Cheers! 2 Down - 2 To Go!

This is dedicated to all of the hard workers in Cohort M4!

What a week we have had!

Paco was trying hard to explain something to Barrie Jo - do you think she understands?

Here are some pictures from our walk to our Friday lunch spot. Isn't it quaint?

Friday, July 4th - Our last day of "Technology in Education" - you can tell we are all smiles!

Barrie Jo Price and Anna McFadden - our fearless leaders!
Barrie Jo's computer case - what kind of personality do you think she has?!

Pilar and Kirstie were loving the fact that it was Friday, and we had one class down!

Sunday, July 6th

Melissa, Heather and I met for lunch and then ventured to the Prado Museum.

It was amazing! I'm hoping I can go back again before the month is over. The walk from the Metro was full of vibrant colored flowers and fountains!

The one and only - Prado Museum!









This is the train station! Don't you love the fountain?

Tuesday, July 8th

Strategies for Change in Education

This week was rather hectic. Our original Professor was in the hospital, our substitute professor had to leave unexpectly due to the passing of her father, and we were left with Rick, who did a great job, but we all seemed a little stressed! Can you tell that we are a bit unsure of things not to mention the lack of internet capabilities?! Thanks to Miguel, our firewalls were down by Friday! :)

Friday, July 10th

Friday is finally here. This was taken today at lunch, at our same Friday Lunch Spot.

During our dessert time, we learned the differences between eating watermelon in Spain, and Canada. Pilar and David had to use the knife and fork while Philip used his hands! There is a lot we can learn from each other!

The week has come and gone. Our group has truly bonded, and we are all so thankful to have this week behind us! Tomorrow we're headed to the countryside for a workshop. Thankfully there are no tests or papers in APA style required! I hope you have enjoyed the pictures thus far, and I will hopefully get more posted next week. Have a great weekend and adios!

Quick Update

Wow - what a week! I didn't know that a week could fly by so fast! Unfortunately I do not have any pictures downloaded at the moment to share with you, but I did want to update you a bit on the past week. As I mentioned in my last blog entry, the professor I was supposed to have this week ended up in the hospital a week ago with a blood clot. I am happy to say that he is being released tomorrow and will fly back to the States on Saturday. He is doing well and getting use of his left arm back. In place of him, we had our professor from last week step in - Dr. Barrie Jo Price. She was great with taking his place - she had taught the course before and because her best friend and colleague was also here, just vacationing, they were able to make the transition work. She taught us, Dr.McFadden taught the Tech. class that the new Cohort had.

It's been an interesting week - lots of work - but enjoyable. Our Cohort has gotten really close and have helped each other out tremendously. We've had to learn to be flexible! What came as a surprise last night, was an email from Dr.Price letting us know that her father had unexpectedly passed away yesterday and she was on a flight this morning to go back to Arkansas. She is an only child and was very close to her father. That left us with no professor, and her best friend, who was a part of her family, was left here to teach the other class and deal with the personal loss as well, by herself.

What a day! The director stepped in and allowed us to collaborate and work on our projects for our current class, while he directed us throughout the day. It was a stressful day, so we had to all go out again for a glass of Sangria - I'm beginning to really love the stuff!

What I ask is that you pray for Dr.Price (Barrie Jo) and her family and friends. Especially pray for Dr.McFadden who is left here alone. Dr.Price let us know that she will be coming back next week, and will then have to transition over to the other campus in Leysin, Switzerland. With that said, we have one more day left of our current class, with projects and papers due tomorrow, and we are saddened that we have no professor of our own! Hopefully next week will be dull and uneventful!

I promise to update with pictures this weekend. I have a lot to do this evening, with no time left for blogging! Adios my friends!

Life in Madrid

So many of you have been asking for pictures, so I thought I would take the time this evening to add what I have. There aren't very many here, mainly because Ihaven't had a lot of time to

take pictures, but take a look through them and let me know you thoughts!

Arrival Day - Saturday, June 28th

The view from my bedroom window:
We were lucky enough to be placed in a flat that was newly renovated!

Everything was clean and white. These are a few pictures of the inside of our flat.

The Kitchen

The Other Side of the Kitchen

When I arrived in the apartment I immediately got on Skype to let my

family know I made it home - and look who I found!
Our hallway from the front door to the living room. My Bedroom

1st Bathroom - nice new sinks and toilets!
2nd Bathroom - Nice new tub. By the way, the toilet seat was missing -

they actually got those put on today!
Our living room. The couch isn't normally right next to the window.

My roommate did that for safety until I arrived.
Full view of 1st Bathroom
Sunday, June 29th

My roommate and I decided to head downtown to meet some of the other students. The big soccer game was that evening and we were all going to meet at O'Neil's Irish Pub. Melissa and I went, but we found way too many people and smoke! We decided to take a detour and had a meal right in the middle of Plaza Santa Anna. These are the pictures I took while we had dinner.

I had to laugh at this! While we were having a nice dinner outside, during the game, the waiters couldn't resist from watching the game! Spain had just scored, so they had to see all the action.

Some winning pictures I stole from yahoo!




Tuesday, July 1st - CANADA DAY!


After class some of us went for drinks. I hadn't taken many pictures,
so I decided to pull out my camera and take a couple!

From left to right:
Melissa - my roommate from Hawaii, lives and teaches 3rd Grade
Kirsty - originally from Canada but currently lives in Berlin

(she teaches music)
Tony - originally from Chicago but currently lives in Colombia

(I forgot what he teaches)
Kristal - originally from France but currently in Geneva, Switzerland

(she teaches French, and doesn't she look a lot like Celine Dion?)

From left to right:
Philip - originally from Canada but currently in Zug, Switzerland

(he teaches Humanities)
Heather - originally from Canada but currently in The Netherlands

(she teaches Art)

As you can see, we have a lot of Canadians around! I think our director told us that there are around 80 of us, so this is only a small portion!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. The weather was perfect. It was nice and cool, yet the sun was shining. Our commute was a bit chilly, but I welcomed it! These next few pictures I took on my walk home from my Metro.

This building is actually at a slant. It was originally designed to be part of the 'gated entrance' into the city. There is another building just opposite to this that looks exactly the same.
Everything seems to be so clean here. I walk but this section of trees everyday, so I had to take a picture! You know how much I love my trees!
Again, this is the 'gate' to the city.
Once I get out of my Metro Station, this is the path I walk home At the end of the line of trees is our apartment building. My roommate had gotten home early today and this is how I found her when I arrived. Thankfully I haven't had a lot of homework this week, but she's taking my next class now and I can already tell that next week is going to be a bit more intense!

This is the view I have when I stand in front of our apartment building.
This is our apartment building - currently being remodeled!
One more look at the area around where we live.
Madrid has been a great experience for me so far. I'm thankful that the weather is so nice right now and that I have had no problems. Unfortunately I think Jet Lag is creeping up on me finally and I am finding that my eyes want to shut very early in the evening!

You will be happy to know that I found someone to go to church with on Sundays. She is in my group and we just realized today that we have the church thing in common! :) Tomorrow is my last day for this class, and as of right now I have an A!

Thank you for those who have prayed for Angela. She is feeling much better and is acting like herself now! We haven't had a lot of time to catch up, so tomorrow after class we're going to spend time catching up. On another note, I want you to keep someone else in your prayers. Today during our lunch break, one of the professors was rushed to the emergency room. He is actually the prof. for my class next week - the class my roommate is in currently, and for some reason he started to feel bad. When he went they said he was having a stroke or heartattack, and it has ended up being a blood clot they think in near his brain. His wife had actually flown in today so it was a blessing she was here to be with him. He will be having surgery tomorrow morning, and the Director of this program will actually be our teacher next week. As I asked, please keep him in your prayers.

I guess I will close this evening by saying thank you for reading thus far and I hope you and your families are enjoying this first week in July. Pop some firecrackers for me and enjoy this Fourth of July!

Until next time...