Sugar

Is it possible for a person to feel nostalgic about a place they have never been to before? 

Seriously, I feel so nostalgic about this place. 

It is so peaceful. I have to say I did expect to feel a whole disarray of things when I got here but peaceful, especially since this is only my 3rd week, was not one of those feelings. I was super thrown off when I arrived at Pamplona, as was expected. I had three flight connections one from Houston to Philadelphia then from Philadelphia to Madrid and finally from Madrid to Pamplona. I have gotten lost (and still do but not as often)  a total of 6 times thus far and to my own credit I am at least learning super fast (street smart homies).

 First day was a blur I got to my residency and was super hungry and tried but ran out to meet Brittany Miller who is also from MC, she ran me (she had a class) to the exterior relations office and they basically smiled a lot handed me a welcome packet and said 'Asta luego' (peace out, see you later ect. ). The two people I met were friendly and all that nice stuff but not really helpful to a already late and confused student in need of guidance. Shortly after I met with my assigned alumni partner, who is this older extremely sweet person  by the way, she showed me around a little we took a walk and then I got on a bus with her which she promptly left me on thinking that I had a clue where the heck I was ( I did not). I got lost on the bus on my first day guys, it was pretty bad (laughs). I had no means of communication whatsoever :0. (I am currently being stubborn and not buying a Spanish cellphone sim card mainly because I'm already paying for international service in my current plan and I just don't see the point if everyone here has 'whatsapp' or whatever) Anyways, I spend a hour looking around where the bus dropped me off then I figure I should just get on the same bus again and I eventually get back. Before all of this I went to get a bus card and it is a life saver. Not much happened after that (well nothing that would be considered of significance importance to others I think) I mostly ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off because I didn't know what the hell I was doing and I really needed to start classes. The first class I attended was on Friday, after everything with my paper work was more or less taken care of, it was an English class about management (SO THANKFUL TO MY BUSINESS PROFESSORS AT MC THEY SERIOUSLY SAVE MY LIFE IN CLASS ALL THE TIME). These nice girls sat with me and talked to me so it was okay. The second class is by far the best because I made actual friends in it, they were genuinely trying to befriend me and I really felt a sense of belonging; the class was hard because the teacher talks about civil law extremely fast in Spanish (I can't even write notes because i'll lose her) nonetheless still a really interesting class. My weekend consisted of me getting lost the other 5 times, exploring, and eating (the BEST part). 

 

(first pic: I don't know I was lost, second pic: City hall, it is actually quite large, it looks small but it stretches pretty far, third pic: a house flat built by a past ruler who sought out to make his living quarters the best and the biggest in such a small town nowadays it's a language school) These places are all very well kept in consideration for how long ago they were built. 

  My second week was spent with the young women on the left, her name is Mildred and she is a 27yr old grad student traveling around Spain and France for a special training program as part of her degree. Mildred and I explored as much as we could and I really thank God for her that second week because my future looked really gloomy in Spain those first few days and with her I obtained the balance I needed to settle down into my environment.  I feel more comfortable with my surroundings now. Although she has just recently completed her week in Pamplona and has left I feel that her stay here really helped me relax more and I am sure I will be seeing her again in the future because of how well we got along :). The pic on the right is a store in the town center that I just thought was adorable with the name and all (the clothes wasn't that interesting to me haha). I don't want to say I went crazy and shopped non-stop but I did and it was absolutely therapeutic plus I needed a new coat because it was freezing over here and my coat was not even close to enough. I did have a wired experience with an older woman who was either especially grumpy or just plain mean on one of my shopping expeditions but whatever. She wouldn't let me touch any of the clothes in her shop. She had to take them all out personally, I honestly thought it was because she was desperate to sell me something so I tried to find something I liked in the shop so I could buy it out of courtesy and just get the hell out of there but it turns out her strange behavior turned for the worst every time I reached to touch and feel a fabric or scarf and she was just giving off that presumptuous vibe that she didn't think I could buy anything in her shop let alone afford it. The way she stalked me in her store was way out of line and I wasn't the only one in her store. In the end I looked at her and (she was standing right behind me) told her she was being rude in Spanish then simply turned and left. I let my hand run through a few item racks on my way out too. I was pretty upset.

Classes are honestly a bore so far, except for my two Spanish classes but I suspect it will get better from here on out, I had an embarrassing lint episode in one of my classes where my favorite black blazer was ablaze in white puffy lint from my new coat (rolls eyes here) and I had no idea until after I got back to my room (it was pretty bad, the back of my black blazer was white and it looked like clouds had formed just for the occasion).
I miss my MC professors, I knew I had it good but this just reaffirms my feelings of love for professors at MC more.I have been going out with a few Spanish friends I've made here in classes and my favorite one so far is a girl names Miriam, who invited me to diner often with a large group of friends and we have a wonderful time. She is extremely modern, haha ,compared to that of others I have met here.

 (At a Italian restaurant. We devoured 8 pizzas and three huge salads, it was great.) 

Overall my First and Second week were hard but I'm extremely proud of myself for doing this (for the most part) alone. I can't take all the credit because I've had fabulous people talk to me along the way  the first few horrifically lonely days and I can't stress how important that was to me so thanks guys (Brittani, Julie, Helena, Parents). I feel much better after all the 'Sugar' I received from you guys, the title didn't just have to do with the fact that I love the new Maroon 5 song Sugar either. I am still seeing my friends and although it's not at a high frequency, things are looking up. I usually go get coffee with a few of them and I learn a lot from them, I even learn a lot of history just by them talking to me about the old buildings. 

I'm going on a trip the weekend to some caves and so I'll keep you all posted on what happens, I do apologize this post too so long I just had to write it in the right state of mind and I wanted it to be long enough for a good read and not a short list of me rolling around like a lost potato. So I will continue to keep you guys posted about what happens in my life Post Spain and all that jazz. 

PS: Whatsapp is a free messaging app that everyone seems to have here in Spain. 
PPS: Thanks for reading feel free to comment if you want my contact info or anything. 
PPPS: I bet my grammar and punctuation are horrible, I apologize. 

Love, Rosie. 

After Dark

Awakening_

It feels like I've been asleep for a very long time, and you'd think with how the worlds' youth is nowadays this sound like a pretty good thing. The thing is, it doesn't quite feel like a nice lazy nap. It's one of those naps that has lasted an eternity and muscles are sore stumps. The disoriented heart beats are wildly frantic because the head is still trying to comprehend how the hell  it ended up passing out for so long and how maybe something could have been missed while in a death like sleep.

Am I making any sense? No. Okay, Okay. 

I don't quite know where to begin so I'll start by introducing myself.

My name is Rosa Longoria, Rosie or Roses is preferred, I am a junior attending Maryville College in a small town called Maryville located in east Tennessee. I live in Houston, Texas and am studying abroad this spring semester in Spain as a prerequisite for my major International Business. 

^^^ Although this all sounds wonderful (I know), I hit my first road block even before I embarked on my trip. My visa situation went to death con 3 in a matter or days before I was suppose to receive it, long story short I got my visa late hence forth I am leaving to Spain LATE. (rolls eyes here) 

C'est la vie ~~~~~What~What~ Whatever 

Let's move on, Now...

I have my visa and am writing this from the airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ( I fly to Madrid from here). 

I am a feeling very colorful assortment of emotions Anxiety, Excited, Relief, Thankful, Irritated, and quite frankly a little Indifferent.

 I hope this trip turns out to be good.  

I am going to make this the best-est trips thus far. Seriously, I could go on and on about how freaked out I should be that classes have already started and how I don't know (well sort of not know) where I'm going to be staying indefinitely. Not to mention I don't know how far behind I am and blah blah blah. I am going to go over there and make the best out of the situation I've been given for myself and try my damn-est not to ruin it by complaining about things I can not change. I have high hopes, I know I'll meet wonderful people in the mix of things, have mind blowing adventures with them and by myself discover things I'll take with me home and for the rest of my life. 

So although I am weary I will show up in the highest of spirits and handle my business. I'm going to keep this blog updated at least once a week while away (-_-). I will also (try really hard) to upload video daily or every other day (1min).

With all this said and done, I'm going to go back to waiting for my silly little plane. Lastly,
Thank you all  for sending me those good vibes, I appreciate it.
I will see whoever I see soon :)