SIKE

So we're still here. I won't be back in the U.S. until tomorrow now. This couldn't be any more frustrating or anti-climatic. I was looking forward so much to getting back to Hopkins and I was in full-fledged home mode. So what happened? Well, apparently the flight was changed from December 14th to December 15th by Iberia back in August before we even left for this trip. But the travel agency never alerted the Hopkins Study Abroad office to the change, so none of us knew. I am upset though that the office at Hopkins did not call to confirm ahead of time. The 10 of us that were planning to head back are now in an hotel close to the airport and we're going to give this another go around tomorrow. What a disaster. At least Hopkins is covering all the costs because I have not a single moneda of euros left. So new flight itinerary is for 4:10 tomorrow and I should be arriving at Dulles at 6:55 pm. I just want to go to bed now so that the night will pass by even faster and I can just get home.

Te dejo Madrid

How fitting that Shakira has a song about leaving Madrid! It's finally here, my last night in Spain. Today was surprisingly relaxed. I woke up sort of ridiculously late - at 1 pm - and then went out to do some last minute souvenir shopping in the rain (gross!). Now I'm sitting in my room packing everything up but it's not nearly as bad as packing to come here was. I guess it's because I already know what I have to bring with me and it's all right here. I don't have to pick and choose between clothes and shoes. Speaking of, I'm officially throwing away three pairs of shoes that have gotten absolutely trashed. It feels good to have a little extra space for the stuff I bought in my suitcase. And to compensate I got myself a cheap pair of ankle boots to wear home - only 19€!
I cannot wait at all to see everyone at home! I've missed you all so much. But now that I'm leaving I've realized that I'm going to miss my host mom a lot. As much as she's driven me nuts over the semester with her quirkiness, she's been great to have around and I've learned a lot from her. We exchanged email addresses today so that we could keep in touch. I know it's going to feel weird giving back my set of keys to her.
Ok, signing off for now. I'll be reachable by my normal phone number again once I get to the states. Plane lands at 7:20 pm in Dulles.

Catherine

¡Adivina que cenamos!

It's taken some getting used to as far as the Spanish cuisine goes. There are some dishes that I absolutely love -- chicken paella, tortilla española, croquetas and other tapas. But some of it is a little...fishy...and at times literally. Sorry bad pun. But seriously, I've sat down before to a dinner of what looked like chicken nuggets with fish tails sticking out then ends only to learn that they were fried anchovies. I've eaten lumpy fish soup. And I'm not sure I'll ever really like cocido, which is at least three types of meat all in one dish. So when I sat down to dinner tonight and saw a peculiar looking pasta salad, I started preparing myself. Penne, tomatoes, tuna, corn, hard boild egg, and pineapple. It looked...interesting. And of course my plate was twice as full as my host mother's. I decided to figuratively poke my toe in the water instead of jumping in, and took a small bite. And it was...good?

Wait, actually? It is...it's...good!

SURPRISE! I guess Spain has finally taken a toll on my tastebuds. I doubt much else will phase me now. Maybe the next bowl of lumpy fish soup will actually taste like a little piece of heaven. Then again, I'm heading back so soon that I won't really have time to test that theory out...hopefully.

More music from Amaral

My favorite Spanish band, followed by la Oreja de Van Gogh.

Still studying away here...sort of. I've been working on a paper all day and just finished, but what amounted to 2 hours worth of work was spread out between nearly 3 hour breaks perusing Youtube. At least tomorrow I know I'll make it out of the house because I need to hand in my short story for one class. Then it's off to Starbucks to study!

6 days left! Can't wait :)

This little piggy HASN'T gone to the market

As I was getting ready for bed just now, I looked down at my feet and realized...that bit of chipped pink nail polish on my two big toes has been there since AUGUST.

NASTY.

I can remember sitting in my room procrastinating from packing. It must have been around August 20th, just a few days before I left to come here. I can't believe that I have let it sit there and slowly disappear as my nails grow for an entire semester. Apparently somewhere along all the traveling and commuting to classes I forgot to take five minutes to fix my feet.


So it's decided now. First thing I do when I get to Baltimore is find some nail polish remover. Well, maybe not first thing. First thing is hug my boyfriend. But then I'm running to CVS and buying nail polish remover.

Crunch time

So this is my first official weekend staying in Madrid in over a month. I've been traveling every weekend before now. The countdown is T-8 days until I go back to Baltimore and 15 until I go back to Chicago. Finals period is from Tuesday to Thursday this week and after the unexpectedly long fiesta that Concha had at her house last night -- it left me smelling of smoke and still without a tick mark on my to-do list -- I'm starting to worry a little about getting everything done.

Honestly, I'm worn out. I'm ready to go back to Hopkins...at least back to campus to see everyone I miss. I'm not nearly as ready to start an intense spring semester. But no worries, we have all of January to prepare for that.

After the program trip to Andalucía, I spent weekends in Dublin (below is one of the main streets all decorated for Christmas), Paris, and London. I'm being a little stingy with the photo uploads right now mostly because I'm too impatient to wait for more to upload. Only one from each city.


London was absolutely amazing not only because it's a great city but also because I finally saw my Jenny for the first time since August. It made me realize just how much I really miss everyone at Hopkins.

And in the few days I had right before Thanksgiving, an old old friend from Wheaton came with her family to spend the holiday in Madrid. That made me realize how much I miss my Dad and brother and the old high school friends.

This was the best photo I had of Me, Paulina, and her sister Nellie. We spent a night eating tapas
and bar hopping in Chueca, one of the barrios of Madrid. We had another afternoon of delicious churro goodness at the famous Chocolatería San Ginés. The churros here are probably the number one reason I'll want to come back to Madrid eventually, once I'm old and have enough money to treat myself right.

So today I have to crank out a couple essays and make myself look all pretty this afternoon because at 7 pm I'm heading out to the Theater. I like to think of it as a cultural and educational way to procrastinate more much-needed studying. The theater trip is an optional one sponsored by Hopkins. We'll be seeing Las Manos Blancas no ofenden, written by Calderón de la Barca. It is apparently a very popular play from el Siglo de Oro (The Golden Age) and was most likely written in 1640. I have a little flyer I need to read to situate myself with the play because it's apparently going to be performed in Old Castellano. Fingers crossed that I'll understand some of what's going on.

Ok it's back to work for this lazy student.

Creimos en el rock and roll

Amaral says it well. These cravings to live can't fit in just one song. And the confusion that you feel, I feel as well.

With all the confusion going on and being so far away from home, at least I've still got my rock and roll.

20 days left until I return to the States. This will be interesting.

Thank you to everyone who's been helping me through all the recent confusion.