OneRepublic!!!

Today was a normal school day, except afterwards I got to go see OneRepublic! Some friends of mine went right after school to stand outside, but Lara and Cecilia and I went to Cecilia's house to drop off our stuff and eat dinner. Then when we got there the other girls managed to pull us forward towards the front (still standing in line, not even inside..) so we were really close to the front when they let us in, so we were in the second row! The concert was in the Hallenstadion, which is big enough for 13,000 people... And there definitely were a lot of people there. We had standing spots, which is why we were able to get to close. We did have to wait in line for an hour outside and two hours inside, but oh well. There was some rock band that played before they came out, which was pretty boring. But the actual concert was amazing. It was almost all teenagers and mostly girls where we were standing, so it wasn't all awkward  standing so smushed together.

(You can kinda see how big it is? Google has better pictures of the size-like this!)

It was so so so much fun. A few of the more crazy songs everyone was jumping and singing together & it was a really cool feeling to sing with 13,000 other people.

For the last song they even shot a ton of confetti into the audience:) It was definitely one of my favorite things I've experienced on my exchange year. 

Flammkuchen & Thunderstorm

Today was super duper warm again, and I basically did homework & helped my grandma around the house all day. But in the evening I went to Dominic & Lara's for dinner, which was a Swiss pizza type stuff - called Flammkuchen, which literally means flame cake (thin crust with bacon, onions, and a creme sauce). It was really good:). I ended up staying until pretty late because there was a giant thunderstorm. The rain stopped around 10:30 so I walked home in the storm but avoided getting wet.. It was super creepy and super cool because the lightning and then thunder + it being dark out made for a perfect horror movie setting!

5 hours of lunchtime

Today so many classes were canceled that we had 5 hours for lunch! We went to the lake of Zürich and played volleyball on the lawn & some people went swimming. It was pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure everyone got a sunburn. Oops!

Pictures & sunburn!

Today we had a super early out at 10:30, so two friends and I went to the lake to take pictures! We ended up going home way earlier than we expected because it was too hot to concentrate. But we got some really pretty pictures!

(There are a bunch more that came out really well which makes me super happy!)

Notre dame singers

Today I went to school like always, but this evening the glee club from Notre Dame College were singing in the church 5 minutes away from where I live! I know a person who's going to Notre Dame next year, and I think it's hilarious that that college, of all colleges, came to Adliswil, of all places. Anyways, they were really really good. I got to talk to a few of them afterwards... I realized I really miss English-speaking people. So that was awesome. 

Hot hot hot weatherrr

It's been ridiculously hot again. And for some reason or another a whole bunch of teachers aren't reaching this week.. So I had less school today & yesterday, and tomorrow I only have two periods! Yay!

I keep being too busy with schoolwork & hanging out with friends to post, I'm sorry! :)

Circus!

This evening I went with my grandma to the circus! It was pretty amazing... There were acrobats and animals and lots of other crazy stuff. We weren't allowed to take pictures though.

I'm going to miss being in a big city where things like big circuses and the like travel to... There aren't enough people in Montana to make it worth their while, which I think is a shame. 

Update!

Hiiii!

I've been super bad at posting regularly, and I apologize for that...

I'm sick today!:( I don't know if I'm going to school tomorrow or not, we'll have to see. Oh well. 

Choir performances!

So basically I had choir performances Wednesday, Thursday, and twice on Friday, which meant I got to miss a lot of school on those days.

I had a solo, and it went perfectly every time! Yay:)

After the concert everyone got a rose, and two boys in my class gave me theirs, which was really sweet. I don't know what we're going to do in choir the rest of the year, though. We have school until July...

I BROKE IT

I actually have an excuse for not blogging today, and that excuse is that I broke my phone charger. I managed to kind of fix it, but it only charged when I taped it completely flat... So I get to go buy a new charger today, which means I'll have two USB to wall adaptors for European outlets..?? Whatever shall I do with them when I leave? #firstworldproblems

But anyways, today I did homework and math and helped my grandma around the house some. We also went to a friend of my grandparents for the afternoon:)

Aaaaand then I stayed up skyping Stephanie and texting two other people until 1 am, whoops

rainy day

Today I woke up (relatively) early and ate breakfast and helped my grandma around the house. It was super rainy so I also was inspired to do some drawing. :)

So that was fun, and then my grandparents went to a wedding of an old friend so I had the house to myself all afternoon and evening.. So I played piano for an hour and a half and watched a Disney movie because I was feeling nostalgic. Basically a perfect lazy weekend day. 

82 degrees and being crafty

Okay I take back what I said yesterday about it being hot. Today was 10 degrees warmer?! It's a little crazy. 

Today during class I was noticing how nice everyone is to each other and how so much more of it is genuine than at Flathead. Which I'm going to miss so much. Switzerland really has this school system thing down with the separate schools for smarter people and the neat class system. Ah well. 

Also after school I got a lil crafty and decided to sew my pants to be skinnier and shorter. I can never find skinny jeans that fit me because I have a wide waist but skinny calves and really short legs. So I fixed my new jeans! 💪🏻

71 degrees and Google+?

It was soooo hot today. Most of the time the weather is a few degrees warmer than in Montana, but apparently not today. 

I watched a YouTube video about Google+ and remembered that I have one because I have a gmail address... So I went on the page and it says I have 29,000 views?! I literally posted nothing on there except that I was "soon to have survived middle school :D". (Which I find hilarious.) However, apparently I was a dumb middle schooler, because my cell phone and part of my address was on there. Whoops. Don't put your personal info on the Internet, kids!

Grass, man

Today was Mother's Day! Happy mom day to all the wonderful moms out there. :)

Today I did homework and watched a movie that I've been meaning to watch for forever, The Devil Wears Prada. I vaguely remember reading the book a few years ago, but I had forgotten the plot. It was an ok movie I suppose. 

But I got to skype with my friend for three hours. I miss Montanans. 

Something funny that I noticed while walking today was that the lawns here are much less fancily kept than the classic American lawn. Most open spaces look like this here:

Which I think is very pretty and very energy-conscious. (I can't English anymore, the word I'm looking for is Energie-sparend but I seem to have forgotten the English meaning) No extra watering is required (sprinklers can make up to 50% of a house's water bill!), and you don't have to spend the time or pay someone to mow it all the time! Plus there are literally flowers everywhere, which is just generally easier on the eyes. 

Shopping & pics & Oreos

Today I went shopping in Zurich! I actually even found a pair of jeans that fit me! Woo🎉

I also met a friend and we wandered around Zürich and I played photographer. It was super fun, especially because afterwards we went to the English bookstore and found double triple Oreos. Which are freaking amazing. 

Half day & sprinkle photography

Today we had a half day like every Wednesday, and the weather surprised everyone by being super rainy in the morning and super sunny in the afternoon. I went to a friend's house after school to hang out & study, and we saw a picture idea on Pinterest... Which resulted in us doing this: 

Which I think is really neat. :) 

Choir day:)

Today I got to miss most of school for choir practice, which was really fun. Then I came home, spent a while helping my grandma sort through photos on her laptop, did homework and now it is almost midnight & I must sleep. Oops. Good night! 

Woop Monday:)

It rained almost all day today it was so gorgeous!

(Can you see the little splashes of the raindrops on the windowsill?)

I actually woke up at 6:45 cause it was so bright! I'm so glad summer is coming and it'll be brighter longer. :)

School again

School starts tomorrow & I really am not ready... I don't want to go back to waking up early! My sleep schedule is so off because when I can I go to sleep between 12 and 3 am and sleep until 10. Oops. 

I've also decided I'm not going to blog every day, because the last few posts I decided are too boring. All I do over breaks is homework, sleep, watch movies, take pictures, and tumblr. And I don't want my posts to be boring... Quality over quantity! 

Hopefully I can get to sleep at a reasonable hour... Good night!

P.S. Here are some pics I've taken the past couple of days/weeks that I'm proud of:)

Omg better art !!!

Today I did homework & learned how to make paper cranes & cleaned my room & helped my grandma get groceries. :)

One of my crazy talented friends drew my eyeball picture that I took yesterday! It looks sooo cool.

So I was wondering what I could do with my paper cranes... I got inspired by some pictures I saw online and made this cute little thing in my window. :)

Omg art !!!

Today I did absolutely nothing all morning and it was wonderful. Then after lunch I took a shower, cleaned my room and did some laundry, and then got inspired to make some art. 

It's a watermelon! I realized I have pink eyeliner & mascara and two shades of green eyeliner & mascara! Then I edited it so it was red (if I ever find red eyeliner, I will buy it & do this again :p)

So that was fun:)

Then I decided to doodle some stuff but none of it really came out good except this octopus kind of. 

So yay for art! I'm so glad we have another week of spring break. I don't think anyone's ready for school stress yet. 

Oh! And there was a giant thunderstorm this evening and I'm falling asleep now listening to rain against my window. It makes me so happy. :)

Spain Day 6!

This morning we got up late and hopped on the bus to drive two hours back to Málaga to get on the plane. The plane was delayed a little so we hung out in the airport for a while before flying home. 

We arrived & got our bags & ate dinner at the airport & everything worked out perfectly. Then we came home and I Skyped with my mom. :) 

I just finished unpacking and now I'm super tired! I'm looking forward to another week of vacation. Good night!

Spain Day 5!

This morning Lara and I went shopping (for souvenirs and gifts and because everything is cheaper here) and met Oma & Opa for lunch with Dominic. I'm the only one in our group that knows more than two words in Spanish (besides my aunt, but she wasn't around) so I had the privilege of ordering our food... Which was neat. It's an awesome feeling of accomplishment when you successfully communicate with someone in another language. Also, I had pineapple juice because it sounded awesome. It was most awesome. 

Then Lara & I went and got ice cream. Mine was snickers flavored! :)

We walked back up to the hotel and changed into our swim stuff to hang out by the pool. And that's all we did all afternoon. :)

We had dinner at the hotel, and then went to a little outcrop to watch the sunset. Lara and I took some really neat pictures. 

We leave tomorrow! I want to stay... This has been such a fun vacation, I really hope to come back to Spain again someday!

Spain Day 4!

Today we got up early & walked five minutes down the hill to the Alhambra, which is basically the ruins and restored gardens of the old palace. (Where Queen Isabella lived!) The gardens were absolutely stunning, 

and the palaces were so ridiculously detailed I couldn't properly appreciate it after a while because it was just too much. 

(That's a ceiling^)

Basically, imagine this ^ times a million and you're about there. 

Then after lunch we hopped on a bus and drove to the other side of the city, then walked down through a zillion tiny streets into the middle of Granada. It was pretty fun, and we learned (among other things) about houses that are labeled as "Carmens". In order for a house to be able to carry the title of Carmen, it has to fulfill some requirements. Some of those include having a garden (with both useful plants-like herbs or lettuce-and decorative plants-like daisies or roses) and having an inner courtyard. I thought it was pretty cute. 

After the tour we convinced my aunt & uncle that we needed ice cream. I have never had such a giant cone in my life. It was beautiful. Snickers & stracciatella ice cream=heaven.

Something neat:

I took a picture of the view from the Alhambra across Granada to the other side, and then later today I took another picture of the view from the other side of the city across to the Alhambra. The red is where the other picture was taken!

Spain Day 3!

Today we got up early and spent two hours on the bus driving to Córdoba. Literally all we could see in every direction the whole time we were driving were olive trees. Miles and miles and miles of olives... Did you know most of the fancy Italian olive oil is actually produced from olives from Spain? How random..

Anyways, in Córdoba we stopped right by an old Roman bridge, which we got to walk across later.

Then we visited the mosque-cathedral of Córdoba, which is basically an absolutely ginormous mosque with a cathedral right in the middle.

The history behind it is a bit complicated... It was first a Catholic Church which was then torn down and replaced with a mosque, which was then gradually expanded until Córdoba was under Catholic rule again, when a cathedral was (in my opinion rather randomly) built smack in the middle of the mosque. It is literally too big for words. 

This is the cathedral in the middle- facing forward

And backward! (Black is all mahogany wood from South America, and there are two giant organs on either side built into the walls that didn't fit into the picture)

After visiting the mosque we wandered through the city, which was a mishmash of tiny streets and crooked, winding, bright alleys. It's almost like Rome:)

We drove two hours back to Granada, ate dinner, and are going to bed soon. I can't wait for tomorrow, we're visiting the Alhambra!