Standing in Awe

So as you can probably tell from the extreme absence of my writing, it has been quite a process coming back.  After a health scare with Megan on the way home, some vomiting, and an extremely janky plane ride across the Atlantic, we made it back to Chicago.  As we made our way through the airport and through the dreaded US Customs, I appreciated how familiar and yet how foreign everything around me seemed.  People speaking English, all the signs in English, and huge toilets, all seemed familiar, but almost from a past life.  I was warmly greeted by Celeste in the airport and was so grateful to see a familiar face.  By the time we had landed Megan was feeling better and we got her on the Megabus with no problems.  Going out into the big city was very strange.  All the cars were huge, it was busy, and people seemed to be in such a rush, but to be honest I was so content just to be with family that I could not even begin to process everything, and my mind...

Firstly I want to thank my family who, after my last post, was so encouraging and comforting. I am most definitely savoring these last 48 hours. It is a bitter sweet in every sense; the sweetness of the fresh honey from Crete with my yogurt this morning and yet the bitterness of my inbox filling up with innumerable emails wanting me to schedule, plan, and prepare. Greece has been the perfect end to an amazing trip. Our hostel is unreal with air conditioning, in room bathrooms, free breakfast, a rooftop terrace that overlooks the acropolis and a beautifully remodeled home with wood floors and real mattresses. It is insane. We arrived late last night and ate here at the hostel where I enjoyed and incredibly fresh Greek salad complete with a large slab of feta on top. After a great sleep in our luxurious beds we enjoyed the wonderful breakfast and then went to the famous and huge flea market. There was shop after shop filled with hand made leather sandals, ouzo, luggage, baklava, and tri...

So I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize. As my mother has noticed I am growing weary. I am still enjoying the amazing experience, but living out of a backpack and constantly packing and repacking is getting old. A while ago Megan and I made a rule saying we need to stop talking about home because we are going to miss what is right in front of us, but somehow we find ourselves breaking this rule more and more with each passing day. Small things like "second to last time packing," or "this time next week...". All that being said we have still been having a great time in Italy. From Switzerland we got on a train and headed south through the mountains to the Cinque Terra on the northwest coast of Italy. It is a series of 5 small towns with hardly any traffic nada slow paced lifestyle. As soon as we got there and found Barbara, the adorable little women we rented a room from (which is more common than hotels in these small towns) we headed strait for ...

Another day in paradise. So yesterday we decided to just relax in the morning. After the 6 hour hike the previous day we were pretty tired and a bit sore. After a while reading and soaking in the sun we decided to hike up to a big waterfall with our new British friends. The hike was a but more uphill than expected but totally worth it. We walked up through the grassy hills and into a big pine forest. After traversing across the hill and swinging down and around a large rock, we were staring the waterfall In face. It was huge and showered down onto a bunch of flat rocks creating mini frigid world pools everywhere. We hiked down prepared with our swimsuits and plunged into the glacial cascade. We were instantly frozen, but some how extremely alive at the same time. With the waterfall to your back looking out through two huge vertical rocks that have been sliced by the water you can see the snow capped mountains beyond. It was unbelievable. After warming up in the sun a bit we headed back...

Wow! That is pretty much all I can say about the alps. We arrived yesterday to Gimmelwald and I literally can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is. Everywhere I looked I was staring the alps in the face and breathing clean air. The scent of fresh mown hay filling the air and the sound of the bells around cows and goats necks in the distance. Taking a fifteen minute around town was enough to see the whole thing. There is a small shop called "the Honesty Shop" where no one is attending the shop you just write on an envelope what you took and put the money in the box. after a long day of traveling we laid low and just relaxed. This morning I awoke before the alarm to the sound of rushing water out the window. A peak out the window and a quick photo snap of the insane view and I headed out for my first day hiking. With Megan, and two new friends we headed up the mountain toward the glacier. Around every bend we found waterfalls and grassy fields full of wildflowers...

After a disastrous day we made it to Berlin just fine. I was greeted by a screaming running Marie (foreign exchange student from sophomore year of HS) and the feelings were mutual. We headed for the train and instantly it felt like we had never been apart. We dropped our bags at the hostel, which was a Hilton compared to the previous one, and Marie showed us around her favorite German city. Overall Germany felt much less European than all the other places we had been. The more modern buildings and traffic felt more like home than Europe. In the evening we went up to the top of this big tower to see the city all lit up from a birds eye view. It was stunning. After a good nights rest we decided to do a bus tour the following day. It was very interesting because I had a VERY brief idea of German history and much of it was explained. We learned about wen Berlin was decided and saw remnants of the Berlin wall ad even visited Check Point Charley. I still can't believe that the Berlin wal...

Once we finally made it to Berlin we had a great time. Marie picked out a wonderful hostel with hot showers, soft beds, and friendly staff. After a long hot shower I felt the cleanest I have in a while. We headed out and saw Bandemburg Gate which was part of east Germany and has been the site of many historic battles. We meandered toward the mall and grabbed some dinner before ascending the 240 meters to the highest point in Berlin to take in the city all lit up. We were pretty tired so we went to bed ready for a packed day the following morning. I went to bed more satisfied than I had felt in a long while. We made it to Berlin, I was with Marie, and in a soft warm bed. It's funny how you don't realize how unsettled you feel until you really do feel content. In the morning we headed down to the bakery on the corner to try out some yummy German breakfast breads. With coffee as my fuel we went out on te town to do a little shopping. We quickly jumped on a "hop on, hop off...

So in my last post I was writing from a bus. Let me tell you about the day we had on Tuesday: our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:25am so we woke up at three and were on the bus that we had to chase down the street not to miss. After a sleepy ride to the airport we got there and still needed to print our boarding passes because Ryanair does not accept them electronically. So after waiting in line for 20 minutes the lady told us to go to another place where it will only cost us about five pounds as oppose to 60 a piece if she prints them for us (what airline doesn't print boarding passes for free??) so we get to the computers pay and right when I click print the computer shuts down for no apparent reason. Once it reboots we finally got them printed off a screen shot from my iPhone. We then proceed to wait in line with all of the people checking bags to get a simple stamp that says we are the people in our passports. After the printing fiasco we were running a bit short on time an...

Hello London! I think London has been one of our favorite cities so far. There are so many things to love: the accent, the atmosphere, fish and chips, English gardens, and the Olympics to name a few. We arrived late and headed strait for bed after a long day of traveling. We woke the next morning in good spirits ready to hit the town. On the recommendation of my friend Hayley, who we stayed with, we took a little river walk to the train and we were nt disappointed. It was quiet and covered with flowers and a little protection from the habitual rain. We took the tube into the city and upon reaching ground level we found ourselves watching the women's Olympic marathon! It was incredible. We soon found a pub to try some fish and chips, but unfortunately they were out so we settled for some sausage and mash instead. We pressed on to the London bridge and let the river lead us around town. We saw the London eye, the Globe theater, and as a little treat the city has little "wenlo...

After a quick up and down we arrived very early to Paris from Madrid. We landed in an extremely small airport and honestly had no idea what we were doing, but we followed the crowd and made it to the city center after a long bus ride to the city center. The countryside of France is beautiful and reminded me of stories my friend David has told me from growing up there. We ended up quite close to the arc de triumph and decided to sprint across the 12 lane traffic circle to get a closer look, only to find that there was an underground pedestrian walkway. With our 20 pound packs in tow we found a map and trekked across the city to find our hostel. Not before stopping to see Notre Dame first. After many questions and fighting the language berried we finally found the hostel and just sat for a while. When we were recuperated we wandered the neighborhood a bit and found our street quite charming with flower shops, creperias, cafes, and a fruit market all just a slow stroll away. We then head...

It seems as though dad and uncle Mike weren't even here. I think that is how the next month is going to go. We had a great time. We enjoyed the slow paced life of Alicante, allowing the small streets and sweet taste of gelato to whisk us away in a seemingly dream world. After a long train ride past fields of sunflowers, we arrived in a different world. The hustle and bustle of the big city was a lot for two country bumpkins, but with their trusty guide we made it. We saw two huge museums and spent an afternoon acting as royalty in the palace. We also made a loop through the park ate roasted piglets in the oldest restaurant in the world. After rolling ourselves home last night this morning came pretty early. Megan made it safely, and now the next chapter of the adventure begins. We are off to Paris first thing in morning. Standing in awe of how quickly the time passes, Sigourney

I feel like Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight.  Dad got here and somehow I knew it was all over.  The spell that I have been under for the last two months has been broken, my secret is out, and now I am on a train riding away from where I have called home for what seems like so long.  It has been a weekend of ups and downs.  I had a really hard time packing up my stuff and saying goodbye to my family, while at the same time having tears of joy to see the familiar faces of dad and uncle Mike.  It’s funny because with my own insecurities playing in I wasn’t sure if Maria Carmen was really sad to see me go, but when I came to pick up all of my stuff and hand my keys into her, we both cried.  I strangely felt so loved and also felt a lot of compassion for her.  The family take a lot of risk and sets themselves up to be hurt by hosting students all the time, and yet they continue to put themselves out there and allow people into their hear...

As you can imagine this week has been a roller coaster.  I have gone through so many emotions and at many times I was having a hard time even identifying them.  I was really restless, distressed, sad, excited, stressed, and everything in between.  I am going to be really sad this afternoon when I come to the house for the last time to get my stuff and have to say goodbye to Maria and Monolo.  They have really treated me as one of their own and it seems strange to think I literally only have a few hours left living here.  In spite of all of this, God showed up huge yesterday and comforted me in so many cool ways.  Wednesday I was feeling really sad and lonely, and while getting cupcakes with Lauren we both cried, but miraculously I woke up on Thursday so full of joy I could barely contain myself.  After finishing my exam I headed to the beach, where unfortunately the wind practically buried me in sand, but the waves were big so it was fun none the less....

I am going to warn you up front it was a very eventful weekend, so this is about to be the longest post to date. To begin my four day weekend we had a scheduled trip to Calpe and Altea, which are two small villages up the coast from Alicante.  After a two hour tram ride followed by a short bus ride we arrived in Altea first.  We wandered lazily through the sunny streets of the small village lined with white houses to contrast the deep blue water.  We climbed up to the top of the town where the blue roofed cathedral sits as a beacon.  Staci, Lauren, and I stumbled upon a wonderful little cafe with homemade cakes and pastries and of course had to stop to enjoy them.  We were enjoying the shade and the quaint sleepiness of Altea when we were suddenly jerked out of our dream state by Sergio announcing that it was time to head back to the train to go to Calpe.  Staci, Lauren, Amanda and myself all had plans to head to Barcelona so we knew that we would not hav...

So again it has been a while since I have posted.  I have realized that I really have to be in the mood to write to actually do it.  So finally here we are.  This past weekend our group headed to Valencia which is the largest and most important city in this province.  There were a lot of cool things about the trip.  For starters I rode on my first train!  If you have facebook you can see me reading Harry Potter because it felt very much like the Hogwarts Express (minus the redness and the fact that it was not going to Hogwarts...)  After a short ride we headed into the city and just meandered through the small winding streets.  At first glance it reminded me a lot of Alicante, with a lot of the same stores and restaurants, but bigger with much prettier architecture.  Each time we turned a corner it seemed as though the surrounding structures were more and more beautiful.  The attention to detail and care for the aesthetic is something I...

As the title suggests, it has been a week of confessions.  Confessions to myself, to my friends, and to my family.  I had to finally admit to myself this past week that I was homesick.  I missed Eight Point Lake, I missed summer at home, I missed 4th of July weekend, and I really missed all my friends and family.  Not that I still don't, but I have sense gotten better.  It was funny because I was pretty sad last week with homesickness, but then I was looking at my planner and realized how little time I have left here in Spain, especially Alicante, and my family here and became sad all over again ha!  The time really has flown by and I am going to miss my family here a lot.  I feel like I am really getting comfortable here and now I am leaving. Another one of my confessions was confessing my flaws to my friends here.  This was also a confession to myself.  I have talked to a few people about this, but I think that God has really been making ...

As the name suggests, yesterday was Independence Day at home.  It's funny because I have never considered myself very patriotic, in fact I have been somewhat anti-USA for a while.  That being said, I did give in and wear red, white, and blue, and even ate at an American restaurant.  All in all it went out without a bang.  The restaurant was really bad, and we went dancing after which was fun, but nothing special.  It was somewhat comical because you could pick out seemingly every American in Alicante yesterday, even more than usual.  The highlight of my day was probably when I went to class and my friend Alexandra handed me a little card that she drew that said "Happy 4th of July!" and two packs of gum that are red and blue.  I do have to say that it is making me miss 8 Point Lake even more.  I think this will only be the 2nd summer I have ever missed the 4th festivities.  I know it is super corny, but for some reason I love it. In a differ...

It has been a big weekend!  In case you are living under a rock we won the Eurocup last night!!!!  WOOT! No hay dos sin tres!  It was experience let me tell you.  We headed to the same neighborhood as usual to watch the game outside of the bar on the TVs that are conveniently facing the outside for the spectators.  The energy was insane, people screaming, painted faces, red and yellow everywhere, and my personal favorites-4 older women on the balcony above coming out and screaming every time Spain scored a goal and eventually scouring the apartment to throw down candies!  After our valiant 4-0 victory over Italy the streets were electric with people hanging out the sunroof with Spain flags, chanting and smiles as wide as the Mediterranean.  In spite of all the madness I went home and went to bed seeing as I had class at 9am this morning. Back tracking, Sunday morning I finally made it to church.  After waking up late and rushing, and ma...

Ok as you can probably see I am a bit behind on my posts, so I am going to write in sections.  Then you can read what you want, or do it in sections if you get bored.  First things first: the Festival.  I honestly have been procrastinating writing about it because there are no words, photos, or even videos that can begin to explain this experience.  Like I mentioned in the last post, at 2pm everyday the Mascletá erupts in the city center with deafening firecrackers and fireworks with colored smoke.  I attended a few times, and I honestly could not believe all the windows on the buildings did not break; literally every inch of my body was shaking from the noise.  Saturday, which is where I think I left off, we went down to the street to eat with the neighbors as usual, and as usual it was a lot of fun.  I have officially been named "Marieta" because no one here can say my name, and when they try to say Sig it just sounds like "si" which means yes in Spa...

This week is the largest festival of the year in Alicante.  It is called the Festival of the Hogueras (which is a large structure, more like a work of art-see photo).  It has been a great cultural experience so far, and it is also just a lot of fun!  We didn't have class today and we have Monday off as well for the festival.  Something that is huge here, not just twice a year, are fireworks.  This past Monday I saw a firework display that put any 4th of July display I have ever seen to shame.  But it doesn't stop there; each day at 2pm they set more off and have the loudest firecrackers I have ever heard.  In addition to that there is a large display every night around midnight!  All the streets here are closed off and each night all the families in the neighborhood go out in the streets and eat at large tables with family, friends, and neighbors.  This I think has been my favorite part so far.  We sit with Monolo's close friend's family...

I am at that point where there is so much I want to say, but I know that no words or pictures can do any justice to the experiences I have had in the past 4 days.  I am going to try to describe a few moments that I would love to share, but just be aware that these are moments that I will cherish forever and can't begin to describe how I felt. So Friday myself, eight of the people in my groups, and a group of kids from the University of Tennessee headed to Granada.  We mounted the bus and headed southwest on Friday morning, and honestly I can say that I didn't really know what to expect.  I was blown out of the water.  Before we even got to Granada, I was blown away by the beautiful countryside of Spain.  I recently learned that Spain has one of the two largest desserts in Europe, and I got to see it.  As we traveled further and further west, it became more and more mountainous.  Off to the south I could just see the snow covered peaks and to the nort...