that was fun

i've done a lot of cool things in my 25 short years, but i'd venture to say that july was one for the record books. as i said in a previous post, i spent the entire month traveling (first to barcelona, then onto chicago, st. louis, kansas city, london, glasgow, edinburgh, before finishing in san sebastian). in the last month i've laughed more than i think i've laughed in a long, long time (my side hurt for two days after nick pohl's wedding) and i got see almost every single person that i love in this world and that is awesome.

barcelona (july 2-4) 

barcelona was ridiculous. ally thurman, a friend from cincinnati that i've known since i was 15 years-old, was in town visiting a few of her friends so i decided to head out to the coast for the weekend. i can't really recall all of the ridiculousness that was barcelona that weekend, but highlights include:

-spain winning their quarterfinal match
-improving my argument skills in spanish with a barcelona police officer
-hanging out with ally, aneliza, and julián (my argentinian friend in barca)
-meeting an ecuadorian from the galapagos, two irish girls and a dude from wicker park in chicago who was very concerned about lollapalooza.

chicago (july 5-14)*

oh, chicago. i love chicago. in the three years since i've graduated from depaul, i've been back to chicago four times and each time it does not disappoint. the purpose of my trip back to chicago was for the wedding of my best friend and college roommate, nick pohl. nick's fiancee, justyna, graciously let nick spend all week downtown with me, ben, and dane (my two other best friends from college and los angeles roommates). the week's activities included lots of laughter, late nights and even skydiving (which was one of the coolest experiences of my life and i can't wait to go again.)

me, nick, ben, dane @ skydiving

the wedding weekend itself was a blast. the rehearsal dinner was great (bags, live funk band, dancing) and the wedding and reception were one for the ages. first, it was the first time since college all 13 or so (minus dublin and piper, sorry dogs) members of the bissell party palace had been together. and did we celebrate. lots of dancing, laughter, and drinks. "forever young" was sung (picture below). we caught up. it was awesome. i'm smiling thinking about it.

forever young

college friends

justyna's mom, who planned the wedding and did an awesome job, hired a videographer to record the wedding and reception and a trailer for the footage they shot is found here:

Justyna + Nicholas from White Wedding Cinema on Vimeo.
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Justyna + Nicholas from White Wedding Cinema on Vimeo.

the day after the wedding, i went over to pohl's house and cheered on la furia roja (spain) to victory!!! i was a little sad to not be in spain when they won their first ever world cup, but the fun way outweighs the bad. that night (and the next two days) were spent with my parents and siblings, which was nice since i hadn't seen them since december, and i'm not quite sure when i'll see them next. in short, it was an awesome week/weekend full of laughter and love from many of the people i love in my life.

*i actually didn't get to chicago until july 6, but that's another story in of itself.

st. louis (july 14-16)/ kansas city (july 16-18)

after spending the past week with my family and college family, i was really excited to spend time with my other family: my rostro family. it's been such a blessing having the other volunteers in my life. i could have never guessed this back in august 2007 when i started this blog, but i'd venture to say that i am more 100% myself with my fellow "rosties" than any other group of people. the trip started in st. louis where marie, chris, her boyfriend jake, and i stopped in st. louis to see scott's new house. dancing, latino music, bananograms, and hilarity ensued.

marie & i dancing in scott's kitchen to the gypsy king's "volaré"

after a day and a half of fun in st. louis, we drove over to kansas city for the wedding of vicki to sebastian, or as i've termed him "corvina," which is spanish for sea bass, (he happens to be chilean. chile. sea bass. chilean sea bass. it's perfect. you love it.) the wedding was of course a blast. lots and lots of dancing. lots of dancing. all in all, an awesome weekend. i truly love this group of people and now that we're all starting to have significant others, or just "others" as we've started to refer to them, the family is really starting to take shape. 

rosties + others - frank (who left early that morning, but here he is dancing ...)

london, rugby, glasgow, edinburgh, ayr (july 21-30)

after a quick day and a half stop back in zaragoza, i was off and running again, this time to the homeland, the united kingdom. so in contrast to the rest of the travels thus far, the UK trip was with my grandmother and great aunt so i could not only see various spots in the UK, but also see where i came from (my grandmother's house in london, the house my dad was born in in rugby, the house my grandmother and great aunt were born in in glasgow) and meet some of my family that still live in scotland.

the first two days we spent in london seeing the various sites: big ben, parliament, westminster abbey, churchill's war room, the national gallery, buckingham palace, the globe theatre, the tower of london, tower bridge, etc. it was a lot of site seeing, but it was all incredible. highlights of the two days were churchill's war room, westminster abbey, and a walk through kensington and chelsea to see my grandmother's old place.

with gramma in front of parliament

the next day we spent in rugby, the town where my dad, my aunt, and one of my uncles were born. seeing the house were your father was literally born is a weird feeling. this is where it all started. the town, coincidently enough is not only home to the prestigious rugby school, but is also the place of origin for the sport. we had a taxi driver that was nice enough to drive us around town, show us the sites, and also take us to the old homesteads so i could see where i come from.

with gramma at the house where my dad was born

after rugby it was on to scotland where we spent a day in glasgow with family and seeing where my grandmother and great aunt were born, went to school, etc, then i took a day trip to edinburgh, and finally we spent the last two days in ayr, a town situated on the irish sea, southwest of glasgow. the day trip to edinburgh and the last two days in ayr really hit home just how beautiful scotland is. it's definitely one of the most gorgeous places i've ever been and I'm ready to go back and explore more of it. as i said, it was a unique trip because in addition to doing touristy things, i got to see where i/my family comes from and that's something i could never have done on my own. definitely a worthwhile and exceptional trip.

calzean castle on the irish sea cost

san sebastían (july 30- august 3)

within half an hour of arriving in zaragoza, i was already back at the bus station picking up my friends shannon and sari. we spent the following four days in the northern beach city of san sebastían. the city and landscape itself was surreal. like anything else i had ever seen in spain. so green and mountainous. the town itself is a big surf city, so it feels similar to montañita in ecuador. we had sunny, beautiful weather our first day there, but the rest of the time was cloudy so we spent time exploring the city, eating the delicious pinxos (basque for tapas) and learning about the culture. san sebastían is in the basque region of spain, which like catalunia, is very protective of its culture, language (which is supposedly one of the oldest in the world and is unlike anything i've ever seen), and their customs. unlike the catalans, however, some basques have taken to terrorism in the fight for independence and for any of you who have heard of the ETA, you'll know what i mean. just like the rest of the month, though, it was awesome. beautiful city, good weather (for a day) and cool people from around the world (i met a lot of australians and canadians).

san sebastían

now it's friday, august 6th and i'm back in zaragoza. i've taken the last two days to sit in my flat and do nothing after over a month of traveling. i think i've taken all the sitting around i can and am ready for the next challenge or adventure. i'll be moving to madrid (that's right!) at the end of the month, but without a job this month, my focus will be on finding a flat in madrid, continually improving my castellano, and learning more about social justice and faith, which i hope to share with you all. wheh! that's my month. ok, now time to get off here. lates!