LAST

So.
Not sure if anyone is reading this anymore now that I'm back.
But.
Back in America.
Time for a recap.


The good-bye party was wonderful.  It was on a rooftop terrace complete with an open bar and tapas.  Aside from all of these amazing factors, it was so hard and sad saying goodbye to everyone.  Had an unforgettable last night in Sevilla with friends I'll never forget.  To everyone in B&S - I love you all :)

Didn't go to sleep that night considering we had to be on the bus to the airport by 4:45am.  Not sleeping made it pretty easy to pass out the second I sat on the plane and remain that way for about 7 hours.  Got to Chicago with no problems - minus the fact that my carry-on weighed more than me.  Found mom, dad the bro and sis right outside the luggage claim thanks to a goofy "Welcome Back" balloon purchased in the airport.  Felt so good to be reunited!!!  Spent 2.5 hours in the car on the way back to Madison and was greeted by more family and friends at the hotel -- all ready to celebrate my graduation!


Graduation day was fun.  Kept true to the Wisco tradition and took pictures on Abe's lap.  The actual ceremony was pretty long and uneventful but luckily our hotel had an open bar to get things started afterward.  Went to dinner at a brewery and tasted some yummy fun beer and then went out on the town by the capitol.  Best part of the night - participating in a "Boot Race" with my mom, aunts and Vicki :)

And now, all the fun is over.  Graduation is done, family is back in Green Bay and I'm in Madison WORKING.   Starting work on Sunday and the (what seems like) freezing weather in Wisco made reality hit alarmingly fast.  Just trying to keep on keeping on and adjust to the reverse culture shock.  Missing Sevilla like crazy, missing my Sevillan favorites and wanting to return to la vida espanola.  


Last comments/thoughts:

• I notice SO many more people speaking Spanish - not sure if it's because I'm all of a sudden surrounded by more Spanish-speaking people or I just didn't notice it before.
• I didn't set my computer and iPod clock back to central time until today probably because everything would have been real once I actually changed it.
• I can't stop randomly speaking Spanish words.
• I can't stop randomly relating things here to things from Spain, Europe, etc.
• The missed flight from Istanbul to Barcelona and the extra $300+ dollars paid to get another one are really starting to make things difficult now that I'm back.
• I'm already planning my return to Europe...hopefully 2012 in IRELAND.

[Warning: cheesiness ahead]

To everyone who read this blog -- darn you all for being so hard to leave in the first place and so easy to miss these last four months.  Thanks for reading about my Spanish adventures as well as loving and supporting me unconditionally while I was abroad.  And thank you for being here for me when I got back - I wouldn't be able to adjust without you guys :)

And to my sweetest Sevilla -- you gave me an amazing four months that I'll never forget.  You were by far the best decision I have ever made in my life for so many reasons.  You taught me so much about life and changed me into a better person and for that, I am forever grateful.  I left part of my heart with you, so take care of it until I get back <3 

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

--Robert Frost

Feria de Sevilla

Our 2nd spring break started with some good friends helping me celebrate my 22nd birthday.  Had SO much fun.  We got tapas at Bar Coloniales and went out for a night on the town.  Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate - you guys are awesome!

The first stop on our journey was Madrid via a 6 hour bus ride.  Madrid was a lot of fun...not because of the city itself but because of the experiences we had and memories we made there.  Not really much to see there besides the Mercado de San Miguel, Botin - the oldest restaurant in the world, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Catedral, Royal Palace, El Prado (2nd largest museum in the world) and Campo Santiago - home of my true love, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Real Madrid futbol team.  

After all my traveling, I've learned that the trip is what you make it; it's not only about the things you see/do.  Especially as my stay in Europe is coming to a close, my main goal for Madrid was to experience a little more of what Spain has to offer, meet new people and enjoy some good company :)  I would say that I definitely achieved this goal...first off, we shared a room in the hostel with 2 girls from Barcelona who we made good friends with.  We got to learn a little bit of Catalan (the dialect in Barcelona) and had a lot of fun with them.  The first night, we bought 3 bottles of wine but realized we had no opener.  Us and the Barca girls tried for about 2 hours to get it opened with keys, scissors, pens, etc. but didn't succeed.  When we finally got it opened, we couldn't drink it in the common areas of the hostel (silly rules) so we drank the wine, in our hostel, on the floor, in the dark, while whispering...all to avoid waking up another person already sleeping in the room...talk about hitting rock bottom.  The next day, we took a 3 hour tour with a tour guide who was high the whole time.  And finally, we created our own little bar crawl to celebrate Mifflin.  Went to 5 bars, took a shot at each and found a Taco Bell by the end of the night.  I'd say that's a success... :)

Now ROME is a different story...

I loved everything about Rome.  The history.  The monuments.  The boys.  And of course, the FOOD :)

Started our Roman adventure when we flew from Madrid to Rome on 2 hours of sleep.  Also lost my phone on the plane...shocker, but that's neither here nor there.  Started off by getting some great Italian food at a restaurant that had 100 different pastas -- fantasy made reality? I think so... We then went to the TREVI FOUNTAIN where reality started to sink in.  We took pictures, made a wish and sat on the steps for a while just to soak in how lucky we were to be in Rome.  (We found out later that we didn't follow the "rules" for making a wish in the Trevi Fountain...so our wishes that we contemplated for some time may never come true!).

We then hit up the Pantheon and the Spanish steps which were both amazing sights.

We went to Vatican City on Wednesday which is a walled-off part of Rome that consists of some 100 acres and holds the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope's house, about a bajillion museums, etc.  

Day 3 of Rome started out with the famous Colosseum.  Even by the 3rd day we still felt like we were dreaming seeing all of these famous monuments.  We also went to Paletine Hill and the Roman Forum.  (These 2 things are a big part of Roman history - Paletine Hill held the cave that was the alleged home to Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus and the Roman Forum is the ancient city center).

The legend of the Trevi fountain says one who  throws a single coin into the fountain will return to Rome one day.  I will not be upset if this comes true for me in my life :)  Already missing Rome.

Got back to Sevilla and experienced the infamous FERIA DE ABRIL.  For those of you who don't know, Feria is basically like a carnival, wedding and tailgate all mixed together.  A wedding because people dress up in beautiful dresses and suits to celebrate, a carnival because there are rides and a tailgate because there are tons of tents ("casetas") where there is food, drinking and dancing.  Feria is Sevilla's biggest festival and the reason we had this week of from classes.  I was able to see what Feria is all about this weekend and even got to go to a bullfight.  Overall, Feria is making it SO hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I'm leaving in a few short days!

As for now...2 days of class, 2 days of finals and it's back to the US for this girl.  BITTERSWEET.