I'm not best at goodbyes...

It's been FAR too long since I have blogged! I have just been so busy taking advantage of all my time left and living in the moment that I haven't been able to put my thoughts down on here in a while. Since my last post I have been to the following places in Spain: Salamanca and León, Madrid, Barcelona, a small pueblo called Potes, and the gorgeous Picos de Europa mountains. I also visited Paris, France :) How lucky am I?! I have seen and done the COOLEST things in Europe and I am so excited to look back on these memories for the rest of my life.

With that said - I am barely staying afloat in my 'glass case of emotion' (haha). I remember choking out my painful goodbyes to all of my loved ones (and balling my eyes out saying goodbye to my mom and boyfriend at the airport). I had no idea what kind of adventure laid before me or how I would cope with it.  Now here I am over 2 months later, speaking Spanish, living with a wonderful, warm, amazing host mom and host sisters, and with a group of study abroad friends that have become a familial unit. It's amazing how much a person can grow in such a short span of time.

I can't wait to see all of my amazingly amazing friends and family from home (no I haven't forgotten a single one of you!!) - and bear with me for the lovey-doveyness - I am DYING to see my boyfriend, no doubt greeting him in the same fashion I left him...balling my eyes out. This time they will be happy tears :)

I am learning that I am really no good at goodbyes though, and am writing this blog with tear-filled eyes as I think of my last day of school tomorrow and the little world I will be closing forever. Goodbye to my professors, my host family, my routine, my new favorite little city, and goodbye to the fast friendships I've had the opportunity to grow a little more every day. I am lucky enough to take the friendships with me, it just won't be the same little world it once was. Today I get to be sad for my goodbyes.

Things I am thankful for:

the support of family and friends (here and back home)

the support of my boyfriend - who has beared with me and cheered me on via skype through all of this

the opportunity to come here and learn

that I chose to study abroad in Spain

my host mom who turned out to be a phenomenal person that I will keep a relationship with forever

the fact that I can function in a Spanish speaking society ~happily AND confidently :)~

that I am lucky enough to walk away from this experience a better person than I walked into it

that I will always be patient with people I encounter who are learning to speak English now (it is SO tough!)

and that I have made real, true friendships here in Santander

I have many more exciting things to look forward to this week - going to Germany! and seeing my handsome boyfriend (I know I just can't stop talking about him:)) - let alone this summer and the rest of this year. So with a heavy heart I am watching this chapter of my life turn to a new page, and I am going to embrace it with happiness and very fond memories of my time here.

What an adventure it has been :)

Voy a echar de menos mucho Santander, y gracias por los recuerdos. No quiero decir 'adios', pero como decimos...'es la vida' :)


Now for a photo montage:

Salamanca University

Salamanca University

Palacio de Madrid

Palacio de Madrid

Estadio Bernabéu - Madrid!

Estadio Bernabéu - Madrid!

Estadio Bernabéu - Madrid!!

My last name on the Eiffel Tower :)

Paris, France

Mona Lisa @ the Louvre - Paris, France

Venus! The Louvre in Paris, France

Hector/Mauricio on a pyramid @ the Louvre in Paris, France

Eiffel Tower!

Hector/Mauricio and I at the Eiffel Tower :)

Statue of Liberty in Paris, France!

:)

!!!

Moulin Rouge - red light district - Paris, France

Barcelonaaaaa

La Sagrada Familia :)

Sevilla, Granada (La Alhambra!!!), & another night in Málaga

After the very eventful adventure in Morocco, my friends and I went to Sevilla, Spain for the day to explore. We got very lucky with our timing because one of the many lovely fiestas in Spain was happening the weekend we chose to visit - Feria de Abril. This fiesta revolves around Flamenco dance and bull fights. The vast majority of women in the city were wearing beautiful flamenco dresses in gorgeous and vibrant colors. It was pretty awesome to walk around and see beautiful people everywhere we turned :) At night the people in the city go to the fairgrounds and dance flamenco with their family and friends in open tents owned by a family or group of people called "casitas", and eat food and drink together.

During the day while we were there it was gorgeous and warm, and we got to visit many of the historical and important buildings there including the palacio, catedral, torre de oro, and torre de giralda.

catedral

me in front of one of the portadas at the catedral

marisol, paige, oresta, alex, me!

I don't know if you can spot Hector/Mauricio in here or not, but he got to go to a family reunion and visit a bunch of his primos! (cousins) His favorite primo, Manolo, got to come live with us :)

Flamenco dresses

me at the Torre de Oro

El palacio

me at el palacio

Hector/Mauricio marking our spot in Santander on a tile map of Spain :)

His first time trying Sangria

He really enjoyed it...

That night it torrentially down poured for a few hours, which was a little miserable, but we found a great Mexican restaurant, the only one I've seen in Spain thus far, and had a great meal while we waited for the rain to stop. Luckily it did and we got to go out and enjoy the dancing at the fairgrounds before we had to get our bus to Granada late that night :)

If you ever find yourself in Spain - be sure to go to Sevilla and spend a couple of days, it's GORGEOUS!


We went to Granada late Saturday night and arrived around 3am - after our taxi drivers got lost we finally arrived at our hostel around 3:45am. We were exhausted and crashed for about 4 hours before we got up at 8. We planned to get tickets for La Alhambra, since that's the whole reason we went to Granada, but by the time we got to the ticket booth (after climbing up a giant hill to get to it) they announced they were sold out of tickets for the day. I was crushed - seriously crushed. We had already booked a hostel for Sunday night in Málaga and we were supposed to spend all day Monday and Tuesday morning there until we flew out. We decided to just walk around and see some of the gardens and the few buildings you didn't need a ticket for, but it just wasn't good enough for me. I figured, hopefully I'll come back to Europe several more times in my life, but you just never know, and being AT La Alhambra and not being able to see it is like having tickets to a movie and then standing outside the entire time it plays. Needless to say I decided to eat the cost of my hostel for the night and told my friends I would be staying in Granada another night and waking up bright and early the next morning to get my ticket :) they all stayed too! Other than my friend Marisol who left her itouch in another city and took a bus back to pick it up - we missed her! But the other 4 of us stayed, and I am so glad we did.

Side note: our hostel was THE nicest one I've ever been to or heard of, and I slept like a baby and felt like I was in a nice hotel - I even got to sleep in a full size bed...so blissful :) we also met some people at our hostel and went out with them Sunday night. People are just so friendly in hostels!

La Alhambra has been the most influential and special thing I have had the pleasure of seeing so far in Spain, and I would encourage anyone to add it to their list of things to see in Europe. It is breathtaking, filled with beauty everywhere you look, and so interesting if you do some historical research. One of the reasons it was so important for me to see is because I have been learning about it in my art history class, and pictures just don't do it justice! I will always treasure my photos and memories there and hope to return again at some point :)

Me and Good ole Hector/Mauricio

Patio de Los Leones (the coolest piece of La Alhambra I learned about) under reconstruction/preservation - SO sad :((( 

How phenomenal are these lions though?

Hector/Mauricio and I enjoying the view together

Me and the little guy :)

After we finished our morning and part of the afternoon at La Alhambra on Monday, we took a bus to Málaga to meet up with Marisol and spend the afternoon and evening there. Tuesday at midnight was Marisol's birthday, so of course we decided to start celebrating the night before and ring it in at midnight :) Once again we met a bunch of great people at our hostel and we all went out on a pub crawl in Málaga in honor of Marisol. Needless to say, she had a real good time :p 

Andalucía, the region of Spain we were in, is known for it's gorgeous sunny weather, especially this time of year. We got lucky to have the sun peak through for a bit in Sevilla, a bit in Granada the second day, and of course as we were LEAVING to get on our plane from Málaga back home, but the rest of the time it was hideously cold and down pouring - que triste! But all's well that ends well - we left the warm and friendly people, and drinks that come with a free tapa (appetizer) of Andalucía after a very eventful 5 day journey there, and can't forget about Morocco :p

I have many more adventures to report - if I could just stop enjoying the sun so much I could get more blogging done!!

No puedo esperar para verlos a todos :) xo