Adios! I am headed to Greece y Turkey!!

Ok, so tomorrow at this time I will be in Athens, Greece. Yeah, you read that correctly, ATHENS. Like straight out of story books, GREECE!! I will be spending the next 11 days island hopping and swimming. We will also be spending a couple days in Istanbul, Turkey so I will be haggling for Christmas gifts for all of you! I will have my cell with me but won't answer your call because it would cost me like 5$ a minute or something crazy. I will be back Monday, October 9 and will try to email/post something early that week. Until then, have fun, be safe and SEND ME BIRTHDAY LOVE!!

I turn 22 on October 18 so if your love is going to get here in time, you should send it today!

Here's the Address!
Heather Botter
American University - CIS
C/Velázquez, 140 - Bajo
28006 Madrid - SPAIN

cell:011-34-669396172
*** but don't worry I will accept early or late love!

Hasta Luego!
Besos!
Heather

My Weekend!

So this weekend we had a great time. We started out with a beer pong game at the bar Thursday night and ended with a trip to Toledo on Sunday afternoon! Yeah for SPAIN!


The picture to the left is Emily, Alicia and I standing in front of the Palace and some sort of statue/fountain.

The palace was amazingly beautiful...check out my facebook photos for more photos.

After the morning at the palce we decided to go an nap in the sun in Retiro Park. Our Spanish class met there at 4 for a makeup class that turned into a Spanish Tour of the park and a rowing in Retiro outing. Alicia and I were brave and ventured out with Mike and Andrew... good news is we didnt get knocked in! We actually even showed the boys how the rowing was done. Clearly east cost boys can't row and it took our midwest talent to show them how it was done!!

Saturday we spent the day sleeping in, shopping and at some sort of festival thing in downtown Madrid. La Noche En Blanco was fun although we got lost a little and it ended up raining. Once again, the pics are up, check them out.
After a late night at La Noche En Blanco I got up at 7am to head to Toledo. Toledo is a really interesting city and amazingly old. I had my first Mazapan (an amazing spanish dessert), saw the town of 3 cultures and the amazing Paco "esplaned" everything artistic and otherwise to us.

Anyways, this post is random and confusing. Sorry for that. I gotta run though. I will try to post 1 more time before GREECE on THIS THURSDAY!!


Besos and Love from Spain!
Heather

my RIDICULOUS travel plans

Phew... so all the flights are booked. All the hotels are set. The money is gone. It is official. I am visiting 10 countries between now and Christmas. Here's the plan:

Sept 27--13 days to Turkey and Greece

Oct 12-- 6 days in Ireland and Scotland

Oct 28--9 days in France, Czech Republic and Germany

Nov 15-- 4 days in Italy

Nov 24-- 3 days in Portugal


Plus Spain equals 10 COUNTRIES!! Plus all sorts of random Spain trips (Barcelona, Granada, Valencia, Salamanca, Avilla, Toledo and the like). I think I am going to have serious case of JET LAG when I return to the states. Needless to say, it will be well worth it!

Send me your addresses if you want postcards!

Besos and Amo from Spain!
Heather

Salamanca

Hola!

Just got home from a great weekend in Salamanca Spain. It is a college town, much like Oxford, and that was clear from the begining. Ashely and I decided you know you are in a college town when there are random condom vending machines posted on the walls of buildings on the streets. I guess they are smart and the city just wants to make sure they have smart sex too. Who really knows?

Anyway, Salamanca was great, only a 2 hour bus ride away. We spent the majority of Saturday wandering, checking out a cathederal or 2, the university, plaza mayor and the like. There was no lack of amazing Spanish food, my personal favorites sangria and helado ended out the night and we had a great time at our resort-ish hotel that let you pick the type of pillow you wanted.

Today we spent the morning continuing our search for ¨the frog¨(myth says you have to find a frog at the university to graduate.) After a long hunt and walking in a few circles Ashey and I found the general local of the infamous frog but had to ask a cute Spanish man for help in locating the stupid thing. I will post photos later and you will see, it wasnt easy to find. The good news though is we found and we will both be happily graduating in May! Yeah for us!

Well todo y todo it was a great weekend. I am home in Madrid and avoiding my senora (long story that will come later) so call me if you see this tonight. I will be wandering Madrid loving Spain and missing you!

Besos and Love from Spain!
Heather

Pictures and People

Yesterday I went Retrio Park and saw the Alfonso the XIII memorial. This is me basking in the Spanish sun and enjoying the fake lake infront of the memorial.


The one to the left is a closer pic of the memorial!! I will look up the story behind it and post it later!

And this (to the left) is the real life bird women of Madrid who sat on this bench and fed the icky birds for over an hour.... it isnt just in the movies!!

Ok well now onto more productive stories of my trip. I have been having a wonderful time here in Spain. Yesterday was my first day of adventures alone around Madrid. I only had class from 4-5 so i spent the rest of the day at Retrio Park (like Central Park) in Madrid. I wandered and watched the bird ladies for a while and then talked to some of my favorites from the states who didnt mind the 6am phone calls! (6 hour time difference, sorry!)

After my nice afternoon picnic in the park i ventured out to wander and learn the city. I walked all the way up Calle Valesquez (the street that my school is on) and ended up doing a little bit of shopping! The good news is that I didnt get lost and someone asked me for directions in Spanish and I was able to not get them lost and they understood my Spanish! Slowly but surely I am learning Spanish!

Spanish class was good and the vino y tapas (wine and appetizers) afterwards with some friends made everything even better! After a quick cenar (dinner) we ended up going out in search of some drinks and a TV with the Real Madrid game on. We found a fun Cuban place and definatley stood out as the loud Americanos. At this point we are used to it though and it didnt phase us. Instead of being like other Spaniards we decided to end the night early at 2am and head back to sus casas (our homes).

I think one of the best things here is the people we are working with. For example, Paco, our art history teacher is the most excited, cute, short Spanish man in the world. He is going to make the class SOOO much fun and time flies when we run through the Prado with him for class. Maricarmen has been doing this for a long time and she is nothing but AMAZING. She is like our mother but also our friend and she is super sweet. Rafa is our travel agent and I am excited to work with him on my travel plans. Overall, everyone is great here!!

Clearly, life here is really good. My homestay is still cook and she cooks very well! I am working on travel plans and will post my extremely cool agenda in the next few days. Hope all is well state side!

Besos!
Heather

Mi Casa

Hola!

I am sorry it has been so long since I have last written but the good news is that I HAVE INTERNET and A CELL PHONE!! YEAH!! Email me or call me, i get free incoming calls so grab a phone card and call me at 01134-669 396 172!!

To the leftis a picture of my new home. You cant see the dresser in the picture or the decent sized closet I have but it is all very nice. Pretty small but sufficent for me to sleep in! :)

So, a lot has happened since my last entry. After the long ride back from Valenica we met our senoras at the hotel on Saturday night. Needless to say, I have never been so nervous in my life to meet someone. Good news is my senora is this cute little, gray haired, old lady who wears burberry and tommy. She has an awesome Yellow Lab (I HAVE A PUPPY) and lives in the same apartment building as a lot of my friend's senoras. The bad news is she doesn't speak a lick of English. I live in her cute little apartment with her, her dog (who watches me eat and sleeps at the foot of my bed), her son (who doesnt want anything to do with me and doesnt even know my name) and another foreign student (from Paris who speaks English, Spanish and French and is a more picky eater than i am). Things are pretty much good, although I couldn't figure out the word for hangers or understand when she was telling me about the queen. The important stuff though I understand and her food is really good. I am living quite the life where she wakes me up for breakfast (homemade bread and jam) and while I eat she makes my bed and picks up my room. She does my laundry and irons everything (even the under-roos) and waits on me hand and foot. Yeah except for the language barrier I am really enjoying it!

To the left is a picture of my underwear hanging on the line... for everyone to see... I'm not in the US anymore!

So Madrid, on Sunday we went downtown to the Prado (after a trip to the airport for the last of my luggage) and saw the last day of the Picasso exhibit! Needless to say it was amazing. I actually just got back from my second trip to the Prado (this one for my art history class). Classes are good and the people are wonderful. Yesterday was orientation and we got our phones and such. We are going on a bus tour of Madrid today during our seminar class. Classes are going well so far and dont seem too challenging. Our travel schedule is amazing. I can't wait for the 13 day trip to Greece and Turkey in the end of the month. This weekend we are already leaving for Costa Brava (north of Barcelona) for another weekend sipping sangria on the beach.

Anways, things are going well. I need to shoot out some emails and get on the bus but i promise to post again soon!! Love and miss you all!

Besos!
Heather

this ones for mi madre!

Hola!

I am here in wonderful Valenica enjoying my last day before our return trip to Madrid. Today we finished our Spanish Immersion Course and wandered the city. This place is absolutley beautiful. Valenica is not only the third largest city in Spain but the home of Valenica oranges, loads of rice and beautiful ceramic. All of the buildings have these beautiful blue ceramic domes (i have pictures but no cord to upload them with yet) and the advante gard arcitecture is beautiful.

Yesterday we went out the albufera (the largest lake in Spain) to see the rice fields and the sun set. Although it was cloudy the trip was totally breath taking. We took a cute little boat tour of the lake and although i was convinced we were going to sink it ended up being amazing. We also saw the port that is going to host Americas Cup in 2007 (a boat race) and all of the buildings that they are putting up for this event. It seems like a big deal and Louis Vutton has the biggest building on the port.

Ok well we are now headed out to enjoy our last day here in Valenica. There is an awesome Turkish/Middle Eastern place down the street that we have alraedy enjoyed once and now we are headed back there for some sangria! (Amy you should be proud of me, I ate Doner Kebap)! Anyways, tomorrow is the 4 hour bus ride home and the first meeting with my senora. I move into my house tomorrow and will try to post again soon but I am unsure as the internet situation at the homestay.

Adios! Besos!
Heather

!Sangria! y Aquario y AC

Hola! ¿Buenos dias?

Greetings from Valenica! I am here in beautiful, exotic Valencia Spain enjoying life. I have officially been in Spain for 5 days now and it still very much feels like a vacation that is going to end soon. I don´t know if it will ever seem for real.

Yesterday we went to LÓceanografic (Europe´s largest aquarium) to check out an acrobatic dolphin show and some beluga whales (that made me think of Krisitan Hoysradt´s song). It was incredibly warm but the AC in the IMAX combined with the reclining chairs made it all muy bien!

On the topic of AC, Spain clearly doesn´t believe in it. Our classes, no air. Our dorms, no air. Our stores, no air. EVERYTHING, no air. Although most of the weather is beautiful, it does get brutally warm (without humidity) though between the hours of 3 and 6 de la noche! Luckily we have siesta during that time!

When we don´t have siesta we pass the time with a cold, and cheap, pichter of sangria on the beach. Today we spent the afternoon napping, drinking and reading in the warm and fine sand of the Mediterranean Sea.

Anyways, I should get going. I am exhausted after my day of relaxing.... but i will post pictures once i get the cord to connect my camera to this computer! Mucho love and besos! I miss you all muy grande!

Heather

NATIONAL NAPTIME

¿DON´T YOU KNOW YOU ARE JEALOUS? YEAH I AM HOME FROM A 4 HOUR MORNING CLASS OF SPANISH, LEVEL 1, FOR A WONDERFUL LUNCH FOLLOWED BY A 3 HOUR NAPTIME. CLEARLY MY SCHEUDLE WOULD BE ALL GOOFED UP IF I ACTUALLY SLEPT FOR THE ENTIRE TIME SO I AM TAKING A MOMENT TO UPDATE THE BLOG.

LAST NIGHT WE WENT TO THE VALENICA BEACH AND DRANK SANGRIA! (MUCH BETTER THAN THE BOXED RED SANGRIA CHERYL AND I HAVE BEEN DRINKING) THE PHOTO HERE IS A GROUP OF THE GIRLS ON THE BEACH IN FRONT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA! IT WAS ABSOLUTLEY BEAUTIFUL AND THE SUN WAS SETTING! SAIL BOATS IN THE BACKGROUND AND NAKED EURPOEANS MADE IT SHOCKING THAT WE REALLY ARE HERE.

(MEG, MEAGAN, ASHLEY, RACHEL, EMILY, LINDSEY, ALICIA, LIZ AND ME ON THE BEACH)


TODAY WE ARE OFF TO CENTER CITY AND A WALKING TOUR AFTER SEISTA!

MY LUGGAGE IS IN ROUTE TO ME, OR SO BRITISH AIRWAYS CLAIMS! YEAH!

OK I DONT KNOW IF THIS POST CAN BE MUCH MORE RANDOM SO I AM NOW HEADED TO BED! HAVE A WONDERFUL LABOR DAY AND STAY IN TOUCH!

!ADIOS!

Greeetings from Valencia!

!hola chicos!

i have made it safe and sound to madrid and have since moved on to valencia spain. the trip was rather interesting and i lost my luggage thanks to the recent terrorism in the UK and my heathrow connection. owell, i get money for them and should also get them back in the next couple of days! shopping spree, here i come. that is if i can figure out my size in spain!

i have now been in spain for about 24 exciting hours. we were greeted at the airport by maricarmen who will be a psuedo mom for the entirety of the trip. she is super sweet and helped me fill out paperwork for my luggage. NY Katie and I then took a car ride with Rafel to the hotel. Rafel doesn´t speak english very well and I don´t speak spanish very well so it was an interesting ride but i got most of the conversation about muisco (music) and was feeling rather confident.

i then got to the hotel and had to think when they told me my room was cuatro tres dose (432) but i was able to figure it out! it wasnt until the walking tour of madid (they pronounce it without the r) that i realized how lost i was going to be in spanish! we saw a beautiful palace and cathederal but i dont know what he told us about them, he spoke too quickly. the only thing i caught was to hold my purse in my lap when i set on the metro and at dinner.

after the walking tour we proceeded to dinner (at 10pm) at a cute spanish restraunt. they were clearly prepared for us and didnt even offer ham (a spanish staple) but instead steak and potatoes, yes my first meal in spain was very similar to every meal i eat in KS! we drank a lot of wine, ate amazing dessert and then headed back to the hotel to crash thanks to our serious jet lag.

this morning we took a bus to valencia on the mediterranean coast of spain for our spanish immersion course that we thought was going to be in granada. i have already discovered the spanish have no sense of urgency or planning so this will be a fly by the seat of your pants type of trip. we are now checked into dorms at the school in valencia and i should be taking my spanish profenciey exam but i decided just to enter into level 1 becuase i know nothing. tonight we are going out to dinner as a group and walking on the beach. the locals also invited us out for drinks and churros and chocolate so i have a feeling this will be our first big party of the semester! i think this is the begining of a great thing! the people are awesome, 22 girls and 3 guys, smaller than i expected but all super relaxed and fun. The country is beautiful. Dry, warm, sunny, and perfect! i should sign off now and go get shower before heading out again. we hopefuly will find some clothes tonight so that i dont feel so gross. keep your fingers crossed that my bags come in!

I will have email access all week here in valencia so please stay in touch, im me and email me! have a great labor day weekend and i will write more soon!

!hola!