Farewell España

Oh my gosh! I can't believe I leave Granada today!!!  I had to write one last post before I left!

Over the past week I've tried to get everything in that I hadn't done before.. Hannah and I relaxed in the Arab Baths and got a massage there, we shopped in the Albaycín, and shopped for souvenirs (of course!)  Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been very good, so we weren't able to take many pictures or go anywhere outside.  This picture below is of the shops in the Albaycín, they're all Arab shops and most have some pretty neat stuff in them!  Mom and Dad, this is where I bought your gift!

The one nice day we had I took pictures around where I live.  Since we've been getting so much rain, the trees and plants are in full bloom.  Granada is gorgeous!!  The only bad part is that my allergies have been killer! And since the Sierra Nevada blocks all the wind from coming through to Granada, the allergies stay here.

I told Encarna that we have to take pictures before I leave!!  This is Encarna, you've heard so much about her, now you finally get to see what she looks like!  And even though she feeds me 3 pieces of ham for dinner every night, I still think she's a nice lady!! haha

And a picture with Julie.  Carmen wouldn't let me take a picture with her.  She said that she hasn't been in a picture since she was 10 years old and she wants to keep it that way! (No pictures in 80 years!!! ...impossible!)

A few of us went to Mamma Mia, a delicious Italian restaurant, for my going away dinner and afterwards we went to an Irish Pub, Hannigans, to hang out with a big group.  It was definitely hard saying good-bye.  I think it's so hard because I know I won't see most of the people here again!

Yesterday in class we didn't do ANYTHING!  So we decided to take pictures instead of sitting around staring at each other!  Devin, Laura, Liza, Holly and I are the only ones left from our first month! So sad to leave them!

Starting from left to right:  our teacher, Fermín (he's drawing on my foot..); Me; Douglas from New York; Laura is sitting next to me, she's from Boston; "Violeta" is above Laura (I put her name in quotes because that's her Spanish name, not her real name), she's from China, Enrico is at the very top, he's from Italy; Laura is sitting next to "Violeta", she's from Germany; Holly is directly in front of Laura, from Texas; Ece is in the very front, from Turkey; Devin is on the end, from Michigan; Liza, from Kentucky; and Mariangeles, our other teacher, is poking her head out right above Devin.

I'm all packed up and ready to go.  It doesn't feel real that I'm coming back home, but I'm still very excited!  I will definitely be ready to be home after my 31 hours of traveling to get back to the USA!! I leave tonight and take a bus to Madrid, sleep in the airport, hop on a plane in the morning and fly to Belgium, then fly from Belgium to Chicago and Chicago to KC!  it's going to be a long, long, long adventure!  The next time I post, I'll be home!  No worries, I'll have to post at least one more post to wrap this all up, or tell how reverse culture shock is going.. it's going to be so weird to drive again, or be able to use my cell phone! CRAZYYYY!!!!

Good-bye España! I will miss you a lot!