place to try it is called Santiago in the street Rua Passos Manuel near the Santa Cararin








La Ribeira is proabably one of the most beautiful places I´ve seen, the colorful rooftops, the bridges and the whole ambient makes me want to go back to go back to porto. I would absolutely recommend if your traveling to Europe and want to explore the beauty of smaller not so popular cities. I believe a weekend in Porto is more than enough time to enjoy this captivating city!

I am in Africa!

Morocco!

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Visiting Morocco was a great experience because I was able to experience a completely different culture an world perspective. Morocco is an interesting country to visit...

I was in a bus for 26 hours, were I spent three very uncomfortable nights. I slept in a tent under 10 degree in the Sahara dessert to wake up in the morning without a voice. We were on a minor car accident in the middle of the dessert. I rode a camel for about an hour and a half into the middle of nowhere. I cross streets scared for my life because there were people, cars, bikes and donkeys coming from all directions. I tried their delicious mint tea and ate couscous and taginee for days. Talk about adventure! I felt forced and obliged to purchase things at the market in Marrakech

Now that I look back at the experience I can say that Morocco was a different type of trip. I visited extremely poor communitites were they receive water every two days and while we use it to wash our cars they save it for drinks and to cook later on.





 I danced in the dessert with native arabics around a bonfired and saw shooting stars. I attemped to communicate in French while they talked to me in Arabic.

Morocco, Africa is another world to explore. I do have to say that visiting an arabic country is quite an experience, I would not advice any girl to travel there alone and to be smart about it by respecting their culture.

   

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Rainy days abroad...

Yup, living abroad is exciting and a great experience, but it also has it´s downsides. I am going to talk about  the disadvantages of embarking in a journey far away from your country, friends and family because life is not always a happy place and that doesn´t change because your living abroad. don´t get me wrong I am a very positive person and like to focus on the advantages of things, but I think it is also important to be realistic and honest with oneself. I think it is only fair to mention it all, the good and the bad. I do believe that the perks outwait the disadvantages but if  you are planning on moving abroad be prepared for it all.

somes disadvantages include...

-Loneliness, of course you will end up making new friends and all, but sometimes it´s hard to adjust to evrything quickly and to miss close friends and family

-Culture Shock, you do broaden your cultural horizon but sometimes the cultural difference put a strain in you.  In my case it´s not so much the culture itslef after all spaniards do have an easy going attitude that I can relate too. the wheather however is hard to deal with. It rains all the time and coming from Florida, the sunshine state I miss my sunny days.

-Starting from zero is a challenge, but you have to realize that although it can be very exciting it can also requiere a lot of work.

I am a little home sick right now because it hasn´t stop rainning, I am missing my family reunion in Peru that happends every 6 years or so and I am not there to help my best friend pick out a dress for her wedding. This things make me sad and I am not trying to be negative but just accept the fact that in life you can´t have it all. So instead of having a Christmas dinner with my family this year I will be experiencing a dutch chritmas with my boyfriend for the first time and, since  I didn´t help out my best friend pick out a dress I got to ride a camel in Morocco. Like I´ve said before, to me the adavantages of living abroad outwait the disadvanges, that does not mean that it is always easy. I would still encourage people to live abroad even if it´s for a short period of time.

My 24th Birthday in Spain!

                                I got to spend My birthday abroad!

24 añitos, plena juventud diría yo y con mucho que aún aprender. Este ańo la vida
Me regalo dos cosas por las cuales estoy muy agradecida y aunque no pueda celebrar mi cumpleaños con mi familia esté ańo tengo la suerte de poder disfrutarlo en España con mi novio.

Los cumpleaños son fechas especiales. Y estés donde estés siempre tiene que haber una celebración, no importa que sea pequeńa o grande pero que sea un recuerdo bonito y especial.

Pienso que también es importante reflexionar sobre nuestros ańos y anticipar nuevos retos para seguir alimentando los ańos que nos queden por vivir. En fin recuerda que es bonito compartir tu cumpleaños y aún más bonito hacer el cumpleaños de otros un día muy especial y no me refiero a ningún regalo.



In Santiago we ate at a very nice Tapas Place and enjoyed a delicious spanish meal with Vino tinto of course. 


My friends also surprised me with a cake the following day :)

6 weeks in...

I've been in Spain for about 6 weeks now, but it feels like I've been here for ever. I've been living with three Guys, one from England doing the same program I am doing. A Portuguese guy from Porto that is writing his master thesis and a Galician that is doing an internship for the Galician  channel. I've never lived with just guys before, but it's been good. Everyone pretty much minds their own business and sometimes we hang out in the weekends. This works great with my personality because I like having my space as I grew up in a land where your personal bubble is important! Popular expression in America, I need my space...

Now Spain has a completely different mind set. There is no distance proximity when you talk to people. I've been working 3/4 days a week from about 8am-3pm so I have a lot of free time!! Yay! Now I love free time, but when your in Spain only making 700 euros a month my first thought is, I need more money in order to survive and of course travel a bit this year. So within the first few weeks I've managed to get about 8 classes particulares for that extra cash! I also join a Volleyball team and plan on joining a gym and hopefully some cooking classes!

As for the weekends well what can I say, there are the occasional birthday celebrations, get together s  daily trips to small towns around Galicia and a bit of partying. I thought I would be going out more often, since we all know that Spain has that party reputation, but honestly I can't keep up with their crazy schedules. They have dinner at 10/11ish then after a long dinner they go de copas in the old town until about 3am, at 4am,  they go to clubs in the new town until about 9am! That schedule makes me tired and me being my 24 year old I much rather go home at 3/4am and get some lovely sleep! I will go dacing someday soon in Spain I just really need to prepare for it haha take one long nap beforehand.

Trips!!!

I haven't really gone anywhere YET! I went to A Curuña with my boyfriend for my birthday (I will blog about that)
Also visited Pontevedra with other Auxiliares and my biggest trips have been to Amsterdam to visit my boyfriend. I will visit Morocco in a week!! I am so exited to get out of Europe for a change and explore Africa!

So.. I believe that sums up 6 weeks in Santiago De Compostela thus far.

A short stay in ICELAND!

 I was trying to save money on my flight to Europe once I found out that I got accepted to the program and was going to move to Spain for a year.
If you are a student I recommend using http://www.studentuniverse.com/ for cheap student flights that is how I was able to book a flight for under $400 with a 10 hour layover in Iceland. Now, I hate flying so of course I was nervous because I was going there all by myself, but don’t let that stop you. So I grabbed my bags, had one sad lunch with my family and was off to the airport! I left Orlando at about 2pm on the 22nd of September 2012 I flew for about 7 hours with lots of turbulence! :( but I was prepared! I took Benadryl, an over the counter allergy medicine that makes you sleepy and drowsy so if your scare of flying I highly recommend it, even my doctor said it was a good idea.

Once In ICELAND I was very excited, but having second thoughts of whether leaving the airport was a good idea it was freezing and after all I was alone in a new country.  I decided to get some coffee and something to eat while trying to make a decision when this guy approached me with a survey, he wanted to know my reasons for visiting Iceland. I told him that I was only here because of a layover and he said that I should definitely go to the Blue Lagoon that I had plenty of time. so I got excited and decided to face the adversity and boy I am SO glad I did! It would have been a sin not to go...

If I had to describe the Blue Lagoon in one word it would be -à Magical, after all the readers of “Conde Nast Traveller” voted Blue Lagoon as the best medical worldwide.

http://www.bluelagoon.com/Geothermal-spa/The-Blue-Lagoon/  The moment I saw the lagoon I was captured by its beauty and seduced by its warm waters... I've never  experienced nor seen something so amazing. it's not just the lagoon itself, but the mysterious surroundings in such a natural and peaceful place, you definitely experience an unforgettable encounter with nature

Nordic countries have the power to conquer your full attention with such dramatic sceneries, So next time you plan a vacation, don't underestimate the beauty of those cold beautiful countries and  always pack your swimsuit!

My New Home is Santiago de Compostela!!

Want to teach English in Spain!!?

Apply to this program!
http://www.educacion.gob.es/exterior/ca/es/menu_fijo/programas/auxi_canada.shtml





I got placed in Galicia in northwest Spain! Galicia is a beautiful place, everything is green and it's by the coast!! As a Floridian this works for me lol besides the fact that it rains a LOT I already feel at home <3.

  

I live in Santiago de Compostela a world Heritage site since 1985, Santiago attracts visitors and pilgrims from all over the world



but I am teaching in Illa de Arousa!


I've only been here for about a week, but I already love it!  It's been so easy to get established in Santiago.
I've lived in Peru, US, Sweden and now Spain! perhaps it's because I already speak Spanish,  although they speak Gallego here, but I am able to understand a lot of it. Anyways stay tune for my year abroad in Spain/Europe!!! :)

Local customs in the Netherlands!

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As a tourist you might miss some of the fun traditional customs of the country, but not this time because I was traveling with a Native Dutch.  I will share a few of those customs that I learned in my second trip to the Netherlands!

WhAt To EaT...

Herring!

Yes, it is a small fish that is very popular among the dutch people. The herring has been frozen and laid in salt for days so it is not strictly raw?

* it is also known as the remedy for hangovers! ;)

and this is how you eat it....

I am not going to lie I was nervous and having second thoughts about eating Harring, but It tastes and smells fresh and salty so just go for it!




Dutch Junk Food!





 Try the french fries (called patat or friet) they are sold at snackbars. they usually eat it with mayonnaise or peanut sauce. I  thought they were much better than McDonals fries, but you can be your own judge.









Or try a kapsalon ("barbershop") 


consisting of either shawarma
 or döner,  with fries, salad, 
cheese and various sauces. 


The name originated because
 it was the lunch meal of the
 owner of a barbershop in
 Rotterdam.
 I thought is was really good, not healthy but worth a try.

                                                         


you can also find junk food in Snack Machines!

Try the - kroket



and of course the Dutch Cheese!! 

Stockholm, National Day

Stockhom is Beautiful

Stockholm was built on about 15 islands and thousands of virgin archipelagos; it is a beautiful city with colorful rooftops. I decided to go in spring, because during the winter it is all covered with snow. I went on the National Day of Sweden and got to see a parade with the Royal family. Most tours and places are free that day. We visited the palace and saw royal jewelry. 

This is at The Nobel Prize Museum, of course a must visit in Stockholm. I saw the exhibitions of Obama and Mario Bargas Llosa from Arequipa! where I was born <3http://www.nobelmuseum.se/en

Spain 2011

           

What comes to your mind when you think about Spain!?          

Perhaps you think of Flamenco, tapas, Barcelona's soccer players, Madrid, Spanish, bulls or Sangria... Well let me tell you that Spain has way more things to offer, I was very curious and excited to finally explore Spain!!



10 days in Spain went by fast!! I was with friends that showed me the inside of the Spanish life and culture. I was aware that Spanish people like to party more than other cultures but, I underestimated this aspect of their fun, exciting, way of life.



Spain has festivals and parties all year round, in every city you could think off. I experienced Las Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante and it was incredible! Wood and paper maché structures known as hogueras are burned around the city. The whole city is engaged in festivities with lots of Mobil stages called barracas and live performances everywhere you go. I loved it! Lol I would have to describe Spain as FUN…

If you are planning on going to Spain, I encourage you to experience a festival
Here is a great website that offers festivals every month!http://www.travelinginspain.com/culture_spain_festivals.html




BARCELONA!

One of my favorite places in Barcelona- Montjuic! near Plaza España

Barcelona has become one of my favorite cities! I want to go back now! It has everything I love, It is a metropolitan city, with mountains, the beach is right there, it has culture, it is very international and there is always something exciting happening! I would move there in a heartbeat lol

Two FREE GREAT TOURS

1. Gaudí's arquitecture

2. Old City

http://www.runnerbeantours.com/

 

                 
you must visited La Sagrada Familia and go to Las Ramblas for some shopping

Alicante