NEW BLOG

So I have decided to continue blogging now that I'm back in the States. From here on out I will be posting on the following:

http://www.kristinaadele.blogspot.com/

Horrible Intonation

So apparently I still use my Spanish intonation when I speak in English. I didn't even realize I was doing it when I was living in Spain, but when my sister came over the end of May apparently I was horrible. So sorry to all of you in Almeria....I guess I wasn't speaking the true American English. I got pretty good at speaking normal with my family for the next 6 weeks traveling around because they speak like typical Americans of course. But it comes out when I speak to other people especially strangers. In fact it just came out the other day! I'm up at a cousin's wedding in Canada right now and have met lots of new people, but so far so good I think. I still have a bit to work on. And forget the T's! They'll never go away! I even got my sister, Elise, to pronounce them now :)

EUROPE PICTURES!!!!

Click on the link below to see pictures of my 6-week backpacking trip through Europe. Enjoy!

http://www.kristina-europe.blogspot.com/

Life back in the U.S.....

My thoughts on adjusting back to life here:

• Cars have blinkers on them? Guess I must have forgotten after 9 months...
• The backyard is huge! I have a backyard!
• Are cars really that big?
• Where's all the tall apartment buildings?
• Milk. It does a body good (at least the kind that doesn't come in a box)
• Should I feel guilty for taking a 20 minute shower?
• What?! No recycling?!
• Air conditioning. The best invention EVER!
• Carpet. Can I say foot massage?
• Cream of chicken soup. Gotta love it! Very versatile...
• Bummer...no metro
• No more walking. Cars rule the world.
• Are dollar bills REALLY that long?!
• What a luxury...going to the gym (never thought I'd say that)
• Microwave...the next best invention ever.
• Do I really get to choose between more than 8 shirts and 3 pair of pants?
• Is everyone around me speaking English? Haven't heard that in a while...
• That's weird. No dubbing at the movie theaters.
• I woke up at 7 am again?! Can't seem to sleep in these days...I guess it's the jumping back 9 hours in time.
• I can actually sleep through church since I understand the talks. Just kidding!
• I don't have to wear a money belt!

I´m still alive...!!!

Just wanted to let you all know that I haven´t forgotten to post anything lately, it´s just that the Internet is hard to come by here in Europe and time for that matter. I only have about 2 weeks left here backpacking and then I will definitely post some pictures.

In the mean time I am having the time of my life with my sisters. We´ve seen so many fantastic things. It´s so dang blasted hot here though and Europeans seem to not know what AC stands for. I roast every night and all day too.

We are in Berlin right now and head off to Scandinavia tomorrow. I´ll post some pics in about 2 weeks!!!

Athens, Greece

Elise and I flew into Athens on Saturday and it was just like I imagined it from the air....rolling hills and fields of crops right against the bright blue sea. Walking out from the airport felt a bit like Hawaii. We took the metro into the city, but went underground so we didn't get to see much of the city. We got a surprise when we walked out of the train station!

Athens isn't that nice of a city...in fact, it's pretty ghetto. Well, the streets are pretty clean, but the city is just run down. There are a ton of abandoned buildings and most of them look they will collapse any second. I came expecting as much (a few people told me this that had been) so I wasn't really disappointed, in fact quite amused.

The center of the city around the Acropolis, however, is very nice and a little paradise amongst the busy city. If our hostel was there, I would have no idea of the ghetto-ness.

On Sunday (yesterday), we got up to go to church, except when we got there, there was nothing to indicate an LDS church. We did however, attempt to chat with a little old man who was trying to tell us something verrrry important in Greek that we couldn't quite make out.....hope he found somebody else to tell! haha!

We spent Sunday walking around the city and checking out the sites. The Acropolis is amazing!! Well....minus all the million bars around it for rennovation. Apparently it's been like that since 2000. We hiked to a small hill for an amazing view...as you can see in the pictures.

This morning we went to the Port to arrange our island travels...we leave tomorrow for Mykonos and then will spend the majority of the week in Santorini. After that was all settled we went inside the Acropolis. The whole thing is actually many parts all over the city. So Greece is funny....everything seemed a little scattered and unorganized, but definitely worth seeing! I actually got in free with Foreign Student card from Spain since it's issued by the European Union. What a deal! I guess all that hassle before to get it was worth it! I plan on using it more too! Exploring all the ruins here in the city pretty much takes all day....not to mention lots of walking....Elise and I walked about 13 miles today alone!

Let me just end on this note...I love Greek food! So delicious! Skewed meat with lime, freshly-made pitas, fresh tomatoes, fresh feta cheese, yogurt with honey.....sounds weird, but it's amazing! I look forward to more delicous food....as always!! You know me....

By the way, my sister just informed me that there was an earthquake measuring 6.5 in Greece yesterday. Well, that was news to me as I didn't feel a thing! It happend about 3 pm and we were out walking around so we would have felt it, but didn't. It occured closer to Patras than Athens, but the report said they felt is as far away as Southern Italy....crazy. For more, click here.

Back to Old Stomping Grounds...

Alcala de Henares & Madrid...my home for 3 months on my 2005 BYU Study Abroad...

So Elise and I left to Madrid Thursday morning to drop off my luggage at Sonya's (other sister) house in Alcala de Henares. Plus we wanted to hang out with her of course! And boy was it fun! All 3 of us hadn't been together forever....way too long. We hung out downtown eating chuches and of course eating dinner at Ali Babba's - pure delight! We had to say goodbye to Sonya since she left on an excursion the next morning and Elise and I headed back to Madrid.
On Friday, we were going to go to Segovia for the day, but the train schedule was messed up so we just spent the day wandering around Madrid and refreshing our memories. Man, I forget how much I love that city!! It was fun to see everything again - Puerta del Sol, Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Parque del Buen Retiro, rowing boats, eating Portmans, etc. But man, I have never seen so many Americans and heard so much American English! It was actually kind of depressing....I left like I was being overrun and I'm an American myself...imagine how the Spanish feel...


This guy was asking for all sorts of money for beer and wouldn't even let you take his picture without paying!

Travel Itinerary

So here are my travel plans for the next month and a half so you know where I´m at. I probably won´t be able to update my blog as regularly as before, but I´ll try to keep you updated as best I can. If not, when I get home I´ll for sure put all the pictures up of Europe.

10 days in Greece (Athens & Islands)
2 days in Madrid, Alcala de Henares
4 days in Almeria
3 days in Rome
4 days in Germany (small towns)
2 days in Prague
1 day in Berlin
2 days in Copenhagen
3 days in Stockholm & Uppsala
2 days in Paris
1 day in Madrid
+ a few travel days in between
BACK TO USA!! the middle of July

Reunited with my other sister!!!

Elise, my other sister flew into Almeria last Saturday night! Yeah! I did a hop, skip, and a jump (literally) when I saw her in the airport. It was so good to see her again, but now it doesn´t even feel like we haven´t seen each other for 9 months. Crazy! So we´ve already begun our adventures here in Almeria and leave tomorrow for Greece. She's already met a lot of the people I know here and we've had fun hanging out. I think she had a hard time adjusting when she first got here though....all she wanted to do was sleep! Here´s the proof! haha! I love ya anyway sis! I think she´s on track now.

Elise & Kristina in Almeria

Here are some random pictures of us out and about....

Cruise Ship in Almeria

So Elise and I saw this GINORMOUS cruise ship in the harbour here the other day as we were walking around the city. I was shocked. One, because it was so big and two, because cruise ships don´t typically come to Almeria, especially not a Norwegian one. The name of it was Norwegian Jade. Elise and I kept coming up with stories why it was here. Maybe it was going to sink so it had to port here, or maybe it got lost. haha! Well, come to find out, it was supposed to go to Malaga, but the workers there were on strike. So it came to Almeria instead! How ´bout that?!

We also saw like a million autobuses drive by full of people and I was like, what the heck? But come to find out it was all the tourists from the ship off on an adventure. We also saw tourists all over the city walking and I was surprised because I had never seen so many before so early in the summer especially. It was just crazy to see such a huge ship!

A Spanish Cemetary

So I don´t know why, but cemetaries in different countries fascinate me, especially this one. I guess because they are all stacked above each other above the ground. For all you Spanish people reading this, in the U.S. people are just buried below the ground and not stacked. So this is definitely different for me to see....

winter in Utah vs. winter in the Mediterranean

So my sister, Elise, is on the left and I´m on the right. Can you tell the difference? haha! She´ll catch up!

Finally leaving Almeria....

So I´m getting very sad to leave Almeria behind. Like someone else said, I feel the same way....It´s not cause I became accustomed to the way of life here, just simply because I´m going to miss Almeria. That´s why I´m sad. The people here are wonderful and am mostly sad to leave everyone I have met. This whole week I have been saying goodbye to people....

Plus, I can´t complain about the beach, the weather, the food, and just the way of life....

BUT, don´t worry....I have 5 weeks of travel ahead of me! I´m super excited about that!

Being an American in Europe....

First of all everyone looks at you cause you´re a giant (well...maybe only in my case! haha). Second of all everyone looks at you because you´re dressed differently and wearing Chacos. And last of all everyone looks at you cause you speak English with a strange accent - nope, it´s not British. Let me just establish the fact that people don´t just ¨look...¨ they stare. And they don´t try to conceal it either. If I hadn´t been living in Spain for the past 8 months I might be offended, but it just amuses me. It´s different cause there´s not many tourists here in Almeria so when you´re dressed like one, you really stand out! Come Rome, I´ll fit right in with all the other tourists!