It's Over When It's Over Ain't It, Baby, Ain't It? Rips You Like a Dagger Can't It, Baby, Can't It?

Hey all!

So we have arrived at the more-bitter-than-sweet conclusion of my time in Spain, which means I am currently crying all over my keyboard as I type this. (That might not be entirely accurate because I have no heart. And I haven't had to say good-byes yet.) Either way, feelings are still trying to leak out of my Three Sizes Too Small heart. Ugh.

This week started off on a stressful note because finals are the most terrible invention ever. To be fair, they were probable easier than ones I would've taken back at the U on account of math can be a jerk. So Monday through Wednesday was spent preparing for tests, presentations and papers which created an un-fun beginning. (If we are being honest, the cloud of nostalgia hovering over Toledo right now has created a fairly un-fun atmosphere in general. But it's still better than finals.)

When we finally finished with tests on Wednesday afternoon, it became clear we needed to celebrate the end of tests and forget about the end of the trip. So obviously it was time to head over to Dragos. I can't explain how much I'm going to miss being able to head over after class and just relax there because there will never be another Dragos. That's our bar.

I need to stop with the mush. We stayed at Dragos for quite some time and then went to the discoteca, La Nuit, to get our dance on. I will also miss this club but maybe that's because I never really went clubbing back home. We were there for all hours of the night (Like some people shut it down at 5am. I was only there til 3:30am so Iwouldn't be dead on Thursday.) We all went crazy every time we heard an American song, and it's going to be weird to be surrounded by that kind of music when I get home. Reverse culture shock is going to be weird, methinks.

We all ended up sleeping in on Thursday morning due to our late night. Later, though, we tried to take in as much of the city as we could. I feel like I'm finally taking pictures of things I see everyday but just never got around to photographing. The weather here hasn't been cold, but it's been dismal and cloudy, as though Spain is sad to see us go. Guys, why do I have so many feelings just walking around? This is unacceptable.

Thursday night, we decided to do a repeat of our bonfire. Unfortunately, it appeared like it might rain so we had to decide if going up there was worth it to walk up the mountain. In the end, we headed down to a spot on the river that I hadn't known existed previously. It was almost pitch black when we got there, so we all formed a circle and used our cellphones to see. We ended up just hanging out (and had a brief chant of "Who hates Iowa? We hate Iowa!" Stay classy, Minnesota.) for a while down there until it was time to visit Dragos again. It was extremely beautiful down there and I came back and took pictures in the day because memories and suchlike. I didn't end up staying at Dragos that long, because I felt pretty tired and most of our fellow Americans stayed down by the river longer than us. After one drink, I called it a night and made the one minute walk back home.

All of Friday, I kept feeling like it was Saturday because apparently time feels like working differently this week. Like yesterday seems forever ago and finals seem super forever ago. And tomorrow seems far too close. I'm afraid the world is not a wish-granting factory. So yesterday involved a lot of self-pity because the End Is Nigh and doom and gloom are in our hearts. Okay, so clearly I'm exaggerating. Friday involved more wandering because, despite the cloudy weather, I want to be outside in the city as much as possible. I began thinking about pack as well (I don't believe in doing things until I feel the extreme stress and when I can get over The Sad of the situation.) Friday night began our Last Hurrah because we can't go out tonight; our bus to the airport leaves at 6am tomorrow morning. So we started out the night at (you guessed it!) Dragos. We ended up there almost until 2am because 1) Rain and 2) Feelings of nostalgia. I am almost certain this entire post will feature the sentence, "And then we were, once again, sad because we have to leave." It was incredibly fun to have all the Fund kids together for one last night. We went to La Nuit to dance it up until the wee hours of the night.

Today we got our grades (Good ones!) and we have a closing ceremony/dinner thing tonight. I'll probably add some stuff about that later. Now is later: We did have a magical celebration tonight! We all met in the auditorium to get our names called and receive our diplomas from the course. The whole time I was nervous, because we do the "dos besos" (air kisses) to whoever hands us our sheet and this always makes me a little anxious. fear not, for my execution was flawless. After, we had dinner which was more of random tapas instead of our usual dinner. Also, desert was great.

Unfortunately, today was also filled with packing because I've been putting it off. There is nothing more depressing than seeing my suitcase being filled up. I wandered around the city some more to get a last glimpse at the love of my life. Because it will be hard to find a city that compares.

I don't want to leave here.

And even though that's true, I've realized that leaving seems kind of pure, you know? Like it definitely leaves me aching inside, but that's probably better than if it didn't. Because if it hurts, it meant something and it was worth it even if I have to feel a little emotional pain. There are still other adventures to come, but I stayed long enough for it to matter.

I'm headed to Greece tomorrow (!!!) and I have a few announcements on my future blogging. I'll be changing cities every two to three days, so my blogging will probably be a little more sporadic. When I have access to wifi and time, I'll keep all of you updated, but it will likely be a little bit trickier. So keep a weather eye on the horizon for posts.

Athens tomorrow!

Sol, Spain, Sangria & S'mores

Hey guys!

Repping all my Boston gear.

There have been some rather drastic ups and downs for this week due to A) Current events B) The weather and C) The beginning of finals.To begin with the current events side of things, I'm sure you've all heard about the Boston Marathon bombings; however, the effect seems different when you aren't in your own country. I feel disconnected with everything that happened, and it's incredibly strange to deal with such tragedy when you are away from home and have to rely on the internet (it's a little sketchy here) to keep you updated. It was tense waiting to see the outcome of everything, and I don't think I really describe my disorientation and shock over the bombings. I'm aware that, had I been in Minnesota, I couldn't have helped any more than when I am here, but I felt far more helpless not even being in America. Overall, I am grateful to the city of Boston for hanging tough in these trying times and proving the strength of humanity in the face of such hatred (I am wearing my Green Monstah Red Sox shirt while writing this. Sorry I couldn't be serious in the picture, that's just my blogging face. Also, go Twins!)  

While events unfolded in Boston, the weather here has been absolutely fantastic. This almost adds to my struggle to come to terms with the destruction back home (home being 'Murica in general) because how can such beauty exist in the same place as that much hate? No answers to that question, I guess. On a less world-wide scale, this week has featured an extreme internal battle: homework and studying versus the absolutely fantastic weather. I fear for my grades.

I was Skyping with the fam last Sunday, so I realize rubbing in the weather situation is not particularly nice. It seems my Minnesota people have had some winter storm watches, right? And a little bit of snow? Ah the joys of the Midwest. In case you were wondering, I have a tan line and it's been between 70 and 85 degrees for most of the week. No big deal.

This means I've been outside for the entire week when I'm not in class.We have a plaza outside the Fund with benches, so I've been reading and studying out there whenever I get a chance because I only have one week left in Spain. The Spaniards don't necessarily share the Minnesotans and Wisconsinites love for the heat: they stared at any of us wearing summery clothes and they still had on jackets, and some of them even had gloves. I don't know how they physically survived. (There is no "ph" in Spanish an I almost put an "f" instead. Just thought you all should know...) When we weren't sitting out on the benches or enjoying other parts of Toledo, we were drinking Sangria at Dragos (the bar that is 30 seconds from the Fund) after class to relax in the afternoon.

I also had my first final on Thursday, which went well (?). Maybe. We are connected to a music school, so I apparently get a soundtrack to finals week because they were definitely making a racket during my test. So it goes. To celebrate being done with our first final, about thirty of us headed to Dragos just to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. This was extremely fun and one of our professors even joined us in  our Tapas-and-Sangria hangout. In reality, I don't think a person gets many perfect times in their life, but this was one of them. I don't mean a good or great time. I mean absolutely perfect. Yeah, that's how fantastic it was.

Friday was basically just more hanging out and studying during the day because finals. I have a paper and presentation due tomorrow (We won't talk about how far I've gotten on them. That idea scares us.) so I actually-sort-of tried to be productive. Results were mixed. We had all decided earlier in the week to have a bonfire Friday night, so I was looking forward to that all day. We planned to leave at nine, before it got completely dark out because we were climbing the mountain (I swear it's a mountain. Big hill isn't accurate!) to where we planned on making our fire. We didn't exactly leave on time, so it was pretty dark when we made it to the other side of the river.

Life Lesson #86: Do not climb small mountains in the dark. Do not wear flip-flops while climbing small mountains in the dark.

That was up there in Dumbest Things I've Done In Spain. But we did eventually make it and the view was literally breath-taking. Mostly on account of the climb, but the view was actually spectacular. We were the first group that got up there and none of us brought a lighter. Le sigh. Eventually the other groups straggled up, and they brought provisions to make a fire possible. Unfortunately for us, fires fall under the Super Illegal activities here on account of the dry countryside. Even so, we decided to make it and hope there weren't any headlines the next day saying: American Students Burn Down Medieval City Due To Stupidity. We didn't need to worry though because our fire struggled to survive. All of the guys were trying to prove their manliness or what have you because they were obsessed with the keeping the fire going. Most of us got to roast a S'more though, before it died completely so it ended up working out alright. It was super windy up on the mountain, so when we got cold we went back to Toledo to sleep and prepare for the next day.

Saturday started off much the same as Friday, with a lot of studying and trying to accomplish things in spite of the beautiful, weather-y distraction. Mostly, I am terrible at accomplishing school things even when I give myself a deadline. So I really didn't get that much done. Saturday night was a celebration though because it was Emma's 21st birthday this weekend! Free champagne and starting the night out at Dragos because that's where it's at. I don't think the bar scene in the states is going to be anywhere as good as it is here. I got tired quite early because of um, obviously working hard the entire day, so I headed in earlyish. I had hopes of actually getting things done today, but it's been difficult. Ugh. At best, this was wishful thinking.

I pretended to do homework today, so now I have quite a bit to go tonight. I really need to work on my time management skills and not do Other Spain Things.

On a concluding note, I have realized J.K. Rowling stole my life story for Harry Potter. Now, it might seem like a lot to compare myself to the Boy Who Lived, but it's true. (If you haven't read/watched Harry Potter, just ignore this paragraph.) Like Harry, I have to destroy the horcruxes in my life to save the world. I mean, my horcruxes are finals, but it's almost the same as parts of Voldemort's soul. Anyway, the closer I get to having them destroyed the happier I can be, right? Wrong! Harry needs to sacrifice himself for the good of humanity by destroying the last horcruxes and when I destroy mine I uh...won't be in Spain anymore. This is true sacrifice. No finals = No Spain.

Basically, I'm Harry Potter. 

One week left in Spain then off to Greece!

¡Holy Toledo! (And Segovia)

¡Hola todos!

This week has already been more exciting than last week (said Wednesday Emily. I tried to write this not-all-at-once so I would remember things better). Maybe. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anyway, I have a plethora of kee-rap (my dad's version of "crap") to tell you all.

The beginning of the week led to some annoyance on my (and my mommy's) part due to credit card companies. Apparently most people don't buy three plane tickets right in a row in order to continue a European Adventure. Due to impatience concern, my mom called the credit card company and acted like me to clear up the situation.

An open letter to cops/federal agents/people involved with the law:

Dear cops/federal agents/people involved with the law,

You might say this is "fraud" or some such nonsense. My mams cosigned the credit card thinger, so she shouldn't have had to do this. Someone at the bank or company or something messed up. So calm yourselves.

Best wishes,
Emily

Anyway, they called my mom's bluff because she didn't know the code on the back of the credit card. So I got a talkin-to via the phone at 1AM on account of her fear that the company would cancel my tickets. This led to us Skyping while she cleared up the matter. Neither of us was particularly pleased, but everything got fixed for the better. And during the Skype call, our feist (similar to feisty, but a noun) was calmed to normal levels. And all was well in the world. Or something.

Wednesday night, we had a talent show at the Fund. I didn't participate because my talents aren't the kind you can put on a stage. You don't believe me?

A List of Emily's Talents

-Drawing
-Taking naps
-Changing radio stations while driving (You might be under the impression that this isn't a talent. Clearly, you've never ridden with me)
-Being short
-Procrastinating (Why yes, I have written an eight page paper the same day it was due. BOOM.)
-Ruining part of a Game of Thrones for the guy I had a crush on (See also: Being a nerd)
-Getting tan on only one half of my body

Anyway, this was probably one of my favorite Fund events. I was constantly impressed, whether it be by my classmates courage just for being on stage or their actual talents. I became quite aware of my own deficiencies and have decided to take up singing, dancing, playing guitar/train whistle/cello, doing magic tricks and being amazing. Actually, I can cross the last one off the list because I've got it down pretty well.

Because it was my friend Coral's birthday, we went to a nearby bar to celebrate. The bartender knows us, and put up a "Feliz Cumpleaños" sign for her and even gave her a free bottle of champagne. Unfortunately, I had class early the next morning so I wasn't out as long as I wanted to be but it was still an extremely fun night and I won't forget it soon. (As predicted, Thursday morning came too soon.)

 Although Thursday wasn't really exciting, it made me realize how quickly my time here has gone by, and how little I have left. For my Art in Toledo class, we had our final visit (to the University here) and my final for that is in less than a week. *Gulp* I can't believe I only have two more weeks here, and while I am ready to see my family and friends, it is painful to think about leaving Toledo. So generally I try to ignore this doom and gloom outlook on things and focus instead on other stuff. Fun stuff. Like how I spent the entire day in a tank top and skirt while it just blizzarded in Minnesota.

On Friday, we hopped on the bus for our last Fund excursion to Segovia. There were some awesome parts to this trip although, overall, I wouldn't say this was the prettiest city I've been to in Spain. (The more I travel around Spain, the more I fall in love with how gorgeous Toledo is. Other cities are great, but the don't have the medieval atmosphere and beauty that I find here.) In any case, we did visit some marvelous parts of the city: namely a great castle and some ancient aqueducts. The castle was, like always, called the Alcazar, which means it housed royalty and some military stuff and I didn't retain everything, so hopefully that is all. This one, in Segovia, was actually the inspiration for the Disney logo and castle. It used to be defense-oriented but then one of the kings (Felipe Something? Carlos Something? There are too many kings with the same name...) decided to make it look pretty and added the pointed towers that we tend to associate with castles. At the end of the tour, we were allowed to go up the highest tower and view the entire city.

A brief note: I am very excited for America in a few respects. One of them is in regards to stairs. There are eight bajillion stairs in Europe and going up the tower was no exception. Obviously they had to be the tight spiral kind of stairs, too. The kind where you keep going in circles and eventually you get super dizzy and think you are going to fall backwards and take all the other people down with you. Those kind of stairs. As a child, I wanted them in my house because they looked so majestic. To which I tell my childhood: No. A thousand times no.

When we finally made it to the top, everyone was having trouble breathing on account of the stairs. But, man, was it worth it. I will obviously be adding pictures because we all know I am lazy bad at writing descriptions. It was the perfect day for this trip as well, weather-wise. The sky was extremely blue and the sun decided to hang around making it even better.

Afterwards, we headed to the Plaza Mayor and got a good glimpse of the Cathedral. We had seen it from a distance, due to the tower, but seeing it up close was even better. We didn't have enough time to go inside, but it was enough just to enjoy the exterior. Then came probably my favorite part of the trip: the aqueducts. I never really thought of them existing in places outside of Italy, but, whadda ya know, they do. These ones were apparently built in the first century and some of the best preserved. They are made completely out of stone and don't even have mortar or anything keeping them together, which makes them even more impressive. I also had no idea they would be so massive, but they definitely are.

After lunch, some relaxing, and hanging out near the 'ducts, it was time to get on the bus once again and return to Toledo. Cue in the siesta.

Saturday brought the amazing weather to Toledo. I have been walking around today in a skirt (Shocking, right?) and a tank top because it was that nice. I can't actually say it was a really exciting day but it was just good. I decided to wander around Toledo and do some actual tourist shopping. I've neglected buying presents for some of my friends (Sorry T and Carly!) but today I actually got around to it. That is more or less what my day consisted of: meandering around tourist-filled streets by myself to finish "chores." It was nice to just spend some time with my own company (said the introvert). After a while, I decided to grab my Nook and find a quiet spot to read. Sadly, I got tan on only one side of my body.

What are we doing tonight? I have no idea, actually. We might go out or have a movie night. I am no longer the leader, so I ignore these "planning" things. If something interesting happens tonight, I'll let you guys know.

You probably won't hear from me for a week.

Lies, you actually will hear from me. It is approximately (exactly) 3:38AM and I just got back from La Nuit, the discoteca here. We all had an excellent night, starting out at Dragos, our bar. It was incredibly fun just to hang out, especially knowing we have to savor our last couple of weeks here. From the bar, we headed out to the club to finish off the night with some dancing. My dancing skills could definitely use some improving, but I got to practice my Spanish skills with some of the Spaniards tonight. It was a good night, but I am exhausted. I'm super excited to wake up early and study tomorrow....

¡Hasta Luego!

Rest & Relaxation

So we meet again, Buzz Lightyear. It's been one of those weeks

Sorry, I wasn't feeling like saying "Hola" or "Hello" this time. So I thought I should just throw in some Toy Story to spice things up a little. Because this will be a fairly vanilla (read bland) post today. My humblest apologies.

The most exciting news of the week: my plane ticket got switched, so I am for sure staying in Europe, never to return. Just kidding. I'll be in the lengthy process of coming back on May 14th. So watch out, America, because you forgot what a great thing you were missing. I would like to thank my Mommy for here patience in regards to the Travel Situation because she has been amazing in changing my ticket. I've also ran into some issues buying a plane (and a boat!) ticket, so she was able to call the credit card company and get all of that sorted out for me. Can she get a round of applause please? *Thunderous applause via the Intranets*

Okay, now to the excitement that was this week. Or not. This is going to be a short post, but I'm going to do my best. Just hang in there! For my Art in Toledo class, we went to the Cathedral here (I mentioned that Mams, Claire and I went there last weekend but shhhh...! We are going to ignore that for the time being). I'm actually glad I got to go again because there are a few things I think the audio-guide didn't know that my teacher did. The first time I went, I didn't realize that our Cathedral was the first one built in Spain. I can now check Visit the Oldest Cathedral in Spain off of my bucket list.

Before I continue, I need some sustenance. I'll be back in five; I need a Twix. You guys can all get settled and comfy while I'm gone. Cool? Cool.

I'm back! I think I eat enough Twixes that my maid judges me based on how often she finds the wrappers in the trash. Tis life, I suppose.

Like I previously stated, I really enjoyed the Cathedral, but I am also quite aware of my own idiocy and/or laziness. I might've worn flip-flops to a building where "it is colder inside than outside." (I'm pretty sure that's an actual quote from my professor.) I was happy to leave by the end because my toes have a tendency to turn purple when they are cold. Poor circulation much? Another note on laziness: I've woken up early enough for breakfast everyday this week. I made it down to the cafeteria once. My stomach hates me.

Friday afternoon involved going to another museum for my Grandes Maestros class, so we headed off to Madrid to visit the Reina Sofia. In true Emily form, I fell asleep on the buses because that is what buses are for. Or something. Anyway, I woke up when we were in Madrid and kept trying to convince myself we weren't that close because I really wanted to finish my nap. Unfortunately, the bus killed the dream I dreamed and it was time to wake up for museum time. This museum wasn't necessarily my favorite because it focuses more on modern paintings and we went specifically to see those of Picasso and Dali. And they don't fall under the Emily's Favorite Painters category. Van Gogh holds the top spot (although Dali was pretty crazy too, but less in a I-will-cut-my-ear-off-to-give-to-a-girl way and more in a I-will-call-my-autobiography-Diary-of-a-Genius way). Most of Dali's paintings were off in Paris anyway for some exhibition thinger, so we mostly saw Picasso's work. I know he is considered Super Good, but the only painting I really found interesting was Guernica, which I had seen eight gajillion times in other classes. To be fair, I hadn't really been impressed by it until I saw it in person and then I found it much more interesting. So it goes.


Now I have very little left to talk about, but I will still try to make it worth reading. This weekend was rather a non-event; simply me doing homework and planning my trip and being frustrated when websites won't take my money. (They can have this attitude if they give me my ticket. If they jack up the price 20 euros between times I try to pay though, I get irate.) In order to not end up in my room going crazy (crazier) from technology, I play a kind of weird game. (Intrigued?)

But more back-story first. In the past two blogs, I've commented on how I became the fearless navigator and leader due to...stuff. Either way, this is generally a poor life decision because I've never been known to be good at finding places. For a frame of reference: when I first got my driver's license, I needed directions from 11 year old Claire to get to a pizza place in my hometown. That is how terrible of a decision it is to let me be in charge of directions.

Anyway, I play this game where I go to streets of the city I know and then turn off at random interesting-looking streets (People from back home: Toledo is super safe, so don't worry that Emily is doing something crazy and is going to die in Spain. I promise, it is completely safe. Cross my fingers and hope to die and all that jazz). I turn off onto other interesting looking (There are people there! It isn't some back alley where you know serial killers hunt or whatever. Please stop being nervous. It is A-OK, I promise promise promise) streets until I have, at best, only a vague idea of where I am. As you may remember, I live in a literal labyrinth. So it becomes a Find Your Way Back kind of game (I don't go that far....I've scared you all with my living on the edge and bad-assery, haven't I? I swear I live a safe, normal lifestyle). This is also an excellent decision when I'm getting caught up in the I-have-homework-I've-procrastinated-on-and-I-need-plane-tickets-and-the-website-won't-work-stress-stress-stress sort of thoughts. I've come to realize I get caught up in my anxieties and overall my interior stress levels are a lot higher than people might think (because I always appear calm, cool and collected. Obviously). So this is a good stress reliever as well as gets me some exercise because Toledo believes in hills.

Honestly, this was more or less how my week went: hanging out, homework and wandering. It was a good change of pace from the perpetual tramping of Spring Break. Hopefully I'll add some pictures later today for you to enjoy. Don't be too scared of my daring boldness in the Lost Game.

Until next weekend!