The Weekend of Jerez and Senderismo

 This weekend was quite the adventure, to say the least.

Aussie Friend!

On Friday night, a group of us went out to celebrate that our exams were over! So we went to our favorite street with a bunch of different bars and hung out there for a bit and as history has told us, we found very fun people. We made Australian friends, and we had a grand time talking about where they were from and what they really knew about where we were from. I kid you not, all people know about Kentucky is KFC. Every time I say I am from Kentucky, I get the same reaction from Spaniards- "Ohhhhh chee-kin!". The Australians were no different. At around 3, we decided to head back home, considering that we had to be at the University at 9 in the morning the next day.

Royal Casks of Wine

At 9, we all hopped on a bus to the south of Spain, almost near the coast, to a town called Jerez. It is a super cute town, a little smaller than Seville, but the coolest part of it was that there is a winery there that makes Tio Pepe wine. Apparently this is a very good kind of wine, I wouldn't know since I can't drink in the US... or at least can't afford to drink good wine. Anyways, we got to tour the winery and it was actually really fascinating! They make sherry and brandy there too, and I had no idea how either of those were made, so it was really cool to see. There were so many famous people that had visited there and had barrels of wine dedicated to them. New life goal- get to sign my name on a barrel of wine because I am so famous.

Jerez

After the tour, we stayed in Jerez and ate our packed lunches (so cute) and then we walked around looking for a brand of wine for one of my friend's senoras. We did not find the wine, but we did find ice cream, so that was almost as good! We were with a Spanish man who came on the trip with us and we were talking to him about how hard it is for him to get a job without knowing English very well and it was really sad. He said that he wanted to study in an English-speaking country, but he couldn't get a scholarship because his parents "had too much money", but they still couldn't afford to pay to send him. He was also appalled by how much it cost to go to school in the states. Here is only costs 800 euro a year, since their taxes are so high. I couldn't imagine that! Anyways, Jerez was a very cute town, but I think I like Seville a lot better. It was definitely a good day trip though!

We got back last night, dead tired. I don't know why, I mean it's not like we didn't get our full four hours in the night before... But since my senora was out of town this weekend and I didn't want to cook for myself, my friends were troopers and went to get tapas with me! It was a really good time! We had delicious food and we basically laughed the entire dinner. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I have met the most incredible people here so far. They are all really inspiring and all have an interesting story. After tapas, we walked around the city to see the night life, but we were all too tired to partake at that point.

Senderismo! (Hiking!)

Then this morning, we did it all again. We got on a bus at 9, but instead of going to Jerez, we went to this tiny little town in the middle of the country called Los Marines. There, we met up with three guides who took us on this incredibly beautiful hike through the farms and country, to another small town, then back to Los Marines. All in all, it was an 8 mile hike, but it was totally worth it. The scenery was beautiful and I got to talk to my friends and become inspired even more. I talked to one of the tour guides also and he has made this pilgrimage in the north of Spain called the Camino de Santiago del Compostela. I have been interested in eventually doing this for a while now, but talking with him made me decide that I definitely want to. He has done it three times and he said it is completely life changing. Now, obviously I'm not looking for a huge life changing experience, I just think it would be really cool to say I went on a pilgrimage. But if my life does change because of it, so be it.

This weekend has really made me think about what I want to do in life and it has made me realize that I cannot put limits on myself. I know it is stupid and cliche to say that I can do whatever I put my mind to, but for the first time I actually believe it. I mean, I am here in Spain studying, which is something I have dreamed about for years. So if I can make a dream this big come true, why can't I make my others come true also? It's a pretty cool feeling to think the sky is the limit!