Saying Adios!

This ending post is for Emily Jo who insists that if I don't finish my blog, nobody will know what I did the rest of the days of the week or know how I got home, so here I go, wisdom teeth out this morning and finishing up my blog while I'm cooped up in bed.

Thursday

My Thursdays were a mimic of my Tuesdays; class from 9:00-10:30, then I went to the elementary school and volunteered from 11:00-2:00 during the free time hour where I read the kids a book and chatted with the teachers then helped out with two classes, followed by lunch with my señora, class again from 4:30-6:00, then it was the start of my 3 day weekend. 

Here is my Grammar teacher, Julia, and I.

Many weekends I had to prepare myself for a weekend of traveling, others I just went out for tapas with some friends. Two girls, Paulina and Patty, lived close to me near the south side of Granada, so we often (tried to make it weekly) got together so we could have tapas and hang out. Definitely am going to miss my weekly dates with these girls.

Patty and Paulina

 Friday

Since I had Friday off, I did many different things, usually traveling, hanging out with my señora's family, or finding something to do around Granada. My last Friday in Granada was only 2 days after my Spanish niece was born, so I spent the whole day at my señora's daughter's house. 

David (4 years) and Emma (2 days)

During the afternoon, Antonio had a football game, so I decided to go with David and Antonio (the father), so Elisa, Ela and Emma had some quiet alone time together. He ended up even scoring his first two goals! On the left is David playing with his stick, that's all he needs to be content for the whole game. The one the right is our champion Antonio after his game.

 I happened to snap this beautiful pictures of the three kids the night before leaving (yes, I printed it and framed it for Elisa).

I got my snuggle time in, she is absolutely perfect.

My Spanish family: Antonio, Emma, Ela, Elisa, David, Antonio, and myself. So lucky they included me in all their family gatherings.

The most amazing woman and host mom I could ever ask for, Elisa.

On the last day of school, we had to take one last jumping picture in the patio... Scott and I. 

 A group picture in the computer lab, about half of our program.

 The night after our last day of classes, we had a farewell dinner with several teachers and all the students. We had a verrry fancy dinner and it was nice seeing everyone together one last time. From left to right, I am with Sandra (secretary), Elsa (teacher), Nerea (teacher/program assistant), and Miguel (program director). They were all such beautiful people and it was a pleasure being able to meet them!

 Saying goodbye to the family that I became so close with through tutoring and weekly lunches was definitely the hardest. I spend the whole Saturday before I left with them, we had dinner, watched movies, chatted, and exchanged some gifts. I decided to give Raquel (the mom) the rest of my peanut butter and my Wisconsin sweatshirt, she loved them both! Also, eating the pb with nocilla (the Spanish version of nutella) is deadly and delicious!

I likewise had to say goodbye to my intercambio, Marta. We decided to go rollerskating and had a blast! I will definitely be keeping in contact with all my Spanish friends and family for the rest of my life. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for twenty truck fulls of $100 bills. 

My travels home also went smoothly, I met a girl in Madrid who had the same itinerary as I did: flight to Dublin, 16 hour layover, then an 8 hour flight to Chicago. It was nice to have the company and the extra eyes to watch over our stuff. Everything was smooth sailing and on time. Zak was at the airport waiting for me, I woke up the next morning to a phone call from the Boys & Girls Club in Virginia offering me my preferred position with AmeriCorps, of course I gladly accepted. I can't complain about a single thing that has happened in the past 5 months, and I hope the good karma or luck, whatever it may be, continues with me on my way to Virginia. 

Thanks for keeping posted with my blog, it was fun to write and will be a great memory for me! Adios!!