Hasta luego, Spain!

Here's Claudine, the French lady who I visited all semester. She's great! She's lived in France, Spain, Germany, the U.S... and she can go back and forth between languages so quickly! I had to say goodbye the other day, which was sad, but I'm glad I got a picture to remember her by! Plus, with Skype, I'm hoping to call her to see how she's doing!

Here I am, with my luggage, about to leave Spain! Actually, I didn't leave. Intense fog in London caused me to be rerouted to a direct flight to Chicago through Iberia (even better... a direct flight!). However, that flight got overbooked, so Iberia offered me 600 Euros in cash, a 4 star hotel for the night, another direct flight to Chicago, and food... wow! I decided to take them up on it, and I must say, it was pretty cool to see the customer service lady bust out the 200 Euro bill. I didn't know those existed! A nice way to get a little money back after all the spending that comes with a semester abroad! I'm writing this blog from my hotel...luckily I had my laptop bag (my luggage stayed at the airport) so I could take advantage of the free wireless internet.

I stayed with Heidi, a fellow American study-abroader, for my last few days. My last night (well, my original last night), we walked around and did one last walking tour of Madrid! It was QUITE chilly, but the Christmas lights were beautiful and it was a great way to end the day. We stopped at Starbuck's for some hot chocolate (ok, not very Spanish-like, but it was SO cold...we needed something to warm up with!).

Here is the Puerta del Toledo, which looked especially cool with the lights they put on it! I will miss the monuments in the city... this was built I think as an "entrance" into Madrid by one of the kings.

Madrid, I'll miss you! Hopefully, I'll make it back before I'm 80, but until I can make it back, I'm glad I took lots of pictures my last few days! :-) See you soon!

Sometimes, Viajar-ing is Intense

Wow. Today was INTENSE. It was one of those days when you realize that traveling is not always a piece of cake. I started the day by going to Immanuel Baptist Church to see my SLU friend Amanda sing in the choir. Then, I had to duck out early to meet Chey, another SLU friend. Chey and I decided to grab one last churro and then I went to help see her off at the airport!

Let's just say we got a workout. Chey lived in a building where Cervantes lived! Yes, this was where he wrote Don Quixote, and Chey was lucky enough to be placed with a lady who lives here! After she bid goodbye to her family, we lugged her HEAVY suitcase down the ancient wooden stairs. Then, we walked to a metro, went up and down stairs with the luggage, switched at two stations... then, when we finally got to Barajas Airport, we had to catch a bus to the other terminal! The handle broke on the suitcase... it was that heavy! Then, when Chey checked in, they said her luggage was too heavy. I must say, I don't understand why the weight limits are so incredibly strict. They told us you can have two checked bags with up to 32 kilos each. Chey had one bag that was 44 kilos, and one that was 12. But, no, you have to have each one under 32... arg. We spent about 45 minutes re-arranging her luggage and she ended up having to check a third bag, which costs extra of course :-( Sheesh, we were so exhausted and sweaty by the end of it! Later today, I packed my suitcases too, and they are HEAVY! I will probably need to throw more out, or I'll have to deal with the same situation as Chey did...


Chey saying goodbye to her house! That's a plaque above the door signifying that Cervantes lived here.

Here I am with the broken handle from the suitcase. I decided we could use it for an antennae. The British Airways guy was a little confused as to what it was I was holding...

Here are Chey and I, completely exhausted after all of it! I'm just glad she didn't have to go through that all by herself, that would have been a nightmare. So, I sent her off and came home and took a nap!!

So, today, I have taken 4 Metro rides, 2 bus rides, and 1 taxi, and I'm taking a taxi in about 15 minutes to go to my friend Heidi's house with all my stuff! This is it, I'm leaving Alicia's house today and spending the last couple days with Heidi in her piso in Madrid.

Anyhow, just had to share my crazy day with you all! Hopefully, mine will go smoothly on Wednesday when I fly home. Don't know if I'll get on here before then, so next time I write, it'll probably be from home!!

A Night in Saudi Arabia

So, Doa and Fawwaz, two SLU-Madrid permanent students from Saudi Arabia, invited all of us from the Interfaith Retreat to come over to their house for dinner! They live about 45 minutes from Madrid. It was AWESOME. They were incredibly hospitable, constantly bringing us drinks, appetizers, tea, food, dessert, etc.!

Here are some pictures:

Jen and I toasting to the last night in Madrid! (Jen left today... I'm still here for a few days, but most of my friends went home on the group flight) This is some kind of cherry juice...


Doa and I! I am going to miss this girl! She is the nicest girl EVER.

Anna and I, the two tall, white, Midwesterners. Ok, we could never pass for Saudi Arabians, but we had fun dressing like them!! Anna didn't want to take off the outfit, it was so comfortable!

Doa and Fawwaz helping one of the guys put on the traditional male outfit.

Dancing with Alex... Alex is an amazing dancer! Here I am wearing the traditional Saudi Arabian dress. I love the colors...

Doa with the feast they prepared for us!! It was definitely one of the best meals I've ever had...

It was really fun to get all the Interfaith Retreat people together again one more time. It was pretty incredible to spend a night enjoying all of the food, music, dancing, and clothing and hanging out with Doa and Fawwaz's family. We had people from the U.S., Germany, the Phillipines, and Zimbabwe there... imagine this group all eating, dancing (in several different styles), teaching each other phrases from our languages, and just enjoying a great time. None of us wanted to leave, but by 1 a.m. or so, we finally piled back into the van to head back to Madrid. On the way back, Fawwaz translated a bunch of the Arabian songs we were listening to for me... which was cool... and it was funny, because every time I asked, "What is this one about?"... it was always about love! Seems to be what 90% of all songs are about anywhere, right?

Well, I have 4 more days in Madrid. Finals are done, and my roommates left early this morning! Sad... I am enjoying a few more days just seeing some of the things I haven't seen yet and not wanting to leave...

Time is running out...

Here are some pictures from the last week or so... time is running out, but I'm trying to make the most of it!

Here's Sara packing... it was weird to take the suitcases that had been sitting on top of our closet all semester and begin packing! We had fun trying to take them off down... it got a little wobbly for a moment and both I and the ceiling lamp almost got into trouble!



This is a house nearby the school... the leaves are pretty and are falling now, which seems a little late to me, but that's ok, I don't mind that winter isn't quite as intense here! :-)

The Christmas lights in Madrid are AWESOME! They really know how to decorate. This is from El Corte Ingles, the big department store chain in Madrid.

We went one last time to watch my host-lady sing at Luchana! We also got Amanda to sing "Close Your Eyes," and she was awesome! From right to left: Amanda, Fabian, me, and Jen.

So, for a belated Sara's-birthday-present, I got her the chocolate version of Scrabble (yes, the pieces are made of chocolate! yum)... haha, it was in Spanish, so we made it into Spanglish Scrabble. We busted it out today in the snack bar with some people to take a break from finals. And interestingly enough, we found out that Christine's parents (Christine is the one on the right) met at a Scrabble tournament!

As you can see, it's been an ecclectic last while here... we're all taking finals, trying to enjoy Madrid for a few more days with everyone, and getting ready to go home! It's crazy... I think we're all feeling the mix of emotions that come with finishing up the study abroad experience... I think everyone, of course, will be glad to have finals over with, though. I've taken 3, and I have 2 left on Friday. Then... it's one last night hanging out before the majority of people fly home. We have to move out of our housing by Saturday, so most people left by then. I'll be staying for the last few days with a friend from church, Heidi. Then, it's back home by December 20th! Wow. Ok, time to get back to studying and sleep. Hasta luego!

It's finals week!

Well, they've finally arrived... final exams. Hard to believe the end of the semester is really here! We're all in a hurry to study and still take advantage of our last few days here in Spain! I'll be back in WI on December 20th... so luckily, I'll have a bit of time to enjoy Spain after finals end. This week should be pretty intense - I'll let you know how it goes! I'm off to sleep so I can wake up early tomorrow and do school work. The joys of college life! :-) (There is something semi-thrilling about finals though... it's like a race against time to get the best score possible.)

My Beef with Post-Modernism...

So... since we're just about done with the semester, in lots of my classes we're reading/discussing more recent literature/cultural stuff. You know how in American History class in high school, you start with Plymouth Rock and then end with a quick overview of the 90s? Well, that's where I'm at in my British Drama, Spanish Literature, and Spanish Culture and Civilization Classes. All of them are survey classes, so they cover a wide range of time, and now, of course, we are at the most contemporary stuff. Therefore, we're talking a lot about "post-modern" ideas.

I've learned a lot about the whole post-modern era. First of all, I think the name "post-modern" is an intellectually pretentious term. Haha, but that's besides the point. Basically, in a nutshell, post-modernism refers to an era in art, literature, philosophy, etc. (beginning in the late 1950s, maybe?) in which things are broken apart... things aren't looked at in traditional ways. A black spot on a canvas is no longer a black spot on a canvas... the order of things is turned around... traditional form/order/thought no longer applies, or is highly questioned. Ok, that's a somewhat vague description, but maybe that's why you can understand why I get a little tired of trying to study it.

Basically, I just don't get it. Ok, yeah, I understand the concept of analyzing things and seeing them in a new light. But as we talked about in my Spanish Culture and Civ. class... breaking things apart and criticizing gets old. I guess I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the ideas of "post-modernism" and appreciating them the way I appreciate earlier periods in literature/art... overall, I just don't like it.

I'm glad people are trying to be innovative, but art now seems to be so much more than just artistic ability. That has both positive and negative consequences... cause a guy who can paint amazing landscapes, but who doesn't expell some incredible meaning behind each color and line, has less of a chance of making it as an artist nowadays. Something just seems a little odd about that to me. At the same time, I think it's interesting that art is now more than just a painting, it has a more complex meaning. That is kind of interesting in its own rite, I guess.

Some of the stuff I've read/watched for my classes from this era has been WEIRD... I guess that's what's kept me thinking about it.

Any thoughts?

Salamanca y Otras Cosas

Plaza Mayor in Salamanca - the view from our hostal!

A picture of one of the buildings from the University of Salamanca.

Amanda took a picture from the Plaza Mayor of Jen and I on our balcony at the hostal. It was an amazing view!

So, I tried to go to bed at 9 tonight, since I have to get up EARLY to write a paper and prepare for a presentation. I woke up about 10:30 and realized, my body is confused by my attempts to mess up the sleep schedule... so, I thought I'd say hello. Tomorrow is the last day of 3 of my classes, and Thursday is the last day of class for my other two classes. WOW! I can't believe how fast this semester has gone... there is so much I need to do before I leave in 2.5 weeks!



School has been very busy lately... ever since the beginning of November, school has been just going non-stop. I am a little nervous for finals... it will be a challenge to balance studying for them and wrapping up everything else here. Luckily, I have about 5 days after finals before I fly home, so I'll have a chance to enjoy Spain stress-free after I finish all my tests!



My paper that I'm writing is on the play Man and Superman, by Bernard Shaw. Very interesting... I love/hate it at the same time. It's very witty and makes a lot of interesting commentary on society, and at the same time, it's really wordy and I don't agree with all of Shaw's philosophical views... sometimes I've been thinking as I read it, "Shaw, stop thinking so hard." Anyone read it?



I'm giving a talk next Sunday in my ward at church, in Spanish! I'm a bit nervous, since it'll take definite preparation to speak in Spanish, but I'm also kind of excited to have the chance to do it. Learning "church" vocabulary in Spanish is sometimes a new branch of Spanish for me, since the words aren't ones I learn in classes. However, it's been cool to learn how to understand the scriptures and talk about the gospel in another language.



It's been rainy here the past few days... and it's finally getting chilly and winter-like! (The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, and in Madrid apparently!) :-) Actually though, it's pretty dry here... they're talking a lot about how they need to save water...



I went to Salamanca on Friday night. The Plaza Mayor all lit up at night was gorgeous!! I wish I could have spent more time there... unfortunately, the university was closed, since we were trying to tour it on Saturday, and it's closed on weekends. The University of Salamanca is like the "Harvard" of Spain, it's OLD and beautiful. It made me think of Harry Potter... cause it seemed like the kind of place where students would wear robes and carry candles in the dark hallways...

Our hostal was awesome - only 15 Euro a night per person, with a balcony onto the Plaza Mayor! We lucked out for sure... we had a great time just walking around the city and looking at everything all lit up at night. Since it is a university town, we tried to see what students were up to on a Friday night, which we finally figured out after wandering the streets alone for a long time, haha. Amanda, because of her blonde hair we think, was attracting all types of cat calls from men... sort of funny!

Ok, well, I think I'm going to try to sleep again soon. P.S. I finally figured out that I had to "moderate" my blog comments... so if you've tried to comment and it never showed up, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I had to "approve" them... I changed that now so you should be able to comment freely. I was beginning to wonder if anyone ever read this! Hehe, so anyhow, sorry about that. Have a great week everyone! I'll write again soon :-)