2010 is off to a relatively calm but good start. I went home for Christmas and it was great to see my family, my friends, and my boyfriend. Home is still well.. home. Don't know why, but I can't seem to ever want to stay there for too long at one time.
So now here I am, back in my apt. in Madrid, feeling slightly inclined to share my thoughts with the world wide web.. and by world wide web I really mean all 5 people that actually check this every once in awhile. This week, I've begun intense preparation for my travels in the next few months, researching, planning, booking some things.. it's going to be an exciting few months. My tentative itinerary is as follows:
February 11-14: Canary Islands
March 25ish-April 5ish: Tour of Italy
My Bday week: Greece
...And then I have a list a mile long of other places I'm gonna try to fit in somewhere in between all of that depending on my $$$$ and time.. but mostly $$.
I just booked my trip to the Canary Islands (or en español "Las Islas Canarias") 3 days ago kinda on a whim- and without checking my bank account first hence why I'm eating bread and baked potatoes until my February paycheck. My friend Natalia told me about the Carnaval celebration held every year in Tenerife on the Canary Islands because I had been talking about going to another celebration in the south of Spain. She warned me that the other one was lame and the one in Tenerife wa
s amazing. So being curious, I looked it up online and sure enough, she was right. As most of you probably know, "Carnaval" is best known as the extravagant celebration in Rio de Jainero, Brazil every year. However, unbeknowst to me (and many of you I'm assuming) the Carnaval in Tenerife is supposedly the 2nd best after Brazil. Millions of people come from all over the world to celebrate it there. The Canary Islands are a group of Islands off the West Coast of Africa, close to Morocco, but they are owned by Spain. I also found out (as a major bonus) that the weather in the Canary Islands is in the mid 70s year round b/c of it's location.. which I can't say I'm too disappointed about! I'm looking forw
ard to a nice break from the cold, snowy, weather! Anyways.. Danielle (and 2 of her friends from Guadalajara) and I are going for Valentines Day wknd, also the opening weekend which is supposedly a huge event. It's gonna be a weekend of scantily-clad/if not naked Europeans, dancing in the streets, raging techno music, and "lots of sodas" (as my uncle says) will be consumed. Take a look at the website below for some idea of what I'm talking about. Ridiculous! And I'm sooo excited!!http://www.realtenerifeislanddrives.com/Carnaval.html
I'm trying to focus on my excitement about Carnaval before I let myself get too excited about my next trip b/c it's the trip I've been looking forward to all year. For Easter break ("Semana Santa" here in Spain) I have a really long vacation. Bry is coming to see me (I'm soooo freaking excited!!) and we are going to go see Italy for the first time together. I've been hoping to save my Italy trip for a long vacation so I can go see all the places I want to see (which is impossible of course). As of right now, we're looking at going to Venice, Florence, Rome, and making a day trip to see Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius! Ahhh I can barely contain my excitement.. floating down canals, eating amazing Italian food, drinking wine, limoncello, romance! :) It's going to be unforgettable! Not to mention Bry is going to see Europe for the first time, and I couldn't be happier to share it with him. I feel like I was born to live here, all the art and culture, the way people think and live, it's so enthralling to me, it makes me feel alive! :) I hope more than anything he'll share some of this love with me. Maybe we'll vanish into the Italian countryside never to be seen again.... ;)
As for the Greece trip formy birthday.. still in the very early planning stages but I've already figured out how to get there, and I found an awesome (and cheap) place to stay. A week long bday extravaganza in the Greek Islands?? If anyone cares to join, there's an open invitation (and yes this means all you people who were "gonna come visit me")
I've started thinking a lot about what kind of jobs I want to look for come April. Do I really HAVE to grow up and start job-hunting.. this blows! I wanna go back to eating jellopops and running from cootie-infested boys on the playground. Anyone know what I want to be when I grow up?? I still feel like I've come no closer to the answer myself.
I'll post more after all my trips and maybe a few here and there and in between. It was great seeing everyone at home.
Before I go, just a side note... I really wish I could go help in Haiti, how devastating. If you haven't already, please go to redcross.org or call your local chapter and donate some money to the Haiti Relief fund. The minimum donation is $10 which I know everyone can spare for someone who is in desparate need of help. The website wasn't working earlier b/c it's clogged from so many ppl trying to donate so just call if you can't get it to work. Keeping everyone there in my thoughts and prayers. It's times like this that people have to put aside their differences and come together to help each other. We all live on this planet and those are our brothers and sisters, we all need to join forces to help them in a time of such grief and misery. It reminds you how fast life can change and to be thankful for what you have. :/
