To all my friends and family in Maryland, I hope you are enjoying this:

While I am suffering through this:

It's really miserable but I guess I am going to have to deal!

Despite the sunny photo, this past week we had a lot of clouds and even 2 rainy days. We've been told that it almost never rains here so I'm hoping mother nature is just getting everything out of her system now. Corey's host mom keeps telling her that this cloudy weather is "muy raro" and I hope she is right ... cloudy days instantly change my mood and I'd much rather be outside in the sun!

As much as I was bummed about the weather this week, I was thankful I'm not freezing my butt off in Maryland. I love snow but looking out on the Meditteranean is definitely more appealing right now. I spent alot of time inside this week which only meant one thing: lots and LOTS of trip planning!


Here's what I have coming up:

1. Barcelona this weekend con mis tias! My Aunt Sharon and Aunt Maureen are coming to visit next week, and this weekend I am meeting them in Barcelona. Monday we are renting a car and driving down the coast. I'm sure it is going to be beautiful so I'm really excited! Can't wait to show them around Alicante.. I wish everyone could come here!

2. St. Patricks Day in Dublin! This week me and 6 of my friends booked a weekend in Dublin for St. Patrick's day. It is going to be awesome. Even better because Maura is going to be here! Maura flies in to Alicante on St Patricks day morning and we fly into Dublin at 10pm... Just in time for nighttime festivities! The celebration continues all weekend so it's going to be a good time for sure. The first night we are staying in hostel right by Temple Bar and the next 2 nights we stay in a hotel that is a 25 min walk away. It was insane trying to find a place to stay but luckily we did! Ireland for St. Patricks day is on my bucket list so I'm so glad its actually happening!

3. Cinqueterre. Me and two of my roommates booked a trip to Cinqueterre, Italy for the first weekend of spring break. We leave on Friday morning and fly into Pisa. We will check out the leaning tower then take a strain to Cinqueterre. We are staying in an awesome guesthouse that my friend recommended for 2 nights and then will find a cheap hostel for the other 2 nights. After that I will be heading BACK to Ireland to Galway and the Aran Islands and after that everything is up in the air!

I'm still working on booking stuff for both of my scheduled 3-day weekends in march but it feels good to have at least a few trips booked.

This weekend was a lot of fun. Hiked up to the Castle again today and went for a morning run along the water. It was 60 degrees and sunny and people were wearing bathing suits on the beach... i think it was a little bit of a stretch for them but i did sort of want to join in. Last night we watched the Barcelona vs. Hercules(Alicante) futbol game at a bar called Austin. The street was packed and set up with lots of tables and outdoor tv's. It was really cool to see how everyone was so into it. Even though Alicante lost (not a big surprise) it was still good to get to watch a game with Spaniards.

I have my first midterm exam for the first of my 4 spanish classes on Wednesday. I kind of forgot about it all weekend (oops) so I should probably get on that. Good news is if I blow it (not that I plan to) this class doesn't even transfer to Maryland so it won't matter! With so much else to do here school isn't exactly at the forefront of my mind but I think its going to go pretty well.

Anywayyyyy.. here are some pictures I took today in Santa Cruz!

Love all the color and tiles here!

The water is sooo clear

Also love the flower pots!

The rest are on snapfish!

Hasta luego!!!! : )