girona, spain

Now that I have joined the blogging world, I wish I would have done it sooner. It would have been so nice to have my summer in Europe neatly documented on my blog. I did however keep a journal so even though I have been home for over 7 months now, I decided I would post some things from my adventures in Europe. I'll start with Spain since that is where I spent the majority of my trip.

After a 1 hour flight from SLC to Las Vegas, a 4 hour flight from Vegas to Cincinnati, a 9 hour flight from Cincinnati to London, and a 2 hour flight from London to Girona, Spain.... add in the lay-overs (especially the 6 hour one in London airport with no food or drink since our U.S. money didn't work there) and you have 24 hours of airports, planes, & pulling around a 50-pound suitcase (we later realized that we brought way too much stuff when we had to throw about 10 pounds of stuff away in order for them to let us on the airplane from England to Spain... it was the saddest thing ever). Can you say JET LAG?? It was a loooong but WORTH IT day of traveling. And as I am sitting here reminding myself just about how horrible it was.. I am thinking about how much I wish I could do it all over again right now.

Anyways, once I arrived in Girona, Spain I was so nervous to meet my "new" family and really hoping they weren't really some creeper guy that wanted to take me like on the movie "Taken". All nerves were set to rest when I saw Suny (the mother) and the three darling kids holding welcome signs for me. When we arrived to their beautiful country home, I met Pere (the father) and they took me out to a Chinese restaurant. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have found such an amazing family. And pretty much the rest is history. As much as I would looove to type ALL of my wonderful adventures in Spain; I'm tired. But one important thing I must add is my lovely friend Holly from England. She was staying with a family close by as an Au Pair as well so they introduced us and we became friends right from the start. I loved imitating her English accent and comparing our words (i.e. they call fries, chips and chips, crisps... weird, yes?) We had tons of fun adventures together & we will make many more because she is coming in August to party in the USA with meeee :) but that is a story for another day....

So I was thinking about my experience in Spain a few weeks ago and I composed a list of what I miss & don't miss about it. Here it is:

I miss my family in Spain.

I miss living 10 minutes away from Holly.

I miss driving the "Super Panda" with my new learned stick skills.

I miss hearing Spanish all around me & getting to speak it every day.

I miss eating Spanish food (especially tapas).

I miss my cute little room.

I miss eating "postre" (dessert) after every meal.

I miss the square in Banyoles.

I miss the kids hanging out in my room at night & never wanting to go to bed.

I miss the home in the country side.

I miss the neighbors.

I miss la merienda (daily snack... especially tomato bread).

I miss hearing cool Spanish songs on the radio.

I miss drinking Coke out of glass bottles.

I miss eating ice cream several times a week.

I miss waking up, going downstairs, and finding the kids all watching TV every day without fail.

I miss cute little Santiago & teaching him words in English.

I miss playing "High School Musical Sing-It" with Daniela and her thinking I was the best singer ever.

I miss Maurici's magic tricks and playing card games with him.

I miss going on random outings with Holly.

I miss the amazingly cheap "rebajas" (sales) while shopping.

I miss not ever doing my hair.

I miss site-seeing.

I miss the beautiful city of Girona.

I miss living a simple life (no actual job or school to worry about).

I miss the Mediterranean Sea.

I miss Holly's British accent & comparing words.

I miss playing futbol with the kids.

I miss Principe cookies and mine & Holly's favorite cakes.

I miss talking with Suny and Pere at dinner.

I miss a lot of things about Spain.

Buuuuut....

I don't miss "peojos".

I don't miss mosquitoes biting me while I sleep.

I don't miss driving on crazy European streets with crazy European drivers.

I don't miss not being able to trust the tap water.

I don't miss the humidity.

I don't miss using the Euro.

I don't miss not having a cell phone that reached the U.S.

I don't miss all the topless woman (of all ages, shapes, & sizes) at the beach.

I don't miss not feeling secure all of the time in unfamiliar places.

I don't miss not having air-conditioning at home or in the car.

I don't miss having to talk to my family & friends on Skype.

I don't miss the warm milk.

I don't miss missing people from home.

But honestly all those things taught me so much and I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.

It was a summer to [remember]; a summer i'll [never forget].

My home in Spain

Beach trip with the family

Holly and I in Barcelona

The "Super Panda"

"I am not the same having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world."