Kasey Jo

Paris is a wonderful city with soooooo much to do! Luckily we had four days there, but that still wasn't enough. We arrived super early on Thursday morning, our flight landed at 8 something. But then our airport wasn't actually in Paris, so we took a bus ride for about an hour to the city center. Weirdly enough, when we landed, nobody was at customs. We literally walked right in the country without speak to anyone or showing our passport... Their metro system is pretty easy, and we got right on it and right to our hostel. After dropping our stuff, we headed for a free, 3.5 hour walking tour. The tour was awesome, and our guide was super funny/knowledgeable. Without her we really wouldn't have known what we were looking at, and in 3.5 hours ... read more

This weekend, we went to Valencia. Valencia is located in the southeast of Spain, right along the coast. Just like Granada, we took a bus from Madrid which is super convenient for us. We show up when we are ready and this time, we literally ran right on a bus. The ride there was about 4.5 hours and pretty uncomfortable this time. We booked a hostel that was about a fifteen minute walk from the bus station, and we really enjoyed the whole walk. It was warmer in Valencia and covered in palm/orange trees. Our hostel was nice and we had a room just the four of us (Sarah, Kristen, Alanna, and I), which was very lucky. Our hostel was conveniently located for the nightlife and overall, which made it really easy for us to go ... read more

This weekend I went to Granada (located in the South of Spain) with a bunch of friends. We took a bus right from Madrid which took about five hours and was very convenient. Obviously I slept the whole way there and back, as I always do. We arrived at the hostel very late afternoon. As this was many of our first time staying in a hostel, some of us forgot our passports. We didn't realize we would need them because we were staying in Spain, but luckily we got them emailed to us at the hostel. I was definitely spoiled from my first hostel experience. The place was amazing! Very clean, safe, friendly, and beautiful. The guy that decorated the place loves color and flowers... After taking care of our passports and settling in, the hostel ... read more

So things have been getting a lot easier for us Americans. Madrid has very, very few english speakers, so the first few days were rough. Now we are learning to communicate much better and find our way around. The metro is much easier/nicer than those in America, which is good because we need it to get to school. Today was our first day at our University: Universidad de Antonio Nebrija. The school is pretty cool and in a beautiful location atop an enormous hill overlooking Madrid (photos to come). It takes about 20 minutes on the metro and an additional 20 minutes walking to get there, but I don't mind it. The weather here is not as cold as I imagined, or maybe I am just prepared. I had an oral exam today but I think ... read more