Sorrrrry!

Okay, first let me apologize for the severe lack of blogging. I haven't been too motivated to update this blog lately, but I figured I should probably write a quick little update.

In case you didn't know....

I'M HOME!

Well, sort of. 

I ended up coming back to the States with my family after our trip through Spain, and I honestly think it was the best decision I could have made! I didn't post that I was coming home because I wanted to surprise a few people, namely my Grandma. :)

Since I've been back, I've made a few spontaneous trips to Eau Claire that turned out very interesting (Water Street, you get me every time..), a trip to Milwaukee to visit Kayla, and a few trips to Woodbury and Minneapolis.

It's been quite a whirlwind coming back to the States; I experienced some reverse culture shock (seriously Wal-Mart, you give me anxiety), was reunited with my best girlfriends, finally got to eat some Mexican food (while leaving my number with the good-looking Mexican waiter), anddddd.....

I GOT A JOB!

The Monday after I got back, I sent in my resume to a few places, got some calls back on Tuesday, and was interviewing by Thursday. The following Tuesday, I got a job offer. I'm now working in downtown Minneapolis at Hennepin County Medical Center as the newest Bilingual Patient Access Specialist. Fancy, huh?

I also found a place to live, and will be moving into a house in Uptown with some roommates. I heard Uptown is the place to be in Minneapolis during the summer, and I can't wait!

I missed these girls so much while I was gone!

I'm really excited for this new start in my life, and can't wait to see what the summer brings!

It's finally here!

The day I've been waiting months to arrive is FINALLY here!

In about an hour, I'll hop on a bus to Madrid, where a few hours later, I'll meet my family in Baggage Claim. I can't even believe it! This has got to be the BEST birthday present ever!

So, let the good times roll. Commence chaos. C'est la vie. And everything else in between. The Sabelko family is about to take over Spain.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Stubborn Horses and Dirty Jokes

So it's been a couple weeks since I've posted, and boy, have I been busy. First was the weekend in Sevilla followed by horseback riding on a beach in Huelva. It was my very first horse ride, so I was a bit nervous, but everything turned out great! My horse's name was Princesa. Her name definitely suited her; she did what she wanted, when she wanted. There was NO way she was going anywhere near the water when we were riding on the beach, and after having to give her a few nudges to get her moving, she gave me a piece of her mind, and rammed my leg into a tree. 

Touche Princesa, touche.

Yeah, she was pretty sick of me by this point.

Last weekend I took a trip to Barcelona to visit my friend Paty, who I met 5 long years ago the very first time I came to Spain with my high school Spanish class. One of my classmates was staying with Paty, so that's how we initially met. With Facebook, we've been able to keep in touch, and I'm so glad we have. It was great seeing her again, and I had a fantastic weekend!

At Parc Guell in Barcelona

I'll write more about my trip to Barcelona later when I get back from Paris (oh yeah, I'm going to Paris this weekend!). Let's just say there was a lot of drinking, dancing & chaos. Also, one of the funnier moments of the weekend occurred when Paty invited me to this improv show that a bunch of her university classmates do every Friday night. I was sitting back, enjoying the skits and joke-telling, when all of a sudden, I was the one chosen to get up in front of everybody to tell a joke. 

My first thought: panic. My second thought: can somebody please get me a drink?!

Well, I told the first joke that popped into my head. It was a dirty joke. A very, very dirty joke. Like, so dirty I'm almost ashamed that I know it and told it to a group of people I just met. (No, I will not tell you what it is) But in reality, I'm not ashamed. I'm proud. You know why? Because I told the entire joke in Spanish. To a group of Spaniards.  And they even understood the joke.

The best part? They thought it was pretty funny. 

Win.

Anyways, if you're looking for me this weekend, you can find me doing one of three things:

1. Falling in love under the Eiffel Tower (hey, it could happen) 2. Eating Macaroons 3. Actually, I'll probably just be doing those two things until I'm satisfied.

March Madness (not the basketball kind)

March has always been my favorite month of the year. Why, you ask? Well, for those of you who don't know me, my birthday is in March!! I'm turning 23 this year, which is kind of one of those 'meh' years that doesn't really matter, but still. I. Love. Birthdays.

However, March is going to be extra special this year, and I'll tell you why:

This weekend, I get to do something I've always wanted to do -- go horseback riding on the beach. It's supposed to be 75 and sunny, so it should make for a fantastic day at the beach!

Next weekend, I'm heading to Barcelona to be reunited with a friend I met 5 years ago the first time I came to Spain. I can't believe how fast time has gone by, and I'm extremely excited to visit her and the fascinating city of Barcelona.

Also, on a spur of the moment decision, I booked a plane ticket to Paris. It was super cheap, so I jumped on it right away! That's right, I'm going to Paris! It's always been a dream of mine to go there, and I can't wait to see the beautiful city, and more importantly, the Eiffel Tower.

I bought this plane ticket today as an early birthday present to myself, so I'll be heading there on March 23rd. It can't come soon enough!

Next comes my birthday on the 29th, and I'll be getting the best birthday present ever this year (besides the plane tickets to Paris...)... my FAMILY is coming to visit!! I honestly can't wait to see them! It's been almost six months since I've seen them, and let me tell you, it's been tough at times. After they arrive, we'll be heading off for a 10-day adventure that includes stops in Madrid, Segovia, Salamanca, Merida & Seville. It's going to be great! 

Ahh sibs, how I have missed you.

I'm so unbelievably happy right now when I look at all the great things I have to look forward to! Life has been full of ups and downs lately (mostly downs), but I've decided to take charge of my life and my happiness. I'm eating better, working out, job searching, and in general, just really looking forward to the rest of March!

Hasta luego!

Chocolate, Waffles, Beer, Repeat - Belgium

Last week, I had a 5-day break from work, so I decided to take a little trip to Belgium, a place famous for its chocolate (ohhh the chocolate!). In other words, my dream come true. 

Hello, lover.

Saturday was mainly spent traveling, but as soon as we arrived in Brussels, we set off toward the city center. It wasn't long before we stumbled upon some delicious Belgian waffles.

Tourist waffle, but so so so delicious!

After devouring our amazing waffles, we made our way toward Grote Markt, or the main square in Brussels. It was beautiful! The buildings are all so ornate and so European!

Inside Grote Markt

So ornate!

After some more exploring (but not too much, since it was so cold!), we decided to search for some traditional flavored Belgian beer, and ended up at Delirium Bar, which has tons and tons of beer choices. My first choice...a fantastic cherry-flavored beer.

My face is so flushed from the beer!

On Sunday, we took a train to Bruges, a quaint little picturesque town that I fell in love with! All of the little houses and buildings are made of brick and are so charming! 

I love this place!

Inside the main square, just love those colors!

Not to mention, the chocolate here was to die for. Seriously, that good. I may have spent more money on chocolate on this trip than anything else, but surprisingly, not much of it made it back home with me...

Best day of my life. Best chocolate of my life.

While in Bruges, we had the chance to tour the 150-year-old De Halve Maan Brewery. Our tour guide was hilarious, and the best part of the tour was getting a free beer at the end. I would definitely recommend it if you're ever in Bruges.

Such a cute little brewery

Delish!

We made our way back to Brussels that night, and spent the next couple days exploring more of the city, eating more waffles -- seriously could not resist these things, indulging in some delicious french fries (yum!), and of course, seeing the famous Mannekin Pis statue. To my surprise, it was smaller than I thought, and of course, a little funny. You'll see why...

Sometimes they hook beer kegs up to him!

Yes, that's a little boy. And yes, he is peeing.

We ended our stay with a couple quite a few more Belgian beers, including a raspberry beer that was absolutely delicious and went down soooo smooth. Of course, our large intake of beer caused us to venture out in search of more fries, which ultimately led us down an alley that we later realized was full of prostitutes, buuuut that's a different story for a different day.

Bottom line: If you want good beer, good chocolate, & good waffles, Belgium is THE place for you!

Hasta luego :)

Malaga, Te Quiero

I had every intention of writing this post last weekend, honestly. But then I ended up staying out until 5:30am on Saturday night (or Sunday morning, I guess you could say). Let's just say the couch and I were best friends the next day and I accomplished absolutely nothing.

This weekend wasn't quite so crazy, so I'll give it another go.

Let's just say a big part of the reason I ended up working here in Spain was my friend Antonio. I met him at UWEC, and we had a few Spanish classes together. One night, I ran into him at Brothers and he told me he was about to move to Spain. We chatted about the program he was working for a little that night, and I guess the rest is history. 

We've kept in touch while he was in Spain his first year, as well as during my time here. I had mentioned coming to visit him in Malaga, but never planned anything. So finally, a few weeks ago, I asked him if what weekend he was free, and from there started the trip planning.

I had the BEST time on this trip, it has honestly been one of my favorites so far. Malaga is absolutely beautiful, and it was great to see a friendly face so far from home!

Antonio & I out and about on Saturday night

Antonio was nice enough to let my friend Fanchon and I stay at his place, and he was basically our own private tour guide. We explored the local market (which was amazing!) and made some homemade soup from the goodies we picked up there, created our own version of homemade sangria, walked along the beach, explored the port, hiked up a crazy huge hill (in my opinion) to explore the castle at the top, visited the Picasso museum (Malaga is where Picasso was actually born!) and traveled to a nearby town with some breathtaking views. 

I think I had a smile on my face the entire weekend, and honestly couldn't stop taking pictures. Everything just seemed so beautiful, and those of you who know me know that I absolutely love the beach, so I was happy to be able to see it again! 

At the port for the afternoon

Antonio, Fanchon and I exploring for the day :)

Everything about Malaga is just gorgeous

View from our hike up to the castle

In addition to Malaga, we made our way over to a neighboring town called Rincon de la Victoria. It definitely has that small town charm! I think we walked along the sea and the beach for a couple of hours, just basking in the sun and realizing how lucky we were to be enjoying that moment. I couldn't stop snapping pictures, it was just that beautiful!

The sea, the sun, good friends --what more do I need?

Love everything about this

Beautiful views all around

Oh hey there, Antonio

This is me, wishing I could live in Malaga!

It was great being able to catch up with Antonio after so long, and some day I would definitely love to go back to Malaga!

Until then, I'll keep exploring more of Europe. I'm off to Belgium soon to enjoy my five-day weekend and take in copious amounts of chocolate, beer and waffles (...see ya later, diet).

Hasta luego!

Goals

It's been way too long since I've updated my blog, and quite a bit has happened since then. I've been pretty busy these last couple weeks working on some translations for the Government of Extremadura, but as soon as they're done I'll have more time to work on some of the goals I've set for myself.

• Update my blog! I just got back from an incredible weekend in Malaga, so I'll try to come up with a post this weekend during my free time.
• Start training for a 5k. I've always wanted to run a 5k or some type of race, but I was never motivated enough to do it. I've set up a schedule for myself and I'll begin training for it next Tuesday!
• Plan more trips! I'll be booking my plane ticket for Belgium tonight for a nice little trip from February 18th through the 21st; I can't wait! Belgian waffles and chocolate, anyone? :) I'm also working on setting up a weekend in Paris, and I would love, love, love to spend St. Patrick's Day weekend in Ireland. We'll see what happens.
• Get everything set up for my family's visit. I can't tell you how extremely excited I am for my family to come visit me. They'll be here from March 30th (right after my birthday!!) until April 9th, so right now I've got to set up a trip itinerary and make sure they have an amazing time in Spain!

It's not a very long list of goals, but I'm starting small to make sure I can accomplish everything I want to. :)

Southern Spain

Knowing that this would be one of our last trips together here in Spain, Patrick and I wanted to see as much as we could. It was all last minute planning, but it turned out perfectly and was one of my favorite trips so far.

Cordoba was first on our list, and we absolutely loved it. It's a very beautiful city and we lucked out with great weather. Our favorite sites were the Mezquita and the Alcazar de los Reyes Catolicos. They were such beautiful and inspiring places that we spent hours just wandering around. I think we spent close to two hours just inside the Alcazar admiring the gorgeous gardens. 

Colombus asking the King and Queen to fund his trip to the "Indies"

In the gardens of the Alcazar

After Cordoba, we traveled to Granada, which was another fantastic city! When I think of Granada now, I think of the Alhambra, of course, and free tapas. Granada is one of the last remaining cities in Spain that still gives you free tapas with your drink, so Patrick and I gladly took advantage of that, filling up on tapas and cervezas for only about 8 euros!

Although we ate A LOT of food during this trip, I think we walked most of it off during our few days there. Our hostel was waaaay up on a hill about 10 minutes from the city center, but we didn't mind; our hostel had an absolutely breathtaking view of the Alhambra. It was definitely worth the walk (as was the straight uphill mad dash we took to the very top of the hill to see all of Granada and the Sierra Nevada as the sun was setting)! Another thing worth the walk was the Alhambra itself. We weren't able to book tickets in advance, which meant we had to get up at 6:30am and make the hilly trek to the Alhambra (did I mention it was freezing outside?!). We stood in line for about an hour and half to get our tickets, and once we were inside, spent about 4 hours just exploring -- it's huge!

If you ever make it to Spain, the Alhambra is definitely worth seeing. The towers, fortresses, gardens, Generalife and intricately designed Nasrid Palaces are so beautiful and historical that it's easy to find yourself imagining what life was like hundreds of years ago.

Patrick loved the use of water in the architecture!

Inside the Generalife

Our last stop in Southern Spain was Sevilla, another wonderful city. Sevilla was just stunning; we couldn't get enough of the architecture, the monuments, the plazas & the general feeling that everything was just so alive. Everything about this city was great (minus some rude Portuguese guys in our hostel...another story for another day though). 

Overlooking the Plaza de Espana

By day, we took a free walking tour and learned many fascinating things about the city, toured one of the world's oldest Gothic cathedrals which houses the tomb of Christopher Colombus & took in the beauty of the Plaza de Espana, which is the most charming plaza in all of Spain, in my opinion of course. By night, which just happened to be New Year's Eve, we went out with a group of Americans who we met at our hostel and also a Danish guy who just happened to be biking his way through Europe and also made it his goal to hug 20 people at midnight on New Year's Eve...how adorable! I swear you meet the most interesting people at hostels. 

Anyways, we rang in the New Year in Plaza Nueva with a huge crowd of people, all waiting for the clock to strike midnight. In Spain, it's tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight, 1 for each chime of the clock, so I bought a bunch of grapes and we each took a handful. None of us knew that you're supposed to peel the grapes and take the seeds out so they're easier to eat....so I think we all failed, but had a great time trying and it was hilarious! After the grapes came the champagne, which was sprayed ALL over the crowd and resulted in everything being sticky. Again, completely worth it! 

Patrick and I still followed our traditions from home, and rang in the New Year with a hug and kiss, completely soaked in champagne. It was magnificent. :)

Sneak Peak

Taking advantage of my long vacation (almost 3 weeks!) from work, Patrick and I took a little tour through southern Spain, hitting three of the most famous cities: Cordoba, Granada & Seville. 

With Muslim, Spanish & Jewish influence ever-present in these cities, we admired the beautiful churches, the very famous Alhambra & Mezquita, gorgeous gardens & much, much more (including some mountain views that were to die for!). 

Since we're about to leave again shortly for Salamanca, I'll leave you with a few pictures from our jaunt through Andalusia.

La Mezquita in Cordoba

Gardens of the Alcazar in Cordoba

La Alhambra in Granada

Plaza de Espana in Sevilla

Once I'm back from Salamanca, I'll give you all a more thorough update of our trip!

Hasta luego :)