Week 10!

 Spring Break!!! 

Immediately after the enmodes projects Victoria and I went to the airport in order to make our flight. It ended up getting delayed by 2 hours so we didn't need to rush. I got into Barcelona at 9:30 and went to see my sisters. It was really good to see them. We spent a couple days in Barcelona, one in Madrid, one in Porto, and 3 in Lisbon. 

Barcelona was very busy. It reminded me of Dallas a lot. The weather was great and I could see myself living there for a little bit. I'm not sure I could live there forever but I definitely could for a couple of years. We went and tried to see the university but it was unfortunately closed so I walked around the outside and looked at some pictures on google. It seemed really beautiful. 

Madrid was a fever dream. My twin sister wasn't feeling well for the first half of the day so we gave her some meds and she was able to rally. Luckily my older sister and I didn't get sick from her. Then that night we were supposed to meet up with Kassy, Pat, Colby, and Emi at a market but as we left the hostel my older sister fell down the stairs and we had to take her to the hospital. It would have been over 400 euros for her to get seen so we went home and luckily she was fine, justa. bruised knee. We then had to catch a 6:30am flight so we didn't really sleep. 

Porto was amazing. It was a small town and moved slowly. We went to a winery called Sandeman and it was very cool. We learned how Port wines are made and why they are different from other wines. The wines were so sweet and had a 20% alcohol content so 3 small glasses of them were enough. I thought the wine was alright but it was more like drinking syrup. 

Lisbon was so fun. We went surfing and took a portuguese cooking class. We surfed in the morning and let me tell you it was a workout. I was so sore the next day and even standing up on the board was so difficult. Even not getting drowned was a challenge, but I would do it again. The cooking class was also great. We made an appetizer, a main meal, and a dessert. The dishes were also vegan and gluten free because the group was full of dietary restrictions. Our last night there we went on a bar crawl with a bunch of people we met in the hostel and it was fun getting to know a bunch of different people who came from all over the world. I even met 2 german students (very cool). 

We returned to Germany on Saturday and on Sunday I took my sister around Köln. She really liked it and it was fun showing her around the area. We then went to Bonn and she met my host mom. It has been very fun having her in Germany with me. 

The entire spring break we stayed in hostels. This was definitely an experience as I like my privacy. It wasn't convenient having to lock your stuff up every time you left the room and it wasn't fun sleeping in a room full of strangers who sometimes snored or smelled, but it made me more thankful to have my little room in Bonn and definitely helped me realize how lucky and fortunate I am. Now I get to relax for a bit before we go to Paris. I'm looking forward to not traveling for one week.