And so begins the trip of a lifetime...

I write to you from the comfort of our very first hostal of our European adventure. Our private room has marble floors, a renovated bathroom, a TV, a balcony that looks over Plaza del Carmen, and best of all, the main door to the hostal can’t be opened unless the door is answered by someone, which makes me feel MUCH better about staying in a hostal. (For those keeping track, it’s called Hostal Acapulco.)

Our balcony and view. 

If you’re wondering why I am in Europe, I’ll fill you in. The next two months I will be all over Europe traveling with one of my very best friends, Katie Kruse. We will be attending the Universidad de Valencia through the ISU on the Mediterranean program and are taking Beginner’s Spanish and Spanish Film (taught in English) courses for the next six weeks. Together we will live with a host family, whom we will meet on Sunday.

Today's people watching location. AMAZING.

Tomorrow, we will meet up with the rest of the group from Iowa State and begin our first excursion weekend around Madrid. Today/tonight, Katie and I are on our own. We’ve spent three hours wandering around the windy streets of Madrid, drinking delicious coffee with steamed milk and chocolate, and people watching (SO MUCH FUN). The last 24 hours has been spent in airports and on planes, but we’re thankful we made it and our luggage did too!

My yummy coffee!

Katie and I about to check our bags in Kansas City. 

Best Part of Today: I am one of those people that everyone hates that enjoys chatting on planes. (HOWEVER, my airplane seat buddy for eight hours started a conversation with me, so I am not at fault this time…) I sat by the greatest guy ever. Some cool things about him are: He is in his third year of residency and had just gotten off a 25 hour call, he was at Harvard when Zuckerberg was and was on Facebook the day after he created it, he was in a FINALS CLUB there (watch “The Social Network”), he laughed at my stupid jokes, and he was headed to three night wedding in Seville for a college buddy…. Even though he was 30 and huge compared to me, I think I might marry that man.

RIP dear sunhat... #SunhatSelfie

Worst Part of Today: I carried the adorable wide-brimmed sunhat my mom and I got at Target with me through all the airports and when we made it to Madrid I went to the bathroom and hung it on a hook in the stall…. I left the stall without the hat and now it’s gone forever. :( My jetlagged alter ego was nearly in tears (seriously though…).

During the next couple months, I plan to keep anyone who cares informed of all the ridiculous things I’m doing, embarrassing moments because of my lack of communication skills, and any fun travel stories. I promise it won’t be historically based and boring, so stick with me and I’ll take you all over Europe, too. :) 

We DARE you to talk to us...

A Formal Letter to Every Single Male Alive:

I would like to formally invite you to talk to a girl this week. Meaning, introduce yourself to someone you think is just soooo pretty and make. a. move. How cool would it be to talk to someone in person and just take a chance? Channel that old-fashioned courtship by at least getting our numbers from our real selves, rather than our Facebook alter egos or best friends.

Why is this a great idea? You’ll stand out. No one takes chances anymore and girls loooveee that stuff. Imagine any sorority house in America and your name spreading like wildfire as the “sweetest guy” she’s ever met. You know who else will appreciate your taking a chance? Moms. Our moms will instantly be your biggest fan when we recap our personal lives to them and there is never a downside to that.

It is also your opportunity to see our most honest selves. A lot of times we don’t know you’re flirting with us… We think you’re nice and an awesome guy, but if you’re not being the perfect amount of forward, you’re about to be friend zoned. (And you rarely come back from that…)

Your sure fire way to know if we would be at all interested would be our reaction to you, I don’t know, asking us to dinner…. Check our facials. Is there a crazy amount of excitement in our eyes? I’m not positive, but that could mean we’re thrilled, right?

The worst possible thing that could happen is that we could say “no.” What repercussions would that even have on your life? It would save you the price of a meal, which I am 100% sure would be greatly appreciated in your weekend fund. In which case I say, Please try asking a girl you like out to dinner. It’s just so easy.

Don’t want a girlfriend? Don’t act like you do. It’s mean. It’s just plain mean.

Oh so sincerely,

Anna Marie McConnell

Sophomore SLUMP

The sophomore slump is real, kids. So real that I have about 30 minutes of free time to finish a six-page paper, a magazine story, another story for class, and some readings and here I am, sitting on Janie’s uncomfortable futon telling you how unproductive I am.

First day of the semester -- when I still had hope.

Let me just say, that I am obsessed with my giant herd of friends and our chef and my sorority and all things Iowa State and my social life in every single way, but I will admit that I have zero interest in my academic life.

Playing dress-up with my roomie and heading off
to chapter is always fun because it's NOT my homework.

I still attend all my classes, do not fret, but I do spend my time in them making massive to-do lists, filling out applications, and responding to the handfuls of emails I get every day. It is really hard to keep up.

Basically, what I’m whining about is my school life and how much I currently hate it. (Hate to say hate, but I meant it…) I have one class I enjoy, but the other four so overshadow that one that I generalize them all as horrible.

An assignment from my only enjoyable class:
Testing a dozen shower products and writing reviews on them.

Why? I despise news stories. I want to cry every second that I spend writing completely unbiased, plain jane, AP-style sentences. All I want to do is write in my twitter voice and flood my pages with the girlspeak that overwhelms my brain. Get me to a magazine, ASAP!!!

Hope you agree?! And Happy Studying from Academic Anna!

My Spring Break > Yours

Hanging out on the sand bar!

I have one sentence written for my religion paper, which is due in three days. But here’s the thing? I don’t care enough to write it right now, because my mind is in Gulf Shores, Alabama with my 30 other friends on the beach. Did you catch that? I don’t care. (Sorry, Mom..)

For seven days I lived in the land of no worries with my amazing friends. It was the most fun time of my life. I was sad to be without the entire rest of my family, yes, but I honestly could not have asked for a better week. And here’s why…

DAD’S SUBURBAN.

Seven girls with a lot of belongings in one vehicle for 18 hours is a lot to handle. BUT holy cow it was fun and we took shifts to drive straight through. Lots of snacks, fleece blankets, iPod playlists, delirious stories, and the occasional shot of 5 Hour Energy proved to be a wonderful way of bonding.

Ready to leave Ames and head to Alabama! 

OUR COMPLEX.

We had a group of around 18 fraternity gentlemen and 14 sorority beauties head down south, which means we required a lot of beds (or blankets for the floor). Renting out two of the three houses 1.5 blocks from the ocean was a very good decision on our part. Our houses were crazy nice for college kids and included our own pool, sand volleyball court, 20 or so bicycles (on any given day), an outdoor living space, three hammocks, and three cabanas each equipped with a different gaming system. I mean, WHOAAAAA.

Our sand volleyball court! 

DELTA BAMA.

When we left Greekland in our vehicles, we had 9 Chi Omegas, 4 Sigma Kappas, and 1 beautiful Gamma Phi Beta. When we left Alabama, we had founded our own sorority complete with traditions, hand signs, and officers – Delta BAMA. :) I overheard one of the girls on the trip saying, “I left Ames with strangers and came back with best friends,” and I wholeheartedly agree. I have been without them for almost two nights and I feel like I’m going through sisterly withdrawal.

Missing two sisters, but these are my beautiful roomies!

Throwing up the first draft of our hand sign...

DON’T CARE.

The trip’s motto became “Don’t Care” very quickly. One of our SigEp men coined the term and soon our girls house became infatuated with the song “I Love It” by Icona Pop…lyrics are I don’t care, I love it! I. Don’t. Care. Can you blame us for loving that line? Anytime anyone said anything mildly negative, confrontational, or stressful it got an immediate shutdown by anyone nearby. We didn’t need any pressure/stress/school/obligations in Gulf Shores. We needed fun (and we got it).

 

We didn't care when we found our statue buried...

OUR COUCH.

To be honest with you, we napped a lot on spring break because why wouldn’t we? We laid in the sun, we ate lunch, and then we napped inside. Not only was our couch wonderful for napping, but also for chatty cathy sessions. In case you’re not aware, all girls do is talk…and our couch could hold enough of us to have hours worth of conversation. J AND of course a “Bad Girls Club” marathon, which I don’t recommend unless you’re with a dozen other fun twenty-somethings.

A little TV time with my Delta Bama sisters! 

ALTER EGOS.

I became “Cassie” to anyone from other schools, which meant all but 30 people in the whole area. Our neighbors from Kansas State called me “Cass” when I climbed into the suburban at the end of the trip… SUCCESS!!! I lasted a week as the carefree, sassy, alternative Anna named Cassie and my goodness do I miss her already. Other names included Brad, Cinnamon, Dom, Hazel, Lance, Travis, Brittany, etc. It’s a challenge to remember other names for people you already have both real names and nicknames for…

Cinnamon with her Mac 'N Cheese, naturally.

WAFFLE HOUSE.

I don’t know if you guys know this, but I am absolutely obsessed with anything edible that’s both cheap and greasy. It’s a rough life, I know. The great thing about Gulf Shores (besides it’s people, weather, beach, etc.) is that it accommodates tourists with a local Waffle House complete with grits and southern hospitality. I made my sisters go multiple times. And I never regretted letting the grease drip off my delicious strips of bacon. ;)

The Friday morning Waffle House crew!

THE WEDDING.

To change things up a bit, we put together a wedding between one handsome SigEp gentleman and one gorgeous Delta Bama sister. Festivities included a candle passing, bachelor/bachelorette parties, a ceremony complete with sentimental vows and rings made out of plastic straws, and a reception featuring the song “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show (of course). Needless to say, it was a huge success.            **Did I mention those two people aren’t even dating? #YOLO

The happy newlyweds!

Wait… WHY did we come back to Iowa and snow again? I don’t have a logical answer besides that our parents told us to start driving to beat the “giant snowstorm” tearing through the Midwest…. Riiiiiighhtt. Until next year, Gulf Shores! XOXO We’ll miss you dearly!

**If you’re looking for some entertainment, search #Bubba on twitter to live through our Gulf Shores fun from the last week. ;)