Happy Holidays!

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I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year! I just got back from an amazing adventure; I went with 5 girls who are also in the program, on a European Vacation. We started in Paris on Christmas Eve, and were there for 5 nights. It really is as amazing as everyone talks about. We were able to visit most of the famous sites: the Eiffel tower, arc de triumphe, the louvre, the sacre-ceur. We also took a day trip to Versailles...wow! We ate lots of crepes, got used to riding the metro, went to a christmas market, and spoke a little french! By far, my favorite city visited on this trip. After Paris, we took a train to Amsterdam, which is a really cool place. The houses are so unique, I had never seen anything like them. I loved taking a canal ride around the city, and going on a walking tour. We visited the typical sites, (red light district, coffee houses ;>, Van Gogh museum and Anne Frank's house) and had a blast on new years, out on the town with thousands of people! and fireworks. The downside was that it gets dark at 4:30! so it was hard to see everything, but worth a trip back someday. Next was Brussels and Brugge, in Belgium: highlights were the waffles, chocolate, flavored beer, Christmas lights, and horse carriages. Lastely was Barcelona, and I can´t tell you how excited we were to see sun, and hear Spanish!! We only had one full day there, but used it well and visited the Gaudi Park-amazing! After lunch and a bit of shopping, we went out to a dance club and then early the next morning, headed back to Santiago. After 16 days, we were definitely ready to get back to our regular lives, sleep in our own beds, and have a kitchen again! (Pictures to be posted soon!)

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