The view from Espana...

These are a few of the other students and tappas, the funny mini spanish dishes that is the norm here for supper!




These are a few pictures of the old baths as well as some old parts of the town.





This is a huge catholic church. It used to be a muslim mosque, but became catholic when christians overtook the town a long time ago.




This picture was in the church and is really interesting because it is really old and it is the only picture in (I think spain) that portrays Jesus as a woman!

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These are all random scenes from Ronda. It is such a beautiful place with so much history.






These are all from a really cool walkway that goes around the west side of Ronda and a beautiful little park that is right next to it.





The view is absolutely amazing. These are only a weak representation of the vast expanse of mountains and countryside that surround Ronda.














There are a bunch of big bird cages in the park. I thought they were pretty weird, but still kind of cool.



This was in the beautiful little park. These two pigeons were doing some kind of "mating dance" because the male was all puffed up and going in circles around the female!

I love you all! Have a great day!

Hello again from London!!!
Here is the apartment complex where we stayed. These buildings were the famous Harrod department store's warehouses built back in the 1800's which were refurbished into this nice gated apartment complex. One of the buildings included a leisure center with indoor pool which unfortunately we didn't find the time to take advantage of - but we did enjoy our roomy apt. with 12 foot tall windows.
One envening we enjoyed the Shakespeare play "Titus Andronicus" at the reconstructed Globe theater in London. Here we are in our box seats overlooking the stage just before showtime. The play is one of Shakespeare's most violent ones with a constant array of murders, mutilations, and rape within the story such that the staff at the Globe is always prepared for several audience members fainting during the performance. Only one lady fainted the evening we were there, so the staff said it was an unusual night. Beyond the gore, the cast performed with gusto and and we thoroughly enjoyed the performance.
The renowned red London phone booths are still all over the city.
If you're ever in London, be sure to enjoy a meal at Clarence's! We all agreed that was the best meal we had throughout our trip. And this is where we were sitting when we saw the Queen! Actually we were standing next to the curb waving excitedly to her as she rode by in her black car. And the Queen, decked in an exquisitely proper English purple hat and dress, waved at us!
The Queen's car prior to her drive down the street in front of Clarence's.

Check back again for more news from London and beyond!
Love Mom

Hi Everybody! Finally here are some pics from the grand European adventure! Willow and I had a wonderful time! I certainly enjoyed being with her as we made our way through 4 countries. Starting out in London, here we are on the "weak bridge" (there was actually a sign that said just that on this bridge!) that we crossed each day as we made our way into London. Hammersmith Bridge is actually a strappingly strong gorgeous Victorian structure.
Our first evening in Londond we rode the "eye". This is a huge (not kidding here!) ferris wheel that gives one a stunning bird's eye view of London. Here we are in the bubble compartments - you can not even feel the eye move as it makes its rotation. Here is the Thames river and Parliment to the right as we look out of our bubble.

Big Ben! in its gilded glory. When I was in London in 1977, this clock tower was black with soot and one could not even tell that it was gilded. I was sure impressed this time around!
Willow in front of the carved door of Westminster Cathedral. We spent a long time in Westminster reading about all the knights, kings, and queens buried there. And the famous poets corner where Chaucer, Tennyson, Dickins, Hardy are buried among other literary greats. Look for more European adventure installments in the coming days/weeks! Love Mom

Happy 4th of July!

Hey everybody! Happy 4th of July! I almost forgot about it this morning because nothing happens here. The other US students and I have been bemoaning the fact that we won't see any fireworks on Indapendance day!
Oh well, I hope everyone has a great day! Set off a few fountains for me!

Ronda!

Hey all! This is my beautiful little town of Ronda. Most of these pictures are from a hike I took, trying to get to some waterfalls below the bridge. I didn't make it to the waterfalls but I did find what I think is the cities old (or maybe still in use) drainage system. It was really cool. The water was rushing through stone canals/tunnels. I found some ruins too that had holes in the floor and water was gushing through below. It was kind of scary because there were lots of places to fall in!
Ronda is built on a cliff and the brdge is called the Puento Nuevo or "new bridge" so called new because it was built after the old bridge even though that was in the 18th century! From the bridge and the nearby path that basically goes around half the town you can see the all the mountains that completely surround Ronda. Its ssoo beautiful. I actually think it is a national park on one side. I hope during the month I will be able to get out to it at least once!

I tried to take pictures of all the wildflowers, so you all can help me identify them since I have yet to find a spanish flower book!












Things are going great here. Today was my first day at the university. I had to take an exam at 9AM to show how good (or bad in my case!) I am at spanish! I have about 40 more minutes of break and then we will have orientation or something. Hopefully before that I can find something to eat. It seems like I am always hungry here because these crazy Spaniards can somehow survive on one full meal per day, and I have not quite figured out where the normally priced normal food is at. So far the only options I have discovered are the crazy expensive gourmet restaurants or the cafe's which only serve desserts. I suppose I will get it eventually.
I am hoping to make it to the pool today also. Its ssoo hot here. Very similar to KS actually, except that it gets pretty nice in the morning and in the evening. The afternoon is siesta time when all the spaniards go inside to rest and get away from the heat. I was told that during siesta is the worst time for thievery (worse than at night!) because all the pickpocketers know that the only people on the street are tourists. Weird huh?!
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing great. So sorry to hear about your car, Katie and Sandy. I hope it works out ok!
Miss you all!
Love Willow

News fron España

Hey everyone! Sorry it´s been so long. My ability to access the internet has somewhat lessened recently! Also I havn´t found a computer with skype yet...sigh..
So, lets just say my arrival in Spain was a little less than fun. After having spent the whole night in the london Luton airport with very little sleep, food or money I flew into Malaga, Spain at noon. Up to this point my credit cards had not been working and I had about 2 Euros on me (as well as 2 pounds and 12 dollars, but those did me no good because they didn´t reach the minimum to exchange for euroes). I thought that one of my cards would start working that day but thanks to good ol´visa and mastercard I was way off. I spent 6 hours in the Spanish heat (similar to KS) trying to get ahold of anyone, you guys, my study abroad people, credit card people, whoever, because I had to get a train or bus ticket to get to Ronda, which was about 2 hours away. However, due to my lack of money and the malfunctioning payphones (or maybe my inability to use them) I couldn´t do a thing. Also, don´t forget to add in my incredibly poor spanish and the complete lack of any english speakers except for a group of latter-day saints and the wonderful lady at the help desk.
Finally, by using the bus-station´s phone, I managed to get ahold of my host mom, who doesn´t speak any english. I handed the phone over to the help-desk lady and she talked to my host mom and they finally got things worked out and within a few minutes I finally got on my bus to Ronda where everything was eventually worked out. However, between having hardly any sleep for the last two days, being starving and dehydrated and totally overwhelmed with everything, the first thing I did when I got on that bus was burst into tears! There is quite a bit more to this sad story although I have no time to type it now, so ask me about it sometime because it´s quite entertaining!
No worries though everything is perfecto now (after some very long and tiring phone calls with my credit card companies). Ronda is absolutely beautiful and I am having a blast! Love you all!
Good job on all the new buys (aka J´s laptop and Katie´s printer). I hope everything is going good everywher! LOve you all.
Willow

Ahhh Summer!

These pictures speak for themselves! We've been having a grand old time in Vermont! And WOW - look at that HUGE printer! It's the mother of all printers! Totally awesome!!!!!!!!! Thank you PAPA!!!! Anyway, hope you all are well in your little corners of the world - I love you all my dear dear family! Should write more - but it's really time for bed! So enjoy the pics - I love you!!!!!!!! - Katie
PS: Just a little note for the pics - the cool penny braclet is something I made in my art group! and the boys that are jumping into the water were just some random boys on a big bridge that I caugh in mid-flight while J, Sandy and I were on the bike trail in Burlington (on Sandy and I's 3rd wedding anniversary!) and the pic with Aunty and Will in it is us all having lunch at the Warren Store in Warren. I love living in Vermont!