Caminando a la Escuela

Today was the first day of classes for my program. I have both my genetics class and my intro spanish class at the Universidad de Cantabria (or UC)... The walk to class isn't that bad, except for that it's up a steep hill. Usually, there is a large outdoor elevator (called la funicular) that takes you from the bottom of the hill to the top. But today the funi was broken; however, there are about 4,000 steps you can use just to the right of the funi. :(:(:(:( It made for a good morningtime exercise... but my thighs were killing me once I got to the top! It's always worth it though, the view of the city and the water is breathtaking!!! :D

Una Cara Familiar

You never know who you might see in Spain!! Found this mural on a building close to where I'm living in Santander... cool!

El Pan

Everything here is pretty!! Even the bread looks cooler than ours...

La Playa es Muy Bonita

Saturday was perfect beach weather! It took us a while to find the beach because most of the coastline of Santander is taken up by marinas and ports (we see so many cruise ships come in and out of here). The water is freezing but also the most beautiful blue!!

so true... :)

Caminando Por Toda la Ciudad

Today, Gabby and I decided to explore the city because it was a beautiful day outside. There is alot to see and do in Santander. Caught a postcard-worthy shot of the Spanish flag waving proudly in the oceanic breeze!

Here I am on a siedwalk that overlooks the port area, this is where the ships can come in and dock, although they are out of frame here. The scenery is incredible!

This is Gabby in front of The Bank of Santander, it is gorgeous and huge! lol

Los Estados de Espana en un Estado de una Agitacion

Some parts of Spain are experiencing alot of political unrest right now. I'm not sure about in the states, but here images of protests are all over the news. There was a peaceful protest in Santander last night where i took this picture. The police of Santander promised the people of the city that they would be respectful of the protestors here, but the police of Madrid and Barcelona are treating the protestors with violence and anger. It's really very sad because the protestors dont mean any harm; they are just unhappy about the way the government is in general.

Al Hotel Chiqui

We stayed our first night in Santander in the Hotel Chiqui. It was a really pretty hotel! This is where we had our welcome dinner and our final orientaiton session. It was nice to meet all of the other people from UT; everyone seems really fun and ready for adventure... which is great!! The view from our hotel room was incredible, although the picture doesnt fully capture its beauty because of the rainy skies.

Usando los Euros

Euros look kind of funny. They are more paper-y than the regular dollar and they are alot smaller. Also, they have this sparkly stuff along the edge -- which the five year old girl inside of me really loves! I took a picture witht eh first thing I bought using the Euro, it's just a bottle of water. but i was so thirsty it tasted amazing!! Im sure I'll be spending alot more Euros once I get to Santander... Which is bad because the Euro is about 1.5X the value of the American dollar. This means that the bottle of water that was 1,70 Euros cost me $2.55. Oh well, it was delicious :)

Estoy en Madrid

We finally landed in Madrid!! Now it's off to baggage claim and time to get on the next flight... we arent there yet!

En el Aeropuerto

International flights are very long and I was a little nervous as to how i was going to handle sitting still for so long. But luckily, the flight had free movies and I was able to get a couple hours rest. The flight wasn't that bad.... but my booty hurt from sitting for so long! It was worth it though. This was my first view of Spain (I'm pretty sure I looked like a big dork whenever I was looking out the window because my jaw was on the floor... It's hard to tell from the photo, but Spain is much more beautiful than Houston!)