Hello to everyone!
This will be my last blog. First of all I would like to thank all of you for taking an interest in my life and my adventures as I traveled abroad! I arrived last Friday and it has been a whirl-wind of a first week back.
So let me start off with the journey home. Perfect! So perfect. All of my flights were ON TIME! AND my roommate Andrea and I had the same flight from Madrid to Philly-- we got to ride together after some strategic seat requesting :) It was the best way to end an experience like study abroad... with her, my first friend and my roomie :) We parted ways in the Philadelphia airport and then I came on down to the Southland! But let me interject here... culture shock-- hearing English and understanding it totally expected it-- understanding it with such ease-- SHOCK. Weird I know. I was welcomed with loving and tearful arms in Atlanta by my Mom, Steve, Eli, Melissa and Nathan. Melissa and Nathan were a small surprise :) and it was relatively brief because it was late, but still great to see them. On Saturday after trying to catch up on a little sleep, I went to my Dad's and Portia's and eventually that evening we ate Mexican food with their friends/roommates Rachel and Gordon and Michael and Kelly--- another small surprise (brother and sister-in-law)! I knew they'd come to Tennessee ;) At the restaurant I thought I might have cried when I heard and spoke Spanish, but I didn't-- not yet at least. It was so much fun to speak it, and I miss it terribly. I have to say here that every time I say I miss Spain or anything about it it's coupled with an equal affection for America and my home.... just so you know :) Moving on to Sunday was just a relaxing day at my Dad's and that night we ate grilled American hamburgers, so good! Kelly and Michael left on Monday (Memorial Day) and I made my way back to Mom's where there was a Memorial Day/I'm home party!! Friends and family, and friends that are like family came! Steve grilled, I ate, we had bbq, it was bliss, taha.
THEN on Tuesday I woke up deathly ill, I thought I had the swine flu but it turned out to be some type of tonsillitis blah. So for the rest of the week I've been in bed and on the couch. But starting yesterday (Saturday) I have been feeling better. I'm on the job hunt now... (if you have anything feel free to let me know) and I will be spending my first summer since the beginning of college at home. This should be interesting... haha, no I'm sure it will be great!
That's all the news I have, thanks again for all of your love and support over the past 5 months. This was one of the most memorable, shaping, amazing experiences of my life and I love that you are interested, so GRACIAS! :)
Some of you I'll see around Maryville, others Murfreesboro, or Gatlinburg at the family reunion, and still others I will just have to plan road trips!
Thanks again!!
This is Elisabeth now in Seymour Tennessee signing off :)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Only 2 more weeks....
WOW
My time here in Spain has flown by to say the absolute least. Oh, yes Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there!
From the last time I blogged I have spent the last 3 weekends in, Uppsala, Sweden, stayed in Murcia for a weekend, and just got back from Almeria, Spain.
In Sweden I stayed with my friend Ginger. She is working with Campus Crusade and has been in Sweden for almost a year now, she'll return to the States in July,,I think. It was so nice to see a familiar face, someone who KNOWS me. We went to Stockholm and took a ferry across the Baltic sea to an island. It was such a nice and relaxing day. The people in Sweden were wonderful. We went to a BBQ that one of her Swedish hosted, and we ate Fika, and my last night there Ginger cooked Swedish meatballs. All very fun activities and good food. Fika is comparable to tapas here in Spain in my opinion. It's their time to sit down, get together and eat... but it's not dinner or lunch. I had a slight adventure upon my arrival to Sweden. I flew with RyanAir and sometimes they put you at airports that are not close to anything-- happed to yours truly. But no worries I took the bus to Stockholm just like Ginger instructed me to do, and my plan was to wait in the bus/train/metro station till I could take a train to Uppsala. Weeeeelll, the train station closed at about 1 so I was a little stranded in the city for 3 1/2 hours till it opened again and I could purchase my ticket. Haha.. ohhh adventures in Europe. Don't worry sports fans I was safe ;)
Next stop--- Murcia
The girls in my program planned an American party for all of our international friends and it was "country" versus "gangsta," it was fun. A good night and good weekend. Andrea and I spent a lot of time together (more than usual) we took about an hour walk to Espinardo (our campus) just because we felt like it. It was a very laid back weekend. I catch myself appreciating every little thing I can during these last few weeks.
Last stop--- Almeria
We went and stayed with our friend John-Micheal, he's from Louisiana and lives 10 minutes away from the beach here in Spain. We met him at Las Fallas in Valencia about a month ago. Andrea and I really wanted to get out of Murcia one last time... so we hit up John-Micheal. We stayed out on the beach the entire weekend and relaxed. It was so refreshing. On Saturday night he cooked a Fish Fry... it was amazing. Good fresh fish from Spain with Zatarain's batter from Louisiana equals a little piece of heaven on earth. I was so nice to not have to cook, and eat wonderful food. Almeria is a cute little town and if you look hard enough you can see the north African coast from its coast.
It is a very surreal feeling to be leaving this place I've come to love. Today on the bus I realized it was my last bus ride returning to Murcia. I am very excited about coming home but I know there are many things I will miss from Spain. There will be a blog about all that I'm sure after I get back to the States... I'll keep you posted and let you know I made it back safe and sound :)
Until then... have a great Mother's Day!
My time here in Spain has flown by to say the absolute least. Oh, yes Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there!
From the last time I blogged I have spent the last 3 weekends in, Uppsala, Sweden, stayed in Murcia for a weekend, and just got back from Almeria, Spain.
In Sweden I stayed with my friend Ginger. She is working with Campus Crusade and has been in Sweden for almost a year now, she'll return to the States in July,,I think. It was so nice to see a familiar face, someone who KNOWS me. We went to Stockholm and took a ferry across the Baltic sea to an island. It was such a nice and relaxing day. The people in Sweden were wonderful. We went to a BBQ that one of her Swedish hosted, and we ate Fika, and my last night there Ginger cooked Swedish meatballs. All very fun activities and good food. Fika is comparable to tapas here in Spain in my opinion. It's their time to sit down, get together and eat... but it's not dinner or lunch. I had a slight adventure upon my arrival to Sweden. I flew with RyanAir and sometimes they put you at airports that are not close to anything-- happed to yours truly. But no worries I took the bus to Stockholm just like Ginger instructed me to do, and my plan was to wait in the bus/train/metro station till I could take a train to Uppsala. Weeeeelll, the train station closed at about 1 so I was a little stranded in the city for 3 1/2 hours till it opened again and I could purchase my ticket. Haha.. ohhh adventures in Europe. Don't worry sports fans I was safe ;)
Next stop--- Murcia
The girls in my program planned an American party for all of our international friends and it was "country" versus "gangsta," it was fun. A good night and good weekend. Andrea and I spent a lot of time together (more than usual) we took about an hour walk to Espinardo (our campus) just because we felt like it. It was a very laid back weekend. I catch myself appreciating every little thing I can during these last few weeks.
Last stop--- Almeria
We went and stayed with our friend John-Micheal, he's from Louisiana and lives 10 minutes away from the beach here in Spain. We met him at Las Fallas in Valencia about a month ago. Andrea and I really wanted to get out of Murcia one last time... so we hit up John-Micheal. We stayed out on the beach the entire weekend and relaxed. It was so refreshing. On Saturday night he cooked a Fish Fry... it was amazing. Good fresh fish from Spain with Zatarain's batter from Louisiana equals a little piece of heaven on earth. I was so nice to not have to cook, and eat wonderful food. Almeria is a cute little town and if you look hard enough you can see the north African coast from its coast.
It is a very surreal feeling to be leaving this place I've come to love. Today on the bus I realized it was my last bus ride returning to Murcia. I am very excited about coming home but I know there are many things I will miss from Spain. There will be a blog about all that I'm sure after I get back to the States... I'll keep you posted and let you know I made it back safe and sound :)
Until then... have a great Mother's Day!
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