Moving On

Hey yo. It's 1:20 am and I was reading up on my sister's blog and figured I might as well post something since it's been a while.

Two weeks ago I found out I was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship award for the academic year 2009-2010. The news came as a big surprise to me since word arrived much earlier than I expected it too. Leading up to the day I found out I've had doubts of whether I would even accept if I got it. I was struggling with whether I wanted to go half way across the world again for a longer period of time and mostly by myself or go back to New York and see what happens. However, when it became a reality that I actually got it, everything changed. I've been much more excited about the whole thing and think it could really be an incredible experience.

I'm graduating soon (inchallah) and that is really exciting. Especially now that I have something concrete to look forward to.

Will and I will be making another trek across the country after the big day (graduation). We are thinking of taking the 10 down south stopping in New Orleans and Charleston and then up to El's. I am of course concerned however about the race factor of the south....I just don't know how we, as an interracial couple, will be received in some parts of the country and it makes me concerned about our sleeping situations along the way. In August we camped everywhere except when we stayed with people in Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco. I don't know how comefortable i'll be doing the same this time around. Also the other thing that might keep us from going S is apparently late May/June is tornado season.

Either way we are going, I'll let you know what we decide to do.

More to come later...

Rethinking Things

After yesterday's entry, I decided I needed an attitude adjustment. Last night my host mom invited me out for tapas as a farewell thing for me and Conor and some of his friends. I didn't really want to go because 1, i thought i would be awkward and 2. I had a rough night the evening before and wanted to turn in early. After consulting Will and Andy who told me to basically suck it up, bite the bullet, and get over it, I decided they were absolutely right. In the last few months the one thing I have come to embrace is taking more risks despite my fears of what may happen as a result of stepping outside of my comfort zone. I knew that I was the one responsible for feeling tense in my house and therefore i had the power to change my my outlook on the situation, so I decided to go with it. We ended up staying out 'til 4 am and I really enjoyed myself. There were time when I was bored, but all in all I know I made the right decision in going. For Conor and his friends it was their last evening in Leon so they were pretty sad naturally but had no problem "aproveching" the night :) We began with tapas, had dinner at my faaaaaavorite pizza place, La Competencia, and spent the rest of the evening dancing the night away. I was pretty tired throughout and wasn't planning on staying out late and dancing, but I figured it would be good family therapy and a chance for me to make good with everyone. Things seem to be much better at this point. I know I don't have much time left, but I want to make sure they are enjoyable.

Brief Photo Logg of Trips

Here it is, in a nut shell:

Me and Will in Gijon, Asturias - May

The Place in Morocco where we ate dinner just about every night. During the day there are snake charmers, monkey's, Orange juice stands, and women doing henna. - May

Two Men in Morocco - May

Cooling off in Morocco - May

Me and Daddy outside of Leon - April

Big Ben in London - April

La Mesquita in Cordoba - March

Sevilla - March

Sevilla - March

Cadiz - March

At the Alhambra in Granada - March

Me and Jess on Bikes in Amsterdam - February

Sitting in a shoe in Amsterdam - February

Salamanca -February

The End Is Near, But Near Enough

So here's where I am right now. I am ready to go home. I love Spain, i sincerely mean that, but I'm absolutely done with living with host families. Don't get me wrong, I live with really nice people, almost too nice, but it's time for me to move on. This doesn't feel like my space, my place, because it's not and I'm tired of living in someone else's home. My host mom is almost too nice and pretty much suffocating. I need to feel like more of an adult and she treats me like a child. I don't need someone to make my bed or serve my food or peel my orange or take care of me when I'm sick or decide whether m clothes are dirty enough to be washed yet. On top of this, my 15 year old spoiled host sister is driving me nuts and the constant arguing between her and my host mom are becoming unbearable. This girl is a trip, lemme tell you. She's so rude to her mother, yells at her, tells her how it's gonna be, takes takes takes and does nothing. She has no responsibilities and no consequences for being a brat. I know there are worse things a host family/mother could do, but after living with these people for so long, it's really become exhausting and I've definitely become more reclusive and I'm sure it's very obvious that I am not happy living her and want to go home. What's strange is that we all used to be so close and I really enjoyed being in my house and spending time with them. It's not so much that I don't like my host mom (because I definitely don't like my host sister), I think it's home sickness setting in. It's not really personal. Ever since Will left, I've been feeling more homesick then ever. Not only was it difficult to have to let him go again, but I also wished I was done with my program and on my way home. My friends have been really great and I'm blessed to have them. Jessica, Morena, Matt, Hannah, and Andy - I think I'd go crazy without them. I'm gonna miss them all so much when I leave. I didn't really expect to make such good friends while I was here. We're having a farewell party before we all "bugger off" (as Matt would say) and I know it's gonna be a sob fest. I'm glad I'll be spending my last hours in Leon with them, people I genuinely love and enjoy being around. I think it's unfortunate that I feel as though I'm just passing the time until my flight. My last final is in 6 days and I desperately just want to take a trip for a few days to clear my head and get away from here, but I'm really trying to be frugal with my money until I leave because the Euro is killlling my bank account. In some ways I wish I had time to see more of Spain and Europe, but I'm positive I will be back some day.

Overall, I'd say I had the most amazing time this semester. When I got back from Morocco, I was thinking to myself that every trip I went on wasn't just good, they were all incredible. My love for traveling has expanded further than I thought it could go, but I'm ready to get back to New York and chill for a little while. Until later....

3 months later...

Yes I know I¨ve been a terrible blogger, guess it wasn´t really ¨my thing¨ or i didn´t have the drive or discipline to keep it up, but I´m here now to just drop a little note to say that things overall are still going strong. I´m definitely ready to be done with my classes, but not completely ready to leave Spain. I have to run now, but i might just might write again before I leave. Hasta luego!

OK Pictures are Here Soooner Than I Thought

That's me trying out this cool contraption thing at the exhibit by Blanca Li "Te voy a ensenar a bailar" at the museum MUSAC.

In Isoba, my host families Pueblo about 2 hrs. North of Leon. (Left to Right: Luis (host cousin), Artlet (host sister), Patricia (Luis' brother), Me.)

Cathedral in Central part of Leon

Isoba

Madrid
(Oh yea, I forgot to mention I took a trip to Madrid two weeks ago to visit Molly. 'twas fun)

Pictures are Coming Sooon!

Probably Friday