I am very lucky

Hello to my devoted followers, I am back and enjoying my little room high above the buy Spanish streets of Madrid. This weekend got me thinking a lot about how lucky I am. As most of you know a year ago this weekend was our house fire, my parents anniversary and anniversary of my moms surgery. It was a very crazy time for my family and rethinking about that and how that hard time passes and we survived and got even closer makes me realize just how blessed I am in life. I have an amazing family, great friends, and opportunities in life that most people dream of and I need to start realizing all my gifts and using them. I am very lucky and am so glad that I have such amazing people in my life.
OK as many of you have noticed I haven't been here that much. Well lets start with a few weekends ago I went to Barcelona. It was beautiful but very cold. There had been some cold fronts that made the normally very temperate sea coast very chilly!!! It was a beautiful city and it was as amazing as I remember. I went there once for 3 days in High school with a tour group called ACIS. This time we went to sites that I hadn't been to before. We arrived there and went on a bus tour so we could see all of the city and get acquainted with the city. We started with the Olympic village which was cool because we were in the area where the Olympics were in 1992 at the same time that the Olympic ceremony was starting in Canada. Other than that we did other museums and cathedrals and it was all very cool. My favorite place was where we looked at the gothic area that had landmarks dating back to Columbus. This trip we went with Christina and Jas and the trip was good to do on our own but everything went wrong. I don't want to go into detail but it started with being over priced for our flights and along the way my roommate got the stomach flu and our hostel didn't have heat. It was one of the first times I had been very upset out the poor quality of customer service available in Europe. The trip ended a little early but we got home late on valentines day and I arrived to a lovely package from my family. It made my day to hang a gift from mom and dad. Its hard to believe that at valentines day I had been gone 6 weeks. It has been so amazing to experiences this life but I do miss my family all the time.
My next big trip came up last weekend when I went to the Canary islands. Me and two roommates left on Friday and we got there to this tropical paradise. Madrid had been cold and rainy and we arrived to over 70 and sunny. We got to the hotel and immediately put on out swimsuits and hit the pool. We were the only ones there since it was 9 in the morning. We had taken a very early flight. Next we walked around to the beach which was also gorgeous, but different than what we are used to. The sand is very dark since it is volcanic sand. Also the island beaches have a lot of rocks and during high tides the waves are very large and violent. So just around sunset its really fun to get in and play in the waves before they get to large. Me and my roommates did this and it was some of the most fun we had all trip. Our hotel was all inclusive so every day we all had dinner together in this dinning room. Dinner was buffet style and was different types of items such as a salad area to a bread area then a cheese table followed my whole rows of main courses. It was so good. The hotel was very nice and our room had an amazing ocean view. We would all get ready and sit on the balcony and watch the sun go down. It was perfect ending to perfect days. The middle two days of the trip the weather was good but only 60 or so with clouds. It was nice because we used these days to relax and explore the town. We were on the island Tenerife which is the biggest but it had a very cozy feel to it. All of the people were very nice and helpful.The final day we were there it was 75 and sunny and all of my roommates and I got burnt. It was painful but worth it when we all came away from the island with lines. My roommate best friend Christina fell in love with the lifeguard....so much that when we all left to eat she managed to take numerous picture of him while he wasn't looking...normally I would be scared if people did this but she is special....That concludes my winter break trip in more detail.
Once we came back we had to study for midterms. I did very well on two midterms and not so well on one but my teacher is new in that class and my midterm is 20% and participation is 30% so i think its obvious that she cares that we attend class and talk rather than what we remember. School is going really well other than that. My dance class is starting to choreograph the final performance....I am getting very excited for it. The guys seem to be dreading it since they have to wear these stupid outfits with tights and hats. The girls get to wear full dresses so our outfits rock!! The class is one of my favorites and hopefully it will end up going good.

This weekend we are going to Paris. Christina has never been so I'm excited to show her around. I have been there before and still love it. We are planning on going to all the major sites in one 3 days so we will be very busy. Were going with our other two roommates but they both have other people to see there so me and christina are going to be on our own. I booked a really cute little hotel called Nicolo. I am so excited because the last time I went the Bastille was closed and this time its open. The Bastille is the french prison that was over taken during the revolution. It will be fun to go back but not as cool as hanging out in Notre Dame with my dad. Last time I went I went in the bell tower with my dad and he kept trying to be a Gargoyle. It was one of the best memories I ever have. I love going to school here because all the time they allow for travel really makes us well rounded. I have met so many people from around the world the I feel that in life I have a better perspective of the real world.
It's a little more than half way through my study abroad period. It's crazy to think that I have been here for that long. It is really nice how I have been able to talk to my family so much while I'm here. Thank god for skype that's all I have to say. Well I am off to dinner! I think I will be writing again before I leave for Paris. Feel free to write back! I love all of you! keep in touch!!! miss you tons too....