lalalaawesomeness

I feel like the only word that can describe my life is ... drum roll please... "lalalawesomeness". I think it is the perfect way to describe my emotions other than "life is kind of awesome" because I feel like I have over-used that statement by now.

This whole week home has been really busy so I, once again, apologize for my tardiness my faithful followers.

But before I get to my adventures in Spain... I have to tell you how my move went! :) Last time we talked, it was literally minutes before I was leaving the Brans to go to the Henssens. We all packed my suitcases and random bags into the car (I have no idea how I'm going to get home without being over the weight limit... things need to start disappearing before July 25th) and drove over the the girl's house. Yvonne was so cute when I got there and again was like, "My third daughter!" I couldn't stop smiling. It was kind of weird for Benoit and Fanny to have their parents sitting around in the same room making small talk (since they are dating). It was more funny for Fanny and Benoit because their parents weren't together for them but for me haha. We had these fancy little cakes and coffee :) It was so cute! We all sat around talking for a few hours and sharing funny stories ... like that one time I called a dog ugly and the owner heard me? Francois wasn't there since he was studying for his finals ... but it was still so much fun to be with my old family and my new family :) Yvonne said to Isa, "Are you sad she is leaving? You're going to be the only girl in the house now!" Isa looked at me and kind of had a sad face and said, "I miss her already. She has a life with us and it won't be the same to not have her around. " It almost made me cry! I love my families. A little later it was time to say goodbyes and I only had to say goodbye to Alain and Isa because Benoit was staying for dinner. Haha Of course my first night at my new family he would stay over until midnight. It was like we were both just hanging out at Justine and Fanny's... not that I would be staying and he would be going. Which made things easier to deal with. I don't know if he did it on purpose... but it made things much more comfortable for me to have him there that night (since, I was kind of really emotional). When Isa and Alain came to pick Benoit up after their movie I went to say goodnight to them and gave them a kiss on the cheek... Benoit was laughing at me since I was in my pajamas but I had to say goodnight! It was cute. When I opened the door they thought they would see Ben but they saw me instead and were like "Oh!! Mallo!" It was a perfect first night :) It took me forever to fall asleep though.. :/
The next day was great too :) I just did my own thing and the girls were studying for their finals so I had time to unpack and get used to things. You know how I normally hate bikes? Well that day, I went on 2 bike rides with Yvonne. And... I loved it! We biked next to the Meuse (the river that runs through Liege) on a beautiful sunny Sunday... :) Liege has an outdoor market one Sunday every month, so we biked there just the two of us and went shopping. It was so much fun and it felt like I had been doing this every month with her... it felt so natural. She really is just like my mom it is scary. She was so cute and bought me all the things I love (peanut butter, honey, yogurt, pasta, and bananas). It was such a great bonding moment and we brought all the food home for lunch and then went on another bike ride after lunch. It was the best first day :) I just feel so natural here and it just feels like a really long sleepover with Justine and Fanny! Hhaha which is perfect by me :) Have I told you that my life is kind of lalalawesomeness?
Then that Monday, I didn't go to school but met Mollie in town to start the unforgettable voyage to this little, spicy country named ... Spain! I must say it was kind of a bittersweet parting from my new family... I really wanted to stay more than 2 nights with them and didn't want to pack up my suitcase again but I was also really excited to be going to Spainnnnnn :)
So, I met Mollie in town at 10:30 where we then waited for another 30 minutes for her host-grandmother to take us to Verviers - please note that Mollie has never met this host grandmother or told her that I was coming in the car with them... so things were very awkward. We somehow made it to the train station in Verviers where we had to wait another hour for Margaret to get there. It was the time for the greyhound bus to come get us so we were kind of getting nervous since we didn't see it... so then right when we all start getting nervous that we missed it this man in a button-up shirt and green tie (the color of our company we were traveling with - Voyage Leonard) comes up to us and is like, "Going to Spain?" We said yes and then without thinking we get in this car with this man who didn't even ask our names or anything. It was probably the sketchest thing ever. We were all three freaking out when we realized we were in a car with a man we don't know and the idea that we were going to be in this car all the way to Spain! Seriously, we were about to call the company and see if this is what we really signed up for! Then right before we get out the calling information we see "Voyage Leonard" on a building maybe 200 km away... and are like ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh he is taking us to the bus. It was classic. So, we all happily boarded the bus and spent a wonderful 20 hours on the bus. Yes, 20 hours which is 8 hours longer than we thought we were going to be on the bus for. Mis-read that tid bit of information! This was one of the cheapest ways for us to get to Spain... but I think I would have loved to pay for a plane ticket because it was absolutely torture to be on that bus. Since we are 3 and not 4 or 2 people... I always am the one sitting happily alone but this time I got to sit next to a random, fat girl for 20 hours. I was not a happy camper. We finally made it to Lloret del Mar at 8:30 in the morning on Tuesday... and couldn't check into our hotels because our rooms weren't ready so we went exploring around the hotel and the city - I was pretty much in a coma at this point.
Lloret del Mar is a Mediterranean coastal town in Costa Brava known for it's "young crowd", late nightlife, and its beachs. It is 75 km north-east from Barcelona and is the second largest town in the county of Catalonia. For decades Lloret del Mar has attracted summer visitors and is considered as one of the most important resorts in Costa Brava. Lloret del Mar's main beach (length: 1,630 meters and with white, pebbly sand) is one of the most popular beaches in Costa Brava and is consistently awarded the Blue Flag for cleanliness. When we went exploring on our first day we ran into the most famous monument in Lloret del Mar : Monument to the Fisherman's Wife. It is a bronze sculpture at the end of the beach erected in 1966 to commemorate Lloret del Mar's Millennium. It is considered to be one of the town's most emblematic symbols and legend says that touching the sculpture's foot while looking out at the horizon will make your wishes come true. Also while we were investigating, we found a castle off into the distance (that we later hiked to) called the Castle of Sant Joan. It is a medieval castle from the 11th century that used to defend Lloret against attacks from the sea (such as the Genovese fleet in 1356 and during England's war against Spain and France in 1805). The fort was supposedly still in use until the 17th century. Only the castle's tower remains in condition (restored in 1992) and you can see all of the surrounding area from the top. Lloret del Mar is a tourist town full of hotels and souvenir shops... and I think I learned/spoke more German in this past week than I did Spanish. This is because all the German schools are finished with exams and they go to LLoret del Mar to celebrate (like Americans go to Cabo for Spring Break)... so the town was full with German speaking teenagers. Which was fine with me :)
After we did some exploring we went back to the hotel around 11 and just took a wonderful nap before lunch. Then after lunch, we went to the pool and just chilled until dinner. It's a rough life ;) Around 6 we went back to our room to shower and get ready and headed to dinner around 7:30. It was so nice to have meals included... it made things so much less stressful. And the food at the hotel was so good!! I have to say it was much better than in Greece.... Oh! And our hotel had 5 beautiful pools... once again Margaret needs a round of applause for her skills. After dinner we all went back to the room and enjoyed Spain from our balcony and around 10 we headed out to the beach! It was so nice to hang out on the cold, pebbly sand and since there were lots of other students on vacation we met tons of people just by sitting on the beach. Good times. And... we found out you pronounce "Macadonia" with a "k" not a "c". Did everyone know that or what it just us 3 that have been saying it wrong?
Wednesday we all woke up to go on an organized hike that the hotel had planned but we couldn't find the meeting point so we went on our own hike! We hiked to the castle we saw off in the distance the day before (Castle of Sant Joan). It was kind of far away but the city built this beautiful path for tourists to take so it was so nice to hike along it in the morning sunshine. There were these huge rocks right on the water that you could climb on so I'm pretty sure we took a 30 minute stop just to climb on the rocks and enjoy the views. Then we hiked farther and got to this huge cliff - it was one of those views that we all had to sit down and enjoy the moment in silence. It was a view you normally only get to experience as your screensaver on your computer... so we had to enjoy it in real life! Then we finally made it to the castle... and of course it wasn't open. We read the nice little description of the castle then saw a sign pointing to a beach 15 minutes away. So then we just went to the beach! We didn't have swimsuits but just went swimming in our running shorts and sports bras... it was so much fun! It was so hot out so it was the best feeling ever to be swimming in the slightly chilled waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Then after our swim we hiked back to the hotel to have lunch. After lunch, Margaret and I went for a run along the boardwalk while Mollie decided to read her new book at the pool. While Marge and I were running we noticed another castle at the other side of the beach... so we ran to it! And of course it had a little plaque outside that said this was a private residence created in the style of a castle... hi, welcome to Spain. Someone would create a house in the castle style to trick passing tourists! But the "fake castle" had a little path around it so Marge and I went on it for like 15 minutes. Marge was so impressed that this rich family built such a nice walking path for us tourists... and then we finally got the view of the coast and realized this path went all along the coast! It was hilarious! We totally thought they had built it but it was another thing the city built since it was such a beautiful walking trail. Hhaha We got a good laugh at this "great wall of Lloret del Mar". After this we had dinner and then went to Bingo Night at the hotel! We were totally the youngest people there... and we were proud of that! I pulled such a Mallory and after the first round of Bingo was won I missed the announcement that the next round was if you had all your numbers called... so I totally yelled ''Bingo" and went up to the nice man who shouted numbers in 3 different languages and was kindly asked to return to my seat since I didn't have all of my numbers called. So embarrassing!! I was so excited and just got so denied... I did get a nice pity clap from the pro-bingo players. I really let down the young crowd! Lesson learned - Bingo is not for those under 50. After this we went out to enjoy the nightlife of Lloret del Mar. We ended up dancing in this German club - even the DJ spoke German. It was just ridiculous that we go to Spain and we end up in a German club. So funnyyyy! We danced until 3 and then headed back to our hotel.
Thursday we went on a Catamarran boat ride! It was like this huge sail boat and maybe 30 of us were just hanging out on it :) It was so much fun! We road along the coast of Costa Brava and stopped in this little cove to go snorkeling... which was kind of a fail of a snorkeling adventure since there really is not coral in the Mediterranean so we just enjoyed swimming and laying out. The crew had a barbeque lunch prepared for us and I ate so much! It was so good! Then on the way back this little 4 year old boy was dancing to these rap songs in front of everyone and 5 songs later the whole boat was dancing! It was hilarious and everyone was dancing while we were just sailing along... it was so much fun. We got home around 2 and we took a little nap before we headed to our massages a the spa in the hotel. Yes, we got massages :) Actually Mollie got an hour massage and Marge and I got a half hour massage, with a half hour session of pressotherapy, a Scottish Bath session, and access to the gym, pools, and saunas. It was relaxing... and hilarious. Marge and I were together the whole time and it was just sooo dysfunctional at this place. The ladies who worked there only spoke Spanish so half the time we had no idea what was going on. I was like in this coma for 4 hours since we took naps before then I took a nap in the pool while we were waiting for our massages then I was practically sleeping when I was getting my massage and then when I did the pressotherapy thing (which was like an electrical pant suit that squeezed your legs and butt to circulate the blood) I fell asleep after like 5 minutes. Haha so I was just really out of it. Then we did this Scottish Bath after all of this. Which ... I think may be considered torture in several countries. It was funny because after my pressotherapy thing the lady told me to go to the pool and wait. So, I was just relaxing and I heard this lady keep yelling things with another person and I was kind of getting annoyed with it since it is supposed to be a relaxing place and 2 seconds later Margaret walks out of the room looking like she just witnessed a murder and I was so surprised since I had no idea where she was! I was like... ugh?? What are you doing!? All she said to me was that is was "my turn". So, I walk into this 4 by 4 room covered in white tile. At one end there is this shower type thing that I was supposed to stand in and at the other side of the room I see this Spanish lady standing there with a water hose and she starts spraying me with this high powered hose! It was hilarious. I could see Marge outside the door and I couldn't stop laughing. It hurt though too!! It was just ridiculous and I couldn't stop laughing over the fact that this was really happening and was considered "therapeutic". Let's just say... Margaret and I couldn't stop laughing when I walked out of there! Good times... :) That night, after dinner, we went to a little cultural flamingo dancing the hotel was holding. It was so cool to watch these ladies dressed up in traditional dresses and stomping places and clapping. It was really a good experience. After this, we went out to the clubs and stayed out until like 4 in the morning. It was a great time ;)
Friday we slept until 10 and went to Barcelona at 2. You know how every city has a word that describes them perfectly? (like London - traditional, Paris - glamorous, Rome - sexy, etc.) Well Barcelona's word ... is "extravagant". Seriously, there was something architectural, historical, touristic, or artistic going on pretty much every block in this city. It was crazy! We did this tour called the "Gaudi Tour". For those of you who only know a little bit about Antoni Gaudi - like I used to - let me do a little historical explaining about this very well-known artist. Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect and the best-known representative of Catalan Modernism. Modernism in its earlier stages was inspired by historic architecture, as for those who practiced in the return to the past as a response to the industrial forms imposed by the new technological advances that the Industrial Revolution produced. The revival of Catalan culture that began in the second half of the 19th century, brought more Gothic forms into the Catalan "national" style that aimed to combine nationalism and cosmopolitanism while at the same time integrating into the European modernizing movement. Gaudi's works are all situated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona and in the neighboring towns. Architecture, nature, religion, and his love for Catalonia are all marked in his works. He would study every detail of his creations and integrate into his architecture "crafts" such as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging, and carpentry. Under the influence of the neo-Gothic art and oriental inspiration - Gaudi became part of the Catalan Modernista movement which was at its peak at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. Gaudi's work has widespread international appeal, and there are innumerable studies devoted to his way of understanding architecture. Between 1984-2005 seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
So, our first stop on the Gaudi Tour... was the Park Guell. Park Guell is a complex garden with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel just outside Barcelona. It was built during 1900-1914 and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park was originally part of a commercially unsuccessful housing site, the idea of Count Eusebi Guell (whom the park was named after) and was inspired by the English garden city movement - hence the original English name "Park". The park has since been converted into a municipal garden. The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. When we were all three walking through this park... it was the perfect welcome to the city of extravagance! Everything had a touch of Gaudi to it... from the columns to the ceramic dragon on the stairs. Pictures don't do this park justice... it was so beautiful and unique every time you turned your head. Our next stop was the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family - also know as the Sagrada Familia. This is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona and although it is incomplete the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in November 2010 it was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI. The construction of the church started in 1882 and Gaudi took over the project in 1883 where he transformed it with his architectural and engineering style - combining Gothic and curvilinear, Modernism forms with ambitious structural columns and arches. A the time of Gaudi's death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Familia's construction has progressed slowly since it relies on private donations and the construction just passed the mid-point in 2010 (with an anticipated completion date of 2026 - the centennial of Gaudi's death). When we got to this church we were all three so overwhelmed. This church is huge and has a dark appearance but then you can see little bits of Gaudi by having colorful fruits on the spires and weird things that stick out to the observer only if you take the time to look at it carefully. We didn't go in since we didn't have time nor enough money... so we went to the park across the street and got to enjoy the church as a local, along with the old men playing habachi ball near us. It was a beautiful moment :) Then we hopped back on the bus and went and enjoyed dinner in a famous square in Barcelona (which I have forgotten the name). There was a huge protest going on in the square full of young, angry people. I didn't really understand exactly... but I think they were mad at the bank and government for the high employment of young people without benefits. So, that was fun to see the city come alive with this protest. We ate a nice little restaurant right outside the square and then boarded the bus again to go see the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. Yes, we went to see a Magic Fountain as ridiculous as that sounds... but it was pretty magical when the sun went down and the fountain lit up and danced along with music. It was so epic! The Magic Fountain of Montjuic is situated below the National Palace on the Montjuic hill and near the Spanish Palace. The fountain, like most of the surrounding developments, was constructed for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. The light and music performances by the fountains take place in the Summer on Thursdays through Sundays every half-hour between 9 and 11 at night. We went on a Friday night... so we got to witness tons of light shows during our hour there! It was so cool! Once again, this was a beautiful extravagance that Barcelona was happy for us to enjoy in as well. It was a quick day spent in a city that deserves way more time than just a day to enjoy... but it was a great taste-test :) I can't wait to go back one day and enjoy the beautiful city for more time! It made me want to speak Spanish... or at least learn.
We got home around 12 that night and the girls were too tired to go out so we stayed in... then we got up around 9 Saturday morning to get packed and check out of our hotel. We did some souvenir shopping, had lunch, and then headed to the beach until 6 at night. It was so nice to spend our last hours on the beach under the sun. It was beautiful :) Then we hopped on the horrid bus ride home of 20 hours and got home Sunday afternoon around 3. I was sad that Spain was over.. but I kind of missed my little city of Liege and my new family!
Monday at school was fun. I really missed my Belge friends! So, it was good to catch up. This is the last week of school before finals so... I have decided to not skip any school this week :) So far so good!! Today we have a day off school for some religious holiday... I think something about Jesus going up to Heaven? Nobody will give me a straight answer when I ask why we don't have school. Cool. So... now I have time to catch everyone up on my life :)

I'll be going to Ireland in a week! Woo!!
The adventures have just begun my friends!

all for now :)
as happy as a clam

Mallo