So Jessica and I are leaving for IRELAND today!!!!!!! I am excited beyond belief.

... And so thankful for Madrid and all the wonderful people I have met here. I feel like I needed this experience and I needed to meet the people that I did. They have helped me grow and have helped me look towards the future. I hate saying goodbye and the past week was full of them. My last night was spent hanging out in my apartment in Malasaña and cooking pasta with my Italian friend Cristian. I couldn't have asked for a better, simpler end to this adventure. Speaking spanish with a friend since the beginning :)

So now I move on to the backpacker lifeeeeeee- Jess and I will be spending two days couchsurfing in Dublin, then heading down to the south to work at a hostel/adventure center!!! Then hopefully stops in Austria, Hungary, and Greece!!! Lets hope the money holds up! I know we will have the time of our lives and in the end I hope to return to the US with a happy, peaceful heart. :)

Holaaa! Okay to hear all the work that I did for my radio class this semester click on this link.

http://chelsearaubenheimer.wordpress.com/

You can hear my voice in "Ficcion-Nicky" and "Programa Final"

Madriddddd- our time is coming to a close :(

This past weekend my friend ELLE was here from Boulder and we had an absolutely amazingggg week, exploring and relaxing and being part of the protests here in Spain.

Right now Spain is having this huge revolution type thing spearheaded by the youth- protesting against the unemployment rate, the lack of opportunities, the corruption of the entire political system, etc. In Sol, the center of Madrid, they have literally created a huge camp sight with a food stand, bathrooms, medical center. It is truly a sight to see. And every night and day thousands of Spaniards fill the streets to cheer and yell and make signs and start dialogue about some of these issues. The whole thing is pretty peaceful, but super overwhelming when you are standing in the center of this cheering, pulsing crowd. It is so cool to be a part of this in some tiny way, just to sit there and watch their history unfold. I am very lucky. My host mom says these protests will go on for at least another week.

Yesterday, Elle and I took the best little day trip to Cuenca, Spain- this little village about 2 hours away by train that is famous for their "casas colgadas" or hanging houses. They are literally these very old houses that were created off the cliffside so half the house is actually hanging. Its so odd haha. But the whole day was wonderful. We had good weather, packed a picnic lunch, and ended up going hiking around the whole town where there were paths along a river and the mountains around it. On our way home on the train we watched the Harry Potter movie on her IPad. Perfect end to a perfect dayyyyyy!!

But to top it all off I finally bought a shirt that says Malasaña on itt!!! Wahooo. There is this bar right down the street from me that sells shirts and even though I never really go there I just wanted something that said malsañaaaa- my homee. haha

Well the goodbyes continueee- I said a final goodbye to my friend from Galicia this weekend. No fun.

But I have to remember- next stop- IRELAND :)

I think my favorite thing in the world is when people from all different countries come together and speak Spanish as the common denominator. It is literally amazing to me that I was at a bar and had a full conversation with an Italian, a German, a Turk, and another American all in Spanish. None of us were speaking our native language, but we could all communicate because of Spanish. I absolutely love it.

This past weekend has been absolutely crazy. There has been a huge festival called San Isidro, and literally all of Madrid has just been an absolute party. But what else is new? Madrid is always a party. The other night me and some girls headed down to La Latina and ended up in a huge plaza with probably over 1000 people there just drinking, dancing, BBQing, and hanging out. The weather was chilly like fall in Colorado and it could have been a massive tail gate. But literally it was one of my favorite nights in Madrid- everyone was in such a good mood, we talked in spanish to a ton of different people, and I have never felt so connected to the city. It was amazing. Then at 6 in the morning, this like alien police force SWAT team, dressed in helmets and armor and with there weapons at the ready descended from the stairs in formation onto the plaza and started kicking everyone out. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life haha. There were probably about 100 cops that encircled the people and everyone more or less just quietly backed away into the night haha. We walked to the metro and I was in bed by 7 am. Hilarious.

Sunday was Chrissie's last night in Madriddd. We went out in La Latina with Christian for a few drinks and then had a very tearful goodbye at the metro. I will miss her so so much and I seriously don't know what I would have done without her here in Spain. I am so lucky to have such a good friend and I can't even imagine what this experience would have been like without my chicaa wapaa. I need to go to NYC soon to visit herrrr!!

Sooooo things are wrappin up in Madrid. I have less than two weeks left and it is so weird that it is all coming to an end. However, I still meet new people everyday- apparently there is a rapper group that lives in my apartment who I just met yesterday hahaha. Love it. This week I have one final exam that I need to start studying for and my friend, Elle, from Boulder is coming to visit!!!

Looove,

Chelsea

Madrid: Post Spring Break.

Soooooo lots has been happenin since returning from my beloved Portugal, let me try to summarize it all...

1. Jessica Kutz, my Greece buddy, came to Madrid for a few days because her program ended a month earlier than mine! So we spent a wonderful week meandering around the streets of Madrid, going out in Malasaña, and booking our flights to Ireland!

2. That's right! We are going to Ireland! Plans firmed up so it is definite that we will be in Ireland for a month working at a hostel/adventure center on the south coast outside of Cork. Could anything be more wonderful? No. We will fly into Dublin on the 28th of May and stay there for 2 days to see the city before heading down south!! We can not wait. Jessica left a few days ago to do a solo hike on this famous pilgrimage trail called El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain, so I won't be seeing her until we go to Irlandaaaa to begin the next step of this crazyyy Euro adventure :)

3. My classes officially ended last Wednesday. I had a huge written exam in my class with Spaniards that I hope went well, and in my radio class we recorded a final radio show where I had to be interviewed in Spanish about my experiences here in Spain, it was hilarious. So all I have left are two more exams in a few weeks and then I will be completely free from school and Getafe. Geez, it didn't just hit me till I wrote that last bit that I'll never again be in class with those Spaniards... makes me sad thinking about it..

4. We have been trying to explore new areas of Madrid lately to see what else the city has to offer. I finally went to the Prado, the most famous art museum here in Madrid, we checked out the National Library, which was weird because we couldn't actually go where the books are, we have walked to parts of north Madrid, got amazing Indian food in the immigrant neighborhood, and yesterday me and my friend, Krystal, literally walked 5 hours to the suburbs of Madrid where we watched some kids play soccer and found a beautiful park to rest in. It was cool seeing the more residential, less touristy parts of the city. Also, I have been trying to run more in Retiro and Park Oeste. Many people from my program have already left to go home to the United States (so strange to me), so I have been spending much more time alone than usual. Kind of sad, but I have found myself sitting a lot lately in the plaza by house reading a book or the newspaper. Speaking of the news, its odd reading about Osama's death from the point of view of a Spaniard. They seem to be much more critical of it all, and at the beginning a lot more disbelieving that he really had died. It seems to me that Europeans never think we do anything right...

5. I continue to meet the most interesting people here in Madrid. The other day at the bar, Tevia and I literally spent an entire hour editing a Spanish man's cover letter for his application to trade school in England. His resume was so poorly written in English that we pretty much re-wrote the whole thing for him. It was really funny and he was very grateful. Also, I finally met the owners of the hole in the wall Greek restaurant on my street. They saw me walking by the other morning and called me in to have a coffee and chat. So I went in, they made me a delicious frappuccino type drink for free, and we spoke in Spanish about Greece and our lives for an hour or so. Awesome. Met the Italian guy who I see everyday whenever I pass by to go get the newspaper who works at the Italian pizza place in the center of Malasaña. Met a Venezuelan guy who works at this club a few of us went to on Thursday and he pulled me up on the DJ stand and taught me how to play the Djembe (a type of Bongo drum) to the beat of the techno music. Hilarious.

6. And finally, FINALLY, I rode on a VESPA!!! Another goal complete haha. The other night we were walking around Sol, when our program director sped by on his motorbike. He has always known that I wanted to one day buy a vespa so he stopped and asked if I want a ride. Yesssss!! So the next 20 minutes I buzzed around the city with its lights glittering in the night, sooo happy. Brought back Bourtzi boys memories and riding around the countryside in Greece.

But anyway, tonight was a very good night. Chrissie, who just got back from Germany, Christian, and I went to yoga at the squat, then for a beer at Palentino, and then for another drink at a little cafe where we met up with his three other awesome Italian friends. I love when I can sit at a table and hear three different languages spoken throughout the conversation. It's amazing. I then walked back home, ran into the Italian guy and had a little chat in Spanish, then ran into the Greek guys closing up the restaurant who invited me to come have coffee there tomorrow morning. I am finally getting to know all my neighbors!!

Welllll, besides that, all is well. Chrissie leaves Madrid in a week so I will be spending these last few days adventuring with her!! I am going to be sooo sad to say goodbye honestly. Three more weeks left in Madrid... uggg I remember when I had three months. Time flies.

Ahhh okay let me try to wrap up PORTUGAL in this post:

so the third day in Madeira, Tevia and Chrissie weren't up for a hike, so I decided to venture off on my own into the mountains of Madeira to see what kind of solo adventure I could have. The woman at the tourist agency told me to take a bus to this little town in the east of the island and from there I would find a few good levada walks. So I headed out in search for a trail head. On the bus there was a group of older Germans that all looked dressed for a hike, passing around a guide book. I asked them what hike they planned on doing and they showed me the guide book which described a nice levada walk that began at the town I was headed to. Forty five minutes or so later we got dropped off at this little village, more like a convenient store on the side of the road, in the middle of the lush green mountains with terraced farms extending in every which way. I saw a little levada on the other side of the road with a path next to it that headed up more into the farm land. I said bye to the Germans, who were taking a bathroom break at the convenient store and headed off on my own down the path. Within 5 minutes the path forked and seemed to be going basically through people's properties so I wasn't exactly sure what to do. Doubting myself for even wanting to go hiking by myself without a guide, I turned back on the path to see if I could just follow the Germans. Right then, a nice French couple was walking up the path and asked me if it was the right way, I said I wasn't sure but then we all consulted their guide book and determined that in fact the path winded up by peoples little shacks on the side of the mountains. I let them go first, seeing as I am a slow walker, and get a little ways ahead of me before starting again.

So basically the hike was amazing!! I honestly felt like I was in the Sound of Music, weaving through farms, and gardens, and cliffs, and views of the sea, and ahhh I was in heaven. Every time the path looked confusing the French couple would wait up for me to let me know where to go, and then we would set off separately again. Halfway through, the path came upon a little cafe where I sat with some other hikers and got a coffee while overlooking the lush rainforesty valley of eastern Madeira. The blue skies came out, and I passed a wonderful four hours taking pictures and meandering down the path occasionally running into other hikers along the way. This was suchhhh a goooood dayyy I can't even explain how happy I was, I really haven't felt that positive in such a long time. There is something truly liberating about being somewhere by yourself and knowing that really no one else in the world knows exactly where you are. It was just pure freedom and my soul was filled. It was also really cool thinking that I was only 20 and hiking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on some island. The hike was perfect and it ended at a road overlooking the ocean, and me and the French couple took the bus back down to town where I caught up with Chrissie and Tevia for dinner. Blissss.

The next morning we flew out of Madeira and I was so sad to go. The whole time had been perfect and I had done almost everything I had wanted to do there. Madeira is truly amazing and I would recommend it to anyone. I have never seen a place so breathtaking and just utterly unbelievable. It is a different world honestly.... I can't wait to go back!

Next was LISBON!! Immediately charming city built on seven hills overlooking a harbor and with yellow cable cars just like San Francisco. The first day we randomly ran into this guy from the hostel in Lagos which turned out to be great cause he lived in Lisbon half the time and took us on a full day tour of the city, complete with an all you can eat Chinese buffet, chillen at a sunny cafe overlooking the water, and wine and dinner at his apartment in the old town. Could you want anything more? No. That night we went out in Barrio Alto which is Lisbon's Malasaña. I have to say that Malasaña has some definite competition because Barrio Alto was wild. Everyone was out on the streets drinking and it was completely packed with the coolest people dancing and talking and yea it was sick.

The next day we got up and headed to Sintra. A little fairytale village right outside of Lisbon that was highly recommended to us by basically everyone. Once again we stepped into another world, colorful castles, misty mountain tops, a rainy haze overlooking the pastures outside of the city. I don't even know how all these crazy, amazing places exist in one country. Like I said, Portugal is awesome. We managed to sneak into a castle without paying (success) and wandered around the grounds for a few hours, got some food, bought a necklace, and then headed back to Lisbon for the night. That evening we did another Barrio Alto tour and ended up meeting some lovely Portuguese guys who were hilarious and we pretty much spent the whole night with them laughing and joking and wishing we could move to Lisbon forever. Our last day in Lisbon was a cold, rainy day so we slept for most of the morning and then got up to take a famous cable car route around the city. It was wonderful wonderful and really everything was so great.

In the early morning we flew back to Madrid after 10 days of an amazing adventure. Chrissie, Tevia, and I, despite our many differences managed to travel well together and I feel like I got so much closer to them throughout all our misadventures. Portugal was a boost to my spirit and got me even more excited for the things to come this summer!!! Well yea.. thats it for now, maybe I will write more later on today but I am actually headed to the PRADO on this rainy Spain afternoon.

Love youuuu,

Chelsea

PORTUGAL continued!!!

Okayyy, so where did I leave off? Back to Madeira- the afternoon of the first day after all the tobaggan/ cable car adventures, I managed to convince Chrissie and Tevia to come with me on a bus to the center of the island where there is this little village in the middle of a huge canyon/ valley called Curral Das Freiras. The story is that back in the day a bunch of nuns hid there from pirates and now its this kind of touristy, but not, place where you can get your picture taken with a cut-out nun. Random. The town is tiny, tiny and its in the center of these huge mountains and we got there by the local bus, cutting across mountainsides and nearly falling down cliffs. It was nervewracking!! The bus dropped us off around 7 and apparently we were the only tourists in Curral Das Freiras haha... So we wandered the deserted streets and took pictures of the mountains. It really was insanely beautiful, but Chrissie and Tevia, both being from New York City thought that we had found the end of the earth--this nothing village in the middle of an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I think they were kind of freaking out. Anyways, we found some local restaurant where we were the only customers and some adorable 15 year old boy native to Curral Das Freiras was our waiter. We asked him if he liked living here (he spoke pretty good English) and he said he thought it was beautiful but everyone gossips all the time and one day he would like to leave. He then proceeded to point out his house which was a little shack down farther in the valley. We talked to him probably for 45 minutes and he told us how he was a folk-dancer and has never been to Portugal mainland. I think he thought we were funny and we thought he was funny too. It's amazing how different his life is to ours. We caught the last bus back to Funchal and by that time the sun had set and we were ready to get out of that little village in the valley. The bus driver blasted techno as we sped through the mountains being the only people on the bus save a local drunk who was dancing to the techno all the way home. Locuras. Here is a link to a picture of the town. It was soooo pretty!!

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i.olhares.com/data/big/263/2639358.jpg&imgrefurl=http://br.olhares.com/curral_das_freiras_madeira_portugal_foto2639358.html&usg=__Q6u6_U7NsO6R4dFkwCCdGoTY6_4=&h=750&w=551&sz=338&hl=en&start=17&sig2=s3Bc0l-hx6H2iV5xqXWAuQ&zoom=1&tbnid=8o_IQwH0VF5uZM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=101&ei=bfi_TZ3QI8aZ8QP66IHYBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcurral%2Bdas%2Bfreiras%2Bmadeira%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D607%26tbm%3Disch0%2C228&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=484&page=2&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:17&tx=55&ty=56&biw=1280&bih=607

The next day I was intent on hiking. Madeira is famous for its hikes and levada walks. Levadas are basically like little aqueduct/canal channel type things that weave through the wilderness and bring water into the towns. There are literally MILES and MILES of these canals throughout the mountains and and forests and towns so many of the walks are based on following the levadas. There are hundreds and hundreds of walks and there are some amazing landscapes and scenery to be discovered. Anyway, since we couldn't rent a car and public transportation couldn't really get us to a trailhead, Chrissie and I signed up for a full-day group hike along a two levadas called 25 Fountains and Risco Waterfall. The company told us they would pick us up on the road near our hotel so we waited anxiously at 9 in the morning in our hiking gear to see the group. As we are standing there, all of a sudden this older man with a long beard and ponytail, and thick vest with patches, and basically swimming goggles comes up to us and goes "Are you Russian?!?" "I've been looking for you!!". Chrissie and I stood there for a second and assured him we weren't Russian and that we had no idea who he could have mistaken us for. He seemed intent on convincing us that he was sent to get us, when finally it clicked that Chrissie's last name is RUSSO and we used her name to make our booking for the hike. He thought it was our nationality. Russian. It all got cleared up that we were indeed the girls for the hike and he told us he would be our guide for the day. Phenomenal. I already forgot his name but this man was one of the biggest characters I have ever met in my life. He was born and raised in Madeira and basically hikes all day and is one of the most popular guides on the island. He told us a number of stories throughout the day about how his daughter owned 15 cats, how he escorted hundreds of rats out of his house rather than killing them, and how he met a rich American couple that hired him to be their private guide. Random. Anyway, the other people on our group were just as interesting and I can't even tell you how funny our Motley crew was. First of all it was Chrissie and I, the two silly American girls, an older Spanish man who was super interested in all the flora and fauna of Madeira, an older Finnish couple who I think were ready for a serious group and a serious hike, two 75 year old French women who were so slow that we had to leave them behind, and an adorable Portuguese family- a dad and his two teenage kids that he basically dragged on the hike, and finally Mr. Madeira himself- our guide. The guide spoke like 5 different languages so he would be switching back and forth all day to interpret all the information on the hike to all the different nationalities, however he didn't speak any language well and would go on random rants all day, nearly spending an hour debating with the Portuguese dad about Portuguese health care and abortion. I don't even know haha. The actual hike was mind-blowing and beautiful/amazing/unbelievable doesn't even describe it. We were literally walking by waterfalls, through lush valleys, through secluded nature paradise, I was sooo in love with it all. We also had to walk 10 minutes through an underground tunnel. Which was actually really scary cause there was a point when we couldnt see a light on either side and the tunnel was super small and all we had were a few flashlights, water was dripping everywhere, and all Chrissie and I could think about was wow this is our life- following a crazy nature man through a tunnel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Crazy. The day was sooo much fun and our little group got to know each other and I was actually sad dropping off everyone at their respective hotels at the end of the day. The Portuguese family gave us their number to get into contact with them when we got to Lisbon, but it never really worked out that we could meet up. The main picture on my blog now is me on that hike!! That night Chrissie and I passed out. What a great, great day :)

Okay, thats all for now!!