música.

I love Italian. All things Italian. Including Italian music.

When I was in Italy a few years ago, this one song by this artist named Jovanotti was played practically on repeat on every radio station. I loved it, it was catchy, so when I got back to the US I would occasionally look up the artist to see if he had any new songs. I now have quite a few of his songs on my iPod. But there is one that I just love. I go through moods of wanting to listen to his music a lot for some reason, and am in one of those moods currently. So I've been listening practically non-stop to Jovanotti. And especially to this song. I love it. I can only understand about 1 out of every 15 words, but I still love it.

Here you go: Baciami Ancora ("Kiss Me Again") by Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini (from a movie of the same name).



If you want to hear more of my favorite songs of his, go here (for the song they played in Italy all the time). Or here (for some sweet dance moves).

Madrid. x2

A little tardy, but here's my last Spanish experience blog! Or is it...??

When I first arrived in Spain what seems like years ago, I started my trip with three (jet-lag-filled) days in Madrid. So it only seems fitting that I also ended my stay in Spain with a couple of days in the same city. After leaving my Spanish family and my friends and Sevilla, I left some more friends behind in Barcelona and hopped on a bus to Madrid by myself.

The eight-hour bus ride left plenty of time for reminiscing and tears. I think everyone was sleeping though so maybe no one saw me crying...Anyway, the bus ride was actually not nearly as miserable as I had expected it to be. Why are airplanes so miserable? If they can make a little bus comfy, a ginormous airplane should be easy. Whatever, after a few stops, lots of music-listening and even a movie, I arrived in Madrid at about 4pm. Then I had to get to my hostel. Because I had two giant suitcases, one of them with a broken handle, I had decided I would take a taxi. I had looked it up online and my hostel was only like 5 miles from the bus station. So I figured it wouldn't cost very much. I was very wrong.

I walked out of the bus station and to the first taxi I saw. They were lined up, so I could have picked any of them. But of course I had to pick this one. After having to work for a bit to get my suitcases to fit in the trunk (I'm pretty sure I could have done it quicker if he would have let me. He seemed incapable of even this small feat. I should have taken my hint then...), I hopped in the back and told him where I was going. He typed it in his GPS and we headed in that direction. Then the small talk started. Some taxi drivers are quiet and just get you where you're going with little more than "hola." This one wanted me to party with him. After asking me if I liked Spanish men (how do you respond to that?!), then asking if I liked good guys or bad boys, then trying to get me to sit in the front sit next to him, he still wouldn't stop talking. Saying I was missing out on a chance for an international exchange. An exchange of what, sir?

Anyway, we got to the hostel finally, and the meter had ran up to 25 euros (outrageous. Although not as bad as the 90 euros the guy in Paris tried to get out of me one time...). I gave him 40 because I didn't have any change. He tried to keep it. "Ohhh thanks for the tip!" I said, no, you owe me change. "Well, I had to work really hard with your bags, and this is normal here." Uhhhh, I've been in Spain for four months. I know what is normal. Tipping is not. So he opens his wallet and shows me he has no small change. So he gives me a 10, hops in the taxi and drives away. Whatever, he only got 5 euros extra. But that was still way too much. If I had not been so angry and disoriented, I would have just given him the 20 and told him that's all I had. ¡Qué cabrón!

Well, by that point I was in a pretty foul mood. And I still had to find my hostel. He had taken me to the street, a very small street, but I still didn't know where the place actually was. I walked back and forth a bit before asking some construction guy if he knew where the hostel was. He didn't, but fortunately some Aussie who works in the same building as the hostel overheard and showed me the way. And also fortunately, the building had an elevator. I found my way in and the lovely girl working there checked me in, showed me around, gave me a towel without charging me the normal 1 euro and I sat in my room. Still fuming at the idiot taxi driver. And hungry. I tried to take a nap. But couldn't sleep. I didn't really want to leave the room since it was raining and I was grumpy. But I needed some food. I wanted a doner kebap. I don't know where its from, the middle east somewhere (Turkey, according to Google), but they are all over in Spain. And all of Europe I think. Its kind of like a gyro or something. So good. I hadn't had one the whole time I'd been in Spain. Lie, I had one when I first got to Madrid (see post about not wanting to eat in restaurants alone...that hasn't changed). Anyway, I was craving one so headed out to find one. I figured there would be a million and I'd run into one right away.

But I didn't. So I wandered into Corte Inglés, Spain's version of.......every imaginable ginormous store rolled into one. Like WalMart, Macy's, Target, Safeway, Best Buy, Sephora....and more, all in one store. Or usually multiple stores covering multiple city blocks. I figured I could just get something to eat there. But I walked in and there were so many people I almost threw up. Guess that's what happens when its only a few days before Christmas plus everyone just got off work. I ran out as fast as I could and took a deep breath and then walked back to the hostel hungrier and grumpier than I was before. I sat in my room for a while with my dead computer because I had left my cord behind in Barcelona. And then I got too hungry to wait any more. I had decided I'd ask the receptionist girl where a kebab place was. But she wasn't there. So I wandered out on my own again. Went a different direction and found one right away. Then I brought it back to the hostel and scarfed it down. So. good.

mmmmmmmm

When I got there earlier, the girl told me the hostel puts on a free walking tour every morning. Ideally, my plan was to spend Tuesday afternoon sightseeing in Madrid (Guernica, final souvenir shopping, etc.) and Wednesday going to the nearby town of Toledo.

Toledo :(

But I had already shot that idea by staying grumpily in my room. And because the Reina Sofia was closed on Tuesdays, I decided, so sadly, that I'd have to scratch Toledo. You just can't go to Madrid without seeing the Guernica, so I'd have to stay in Madrid on Wednesday to go to the Reina Sofia. So I got up Wednesday morning ready to go on the tour. There was one other guy in the hostel waiting for the tour. Spanish-speaking even. So we went to the meeting point and they gave us English tour tickets. He said he wanted the Spanish tour and I thought, it's my last day in Spain-I should do the Spanish one too. So we headed to the Spanish tour which was full of native-Spanish speakers, obviously. We all went around saying where we were from: Argentina (like my hostel buddy, Emanuel), Spain, Colombia.....the US. Whaaaat? They all thought I was kind of weird. But whatever, I held my own in the Spanish realm.

The tour was nothing too special. We just went around and saw some of the main sights-the Royal apartments, some plazas, random little places. I did just fine understanding the super-fast-speaking and strongly-accented tour guide, David. But Emanuel for some reason was more difficult to understand. I worried a little, thinking my 4 months of Spanish practice was for naught. But everyone tells me the Argentina accent is just really difficult to understand so I don't feel so bad now. Anyway, after the tour, Emanuel mentioned he was going to the Reina Sofia later with his friend, also from Argenina, would I like to come? Why not? So we sat around in the hostel for a bit waiting for his friend to show up. When he did, we headed to the museum, where we met another friend of Emanuel's, who is from Madrid but who studies with him in Berlin. Confused? It's okay.

We wandered around in the museum, saw the Guernica (incredible), skipped the other two floors, and headed to get something to eat. We walked around trying to find a good tapas place, but we all were too cheap so we ended up at Spain's version of Burger King or something-"100 Montaditos" (100 snacks). They have a menu of literally 100 little "bocadillos" or sandwhiches, each for 1 euro. You can get everything from a regular cheese sandwhich to a chocolate one, or a hamburger version. Or more gourmet ones. They are small, but filling nonetheless. We each ordered a couple of bocadillos and a drink. Then when those were gone, the guys wanted more. So they ordered more and more drinks for everyone. I think we repeated this about 6 times. Each time with a "jarra" of tinto de verano. A ginormous beer stein. Not that tinto has much in it. It is half soda, maybe more than half, but after 5 or 6, you feel it a little. We played a game with pennies, which was really fun if I can remember how to play it. And we just sat around and talked in Spanish and hung out. Sadly, I think I spoke more Spanish in that one night than I did in an average week in Sevilla. But that's okay.

Picasso's masterpiece Guernica, portraying the horrors of war.

100 Montaditos. I think we ate almost 100.

After our last round of bocadillos/tintos/penny-game, we headed back to our respective hostels/homes/whatevers. But not before first passing a club where they told us we could have a free shot if we came in. They expected us to stay and buy more drinks, but we got our free shot and left. Not that I needed that at all. If I was only tipsy before, that might have done me in. I did make it back to the hostel without falling over. In fact, it didn't even really hit me until we got back to the hostel. My mom can attest for this as she chatted with me online at that point. Also, my new hostel roommates can probably attest to this as I'm sure I woke the poor guys up with my not-so-quiet getting-into-bed.

Anyway, after the dumb beginning of my trip to Madrid, it ended wonderfully. Emanuel was so much fun as were his friends. Some of my all-time favorite memories in Spain consist of just hanging out in bars with friends. So this definitely goes on the list. I got up in the morning, got my stuff together, got another taxi (it was quite a tough decision-take my giant suitcases on the metro and switch trains and go up and down multiple escalators, or catch another taxi who will invariably rip me off? Honestly, I really went back and forth on this in attempt to boycott all taxis. I gave in though), and headed to the airport. This taxi driver was fantastic and I even tipped him voluntarily. And still paid less than I did to the first idiot. When I got to the airport, I ran into a girl from the Liberal Arts program in Sevilla (small world!), had a bunch of issues with my tickets (but whatever, it all worked out in the end), did NOT have to pay a million dollars to check my bags-nothing except for the extra bag fee which I was fully willing to pay, and waited for my plane. 21 hours, three flights, customs, lots of airplane and airport food and a couple pay-phone calls later (forgot to bring the US plug with me for my phone charger, whoops!), I made it home.

It was a great way to end my trip. The progression of leaving people and places, to finally be back where I started in Spain worked out quite well. I was still super sad, but I guarantee I would have been way more emotional if I had had to leave everyone and everything all at once and headed straight from Sevilla to the US on the 17th when classes were done. I got to take my time and say goodbye to (almost) everyone, leave a few things at a time, have more fun adventures, and then leave the country I have grown to love!

I started writing about how much I love Sevilla, but I realized this post is already too long. Soooo, you'll have to wait to read more about that :)

home sweet home.

I've been home for two weeks exactly today. Two very busy, full, fun, interesting weeks! After finally getting back to Portland after approximately 21 hours of traveling, losing my little mp3 player, having a suitcase lost, chatting with a cool soldier going home for Christmas before being deployed to Afghanistan and (not) sleeping, I was pretty tired. Mom and dad picked me up from the airport and we headed to Kevin and Helen's house where I fell asleep in an instant. When I woke up, it was Christmas Eve! Well, it was Christmas Eve when I went to sleep too, but just barely. So mom, dad and I headed to Philomath, I unpacked my Christmas gifts for everyone (the ones I had anyway), and....well, I don't really remember much else. I was kind of out of it. I think we had family dinner? Pretty sure we did. Yes, turkey-and-stuffing-style dinner. YUM.

Then it was Christmas! A fun day of family and food and gifts and stories. And playing with Sierra's playdoh...then I was ready for bed at like 6. The next week or so was a blur of sleeping (mostly not sleeping, actually), unpacking, re-packing to move, meeting up with friends, watching TV, more food, and mentally preparing myself to get back in the routine of school-work-volunteer-homework-life. THEN it was time to move.

First of all, let me say how amazing God is. Sometimes he brings people into your life at just the right time. My friend Annie is so great and we have a lot of fun hanging out. Well, she happens to have two friends who live right next door to her who decided they wanted another roommate. Sooooo Annie introduced us and here I am! These girls are so great and sweet and fun and they love Jesus and are such great roommates! Besides paying like a third of what I did for rent last year, I get to live with two really great girls, right next to another really great girl, and still be close to campus, etc. AND I get to keep my car here. Yay!

So, I'm back in Portland. As soon as I got back up here I heard from my old manager at the gym asking if I wanted to pick up any shifts. Another blessing, I didn't even have to contact them to start working again, easy as that. It doesn't hurt that at least one person recently left so there are open hours. Another God thing? Although I will miss working with Sarah, she was lots of fun. Then my first full day back up here, Annie and I went to SUSHI. Yum. And she showed me where to catch the bus, etc. And then we went to church! Such a good way to start things back up again in Portland.

Although I did break down a little in class on Tuesday. I started off the day in my psychology class, learning about human development and the theories by Piaget, Skinner, Vygotsky, etc. The things I had just finished studying for a whole semester in Spain. And while in class I opened up my notebook to take notes. I started writing on the lined paper and the spaces between the lines seemed GIGANTIC. I had to double-check to see if I had accidentally bought wide-ruled paper. You see, the notebooks in Spain are grided. They are not lined. And the grids are tiny. Like super-tiny. So to write on one "line" is like writing in half of a lined-line. Anyway, both these things (the subject and the paper) made me think of Spain. Right off the bat. Then during my break, I ate a mandarin. Which I took to class a lot in Spain. And Sofie would take like 3 to class. And the mandarins in Spain are waaaay better. Then I had music class. Ohhh music class. Well this didn't remind me of Spain at all. It was just funny. Although an old co-worker from the gym was in that class. Fun.

Anyway, next up was Spanish. Well obviously this reminded me of Spain. But not just because it was Spanish. First of all, two girls in this class were in my class this summer. So they wanted to know all about Spain. Then our instructor walked in and started talking. And from the second word she said, I knew she was from Spain. The accent is very recognizable. So that got me all sentimental. THEN she said what we were going to study: accents. This is what I had study in good ole Joaquín's class. So not only had I been reminded all day of Spain by random things, but then I was sitting in class listening to Spanish, studying something I had just studied in my favorite class over there. Only I wasn't in Spain. And Joaquín wasn't teaching it. And Sofie wasn't sitting next to me in class. And then I started tearing up a little. I was like, "AMY! What are you doing?!?!?!" But I couldn't stop. No tears actually rolled down my face, so I don't think anyone noticed. But my eyes just kept welling up. I finally got it under control. And then Annie picked me up and we did a little shopping at Freddy's.

I still miss Spain. I still wish I could have stayed another semester. But it is even more clear to me now than it was before that I'm supposed to be here. I am excited to be back and hang out with my old friends and live with these fun girls and learn in class and go back to working at the gym and start a new after-school class (here's to hoping it goes better than it did last year...) and all the other good stuff that will happen while I'm here. It's already started out pretty great, I know God will just do more good things in my life. Only he knows why I'm here instead of in Spain, but I trust he has a good reason for it!

Haaaaaaaaaaaapy New Year!!!!!!!

I had to get really excited in the title. Because my actual new year's celebration is...basically nonexistent. It is 9pm and I might head to bed.......I'm going to go ahead and still blame that on the jet lag.

Aaaanyway, I have been doing some reflection over the last year. Since that's usually what you do on New Year's.

Some things that happened in 2010:

- I had moved to Portland at the end of 2009. But in 2010 I finally started feeling comfortable there and knowing my way around and meeting fun people and having a social life :) Bascially, I fell in love with Portland in 2010.

- well, I took a little trip. To Spain. I'm not sure if most of you were aware of that. It was pretty cool.

- my niece turned 1. She is amazing.

- my momma got diagnosed with breast cancer and went through 4 surgeries in 5 months. She is an amazing woman. One of the strongest women I have ever known and one of my greatest heros. She is doing fantastic now, by the way.

- my best friend got married. To a great guy and they are super cute together. Although I do miss getting to hang out with her whenever we want, we still get to hang out quite a lot. And they are a great couple and I'm so happy for them!

- I got a B in Spanish. Boo.

- I went to some really fun concerts (Jamie Cullum and Michael Buble. Don't laugh.) and saw Cirque du Soleil! So incredible!

- my uncle passed away after a long fight with cancer. He had a rough life but was a sweet, loving guy and he is missed.

- I learned a lot of Spanish. Thanks in part to the aforementioned trip to Spain. And even to the class in which I received a B.

-I met some fantastic people. In Portland, in Spain, at church, at work, in class, through other random ways and in other random places...they are all great and I'm glad to have met them all.

-I spent a lot of the money I had saved from working at the bank. On the semester in Spain. Worth it. I think...

- I cut my hair short. Short-ish. Nothing too exciting, nor important. But it happened. And I'm letting it grow out again.

Some things I started doing in 2010:

- working at the gym. Such a fun little job! Definitely kept me entertained and busy (and at times a little stressed), and I had some fun, met some awesome people and made some money.

- going to Solid Rock church and a house church that meets on Mondays. Here I met some more amazing people, learned some more about God, worshipped, grew and just had fun.

- volunteering with AKA Science, the after-school science program put on by the OHCC. So much fun and a great learning experience.

- working out. I learned that I can actually enjoy it! Thanks to the best personal trainer ever, Jeremy.

Some things I learned in 2010:

- a little bit of Spanish :)

- that I'm stronger than I previously realized. And I'm not just talking about my giant muscles. baaaahahahaha

- that you can make all the plans you want and have all the dreams you can dream, but God is ultimately in control. A lesson I for some reason have to keep on learning over and over again.

- that I am a lot braver than I realized. Mostly in relation to food. hahaha I ate a lot of weird stuff in Spain. And never even threw up! And actually liked it all! (minus blood sausage and pig foot...)

- that I can take on a lot of things at once. For instance: 16 credits, 2 volunteer positions, 20 hours of work per week AND a social life. Granted, the next term I cut back a little. But I didn't die. Not quite anyway.

All in all, 2010 was a fantastic year. There were some downs. Some really down-y downs. But there were also a million ups. I had so much fun. After working for four years at a job I really didn't like, that drained every ounce of being that was in me, this was a pleasant change. I'm not just talking about my trip to Spain either. I had so much fun just living in Portland that I was actually sad to leave. I was questioning my decision to study abroad. There were other reasons I was questioning this too, but I had decided that I had had so much fun this last year in Portland that I wouldn't have minded it if I didn't go to Spain. So glad I did though!

Besides my amazing time in Sevilla and the fun I had in Portland, I realized that what it's really all about are the people. Spain wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without the amazing people I met. Sevilla wasn't the greatest city I've been to. But it was so hard to leave because of the relationships I built there. And Portland is the same way. I had so much fun there because of the people I met that I did fun things with. Obviously I have amazing relationships in my hometown too. I wouldn't want to be without them. But that's exactly the point. As long as there are great people around you, it doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing. Because they will make it worth it. Not to say that you should stay somewhere you aren't happy just because of the people. I never would have left the bank if that was the case. But here's a thank you to all those fantastic people in my life. Those that have come and gone, those that are new, those that are old, those that I only see occasionally, those I see all the time. You are all amazing and I wouldn't want to be without any of you!

Now, here are some goals I have for 2011:

- keep practicing and improving my Spanish.

- get more involved in my church.

- read more. In Spanish.

- start working out again. Whoooops. Spain was terrible for that.

- cook more.

- meet more cool people. and hang out more with the cool people I already know.

- be better at keeping in touch with people, especially the people I met in Spain. And re-connect with people I haven't been so good at keeping in touch with.

- don't spend too much money on unnecessary things (ie, clothes...). Notice I said "too much money." Not "don't spend any money." I'm trying to be realistic here...

- watch less TV...fortunately my new apartment won't have TV. But I didn't have that last year either and still wound up watching way too much on hulu.com. Kind of silly.

- sew something. I haven't sewn anything in a long time. I should probably make something.

- frame the artwork I bought in Spain. And the thing I bought in Mexico last year....

Okay, that's enough. I probably won't even be able to do all those. But here's to a year full of change (good change), FUN, goal-making and goal-achieving, personal and spiritual growth, travel, people, good health for everyone, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, contentment and more FUN.

Barcelona. (Barthelona/Barca/Bartha/Barça)

The day after my last final, Sofie and I packed up and headed to Barcelona. We were going to meet Sarah and two of her friends there and spend a few days seeing the sights. Sofie and I said goodbye to our señoras (no tears!!!!), hopped in a taxi and headed to the airport. Where the tears started. But nevermind that.

Now, I was in Sevilla for a little over three months. And I bought a lot of things. I mean a LOT of things. So my two giant suitcases were filled to the brim. And very heavy. How heavy, I did not realize. Until I went to check my two bags on Vueling and the guy said, "uhh, the limit is 46 kilos. This will cost you 230 euros to check these bags." Uhhhh I'm sorry. 230 euros?!?!!? I was not sure what to do. So I just stared at him. And so he started speaking in English because he thought I didn't understand. But I still stared at him, bewildered. There was no way I was going to pay that much to check my bags. But there was also no way I was going to not see Barthelona. So I just kept saying, uhhhhhhh. Ehhhhh. Ummmmm. And he finally asked what Sofie was checking. She had a tiny little suitcase. She is amazing. I don't know how she left after 3 months with less than I started with. Anyway, because of her smart, thrifty, space conservation-ness, he said he'd call hers a carry-on and then my two could count as three bags between us. Yikes. Praise the Lord.

After that scare, we found our gate and sat until our plane boarded. For three hours. Noooo idea why we got there so early. Anyway, we finally made it to Barcelona at about 10pm, where we hopped on the train (baaarely making it in time), then found our way to the apartment/hotel. Dragging my billion pounds of luggage behind us (Sofie is my hero for helping me all week with my bags!). We made it to the apartment. And then stared up the four flights of stairs with tears in our eyes. Then drug (dragged?) my bags up the stairs. Then I ate my last bocadillo from my señora :( Then Sarah told us about how she had been attacked in the train station by some moron throwing makeup on her and pretending to help her while his friend distracted her by asking for directions and his other friend tried to steal her bags. Well, Sarah is much smarter than some dumb muggers, so they didn't get away with anything. Minus staining her clothes :( Anyway, we went to sleep and woke up the next morning to explore Barcelona!

I normally don't like big cities that much. I prefer the smaller, more traditional, historical towns. Not that Barcelona isn't historic. But I didn't really think I'd like it that much. I was wrong. It may be one of my favorite cities in Spain now. The Gaudí buildings are incredible. I had heard of Gaudí and heard of the Sagrada Familia, etc. But I did NOT expect it to be so amazing. Gaudí was a genius. His buildings are just insane. Like nothing you would imagine a building to be. The Sagrada Familia, Gaudí's cathedral in Barcelona, is breathtaking. I could have spent all day looking up at the building. All week probably. After gawking at the Gaudí creations; seeing the Picasso museum full of amazing art; visiting the food market with super cheap, fresh juices; eating PAELLA finally; drinking some cava (champagne); doing some cuddling and movie-watching with the girls; my final serving of churros; and hanging out with my lovely Sarah and Sofie, and Sarah's two fun friends who are studying in France, it was time to part ways :(

Barcelona was fantastic. It's a wonderful big city with so much to do and see, and with so much quirky-ness that the big-ness doesn't even matter. I love Gaudí and Picasso now more than ever thanks to this city. I also love paella. And fresh fruit juice. I DON'T love street performers, which Barcelona is full of. They are just weird and creepy. I also don't love makeup-spilling attention-diverting robbers. But still, Barcelona is great. After all the wonder of this city, it was time to head back to Madrid for a day before leaving for good. Which meant time to hop on an eight-hour bus ride. Fun.

More to come!

No pictures because my computer is dead. And I left my cord in Barcelona. So until Sofie gets back from Spain/Serbia with it, I am computer-less. So you can go to my facebook to see a few photos!

shopping, studying, tears and goodbyes

Where to start...?! Well, first of all, I'm HOME! After 21 hours, three flights, one taxi ride, leaving my iPod on the plane and lost luggage...I made it back to Portland at 12.30am this morning. I can't believe that yesterday (the day before?) I was in Madrid. Craziness.

Back to Sevilla-the last week or so there. I don't remember what I posted about last, and I'm too lazy to look it up. The last week in Sevilla went by really fast. I had finals to study for, sights to see, goodbyes to say, tears to shed....

I had four finals to take the last week. I also had to turn in a final paper about the book/movie Los Santos Inocentes, a portfolio about my teaching practicum and a video for my psychology class. The tests were pretty hard and required quite a bit of studying. And the video required hours of editing, all done in Douchka, my favorite tea shop. We literally spent four hours there one night working on the video. I'm sure the owner just loved us...

Between studying and taking exams, I did lots of last-minute sight-seeing and shopping. I had lots of souvenirs to buy still and places that I wanted to check out or see again. There are still a lot of places I didn't get around to seeing after almost four months. Kind of pathetic, really. But I still saw a lot of amazing things and got in a few last-minute sights.

Our little TDP group had been planning a goodbye party or two. The original plan was to meet up with Ale and Gerardo and some other friends on Wednesday night for some drinks. Then the 5 of us would go out to dinner on Thursday night as our last dinner together. But because of the studying required for our finals on Thursday, we decided to do everything on Thursday night. And then CIEE notified us they were also throwing us a goodbye party that night. So we planned to go to the party, then head to dinner with our little TDP group, then meet up with other friends for a couple drinks.

When Thursday came around, we finished our finals and I did a little packing, then Sofie, Charlotte and I met up for a little pre-party wine-drinking. We sat out at the table in our little patio area and drank a bottle of wine between the three of us. So by the time we headed to the CIEE party, we were a bit tipsy. Which meant I was already a bit emotional. Then when we got there, our TDP teacher, Jorge, was just leaving. We had to say goodbye to him before we even walked into the party. So by the time I walked in, I was already crying. We didn't have much time at the party as we had dinner reservations, but we said goodbye to some friends, to our coordinator Caro and I said goodbye to my professor Angel. Then we ran out to the restaurant. Ale planned to meet us there since we weren't sure what time we'd be done with dinner. And Gerardo was going to meet us after we were done.

A little pre-party wine-drinking.

My lovely TDP family, with our profe Jorge (in the middle).

Saying goodbye to the ever-stylish Ángel.

We headed to the restaurant, which was one we walked by all the time and had tea at a few times. The menu looked great and it always smelled amazing inside. But we had never eaten there. We walked in for dinner, and the waiter who we always saw there said, "you're coming here to EAT today?!" hahah whoops, guess our only-tea-drinking was annoying. Whatever, we ordered rice with duck and some wine and enjoyed our Last Supper together. We had fun chatting and reminiscing and laughing. And trying not to cry...After dinner we ordered some dessert. Then I called up Gerardo to meet up with us. But he couldn't make it as he had to work early the next morning. And nobody else wanted to go out since they also had to get up early. Soooo that was the end of things. I was so glad Ale came to dinner with us so we could hang out one last time. We all headed outside, I said tearful goodbyes to everyone, and we headed home. Where I went to bed and cried myself to sleep. Not really. But mostly.

The TDP group and Ale. Love them all.

Me and Ale. Tears!

The next morning, I woke up, had my last breakfast at Angeles's house, headed to do some final shopping with Sofie and then headed back home for my last lunch with the Spanish family. Which consisted of tomato soup with bread and a fried egg in it, and some boquerones. And of course an orange. I then packed everything up (it barely fit...and made for some very heavy suitcases), sat in my room with no internet and nothing to do, trying not to cry, and then said goodbye to the host family. I took my bags downstairs and Sofie and I headed to the airport to go to Barcelona. I didn't even cry when I said goodbye to Angeles and her family. But then I got in the taxi and saw Sevilla flying past and couldn't hold it in anymore. I'm sure the taxi driver thought I was crazy, and so did Sofie, but I just couldn't help it.

I am not someone who is afraid of change. I kind of thrive on it, actually. If I am in the same place doing the same thing for too long, I can't stand it. I have realized that I end up changing something every year or so-jobs, living arrangement, entire life-plan, etc. I just keep moving around and trying new things, hoping I will eventually find what and where and who I want to be for good. Whenever I leave "home" to go somewhere new, I'm a little sad but mostly excited. I always know that I'll be back in Oregon, close to my family and friends at some point. But when I have to leave the "new" place, its always sad because I know that its for good. Not to say that I will never talk to or see the people or places again. But it just will never be the same. So for this reason, there were plenty of tears when I left Sevilla.

Now I'm ready for what's to come. I'm excited to move in with my new roommates, start new classes, figure out what I'm going to do for work, meet new people, etc. I still would have loved to have been able to stay in Sevilla for another semester. Just to practice my Spanish more and hang out with my Spanish and American friends (and get Joaquín to fall in love with me...). But that's not the plan God had for me. I know I will have an amazing year here in Portland with my family and friends. I love Portland. I still think it may be the greatest place to live on earth. But I'm sure a year from now I'll be ready for something new again...we'll see what is in store for me next! Here's to a great new year!

Soon to come: Barcelona adventures. Don't worry, the Spain blogging isn't done yet :)

Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

thief...

I keep stealing pictures from people on facebook. Is this creepy? Wrong? Weird? Whatever, please to enjoy.

This is Ángel, my novel/cinema professor. With Andrew (left) and
Elena (far right) and...I don't remember.

This is Jorge, before our carmel shots...he's the one in the blue t-shirt.

Sofie, Sarah and I hanging out at a fountain in Barrio Santa Cruz...

21!!!!!

My two favorite Spanish guys in the whole world. Maybe my favorite guys
in general. Gerardo (left) and Ale, (with Charlotte in the middle), celebrating
my and Charlotte's birthdays.