Sol En Mi Mente

I've been to a couple of restaurants in the past two weeks and had some really great food! I've also visited a couple of beaches in other parts of the island. We went out for tapas a couple times and tried a wide variety of foods. I've tried pasta, carpaccio, falafel, pimientos padron, croquetas and even Spanish potato salad. Let me tell you, I haven't had anything i didnt like so far! A couple friends and I even had some really great white sangria at one tapas place that was perfect on a hot evening. At a restaurant the other night, I decided to try some new seafood. I got pulpo (octopus) y berberechos (cockles) and it was fantastic! The octopus was tender and the cockles were served in the shell. It was cooked in oil and herbs and turned out to be really good. Some friends from school and I also traveled by bus to a couple different beaches outside of Palma. We tried a beach in Alcudia first. It's on the coast north of Palma. It was very ni...

Sorry for not writing! This past week I was here by myself helping take care of the dogs, so my schedule had to be a little more regular. That meant less long adventures. BUT in the past two weeks since I posted anything, I've visited a palace, eaten some great food, and traveled to some different beaches nearby.  Spanish school is going well! I'm enjoying the challenge, and today, I spit out a sentence in Spanish without having to think about it. And the woman I was speaking to understood me! Some days I feel like I'm not getting it, but little victories like that are encouraging. Last week, the school took those of us who were interested to see La Palacio Real de Almudaina. We got to take a tour of the 14th century palace for free! Our teacher had us take the tour in Spanish of course, and while I didn't understand much, I really enjoyed it! The palace is right next to the cathedral and is quite beautiful. Walking the big stone halls really made m...

Today I had my first adventure with some students from my language school! Amélia, Martin and I went to the Palma Aquarium and then to the beach. It was a great end to the weekend. We had agreed to meet at the bus station at 10 in the morning to go to the aquarium. I walked to the station and met Amélia. Unfortunately, Martin had missed his bus, so we grabbed a bite to eat at a little restaurant in the Plaça d'España while we waited for him. We had a brunch of champions, getting cheese fries and nachos to fuel our trip. When I placed my order, I was asked my name. The man at the counter didn't understand "Zoe," and in a panic, I forgot how to spell my name in Spanish! Fortunately, Amélia helped me out. You become very humble living in a country where you dont speak the language. I can't tell you how many times I've been unable to do a simple task because I can't read the directions. Or how many times I've looked like a fool because I truly dont k...

Yesterday afternoon, Heather, Elyanna, Clara and I decided to take a trip to Sóller. It's a small town on the northwest part of the island. We packed up our things and hopped in the car for the half hour drive to Sóller. To get there, you have to drive through a long tunnel in the mountain; having lived in Texas all my life, that was a new experience for me. The little town of Sóller is filled with quaint little streets and beautiful views of the mountains. We stopped in an ice cream shop to get some of the orange ice cream that Sóller is famous for, but many other people had already done the same, and it was all gone. I had mandarin ice cream instead. It was a close second. Walking into the plaza in the center of town, your eyes are immediately drawn to the cathedral. It's breathtaking. We sat and admired the church as we ate our ice cream. There's a wooden train that goes through Sóller, but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it. The ...

Monday was my first day of school!  My Spanish classes are held at International House, a language school that's a twenty minute walk from the apartment.  The class is taught in Spanish, so I'm learning quickly by necessity!  My teacher is very nice, and I've got classmates from all over the world! After my twenty minute trek to the school, I checked in and was directed to room fifteen on the second floor.  My class is very small.  There are only four of us.  Our profesora arrived and introduced herself; her name is Rosi, and she's from Ecuador.  Then it was our turn for introductions.  Amelia is from Belgium; she's nineteen.  She is staying in the International House student apartments for the four weeks that she's here.  Veronika is from the Czech Republic; she's seventeen.  She is staying with a host family for the next four weeks.  Roman is from Slovakia; he's fourty-two.  He is living in Spain (hence, why he's needi...

Sorry I haven't written anything in a while!  I've had a lot to adjust to since I started Spanish class and sailing courses. Sunday, I went on an adventure to find the yacht club where my sailing courses are held.  This meant a ten minute walk from the apartment to the underground bus station, a thirty minute bus ride, and another ten minute walk to the club. The Estació Intermodal is a big public transportation station that's underground.  You can choose to take the stairs or an escalator down into the station (for the sake of pleasing my Fitbit, I chose the stairs).  There's a small supermarket in there as well as a cafe and a couple other little shops with snack and drinks.  Tickets for the metro can be bought here, but if you're needing to catch a 500 bus (like me), you need to go down some more stairs to the where the buses stop.  I checked the tv screen to see when my bus was supposed to arrive, prepared my €1.95 for the bus ride, and waited. Th...