The Goodbye: Bittersweet at best.

Soo here I am again. With 4 days left and my suitcases sit right next to me..almost all packed. Its a weird, bittersweet feeling to say the least and it does not seem that 4 months ago I was sitting in my living room creating this blog for the first time with only two days left before I said goodbye to America. My thoughts, and outlook seemed so different then, so clueless and nervous about what was going to happen to me when I came here. I was so scared and terrified yet ready to brave the unknown. Now, as I sit here at the end of the journey, after all the adventures, I am reluctant yet excited to leave. Its always hard for me to leave a place. I was a MESS when I had to leave Chico, and now I am pretty sure I'll be a MESS when I leave here too, but I know that this isn't the end. I will be back and I will see all of the amazing people I have met once again. It is a MUST!

So much has happened in the last four months and I have tried my absolute best to write down every single detail in this blog, however getting the emotions across are a little difficult and I can not even begin to describe what being here has felt like. Amazing, exciting, beautiful, nerve wrecking, unreal. Its impossible but I can only say that I am damn glad that I have lived here to witness what I claim to believe as some of the best 4 months that I have ever had in my entire life. I don't want to return to California on the sole fact alone that that solidifies that my time living in Spain is over and I am only left to remember it as if it was a dream. It wasn't a dream though, it was real, every day life and I am so blessed to have the ability to spend it in San Sebastian, Spain with 35 other people that each are now so special to me and I have grown to know and love.

The long nights and early mornings that started at an apartment, went to a bar, and ended up on the beach only to finally reach my apartment at 8 am and go to sleep will always be remembered as well as the sights I have witnessed through my travels and the inside jokes with my ladies of morning surf hour. I have the pictures of Carnival to remind me of the madness, the marks on my shoes to prove all the miles I walked to and from to school every morning, and the sand in my purse, suitcase, and pretty much every where else to solidify my love of the Atlantic Ocean. Again, I could go on and on about everything I have done and tell you only amazing things about the people that I have met but I would never be complete. I would have so much to say!

My awesome roommates Laura and Morgan made my experience so great and I was so blessed to have our little unit of Jose Arana, and become so close. They are a huge part of all my adventures here and there is never a dull moment in our apartment. With our 3 hour sessions with Pedro, being stared at on the street like we were aliens, hiking to ur mountain behind out house and our endless random days and nights of jokes it was always a great time. Hannah became a huge part of our home too with morning surf hour and making sure we all ended up out at least one night of the week. I love my girls and it truly would not be the same with out them!

I am leaving here with so much love for the world, people both states and oceans apart and so much appreciation for my life back home and my family and friends that go with it. I am so excited to hop off that plane in San Francisco on Friday, jump in Abigail's car and drive up to Chico to be there just in time for 5 dollar pitchers at rileys with all my friends to celebrate Graduation, The end of finals and beginning of Summer, and of course, my homecoming. So if you all are reading this, 6:30 PM Friday, May 20th, come find me of 5th street! : ) I feel like now I leave a piece of my heart where ever I go, I guess I have a lot to give, but I left a majority of it back in Chico, California and now a huge chunk will forever be left here in San Sebastian, Espana, especially on the sand of Zurriola Beach!

These last few days here have been some of my favorite although it is hard to really choose. Our USAC family has been coming together every night for family dinners made in Hannah's kitchen by all of us where we all then eat together and talk for hours which is then usually followed by a night of typical Spain rediculousness of all going out together and usually ending up at our most frequented bar BUGA where Oscar lovingly gives us alcohol haha. Its been so great to spend so much time with all of us together and just be funny and loud and young and crazy. Friday we went to another sideria which again there was a never a dull moment. I feel so happy and stoked on life to be surrounded by so much and so much love and I am going to miss this family when we leave, although it is sure as hell promised that a lot of them are returning to Chico for Halloween! ITS ABOUT TO BE CRAZY!!!! : )

I know this is probably one of the sappiest blogs I have ever written but I don't care. I absoulutely have loved living here and every minute that I have witnessed. Everyone was so concerned that I would fall in love with some one here and well although that may not have happened, I fell in love with a lot of concepts. I fell in love with the deisre to understand a different language, I fell in love with the ocean and the surf report, I fell inlove for sleepless nights with some of my favorite people, I fell in love with traveling, I fell in love with city after city, and of course I fell in love with Spain. Most importantly I believe, is that I fell in love with the thrill of adventure and this is the most important that I will continue to pursue and take back with me to America and along all of my travels in the future, becuase still, this is only the beginning of what is to come!

I am sad to leave here and close this chapter but I am ready to see what comes next for me this summer in Chico being a 21 year old and once again attempting to survive summer school. I will have my friends by my side as well as my beautiful roommates de Espana and I am so stoked. I no longer sense nervousness in the future or andy fear. That shit went out the window the minute I tried moving into the wrong apartment. I have learned to laugh at myself even more and to appreciate every curve ball, road bump, and surprise that is thrown at me. I really have become a certified adventurer of life and I am so excited to pursue so many different excursions. So feel free to come and join me.

These next four days are going to be amazingly fun, overwhelmingly emotional, and definitely memorable. I am so excited! So here it is: Cheers to life, Cheers to Adventure and Cheers to the best 4 damn months that I have ever had in my life. Cheers to Spain. I hope that you all have enjoyed reading this blog and that it hopefully have inspired you to travel more or consider studying abroad. It has been one of the best decisions of my life and I am so thankful I am sitting here right now being able to type all of this to who ever wants to read it.

This isn't the end Europe, I will be back! Te amo europe y no es el ultimo, volvere en el futuro. Prometere lo y estoy muy emocionado!

Love all you guys, can't wait to see you back in the 530! 4 days <3
Much love,
The Koose!

And the goodbyes begin..

Soo I said goodbye to our landlord today and I would be lying if I said I wasn't incredibly bummed out. He just smiled and talked to us like he always does, was wearing plaid which made me smile, and said goodbye and safe travels and just walked out the door. I actually miss my 75 year old land lord who tricked us by telling us he didn't speak English and forced us to speak Spanish to him. He's a trickster but it was good practice. Seriously though, I'm sitting here bummed out and missing Pedro, this is obviously only a foreshadowing of what is to come with the rest of my friends here. The outlooks isn't good! Its gonna be real tough!

Also had to say goodbye to my surfboard today which was harder than I thought it was going to be too. I really didn't think I was that attached to it, but maybe I was more attached to surfing every morning so it was hard to give that up, especially since I'm not leaving right away. I know deep down though some one will buy it and I can only hope they have as much fun and adventure with it as I did. I could never think of a proper name for it but that board was awesome, bright, sun-shiney, and definitely served me well! : ) I am going to miss surfing every morning with mah girls, and walking along the beach to get to school. Just being able to soak in that Atlantic salt and the awesome scenery of San Sebastian. Its making me a little teary eyed! lol.

I have a little over 8 days left here and I fully intend on loving every minute of it and celebrating my time left here with some of the most incredible people I have ever met and have given the oppertunity to share this experience with. When it comes time to say goodbye to them you can only imagine that I am going to be super cheesy and sad but I am refusing to think about that or a countdown yet. Missing them is going to be an understatement and this is going to be a bittersweet goood bye at best. I love it here and as much as I didn't think it was possible but San Sebastian and the Basque Country has stolen a piece of my heart!

So here is a cheers to the next week and living it up the spaniard way and ending this semester and my 4 months here with a BANG! its a must. I am so excited to see all of you back in America and I know that the good times are still only begining. <3 I got soo much love for people even if it is now spread countries, continents, worlds part!

Much Love,
The Koose.

The UNREAL times of the Koose.

So here I am sitting back in my kitchen in my apartment in San Sebastian after my 15 day excursion all over Europe, and still I'm sitting here (even though its already been 4 days since I've returned) and still wondering if it was all real. If it actually happened, because in my mind there is no possible way that I just toured all of Europe and experienced things in my life that looking back about a year ago, or even six months, that I would have never imagined myself experiencing. Its seriously UNREAL. The only true word that describes it all.

During the past fifteen days I traveled to 5 countries including:

London, England
Paris, France
Prauge, Czech Republic
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Barcelona, Spain

During this time I not only got to see part of the world but also got to see Mama and Brother Koose in London and Paris, spend some wonderful time with Michelle in her temporarily homeland of Prauge, and cause some trouble in AMsterdam and Barcelona with my lovely roommate Laura. I can definitely be honest when I say that with the help of all my friends and family I definitely made an impression on Europe and I will never forget this trip, and its sure going to be an adventure that is hard to top! I could write you a blog that is about 20 pages long with every detail of my trip but I feel like no one would ever make it through reading 20 pages basically bragging about my how my life is awesome, haha and I just don't have the heart to do that to anyone haha. So in brief I will tell you of each, and if you want the juicy, gorey, awesome details of everything else then I guess your just going to have to ask my personally! : )

London, England:

ABSOLUTELY INSANE! Never in my life have I ever seen so many people in my entire life and been to such a fast pace city but it was seriously awesome. Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Thames River, Big Ben, The Underground, Trofolger Square, Picidilly Circus, Oxford Circus! It was all amazing and I loved the rush of everyone and the bluntness of the british and just the look of the city. It has such an old, classic, yet beautiful and a sort of present personality to it all. I loved it! It was nice seeing my mom and brother and seeing them in Europe was also partly hilarious and comical. I guess I'm just far more adjusted to this place, but hey I have had a 3 month head start. It was also so nice hearing people speak English again, seriously almost music to my ears, and even though i felt like such a tourist, i didn't feel completely incompetent since i could speak the language! haha. All in all it was an incredible visit and i LOVED London.

Paris, France:

Also another great adventure with the kooses, however I must say that I am not a fan of French cab drivers. Seriously, homeboys like to trick you buy refusing to speak English (if they know it) and driving you around the block like 4 times until you finally end up at your hotel. Terrible. But aside from that the city is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL and has such an artistic and sophisticated vibe. Seeing the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, and Luvre was so much fun and I really enjoyed just being around the Eiffel tower. I had to keep pinching myself because I legit thought that I was dreaming. It was crazy. Its huge, and it was standing right infront of me, and i just really could not believe it. Same thing with the Mona Lisa, I will forever remember the fact and treasure it that I got to see these magnificent places. Also my brother turned 25 while we were in Paris so we celebrated with going on a dinner cruise and seeing the sites of Paris via the water which was a great time. So much complimentary wine it was insane! haha but again so much fun and I could tell that Clinton could imagine no better way to celebrate be a quarter century old. shit, he will probably kill me for that one :) haha. After the cruise we stepped off the boat and we saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up and shiny and it was truly amazing. One of my favorite moments of the trip for sure!

Prauge, Czech Republic:

After a wonderful 6 days with my lovely family I left them in Paris and flew over to Prauge to see my lovely roommate de la Estados Unidos, Michelle, to show eastern Europe what we're made of! I was so glad that we were both bale to visit each other in our respective cities while abroad which made it even more awesome/special being able to share and combine both of our abroad experiences. Her mom was there for a short while with me as well and it was also nice to see mama Houck. :) We partook in a 20km bike ride through the Czech Republic where we ended up at an ancient castle and toured it. Michelle and I were quite proud of the fact that we survived that bike ride, guess even in Europe we are still pretty much badasses! My four days there were spent touring the city of Praha with Michelle and her friends Christie and Jenna which are absolutely hilarious by the way, as well as drinking many mojitos, and beer, and lets not forget about eating fried cheese. Yes, fried cheese. Which is super delicious by the way and basically a delicacy there and tastes like a huge mozarella stick..except it isn't mozarella. haha. We all had a great time at the hard rock cafe as well as going out on the town and crossing paths with a few british guys on a rugby team that were super fiesty and a whole lot of fun to hang out with. I also partook in a dance off against this italian guy which I believe that I rightfully one with putting my Krumping skills to good use haha. It was a great 4 days and I had a lot of fun seeing Michelle and doing what wonder twins do best: Cause trouble. :) also if you ever get the chance, go youtube soldiers lip syncing "Hold It Against Me" ... we watched it a bagillion times and I garuntee that you will not be disappointed! : )

Amsterdam, Netherlands:

So here is where I met up with one of my beautiful and lovely roommates Laura and our adventure together began. Let me just start by saying that Amsterdam is seriously so beyond beautiful I cannot even describe it. The best way to put it into words would be that if my brain exploded out of my body and became a city I would like to hope it would resemble something close to Amsterdam. It has such an eclectic vibe and the mass amount of people that ride bikes is not only unreal but so inspiring. Everything was clean and funky and the canals that run through the city as boats lie docked on the side only added to the beauty of it all. Everyone is so friendly and they sell delicious juice everywhere like it is no body's buisness! It has to be my absolute favorite city in the world...minus Chico of course :). I absolutely fell in love with it. We started our stay off there right by an inpromtu ride on this crazy carnival ride that swung around as it lifted us up to what I believe was like 60 meters in the air and it was AWESOME! Laura and I had such a great time and also inpromptu ended up on a bar crawl with some other great british people that we had met and decided to call me "Alli From Cali" it was seriously like freshman year all over again for a night and it was a great time. They were also very fun to drink, talk, and dance with and now they are my friends on face book so holla! haha. We jam packed a lot of things in only 2 days and went to the Van Gough museum which was so awesome, Ann Frank house which was incredibly moving, and the Heiniken brewery which was a whole lot of great fun. We also spent one afternoon in a park relaxing and even saw a 3D movie one night. Seriously, go see RIO! its awesome. I could write an entire 5 pages alone on Amsterdam, so if you want to know more I guess your just going to have to ask! haha. I am promising myself that I will return back there one day, because I am pretty sure that I left a piece of my heart there and I just can't get over the amazingness of that city. Again, it was UNREAL!

Barcelona, Spain:

After the amazingness that was Amsterdam we set off to Barcelona but not before waiting in like a bagillion lines at the airport and having to pay 30 euro to check our backpacks since you can't carry both a purse and backpack on the plane. TERRIBLE. Arriving in Barcelona went smoothly until Laura and I had to get on the metro to get to our hostel and this weird paint stuff got on our backpacks and we had to keep on going and these creepy guys tried to talk to us and I was so completely convinced they were trying to pickpocket us haha. I just wanted to run away. The quote of the night was "You have no idea how sketchy I feel right now." haha and it was true. After getting to our hostel and sleeping all night we woke up the next day and walked along the beach, ate awesome paella, drank some wine, oh and let us not forget our encounter with the 50 year old portuguese men who sat next to us at lunch and invited us out for beers later...we didn't go haha but it was a great time at lunch. So random. So funny. We also then fell asleep on the beach and later returned to our hostel where we found out it was Sangria night. Seriously, what hostel gives your free all you can drink sangria? AWESOME ONES!!. We ended up meeting a few more british friends names as well as a few canadians and ended up going to a few clubs with them that night! It was a great time and again, after sleeping in the next day we took the adventure to the north part of the city to get our bus tickets only to find out that our bus back to San Sebastian the next day was FULL! UH OH!. But no problem, we had to use two buses to get back but we made safe and sound!. That night we went and got more paella but only after being invited to eat dinner with these 3 Italian guys who were apparently models and spoke very little English. We speak NO italian. So our dinner was filled with a a lot of huh? what? once more? and a ton of laughter. They were like little kids, so rowdy and so funny, and it definitely was blog worthy to put in here.But if you want hte full lengthy detail story, again just ask me. Its pretty funny and rediculous. They kept trying to teach us italian phrases but we had no idea what they were making us say, it was really confusing and funny. That night we also met up with new friends from our hostel that ended up being from California (REPRESENT) and so we had to go out with them Between drinking a few beers and meeting some awesome french people that were part of a bachelor party, dancing with the groom to be ( who was dressed in drag haha... its a european thing), and hitting one of the most famous club in Spain: Razzmatazz we stayed up the entire night until it was time to check out and catch our bus, and I would have not had it any other way! It was awesome, and definitely a great way to end an awesome 15 day trip!

15 days, 5 countries, 4 planes, 2 oceans, 2 buses, and 1 train I had one of the most unreal trips of my life that I will never forget. I could not have asked for better places to visit, better people to meet, or better friends/family to spend it all with. It was such an amzing experience and adventure and it only continues to inspire me to travel wherever I possibly can in the future. Whether it is one county away or one country I am determined to make traveling a more apparent component in my life, and please don't be afraid to join me and come along for the ride, I always end up having a lot of fun some way some how and it is primarily because I always have great people to share the experience with.

I am now sitting in my apartment and my days are officially numbered here. 14 to be exact and if I only knew where the time went I would be able to tell you but in my mind it is still February 5, I have not even been here for a month and I am still trying to get used to speaking Spanish and eating a hamburger with a fork and knife. I guess time really does fly when your having fun, but I know one thing for sure that not only am I sad to see this chapter in my life come to a close but I would never change my experience, travels and adventure for the world. They have become a part of me and have helped shape me into the person that I am growing up to be. Not saying that I am so grown up now but I have seen a little bit more of the world now..its given me a little more experience as I continue to make mistakes, work hard, struggle, and triumph throughout my life. I obviously fully intend on living up these next four days as much as possible starting with morning surf hour with some of my favorite ladies in the morning. San Sebastian is not only a piece of my heart but a significant part of my life that I would never trade or take back. I absolutely love it here and I have to show my gratitude for this place by sharing jut a few more crazy times before I leave.

I hope you guy enjoyed my somewhat brief overview of my travels and I'm not done with this blog jsut yet, I still got 14 days : ). So get ready for just a few more awesome adventures from me, I know they are just around the corner. Missing and loving you all and you'll see me pretty damn soon. GET READY!!!

Much Love,
The Koose

As of lately,

Soo Sorry guys, I'm slipping on updating this whole thing, but things are just getting so busy here its hard to find the time. Not to mention the weather has been AMAZING!!!! so I spend most of my time surfing, lying at the beach, or just outside in general, and because of that my computer is not attached to my hip. haha. Its been a crazy past three weeks and it is absolutely insane to think that I have been living in Spain for three months. Three months of adventuring, adjusting, learning, and living that it all just seems surreal. It seems like just three weeks ago I was moving into the wrong apartment, could not understand my land lord, and just beginning my first Spanish class of my college career.

So much has happened and so much has changed and it is so crazy to think that i have only 5 weeks left in my study abroad career. It all just came and passed so fast that I still feel like I am living a dream. I have grown so much over this experience and I know that my time is not even over yet, and I have so much to look forward to here. Next weekend I will be beginning my SPRING BREAK in London with my brother and mama koose which I am so very excited for. I will be spending the first week with them in London and Paris and the second week of my break becomes my ultimate European Adventure including Prauge with Michelle and meeting back up with my roommate Laura in Amsterdam and then Germany. IM STOKED! When am I ever going to get the chance to have 2 weeks to see Europe, at my own disrcetion, with no limits, and endless possibilities! Expect a lot of blog posts about each place I go. I am so excited to see what this trip holds for me and I cannot wait! Seriously though, Time is flying by so fast and before I know it Im going to be boarding that plane back to America, and driving back up to Chico to seem of the most amazng people that I left my heart with. It all just really is surreal. A dream. A movie. This can't be real life! haha.

So as of lately what have I been up to? Well here we go, so usually I have become pretty infamous for writing the longest blogs of all time but I am going to try to keep this short and sweet.... but we will see how that goes!

Soo I AM NOW OFFICIALLY 21 YEARS OLD! I am growing up, and legally allowed to drink all over the world now! Suhweet! I cannot wait to step off of the at plane and buy myself a 30 rack. Why? Because I CAN! I could have not asked for a better 21st birthday that included one of my best friends Michelle visiting, my awesome roommates here and not to mention all of the friends that I have made. They definitely enjoyed buying me tequila shots haha. It was also my friend Jeff's 20th birthday and I am pretty sure we both had a great night surrounded by all of the USAC kids. We danced and drank the night away and I was rocking my birthday dress that specifically brought to spain for my birthday and my awesome trusty rain boots! It was great! Everyone had a concern that turning 21 in Spain would not be special but I could not have asked for a better birthday. I missed all of my friends back in Chico but I know this summer we will do it big and make up for my absence! also YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO MY WHITE TRASH BAR CRAWL! so please dress accordingly and prepare yourself : ). haha Its a great feelign being 21 and I know that this year will bring me great things, I have a lot to look forward to!

I also traveled to the province below where I am currently living for the weekend with my roommate Laura, and our friends Michael and Ben to go wine tasting and it was AMAZING! You have probably seen my pictures on Facebook and they can show you all the beautiful sights we were able to witness! It was a lot of fun and great weekend away from the city rush and in a more agricultural setting. It really reminded me of home and lettuce fields and it was great, relaxing , fun weekend. We went to a Bodega named David Moreno and tasted some amazing delicious red wine in which I decided to three bottles of it. Consider me a wine enthusiast these days! We also went out in the main city of Logron which is the capital of the province and drank glasses of wine for only 70 centimos accompanied by some of the best pinxtos I have ever eaten. Deep fried mushrooms covered in garlic butter on bread? yes please! It was amazing. end of story! haha

Also one of my best friends from Salinas, Christina came to visit me for a few days this past weekend and it was great to see her! She is studying in Ireland this semester and has a month off for Spring break, so she decided that i was pretty cool and she was going to stop in San Seb to visit me! Her, and three of her friends came into town on Wednesday, and stayed till Saturday morning. I had a great time showing them around and it was SOOO WARM so we spent most of the time lying on the beach which felt so amazing. I am loving this warm weather and not having to wear heavy jackets or jeans! and FLIP FLOPS! YAY! it makes me so stoked! haha. We also had a great time chilling at my apartment till the wee hours of the morning drinking wine and taking obnoxious looking pictures. They were very attractive!

I am seriously loving life these days, surfing every morning again and lying on the beach for an hour two before class. The sun is setting later which is my absolute favorite time of year and I couldn't ask for anything better! Like I said, I can't believe that I have been here for three months already and Im definitly not ready for it to end anytime soon. I am prepared to enjoy the rest of my time here to the absolute best of my ability and live it up with some of the most amazing people I have met. good waves, Good weather, and endless great times! Cheers to that! but always sending my love back to Chico! miss you guys. can't wait to see you all soon! <3

Much Love,
The Koose.

MICHELLE IS HERE!!

So I am currently lying in my bed with michelle next to me (girl needs to take a shower..she kinda smells :)) haha and I am so excited she is finally in ESPANA with me. Again, never in my life would I have ever thought that I would be having one of my best friends fly over from Prauge, to visit me in Spain and help ring in my 21st birthday with me. It is so SURREAL to say the least. And I cannot wait till TUESDAY! Don't forget to wish me Happy Birthday :).

After picking up michelle from the airport we gourged ourselves with mexican food and I showed her a night on the town in San Sebastian. She has met the majority of ym friends that I hang out with here and of course, she gets along with them as if she has been in Spain the entire time with me. I love it. I took her to Zurriola Beach where I often surf and we also ate far too much for our own good at the Qing Wok! the Chinese Buffet. But hey, homegirl's favorite food is chinese so of course I had to take her there! haha. This week is about to be insane and I hope she is ready for a whole lot of Pintxos, bar crawls, wind combs, birthday celebrations, shopping, Parte Vieja and so much more! I cannot WAIT to show her around and it is going to be a great time :).

It has finally hit me that aside from Michelle being here, no one else from Chico is going to be able to physically ring in my 21st with me and it is a little bit of a bummer. Just another hard thing I knew I was going to have to accept when I decided to come here, but don't get me wrong, I would not change this experience for the world. I have made a lot of friends here and I know that all of us and Michelle will do my birthday justice, especially since I am forcing everyone to dress up fancy for it. We were going to have a white trash bar crawl here, but then we decided that might be WAAYYY too frowned upon/border on disrespectful! haha. It will be a great time but I just wanted you all to know that you will all be here in spirit with me and you all better do it big in chico even if im not there. Buy some shots, mixed drinks, beers or whatever you prefer and cheers them to your best friend and think of the Koose!!

I cannot believe in lest than 2 days I am going to be 21 and I could not feel more on top of the world! Life is amazing and as Georgia Remembrance Day begins tomorrow I know I have a whole lot to be thankful for and a whole lot to celebrate! Especially knowing that I am n a foreign country which is a once in a life time chance and I believe with every ounce of my soul that I am taking full advantage of it and living it to the fullest which was my main goal while being here! Today is also the marker that I have 2 months exactly left living in Spain and time is going by way to fast for my liking! I am excited to return to America and all that is Chico, but I am not quite ready to accept the fact that I am at my half way point here. Its like my alarm clock is going off to wake me up and I want to put it on snooze. But hey, you can't put LIFE on snooze so I have to be thankful for every moment I have here and use my time wisely!

St. Patty's day was a success here as Laura and I were able to explain what an Irish car bomb was sucessfully in Spanish and while getting free hats, free shirts, and free beads with all the beer we bought to drink. I must say that I am now a HUGE fan of Guinness and this was my first time truly celebrating St. Patty's day and although I didn't have mama koose's home cooked corn beef and cabbage, I did havea great time with all of my friends :)!

Heres A cheers to celebrating life...as usual, turning 21, best friends near and far, and to missing all of you! One more year, but a life time of change, challenges and adventures ahead and I can't wait for both my european and american worlds to collide and have many people near and far my future endeavors with me!

Much Love,
The Koose

Whirlwinds and Celebrations. amor tu vida. Recuerdo Siempre.

Sooo I have no idea what to title this, but i guess I'll just have to figure it out at the end of this blog so I guess we will see! :).
There is a lot of excitement in the air and it is only the beginning of the next few crazy weeks and I can NOT wait for it! I have officially been living in Spain for two months now and took my Spanish final today that only solidifies the fact that I am half way through my time here. I cannot believe that it is flying by so fast and it still feels so surreal! Today, as I went to the grocery store, the lady behind me began talking to me in Spanish as well as the checker and I felt like I finally belong. They finally think I know how to communicate! and for the most part I did. I am still in shock at the fact that I am half way done here, I am a week away from being 21, and I ACTUALLY LIVE IN SPAIN! It is the most surreal thing.

Just to catch you all up a little bit, this past weekend our friends from Chico, Ryan and Bianca, came up from Alacante, SPain where they are studying to visit us for the weekend and we had a great time showing them around and spending an awesome weekend in good ol San Seabass after 5 days of craziness in tenerife. It was soo nice to see them again since we haven't seen them since we all departed for our designated cities in Madrid back in January. Needless to say it was a great little reunion. Plus Morgan's boyfriend Rob is also visiting and he is a great handful of joy to have in the apartment! I LOVE VISITORS! We spent the entire weekend showing them San Sebastian fro our point of view, our way of life, and it only made us feel more like we belong here. I loved it. We took them to the beach, the bars we frequent, the mountain we climb almost every weekend, and to the statue of Jesus that over looks the entire city of San Sebastain. This was my first time visiting what we like to refer to as "Jesus" and I had a less than religious experience getting to the top of the mountain. We decided to take a shortcut and scale a hill instead of taking the trail around and in the process I fell twice and covered my butt in dirt as well as my leg. Word to the Wise: Do NOT go hiking in Sperry Topsiders. They have absolutely NO traction but I should have realized that from the beginning. The top of "Jesus" was beautiful and we all had a great time since the night was followed with going out on the town and celebrating life with a few beers. I believe I have now become a fan of Guinness. Its pretty delish!haha We promised that we all have to meet up and hang out in Chico when we get back or else we definitely fail at life. So I am excited for new friends that come back to Chico with me and wil continue to help me take the world by storm!

These upcoming weekends are about to be insane and I cannot wait to see what they hold for me. This weekend my lovely and amazing roommate will be here, next tuesday (MARCH 22) is my 21ST BIRTHDAY!! so don't forget to wish me a happy birthday, the weekend after we are going wine tasting in the province below us in Rijoa, and then a possible trip to Alacante to see Ryan and Bianca's city, and then two weekends after that I get my two week spring break where Mama and brother Koose come to visit and I get to travel where I please. Europe becomes my playground and things are about to get interesting : ). Then the weekend after all of that I am off to Prauge as my 21st birthday gift to MYSELF and Im going to visit Michelle in her city as well! Life is bringing me some very good times, and I am so thankful for every second of it.

My 20th year came in with a BANG to say the least, or maybe a crash, and so much has happened this year. I learned to truly appreciate life and not take anything of granted. I take every chance I have and count my blessings every night. I have overcome what I thought was one of my biggest defeats, became more responsible, had one of the best summers of my life, continued to grow into the confident and strong person that I realize I always have been, turned up the sass meter haha so thanks for all you for seeing as one of my endearing qualities, and honestly decided to study in Spain on a whim and everything just fell into place. It really has been one crazy year and I cannot way wait to see what my 21st has to hold for me as well as the many years ahead.

When I say I came into my 20s with a crash I am remembering the loss of my amazing Black Jeep that I named Georgia who also kept me safe and is one of the reasons I am here. I know it is weird to have such a great attachment to a car, but ask anyone and they will tell you that I have a soft spot for inanimate objects. I named my microwave in Chico, Jed. Thats just how I roll. I cannot believe that as of March 21st it will have been a year and it has been on my mind a lot lately. It was a lot to process and overcome but it is one of the reasons that I have such a great appreciation for life and adventure. It was an eye opening experience that I honestly do not wish for anyone else to go through, but being able to to be okay and look back on it as now a positive way to live I am celebrating my Birthday Eve with Georgia Remembrance day because that is was she deserves. So if you ever had a chance of being the ages between 16 and 20 with me and witnessed some insane times with me in her, then don't be afraid to tell them to me. The good times make me happy! haha. This is probably super cheesy but hey you have to be a little cheesy once in a while. About a month ago on our way to Mundaka I saw my first Jeep siting in all of Spain and it was a Black Wrangler. It sure tugged on the heart strings but it put such a good vibe in my heart that I know that the spirit of Georgia is still around.

If you would have asked me if I was going to Spain around my 20th birthday last year, I would have told you no. I had not idea I would be sitting in my apartment right now writing this travel blog and about to attend spanish class in the beautiful city of San Sebastian at the University of the Basque Country, but I am damn glad that I am. I feel that it was a strange chain of events that led me here and although it may have started with something tragic, it has become beneficial in the end and I am having the ABSOLUTE BEST time of my life. So cheers to being alive, being 21, being in Espana, and still only the beginning of the adventure that is my life! Miss and love you all! LETS CELEBRATE

Much love,
The Koose

Vacation for Vacation. Carnival in the Canaries.

So trying to write a blog about the Canary Islands and Carnival will not do the trip justice, but I will try my best to illustrate the amazingness and insanity that became one of the best vacations I have ever been on in my entire life. The Island of Tenerife is GORGEOUS and has such a chill simplicity about it that you cant help but feel relaxed. We stayed on the northern part of the Islan in Puerto De La Cruz which was one of the bigger towns that celebrated Carnival and also close to Santa cruz which is where the main festivities were held. Our 4 days there with our group including: Hannah, Morgan, Laura, Ben, Hunter and Alex was unreal and so fun. Every day we chilled on the beach, drank all we wanted, and FINALLY FULFILLED our mexican food biological need. I had fajitas and burrito and I could not be happier, not to mention a mass amount of delicious paella as well which is sooo good. If you don't know what it is you should totally google it :). The weather was great and every one was so friendly and kind and spoke English as well. We did practice our Spanish quite a bit but the people were a lot more patient with us then they have been in Spain. Basque people are just a little more reserved I guess haha. I feel that I have officially become a world traveler now, knowing that I have spent more than 15 hours total in an air port, and I have slept on the tile floor at 3 am. It was a wondeful vacation, carnival celebration, and it feels like it was seriously all a dream. I know it was real though becuase I have pictures, and I am pretty sure the rediculous things that we took part in can never be forgotten so lets get this blog started!

So we flew out of Madrid on thursday night and watched the sun rise as we flew over the atlantic ocean to get to the Canaries. We got off the plane, hopped on a bus to the northern part of the island and our adventures began. First we went to what we were told as the wrong hotel and had to walk 15 blocks to get to the correct one only to be told that they had over booked the rooms and that we were actually going to be saying at the hotel that we had first walked into. We get everything settled, put on our swimsuits and headed down to the main part of Puerto de la Cruz where we were staying and got a few drinks and found MEXICAN FOOD!! This was a huge feat knowing that we have searched all over San Sebastian with no luck! Miguel, our waiter hooked it up with delicious margaritas, SALSA, and the best damn fajitas you could dream of. We all almost died. Oh not to mention we got free tequila shots out of it. Talk about customer service! It was great. Puerto de la cruz was beautiful and had a small, simple, and cozy vibe to it, not to mention every one was sooo friendly and the majority spoke English. A huge difference from the basque country where most people stay to themselves and don't really talk to you. It was great and such good vibes.

We spent most of our time there going to the beach and lying on the sand. Becuase there is a volcanoe on the island (the third largest in the world to be exact) the sand on the beach was black and very different than what I have been used to seeing all my life. It was beautiful, gorgeous, and very european. I could not ask for a better way to pass my time on vacation. The weather was warm and I was able to rock my ripped shorts that came just in time in the mail (thanks mama koose) and flip flops and it felt amazing! IT was undescribable!

Our friend Hannah turned 20 the day we flew into Tenerife, so the first night there we had to go out and celebrate and after a few glasses of champagne and mass amount of glitter on our faces, we decided to go to Chinese food. So yes, we had a celebatory pre drink party just to go eat chinese. That is how we roll. I am pretty positive that it was one of the funniest dinners we have ever had and the waiter fell in love with us and gave us free saki it was awesome! We then spent more time on the beach the next day and exploring the small shops and just having a relaxed and fun time! AMAZING!!

and there is the actual CARNIVAL! which was INSANE! That night we decided to take a bus to Santa Cruz where the huge fiesta and celebrations were and got decked out in glitter and shininess and ready to celebrate Carnival the right way. Hannah in her feather skirt, Morgan in her flower bra, Laura in her sequined skirt, and myself in one of the shinest skirts i have ever made put on our masks, covered our bodies in glitter and brightly covered makeup compliments of Hannah and her HUGE palet from sephora. A neccesity of course for this trip! Our guys even took part in it as we decorated hunter's arm and foced ben to wear a gold sparkly tie. ALex was already clad in a very interesting kimono thing that his host family had given him and it worked perfectly.

The bus to get to Santa Cruz was PACKED with so many interesting costumes and people, my favorite one being a guy dressed as what I believed was a care bear, it was pink and furry and again..perfect for carnival! It was a rowdy bus ride but once we arrived in Santa Cruz the insanity ensued.

THERE WAS A CARNiVAL At carnival and so that meant that we had to ride the ferris wheel and it was amazing. Being at the top of the ferriswheel over looking the entire party and the huge city was amazing. After our ride we met up with our other guy friends that were staying in the southern part of the island, and who were all dressed as women. And can I just say I have never seen any other men look so fabulous in dresses and fishnets. Especially guys with beards! haha it was a crack up and i enjoyed it! We spent the night dancing to DJs from the Ministry of SOund which is awesome within itself and you guys should google them. THEY ARE BADASS! After dancing and grabbing drinks we explored the streets and saw so many interesting costumes and people and nothing in my life has ever compared to that before. I was so taken away and amazed. We were there till 6 am and right before we got to the bus station our night would not be complete without Churros con Chocolate and it was DELICIOUS! there was so much carnival food and we definitely took advantage of it by eating churros and potatoes and refueling ourselves after dancing all night and being surrounded by thousands of people. All of our costumes were a hit and it was so insane being there and participating in that. At the bus station some of us decided to have a worm/break dancing constest which was soo funny and I am pretty sure Hannah kicked all of the boy's asses with her worm all while being in a feather skirt and wearing shutter shades. It does not get more crazy than that.

We finally got back to our hotel around 7:30 AM where Laura, Myself and our friend Jeff knocked out in our beds all the while, everyone else went to go get free breakfast. I love the fact that all of our guy friends took the bus back with us insetead of going back to the south where there hotel was. They par took in our free breakfast and explored the beach in the morning all the while having no sleep and while me, jeff, and Laura decide to remain passed out in our room. So we finally wake up and every one is gone and we are finally becoming coherent. IT is about 1 PM and JEff decides to call JEff Franco to see if they are at the pool so he can meet up with them and go home. They are not at the pool and tell him that they are back in the south of Tenerife. Jeff Dean does not believe them and thinks that he is getting a huge prank pulled on him.

ohhh he got a prank pulled on him alright, everyone (including morgan and hannah) decided to hop on a bus back to the South and leave poor Jeff with Laura and me just for laughs. I finally get on the phone with Morgan to figure out where they are while Jeff continues to freak out and go on a tangent on he does not believe that they had left him. She tells me the story and we find a note from her and hannah in our room telling us that they had gone to the south. It was true. SO poor Jeff was left all alone with us, in his dress and no money to get back and he was so dumbfounded and frazzled that it really was funny. I must admit it was a great prank. We finally get Jeff some clothes and money and put him on a bus to get back to the South and all was well. Right now I am still laughing about it because Jeff's face was priceless and I am pretty sure you could visually see his heart sink into his stomach when he realized he was with us all by himself! so Funny. If you are reading this... Im sorry Jeff I love you haha.

The rest of the trip was great time with tequila, Paella, music, and good friends and it was nice to get away from school. I could not have imagined a better place to visit and I have fallen in love with the sun and i cannot wait till summer arrives! The canaries definitely goes down as one of the best trips of my life and I have promised myself that I will return back there one day. I am so excited to see what Spring break holds for us and I know that it will be just as crazy/ if not more fun than those four days in Paradise! Cheers to that!

As I post that I will be 21 in 8 DAYS and I am so excited. MY lovely and awesome best friend/roommate from the states Michelle Houck will be visiting me for a week starting this weekend and we are about to show Spain what trouble Wonder Twins can cause! There will be a blog about it so get excited! I miss and love you all, and if you also have a 21st coming up HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Can't wait to dive in to being a 21 year old because right now I love enjoying my youth but look forward to each passing year and growing up. This past year has been a huge roller coaster and a lot has happening and if you would have asked me 12 months ago I would never thought I would be lying on my bed in my apartment 5 blocks from the beach in San Sebastian Spain right now. I am so excited to see where Life has taken me and I am so happy to be alive. Cheers to that!

Much love,
The Koose.