Ya diciembre?

Let me just begin this entry by saying, ¨holy crap it´s already dec. 3! where has my semester gone and what have I accomplished?¨This has been the most challenging and rewarding experience I have ever gone through. I´m trying to figure out how to respond to everyone when I get back and people want a few lines summarizing my experience abroad. From spending days just sitting in the myriad of parks in Sevilla to diving head first into European hot spots like Rome and Paris and packing a lifetime of museums and monuments into each day, I have certainly done a lot of self-reflection. I have grown accustomed to the culture here, to the eating schedule, to the night scene, to the somewhat elusive stance of the Spanish people. But I have learned the most from the other students in my program, and have made invaluable friendships with those who have gone through this growing experience by my side. We were 35 kids thrown together from all different reaches of America, from all different backgrounds, each with different reasons for leaving their life at home to explore the world. I think I can say that I have had a memorable conversation with every person in API, one that has forced me to think outside of my own perspectives. Upon applying for study abroad, I was told time and again that it would be a life-changing experience, and to be honest, I didn´t think it would have such a significant impact on me. But I was wrong. I have gained confidence, open-mindedness, knowledge, appreciation for historical and aesthetic beauty, the means to cross language barriers, and memories deeply embedded in my heart and mind.

On a lighter note, I had an incredibly fun weekend of my favorite pastime, hiking! On Friday, I went on the final API excursion to the province of Huelva and we hiked through the ¨jamon iberico¨capital of the world. Basically, there were pigs rolling in mud every few feet. The towns had the quaint pueblecito atmosphere and the views were very beautiful. Although the path was kind of treacherous so I had to watch the ground most of the time. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, I made another trip to Ronda with Sean because he hadn´t been there yet and I happen to love the town. On Sunday, we hiked down in the gorges with a goal of reaching the reservoir of water at the bottom of the waterfall. We followed the pathway and got so close so for the last few feet, we decided to do a little "off-roading." It was such an adventure and we also stumbled upon some dilapidated, abandoned buildings that were overgrown with brush and looked like they used to be a part of some kind of water system. I was so muddy and covered with sticks and leaves by the end...but it was soo worth getting dirty!

I´m not going to go into detail about my Rome trip but I´m going to post an itinerary like I did for Paris for now.

Friday:
train from airport to central Termini station
check in at hostel
Treve fountain
Pantheon
Piazza de la Reppublica
Piazza de Popolo
Gelato (of course!)
dinner at the hostel and met up with Sarah
more walking exploration of the city

Saturday:
Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel
pizza lunch
on line for St. Peter´s Cathedral but actually ended up in the Papal apartments to meet the cardinals
sandwich and coffee break
walk around the Coliseum and Forum (at night)
stop to see the Pantheon (Sarah hadn´t seen it yet)
Focaccia and Pizza dinner

Sunday:
Inside of the Coliseum (so neat!)
back to the airport to head to Sevilla

Also, right before I went to Rome was Thanksgiving and API actually rented out a place for us and served a "thanksgiving dinner." And I put the quotes because the spanish version of thanksgiving dinner was not exactly your typical turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie thanksgiving dinner. But it was nice to be with everyone nonetheless. And Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate!

Phew, I think I wrote down everything I´ve been wanted to update about :) And for the next two weeks, it´s going to be all writing papers and studying for finals as my classes start winding down.