Back in America :)

Hey WesHos! I hope your summers continue to be fun and interesting. I miss you all, but I'm finally back home! I flew back from Spain last week after visiting with my family in Castellón for about ten days. The entire time I was in Sevilla, I wasn't homesick or anything, but by the end of my time abroad, I was looking forward to July 7th. My last few weeks in Sevilla were lots of fun, and it's amazing how fast they flew by. The weekend after I went to Rome, the program took us to Granada for the weekend (Saturday/Sunday). It is such a pretty little town. Granada is right in the Sierra Nevada mountains (Spain has some too), and when we were walking around the town, we could see the mountains with their snow-capped peaks. So pretty. Our first day there, we went to see the Cathedral, which was neat, and then the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabel, which are next to the tombs of their daughter, Juana la loca, and son-in-law. That was really neat. Then, we were on our own until dinner. I went to a tetería, a tea shop, with some of my friends because apparently when you're in Granada that's just something you should do. I'm not really a big tea drinker, but whatever it was that I got was pretty good. Dinner was also pretty fantastic that night. Three plates (yay Spain); mine were tortilla de patata (made with potatoes, but not like a Latin American tortilla at all), salmon with vegetables, and ice cream with freezer burn for dessert. Yum! After dinner, we had the option of going with our professors to a place with a really pretty view of the city and the Alhambra, which is this fortress/mini-city that was built by the Moors when they were in control of the area. Granada was the last city conquered from the Moors by the Spanish. Anyway, my friends and I decided to go, although we had to go up hill and climb so many steps, I could barely breathe. But the view was so worth it! Then some of us went out in Granada, which was fun, but we didn't stay out too late. Breakfast was included, and it was pretty fantastic. They had scrambled eggs, which I hadn't had in soo long! As well as other stuff. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, but stored our things there until our bus came to take us to la Alhambra later. In the meantime, my friends and I went to find lunch; we found a kebab place, where we got pitas. They are so good, and they're one of the things I'm going to miss from Spain. The tour of the Alhambra was really neat; I took plenty of pictures and wrote about it in my blog if you want to read about it. Classes ended for us on a Tuesday and exams were Thursday and Friday. Wednesday night there was an end-of-the-program cocktail at a hotel near the cathedral. We all got to dress up, so my flats from senior prom actually got used, haha. The cocktail was pretty fun, and the view from the terrace we were on was gorgeous! We saw the sunset and the cathedral's tower was right in front of us! I had an early flight on Saturday (meaning I had to take a cab to the airport at 6:30am), and I wasn't expecting people to go out on Friday, but it was our absolute last night in Sevilla with everyone, so naturally a lot of people did go out (myself included). Despite the fact that I stayed out soo late (I know, big shock) that there was no point in going to sleep, it was completely worth it to spend my last night with the friends I made (good friends too!). I'll tell you more stories later, haha. So, Saturday, I had a flight to Valencia at 9:30, but it was delayed for two hours! And I wasn't feeling super-well, probably because sleep deprivation was catching up to me. When I finally got to Valencia, I couldn't find my aunt and uncle at first, but I went out one exit and back in another door, and I ended up behind this small woman with gray hair who turned out to be my aunt like I hoped. That afternoon, I was never so happy for a big Spanish lunch and siesta after; I needed it so bad. Visiting the family was really nice too. I've met my tía Gea and tío Armando before, but I'd never met my dad's three cousins and their spouses or my cousin Alex (who's 8, so cute!). I'm really glad I had the chance to meet them, and they were all so excited to have me there. My aunt Ana took me to Valencia one day, which was neat; I got to see its cathedral and climb the tower (though I still like the one in Sevilla better, hehe). Another day, I went with my uncle Armando (dad's cousin), his wife Carmen and Alex out on their boat to the delta of the Ebro River, which was really neat. We collected a bunch of shells and I swam in the water a little. Another day, Armando took me to Barcelona! I was completely in awe most of the time. I of course saw the cathedral, but I think my favorite part was seeing (and going inside!) the Sagrada Familia. It was really fun, but I am definitely glad to be home. I missed America! I got home last Wednesday. Friday, I went to see Despicable Me with my friend Kayelin (one of the only people I keep in touch with from high school). I thought it was a cute movie; funny too. The next day, she and I hung around Border's in Beaver Creek. I love Border's. My brother recorded all six Star Wars movies over fourth of July, so I've been watching those over the last few days. I love Star Wars so much. Sunday I got to go to St. Francis again after six weeks away, which was really nice, and yesterday I got to hang out with my friend Jacob which made me really happy because I missed him a lot when I was gone. I really don't have much more planned for the summer, but hopefully I'm able to go up to DC to see Kara; if not, I think she's coming to NC. My friend Chris, who's like another little brother to me, goes to the beach with his family every summer, and he said I can go visit them, so hopefully I'm able to do that, and at the beginning of August I'm going down to Miami to visit my family because my tío Sergio and family are coming up from El Salvador at that time, and I haven't seen them in about two years, so I'm excited about that. Can't wait to see all of you!
BWL,
daniela