Gibraltar!
On top of the rock
I would be happy and fat if I ate this everyday.
Marbella :)
I don't know what it is about endings but they always seem to bring out the whirlwind-ness of life and make normal seem a whole lot crazier. So here's my May/June update because I haven't written in a while (I know, I'm really trying to be better but life gets in the way).
Since Semana Santa (Holy Week/spring break), we had the May puente - where we got a 4-day weekend!! So Levi and I went to Marbella, to hang out at the beach and in Andalucía for a while. I managed to get super sunburned (due to lack of sunscreen and someone who let me fall asleep for over an hour and half at the beach.... seriously, what kind of friend are you?!), eat lots of awesome seafood, and we also visited a British territory in Spain. Levi had this idea that we should go to Gibraltar and see the monkeys on this rock/mountain thing that happens to be a British territory in southern Spain. I never got to do it while I lived in Sevilla (quick day trip from Sevilla) so I was totally for it. It was definitely interesting to go visit Gibraltar and it was its own type of culture of "gibraltarians" who feel neither English nor Spanish. We got to see the strait of Gibraltar and view of Africa from the top of the rock/mountain, go through the caves, go into the tunnels where the British had cannons to defend the rock, and to see the monkeys. One of the main attractions of Gibraltar is its monkeys. We were both really excited to see and get close to the monkeys until a lady (who was not apart of our tour van) put a monkey on her shoulder and had like 4 HUGE teeth mark HOLES in her hand. Yea... that definitely was a buzz kill and we decided not to go super close to them. We got to see them from the car and in the street and that was good for us. It was a nice beach weekend and it was awesome to get tan / some sun, as the spring/summer had just started in Madrid.
The very next weekend after the May puente, Elli and I went to Sevilla for Feria, which is one of the most traditional Spanish celebrations. Feria is a very exclusive Spanish party. People own "casetas" or tents which they decorate, have live bands, and full restaurant/bars. People who own these casetas invite their family and friends to come dancing and spend two weeks drinking rebujito (sherry and sprite), dancing "Sevillanas" (typical style of dance from Sevilla), eating tapas, wearing trajes (typical Spanish dresses from Sevilla), and taking carriage rides (in a real horse and carriage) around the fair. I know I'm baised but Feria de Abril de Sevilla is the best Feria in all of Spain. It was a really really quick weekend in Sevilla because we spent most of the time at Feria and really slept very little. We had so much fun because Elli borrowed a dress from her host mom, Margarita, and her roommate Ale's sister Rocio lent me a dress to wear, so we looked and felt the part. We went and spent the weekend dancing Sevillanas and drinking rebujito in our trajes and we even took went on a carriage ride on Saturday afternoon.
After that we only had a few weeks / weekends left in Madrid before school ended. So we did lots of last minute adventures, like how we went to a new veggie restaurant called EcoCentro (near my house too!), layed out in the park, watched a ton of sunsets, had a coke float party, won a few quiz nights here and there, and just enjoyed the end of the school year. However, even though it wasn't the "actual" END for me, it still felt kinda crazy busy because it was the end of the school year and I had to finish everything up. Even with half days in June, it was super busy because while we did all these adventures, I spent the first week and half of June trying to gather all the documents to renewal my (NIE) which is basically my visa for next year. And Spanish bureaucracy is a mess and they only want to open until 2pm and when you work until 1pm then you are running around like a mad woman for an hour. In between that while I'm waiting for my visa to go through, I'm having to get authorization to return to Spain (more Spanish bureaucracy), and doing my hacienda/renta which are my tax returns here (even more government stuff). During this time, Real Madrid also won the champions league of Europe, Spain got ousted from the World Cup (so embarrassing since we WON four yrs ago), former King Juan Carlos I abdicated his thrown to his son Felipe VI, and the Spanish government had the coronation of Felipe VI this past Thursday.
trophy ceremony from la decima
5 yr old graduates!
my 5 yr babies!! singing at their graduation!
4 yrs at the last "cumples" of the yr
Just this past weekend, I was in Sevilla (just spending time in my favorite city and eating my favorite foods) and visiting Elli who is working here with Texas Tech (her old university) for the summer. Currently, I'm back in Madrid to work for the next two weeks. I'm working for families and doing private English classes (like 1-1 private tutoring for English) to earn a little extra money for the summer because I have to pay rent while for July/August while I'm traveling and home, and not really
working... which is kinda really crummy.
PROOF THAT WE HAVE SOULS. and yes, i swear its a real dog
only my favorite place.
SO for the next two weeks, I am literally counting the days / hours / seconds until sharla is here. I cannot tell you how much I miss her and how excited I am for our adventure. Both our denver and myrtle beach adventure / vacation / visiting each other whatever you want to call it was just the best last year and I really just can't wait to see her because it's gonna be so much fun. I swear, we are living proof that going potluck freshman year of college will give you your best friend. Eeeeek! 9 more days until she's here!!!!
this may or may not be sharla...
if you take me on a beach vacation, to an aquarium, i'll make you pose for pictures in underwater glass and then i'll kinda laugh hysterically like this :-/ !!
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