So I'm currently sitting looking at my empty armoire and freaking out a little bit. This has been where I've lived, slept, cried, laughed, done homework, hung out with people, made friends, and grown over the last three and a half months. How do I just say goodbye to a place that's changed my life so much? How is it possible that I actually am not ready to leave yet?
I've decided that it's not going to be terribly difficult to say goodbye to the city of Granada itself, but it will be very difficult to say goodbye to everything that I associate with this place, like all of my friends and memories. I know I'll still have both of those things, but it just won't be the same back in Chicago and Champaign. I think I'm going to feel, at least for a little while, like I'm missing part of myself. Because how do you go from seeing people every day to not seeing them at all? And furthermore, how do you go from sharing the same experiences and the same hardships back to normal life?
I think Steve put it really well. He said, "while I'm not ready to leave Granada yet, if everyone else went home and I was here by myself, I don't think it would be worth it to stay." Granada, for me, is the people I've met, the friends I've made, and the memories I'll hold on to for a long time. Some of my favorite memories are:
-Walking around looking for/avoiding zombies in the Alpujarras with Steve
-Batan
-The last day we had in Rome - perfect weather, we saw beautiful things, and I was just on top of the world
-Walking around Barcelona with Melissa and having a really good conversation with her
-The bike tour through Tuscany
-Salsa lessons
-Short-sheeting Steve's bed in Florence
-Devon's birthday/Camborio
-Farewell dinner/Granada Diez
-Just being able to relax
-Getting to walk around in Paris with Brett and talk
-The wind storm in Algeceiras (haha...)
-Hanging out in the biblioteca
-Halloween
-Thanksgiving dinner
There are a few things that I'm not going to miss, however, such as:
-No central heating
-Crappy Internet
-Nonexistent customer service
-Cigarette smoke EVERYWHERE
Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to go home and see my parents, Paul, Stratford House, and the Banambra (in that order), but leaving is still sad and hard to handle. I want to go home for Christmas because I am so excited about giving everyone their presents (and I hope nothing breaks while I am traveling, because I would be so incredibly upset, especially the liquids...) and I am so excited (strangely enough) to see all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and just enjoy a good, old-fashioned Christmas with them.
I am definitely not excited for the next day and a half. We have to take a bus to Malaga from 7p-9p, then a train from the bus station to the airport from 1015-1045 (or something like that), and then hanging out ALL night in the Malaga airport, checking in at 4 in the morning, taking a flight from Malaga to Paris from 705a-930a, having a layover in Paris, then taking a nine and a half hour flight from Paris to Chicago from 115p (Paris time) to 340p (Chicago time). AND I'm really congested, so it's probably going to hurt to fly. I decided that my nose is protesting the insane amount of cigarette smoke that I've been around the last three and a half months by choosing to not let me breath anymore. Darn cigarette smoke... It probably also doesn't help that my hair stays wet for several hours due to it being too cold in the apartment for the water to evaporate off of my head.
I am definitely a different person leaving here than I was coming here. I am so much more relaxed, I trust the Lord infinitely more, and I know and really understand that people are so much more important than school could ever be and it's okay to take breaks from studying and hang out with people, and I know that the Lord has got complete and total control over my life, and He knows what He's doing, and I can trust that and not be afraid. I think I am a lot more liberal as a person, more outgoing, more human, but I love the Lord so much more and I trust Him so much more, and even though those two things seem contradictory, I can't imagine myself growing in any other way. I am a liberal Christian, and I love it. I don't know that I've been happier with myself as a person, ever, so that has to be something good.
Well folks, I made it. See you on the flip side.
Dos besos...
Showing posts with label sickness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sickness. Show all posts
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Madrid!! and... The End is Near.
So I just got home from my last traveling extravaganza, visiting my sister in Madrid, and it was lovely!
We did a self-led walking tour on Friday and saw the Plaza de Espana, the Temple of Debod (SOO amazing!! It's the only piece of Egyptian architecture (or one of the only ones) that can be found outside of Egypt (that wasn't stolen... *cough* Paris *cough*)), Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol (with the plaque commemorating the middle of Spain), Puerta de Alcala, Parque del Retiro, and Palacio de Cristales.
Then on Saturday we went to the Prado Museum and saw religious paintings, and portraits of royalty, and Greek/Roman mythology, and then more religious works, and more religious works, and more portraits, and MORE religious works. By the end, I was like, "dear goodness, how many pictures with the same theme can you have in ONE building??" But then we went to the Reina Sofia and that was really cool, although I liked the second floor better than the fourth floor (the permanent collection is divided up into these two floors, with art from the early 1900's to the avant-garde movement on the second floor, and then more contemporary art on the fourth floor (read: modern art)) but I REALLY liked the second floor so it made up for it. (I got to see Picasso's Guernica... :)!!!!)
On Sunday we went to the Rastro, which is basically like this giant flea market, but it was wonderful! I bought lots of presents for other people and for myself, and had a really good time with my sister. It did get SUPER busy, though, like so busy that we could barely walk down the aisles. It was kind of insane. I was sick for the duration of the trip (darn sinus infection), but it didn't hinder anything we wanted to do, which was nice.
I'm really glad I went to Madrid because I really enjoyed getting to see my sister, but Barcelona is still my favorite city in Spain that I visited (sorry other Spanish cities...)
In other news, I only have twenty days left in Spain. Holy cow. I'm going to be home and get to see all of my friends and family within the month. I'm incredibly excited, but actually kind of feeling bittersweet about the whole thing. I mean, yes, I'm SO ready to get home and have all of the comforts of home (love of family, friends, Pauly, central heating, Internet...), but it's just going to be weird to go home and not be in this place that I've finally really gotten used to. There's still a bunch of stuff that I want to do before I go, so I'm going to have to make sure I fit it all in!
In all honesty, though, if I don't burst of excitement within the next twenty days at the thought of getting to see my novio very soon, I might just burst when I do see him. So, if you see me and I'm looking a little jumbled, it's because I exploded and had to put myself back together again.
Just thought I'd warn you all.
: )
We did a self-led walking tour on Friday and saw the Plaza de Espana, the Temple of Debod (SOO amazing!! It's the only piece of Egyptian architecture (or one of the only ones) that can be found outside of Egypt (that wasn't stolen... *cough* Paris *cough*)), Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol (with the plaque commemorating the middle of Spain), Puerta de Alcala, Parque del Retiro, and Palacio de Cristales.
Then on Saturday we went to the Prado Museum and saw religious paintings, and portraits of royalty, and Greek/Roman mythology, and then more religious works, and more religious works, and more portraits, and MORE religious works. By the end, I was like, "dear goodness, how many pictures with the same theme can you have in ONE building??" But then we went to the Reina Sofia and that was really cool, although I liked the second floor better than the fourth floor (the permanent collection is divided up into these two floors, with art from the early 1900's to the avant-garde movement on the second floor, and then more contemporary art on the fourth floor (read: modern art)) but I REALLY liked the second floor so it made up for it. (I got to see Picasso's Guernica... :)!!!!)
On Sunday we went to the Rastro, which is basically like this giant flea market, but it was wonderful! I bought lots of presents for other people and for myself, and had a really good time with my sister. It did get SUPER busy, though, like so busy that we could barely walk down the aisles. It was kind of insane. I was sick for the duration of the trip (darn sinus infection), but it didn't hinder anything we wanted to do, which was nice.
I'm really glad I went to Madrid because I really enjoyed getting to see my sister, but Barcelona is still my favorite city in Spain that I visited (sorry other Spanish cities...)
In other news, I only have twenty days left in Spain. Holy cow. I'm going to be home and get to see all of my friends and family within the month. I'm incredibly excited, but actually kind of feeling bittersweet about the whole thing. I mean, yes, I'm SO ready to get home and have all of the comforts of home (love of family, friends, Pauly, central heating, Internet...), but it's just going to be weird to go home and not be in this place that I've finally really gotten used to. There's still a bunch of stuff that I want to do before I go, so I'm going to have to make sure I fit it all in!
In all honesty, though, if I don't burst of excitement within the next twenty days at the thought of getting to see my novio very soon, I might just burst when I do see him. So, if you see me and I'm looking a little jumbled, it's because I exploded and had to put myself back together again.
Just thought I'd warn you all.
: )
Monday, October 6, 2008
Weekend Update/Travel Plans
Good news: I am feeling one hundred percent better!! YAY!!!
So this past Friday, I went to Cordoba with half of my classmates and, I have to be honest, I was kind of disappointed in how not impressive the city is. The only thing really to see there is this Mosque-Cathedral that, coincidentally, Cordoba is famous for. It was a mosque way back in the day and then the Catholics came and turned it into a Cathedral and it was just really pretty and impressive (especially considering it was built a SUPER long time ago and is still standing).
In other news, I am signing up today to go on the trip to Morocco this upcoming weekend, which I am super excited about, because it's going to be my first real trip outside of the Granada area, and a lot of my friends are going.
I'm actually pretty excited about the next couple of months, because this is when I'm going to be doing all of my traveling. The itinerary is as follows:
10-12 October: Morocco
17-26 October: Italy (17-21 Rome, 21-24 Florence, 24-26 Venice)
31 October-2 November: chilling in Granada (after Italy, I figure I'm going to need it)
6-9 November: Madrid visiting Megan!!
13-16 November: Barcelona
21-23 November: Switzerland!! (Hopefully Ticino, but I actually have to plan this first)
28-29 November: Sevilla (assuming I have enough money)
5-8 December: chilling in Granada and preparing for finals
12-14 December: preparing to go home; Malaga (yeah hanging out in the airport all night with ALL of my stuff!); HOME!!!
So yeah, as you can see, I'm going to be pretty busy, but I'm so thrilled about it all, I don't even care how busy it's all going to make me. :) And I feel like I'm not really traveling outside of Spain too, too much (three trips outside of Spain, three trips inside Spain, plus the Alpujarras and Cordoba trips, and Megan visiting Granada, so like six trips inside Spain, plus all the weekends that I've spent just chilling here). So I still feel like I'm enmeshing myself in Spanish and not abandoning it completely in favor of English-speaking countries or whatever.
So this past Friday, I went to Cordoba with half of my classmates and, I have to be honest, I was kind of disappointed in how not impressive the city is. The only thing really to see there is this Mosque-Cathedral that, coincidentally, Cordoba is famous for. It was a mosque way back in the day and then the Catholics came and turned it into a Cathedral and it was just really pretty and impressive (especially considering it was built a SUPER long time ago and is still standing).
In other news, I am signing up today to go on the trip to Morocco this upcoming weekend, which I am super excited about, because it's going to be my first real trip outside of the Granada area, and a lot of my friends are going.
I'm actually pretty excited about the next couple of months, because this is when I'm going to be doing all of my traveling. The itinerary is as follows:
10-12 October: Morocco
17-26 October: Italy (17-21 Rome, 21-24 Florence, 24-26 Venice)
31 October-2 November: chilling in Granada (after Italy, I figure I'm going to need it)
6-9 November: Madrid visiting Megan!!
13-16 November: Barcelona
21-23 November: Switzerland!! (Hopefully Ticino, but I actually have to plan this first)
28-29 November: Sevilla (assuming I have enough money)
5-8 December: chilling in Granada and preparing for finals
12-14 December: preparing to go home; Malaga (yeah hanging out in the airport all night with ALL of my stuff!); HOME!!!
So yeah, as you can see, I'm going to be pretty busy, but I'm so thrilled about it all, I don't even care how busy it's all going to make me. :) And I feel like I'm not really traveling outside of Spain too, too much (three trips outside of Spain, three trips inside Spain, plus the Alpujarras and Cordoba trips, and Megan visiting Granada, so like six trips inside Spain, plus all the weekends that I've spent just chilling here). So I still feel like I'm enmeshing myself in Spanish and not abandoning it completely in favor of English-speaking countries or whatever.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Uhhnnnh....
So... I have contracted my first (and hopefully only!!) illness while abroad: a stomach virus.
Oh joy.
The ONLY upside to me being sick was that I got to experience Spain's free health care system. Quite the experience. We didn't need an appointment or anything; we just went and I got pretty much right in and she diagnosed me right away. The visit was 40 euro (that is going to be reimbursed back to me when I get back to the States) and the medicine (some liquid for the stomach virus and pills for the aches and pains) was FOUR euro. I know, pretty ridiculous. Thank you free health care (and people of Spain for paying your taxes so my medication could be so cheap).
In other news, I took my first linguistics exam a couple of days ago, and I'm not sure how I did, but that's not the point of me putting this in here. I realized something interesting while I was taking it. I knew most of the stuff and the stuff I didn't know, I thought about but didn't freak out about the fact that I didn't know it because (here it is folks....) it's JUST a grade. And this is this new and scary revelation for me. Because school has always been really important to me. And it's still important, but people are so much more important than school could ever be, and it's okay to take breaks and spend time with them.
I'm not sure if this makes a whole bunch of sense, but I'm really excited about it, because I'm excited to get to spend more time with people and less time freaking out about school.
Oh joy.
The ONLY upside to me being sick was that I got to experience Spain's free health care system. Quite the experience. We didn't need an appointment or anything; we just went and I got pretty much right in and she diagnosed me right away. The visit was 40 euro (that is going to be reimbursed back to me when I get back to the States) and the medicine (some liquid for the stomach virus and pills for the aches and pains) was FOUR euro. I know, pretty ridiculous. Thank you free health care (and people of Spain for paying your taxes so my medication could be so cheap).
In other news, I took my first linguistics exam a couple of days ago, and I'm not sure how I did, but that's not the point of me putting this in here. I realized something interesting while I was taking it. I knew most of the stuff and the stuff I didn't know, I thought about but didn't freak out about the fact that I didn't know it because (here it is folks....) it's JUST a grade. And this is this new and scary revelation for me. Because school has always been really important to me. And it's still important, but people are so much more important than school could ever be, and it's okay to take breaks and spend time with them.
I'm not sure if this makes a whole bunch of sense, but I'm really excited about it, because I'm excited to get to spend more time with people and less time freaking out about school.
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