Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Closing Time...

Oh boy. Here I am... about to flick off the lights and go to sleep in my squeaky Spain bed one last time. What a great semester this has been... and a wonderful way to end college! Finals are over, goodbyes have been said, and my bags are packed. As long as this pesky volcano doesn't get in my way I will be arriving in Chicago around 3:30 pm tomorrow afternoon. I am scheduled to leave Madrid at around noon (5am Central)... Fingers crossed it happens! As sad as I am to be leaving this city and ending this experience, it is going to be pretty frustrations if I run into travel problems!

Anyway, I will write more about some of my recent activities (BULLFIGHT!!) later... I have been so busy studying for finals and preparing for my departure that I haven't been able to update!

Well, see you VERY soon! Hope my blogs haven't been TOO boring for you to get through :)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

In one week I'll be WHERE?!?!

Well here I am. Smack dab in the middle of my last round of final exams (maybe ever! ahh scary). Luckily, I’m kind of getting eased into the process this semester… the order of my tests go from easiest to hardest. Today I had my Music test, Friday is Ethics, Monday (@8:30am, ugh) I take Art History, and Tuesday is Spanish Literature. Usually I am very happy to have them over with, but this time is different. That is because the very next morning I will be leaving Madrid. That’s right folks, one week from right now I will probably be getting off my plane in the good ol’ U S of A. Time has gone by so quickly since I used my numb (recently electrocuted) fingers to type my first blog letting you all know I had arrived safely. It’s weird though because even though the time went by in a blink, that day I left seems like it could have been a year ago.

I am full of so many contradicting emotions about my upcoming departure. I was talking on the phone with my Grandparents the other day and realized how excited I am to see all of my family again, and Facebook is an everyday reminder of how much I miss my friends… but each day I am also reminded of how much I am going to miss Madrid, the people I have met here, and the study abroad experience in general. I have never dreaded something AND been excited for it at the same time. People ask me all the time, “how do you feel about leaving?” and I’m never quite sure how to answer them. I am extremely excited and extremely sad all rolled into one. This is the definition of “bittersweet”, and it is a crazy, crazy feeling.

Thankfully yesterday I received a little surprise in the mail that has served as a distraction from these complicated thoughts (and unfortunately from my studying as well!). My parents sent me the new Glee CD (from their Madonna episode) and I tell ya, put in Sue Sylvester’s brilliant version of “Vogue” and all of your troubles fade away!

Why Sue Sylvester is my favorite fake person in the world: