To all of those who have sent me so much love in the form of letters, postcards, or packages: THANK YOU SO MUCH! Y'all are the best. I've been a slacker about writing back BUT... your love is now being returned! NOTICE: If you receive a postcard, and the date on the postcard leads you to believe that it took 2 months to reach you, do not be deceived: Although these postcards were sent today, they were actually written about a month and a half ago... woops!
Another notice: Today is the first day of Daylight Savings in Spain, so now we are 5 hours ahead of Eastern time and 6 hours ahead of Central. The clock reflects this change.
Final notice: If you publically proclaim that you have successfully avoided an illness, the illness gods will smite you. Yes, it seems that I have caught whatever bug was going around IES, and it has come with a vengance. I should have known...
This past week has been full of midterms, and they're not over yet. Not my idea of fun in Spain, but studying here is still more fun than studying in the good ole US of A, so I can handle it. Sadly, it is not normal, but rather a bit rude, to study in cafes here. But, since the only other place we have to study is our rooms, which can get old and clausterphobic, my friends and I have become regulars at Café Fútbol, where the waiters have resigned to the fact that we WILL be studying there, even though they sigh loudly and give us annoyed looks every time we come in, and continue to give us annoyed looks when we stay for hours and only buy one or two coffees. I think they're starting to warm up to us, though. They make fun of us less, and sometimes our favorite waiter Mauricio even gives us free churros.
This weekend has been just fabulous. Friday, I woke up and went to study at this little children's library near my house that I had heard about. It was perfect. There were a few classes of cute little kindergarteners who came in to learn about how to use a library. Sadly, it's only open a few hours a day on weekdays. That afternoon, I went and mailed my absentee ballot. Hopefully it gets there, because I don't think the woman really understood me when I told her it needed to be a "reliable express mail carrier". Oh well. Then I went to do a little more reading on a bench in front of Fuente de las Batallas, a big fountain in the center of town. Obviously I did more people watching than reading. And obviously, since I am in Spain and personal space does not exist, even though there were plenty of empty benches, I was constantly accompanied on my bench by cute, old, chain-smoking Spanish men. I think I am taking years off of my life by the amount of cigarette smoke I am inhaling here. But I had some interesting conversations with the Spanish men, and they all complimented me on my Spanish speaking abilities, which (whether true or not...) gave me a much needed confidence booster. That night, I celebrated Megan (one of my friends here)'s 21st birthday.... and (per her request. not mine. I like sleep.) stayed out until Café Fútbol opened at 6:30 am. After some early-morning churros con chocolate, I crawled into bed as the sun was rising at 7:30. That probably took a few days off my lifespan, too. Only in Spain.
Clearly, Saturday was mostly consumed with sleeping. But that afternoon, Liz (a friend who also goes to Wake) and I went to an Irish pub that has wireless to watch the Wake-Miami game. Sadly, we couldn't find it on ESPNU, so we had to watch the video game-type figures reenact it on Gametracker. And even more sadly, we lost. But it's ok, because Bama won, and I am in love with Nick Saban. Saturday night, we all went to a fancy dinner for Megan's birthday at an absolutely delicious Italian restaurant... I ate way too much, and will be full for days.
Today, I am doing a bit more studying , and going to meet another friend's parents tonight. After finishing all my midterms and papers this week, I'm going straight from class on Thursday to meet my parents in Málaga, and we're headed to Valencia and Barcelona before coming back to Granada for a few days! I'm so excited to see them and to get to show them all I've been doing this semester!
I love and miss you all so much, and I hope you're all doing well! ROLL TIDE!!!!!!
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2 comments:
Roll Tide Roll! I miss you! Have a great week and yay for seeing family so very soon!
Dear Eli,
I miss you. Just come to Venice. Again. Then we can nap in a huge expensive house with the Grand Canal in the background. OK? Super. Ill be waiting. LOVE YOU!
xoxo
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