Honey I'm home!

Hola! 29 hours until I’m back in my beautiful California!

Today was my last day in Spain and my last day of classes. In grammar we went over our final exam. I got an A! then we watched music videos until the end of class. I actually enjoyed my grammar class. It really helped my Spanish here in Spain and my teacher was great. She started every class by asking us what we did yesterday after class or what our plans were for the weekend. Today, she asked when we would be returning to our homes. She gave us all the typical kiss on each cheek and wished us all a good trip and life. It was all very sad. I will especially miss talking to Crystal everyday in class.

In history we talked about the transition from a dictatorship to a parliamentary monarchy in Spain. Before class Patti and I talked to our professor. His son is 2 years old and I told him about the term “terrible 2s.” He agrees. He said his son is precious but they can’t take him shopping with them because he touches everything and wants to take it all home. Blanca, a lady in our class, asked our professor about his watches. Apparently he has about 150 watches but it’s not a collection because he uses all of them; it’s not just for looking at. Today he was wearing one that vibrates on the hour. Even though it was a challenging class, I really enjoyed learning about Spanish history and I will definitely miss having class with Patti every day.

In literature we walked about what we liked and disliked about Spanish literature. I loved the poems, and the texts were boring. I gave the cookies to the class and they all loved it. Turns out I was the only one that brought food. We also got our papers and final back. I got an 8.5 out of 10 on my paper and 9.7 out of 10 on my final. Woohoo for As!

In culture we finished watching Primos. It was actually super cute, and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely watch it again. Our teacher gave us all hugs good bye. So sad!

For lunch we had French fries, pork fillets and a fried egg. After lunch I spent some time packing before we all went to Valor to have a final chocolate con churros. Five of us got a fruit fondue and some churros to polish off the chocolate with. We took lots of pictures and tried not to think about how we were all leaving soon. I then walked over to the ISA office so I could find out my grades. I got all As! Well, in history I got an A- but still! It was all very exciting. I walked back to our apartment and finished up as much packing as I could before a dinner of Spanish hamburgers. I stayed and talked to Africa for a bit and she started crying right before I left! She was so sad to see us go. I started crying too.

I took a final shower and packed everything up for good and then Dana and I walked to the Plaza Mayor for one last meeting with our friends. We took lots of pictures here too. It was after 11 pm but the Plaza Mayor was as crowded as I had ever seen it. World youth day is in Madrid in a few days so we think they were all there to celebrate that.

We had to say our final goodbye to África, Ambrosio, and Rafael. It was so sad! I totally cried. We took the taxi ride to fonseca since we had tons of baggage, and pretty much everyone was there already. Much crying and hugging and picture taking ensued. The ride to the Madrid airport was about 3 hours long and I spent most of in napping. Well, actually I would nap, change position, nap, change position. So, really I didn’t get much sleep at all. We arrived at the airport at 4 am and my flight was at 11 am. We found a little café and got some breakfast and chatted. Every hour or so someone else would leave to catch their flight and more crying happened.

We left at about 8 am to check our bags and go through security. By we I mean Crystal and I because we had the same flight to the states. I was 5 kg overweight on my bag and they wanted to charge me 150 euro! Needless to say, I pulled 5kg worth of stuff out of my bag and put it in my carryon. After walking a mile to our gate, I was randomly selected to go through an additional security check. Yay me! They frisked me and took all my electronics out of my bags and scanned them. When each bag came up clean they gave me a thumbs up and a muy bien.

Our flight was pretty uneventful. I watched “Your Highness.” Not very recommended; all it was vulgar, stupid humor. My tv thing stopped working halfway through the flight so I had to stick with my book. It wasn’t working at the beginning of the flight and they reset everyone’s computer; I didn’t want to do that again when everyone was watching their movies.

Our layover was uneventful as well. We ate subway and then separated because Crystal was heading for Denver and I was heading for San Francisco. My flight was delayed due to a late arrival of the proceeding plane and then they couldn’t find a piece of necessary paper. We watched “Thor” on this flight. I missed the last half due to unavoidable napping; I’d been up for almost 48 hours at this point if you don’t count the five minute naps on the bus and the first flight. We arrived 30 minutes late and I happily called dad to let him know I had arrived and grabbed my bags.

I had a surprise! Kaitlyn and Iliana were waiting for my in the car. I got to meet my niece for the first time! I was so happy.

I am so glad to be home but I do appreciate my time in Spain. That being said, I do not want to go back for a while. I am so glad to be home!

Penultimate day in Spain

Hello!

Today was the penultimate day of school! We didn’t do much. In grammar we did por versus para, which I have done a thousand times before. We chatted it up a bit in between exercises. I am so excited to go home! In history we talked more about Franco and almost finished the Franco era. He was one messed up dude. To him women were the property of men. They could not buy or sell anything without their husband’s signature. It was disgusting. In literature we discussed the text. It was slightly more interesting than the other texts if only because the narrator was crazy. I also convinced our teacher to give us a party tomorrow. Well, not really a party but just no literature discussion in class. I bought cookies for 50 cents today for the pah-tay! In culture we began watching a movie; Primos. My teacher was going to put on English subtitles because Primos is a comedy and has a lot of colloquial language. A kid in my class disagreed and insisted she put it on Spanish subtitles so we can all practice. This lasted for about 5 minutes into the movie when the same kid requested she pause the movie to explain a term that the kid didn’t understand. I called for a revote, and won English subtitles! But, alas, my teacher is technologically incompetent and she managed to turn on the blind people narration, so every single action in the film was not only shown to us but described in Spanish. Woohoo! At least the movie is funny.

Lunch was the potato stew and we actually had red meat for the first time. It was a little piece of steak, but very yummy with garlic on top. I then met Patti and we went and saw the Leonardi DaVinci exposition. It was super cool. They basically took all his sketches and made models of all of them. Amazing! That guy was a genius. Then we went back to Casa Lis to see the museum of Art Deco and Art Noveau again. Well, Patti had never seen it. The dolls were even more creepy this time. I may have nightmares tonight.

Dinner was chicken with carrots and bell peppers on top plus a salad. I brought my camera and took pictures of me with my host parents to share. They are amazing host parents and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

Tonight is my very last night in Salamanca. We are leaving at 1 am tomorrow night, or really Saturday morning. That makes it 4 pm on Friday California time. 24 hours! I cannot wait to go home. =D I will update before I get on the bus tomorrow night and let you all know how my very last full day in Spain went.

Finals Day 2, Plus Karoke!!!

Hola!

Today was a more exciting day than the last two. In my grammar class I had my final. I thought it was okay, maybe a little icky, but later after the exam my teacher looked at me and said “muy bien” which means very good. So fingers crossed. In history we talked about Franco and watched a funny Franco satire. In literature we talked about books of the 60s. I have mentally checked out of that class. In culture we talked about sports. BORING! Tomorrow we are going to start watching a movie called Primos.

For lunch we had hot dog, rice, and a fried egg. I then walked over to tour some of the few convents in the city. First I went to San Esteban. It was by far the best. The church is the church that my host parents got married in. they also had a little museum. I was thoroughly grossed out when I saw these little cases filled with relics. Ew. I would not want my body chopped into tiny little pieces and shipped around the world.

Las Duenas was basically just a garden. It was a very pretty garden, but just a garden all the same. I then went to Las Ursalas. The church was free to get in to, but the museum was 2 euro. It was a bit of a rip off because the room was tiny and only had like 12 paintings. I don’t mind supporting the nuns though. There were 3 of them there and all of them were at least a foot shorter than me. I felt like a giant. Is it a rule that nuns can only just brush the 4 foot mark?

We then had a meeting and I learned that I have to meet at the bus stop to go to the airport at 1 am. We will get to the airport at 3:30 am and my flight leaves at 11 am. Woohoo! I am definitely going to take a nap at the airport.

I relaxed and packed before meeting our ISA group for our goodbye dinner. It was actually a decent dinner. I had a turkey and walnut salad as well as breaded chicken breast with French fries. After we walked to the karoke bar. It was so fun seeing everyone get up there and sing. I didn’t though. I had to leave because I was falling asleep on the couch. Now it’s time for bed! In 48 hours I will be on a bus bound for the Madrid airport!

Finals! Day 1

Hello! Sorry I forgot to update yesterday.

I had 3 out of my 4 finals yesterday; the only class without a test was grammar. My grammar class was boring. We did some more subjunctive and then we did a quick review before the final tomorrow. In history the test was so-so. Some questions were incredibly easy and some were incredibly hard, but there was only 20 of them. After we finished the test we talked about the civil war. In literature I finished the test in about 20 min. We were given a piece of a work and had to identify the title, author, and type of work. Then, we had to write a page long commentary comparing 2 of the works. I just threw down the stuff she had said in class and extrapolated a bit. It wasn’t that hard. In culture the test was a bit harder than expected. She gave us a sheet with 40 questions on it and then said half of the questions would be on the test, so that is what we studied. She had other questions on there, but it wasn’t too bad. I then went home and had lunch.

Lunch was the white potato soup and then pork with the red sauce. She gave me two pieces of pork after this huge bowl of soup so I gave one of my pieces to Paco. He ended up eating 4 pieces.

I then went to Café y Té to meet Crystal and study for the grammar test that was today. I had a really yummy frappe there, and then I went and finished up some souvenir shopping so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. I got home in time to relax and then have dinner. We had sandwiches again, but it was good. Afterwards I watched a bit of a movie on youtube and then hit the sack in order to be well rested for my grammar test. I’ll let you know how it went later on.

3 days until I’m home!!!

4 days left in Spain!

Hola!

Today today today. We did some more awesome subjunctive in grammar class. At least pretty much the whole class was there today as opposed to Friday. In history we talked about the 2^nd republic, leading up to Franco. We did not quite get to Franco yet. In literature we talked about this text Cinco Horas con Mario. It’s all about how this wife is all mad at her husband because he cares more about poor people than her. In culture we looked at some more directors and decided to watch the movie Primos on Thursday and Friday.

We had pasta with the meat sauce today. I forgot to mention! We got a new French kid yesterday. His name is Clemont and apparently he goes to the Yale of French Universities. He’s only here for a week, our last week. I spent the time between the time between lunch and dinner procrastinating on my studying. For dinner we had an omelet with salad. And now I really have to go and study for my finals tomorrow!