Senior Year begins!

Hello! Hola!

It's hard to believe I'm a senior already, the past four years have just flown! I spent last semester abroad in Madrid, Spain and had the time of my life. I believe studying abroad is one of the best--if not the best--thing you can do as an undergraduate student! I learned so much about my self and about this beautiful world we live in, my Spanish improved tremendously, and I met a lot of great people along the way.

My time abroad made me even more excited to come back to Ripon this year and see all of my friends. I'm living in the Senior Apartments this year (the newest building on campus...with A/C!) with three friends who were all abroad last semester too! It's so much fun to cook things we ate while abroad in Spain and Itlay and try new, exotic recipes!

Besides eating well, I also play on the Red Hawk Volleyball team, work as a Spanish Language Lab Assistant, intern in the Admission Office, and participate in the Student Volunteers for the Blue Mountain Project. I also go to class :) This semester I'm taking 16 very interesting credits: Advanced Clinical and Counseling Psychology, Women in Spanish Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Sexualities, and my Psychology Senior Research Seminar.

It's going to be a great year!

Roommates: Jess, Me, Theresa, and Lindsey

Paella de Despedida

This afternoon Patricia had us all over to her house for a Paella de Despedida. Her husband Jose made a giant paella and Patricia made a smaller one for people with allergies to seafood! It was so much food, but so delicious, and a great way to say goodbye to Madrid! But I am already thinking of how I can come back! There is a program through the Spanish Consulate where you can apply to be a Language and Cultural Assistant, so I might be looking into doing that next year after graduation... :)

Fiestas de San Isidro

Today is the Fiesta of San Isidro el Labrador, the patron saint of Madrid. All the madrileños were dressed in the traditional chulapo and chulapa costumes--even the little kids! So adorable! There was a carnival-type fair with lots of rides and attractions, dancing in parks and gardens around the city, joke-telling in the streets, theatrical performances, music and so much more! I just went to the carnival, which was incredible in itself! It is held in San Isidro Park, yes, there is an entire park devoted to this day! The park was filled with people picnicing, botelloning and just enjoying the beautiful day. It was so neat to see the traditional dress and I even got to take a picture with a chulapo couple!

The Despedidas begin... :(

Today was my last day of finals, so now I am officially done "studying" abroad, now I can just have fun abroad! I am sooooo happy to be done! These last few days have been pretty stressful, trying to balance spending time with friends that I might not see again for a long time and studying...and sacrificing sleep! So it is such a weight off my shoulders to be done! Today, between my two finals, we had a Despedida Copa with all the students from the Course of Hispanic Studies and the professors. It was so nice to have a chance to talk to the professors and thank them for a wonderful semester (and of course the food and wine was great too!) Then, after my last exam Riccardo was waiting for me with a flower to celebrate the end of my exams! How sweet! Then we went together to the inaguration of the San Isidro festivities: a parade of Gigantes y cabezudos (giants and large-headed figures), it was short, but really cool! Then we headed to 100 Montiditos for euro drinks and mini-sandwiches! What a perfect day! :)

Kara, Sara and I with Mónica, our Lengua professor

Me and Fátima, my professor of Español Coloquial

San Isidro!

Carrera de la Mujer! A 6K run for cancer!

Today I ran the Carrera de la mujer, a 6 kilometer run to fight women's cancers. We were a little late registering for the run, so we didn't get a shirt, a backpack, or any of the goodies, but Gema gave me her shirt from last year, so at least I have something to remember it by! So I ran with Gema, my younger sister, Beatrice and her friend, and 15,000 other women! There were even men dressed up as women, with dresses and wigs! It was such a fun environment and all for a great cause! The princess of Spain was even there to start the race off! After 50 minutes of running, there was an aerobics festival where we did aerobics, latin dancing, and kickboxing! It was fun, but a little crowded with 15,000 of us! But it was a great experience, one of my best in Madrid!

¡Feliz cumpleaños Sara!

Today was Sara's 21st birthday, so her host mom invited all of us over to her house for a little dinner party! It was so nice! Normally we can't go over to eachother's houses because they are really small and it's one of the rules of the program that you're not supposed to, so it was so nice for her to host a party at her house! She made all kinds of great food and we had 3 desserts: a cake, arroz con leche, and brownies! It was so fun, but now I'm stuffed...and I have a paper to finish for tomorrow!

Día de la Madre

Today is Mother's Day here in Spain, so I after the Rastro this morning I bought a boquet of red daisies for Gema and I gave her a little card. When she was reading the card, she started tearing up a little bit, which made me start tearing up...all I know is that when I leave in a few weeks, it will be more than tearing up! I am going to cry so much! I love my family here, I really feel like Gema is a second mother to me and it's going to be hard to say goodbye. But at least I know that if (and when) I come back to Madrid, I have family here :)