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| Thankful this holiday season for amazing friends! |
The massive puente in December has arrived! For those of you who don't know, puentes are spanish, extended holidays. The Monday and Wednesday of this past week were holidays, so Spain decided to take Monday through Wednesday off. Including the weekend, that makes for a 5 day perfect time to get some traveling in without missing class...or so I thought.
Adrienne and I had our tickets booked to spend the 5 days in London. I woke up on Wednesday morning (the week prior to the puente) and found myself running to the bathroom. The flu? Food poisoning? Not wanting to go to class? I couldn't figure it out! After realizing that it wasn't in my imagination, it was in the toilet, I decided to go back to bed and tell myself to get better before my flight to London on Thursday night. I taught English to my spanish niños all night Monday and Tuesday, so I was thinking it had something to do with them. I spent the day in my not so comfy bed wishing that I was at home with my family. It's funny how being sick can bring about the strongest emotions of homesickness. After trying to sleep the day away, my heaven sent friend, Adrienne came over and brought me sustenance and love. I didn't want to be alone and she so graciously sat with me in my bed while I slept and she did homework. I feel no matter where I am, God always blesses me and surrounds me with the most amazing people.
I woke up on Thursday morning feeling a little better telling myself that I was going to be better and get on that flight to London! I called Adrienne only to find out that our flight had been canceled because of the snowy weather. After being hit with a wave of disappointment I realized it might be a blessing in disguise to spend a little more time recovering. I have always had issues with doing to much and not listening to my body when it says..."rest!" I know my parents can vouch for me on that one. After being in Córdoba 3 weekends ago and Madrid 2 weekends ago with my art history class it was just what the doctor called for to stay put for a couple of days.
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| Our fabulous host, Gemma |
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| Columbia Flower Market |
Adrienne and I re-scheduled our tickets for a few days later and decided to take our own Spanish puente and went to London! We spent about 5 days in the fabulous city and stayed with Adrienne's family. We had the best time with them! I felt so loved and oddly at home in a country that is so much more similar to the U.S. than the south of Spain. I found myself in a country that speaks my language and whose infrastructure is organized and on time. With a Starbucks on every corner I couldn't help but feel at home in this lovely city.
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| The best falafel at Borough Market |
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Arsenal Game
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Being the 2nd time Adrienne and I had been in London we decided to go for the not so touristy sights, which Gemma (Adrienne's cousin) was fantastic at showing us. Being lovers of art we went to the National Portrait Gallery, The British Art Museum, and the Tate Modern. We went to countless food markets where I indulged in non-spanish food, my favorite being Borough Market. We went to an Arsenal game and sat in the 15th row chanting with crazy Brits. We saw Billy Elliot in the Victoria Theatre, shopped, ate delicious Indian food, went to Hyde Park, Columbia Flower Market, Camden Town and enjoyed our time with Adrienne's family. By the end of the trip we were not ready to go home, but we knew we had one week left of school and then we were on yet another break for Christmas.
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| Sleeping under a table in the airport |
Because London wasn't a big enough adventure, our plane was late arriving in Málaga and therefore made us miss the last bus back to Granada on Sunday night. After running with our baggage in way to many layers for Spain's weather, making it through customs, and through the Málaga airport, we knew we were not going to make it to the bus station on time. We decided to make the best of it, ate the rest of our British black licorice, whipped out our knitting and relaxed in the empty airport. We scouted out some food booths that looked like the perfect place to spend the night. We make-shifted some beds with our clothing and chairs and when I looked around I realized we weren't the only ones with the brilliant idea. We had a whole family of airport sleepers in all of the booths next to us (oddly comical and comforting at 2AM). We woke up a couple of hours later and caught the 7AM bus back to Granada, just in time for class.
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| Surprise going away fiesta in our piso |
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| The last supper |
I came home to a slightly more empty piso and a little whole in my heart. Before leaving for London I had to say goodbye to one of my flat mates. Charlotte is from England and went to Spain in search of a job. Needless to say, with the Spanish economy in the pickle it's in, she didn't find one and moved back to England. The night before I went to London, my other flat mate and I had a surprise going away party for her in our piso and had the best time with our spanish friends. That night I really felt like I was a true part of Spain and a group of friends/community here. I have really grown to love Charlotte and was even more sad to come home to a piso without her in it. We made some great memories while she was here and I know I will see her again this coming year.
More of London...
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| St. Paul's Cathedral on our way to Tate Modern |
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| Warhol in Tate |
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| Hyde Park |
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| Content with our chai's and gluten-free macaroons :) |
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| Billy Elliot |
Tomorrow I leave for 3 weeks of traveling through Italy and Germany. I am so excited, but am missing my family more than ever in this holiday season. I know this year is going to be a different type of Christmas and am so blessed to have this experience and friends in European countries I can be with over the holidays, but there is nothing that can replace family. I am missing you all and think about you constantly. You are in my heart this Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year!
