Rota + the Beach, Aracena + the mountains, and Midterms

Time continues to fly as I progress through the semester here. I can hardly believe that March is over halfway done! I do miss home, but I am having an absolute blast in Europe, I am traveling as much as I can, and trying to experience all that I am able to in this short time. Last weekend my friends Lisa, Lauren, Mary, Arianna, and I went to Rota for the beach for the day. Rota is where the American Military base is and it was a beautiful beach location. Yes it was around 65 degrees Fahrenheit and we were laying out in our bikinis. We'd been living in a clouded depression zone for a month! And to us Americans, 65 is WARM. Of course all the Spaniards there looked at us like we were absolutely nuts and you could basically hear them saying "stupid, crazy Americans." we had a blast though, and scoffed at them in their coats and scarves. These people dont know warm when it hits them! haha of course I suppose they have a right to when it gets over a hundred easily in the summers here. We all got a little sun and went home that night full of Vitamin D and happy warmth.

The next morning Mary and I met up with a large group of kids from our school (exchange and non exchange) and went on a trip to Aracena in the Mountains in the provice of Huelva next to us. It was incredibly beautiful. It was amazing to see how much the landscape changed with just an hour of driving. Aracena is completely rural and totally surrounded by mountains. There is a huge castle (ruins) on the top of their highest peak, and they are surrounded by miles and miles (or should i say kilometers and kilometers) of nationally preserved land. We parked the bus and went on a two and a half hour hike through the goregous mountains. The weather was absolutely perfect and I felt right at home. Although we were all huffing and puffing cause Sevilla is so flat comparatively, it was exhilarating, and great exercise. We then toured around the town and saw all the museums and stuff. Aracena is apparently quite famous for their Jamón (ham). ok Jamón is a Spanish specialty, and NOTHING like spiral cut ham at home, bacon, or country ham, or deli ham. It is unlike everything i've ever had. and it is AMAZING. and Aracena ham? yeah, there's definitely a reason for it being famous. it was super delicious. Also, another cool thing about Aracena is that underneath the city, there is a whole system of underground caves/caverns. you know the things with underground lakes and stalactites, and stalagmites?? yeah they were awesome too!

last week and this week we had midterms. ugh. They were not so bad, but i still have yet to receive my grades. so far i have gotten a 9 on one (A-) and a 7 on the other (B-), not so bad considering one was grammar and the other was culture and civ. And culture and civ happens to be so boring i cannot force myself to pay attention, i think a B- is commendable. :-) haha good Lord, in reality, i am having a minor heart attack, because, to me a B- is like the worst thing in the world. I really need to get a grip. ok. anywho, I am having a blast and in a couple hours I will be well on my way to Morocco for the weekend. horray!!!!!

oh, and by the way, Feria de Abril is coming soon and one needs an awesome flamenco style dress to wear and you have to have one to get in. And, they are like 300+ EURO, ick. But thanks to a friend, we discovered a thrift store with them :-) so guess who has an AWESOME new dress for feria? yes ma'am, that would be me, Katie Madison Shoaf the first :-)

love love love <3