Londres

Londres.

Hola chicos y chicas! This past weekend I got the chance to visit England with my program, and it was well worth the waiting around for hours at the airport both there and back. 

Some highlights before my main stories: we got there Thursday night, and I was especially excited for this trip because 1) my program paid for the plane tickets and hotel which was SO great, and 2) my friends Ally, Kristen, and Alyssa are all studying there through the UNH program at Regent's University! It was so weird to realize that we were all hanging out in London...not Durham, and it was awesome. Me and my friend Katie from my program did some things on our own and some with the Regent's chicas, including the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, Borough Market, Buckingham Palace, walking by the London Bridge on the river, etc. We also got to try classic pub food, eat Chipotle (BEST DAY OF MY LIFEEEEE) and sushi (SECOND BEST DAY OF MY LIFEEEEE). If it isn't clear...it was nice to get the chance to pick out my own food for a weekend.

Anyway, two of my favorite parts were trying to go to Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guards, and being trapped in the pouring rain one night while we were out. 

None of the five of us had ever been to the changing of the guards event, so we thought we'd just meet at 11 when it happened and then go to Borough market to get lunch after. 

.........DON'T EVER expect to see the changing of the guards or find anyone at Buckingham Palace exactly at the time the whole spectacle is supposed to take place. Katie and I got there a little after 11, and it honestly looked like half of London showed up in front and all around the palace. I was so confused because I really didn't get what the big deal was...but apparently it's a big thing especially for tourists. We basically accepted the fact we wouldn't find Ally, Alyssa, Kristen or their friend Jaclyn at all because it was impossible to see anything. Standing there for 10 minutes I heard at least 5 different languages, and I should have brought stilts if I had been planning on seeing a single thing. 

Some how, so, SO luckily, Kristen saw me (I'm still confused how it happened. It would be like trying to find someone randomly at Gillette Stadium) and we decided to leave because it was so pointless and none of us had any idea what the big deal was. All I saw was the top of a furry black guard hat and heard some trumpets; that's all I know. After I write this I'm finally going to research what exactly we missed out on. It was probably some big deal or something....if not, I just don't understand....

My other favorite moment was so typical London and exactly what I expected with the weather. Me, Katie, Ally, and Alyssa all went out that night to an old converted theatre-turned bar, and it was really different than places in Spain so I'm glad we got to experience something new. When we left the weather was fine, there was a 30% chance of it raining later but we didn't really think anything of it since we would be taking the bus back to Regent's and our hotel. We were there for a few hours and decided to head back, and when we walked outside it was literally torrentially down-pouring. None of us had rain coats either (you guys what was wrong with us).

We knew we needed the bus stop on the other side of the road than we had gotten off at, so there was nothing else we could do but run. It was the kind of rain that's freezing and whips at your face and it was AWFUL but we just kept running...and running.......until we stopped and realized there was no bus stop in sight. We had to take the bus back; we didn't have a choice. So, after stopping multiple times to shiver like wet rats under various store awnings, we walked into McDonalds to ask for directions. I explained where we were trying to go, and the guy behind the counter said, "Oh, this is a one way street! You guys have to go behind this building to get a bus back."

It's safe to say that pouring sheets of rain clouded our judgment and apparently our vision from noticing we had been running down a one way street the whole time.

By the time we finally got on the bus, we looked like an absolute mess, but it was hilarious and now I can say that the London rain has gotten the best of me. 

This shout out is to the guy who just turned 16 and got his license today!! Felicitaciones! Pero yo siempre conduciré mejor que tú. Necesitas traducir estas frases para practicar más con tu español...cuando estoy en los EEUU otra vez nunca te hablaré en inglés..es una buena idea, no? 

Another shout out to Ally, Alyssa, and Kristen; it was great seeing you guys y gracias por todo! Especially Ally, you were a huge help!! Alyssa and Kristen SEE YOU IN ROME YAY!

Me voy a Francia mañana hasta el martes para visitar con Gretchen! Escribiré sobre este viaje la semana que viene :)

-Moll

Pobre Vaca Pequeña (Literalmente)

Pobre Vaca Pequeña (Literalmente)

Haven't written in a while but hola amigos! Quick recap before my main post: I had midterms last week and even though school is A LOT more relaxed here than at home, exams are exams and it still sucked especially because they make up 50% of my grade... soooooo k. This past weekend my group went to Extremadura and visited 3 different cities, which were all so pretty and old-timey looking. I got to see all of Trujillo on top of an old castle, hike 10 miles up a mountain (go hike 10 miles and tell me your butt doesn't hurt and I'll call you a liar) to Guadalupe, and stay in a hotel connected to a monastery. Pretty good way to end midterms week.

I realize 70% of my blog talks about food but if you keep reading it then you must not be sick of that yet! This story is the tale of the baby vaca.

Vaca=cow, baby cow=veal, veal=ternera in Spanish. Which is what I realized we're always eating whenever we have "hamburguesas." But, it's always extremely pink and almost rare-looking/different tasting, which isn't how I'm used to eating burgers but I do here anyway since I don't have a choice.

The other day my host mom asked me to watch the burgers while she ran across the hall to help a neighbor really quickly. Emphasis on the "really quickly"...she said she'd be right back.
 If you know me you know I can't cook at all, like AT ALL.. it's an issue and I'm working on it. Kind of. But, she basically told me to just keep an eye on them, so I figured I could do that. I was standing there staring at them and she told me not to worry about it so much so I didn't think it would be a big thing.

I've never cooked hamburgers in oil, let alone veal so I don't know if it cooks differently at all. But these veal patties were sitting in at least a half inch of straight oil with a splash of cooking wine, which I've never had any experience with. A little while after my host mom left I had my roommate Maya come see if I should flip them, and she agreed and flipped them while she was in there. My host mom was not be-right-backing at all, and I honestly assumed she would be back before they were supposed to be done because she didn't give me any instructions on what to do besides watching them. However, after 15 minutes I took the pan off the stove when I noticed ALL of the oil was gone and I was disgustedly surprised because there had been so much of it. The patties had just started to blacken on the bottom and Maya started to take them out and plate them. At that moment, my host mom walked in and saw the smoke (yes I can't cook I KNOW) and immediately started saying we had to throw them away. Granted, they looked burnt on the bottom but the rest of the patty was completely fine. But, the way she usually cooks them is rare so to her it looked like I ruined everything. But, Maya and I convinced her we'd still eat them, because 1) I felt bad and didn't want to waste them and 2) anything is better than completely pink burgers.

We sat down to eat and when I took a bite, I was expecting a nice charred flavor. But, they tasted WAY better than usual, because they were actually cooked this time! Maya and I were both so confused but pretty happy about how it all turned out. So, me burning something ended up being the best thing that could happen, and even though my host mom thinks we're crazy for liking "burnt" burgers, it ended up being a blessing in disguise. If anyone needs a professional awful chef who might end up cooking something good by accident, hit me up.

This shout out is to my loney homey! No idea what that even means still and don't think I'll ever remember...same with Nailsy & Roz...why........
Anyyyyway I miss hanging out all the time and laughing 24/7, plus no one is here to YEAH MOLL me :( Miss you!

Gracias por leer esta entrada tan larga!
Hasta pronto,
Moll:)
PS: I'm now Mali OR Mely at cafés. Yeah.

Bloguito

Bloguito.

I just made that up. But in spanish you can add "-ito" or "-ita" to words to make the meaning cuter/smaller than the normal word would be. For example, my host mom calls my roommate Maya and I "chiquis," a nickname for "chiquitas"which is adding "-itas" to the word chica, meaning girl. So since this is a short blog post, bloguito works. Today is the third way point of me being here so I thought I should write something, and all I could think of is food..classic.

I had squid stew two days ago. I'm not a picky eater, but NOPE not my favorite at.all.

So, to counteract that bad time, Brendan and I were American yesterday and went to TGI Fridays (lame I know) and I got a real burger. And it was a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Today for lunch there was a bowl full of shrimp in front of me, eyes and all. And while I love shrimp and don't care to peel it if that's necessary, my third attempt at picking off every stringy leg while looking into its black beady eyes was too much.

Also I changed my mind and my name isn't "Moley" anymore....I'm taking a stand and making it "Mali" from now on.

Shout out to the person I get to see this week and I'm SO excited about it...cannot wait to celebrate your 21st this Friday!! So happy to get to show you Sevilla and see someone from home! Looooove ya muchisimo!

La próxima vez escribiré algo más interesante...les prometo.
Adios!
MALI :)

Awkward Cosas

Awkward Cosas.
Someone once told me that there isn't a Spanish equivalent for the word "awkward." I'm sure there's some sort of word that means just about the same thing, but 1.) I'm too lazy to figure it out and 2.) it just wouldn't capture the true meaning of the word in all its glory.

Nothing necessarily life changing has happened since Morocco, but the more I live here the more I realize how many awkward every day things happen to me on a regular basis. So here's what my life has been like from time to time:

First of all, the henna tattoo I talked about in my last post is still lingering on my hand and it will not come off and it's so.ugly. 

Some mornings I wake up and I'm like "YES I LOVE SPANISH I NEVER WANT TO SPEAK ENGLISH AGAIN!!" But others I wake up and I'm like "Ughhhhhhh I SUCK woe is me." So it's a pretty decent mix of feeling like I'm getting better but still struggling. So, what I do most of the time when I don't know what's going on is just nod my head and smile and say "sííí," which is my go to answer for everything and I know a day will come when that's definitely not what I should have said but I'll deal with that when I get to it.

I went to the grocery store the other day to buy nail polish remover, chocolate, and cooking wine. The first 2 for me and the wine for my host mom since she asked me to. When I got back to the house she asked if it cost me a lot and I promptly responded "No no! Fue muy borracho!" Which, for any of you who don't know Spanish, means "No! It was really drunk!" She looked wicked confused and then I realized what I said and was like "ummm barrato..." which is the correct word for cheap. Whyyyyyyy..

She also walked in to my room the other day while I was watching the Bachelor (can't stop won't stop) and Juan Pablo happened to be making out with one of the girls and she just started laughing and asked if it was an American movie. Stupid U.S. trashy TV shows...

It's a daily struggle to turn down bread, especially at home. I feel like if I say no all of Spain is judging me, and I also love fresh bread so much but the carbs are killlllin me. "No quieres pan?" The dreaded question when I have to try to explain myself. But I've been getting better at saying no..one day I'll be bread free for 24 hours; mark my words.

When I was trying to buy a Spanish phone a couple weeks ago, the saleslady was not having it when I accidentally knocked over the phone advertisement sign and butchered my spanish trying to apologize. For some reason I keep doing stuff like that and I've decided to give up on being graceful whatsoever. Katie and Corinne if you're reading this, you guys can definitely attest.

The barista at Starbucks spelled my name as "Mali" on my cup, which was impressive considering I've pretty much just accepted the fact that my name will forever be pronounced as "Moley" while I'm here or in any other Spanish speaking country. Totally used to it.

I have a pretty long list of other moments when I've acted muy estúpida but hey who doesn't have weird times when they're in a foreign country? All part of the beauty of it :)
This shout out is for the person that loves ice cream more than anyone else I know and who I never call by her real name. Missed you on Skype the other day, hope you're still awesome and I love you.

Si quieren leer más momentos que son "awkward" mientras estoy aquí, estoy segura que voy a documentarlos por Twitter! Mi nombre de usuario es mollieconant.
Gracias por leer; hasta pronto :)
Moll

Marruecos

Marruecos.
Marruecos significa Morocco en español...y es donde fui este fin de semana pasado!
(Marruecos means Morocco in Spanish, and it's where I went this past weekend!)

There are a bunch of programs outside of my study abroad program that run trips for students to different places that are close to Sevilla, so I decided on a whim to sign up for the Morocco weekend trip with some of my friends. Realistically I have no idea if I'll ever have the chance to travel to Morocco again in my life, so I'm very glad I went through this program since they provided everything in the trip price and it was suchhhh a good deal.

We stopped in Gibraltar first, which I had no idea existed and I feel like a total idiot who knows nothing about the world.......
But it was so cool because we got to walk over the border from Spain! Checked that off the bucket list. It was weird to all of a sudden be thrown into an English speaking place since I'm so used to hearing Spanish, but I'm glad we saw it because it was like a mini England and made me look forward to going to  London in March (KRISTEN AND ALYSSA I AM WAY TOO EXCITED).
Morocco itself was like entering a whole new world. For the first time I really didn't see American influence in a foreign culture, and it was awesome. It was beautiful in a completely different way than Spain, and it was really interesting to see how big of an influence the Muslim religion has on the culture there. However, I can't talk about it all so I'll hit some of the highlights of the trip:

1.) I rode a camel next to the beach, if you haven't seen my profile picture. I realized this year that I'm actually scared of animals....sorry all of you who think that's a crime but dogs are the only animals that don't freak me out to be around. So, this was a bigger deal for me than most, and it was actually wicked fun and hilarious.

2.) There are no set prices for the stores there, except for the "farmacias" which have things like spices and oils. So, if you want to buy something, you bargain with the store owner. I was nervous for this because of the language barrier and because I felt like I'd get nervous and end up agreeing to whatever price they gave me. But, it was really great to experience that system and I ended up buying a ton of stuff because the exchange rate there is insanely good for euros. I got one store owner to lower a tapestry from 50 euros (um, why would I ever spend that on a tapestry) to 20, simply by telling him I wouldn't spend more than that. He kept saying it had to be higher but the second I started walking out of the store he was like "OK VEINTE!" meaning he gave into my offer hehe. They are absolutely relentless in trying to sell tourists their stuff though, and I got really annoyed by the end of the weekend because they wouldn't leave us alone. I don't know how many times I told some guy that I did NOT NEED BONGOS but it's alright because it's just how their culture is.

3.) I got a henna tattoo at dinner Saturday night and it came out kinda weird. But yeah I slept on my hand (ugh whyyyyy) and woke up with it tattooed on my cheek so that was nice. Good thing it was cheap and only lasted a day before fading since I scrubbed it off like my life depended on it. The actual tattoo on my hand looks so weird right now and it's kind of embarrassing but it will not come off...you win some you lose some.

4.) The language use there was my favorite part. I'm weird and think that languages are fascinating, and love being challenged and testing my comfort zone with that kind of stuff, which is what this trip did. Morocco's first language is Arabic and second is French. I know some French, but most of the signs there were in Arabic, which was beautiful but meant absolutely nothing to me. At the street markets most of them know a little English and Spanish too, which blows my mind because they can communicate with so many people based of those 4 languages. So, whenever I bartered, I always asked if they spoke Spanish because I felt  more comfortable getting by with that than with English, which is so great because I'm getting to use my Spanish in real life situations and I love that.

Being in Morocco made me miss Spain, and Sevilla especially, a lot. I never realized how comfortable I felt here until I threw myself into a country were I truly felt like an outsider. It made me appreciate how well I can speak Spanish, even though I still have trouble sometimes. But, it gave me the confidence to realize that I'm learning way more than I thought I was up til this point. I'm super happy being here and hope everyone back home isn't drowning in all the snow...it's a good thing I'm not there or I'd be complaining every single second of the day and everyone would hate me...

This post's shout out is dedicated to my superhero partner Robin. Miss you so much! I was going through pictures on my phone on the bus back from Morocco and found like 3 pictures of you laying on the floor of the lounge in a blanket...hahaha classic. Can't wait until summer, qué divertido será!!

Como siempre, gracias por leer!
Moll :)

Un Sueño y una Pesadilla

Un Sueño y una Pesadilla.
For any of you that have read my previous posts, you know that my first one was about how I was so worried that the fear of missing out on stuff back home would get to me while I'm here. Well, I'm proud to announce that I had my A-HA moment 2 days ago, when I realized that the FOMO is gone for good!

This past week we started classes and had a first routine week, which all went really well. On Friday my program took us to Granada, which is about a 3 hour bus ride away from Sevilla. I feel like it's impossible to drive anywhere in Spain without it being absolutely gorgeous the entire way there, especially when it's sunny out and mountains are in the background. So, we're on the way to Granada, probably an hour into the drive and I'm listening to my iPod while my eyes are glued to the beauty around me. There's a song by Imagine Dragons called "On Top of the World," and if you haven't heard it before go listen right now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8PrTzLaLHc

Anyway, it's just a wicked happy song (PS all the people in my program that aren't from New England always comment on how I say wicked...I always forget that's not a thing that everyone says) and while it was blasting into my ears and I was staring out the window, life just hit me in the face and I realized how incredibly blessed I am to be here. I recently got a tattoo on my wrist that says "bendecida," which means blessed in Spanish, because I wanted something I could look at to remind me how much God has given me and not to take anything for granted. I've had a hard time settling here in Spain but that one moment on the bus I will always remember, because it's when the FOMO disappeared and I realized I don't want to be anywhere but here right now taking in every single opportunity I can because I've been dreaming of this trip for SO long.

So, speaking of opportunities, that brings me to the "pesadilla" part of the story. Sueño means dream, which is what I just described about how I'm living part of my dream right now.
Pesadilla means nightmare.

I'm being 100% dramatic, but I just like the word pesadilla and this wasn't ever something I wanted to do so I'm calling it my nightmare. In Granada we went to a Flamenco show in a cave, and it was so sooo cool because the dancers were literally right in front of me, like their dresses kept hitting my legs and we were essentially on their "stage". It was interesting to see something cultural and authentic since Flamenco dancing is a very popular thing in Spain. They gave us all sangria and we got to sit and watch the show with a perfect view.

At the beginning of it I remember thinking "they better not pull people from the audience" because I was in a prime location for getting grabbed and brought on stage. Well as no surprise to me that EXACT THING HAPPENED and I was mortified. I was the first person they chose out of like 70-80 other people there. I'm not a dancer at all...I'm such a self conscious person in that aspect so the second that the dancer took my hand I didn't want to move. But when in my life can I say that I looked like an absolute mess trying to imitate Flamenco with a professional dancer in a cave? Yeah probably not going to have a chance like that again, so I went with it. I had no clue what I was doing and was super embarrassed but hey when in Spain right?

All in all, I love it here. I'm so happy right now and while I miss people at home, this is going to go by so fast and I'm loving every second of it. This post goes out to the person I never would have guessed I would miss as much as I do; the only one who knows what a B.O.S. is.
Me haces sonreír cada día, y te extraño muchisimo! No puedo esperar hasta mayo, HS ;) -HP/LG

Gracias por leer. Hasta luego!
Moll

La Comida

La Comida.
Buenas tardes a todos que están en los Estados Unidos!
Quick recap: we left Madrid and went to Toledo, which was MUY bonita and I loved it there, as well as Córdoba where we went the next day. Wednesday night we finally arrived in Sevilla and I experienced extreme culture shock when I got to my host mother's house, but I'm already getting pretty used to it here and feel a lot more comfortable. Fell in love with the city on Friday, and I already know I need to enjoy every second of being here because it's going to fly by.

Definitely needed to dedicate a post to the food here, and the extreme differences in how this culture works with meal times and all that. They eat a really tiny breakfast whenever is convenient really, have a huge lunch, and then a smaller dinner. But the times are sooo different and it's been hard to adjust to. Yesterday we at breakfast at 12:45pm, lunch at 5, and dinner at 10:15..pretty different. This past week I've already tried some...interesting....things that the US would probably never see. For example, my second night in Sevilla, we had artichoke and egg soup. Sounds wicked good right?! Except it actually was pretty good so I was shocked. I've also had tuna pizza, which leads me into my current dilemma:

So I told my host mother immediately that I'm lactose intolerant, and she was really understanding and nice about it. And she constantly reminds me that I can't have dairy and seemed to be really accommodating which was great; she bought soy milk and said that none of the meals will have any dairy. Since I'm living at a house, we get 3 meals a day but I really have no choice in what we have so I eat whatever it is, and so far everything has been really good. Weird sometimes, but good. It's been a ton of food at each meal though because she wants to fill us up, so I've been struggling with how not to be rude but not waste food at the same time...especially with the bread. I LOVE bread like any human does but I think yesterday I had to eat about an entire loaf's worth with all the meals combined; ugh so good but so SO bad.

Anyway a couple nights ago she was like "vamos a tener pizza!" and my roommate and I just looked at each other, but she claimed it had no cheese on it so I was totally fine with that. So we sit down and I look at the table to see pizza with tuna, covered in cheese...like any normal pizza. I was so confused because she repeated again it had no cheese but it 10000% did. I didn't know what to do so I nodded and smiled, and the second she looked away I had to take my lactaid pills or else I would've been dying all night. The next night we were talking about the lactose intolerance again, because it's a very popular topic of conversation for some reason (...?) when my host mother started accusing my roommate and I of not knowing for sure since we had no doctor's proof. I tried to explain that I know for sure....like trust me I KNOW I can't have dairy, but she got serious and basically said she was going to be watching us to see if it's really a thing or not..and promptly asked us if we'd like ice cream after dinner. All I did was smile and say no gracias. HELP ME I'M SO CONFUSED.

This shout out goes to the person that I immediately called when moving into my house. Thank you for talking to me and helping me feel better. Being in "another family" here makes me miss you ten times more and appreciate everything you do for me, I love and miss you!

Chao amigos!
Moll