Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving in Spain

Well, having Thanksgiving dinner in Spain was definitely something that I will remember! I didn't eat at my home stay because ISA Granada treated all of us to dinner at a really nice hotel. They had an entire room set up very nicely for us and they served us so many courses! We had cheese with nuts, a guacamole/sun dried tomatoes/ goat cheese appetizer, fried zucchinis, soup, and then turkey topped with stuffing and some potatoes. It definitely wasn't an average Thanksgiving from the United States but it was interesting to see their take on it! None of the dishes before the main course were traditional to our holiday but they were all very delicious. The turkey was a bit strange because it was topped with a spicy/sweet cranberry sauce and the potatoes were baked. We also had a pumpkin desert, although I'm still not quite sure what it was... The overall experience was great, however. It was great to celebrate with my new friends and family and be served great food! Our ISA directors also put together a video for us and thanked us for a great semester. It got a bit emotional! It's easy to tell that things are starting to wind down, but I still have about a month left!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thanksgiving

While I will not be having a Thanksgiving feast with family and friends this year, I still have plenty of people and memories to be thankful for! I have been able to take part in an experience that I will never forget, and although it has been a challenge and pretty frustrating at times, I will never take my decision to study abroad for granted. Even though I will not celebrate this holiday, I am very excited for Lyon's Fête des Lumières. The city has begun decorating buildings, squares, and streets for the upcoming festival, December 6 - December 9.
I hope everyone back home and studying abroad has a wonderful Thanksgiving!



 https://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&safe=off&q=lyons+fete+des+lumieres&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=38897761&biw=1248&bih=588&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=LlytUMHqNpOM0wXe8ICABA


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Heidelberg, Germany

The last week in October I had a full week off for fall break! My boyfriend and I went back to Heidelberg, Germany to visit my family. We stayed with my grandparents, who live in a very small town just outside of Heidelberg. The train ride was little over five hours long with the TGV, France's high speed train. This specific train route from Marseille, France to Frankfurt, Germany was just opened this past spring, making it easier for Germans and the French to travel between the two countries and making it easier for me to travel from Lyon back to Heidelberg.  
The weather was quite a bit colder than it had been in Lyon and over the next two days it even snowed. We stayed in and relaxed with my grandparents and didn't do much other than play cards, take walks in the woods and catch up on sleep. That following Monday I took Alec to see Heidelberg for the day!  Wednesday night we went to a Halloween party that some of my close friends were hosting. Halloween has become more and more popular in Germany over the last four or five years and my grandparents even had trick-or-treaters this year! 
 Later that week we took time to visit my other family members in Mannheim. That Friday we looked around Mannheim for the day with my cousin and her kids. That evening we took the train back to my grandparents home to spend the last two days with them. By the time it came to leave, Alec had stocked up on Haribo gummibears and I was definitely not ready to leave my grandparents, especially after they had spoiled us with great dinners and plenty of sweets!

Friday, November 9, 2012

The beautiful city of London

This past week a friend and I took a trip to London and it was fabulous!! I'm not usually a fan of huge cities like that but London is different. Everything I saw was so beautiful and full of life! There is a lot of history there too which I always love. There are an endless amount of cool places to go and see, and the double-decker bus tour is a must! You learn so much and you get free transportation around the city which is normally very expensive. I could not get over how nice and helpful the people are there either. People would always come up to us and ask us if we needed help. It was unreal! I never had a negative thought while I was there because everything was so positive. I felt right at home- and it was nice to be able to speak English for a few days! If you ever have a chance to go to London I would highly recommend it!