¡No Toques a mi Novia!

¡Madre mia mi corazón! ¡En el jueves de esta semana, va a ser un MEZ! Es loco, no?! Yo estoy tan feliz para ver a mi familia en unas semana cortas, pero yo estoy tan triste para salir de este país :( Estoy enamorada con España. La gente, la cultura, la comida, la idioma, las tradiciones, los lugares, edificios, la joyería, los mercados, los Happy Hippos :) y otros chocolates con avellanas, tapas, tortilla española, aceitunas verdes, sopa de legumbres, sopa de calabacín, el transportación público, mis amigas de la programa, la gente aquí en Alcalá, mis tres amigas de la plaza, los museos, las catedrales, los excursiones, y todas las cosas en España. Ay de mi. Yo he tenido el tiempo de mi vida aquí y yo todavía tengo casi seis semanas!!!

Vale. Este fin de semana, nuestro grupo fue a Ávila y Salamanca. Abajo son fotos del viaje. Disfruta :)

Mama mia my heart!!! Haha this is an expression I've been hearing a lot in Alcalá :) Mostly from the older people in town, but I like it a lot! Anyway, on Thursday of this week I will have been here for a MONTH! Sooo crazy huh? I am so happy to see my family in just a few short weeks, but I am so sad to leave this place :( I am in love with Spain! The people, the culture, the food (kind of), the language, the traditions, the places, the buildings, the jewelry, the markets, the happy hippos :) and other chocolates with hazelnuts! tapas, tortilla española, green olives, garbanzo soup, zucchini soup, public transportation, my friends in the program, the people here in Alcalá, my three little lady friends from the plaza, the museums, cathedrals, our excursions, and EVERYTHING else about spain. My goodness. I have had the time of my life here and I still have like six weeks!!! :)

Alrighty. This weekend our group went to Ávila and Salamanca. Below are pics from da trip. Enjoy :)

Ávila

Ávila is home to the largest fully-illuminated monument in the world (according to wiki). The wall that surrounds the city was built in 1090. Today, it is the most complete wall surrounding any city in Spain.

Me and Nattie in Ávila :)

A view of the rooftops from on top of the wall! Love this :)

Jonny and me on da wall

Aubrey, Audi, and me on the wall :)

Mmk. This pic was from just outside the city :) I was in love with these little purple wild flowers so I took a pic of them. Lucky for me, my camera went all macro on me and made the pic look AWESOME. Not to mention the view of Ávila in the background. Can we just talk about how artsy I am? 

And how I totally did this on purpose?

K thanks :)

Quick disclaimer, after this pic I went a little flower happy. You'll see in that in pics to come :) haha

Salamanca

So. Salamanca was gorgeous as all get out. Seriously.

Let me show it to you.

This is Casa de las Conchas. Built in the late 15th century. 

Today it is used as a public library. This place was so gorgeous. 

Also. I have this friend. Her name is Audi. She has gotten pooped twice thus far in Spain. It's pretty hilarious. Well, while we were standing in front of the Casa de las Conchas, I heard some raucous, and then I heard that someone got pooped on. Turns out it was Audi. Again :) 3rd time is the charm :) hahaha

I was dying. Funniest moment eva.

Spencer and I

Let's talk about the University of Salamanca. Way cool. Along its corridors have walked people like Miguel de Cervantes and Cristobal Colon (Chris Columbus. He found the Americas.. did you know?)

Anyway, there is a legend in Salamanca about a little froggy. I tried to get all the facts, but our tour guide spoke so fast! Anyway, what I do know is that today they have a little frog hidden in all this stonework on the University. If you can find it without help, you will have good luck and get married within a year. 

Haha! As if us BYU kids needed help with that :P

Seriously though. Let's look at this place. Can you see the frog? Yeah. I didn't think so. 

Now let's zoom in on the middle of the column on the right. 

Now do you see? Hmm. Ok so tell me you can see the three skulls yeah?

Look very closely at the skull on the left. See the little froggy?!

Cute!!! At first I thought it was creepy because I don't like skulls.

But our guide said that in the time period, skulls weren't a symbol of death but of remembrance.

I still don't like them, but it brings perspective and understanding to it :)

So there you have it!

Back in the day, when kids would graduate from the University, they would make ink out of bull's blood and olive oil and write their names or initials on the inside wall of this little square in the University. Gross huh? Def gross. But way cool.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people...

Michael. Priceless.

Vale. This little man was drawing a picture of the Cathedral of Salamanca. So precious!!!

THIS IS WHAT HE WAS DRAWING!!! UNBELIEVABLE!

Ok. Favorite thing ever. On the other side of the cathedral, our tour guide showed us some of the not-so-traditional carvings in the stone :)

On the left you can see an astronaut. Yes. That's right. An astronaut. Haha although this cathedral is super old, the astronaut and some of the other quirky carvings were added in the early 90's during a renovation of the cathedral as a symbol of the 20th century. So, not so much of a mystery anymore :) But still so funny!

Even funnier is to the right! Indeed, this is a lion with an ice cream cone. AN ICE CREAM CONE!!! Let's analyze this a bit.

Carving created in early 1992.

Rikki created in late 1991.

Carving created as a symbol of the birth of Rikki? It only makes sense! 

We need to get this fact posted to wiki. Pronto. 

WOO! Vaca Flaca!!! Something everyone needs to know about me is that I have ALWAYS wanted to open an ice cream shop and name it the Vaca Flaca. Vaca Flaca means skinny cow... :)

When I saw this little guy I almost passed out. 

He's a vaca! And he is SO FLACA!!! SO perfect :)

New best friend. Some little pastry with eclair filling and almonds. So tasty. 

Nat and I in the Plaza Mayor at night :)

Me and my baby!!!

Gelato 8. It was a good one :) I got Ferrero Rocher again. 

Audi got a strawberry cheesecake one. 

It was unreal. 

Mmk everyone. This is one of my favorite memories of Spain thus far. For breakfast Saturday morning, we ate at a little cafe in the Plaza. It was like 9 am so there was no one outside except for us and a few scattered young-adults staggering home from the bars. They party all night long haha. Anyway, it was nice and cool outside and we were eating little pastries and Colacao (spanish hot chocolate. darker and richer but not as sweet as american hot cocoa). It was so Euro! So serene :) 

Loved it!

Audi, me, and Chris in front of the Cathedral in the morning. 

10 AM and everyone in Spain is still asleep :)

Cathedral and flowers

Que tal guapos? ;)

Gotta love fútbol playas

Chris, me, Audi in the Plaza Mayor

This was actually in a little town called Toro. We stopped here on the way home to see their Cathedral. It was gorgeous. There was a crypt in the basement... not favsies but still interesting. 

Catedral de Toro.

I was talking to a little old man who had lived his whole life in Toro. He was like beaming while talking about the Cathedral. He was so proud of its history :) So cute

This was in another little town we stopped in on the way home. I never figured out the name. haha.

We just stopped for lunch and to see a Convent. Anyway, this is gelato numero 9. 

This man was creepy as heck! And so were all his friends! We did  NOT ask for him to be in our pic. 

I think he and his friends were drunk (at like 2 in the afternoon...) haha

But, it turned out pretty funny so all is well. 

So there it is :) These weekend trips are exhausting! But we are seeing SO MUCH! What a blessing that we get to travel so much. Every single weekend! Big week ahead of us. Classes tomorrow and Tuesday and then we leave Wednesday for Granada and Sevilla :) Botanical gardens tomorrow night with the group. I'll keep ya'll posted :)

Hasta pronto!!!

S estoy enamorada más y más cada día :)

Ruh-duh-duh-da-doo

Puessss mi mejor amiga en todo el mundo está visitando España ahora :) ahora mismo. Que bueno, no? Yo he pasado todos los dos días pasados con ella :) TAN DIVERTIDO!!!!!! Ayer, pasamos el día en Madrid y hoy, Dezi y sus amigas visitaron a Alcalá de Henares :)

Aquí tengo unas fotos :) ¡Disfruta!

Wednesday in Madrid! Me, Rachel, Steven, and Jonny Stallings, 

Dezi and the girls from her program Ariatna, Katie, and Megan!

They wanted to have legit spanish food so we had Tortilla Española for a little afternoon snack.

Roo and I in front of the Reina Sofia. Turns out Wednesday was National free museum dayyy!!! 

Who'da ever thunk?! We hit up dem muesos like dey ain't ner been hit before!

Vale. Pues, yo vi este signo en el Prado.

Ok, so I saw this sign in the bathroom of the Prado.

In Spain, men change da babies while they ladies primp.

The way it should be

Almendro 13 has been deemed #1 Tapas bar in my book.

Camron Brian Stewart? I officially enjoy green olives :)

You may be happy!

Also, huevos rotos = best thing to ever grace the presence of my taste buds.

Ok. This gelato shop. BEST. ONE. YET. What number does this put me at?

I can't remember :(

7? 7 :) 7 is a good number. DW7

Also, please notice the girl to the left of me. Your left. Her name is Ariatna and she is Mexicana. Can we please notice that I look almost as dark as her? I mean, I know it's just the way the flash turned out on the camera... but still... a girl can dream :)

Can we talk about Stevie? I really don't know him well enough to call him Stevie, but he won't read this so all is well. All I know as that 1) this kid is hilarious 2) he loves music and 3)he loves food. 

If anyone is confused as to why I want to be his best friend, please go find and ostrich and get it to teach you how to stick your head in a hole. Hahaha just kidding :) But seriously.

So I love this pic because his gelato looks saintly. Seriously. That thing right there was crafted by the spanish gods themselves (I don't intend for this to be sacrilegious in any way). One day there was a grand fiesta spanish heaven and all the angels were breaking it down on the spanish heaven dance flo. Suddenly, one angel got a little too crunky. He slipped and fell into the punch bowl which was filled NOT WITH PUNCH, but with gelato. Spanish heaven gelato. Further, the gelato fell from the sky. It made its decent and landed in a freshly made waffle bowl. This celestial confection was then sold to a young Columbian boy who enjoyed it (I'm sure) like no other mortal has enjoyed a bowl of gelato. 

And that's just how the story goes. 

I was extremely sad to be done :(

with my double bowl...

This is me and Dezi todayyyy and Alcalá :)

This was in front of the home of Miguel de Cervantes. 

J sittin wit Don Quijote y Sancho :) My main men

This is me and my best friend in front of a fountain in a park in Alacalá

And THIS is us eating churros con chocolate :)

I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH DEZI!!!

So there you have it :) I'm off to Ávila, the city of song and saints, in the morning :) And then Salamanca! It's going to be a great weekend! Hasta pronto :)

¡S pasaba lo mejor tiempo con mi prima!

Market Woman

Querido amigos. Yo tengo una historia buenísima para vosotros... ustedes... cuando en España? haha pues, cada lunes hay un mercado en Alcalá cerca de la casa de Nat y yo. Hoy, fuimos después de clase. Ahora yo necesito decirlo en inglés porque... quiero que mis padres y amigos pueden entenderlo. 

My dear friends. Have I got a story for you! (...you... you...) So. Every Monday there is market right next to where we live. Natalie and I haven't had a chance to go, but María goes every week to buy produce. LOTS OF PRODUCE. 

Anyway, Nat and I went on the way home from our morning class at the University. SO MUCH FOOD! It was so fun. Super crowded, but still good. Now, this was nothing compared to the grand market in Valencia. That thing was insane. But for small-town Alcalá? So great :)

So I went into the market with one thing on my mind. Carrot. I haven't had carrots since I was at BYU! Except for plane rides... oh and at home... shoot ok well I haven't had carrots since April 26th. Except for ones María uses in her dishes (and they are cooked until they are the texture of baby food). So I've been wanting some. So ok. Rik wanted to buy carrots at the market. Point made.

So I find the ones I want. Now I'm gonna type out the convo. Quotes mean it was actually said. Asterisks mean I thought it in my head. Vale? Vale.

Rik "¿Cuanto cuestan las zanahorias?"

Vendor "1 euro para 1 kilo"

Rik ***1 kilo = about 1 pound.... In Utah I ate 2 pounds per day... I'll get 2 kilos. Perfect :) ***

      

Rik (with a big smile on her face) "Quiero dos kilos por favor"

Vendor ***Tonta Americana es tan loca...*** "Vale..."

Ok. So just in case anyone is confused. I asked how much the carrots costed. He said they were 1 euro per kilo. I thought a kilo was about the same as a pound so I said i wanted two. He thought I was crazy but said ok. 

Then I watched him put a HUGE handful of giant carrots in this bag. Then another.. and another.. AND ANOTHER. Natalie and I look at each other and just start dying. And he is still putting carrots in the bag. And more.

(23 minutes pass)

And he is STILL PUTTING CARROTS IN THE BAG! WHICH HE HAS NOW SET INTO A WAGON!!!! At this point we started drawing a crowd. Before I knew it, President Barack Obama was standing behind me! He was there with Juan Carlos I the King of Spain! They had heard about my 2 kilos of carrots and just couldn't believe it! THEN GUESS WHAT?! Only the best moment of my life. Justin Bieber was standing in front of me. Asking me to marry him. And I'll give you one further, he had already joined the church!!!!!!! You can check the pic. He caught me so off guard. I just didn't even know what to say! He gives me butterflies. It's quite clear in the pic :)

Ok. joke. But seriously. So many carrots. So finally he is done and he sets the bag on a scale. The scale says 2.7 kilos. He says "2.7 euros por favor." And I kinda look at him like, "Pardon me sir, I only asked for 40 carrots... not 60. What do you think I am.. clueless? C'mon."

But apparently that's just the Euro way. So I handed him a couple euro coins, got my change and headed off with my arms filled with carrots. 

Now lets do some math :)

As it would turn out, 1 kilo does NOT equal 1 pound. Or anywhere close. 1 kilo is 2.2 pounds. Thus, I bought 5.94 pounds of huge carrots today at market :)

That was a funny story to tell María. After laughing at me... she told me that carrots would make me brown like Spaniards :) I responded by saying GREAT! I've always wanted to be brown!!!

So I spent a lovely afternoon sitting outside in the beautiful Spanish sun with 6 pounds of carrots and a peeler. It's gonna be a great week :)

S contenta con mis zanahorias :)