Great. Just what I needed.

So now there is a very real possibility that I will not make it home tomorrow because of the Iberia pilots being on strike. Peter's flight got "delayed" 20 hours, and another girl, Casey, had her flight cancelled too.

I just want to go home.

So this is goodbye...

So my finals are officially over! I am very excited. I think I did well for the most part (my Islam final will always be a little iffy. But hooray! Now I have the rest of today and tomorrow to relax, pack, say goodbye to people, and get ready to return home.

Now that’s something.

I still cannot believe that it is over. Becky is done today, and is leaving to go to Portugal with her parents. Peter leaves tomorrow. Then there I go.

It’s been a wonderful ride, guys, and I just wanted to thank those of you who stuck it out and read this, even if not regularly, and left me little notes or sent me e-mails. I truly appreciated it, and cannot thank you enough.

Ick. Packing does not sound at all appealing. I do not know how I am going to get this all home. BUT I know that if my bags are too heavy, it will cost me less to pay for the extra weight there than if I sent stuff home. That being said, I don’t really care. It’s all coming home whether they like it or not!

I have been kind of feverish the last day and a half. It hasn’t been so fun. My throat’s been killing me too, and all of that on top of finals has just been excellent, let me tell you. BUT IT IS OVER NOW!! :) I just have this super fun dry block of wonderment stuck in my chest that I cannot cough up because it is so so painful! My throat hurts, but not as bad as yesterday, and I am happy my fever is gone.

Buuuuuut yeah. If you ever get the chance to come to Spain, do it. Go to Granada and see a little piece of what I called home for a semester. You will love it, if you’re lucky enough to make it here. If not, indulge yourself in the pictures I took. There’s enough of them there to keep you busy for quite awhile.

I have already started a list of the things that I want to eat upon my return (don’t laugh! Ok…go ahead, fine!):

Olive Garden’s fettuccini alfredo
Steak and Shake chicken tenders and cheese fries
Taco Bell tacos and cheesey fiesta potatoes
Portillos hot dog and cheese fries
Noodles and Co. mac and cheese and buttered noodles
Panera broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl
Aurelio’s pizza
Chef’s kitchen pizza from Jewel
Mac and Cheese
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brownies
Rice Krispy Treats
Nachos and queso
Chips and Salsa
Goldfish Crackers
Corned Beef Hash
Cinnamon Roll French toast from Egg’lectic
Eggo Waffles with syrup
Eggo Waffles with peanut butter

Hope you enjoyed that one. :)

What I wouldn’t give for a nice massage and a manicure/pedicure right now. Mom? You up for it? Hm? Hm? We shall talk.

I cannot wait to sleep in my own comfy bed at home with a warm room and blankets to squish around in. And seeing my parents and puppies. And my friends from home and school. I cannot waaaait!! I just hope everyone is as excited as I am, but I am not going to get my hopes up too, too high, because Veronica says we shouldn’t. The whole culture shock re-entry thing.

That’s something to look forward to, I am sure.

But yes, it is possible that this is the last post I have on here, so again, thank you all so much for reading and flipping through the pictures and all that. I love you all for it, trust me.

Here goes nothing I guess.

…I just hope Iberia doesn’t decide to cancel my flight. I will not be a happy camper. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Much love from Spain for the last time,

M.

A few things...

1. I have a fever. Yes, three days before I need to leave, my stupid body decides to come down with a fever. Wonderful.

2. I got not enough sleep last night because of my fever, and thus am exhausted and I have 2 finals today. Super!

3. I started packing yesterday. Yikes. And we gave Alejandro his present: A book of magic tricks!

4. I am so not ready for my Islam final tomorrow. Not even close. There is way too much information to jam into my non-functioning, feverish brain. Give me another aspirin, pronto!

5. I only have 3 days left, and I don't know how that happened, but I am not ready to go home! I mean, I am, but I am not. I know that makes zero sense, but it makes sense to me!

6. I CANNOT WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS!!

The end.

Grr. This would happen.

rdlirgchngbh GRR! The charger to my computer batter is broken. And my battery is going to die in less than an hour. Wonderful.

And I had to eat TOO MANY mushrooms in my pasta again at lunch. Not happy.

We had our bye-bye dinner last night, and it was a lot of fun. I will put the pictures up sometime soon, I promise.

I don't have much to write, I have a lot of things to go do!

Besitos.

There is an abnormally large nativity scene in our school courtyard...

Ok.

So this may be one of the last posts I write until after I finish my finals. That will not be until Tuesday, so expect something PROBABLY on Wednesday, though I will be spending most of my time packing and such, but I want to start that sometime sooner as well.

Le sigh.

Well, more lasts. Ready?

Last classes of the semester. So happy that’s over with..
Last Tutorial class with Jose. He seemed as if he was going to cry because he got kind of emotional and told us that this is his least favorite part of the semester, saying goodbye to everyone.
Last large group meeting with Veronica.

BUT! There are some firsts happening too, so it’s alright:

First tetería I’ve been to. It, apparently, is older than the Alhambra because it once used to be a part of the Arab Baths (which are next door).
First final in Spain—Phonetics. It wasn’t too horrible, but I think the rest that are coming might.
First written paper turned in to Jose for Granada Seminar. (Hooray! A bunch of days early!)

So yes. I am very busy because I had a final in Grammar today. Two on Monday, and one on Tuesday to go. Yuck.

We also have our farewell dinner on Thursday, which should be fun. We get fancy pizza, and I am so excited!! We also have the basketball game on Saturday, and I must must must start packing soon, no matter what. I need to get it over with.

For your viewing pleasure (and to get it suck in your head!!) take a look-see at this:



Isn’t that quite the doosie. :) Oh the things we learn from Jose…

Anne leaves FRIDAY and I cannot believe it. What the heck?! How did the time go so quickly? I simply do not understand. Ok, so I know how it did, due to my traveling everywhere I could get tickets to, and just having a blast. Sure I had my bad spots too, but that’s normal life I guess.

I am excited to see my parents and my friends from home again even if I will miss this place a lot.

Tra la la that’s all for now because I need to study! Yuck.

Besitos a todos!

Eep.

Tomorrow I hit single digits, guys.

11 days to go and finals on the way...

Oy vey. I don't really want to do anything today...but I must! I have finals coming up (one this Thursday--Grammar, two on Monday--Lit and Latin America, and one of Tuesday--Islam) so I really need to get my butt in gear! Good thing there is nothing to do today since it is a holiday, and nothing is open, and it is Sunday anyway. But that's alright. I only have 11 more days. Yikes!

The trip I took to the Sierra Nevada's was excellent. I put pictures up, so go check them out! There aren't too many (less than 30) and there are other people in them! :) We took the 10:00 bus there, and it only took about an hour to get up there, though the way was really curvy and was making everyone sick. I feel asleep, as usual, but Anne woke me up when there were some cows eating grass in the snow on the side of the road! It was cool.

Once we got up there, we wandered around for awhile, and then went on this snow roller coaster type thing, which was hilarious. Anne had to hold my backpack in her lap when we were going and I had to control the breaks and accelerator! After that, we checked out the skating rink, but didn't skate because the rink was kind of really awful and needed a zamboni really badly.

Then we went up to the top of the mountain on the ski lift, and it was really beautiful. The entire place was really beautiful! But then Tanya, Anne, Sara and I wandered around for awhile, and then Tanya, Sara and I left Anne and the girls from her program up there to head back down and get something to eat.

We ended up taking the 6:30 bus home, and by the time we were leaving, the sun was going down and it was FREEZING cold. The rest of the day had been just fine...maybe a little chilly, but nothing too awful. I came back and was exhausted and ended up falling asleep on the bus, AGAIN!

I hadn't planned on going out last night because I was so tired, but Tanya and Bri talked me into it. We ended up checking out this one bar (called El Perro Andalus, after the Dali movie [which we watched in class the other day...]) that our friend Katie suggested. She said it was pretty cool, and the drinks were cheap. When we got there, we found out that it was one of those heavy-metal rock type bars, which had posters for bands like Ironmaiden and Megadeth on the ceiling and walls. It was interesting, and we definitely didn't fit in, but it was still fun. Then we went to a couple of other bars we had never been to and it was a good time.

So thus continues my long weekend. I should probably get going...but check out my pictures if you get a chance, and even drop me a line and say hello!

Adios.

My boots are drying on the calefaccion as we speak!

I just found out that my boots are still wet inside from Tuesday when it rained. Gross. They just don't get much air in there to dry, and the apartment isn't very warm all the time (just from 3:30pm-10:30pm), so I put them on the radiator today to dry. Here's to hoping they don't shrink or do something weird!

It's been a busy couple days, though Monday and Tuesday seemed to take forever. It was a week of the first "lasts"...we had our last Granada Seminar and Phonetics classes with Jose...I am still not sure how I feel about this. I am really going to miss Granada when I go home. I have a lot to do this weekend, but even more things I would rather do instead since we have Monday off due to the Fiesta de la Concepción Inmaculada.

Not to worry--I have already done my share of fun things, and it's still only Friday! Yesterday after lunch, I went to visit the Capilla Real with Sara (THE PICTURES ARE UP GO LOOK!) and it was wonderful, and beautiful, just like every cathedral in Spain. Then we went to search for the other olive oil shop that Jose had told us about (since the first one didn't seem like what we were expecting) and could not find it anywhere! He told us it was near Plaza Trinidad...and we walked all over the place, and nothing. So then we were about to give up and just go eat a snack and when we were walking down this one skinny street (like all the other streets in Granada) a car was coming our way, and we moved to the side of the road and basically fell into the place we were looking for! It was amazing!

The woman is from Australia originally, and was very helpful. We just told her what we were looking for, and she knew exactly what to do. We tried a bunch of different oils, and some honey, and even some sherry! It was probably one of the most ironic moments of my entire life. :)

After that, we headed home. After dinner, though, Sara and I met up with Anne and the people in her program at Batan, and had a good old time. Then Anne came up to me and told me she wanted to go to Camborio (the night club up in Sacramonte in the caves) and I was astounded! When has that ever happened?! But we went and danced and had so much fun, even if we were out too late (oops...)!

Then today, Anne and I went to El Parque de las Ciencias (THERE ARE PICTURES OF THIS TOO! GO SEE!!!) and it reminded me a lot of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. We spent 3 hours or so there, and then had to leave because we were starving.

Now I am pooped, and need to get some work done. I am staying in, for sure, and getting a good nights sleep because tomorrow a bunch of us are going to the Sierra Nevadas! I cannot wait. We might go sledding if it isn't too expensive (let's hope!!) and my Señora says that it is beautiful, but I need to remember my sunscreen.

Check!

So that's all she wrote. I come home in 13 days, get excited!

I want to try eating 12 grapes with each stroke of midnight on New Years Eve like the Spanish...

Hola otra vez!

Today has been a very weird day. It seemed to drag, and now I am completely exhausted. I was planning on going for tapas but now I am not because I am too tired. Sorry Peter and Chase.

I tried my first Spanish Christmas goodies today, thanks to our Granada Seminar professor, Jose. The first is called Alfajor de Almendra, and it reminded me of a soft almond crescent, with a hint of lemon. I liked it the best out of the two.

The second is called Rosco de Vino, and its shaped like a donut, and tasted remotely of black licorice. No thanks.

Today we also had our very last meeting with Veronica (except for the full group meeting next week, and the “bye-bye dinner” [as she calls it]), and it was very bitter sweet. We talked about going home and all that, and she gave us this form to use to organize our thoughts, and I think I will share it with you:

1. When I think of leaving, I feel…conflicted. I really want to be home with my friends and family, but it almost seems too soon to be leaving. I still feel like we just got here, but yet it feels like I’ve been here forever.
2. My experience here has been…absolutely wonderful. I have learned a lot about myself, and have gained a greater appreciation for the little things I took for granted at home.
3. For me, Spain has been…a learning experience. I have broadened my food horizon a ton, learned that I am a lot tougher than I thought, and have learned a ton about Spanish culture and the language.
4. The things that I will miss are…being able to relax a lot more and not worry about things so much. Siestas. Traveling. Tapas. The friends I have made. My host family. Too many things…
5. The things that I will be happy to leave behind me are…the creepy, leering Spanish men. How no one knows how to walk on their side of the sidewalk. Dog poop everywhere on the sidewalks. All the second-hand smoke. The freezing house at night.
6. When I talk to other students about leaving…we cannot believe it is time to leave! It is even harder than when I had to come to grips with leaving for the semester!
7. When leaving a place, I usually…try to fit in too many things, see too many people. I keep to myself and get very reflective at times too. Many times, I cry, even though it is embarrassing.
8. The easiest point of leaving for me will be…returning to my family and friends that I’ve missed, and the food I have been craving that they do not have in Spain.
9. Before I leave, I really want to…visit the arab baths. Parque de las Ciencias. The Cartuja. Explore more. Get tapas again. Visit Federico García Lorca’s house…too much.
10. The ways I think I have changed are…I learned I am a lot more independent than I realized. I am a lot more open to change, and have become more patient and grateful for what I have.
11. The most stressful part of leaving will be…getting to the airport for my 7am flight! And saying my goodbyes…
12. When I think of returning to my country I feel…excited but overwhelmed. I have A LOT to go back to and throw myself back into! I am happy to see my family and friends again, though, but it will be a tough adjustment.
13. The ways I think my friends have changed are…I have no idea. Life goes on even while I am not there. They’ve probably matured and changed in their own ways. I will only notice when I get there.
14. I will be going back to…lots of family. Christmas. Kappa Delta. Bradley. Internship applications. Books. Classes. Real lilfe.
15. I think my family will expect me to…tell them everything, show them all of my pictures, and be really upbeat all the time. Be an entirely new person, which I am, but I am not.
16. I expect that my friends at home will…be excited I am home, but also have to adjust to my return themselves. They will have changed too.
17. I think the hardest part of going back for me will be…adjusting to the life I missed the semester before with the people who lived it without me. Food times. The scenery!
18. I think the easiest thing for me to handle will be…the food! I can’t wait. Being with my family because they are always there no matter what.
19. I am really looking forward to…Christmas with my family. The 3rd Annual Bradley Family Dinner. Ana’s visit. Home food. Baked goods. Working out (who knew?!). Having no language barrier. My own room. My doggies. My comfy bed. Soft laundry. Being in Kappa Delta again. The Banambra!

And that concludes that. Now to go over some more Islam slides…

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up in the morning when the day is new?

I am currently jamming out to the Beach Boys and it is glorious! Man how I have missed them. It definitely bring back memories of my childhood. :)

Pictures are up from Thanksgiving and all that jazz, if you want to look. There are only 19 photos or so, so don't get too excited.

I had an in-class essay tonight for my Latin American Civ and Culture class...but he let us use our notes, which was nice, but kind of weird. This was our "midterm" I guess, even though our final is in two weeks. Yikes, two weeks!? Where has the time gone?!

We watched The Motorcycle Diaries today with our program. I absolutely LOVE that movie, and Gael Garcia Burnal is absolutely gorgeous! I was pleasantly surprised how much of it I was able to pick up without any subtitles at all! :) That definitely makes me happy!

That's about all I've got from the homefront. Enrique is still in the pueblo and could be stuck there because it snowed up there. Other than that I only have (20 minutes til) 16 days left.

And I have officially started my advent calendar! Happy December everybody.