How did six weeks pass so quickly?
I have been home now for over two weeks, and I cannot believe that I spent the first six weeks of summer in Spain. I have already written of my trip to Gibraltar and Marbella during the last weekend in Spain, but I thought there were a few good stories from the last week and trip home that might be interesting.
On our last Tuesday in Spain, our three ISA directors had a farewell dinner for all of the current ISA students. Our group of summer students plus other ISA students who were there for longer periods of time met outside of the ISA office to walk to the restaurant. Before meeting with the group, Rubia and I went to a Language Exhibition that Malaga had put together in la Plaza de la Marina. We walked through, learning about the evolution of language and taking pictures with the creepy statues of cave people.
All of the information was in Spanish, and we grabbed the Spanish pamphlets at the front door, but a security attempted to be helpful and brought us the English pamphlets. Rubia and I were committed to using our Spanish skills and proceeded to ignore the English versions. At the end of the exhibit, we found an opening with mirrors and a video in the back. Since there were mirrors on every surface, this provided another great photo opportunity. We shamelessly climbed into the display and took as many pictures as we could before the next people came along.
After the Exhibition, we met the group outside the ISA office and followed the directors to the restaurant. Everyone was dressed up, and that added to the sense of festivity. I ended up sitting next to Raquel, one of our directors, Pedro, and across from Rubia, Jen, and another of our directors, Heidi. They made excellent dinner company. After the waitresses (camareras) got our drinks, they began to bring out plate after plate of food. At first we thought they were just serving us appetizers, but as more and more plates of shared food came, we realized we were getting a feast of Spanish cuisine. There were more than 10 courses, and I ate a little bit of each one.
During the meal, Raquel and I discussed our shared love of Twilight and discovered that we like all the same tv shows. We also found that we both have a talent for doing weird things with our eyeballs and speaking in British accents. Basically, we are just ideal friends. We used a lot of Spanish, but switched back and forth since both languages are needed to express different ideas. After dinner, everyone took pictures and headed in their own directions.
Wednesday of the last week was the Festival of San Juan. This festival is local to Spain and especially popular in Malaga. On that night, everyone goes to the beach for a giant party. They make lists of bad things that happened in the past year and through them in bonfires. People jump over the bonfires for luck, and at midnight, everyone goes into the sea to wash their faces and hands for purity. Rubia, Jen, Kendra, Lisa, Elena, and I hung out that night, watching the concert on the beach and then heading to Burger King to sit and chat. I had originally planned to stay out all night, but my bed called my name around three in the morning.
I went to class the next day, but a lot of students did not, for obvious reasons. Kendra and I found out that we were the only two going to literature, so we decided to skip and going shopping instead. Our teacher, Antonio, had told us the previous day that he did not expect to see any of us after San Juan so it was all good. I found a creepy little shop with an old man and old woman staring at me, but they directed me upstairs. After walking up the rickety stairs and down a few narrow hallways, I found a bright, neat room filled with souvenirs and gifts. I bought purses for my mom and sister and a guitar keychain for my father. I later bought coffee roasted in Malaga as an additional gift for my father.
During my last week at school, I made sure to go to the beach everyday during break. I liked to stop at a little grocery store, get some snacks, and then read Crepusculo, listen to my iPod and take naps while browning my skin. I wanted to come home nice and brown and ready to further my tan at the pool. Friday was the last day of classes before finals, and I made sure to go to the El Palo beach for the last time that day. As I gazed at the beautiful sea, I could not believe this was my last day on this beach. After my final Literature class, I headed back to Tere's apartment feeling a little sad. Like I wrote in my previous blog about Gibraltar, my friends and I went out that night for one last fun time together. We danced until early in the morning and got little sleep, but it was worth it.
After returning from Gibraltar and Marbella on Saturday, I felt wiped out and got some much needed sleep. I woke up late on Sunday, and after spending some devotional time, I headed out for one last day on the Malagueta beach. Apparently there had been a huge festival the night before in Malaga, and the beach was packed with Spaniards from out of town. I found my little piece of sand and took a nap on the sizzling ground. After waking up, I took a long walk through the water and then through town, taking some photos of the harbor and going into gift shops, trying to find a present for my brother. I wanted an Espana Jersey, but the stores were all sold out.
I studied for my finals that night, and got up early on Monday morning to prepare. After my first test in Culture, I really was not worried, but I wanted to finish strong. The Culture final was simple, and the Literature final was by far the easiest test I have ever taken. I said goodbye to a few friends at school, and it felt strange to realize that I would most likely never again see these people who had been so important to me for six weeks. Tere made paella for lunch that day, and her daughter, Terecita was there as well. Terecita took a photo with Matteo, Tere, and me after the meal.
Matteo and I packed up our bags and scoured the room, making sure we had not forgotten anything in the room. When we left the apartment for the last time, I gave Tere a thank you note I had written in Spanish and thanked her deeply for everything she had done. She gave us the dos besos, and sent us and our bags down the elevator one at a time. When I got in the elevator, a few tears slid down my face. For the first time, I fully accepted the fact that I was leaving Spain. Zach joined Matteo and me outside, and we walked across town to the Cathedral. I met a few other host parents who had taken their kids to the bus, and we said our goodbyes to the students who were saying and to our fabulous directors: Iker, Heidi, and Raquel.
Iker made the overnight trip with us to Madrid. We were pretty rowdy and shared memories--no one really felt like sleeping. Andrea and I watched the most recent episode of the Bachelorette on our way to pass the time. When we arrived at the Madrid airport, the three Grand Valley Girls (Aftyn, Andrea, and Jen) hopped in a taxi and took off across the city to meet their Bilbao group. The rest of us stumbled into the airport, knowing that at 4 am we would have to wait a while before checking into our flights. Kendra and I were flying the same airlines so we headed to the same security checkpoint.
At the Duty Free store inside the airport, I finally found a gift for my brother: an authentic Spain World Cup scarf. I ate Subway as a way to transition back into the American way of life, and slept until my flight began to board. On the Madrid to Amsterdam flight, I sat by two Madrilenas in their early twenties. They were on holiday to Amsterdam, but neither spoke English or Dutch. We spoke for about two hours in Spanish and had a lot of fun. When we arrived in Amsterdam, I pointed them in the right direction and gave them some English tips.
Dutch airports are different because instead of having lots of sitting room and boarding by sections, everyone just makes a giant line and stands around for two hours until everyone is on the flight. On my trip across the Atlantic, I sat by a girl from Germany. A few years before she had spent a year in Minnesota as a foreign exchange student and had visited regularly ever since. We discussed many things and like the Madrilenas, she told me about the international significance of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. I never realized how much of a global effect that event had, but all three women could identify where they were when it happened and how it had changed their home countries.
Customs in Minneapolis went smoothly, but after helping many people get their luggage off the conveyor belt to put it back through security, I found that mine was missing. The airport guard told me to just go through security with my carry-on and claim the luggage in Sioux Falls. I decided their was no point in worrying, and headed off to my gate. Once there, I switched on my cell phone and felt like I was finally home. On my final flight to Sioux Falls, I sat by an elderly mother and her adult daughter who had just vacationed in Canada, taking a tour of the garden's of British Columbia. This sounded dull to me, but they seemed to have enjoyed it.
Mom and her friend Becky picked me up in Sioux Falls. I made a luggage claim before leaving the airport, and they delivered it to my house in less than two days. We drove home to Hospers, and I dropped my bag in my room, took a shower, and got ready to go out again. Although I had not slept in over 48 hours, I really wanted to go to the Midnight showing of Eclipse with my sister. We saw the film, and it was both the perfect ending to a magnificent six weeks in Spain and a marvelous beginning to the rest of summer.
Part of my heart is still in Spain. One day I will go back and retrieve it.
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