home again

I just thought I would write one last time to let everyone know that I have arrived safe and sound back to the U.S.

I flew in last Sunday night around 9:30, and sort of to my surprise, my luggage made it too! I flew first from Madrid to New York JFK (8 hours), then from JKF to Cincinnati (2 hours), and then finally from Cincinnati to Appleton (1.5 hours). It was such a relief to finally be home and to be able to hug my family once more.

While I already miss things about Spain, I have re-adjusted quickly and am glad to be home. Again, thanks for all the support! :)

El Fin (The End)

As extremely hard as it is to believe, I have only two full days left in Valladolid and three full days left in Spain. Three breakfasts, two lunches, and three dinners. Two more days with my host family, and two more days traveling all on my own.

And then, I will be home.

This past Saturday Ashley and I went to El Escorial--a gigantic building that was built for King Phillip II in the 16th century, as he was very religious and sure that it was his calling to build a magnificent building for God. If I had gone there earlier in the semester, it still would have been cool, but I am very glad that I waited until I had a full semester of Spanish history behind me before I went to see it, as it was an incredible experience. To see the tombs of Kings that changed the course of Spain's history but also the course of the world's history was definitely something that gave me goosebumps. Even though it rained all day, it was a really cool experience and Ash and I had a lot of fun.

I now have my grammar, literature, oral expression, and history exams behind me, and this afternoon I will take the last two--European Union and Art. So far they've all gone really well, so I'm hoping to keep that up! Tomorrow I will be packing like crazy and returning to school for the very last time to check my grades, and then on Friday we have a graduation ceremony and party. On Saturday I will be in Madrid for the day to go to the Prado and the Reina Sofia Museums, and then spending the night in Madrid before my flight for the States leaves at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. I am due to arrive to the Appleton airport at 9:16 pm.

I am very excited to come home--to see all my family and friends, to eat on a schedule that I plan, to not have to carry my computer to school everyday, to watch TV in English and be back in the swing of things with US news. I am very sad to leave Valladolid, though. I have really gotten to know this city very well--I see the same people every morning when I walk to school, my host parents feel like my family, I can give someone directions (most of the time) if I'm asked. I will leave a part of my heart here, that's for sure.

I'd like to thank everyone who sent me cards or e-mails or packages while I've been here, or even those who've asked my family how I'm doing or have been reading this blog and looking at pictures. I really appreciate your care and concern, and am excited to get home and tell you stories in person! :)

There are some videos from France up in the "Some interesting videos" album, and there are some pictures of El Escorial up, too. I have a bunch of pictures from Valladolid, but I will probably put those up next week when I am back home.

El fin! Hasta LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS! :)

Sol y Playa

We learned in our geography class that Spain has so many tourists due to what they call “sol y playa,” or “sun and beach.” This past weekend I experienced Spain’s sol y playa, and I understand totally now why it’s such a tourist draw. It was fantastic!

We (Katie, Ashleigh, and I) left Valladolid by bus on Thursday morning, and arrived in Bilbao around 2:45. Bilbao is the home to one of the world’s Guggenheim museums, and is the center of Spain’s Pais Vasco (Basque Country) which is known fairly well for attacks by ETA, a separatist/terrorist organization. Thankfully, that didn’t affect us while we were there! We were in Bilbao just to see the Guggenheim, and while it’s a pretty small museum, it was really cool and very interesting. The architecture is what it’s known best for, and the main exhibit that was featured was called Surreal Things, an excellent exhibit about Surrealism. There were lots of pieces by Salvador Dali, which was very neat to see. I never knew that surrealism started with political and psychological ideology (Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud), so I definitely learned something! We were at the museum for about 3 hours, and then we headed back to the bus station to catch our bus to San Sebastian.

We got to San Sebastian around 8, and it was really chilly! We found our hostel with no problems, and then went out to find a grocery store. We called it a night pretty early—we watched CSI in English, which was exciting, and then hit the hay. Unfortunately we had three other roommates, studying in Madrid but from the States, who were extreeeemely rude and obnoxious all night, every night we were there. Good thing we got to nap on the beach!

On Friday it was about 78 degrees and sunny—windy in the morning but calmer in the afternoon. We were at the beach from about 11:30 until 5:00, just lying out, reading, and walking along the water. We learned pretty quickly that you are in the minority if you are female AND wearing a bathing suit top! We were already aware that Spain is much more open about that sort of thing than the U.S., but we definitely saw a good example of that on the beach! For dinner we bought pasta and delicious strawberries, and then after dinner we hung out for the rest of the night with two guys staying at our hostel who are also from our program here in Valladolid (and also go to Eau Claire). Saturday’s schedule was pretty much the same, it was warmer, about 84 degrees, and we were at the beach from 11 until 5:30. After showering and eating sandwiches for dinner, we went back out by the beach and collected seashells and walked along the water until it was dark.

On Sunday morning we got up a little earlier and hiked up one of the two “mountains” in San Sebastian. It was a short but tiring climb, and the view from the top was very pretty. There is a gigantic statue of Jesus at the top, so we climbed all the way up to that and from there were able to look out over San Sebastian’s two beaches, all of the city, and the mountains and ocean that surround it. Unfortunately right after that my camera started acting up, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fix it. Thankfully I have a bunch of pretty pictures from this vacation, and I don’t have too many other things to take pictures of. I’ll probably go out and get one or two disposable cameras, and then just steal other people’s pictures! Very disappointing, but there doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it! After the time we spent at the mountain, we had about two hours before we had to get to the bus station, so we spilt up and spent some time apart doing whatever we wanted to—I collected things on the beach and then just sat and enjoyed the sun a little while longer. I felt like I got my Florida, even if only for three days! I missed being able to have that vacation with my family this year, and even though it would have been better if they were with me, at least now I might be almost as tan as they are! J

Our bus ride back to Valladolid was about six hours long, but it went relatively quickly. I am glad to be back in Valladolid now and to have less than two weeks before I return home! I am done with all of my travels for the semester, which is bittersweet. I am very happy to not have to stay in anymore hostels, and also very happy to not have to spend too much more money. At the same time, I definitely have a list of places that I want to go when I do return to Europe. It might not be anytime soon, but it will happen eventually! I think that traveling so much has made me a little bit more homesick, as we see so much and are rushing and tired and everything, but it’s also obviously such an incredible experience to be young and without many responsibilities and able to plan trips to wherever you please. The semester has gone quickly, but I have seen and done SO much in my travels, and am extremely grateful for that opportunity.

The next two weeks will be relatively low key—I have my last four days of classes this week, and then I think I will go this coming weekend to El Escorial, the castle in which all of the kings of Spain are buried. The week after that we have exams on Monday, no school (for yet another holiday) on Tuesday, exams again on Wednesday, and then our grades are posted on Thursday. On Friday we have our graduation ceremony, and then on Saturday I will be in Madrid, and Sunday on my way home. Can you believe it? I sure can’t!

Hasta luego!