Whew! So much to say...

Hola Tyson-followers!

I apologize for the lack of activity on here recently...for this, I have much to say. I left you with the cliffhanger of picking up Kelsey in Madrid. I'm sad to say that it's been a whole two weeks since then, and one week since she left me for another three months.

I was so proud of my never-been-out-of-the-country-before girlfriend finding her way into my arms in Madrid. International travel isn't easy, and when you finally arrive to your destination, you feel like you've accomplished something! Anyway, Kels and I stayed in a great hostel in a busy part of Madrid. The subway system there is fantastic, and we bought a pass to zip around the city. (View from hostel)

The thing about Madrid is that, to me, there aren't a bunch of "must-see" sights; it's a bunch of old buildings and open plazas. Ok, well I guess that's my general experience of Spain so far too. So we just walked around to different areas mentioned in my handy dandy travel book and experienced the city that way. We walked and walked and walked, and poor Kels, just having arrived from home, got dragged along in a semi-conscious, state of jet lag. Every couple hours, she had to stop and nap, but then we caffeinated up and were off once again! Oh, and we saw Europe's oldest flea market...until the swarms of people made us decide to leave 15 minutes later.--->

And we felt obligated to go to at least ONE museum...so we did the Prado in an hour. On Sunday, when it was free :) It was boring. We saw old paintings and Greek sculptures. We're not museum people. The most interesting thing we saw there was actually a guy in a Mizzou shirt! We were shocked, so of course I went up and said "Hey, you're from Mizzou too? That's cool! What's up?" I mean seriously, what are the chances? Well, at first it was as if he didn't speak English. Then he kind of mumbled something like "uh huh," and that was that. What a jerk! A kU shirt would have suited him better. (Prado-->)

After a weekend in Madrid, we set off to my "home" in Alicante. Kels was nervous to meet my host family and I had to mentally prepare her. "If you don't like it, you should still eat it all," "You can say whatever you want about them, because they don't understand English," etc. All in all, they got along through my constant translations. It was nice because the girl I live with from Germany speaks English (even though we speak Spanish to each other), so Kelsey had someone else to talk to.

Alicante is just a city and a beach. The weather wasn't great but nice enough to get out for a little bit. I had to go to a few classes, so she got to see what I have to go through everyday! Well actually, she just played around on my computer. At the end of class she said, "I have no idea what just happened," and we went and had lunch.

One of the highlights of the trip was going up to the castle. It's a hike, lemme tell ya, but it's worth it. We didn't plan it, but we saw the sunset at the top, which I hadn't done before. The views are incredible.

So I introduced her to my friends, we went out to a club, did the whole barrio scene...all in all a good time. The best part was just being together SOMEWHERE for the first time in three months. But I'm happy because she said she liked Alicante better than Madrid. I think I actually agree.

It was so sad to say goodbye again in the Madrid airport a week later. Maybe even harder than the first time. I had such a great time, and I remember now how much I miss home.
But enough with the sappyness. I thought it was interesting that she pointed out all of the things that Ive gotten used to here...and I realized how much I hate them. "Wow, the people on thebus kind of stink." Ha, yeah, I guess you're right. They do smell! "Geez, people don't know how to walk on sidewalks here!" Yeah, they are incredibly rude, aren't they? And so on and so forth. Kind of funny, kind of sad that I'm used to it. Meh.

After saying goodbye, it was on to a crazy week for me. I haven't been understanding what's been going on in my econ class, and I had lots of homework to do. Also, I moved out of my homestay Thursday and into a new piso with a German and a French guy (Frenchie? Frenchman?) Plus, I studied all week and squeezed in a midterm for my online class before break, got my hair cut for the first time since January, and made hostel reservations for the weeks to come. Whew, I'm worn out. My mom and sister are getting here tonight, and thus begins my 15-day travel extravaganza. I'm excited to see them, of course, but I'm also excited to travel! Sunday we leave for Palma, Mallorca (one of Spain's Balearic Islands), which will be sweet. Then Tuesday it's on to Barcelona for three days. They leave Friday, and I'm meeting up with a friend in Paris. After a weekend there, we're meeting up with another friend in Lyon by train. From Lyon to Nice to Venice (where we meet up with friend #4) to Milan and home again.

I'll be gone from the 5th through the 20th, and I'm living out of a backpack. Should be interesting. Since airline restrictions only give me 10kg/22lbs, my poor little MacBook will probably have to sit this one out. Sorry guy! In the meantime, I'll do my best to take pictures, remember the cool stuff I saw, and have fun. See you in two weeks! Adios! Besos!