Last Days in Spain

Wow. I can’t believe this semester is already over. I am sitting here at the Madrid airport realizing that I have lived in Spain for almost 4 months and now it’s over. While I am so excited to come home, I can’t help but feel sad about leaving. I know I did everything I wanted to do here and I got so much out of the experience; it’s something I will never regret
The last few days here have been insane. Last weekend we frequented our favorite bars and discotecas, visiting Hannigans (karaoke!) and botellon one last time. In between finals, Meg and I made time to go out for tapas and one more kebab. Finals went really well, although I had a hard time focusing because I was trying to take everything in before I left.
Wednesday night, after a day of packing and studying for my last final, Meg and I went to Granada 10, a popular discoteca. When we arrived, there weren’t too many people there. It was open bar until 12:30, but most people wouldn’t start arriving until after 1 am. The dance floor was almost empty except for a very energetic transvestite who was dancing all by herself. Needless to say, it was great entertainment until security kicked her out an hour later for being too inappropriate. Only in Spain, right? We met some really nice people that night, proving that it can be your last night out and you’ll still make new friends. They were part of the IES program, which was a little weird for me since that was the program I almost joined.
On Thursday, I got up early and (hopefully) aced my art final before going back to bed for a few more hours. That night, Arcadia had a goodbye party for us. We sat in the office and talked about the experience and watched a cute PowerPoint with pictures from the whole semester. At one point we played this game where we had to toss a ball of yarn to someone in the group and say what our first impression of the person was and what we’ll remember most about them. A friend of mine, Amy, threw it to me and said that I was the first person she met at the airport in August. She said that I made her excited because I was so enthusiastic and open to the experience. She also said that throughout the semester, I proved to be someone who took risks and really integrated myself into the culture. It was one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever gotten, and I hope that I always push myself to get the most out of opportunities like this. The party had traditional Spanish Christmas snacks, but we all went out to dinner as a group afterward. I had my first experience with Indian food (loved it!) and then said goodbye to everyone.
Meg and I were so excited Thursday night we couldn’t sleep. I probably got 45 minutes of rest because I kept thinking about coming home. We got up at 4 am and called a taxi to the Granada airport. That’s where the problems started. Because my parents hadn’t booked my flight from Granada to Madrid and my flight from Madrid to Chicago together, they would only let me check one bag to Madrid. So I had to combine bags and pay extra for the weight of my one bag. Also, they wouldn’t forward my bags to my final destination. That means I had to pick them up again in Madrid and recheck them and go through security again before my next flight to Frankfurt. I only had one hour in Madrid to do all of that before my flight took off, and check in closes 45 minutes before departure. Long story short, even though I ran for my life, I still missed my flight. After a brief breakdown in the Madrid airport, Mom and Dad were able to get me on a flight the next day. Even better, they got me a direct flight to Chicago and I got a seat in Business Class! The only problem was that I had to unexpectedly spend the night in Madrid. Luckily, before my parents booked a hotel, I called my friend Courtney who was studying in Madrid this semester and asked if I could crash at her apartment. Not only did she let me stay with her, one of her roommates had moved out already, so I got my own room and was able to shower and figure out my baggage issues (the airport let me store most of my luggage there). We did some shopping and went to an internet café. I had a great time and was so lucky to have her there. This morning we woke up and went to store so I could buy a cheap duffel bag in order to avoid being charged again. Luckily, since I am flying Business Class, I get to check 3 bags. Our goodbye wasn’t sad since we are seeing each other next Tuesday at a friend’s house. I arrived at the airport 4 hours early for my flight and watched as the lines piled up with people who had missed their flights or had them canceled because of snow (New York!). After having a painless check in and security check, I am now at my terminal, peacefully waiting to board my flight. If someone had told me yesterday that this is how everything was going to turn out, I wouldn’t have believed them. I am so grateful to have such a great family who will stay up until 5 am getting me home and such fantastic friends who are always so supportive.
I’ve had such a great time in Spain and want to thank everyone who helped make it such a positive and life-changing experience. I can’t wait to get home and see you all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!
God Bless America

Love Always,
Em

Best Day Ever

Monday and Tuesday this week breezed by. Since everyone was still travelling, all the stores were closed for the holidays, and I was still sick with strep, Meg and I stayed in both days and just layed around. Yesterday, Wednesday, was my last day of culture class and grammar class. Meg and I were also supposed to go volunteer for the last time with the little kids from the inner city school. However, the bus that usually takes us was so full, the driver wouldn´t let anyone else on. Since I volunteer between classes, I didn´t have time to wait for the next bus because I wouldn´t get back to my class in time. So, unfortunately, Meg and I had to cancel our last day of volunteering.
Instead, we went to the Arcadia office and talked to Triana and Cristina for a little whle. After that, we wandered around the shopping district of the city and I bought a pomegranate pendant necklace (the pomegranate is called a Granada here, it is the city´s symbol). We stumbled upon an adorable Christmas festival set up in one of the plazas with a ton of little booths selling jewelry and other handmade crafts. After wandering for a while, I headed back to class. In Amsterdam, I had received a message from an American student in Granada who found my student ID on the street, so I got that back from him at the CLM. While it was pretty useless, I really wanted to keep it for memory´s sake.
After lunch (albondigas!!!), Meg had class and then we both waited anxiously for our housing lottery at Denison. Everyone who is currently abroad got a random number and, in that order, gets to pick a room for next semester. Since Meg and I want to live together on East Quad, the pickings were pretty slim and we were both stressing about it. I got number 19, which is terrible considering the handful of rooms that we wanted. Luckily, however, Meg got 5. Our good friend Becca got number 1, so she took a single. Therefore, there were only a few people ahead of us that could take the double we wanted. Most of them chose to live in singles, but one person wanted a double. For some reason, they chose to live in Crawford (the sophomore dorm I lived in last year), which left the double in Shaw open for Meg and I. My proxy and best friend back at school, Amy, was so great about the whole process. We never could have gotten the room without her. Now we are living in our own double, in a junior dorm, on East Quad. The only downside is that it´s on the fourth floor and I´m uncertain about whether there´s an elevator that can help me with move in (eek!).
Overall, it was a wonderful day. Today is the last of our classes and then we have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to take in the last bits of Granada before finals next week. Only 8 days left!
I love you all,
Em

Amsterdam

Where to begin? It's been a crazy weekend. On Thursday, Meg and I woke up and headed to the bus station to catch our bus from Granada to Madrid. Unfortunately, we were not paying attention and ended up leaving a little to late and missed our bus. The next bus to Madrid wasn't until 1:30, so we would have missed our flight to Amsterdam which was at 7:20. We spent two frantic hours in the bus station trying to find another way to get to Madrid before our flight left. Most options to Madrid would cost us more than $300, which was out of the question. Luckily, I found a bus to Malaga, a town on the southern coast, and then a speed train from Malaga to Madrid that would get us to the airport with minutes to spare. It was a lot cheaper and we were so thankful we didn't have to cancel our trip. The train ride was beautiful and a lot of fun. I am thankful we got to experience a speed train here and that it got us to Madrid in time.
We arrived in Amsterdam pretty late, so we only had time to check into our hostel and grab some pizza. We ran into some of our friends from Granada, but we were so tired we went to bed pretty early. Meg and I shared a top bunk in a room with about 26 other people. Our hostel was called The Flying Pig and is pretty famous in Europe. I liked it a lot, but I didn't like sharing such small space with so many people. On Friday we woke up around 9 am and got free breakfast from the hostel before going on a walking tour of Granada. Our tour guide was a young Australian who had lived in Amsterdam for 7 years. He spent 4 hours showing us some of the most interesting spots in Amsterdam and telling us funny stories about the city's past. It was one of the best things we did in Amsterdam.
At the end of the tour, Meg and I went to Anne Frank's house. A lot of people we were with didn't go because they heard it wasn't worth it, but it was one of the most moving exhibits I've been too. Just to walk in the space and hear personal stories from Anne Frank's father and friends made it all seem real to me in a way the book failed to. After that, we hung out with some new friends in the city and eventually made our way back to the hostel.
On Saturday, we slept in a little and then got up and walked to the Van Gogh museum. The walk was pretty cold and rainy, but we passed an adorable ice rink and a bakery where we bought a delicious apple tart. The Van Gogh museum was fantastic, but I wasn't feeling really well, so when we were done we took a cable car back to the hostel and slept for a few hours. That night we walked around the city and explored the Red Light District, which was fascinating but creepy.
Sunday we checked out of the hostel and went in search of the famous Dutch pancakes. We finally found a pancake house and had the best Dutch pancakes. Meg had nutella and banana and I had chocolate and ice cream pancakes. It was basically dessert for breakfast. After that, we caught the train to the airport and flew to Madrid. From there we caught a bus to Granada. We got in around 2 am and were exhausted.
I slept all day today and discovered that I have strep throat (which explains the exhaustion and intense sore throat). I caught it from Meg, who had it a few weeks ago. Luckily, she has enough antibiotics left over for me to take, so I hope to feel better in a few days. It was definitely a good thing that we came back to Granada a few days earlier than everyone else. I can't imagine being there while feeling so badly.
I can't believe I only have 11 more days in Spain. Tomorrow we get our numbers for the housing lottery at Denison and next week we have finals. Everything is just happening so quickly!

I love you all,
Em