A Normal, Level-Headed Blog Entry.

I figured it was time for a change due to the fact that I sounded like a nut case in my last post. Sweet. I promise ya'll that normal, less emotional, non-whiney Audrey still exists.


I'm gonna break this up into what you have missed.

• Friends. Yes, you read that correctly.  Maybe, I should say it again, just for kicks & giggles. FRIENDS. Not the tv show (which I love duh), but real life.  I, Audrey Wood, FINALLY have real spanish friends.  Well, that's partially correct.  I have american friends in Spain.  How about that? Slowly, but surely my life is coming together.  One of these new friends is a professional blogger...okay maybe that's an exaggeration, but she is a journalist (ShouTOuT to Lauren: Hey girl, Heeyyyyy, you like my normal font?).  She gave me a little GRIEF today about my font selection.  I like it to resemble that I'm actually writing it, hence the cursive font, but hey turns out I'm giving ya'll a headache. So hopefully throughout this year, I will actually learn how to blog and not "Diary" all my emotions on to the worldwideweb. I know you are thinking that Friend(s) sounds promising...I have 2. But don't worry, that is better than last week! 
• Casa. So I was a little vague in my last blog and decided to leave gender out of my roommates, but heyyy if I'm being honest with ya'll...I live with a majority of boys.  I know, I know, this is not really kosher in the South...but in the South of Spain...it's one of the only ways to do it. I keep meaning to take pictures of my house to show ya'll and keep forgetting, but next post!  I casi-promise.  (Casi=almost...I also use it like kinda).  I definitely am developing a relationship with the other girl in the house, Marion. She is great and I took her out with my friends the other night.  It was a lot of fun! She feels the same way I do that it is weird to live with people and not be friends so our goal this week is to win over the boys! Haha. The first 2 nights we moved in we had family dinners.  I am going to try to implement that again tomorrow...by cooking.  Yes, you heard me right...that leads to point three.
• Cooking. This year my goal is to learn to cook...I know...crazy, crazy.  Veronica helped me out and gave me a starter cooking class the last 2 weeks of Poland.  I am slightly prepared, but my friend Taylor & I attempted yesterday and it was okay.  We still have some work to do...
• Internet & Homesickness. They really coincide and are one and the same.  I am spending a ridic amount of time on the internet trying to catch up with everyone because I am SOOO homesick right now.  If you think about it shoot me an email and remind me that I have a home full of loved ones that think about me and miss me.  Thanks :) And ... I was serious about the whole receiving mail thing :) haha

Miss yall tons and tons!

HOW BOUT THAT BAMA GAMEEEE???!!

Roll Tide!

Some of our friends.  The 2 girls to the right of me: Marion, my roommate & Katalina...Taylor's roommate.  They bonded as well so it was fun!

Lauren, the professional blogger, is in the black dress & Taylor beside her.

Marion, my roomie :)

At the TEX-MEX Texas Saloon watching the game!! 

SOOOO HAPPPYYYY!!

We Looked AWESOME & I got to enjoy the game with friends....that may or may not like football, but regardless...I wasn't alone watching updates on Espn.com

The Emotional Roller Coaster of My Life.

Sevilla.

Excitement, Homesickness, Boredom, Too much time on the internet, Rekindling Old Flames, Ending the new rekindling of an Old Flame, Making New Friends, Missing Old Friends, Relaxing (aka being LAZY), Realizing I've been relaxing too much and school starts next week which induces anxiety, Missing Poland (or let's be honest, The Catala de Juan Clan), Looking up flights to Poland, Realizing how expensive traveling is, wanting to travel a lot, figuring out I need to set a budget due to my new lack of an extensive income, Exploring, Getting Lost, Feeling Like I don't fit in at all, Feeling like I could spend the next 5 years here, then feeling like I don't fit in again, Missing MY FAMILY & all my loved ones, stalking Facebook, Twitter, Texting, just trying to feel like I'm not in Europe ALONE while everyone is watching College Football (or better yet ALABAMA football) without me, Roll Tide, Stressing about Grad School, Trying to live for the moment....You get the picture. It's been a whirl-wind of emotions.

Where do I even begin?

On second thought I don't think that I can write about my emotional roller coaster of a life any longer.  I will let you ponder those thoughts and I will write more tomorrow. 

Love and Miss you all.

This did brighten up my day a ton:

Poland Part 2 and The Start of Something New.

Okay woowwww, I just realized how behind I am so I will try to update tomorrow also more about SEvilla and my trip around southern Spain with the parentals.  Also, I just decided never to write an entry on my iPod again, because my grammar choices are mortifying...I mean I already write this as an email instead of a paper; therefore, have poor grammar choices many times...BUT THAT was HORRIBLEEEE.  I edited a few slight things just so I didn't die of embarrassment, but still....it's pretty bad.

For now I will complete my Poland story.

Can I just start by saying I am so unbelievably blessed by God? I just want to remind ya'll that I found this family...my family ON THE INTERNET.  We all realize how bad that potentially could have been, but how incredible it is in reality.

I am going to attempt to make this brief about Poland, but I will say that I enjoyed my last week in Poland in extreme amounts.  While the kids were at school, I was able to spend some (much needed) quality time with Veronica.  We are constantly (both) all about the kids that sometimes we forget to take time to be together so this was very, very fun! She gave me a cooking class everyday.  We would put Jack Johnson, Michael Buble or Norah Jones on the computer and just cook together, laugh & enjoy each others company.  Then the kids would come home from school and we would go on a bike ride (Side Note: MENCIA LEARNED TO RIDE HER BIKE!! with the cutest, happiest smile of course! She would look up at me and say, "I'm doing a good job?" And I, of course, would say, "You are doing better than every other kid in the whole wide world! You are so smart Mencia!!!!") or take a long walk or just play in the yard.  But whatever we did, I was completely fulfilled because I was spending time with my kiddos.  I was an EMOTIONAL wreck the last week. I cried every single day... I cried watching them play, I cried picking them up from school, I cried reading them bed time stories.  I didn't even get frustrated when they wouldn't listen...it didn't matter because I knew my time was ending :(

Why do kids grow up so fast? The next time I turn around she will be learning to drive a CAR!!!!

I made everyone cards & framed pictures of us together.  For Marcelito, the envelope said "My Star: Marcelo".  He is, he is.  He always helps me with everything and I told him he was like my personal North Star showing me the way.  He's at that age where farts & smelly things are the FUNNIEST thing in the world & he loves jokes so I happened to find a book entitled: Smelly Jokes.  Haha, he loved it! But it's in English so he can't understand all of them--HECK, I can't understand all of them!  I know he will learn soon enough and will be explaining them to me.  For Gonzalo, "My heart: Gonzalo".  He is the most loving child ever. Plus he gives the best hugs and sweetest kisses. I got him this cool sticker book that is a workbook, but the questions can all be answered with the stickers in the back of the book! This can also be considered homework for my 5 year old stud, because it is written in English. :) For Mencia, "My smile: Mencia".  She is the reason that I smile, my all-time favorite laugh and I cry at every single picture I see of her...I miss that hood-rat more than I can express.  I miss them all more than I can express.  I am counting down the days until I see them in Madrid (33 days if you were wondering...)

The start of something new.

That is about as cheesy of a title as it gets.  ESPECIALLY if you know where it came from....High School Musical (hottie Zac Effron sings it with his gf). You realize that I am the all time COOLEST person ever, right?

I live in a 3 story house (RARE in Spain) with EIGHT people.  Haha, helloooo Gallettes house last year! But my room is pretty large for a room in Spain and my roommates are all cool.  2 spanish, 2 italian, 2 english (me & the other is from England), 1 french and supposedly another italian is coming...I just don't know when.

I am still trying to make friends and I just feel like it is rush...I feel like I am constantly just smiling (even when I have a million things going on in my head) and smilingggg and my smile can be interpreted as: Please, Please, PLEASEEEE be my friend!! Haha.  This year is different than any of my other experiences in Spain.  I knew that for sure coming into it, but I didn't realize it in this way...I knew the obvious things, hey I am going to be there a year.  Hey, I am going to miss my family and friends tons.  Hey, I need to make a decision about my life while I am there.  Hey, I am not going to be living with a family. HEY, I NEED TO LEARN TO COOOKKKK!! But not ONCE, did I think...Hey....it's easy to pick up and come for a summer, it's fun. I have never had any problem meeting friends JUST like me that are pumped to spend a summer in Europe...the thing is....not that many of those people "like me" are willing to pick up and come for a year.  Entoncessss (meaning sooooooo in Espanol), I am finding it a whole heck of a lot more difficult to make friends. I am at this point right now where I feel like I just don't fit in.... I could use serious prayers and love right now.  If you want to send me some love in the way of a card, I would LOVE that too! You can email me (aawood@crimson.ua.edu) for my address or just ask my mommy or daddy.

Love you all tons and MISS you more than I can express!!
BUT a piece of exciting news is that I AM looking up prices for coming home Christmas :) No promises, but if I can find a good deal...I will be seeing you all!! YAYYY

Poland, part one.

Dzien dobry

Or as I would say "Jean doe-bray". This means good morning in polish and is used like we say hello :)

Sorry my updates have been non existent but so was the Internet, sooo here is my Poland update that I wrote on my iPod to post at a later date... Now is the later date!!

There are a few things about Warsaw that I will remember that have nothing to do with Poland...

1. Internet.
You see, we didn't have Internet at the house because of the lack of a power line... So you can imagine how I am doing without my "addiction" as Vero and Marcelo call it (and that's completely valid). So as you can guess I decided after a few days I was going to find it. So as I mentioned earlier I found an open wifi at the store Home Sweet Home, butttt it was across the main road so I couldn't always access it. Sooo I was on a mission to find something closer. I walked around holding my iPod in the air looking for some family that didn't put a password on their account and finally found one ONLY 3 min away!!! Soo pumped! The first day I'm on the phone with Stephanie planning details of our trip when I see this lady walking towards me... There is only one thought in my head, "please don't live here, please don't live here.." Funny story... She did. So here I am leaning against her fence, stealing her Internet... Needless to say she gave me a look, a very confused look. I started pretending my iPod was my telephone and cut the conversation off, then proceeded to just walk away (while still pretending to be on my phone...) Strike one. The next day comes and I'm super excited to go back to "the grape house" (name of wifi). I walk up and start checking email and responding. Of course we all know how my luck streak works soooo OF COURSE today as I'm stealing the family Internet... The children walk outside and give me the same bewildered look. ..Strike two. I was persistent and didn't care how desperate I looked... I went back. This time the dad saw me. Yet again, I received the look. But still no words, so I think I'm in the clear... Wrong, that was strike three and following day I realized I was out of the game... They put a password on the Internet. Idk how they figured it out because I was very subtle. Especially since when the dad saw me I was sitting on the curb with my laptop emailing John his resume instead of using my iPod... Haha, of course I found new spots to steal, but come on. You know that's embarrassing.

2. Chocolate. If you know me, I'm sure you are shocked. I'm not like every other girl... I actually CAN say no to chocolate. I prefer fruity candy or sour stuff. I only like chocolate if it's on a Reese cup or something where chocolate isn't the only flavor. Last summer mencia ate milk chocolate all the time and it was the first time in my life I had eaten plain chocolate by itself. Well, this summer I have eaten a little more, but in Poland I traded my Internet addiction for chocolate being my new vice. Marcelo's mom stayed for a week and in the airport bought a box of Lindt mini chocolates. When she first asked me if I wanted some, I said no (and then I thought to myself .. but I would love to open the kids peanut m&ms...), but then our flight was delayed and boredom set in. At the next offer I said yes and then again and again. The week continued like this. I found myself thinking about chocolate. I ate dark chocolate, milk chocolate with and without almonds, white chocolate... Anything you can imagine. And then I found myself realizing I am now like every other female with a full-fledged addiction to chocolate. I am even eating chocolate ice cream!!!! Who am I?????!!!!

3. Uniforms. I used to love that essay prompt about whether or not we should allow uniforms in school. I always wrote yes because it was much easier to write and the points are much stronger, but in reality I always feared we would have them. I stayed firm on my decision that I did absolutely, positively NOT want uniforms, no matter how convincing my essay was. I liked to express myself through my wardrobe (or to be lazy and throw on jeans and a sweatshirt at the last second). Buttttt, As I dressed my sweet babies in their new "The British School" uniforms for their first day of school I realized how much i want my kids to wear them. Aside from all the obvious reasons we should have them (I.e. Social status isn't evident, no need to fight over what to wear, etc) they are so stinking cute!!! OMG. it should be mandatory EVERYWHERE.

Beyond precious right?

I'll write more later actually about Poland and our stay but for now I am going to try to nap.

Galcia: Stitches, sunsets & first steps

Okay I've been promising Galicia deets forever and have yet to write soooo I finally have pictures sooo leh go. There are 3 parts to every story. The beginning, the middle, the end. Mine starts wonderfully :)

(One of the beaches we visited)
Part 1: Stitches
We arrived back at the house late Friday and were leaving for Galicia early Sunday (which spanish early is a little different than ours- we were aiming to leave by 11:30). That gives us one day to wash everything and repack. Keep in mind vero and Marcelo are going to have another one day when we return to leave for Poland so they are also running around doing a million other things. I have impeccable timing.... I am in the garden playing hide and go seek w the kids and obviously way too competitive so as I am running rapidly to base I cut my leg on a cement bench. We're talking ripped my shorts, blood dripping down my leg, and as vero so graciously put it "your meat is hanging out". I have brothers so duh my first reaction is that I just need to clean it and a band-aid but vero says no, straight to the hospital. I'm freaking out a little in my head but trying to show no signs of panic. I've never been to the emergency room. I've never had stitches. And best of all I'm in Spain where I swear medicine is 10 years behind us (no offense to any Spanish readers, but it's legit). So we go... The hospital looks like a pediatricians office and the room I'm in makes me feel like I'm at the dentist. It's very calm and relaxed as the doctor numbs my leg. "You only need one stitch" okay, no big deal. "well maybe two." I ended up with 5 and happily left the doctor. No big deal at all. I was fine, barely felt any pain and it's kind of embarrassing bc everyone was so worried and my cut is like an inch long hahahah.

Part 2: SUnsets.
We stayed at a vineyard, absolutely beautiful and HIGHLY recommend to anyone traveling to Spain. Family owned and the people are great, food is awesome and the accommodations are phenomenal! (http://www.lagardecosta.com/). The beaches you can only imagine in your dreams, the ocean is this shade of blue that can't be bottled. Trust me, if I could find it I would paint w it alllllll day :)  The waves crashing in, this constant nice breeze combined with a hot sun. Granted the water is like ice, but it doesn't matter, so worth it. Best of all, the most breath-taking sunsets every night. I couldn't tell you about the sunrise because we actually slept until 9:30 or 10 everyday!! Waahoooo.

Part 3: First steps.
Casilda can walk!! I was there screaming for her parents like a crazy person, so so so cool.

Seriously, how adorable is that?

All in all our trip was great. All of Veronica and Marcelo's friends are great. They are so lucky. Not only do they make great company for them, they are all so kind to me.... And funny, very, very funny. They all wanted to help me a ton with my spanish, but I was getting so frustrated that I didn't maximize the potential learning experience presented. You live, you learn.

Yes, this is an enchanted life we live over here, buttttttt before you enter depression, they are a normal family also with screaming and crying children, but since I always document the perfection I dedicate these next couple of photos to life's imperfections.

(That child in the corner pouting....Gonzalo.)

Marcelo in time-out

Still pretty perfect
Xoxo