Enjoyable Lyrics

So, great lyrics make great music, in many cases. Sometimes, I'm just blown away by how a songwriter can articulate a feeling that I didn't know how to express myself... whether or not I have necessarily gone through that particular experience. I see this in literature all the time... of course, there are also the lyrics that are just so cliche that you can't help but roll your eyes :-)

I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorites... some are sad, some are funny, some perhaps profound... but I enjoy them all:

"How come no one told me, all throughout history, the loneliest people, were the ones who always spoke the truth? The ones who made a difference, by withstanding the indifference... I guess it's up to me now... Should I take that risk or just smile?" -Misread, Kings of Convenience

"Hush now child, and don't you cry... Your folks might understand you, by and by" -Move on Up, Curtis Mayfield

"How dare they say, that a love like ours won't last? God made no mistakes, when He sheltered me with your heart... There's no safer place than to be in love, And here I will stand" -Can't Let Go, Anthony Hamilton

"I'd rather dance than talk with you... The music's too loud, and the noise from the crowd, increases the chance of misinterpretation" -I'd Rather Dance With You, Kings of Convenience

"High up above or down below... When you're too in love to let it go... But if you never try you'll never know... Just what you're worth. Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you" -Fix You, Coldplay

"Everybody's talking at me... I don't hear a word they're saying... Only the echoes of my mind... I'm going where the sun keeps shining, Thru' the pouring rain" - Everybody's Talkin', Harry Nilsson

"What's wrong with the world, mama? People livin' like they ain't got no mamas... I think the whole world addicted to the drama, Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma" -Where's the Love?, Black Eyed Peas

"But just in case, It's my place, To impart... One day some girl's gonna break your heart, And ooh ain't no pain like from the opposite sex, Gonna hurt bad, but don't take it out on the next, son. Throughout life people will make you mad, Disrespect you and treat you bad, Let God deal with the things they do, Cause hate in your heart will consume you too" -Just the Two of Us, Will Smith

"Ok, so your heart's broke. You sit around moping, crying, crying...you say you're even thinking about dying? Well, before you do anything rash, Dig this... Everybody plays the fool sometime; There's no exception to the rule. Listen, baby, it may be factual, may be cruel, I ain't lying, everybody plays the fool." -Everybody Plays the Fool, The Main Ingredient

"You've got to get yourself together, You've got stuck in a moment, And now you can't get out of it. Don't say that later will be better, Now you're stuck in a moment, And you can't get out of it" -Stuck in a Moment, U2

"It takes a thought to make a word, And it takes some words to make an action, And it takes some work to make it work, It takes some good to make it hurt, It takes some bad for satisfaction... It takes a night to make it dawn, And it takes a day to make you yawn brother, And it takes some old to make you young, It takes some cold to know the sun, It takes the one to have the other. And it takes no time to fall in love, But it takes you years to know what love is, And it takes some fears to make you trust, It takes those tears to make it rust, It takes the dust to have it polished" -Life is Wonderful, Jason Mraz

"I want more than just ok, more than just ok. When I’m up with the sunrise, I want more than just blue skies. I want more than just ok, more than just ok. I’m not giving up, giving up, not giving up now. I’m not giving up, giving up, not backing down. More than fine, more than bent on getting by" -More Than Fine, Switchfoot

"There ain't no rust on the happiness bus" -Keepin' It Real, Mason Jennings

Have a great week!

Cereal Dreams Come True

One of the reasons I love college... bargain shopping. The stores around here know how to lure in poor college students with deals. Smith's, my favorite grocery store, recently had an 8/$8 deal on General Mills cereal. So, I had to take advantage :-) Unfortunately, Cheerios was the only "healthy" cereal option. But... I do enjoy a bowl of sugar cereal now and then, so basically, I have enough cereal for a LONG time :-) You'd think I was shopping for a family of 10! :-) And yes, I put my cereal into a pyramid and took a picture... hey, you've got to remember these moments as they come.

We're growing up fast...

So... I finally had a chance to see Abby and meet her adorable baby Ellee! Man, what a cutie. Hard to believe some of my best friends are moms now... sure enough, life comes quickly. So, here are some of the pictures:

Ellee loved eating my cardboard photo folder thing. Yum!


This girl smiles on command... Abby has trained her well :-)

What a cute pair!!

Aww... she looks like she's cheering!

The three of us. This is my favorite one! Although Ellee must have been tired of smiling by this time :-)

Well, I look forward to seeing this one grow up and it makes me excited to see where life takes all of my friends and their families. It's a pretty exciting time!

Fun Times

Some recent pictures...
Mom came to Provo to visit me!

Andrea, Rissie, Kevin, and I eating at Smart Cookie... this place is new since the last time I lived in Provo, and it is GOOD.

Andrea and I on the lift at Alta... it was a GREAT day, and the first time I had gone skiing in a long time. Andrea has been staying with me while she does a clinical rotation for her PT grad program, and it's been a lot of fun hanging out and showing my hometown friend around UT.

The 80s are alive and well... some friends in our ward hosted an 80s prom party, and I was lucky enough to get ahold of this awesome dress... and I found a friend who almost matched me! I don't think this era would have been too flattering on me, hehe.

My friend McKenzie hosted a dinner party at her house... it's always fun to have an excuse to dress up and pretend to be sophisticated. I met her in Spain at Institute, and now, we are both in Provo, which is fun!

So, that's a little update... yeah, it's been a while since I've written anything - school and life have been quite busy, but I'm enjoying it and trying to keep all the juggling balls in the air. Spring is coming soon, which means nice weather and being outside, and I am excited!

Well, I guess that's all for today. :-)

No Man is An Island

We need people. Basically, it comes down to that. I think I've been reminded of that lately... although we sometimes need to experience and learn things on our own, our lives are not meant to be lived in isolation. We naturally feel a need for affiliation, for friendship, companionship, love, etc. It's just a part of who we are. Some of us seem to need it to greater degrees than others. We may need this human interaction more at certain stages or times in our lives than in others. But we need it.

Think about the reasons why... We could not survive without each other, life would cease to exist (just think about all that parents do to raise a new generation). Often we receive answers to prayers through other people. We find true love in a relationship with another person. Even prayer is a communication between ourselves and God, another being, in whose image we are created.

Why do we love watching movies or reading books? Usually, it's because we feel some connection to the characters and their experiences. We flinch when someone is shot in a movie because it feels like it's almost real. We might go "Aww" during a romantic comedy because we see the truth in someone's love, even if the story is completely fake. Movies remind us of the importance of making real relationships with others.

When we're in need of help, emotional or physical, it is often through other people that we start to move forward again. Sometimes people can help us see things in ourselves that we may not see. If we all lived completely separated from anyone else, life would be pretty meaningless, and I guarantee our happiness would dwindle.

Remember those who are forgotten by most people, and let yourself do something good for them. And let people do something good for you.

Being open to people, I think, demonstrates an openness to life itself. Sure, we will all get hurt once in a while. Maybe even a lot. Use these experiences as a reminder of the extent of one's impact on others... but don't shut people out. No one is perfect, including any of us. Forgive people when they mess up. Trust me, if you don't, when you're older, you will probably not be glad that you kept out the world - you'll be lonely.

Let people in, and you'll let life in.

Thanks to the people who have reminded me of this.

Heart-Shaped Pizzas Make Valentine's Day Great

Dare I comment on Valentine's Day? Well, why not, it's already over anyhow :-) My advice for a Happy Valentine's Day is to just enjoy it. It doesn't need to be a big pressure holiday... just enjoy the loves in your life, in whatever form they come, and eat some yummy candy and write a few cards. Valentine's day was the best in my elementary school years, when every kid had a brown paper bag hanging up in the classroom, and everyone got a valentine. That's what it's all about! Anyhow, here's a picture of the heart-shaped pizza some friends and I ate. Yum!

Some things change for the better.

So, the BYU library closes at midnight, and at 11:45 P.M., they begin to play "exit" music. For my first two years at BYU, it was always the same song: Oh When the Saints Go Marching In.... and then that song from the "Beef: It's What's For Dinner" commercials. I found the Oh When the Saints a bit obnoxious, probably because often I was dozing when it suddenly would come blasting over the loud speakers.

Upon coming back to BYU this semester, I guess I assumed the same music would be playing at 11:45. However, it's changed. And... both times I was in the library at 11:45, there were DIFFERENT songs playing! Oh boy! They're mixing it up in the library! I'm wondering if perhaps the workers were starting to have nervous breakdowns due to the monotony of it all.

Anyhow, I'm enjoying the new variety of library exit music... it's always instrumental, but I'm pretty sure they played the "Star Wars" theme one of the recent times I was there. I'd much rather be woken up to that. Or better yet, I might try not having to stay in the library till midnight at all!

Anyhow, it's nice to know that there is some stability in my BYU experience... library music, lovey-dovey couples walking around (I didn't necessarily miss that though), those really good wraps in the Cougareat, ward prayer on Sunday nights...

Oh, and one other improvement! The Varsity Theater has begun to show regular movies again. Basically, they show stuff that is in the dollar theaters... The Prestige, Happy Feet, etc. But, before they only showed international films, so I'm glad that I can enjoy a nice movie now and then at my leisure.

Well, I'm off to class. School is CRAZY busy right now!

I can't open my locker...

Some random post-Christmas pictures:


Hanging out the night before I left for Utah with my St. Francis Bank buddy Vickie! Notice that awesome retro chair... seriously, can I inherit that in your will Vickie? j/k

Eating a "Runza." Runzas are a Nebraska favorite... basically it's like a yummy roll filled with this hamburger/onion mixture. YUM. This was on the road trip out to BYU.

Hanging with the cousins in SLC... I love these girls!

Snowshoeing up at Sundance with Rissie (fellow Wisconsinite) and her friend Matt. It was a perfect day. And the lady who rented our snowshoes was named "Spike," well that' s what her nametag said. Hmm...

On the trail.

Well, life is just rolling along speedily... school is in full swing and it's INTENSE! My psychology research methods class is becoming my new best friend, or it should be, seeing as we'll be spending A LOT of time together :-) We have to design a research study with our assigned group, carry it out, and analyze the results. Basically, that's the class. However, there are a million things to learn before you can jump out there and start doing experiments, so sometimes I'm a little overwhelmed, but our prof. tells us that we'll be glad we took it if we're at all serious about graduate school.



Also, I'm officially regressing back to high school. Today I got a school locker. All the lockers in the union building and the library were sold out, so I got one in the engineering building. Um, yeah, I feel a bit out of place just being in there, with all that over-my-head math and science knowledge wafting through the air. Anyhow, I found my locker and like a 6th grader on the first day of school, I couldn't figure out the lock. It's ok, you can chuckle. I tried it about 7 times before some random guy called from down the hall, "Lock trouble?" He came over and got it on the first try.... hehe. Anyhow, I was't turning it completely the right way. Thanks random stranger guy!


Well, time to get back to studying, which is what I should be doing. Have a good weekend!

I'm a little sad to notice that perhaps my blogs are not quite as exciting as when I was in Spain... but I've decided that the trick to having a blog is being able to make anything interesting, and life itself is blog-worthy. Plus, since this is one of many ways I keep in touch with my widespread circle of friends, I must press on.... not to forget, it's fun to write random stuff on here.

Actually, what am I talking about? Being back at BYU is plenty interesting ... I'll try to think of some good stuff to share with ya'll. Stay tuned.

Flashback to Freshman Year

Ok, so I had to add this, given that I was just writing about how I keep running into people I still know at BYU. Today, I had another chance meeting. I was sitting in the Grant Building (the beloved "Testing Center"), and my freshman writing professor passed me in the hall. He stopped, looked for a second, and said, "Hi Lauren. How are you doing?" I couldn't believe that he remembered my name! Seriously, it's been going on 5.5 years since I took that class, during my first semester at BYU. I have probably run into him once since I took the class, and even though, yes, it was a small class, I am so impressed that he still knew my name on the drop of a hat. Wow! I guess I underestimate professors' abilities to remember students or something... I mean, they have so many students, I guess I'm just impressed that he would remember after that long. Anyhow, that made my day. Back when I had him as a professor, I told a couple of the students in our class that Brother Taggart looked like my Uncle Bob. I even took a picture with him on the last day of class so that I could show my family my "uncle-look-a-like" professor. He still looks like him. All I have to say is ... I love this school.

So, it's pretty incredible how many people I still know at this school, considering I've been away for 3.5 years. I've run into Milwaukee people, friends from when I went here before... I think my favorite has been running into "Mo," my great friend (Maria is her real name) from the dorms who I lost touch with after freshman year. I heard she went on a mission to the Philippines and that was the last thing I knew. Then, last week, as I was walking into the Grant building, there she was! I saw her from the side but immediately recognized my long lost friend (I think I last saw her at least 4 years ago). We had a nice little reunion before we both ran off to class again.

I guess between missions, graduate school, getting married, changing majors, and all the other things that might delay, interrupt, or prolong college, there are still quite a few friends around!

Already, too, I've met some great people, who will be fun people to get to know and hang out with. It's nice to be reminded that there are good people everywhere, and there are always opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It's a bit cliche, but it's true.

"Wax on... Wax off"

So, last night a bunch of us watched the Karate Kid Part I at my apartment. I bought the DVD in a truck stop in Iowa on the drive out to BYU. Already, it has proven much worth the $10 I paid for the "Special Edition" DVD. I watched it on my laptop in the car-ride and narrated to my parents in the front as we drove through Wyoming. Then, last night, after watching BYU Men's volleyball crush UCLA (ranked #3), we were talking at Denny's about our favorite movies. Naturally, this led to our watching of the 80's classic at my house.

It was pretty funny... a random group of BYUer's, who didn't all know each other, all brought together by Mr. Miyagi. We watched and cheered, even though we all knew exactly what would happen. Seriously, how can you not love a movie about a scrawny underdog with limited karate skills kicking the trash out of a jerky apprentice of a scary Sensei?

A few of our favorite moments:

"Hey, it's the 80's!" This is when Daniel lets Alli drive his new car that Mr. Miyagi gave him on his 16th birthday. When Alli is surprised that Daniel wants her to drive, he offers this classic line.

"Get him a body bag!" This line is shouted out by one of the Cobras when Jonny strikes Daniel in the leg, an illegal move that practically takes him out. The look on the Cobra kid's face is pretty awful acting, but it is a hilarious line.

"This is karate, not a knitting class. You don't come in to my dojo and drop a challenge and leave, Old Man." This is the mean sensei talking to Mr. Miyagi when Miyagi tries to get the Cobras to leave Daniel alone and not resort to fighting. Mean Sensei is just plain scary.

"Wax on...wax off." Only Mr. Miyagi is able to combine chores with karate lessons. He is a multi-tasker.

Well, watching old classics is never dull, and if you ever have a bad day, just bust out the Karate Kid, and you'll finish with "You're the best around" inspiring you to face the Jonnys of the world.

Back at BYU

Well, here I am! I'm back in Provo to finish college at BYU. My parents and I drove out last week, stopping half-way in Grand Island, Nebraska, and after some slight delays from snow and ice in Wyoming, we rolled into Provo on Thursday evening.

I moved in to my new apartment Friday, and I was excited to see that this was easily going to be the best apartment I've ever lived in (in terms of quality). My roommate hasn't come back from winter break yet, but she left me a note and some candy, so that's a good sign! My friend Chelsa said my roommate Amanda is really excited to have a roommate, since her old roommate moved out. Hopefully we'll have fun together... I noticed she had snowboarding and rock-climbing gear, so that made me excited too... perhaps I've found a snowboarding buddy!

My parents and I had fun just chilling in Utah a little and we got to have dinner with some relatives up in SLC. I dropped my parents off at the airport today, and I must admit, when they left, I was feeling some tinges of nervousness to be back out here, since my parents were now gone and I realized "I'm really here!" I guess I've gotten use to having my parents around going to school in Milwaukee for a year! But, at least we can talk more on the phone than we could in Spain... so that's cool :-)

My ward at church seems great... my bishop said that it's a slightly older singles' ward, which is fine with me since I'm 24 and so I'm not sure but I'm guessing I'm in the average age of the ward. Funny enough, I came late to church today and slipped into sacrament meeting. Since it was fast and testimony Sunday, I thought, why not get up? After bearing my testimony to a bunch of strangers and introducing myself as a new member of the ward from Wisconsin, I found out after the meeting end that it wasn't my ward! Haha... my ward met UPSTAIRS. Anyhow, another girl had done the same thing, so we laughed about it later.

Well, I start school tomorrow, crazy! It still hasn't totally set in that I go to BYU again. I haven't had too much of a hard time adjusting so far... overall I'm just really excited to get to finish college at the school where I started and spend some time here in Provo! There is snow up on the mountains, so I will have to make some time to do a little snowboarding too :-)

Well, a 2 day car trip in a Pontiac vibe, packed to the gills with my stuff, an Agatha Christie book-on-tape, some good convos with my parents, and crossing 5 states, and I'm here! I'll let you know how school goes! And Happy 2007 to everyone! I still have yet to do resolutions... this week, this week.

Back in Wisco

Rochelle at her bridal shower... with her two matching teapots! Oops, I guess bridal registries can't always prevent duplicates. Hehe. The family on Christmas! Awww... I love Christmas at home.
3 generations... all enjoying Christmas together after opening a few presents. Aunt Ruth (96) is cheering for the gifts she got :-)
Today, Jared and Rissie, two friends from church, and I went to the kite festival on the Lake Michigan lakefront. A little chilly, but definitely fun! My kite was rebellious, it kept diving and it seriously almost took Rissie's head off like 3 times. Yikes!

Polar Bear on Milwaukee lakefront! Every year on January 1st, at noon, Milwaukeeans jump into Lake Michigan... yes, it is freezing! I didn't do it this time, but I'm planning on doing it at least one time in my life - it was definitely fun to watch though. This group is from church...
The crazy Polar Bears!
We had to put our dog Mocha to sleep. Here's a picture of the little gal on her last day... it was SAD! I had a teary moment right after she left for the vet. She has been really sick this year and wasn't getting better, and so we had to put her down a few days after Christmas. I miss having a dog! Don't think the family will get another one, at least not right now, but I guess I'll just have to get a dog someday! I will miss this one!
Here are Rochelle, Ami and I at Rochelle's wedding reception a few days after Christmas. My former roommate is all grown-up! And isn't her dress pretty??

Well, I made it home and it's been a great Christmas break! After a 8.5 hour flight from Madrid to Chicago, with a tall basketball player behind me (who wouldn't really let me lean my chair back since his legs were so long.... that got a little uncomfortable trying to sleep straight up, I'm not gonna lie) and a long line in customs, I came out of O'hare to see my parents waiting for me with flowers! What a great welcome! Since then, it's been crazy and fun as I've enjoyed Christmas and New Years at home in Milwaukee. I gave a bridal shower and went to a wedding reception for my former roommate Rochelle, saw a few of the high school and church friends, and had lots of good family time with my brother home. Sam had to head back to NY today, and now I'm getting ready to go to Provo on Wednesday... school starts up again next week already! I'm a little nervous and a little sad to be leaving Milwaukee, but I'm also really excited to head back to finish up at BYU, where I started college. It'll be interesting to see how things have changed since I've been there, and also to see who is still actually there that I know! So far, it seems that there are a good number of people there that I know... some from when I was at BYU, others from church in WI... so I'll have a good base of people to come back to. I will graduate in a year from now at the most, so it's the last stretch of college for me! Hard to believe... I gotta start that whole "What do I do now?" planning soon... I'll keep you posted!

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?