A Christmas Miracle.

So…Spain wanted to keep me a tad bit longer. In case you are confused about this statement, allow me to tell you the events that took place

December 17, 2010:

5am-Lug luggage to the airport bus stop, which I almost missed because me and two other ladies were apparently standing in the wrong spot… even though that’s where the bus’ stop is. Thankfully, some kind foreigner ( I think he was German) and told us that the stop was further up. Got to the airport with plenty of time to spare… 3-4hours to be exact; I’m psychotic like that. It helps me out later on in the blog… keep reading. J So, before my 945am flight, there is a 7am flight that is going out that consists of pretty much all American study abroad students. We all say our goodbyes and they go through security and board the plane. 45min later… the exact same passengers stroll back in and my friend “Bev Bev” (Beverly.. fellow Texan) and I ask them what’s up. They tell us that the Granada Airport’s “de-icing” machine is broken and that they were going to fly a plane in from Malaga to take them later. I know what you are thinking… “Oh, well then that works out”.. oh contraire. All of the people on that flight missed their connecting flights in Madrid. They. Got. Screwed. Especially those who didn’t use the same airlines company for both flights. Cheaper is usually never better in Spain. Colleen and her bf Daniel were on that flight… they had to rebook for $250… but my friend Allison had to rebook for $1700. YIKES! The good news about this situation is that I made it to Madrid perfectly. No problems. Once in Madrid, I had about 3 hours to kill so I just sat and waited for the boards to tell me where my flight to DFW would be departing for. Realizing that I had kind of lost track of time, I quickly checked the boards and went in search for “Puerta S”.. little did I know was that I had to take a sub-way like thing to that puerta. It was an 18min ride… I was pushing it for time. I was one of those embarrassing people running in the airport. Texas was worth my pride. Ironically, the funny thing was that when I “lost track of time” I was scoffing at all the people running around and yelling at flight attendants to tell the plane to turn the plane back around and pick them up. Little did I know I was soon to become one of those people. God will getcha. Don’t think He won’t . Anyway, I made it to the departure gate and out of breath I mumble to the flight person that this is my flight and I need to board. She looked at me like I was an idiot and told me the flight was delayed. I immediately thought to myself, “Dude, I totally lucked out!” Once again… little did I know. About 10min. later, the gate announced that our flight was cancelled due to something breaking while landing and that there was 30 seats left on another flight that landed in NY at JKF and then flew to DFW. After my friends and I heard that we were off like it was the Amazing Race (you know the show where they travel all over the world). Seriously, that’s what it felt like. We ran, we bumped, we pushed… it was on. Brittany and I have always said we should go on that show, and I have totally been down….however, I am no longer down. Ha. Anyways, I was going to get home if it was the last thing I did. Or so I thought.

So… I get to the American Airlines kiosk and thankfully I was one of the first people. When I got up to the front the lady told me there were no more flights to the U.S. until Sunday (Dec. 19). I gave her my best puppy dog face and begged her to keep looking. She finally told me that I had a “potential” flight today (Sat.) and that I needed to come back to confirm. She also, just in case, booked me a flight home Sunday. Upon running to the AA ticket counter, my friends and I decided to leave our luggage at baggage claim so we could be more… “aerodynamic”. After I got my ticket, I went to retrieve my suitcase down in Baggage Claim. I was in such a frenzy that I dropped my “potential” flights “tickets” without realizing. Once I realized I had dropped them, it was a whole new level of frustration… thinking it was going to be a big deal, I went all the way back to the ticket counter and asked in my most polite voice, “I lost my tickets already, is there any way you can reprint them for me?” She looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Si, por supuesto”… I wanted to kiss her. Due to our inconvenience , AA hooked everyone who was effected by the cancellation (which was more than just our flight… the Madrid airport… eh, I’ll rant about that later) with a free ****(4 star) hotel that just so happened to be the biggest in Europe (what, what) and gave us free buffets as well. At this point, I’ll be honest. I was frustrated beyond belief. Not to mention tired because I stayed up all night so I could sleep on the plane, and I had been lugging around 85lbs. of luggage with me too. Started my workout early Dad J. I also had no way to contact my parents because I had turned off my phone for safety purposes on my flight from Granada to Madrid and to get it back working, you have to insert your PIN number .. which I didn’t have memorized and I also had no internet so… I was up a creek until I got to the hotel. Once to the hotel I called Mom (I refer to her as a Rockstar)… and I cried out all of my frustrations on her… I mean cried… I had the “ugly cry” going and everything… she couldn’t understand a word I was saying. Once I had pulled myself together, and stopped saying, “I’m never going to get home! I’m never going to get home!” I told her what happened and about my “potential” flight and then she went to town. She told me that she had called Delta (AA switched me to them) and they told her [3 times] my flight was confirmed (number, seat, everything) and that I would be arriving to the U.S. the next day. Heck yes!...

I get to the Delta check-in and much to my surprise, my ticket was a Stand-by ticket… yep… Stand-by.. they had knowingly over booked the flight. I was T-I-C-K-E-D TICKED! My new friends and I (I made new friends every day, one good thing that came out of the experience) discouragedly walked to the terminal to await our fate. While waiting for 4 hours a lot of people got to hear about our situation, not because we openly told them about [it was depressing to relive the whole thing], but because they were asking if we were affected by the over booking. Also, at the terminal I ran into… Colleen and her bf and low and behold, Colleen had an actual ticket. I told her that she was lucky that she was for sure going to get home today and she replied, “Yeah, but…” I immediately corrected her and said, “No, you are going home. It is a good day for you.” After about 4 hours of telling ourselves that there was no way we weren’t getting home, we decided to go harass the people about getting on the stand-by list. The flight attendant people told us that it was not “first come, first serve” and that the computer would generate a list. We thought we were sunk for sure [we had no idea how many people had taken the bribe they were giving out ($500, free hotel, food, transportation)] They finally started to call out names, someone, someone, someone (party of 4)… discouragement. I then decided to call my mom and tell her my fate. Not on the flight. Miraculously, literally right after I finished my sentence, “Mom, I didn’t get on the flight.” They called out my friend’s name, and then they said the most beautiful phrase of them all.. “Richardson, Courtney.” Tears of happiness started to well up in my eyes as I ran up to the ticket counter to get my boarding pass. This was a true Christmas Miracle. After getting my “golden ticket” my friends and I jumped up and down all the way back to the seating area and announced , “We’re going home!”… people clapped for us; it was good to have their support. Due to the over-booking, our flight was delayed for about 2 hours which meant… people from our flight were going to miss their connecting flights… AGAIN! I didn’t care if I missed my flight from Atlanta (Hot-lanta) to DFW.. I was just going to be pumped to get to the U.S. Also, to add to the delay, the catering crew was running late, so we had to wait for them, and then my carry-on wouldn’t fit anywhere so, they had to throw it under the plane which took them forever as well… and, while I was trying to get my carry-on out of the overhead bin it wouldn’t fit in, I smoked a lady in the head with the clipboard that was in the front pocket… she then proceeded to start crying. I felt really bad for hitting her, and I won’t lie, I was confused to why she was crying, I mean, I know it hurt… but not so bad that you have to cry about it. Eh she was European… Europeans have been, and always will be sissies. Revolutionary War; France. Case and point. It’s ok, we didn’t need them.

Finally it was time to take off, and the pilot informed us that he was going to try to make up for lost time by making the plane go as fast as it could and taking any shortcut possible. I think we shaved off 45min of light time. WIN! The whole way home I was antsy… I knew I had to get off the plane ASAP so I could catch my next flight to DFW and be HOME! It was Amazing Race round 2. I ran to customs, ran to baggage claim [thankfully my baggage came out first], then ran to get my next boarding pass… my heart sank when I saw a long line for ticket re-booking. Just as I was about to collapse to the ground with defeat, a red-headed angel appeared [which is very unlikely] and told me that since I just needed my boarding pass printed out, she could find my flight number and then I could figure out my gate and they could print my pass out at the gate. I wanted to “dos beso” her, but I thankfully realized I wasn’t in Spain anymore. Next stop was to “recheck” my luggage. I was graciously “airplane” directed into the baggage check area by a very soulful black man who literally just made my day. All of the Atlanta airport staff were so legit and SO nice! Back in Spain, if I had asked someone to just look up my flight so I could go get my ticket printed off at the gate they would have told me it was impossible and that it was just too bad for me. I love Southern Hospitality. Not to mention “Please and Thank yous”. So I make it to my gate (WIN!) and then I find my next obstacle. Borrowing a phone [mine was international and did not work]. I scanned the waiting area for my victim and finally decided upon a young man wearing a Monster energy drink hat. I walked over to him and unashamedly asked to use his phone and he kindly obliged. (WIN)

Boarding time. As I was waiting in line to board the plane, I caught a glimpse of gold on the young man in front of me’s right ring finger and got really excited. Why? Because that little ring of gold just so happened to be an AGGIE RING!!! I know it’s a little lame that I got so excited to see him, but I have been deprived of Aggies and I just needed to talk A&M with someone. So, I struck up a conversation. I learned the following things:

• · ’08 grad.
• · Marine Corps… I guessed Army… he was appalled.
• · Polisci major
• · KA for 2 years
• · Offended by the fact I asked if he was in the Corp.
• · Girlfriend.
• · From a small town outside of New Braunfels.
• · Driving from DFW to NB with girlfriend (yuck)

Never caught his name.

Once on the plane, new fun and exciting situations occurred. A man was sitting behind me (who was also a Marine.. and a pilot)and was apparently flying back to Texas with his son (who was in the Army)randomly asked me if I had a husband. I gave him a truthful “No”, and he then proceeded to ask me if I wanted one (referring to his son that was sitting right beside him). Thankfully I noticed his son putting a “t.u.” bag up in the overhead compartments and told him it probably wouldn’t work out due to the fact he attended Texas. He then proceeded to ask me if I was an Aggie and I proudly replied “Yes”. Then he pulled out every lame Aggie Joke in the book. He was a bit obnoxious and I kind of felt sorry for his son.

After 2 and a half hours, I was in TEXAS!!!! It felt SO good to be back and I was pleasantly surprised by my family members holding signs that said the following:

• · “Lil’ sis missed big sis”
• · “Willis”
• · “Welcome back Cooney” and then on the back “Finalmente”
• · And then a life size cardboard cutout of Brittany with clothes, hair, and facial features.

It was a great greeting. The entire way home consisted of me basically telling this exact blog. With a few more things I failed to include. It took me the whole way home to recall everything. Once home, I got to see 3 of my most favorite people Alayna Hollie, Anna Thames, and Erica Saegert. It was SO good to get to hug their necks and to just flat out get to see their beautiful faces.

I am home in Texas.

This blog is officially complete. Thank you for reading and encouraging me to continue writing. This was 100% for y’all and I hope y’all enjoyed it.

Next stop is Waupaca, Wisconsin…. I’m going to FREEZE!

Dos Besos,

Courtney.

One is the loneliest number....

Courtesy of Limp

One: The number of days I have left in the beautiful country of Spain.

Last night was the last night Sarah, Evelyn and I got to spend together in Spain.. they flew out for Italy this morning.. they decided they wanted to do a little more traveling before they headed back across the pond.

It was also last night that I had my last intercambio with Rafael. Let me just tell you, went out with a bang.. sorry.. no embarrassing stories.. from me at least. He told me about this new experiment he was doing with women when he passed them on the streets. He explained to me that women will walk straighter and have a "cold" look on their face as to say "Don't even think about looking/talking to me" [I didn't tell him I understood this behavior... I've also done something of the same sort.. it worked] So with that said, Rafael said that experiment number 1 was to stare back at them... I'm not sure of the results, but I'm almost positive they were not positive ones. Experiment 2 took place (apparently) in a really big building when him and a colleague were attending some sort of workshop. The experiment went like this: Rafael and female friend are very obviously lost in this large building and Rafael sees a woman who is a part of the workshop. Rafael then proceeds to say to the woman "I would like my mother, can you show me the way out?".. apparently you only say that to your really close friends here in Spain.. I say you never say it. Whatevs.. cultural difference. I'm not really sure of the results.. he was too busy cracking up. I told him to never do that in The States.. he'd get the cops called on him. At the end of our session, Rafael told me I would be hard to replace... he then told me about a time when one of his intercambios tried to hit on him and how another one would only say "si" and "no" to him... I felt pretty good about that. Ha.

After my intercambio date, I went and met Sarah and Ev at the BK Lounge and went out for tapas. I didn't really eat the tapas due to the fact that MC made me about a 13in bocadillo for dinner along with bananas and yogurt. While walking back from tapas reality hit me... I'm about to go back to the United States. I told Sarah, "It's going to be like turning off the light in one life and turning on the light in another". She then proceeded to one-up me and say, "It's like you are stepping out of the closet from Narnia into your old stupid life."... dang. Why couldn't I think of that.. so much better than dang light switches.

So today...

I took my very last final. Spanish culture and civilizations... Prior to the test I realized how many friends I had. I was sitting in the "student lounge-ish" area when a few girls ( I don't really talk to outside or during class) showed up and were like, "Oh hey Courtney! So.. what's on this test [big smiles]" I chuckled a bit and gave them my review and they were like, "Oh em gee! where did you get this!?" I politely told them that I went to the review session our teacher held and they replied with a, "Oh yeah, totally wasn't going to go to that." I laughed and slightly relished in the fact that they were squirming a bit while looking at the review. :D In reality.. I didn't mind giving them my stuff...I knew they weren't going to do better than me. Ha! (totally kidding).. It's not like they used me or anything.. I was just in the right place at the right time. Lucky them. :)

It's approximately 8:05pm.. approximately 8 hours until I have to catch a bus to the Granada airport I've got my boarding passes all printed out.. I. am. ready. to. go! Cuh-razy. Colleen has already checked out of the MC Manor and is spending her last few hours here with her bf.... so it's just me... and MC. So.. what are my plans for tonight? Journaling, reflecting, blogging, jamming to music, finishing up packing... nothing too terribly exciting. I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight.. even though it would make the morning come 100x faster... I'd rather sleep on the plane... maybe it will help my jet-lag.

It is approximately 8:37pm and I have finished my "Last Supper" with MC... well.. with MC watching me/the TV. As I sit here in this tiny room, in which I have learned so much more than the Spanish language or the Spanish culture, I come to the realization that I'm actually going to miss this cramped space. I'll miss being surrounded by cold tile, 4 yellow walls, and Colleen. She's gone and I already miss her.. I feel so useless.. usually every second she is telling me about one of her problems and I just sit there offering a word of advice, encouragement, or silence... you know how you just need to vent and don't need anyone to say anything. Yep.. I am officially a little sad to be leaving Spain. As of a week ago I couldn't have been more ready. Funny how things change.

I would like to end this blog entry with an appropriate song thanks to Dan T. Drake, and Neil Diamond of course:

Coming to America

Far

We've been travelling far

Without a home

But not without a star

Free

Only want to be free

We huddle close

Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes

They're coming to America

Never looking back again

They're coming to America

Home, don't it seem so far away

Oh, we're travelling light today

In the eye of the storm

In the eye of the storm

Home, to a new and a shiny place

Make our bed, and we'll say our grace

Freedom's light burning warm

Freedom's light burning warm

Everywhere around the world

They're coming to America

Every time that flag's unfurled

They're coming to America

Coming to America indeed.

With that said, I would like to congratulate y'all on BTHO Finals and....

Daniel Sanders and Dan T. Drake want to wish YOU a Merry Christmas!

See y'all on the other side... of the Atlantic

Dos Besos,

Courtney

Dos.

2, Two, To, Too, Tu, Tú... So many different spellings and meanings for the word "two"... that's why English is so hard. Glad I was born learning it.

It's officially 2 days until I arrive to the "Home of the Free, and Land of the Brave" and as I have posted before, I'm pumped. Sad fact: I just tried to remember the Star Spangled Banner... no luck... CRAP!

Not a ton has happened since my last blogging.. I'm literally only blogging because I feel like the last few days should be on "record"... Mom says she's going to print off all of my posts and keep them because "it's like my diary"...so sentimental. I have my last intercambio with Rafael tonight.. he's bringing his friends... I'll def. have some funny stories for tomorrow blog.. there's no way I can't.

Last night I went out with a bunch of API kids to some tapas bars and it was pretty much a lot of fun. We went to this one tapas bar called "Babel" [like the Tower of Babel] Supposedly they give you a different tapa with each round you buy.. we only did one round, but round one was GOOD! It was a mini chwarma (glorified pita?... hard to explain) yummay! Rumor has it round 2 was some sort of octopus pasta. I was down.

That's literally all I've got.. sorry if this was a waste of your time... probably one of my most uneventful blogs yet.

Dos besos,

Courtney

TrEs. <-- I always think that looks awk.

tres! Tres!! TRes!!!TREs!!!! TRES!!!!! <---Progressive excitement.

In case you haven't caught on... I have three days until I return to "The Land of the Fatties" and I couldn't be happier about it.

Monday was so gracious to kick start finals for me... I had Grammar and POE.

Grammar=cake.. the good kind without frosting... I mean, it should have been, he gave us all the answers beforehand.

POE= souffle...the kind that's hard to make... and always come out of the oven deflated. Sonia made a heck of a test... I'm confident I passed though.. kinda.

After such a long day of tests my brain was fried, so Colleen and I napped together, but in different beds; it was nice. We were peacefully napping when all of a sudden a rap at the door sounded and the phrase"Chicas la comida!" rang like a gong. Colleen and I dragged ourselves out of bed and walked into the living room to meet our gastronomic fate. We both had leftovers, except MC gave me a little somethin' somethin' extra.. 2 eggs. Back home, two eggs is a meal for me... but this night it was 2 eggs, a big helping of "spaghetti", soup, bread, yogurt, and a banana. I was thankful for the food, but oh so miserable. During dinner I asked MC a question and I referred to her as Mari or Maria... I can't remember, and she [for the first time.. I think] corrected me with, "Maria Carmen Coorney, Me llamo Maria Carmen!" Why would you wait until the last 4 days to correct someone who has said it wrong for 3 months? I'm glad I never asked to call her "MC".. don't think that would have gone too well. I'll be honest. I felt no remorse for getting her name wrong... she's been getting my portions wrong for the last 3 months... we still aren't even close to even. :) Oops.

After dinner I decided to crack the "books" and get on my grind. I had a killer art test the next day and a seemingly impossible amount of information to cram into my brain. Even though we were allowed to work in groups, I still felt it essential to study my rear off, you can't trust study abroad kids theses days...especially ones who never come to class. While I was in my "study my rear off" zone, I received a call from some of the 103 Boys and I was informed of my unfortunate fate once I returned. Ninja kisses... no, this is not a "cute" phrase for karate chops.. it is what it says it is. Not wanting anyone to regret the decision of planting a "Ninja Kiss" on me, I informed the boys that if they NK-ed me, they were going to receive a "Ninja Kick" to their "pride" in return. Hopefully they will reconsider. I was also informed by the 103 Boys that we are getting kicked out of Fantasyland in May so that the landlord's sons can live there... she's also not fixing our microwave until they move in (supposedly). Straight up BOOTY! Here's to hoping I don't have to take summer school... just kidding.. I have an option or two.

So this morning, I woke up before the sun and attempted to pull myself together to get a little bit more studying done before I had to mosey on over to class. At approximately 8:25, I get to the classroom, start selecting my team of winners and begin to go to town on the exam. The test was only about 7 questions long, but they were LONG questions, and our teacher made us do it a really inefficient way because we all had to have the same answers, yet we couldn't just write it on one piece of paper. Spaniards always make it harder than it has to be. The test took us the whole 2 hours... even then we were still scrambling. I forgot to mention that during our final, the CLM K (my building) decided to have a fire drill.. brilliant. Long story short, we dommed that test. Now all I have left are the blow offs.

After such domination I retreated into my room and did a whole bunch of nothin'. I should have been sleeping, but Maria (a different Maria.. not MC) was coming to clean our house, so I didn't want to have to wake up right as I fell asleep for her to clean my room. After Maria left, Colleen and I decided to eat lunch.. What's on the menu? Microwaved fish!.. it's 100x better than it sounds, except it was 2 huge filets (of course) in a little bitty casserole dish that MC told me to stick in the microwave for 4 min. I asked her if I should do one at a time, but she said no. I was doubtful that keeping them in the same dish would result in fully cooked fish, but I did it anyway and justified it by, "MC has been cooking longer than me". The cookage was a fail. So, I took a smaller actually cooked piece, fed it to Colleen and cooked the rest one at a time. I am to the conclusion [now] that the piece of fish I ate was, in fact, not fully cooked. I got a little gurgle in my stomach and I'm hoping it stays at that severity. I gotta live it up here in Granada... time is becoming scarce.

So here I am now, jamming to my "Christian" Grooveshark playlist and sitting in peace.

mmmmmm....

Dos Besos,

Courtney

SORRY!

Forgive me?

I got busted to day by Erie, and I'm sure Ben probably feels the same way as well. I have recently been called out on the fact that I include "quotes" from Daniel Sanders and record other specific details, but I did not include the 1hr. 30min. long Skype date with Erie and B-Trav. This is my public apology to Erica Anne Saegert and Benjamin [Franklin?..ha] Travis for failing to include the awesomeness that took place December 10, 2010 at 1:45pm (Texas time). It was one of the funnest/informational/inappropriate (hello it's Erie) Skypes of my life and I will never forget it. Ever.

So with my deepest condolences I say to y'all:

OOPS! and I LOVE Y'ALL! (Ben, I don't know you that well, but you hang with people I love... Loved by association)

Cinco.

It is 1:33am Spain time, and that means that I have officially 1-2-3-4-5 days of Spain left. Get excited... because I am.

On the agenda this upcoming week is this:

**days of the week in Spanish are not capitalized**

lunes:

• Grammar final (830am)
• POE final (1230am)

martes:

• Art final (830am)

miercoles:

• Geography of Spain final (4pm)

jueves:

• Spanish Civ. and Culture final (4pm)

viernes:

• Wake up at the butt crack of dawn, catch a bus, catch an airplane, wait 3 hours to catch another airplane, catch my parents to get a ride back to GV.

Recent happenings:

The other night API took us out to eat for our "Farewell Dinner". Where did they take us? A vegan restaurant.. Why? Not a clue. haha. It was so incredibly random, but I thought it was pretty cool. For the most part, I'm always game for a little gastronomic adventure. My meal consisted of:

• Round 1: Ensalada de la Casa--lettuce, tomato, green olives, beets (bleh), avocado (yum), corn, carrots, green stuff that closely resembled french onion dip, and... seaweed. Yep, seaweed.. surprisingly.. it wasn't half bad.
• Round 2: Patatas al Estilo de Chef--french fries smothered with alfredo sauce packed with mushrooms (yum on the mushrooms)
• Round 3: Tarta de Chocolate--Chocolate cake with a weird consistency/texture.. enjoyable though
• Round 4: Digestive Infusion--I know what you are thinking, "Shoot, why don't they just call it 'The Runs?'", because it doesn't sound as cool, that's why. All it was was <-- that always freaks me out... chamomile tea... I had a few sips and then decided to call it quits.. I had some clubbin' to do later that night, and you better believe I wasn't going to let anything hinder my killer dance moves.

Prior to our dinner, Sarah and I decided to hangout on a bench before we headed to the dinner to journal and just enjoy the wonderful weather we were having. While we were sitting on our bench, we noticed a group of people resembling Robin Hood going up to people asking for signatures for some sort of petition. Sarah and I made some funny comments about one of the Robin Hoods who was wearing tights and continued about our conversation. Sarah and I had hit a silence in our conversation right as one of the Robin Hoods was heading towards us. Just as the Robin Hood was in hearing distance, I made a small comment to Sarah and the approaching Robin Hood made a very disappointed "Oh" and proceeded to walk away...I was mildly offended and then remembered that she thought I was Spanish (WIN).. now-a-days Sarah gives me away. :/ We had two more encounters with different Robin Hoods; the last one being the most memorable. His name was Paolo. Paolo shot arrows at us [unsuccessfully]. Paolo had two dogs: Happy and Lobo (wolf). Paolo was/lived in "ocupa" [supposedly, if you occupy an (abandoned) house (illegally) for 5 years, then it's yours...?]. Paolo wanted to be our intercambios partner. Paolo was very hard to understand and did not speak Spanish correctly/well. Paolo invited us for beers. We lied to Paolo and told him we had to go to a dinner soon. Paolo walked away. We got up and left, but Paolo was nice. We dos beso-ed.

Like mentioned above, I went clubbing later that night at El Camborio... I was a good time.. there was a big group of us API kids there so us girls didn't really have to watch our backs as much for the creepy Spaniards. We stayed at El Camborio until about 330am (I know, I know... I'm a party animal) and then decided to all walk back [I was safe Mom and Dad].. Going clubbing wasn't the only rebellious thing I did that night.. I also.. snuck Sarah into my house and she stayed the night with me... we justified it by saying that at that time of night, neither one of us needed to be walking home alone. :)

The next day was class... Sarah and I woke up the next morning and made the trek to Sonia's class... it was a pretty normal day in Sonia's class, except I was a little tired from the night before..and... due to the fact that I was tired... when asked what my "phobia" was.. I told Sonia that it was "aviones del mar" [airplanes of the sea] when I really meant to say, "pajaro del mar" [bird of the sea... I didn't know how to say sea gull]..as usual, Sonia looked at me like I was on drugs and I'm sure my face turned a bright shade of pink... nothing new. After I had finished embarrassing myself, Sonia initiated a "pausa" [short break.. because our classes are 2hrs long]. Usually during pausas I don't leave the room... I'd rather not have a pausa, but Sonia needs her smoke break so, they are punctually enforced. For some reason, Sonia didn't immediately head outside to have her normal "talk around the cigarette disposal" and she came over to me right as I was getting my stretch on. My stretch went a little like this [feel free to re-enact along with the description] :

You are sitting in a tiny desk. You stretch your legs out away from your body [approx. 150 degrees] . You slouch a little in your chair [for maximum stretch-age]. You raise your hands as far above your head as possible. You yawn. Perfection.

Just as I am finishing up the perfect stretch, Sonia says something to the effect of "Do you want a hug Cooney?" and then laughs... Not wanting to miss an incredible opportunity, I reply with a whiny, "Si Sonia, dame un abrazo!" [Yes Sonia, give me a hug]. She just laughed at me and walked away. I'm so deprived of affection here, if you see me, please hug me or just touch me...it's been 3 months.

Later that day I had to go to Geography and on the way there I did something amazing. I played soccer with a Spaniard. I mean, sure he was probably 6 years old and I may have only gotten to "play" because the ball "happened" to roll into my path, but I played.. I gave the kid a killer pass.. he was running at me and I passed it to him on the go... he'll probably be famous some day.. NBD.

Now it is time for "Daniel Sanders said WHHAATT?!":

T-minus 1 week. Things that you have been missing from Texas:

1. NASA [love it]
2. Cow paddies [Can't wait to get me a wiff]
3. Beef in general [Baby steps... I'll have to come down off of the pig first]
4. 6-shooters [Packin' heat fo sho!]
5. Bush Twins [I'm not into politics]
6. Mavericks [Lost me when they lost Nash]
7. Inconsistent weather [They have it here in Spain..makes it feel like home..eh]
8. Reliable, affordable electricity [No more sparks!]
9. Ponds [Take me fishin'.]
10. Dirt roads [Get that dust in my lungs!!!]
11. Texas night sky [Pure bliss]
12. Armadillos [Giant Rolly-Pollies!]
13. Prisons [Lock 'em up and throw away the key!]
14. Capitol Punishment [No comment]
15. Democracy [No comment]
16. PRIDE [HECK YEAH!]
17. Real men [amen, Amen, AMen, AMEN!!!]
18. Smokeless restaurants & bars [Hasta luego lung cancer!]
19. Camp fires [S'mores and songs]
20. Football [the only pig I want to see for a LONG time]
21. Fantasyland [*wimper*]
22. Last but not least 103. [My boys :D]

Colleen is back from Italy... let the party begin.

Dos besos,

Courtney

9-ish days... Procrastination.

Don't ask me why my eyes are closed.

pro·cras·ti·nate

verb \prə-ˈkras-tə-ˌnāt\

transitive verb

: to put off intentionally and habitually

"Psychologists often cite [procrastination] as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with the starting or completing any task or decision."

"...Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder..".

(Thanks Wiki.. I can always count on you... and Merriam-Webster.. you're always legit as well)

As you can see, I have a bad case of the "Procrastinations"... The last time I think I've had this bad of a case was senior year of high school when I was filling out all sorts of scholarships and having to write essays about myself and what I wanted to do with my life... little do they know that I still have no idea what I'm going to do with my life... SUCKAS! Kidding...although.. I probably shouldn't kid about that sort of stuff.. it's a serious issue.

Anywho. What have I been procrastinating? A paper.. a really easy paper.. 3-5pages over whatever I want. I have a lot of information and an outline.. I just have to write it... my problem is that I [ironically] dislike writing... even though I have written 100000000x more in the past 3months than I have in... well my life. Not to worry, it will get done and it will be good. [maybe]

Lately I have been on "puente" from school.. I've pretty much had a 6 day weekend... it kind of rocks. Tomorrow I start classes back up... except.. these classes are 100% pointless.. they are merely "formalities" for us kids taking 45hrs. The majority of my teachers are just having reviews, so maybe they aren't so pointless... sucks for the 40hr. kids though.. they have to have that internal conflict of whether or not they go to class... again I repeat, SUCKAS!. Throughout the puente I have been uber productive as far as gift collecting goes.. I have stuff for everyone except Daniel (BD).. I know what I want to get him, I just need to find the perfect one. Tik tok, tick tok.. yeah, yeah I know. Also during this fine puente, I got the biggest Twizzler of my life... and the best Twizzler of my life...from a booth that was set up to celebrate "Navidad"[Christmas] in Plaza de Rambla" it was seriously delicious.

Que mas?.. (add upside down question mark accent e and a)

Well, yesterday I learned a fun new card game... it's called a vulgar word, so I asked FN to help me re-name it and he decided it should be called... "MOE-RON".. if you lose, you are the MOE-RON.. and no one wants to be the/a MOE-RON. I will teach to all who would like to learn to play upon my arrival to The States. Where did I learn this fun new game? At a birthday party for one of my API friends... It was in an apartment, which is a big deal because it is not allowed to hang out at other people's homes... the one thing I haven't gotten used to, and doubt I will. The only reason it was in an apartment was because there was a person who decided to find their own living when they arrived to Spain, instead of living in a residencia or host family... lucky dogs. It was a fun party.. with good cake :)

Hmm...

Unfortunately I have no "wise words" from Daniel Sanders... he hasn't been very wise/philosophical lately.. I dunno what his deal is, but he better step it up.

Last night I got eaten by a mosquito... I don't know how/where those little boogers get in! I may have smacked myself in the nose in the middle of the night, but I killed the nasty little bloke... case and point that you don't mess with me while I'm sleeping. I'll kill you. Don't think I won't.

Uhhh...

Today I walked up to the Albaicin and went to St. Nicholas' Mirador. What's that? Only the best view of La Alhambra. Why did I go? Well you see, I had this item on my Bucket List that said: Sketch a historical monument/place. As of 530pm today, that bad boy is SCRATCHED OFF! Can you see the sketch? I'm sorry, but probs not... I'm pretty shy about my art and to be honest.. it's not that great.. just a sketch. Can will anyone ever be able to see it? Only if you marry me... sorry ladies. My sketching experience overall was super peaceful and relaxing. I just plopped myself down on the ledge, cranked the iPod, and went to town...it is now safely taped into my Spain Journal. <----Can you read that? Only if you marry me.

[Tapping of pencil]...

Evelyn and I snuck into Sarah's house to watch "Notting Hill" on Sarah's computer. It's fun being rebellious. [Sorry Dad]

I think that's all I have to say. I should really stop waiting so long in between posts so I don't forget so much.

Dos Besos,

Courtney

Finally Finished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sls3khgs-AA

Watch. Learn. Enjoy.

Dos Semanas Mas.

No your eyes aren't deceiving you... I really do only have 2 more weeks until I set foot on American soil [God willing]. I've decided that I'm officially excited. Last night, Sarah, Evelyn, and I were sitting in Eunice's Teteria (Indian tea house... story yet to come) pondering life, as usual, and we started talking about our parents.. it made me really miss my parents; like a lot. So with that said... I'm ready to come home and I think 2 more weeks here is the perfect amount. Lovers and friends (you can decide which one you are), I miss you an infinite amount as well. You will just never know.

Last night I had a dream, in which, I was returning to the U.S...when I woke up this morning, I was confused for about 1 sec. as to why I was still in Spain... but I figured it out. I was happy I wasn't in the U.S. Like I said, 2 weeks is the perfect amount.

Moving on....

As I was walking about the cold streets of Spain yesterday, I realized I forgot to add a very important detail about my trip to Sevilla. So... we are on the bus going to Sevilla and I start to get bored.. I'm looking out the window and I see "Sevilla 70km"... I think to myself, "I wonder how many miles that is." So, I whip out my iPod, tap the calculator app and figure it out (impressed yet?). For some strange reason, I found this to be fun so I decided I would do the speed limit, as well as other cities distances. Right as I'm in the middle of converting kph (kilometers per hour) to mph, I hear a, "Courtney what the [heck] are you doing?" (it was Kevin... the kid with the belt buckle) I turn around slightly embarrassed and explain to him what I'm doing. Surprisingly, he sounded impressed. I then attempted to explain all the different conversions you have to do to get from km--->miles. He told me that he would never have been able to figure that out, and then said something to me that NO ONE has ever said to me in my life. "Courtney, you are just [freaking] good at math" I just about fell out of my seat laughing... ok that was a bit exaggerated, but I did give him a hearty chuckle and explained that I am definitely NOT good/smart at math (people can vouch for that). The only way I would consider myself even remotely smart at math is the fact that I'm smart enough to sucker someone who is good at math to help me. Which may be more beneficial in life than actually knowing math... hmm not sure. LOL . Moral of this story? There's a first time for everything.

....and we're moving....

So this week was officially my last week of school. I have to learn ZERO new material, and all I have to do is attend two classes next thrus. and fri. then it's finals week. (gasp!.. hardly) I have recently found out the following:

• My grammar final is pretty much a take home
• The lowest final grade I can get in my geography class is an 8 (B+)... regardless of how poorly I do on my test
• My art final is a group final (3 people max.).. but I'm actually going to study good for that one.. I don't trust the people in my class to do the same.
• Civ and Cult. will be fine... I also have to turn in a 3-5pg. "research paper".. cake.
• I have no idea about POE.. we shall see. LOL

So as you can see, I'm sitting pretty as far as finals go. I'm very thankful... this will not be the case next semester. Last Wednesday in POE, I was hammin' it up with Sonia during a class exercise, and for some reason or another, she said my name out loud... Mistake. Not even 5 seconds after she said it, Sarah Moe chimes in with an almost perfect imitation of "Cooney"and the rest of the class let out a fairly hearty chuckle. I feel that Sarah's remark was a result of word vomit.. only because she said it so quickly after Sonia. Sonia then looked at me with that, "How the HECK do you say your name?!" look. I repeated it for her, and after going back and forth 2-3 times, she still couldn't nail it. I told her not to worry about it. Honestly, Cooney has really grown on me.

To celebrate the ending of school, we decided to go and have drinks (doesn't necessarily mean alcoholic) and tapas at POE and then hit up a teteria. We had a good convo. at POE.. I'm not really at liberty to say what it was about, but don't worry... it wasn't anything bad. Ha. After POE we decided to go to our teteria, but much to our surprise, the guy told us it was closing. We were so bummed. Magically, we saw another teteria that was open and even had FREE WiFi! (we didn't need the WiFi, but places like that are IMPOSSIBLE to find here) We knew this place was a winner. So we walk in, take a seat, and a perky, little Indian man comes up to us and asks, "Hablan Español?" we replied with, "Si" and he went and got us some menus. After delivering the menus and giving us time to decide, the perky, little Indian came back and took our order... he was just the funniest little thing; he never missed out on an opportunity to make fun of the way we spoke or acted. We liked him. At one point during our time there, he came over to us and asked, "Why are you talking in English? Do you need to practice your English?" We told him "touche" and continued to speak in English. haha. A little while later, perky little Indian started to subtly turn off lights and we took that as our cue to get the heck out. As we were leaving, PLI came over to us and said thank you for coming and then proceeded to ask us our names. Of course he got stuck on my name (thanks Dad... I guess you never really intended on your daughter traveling to a Spanish speaking country... it's ok.. she didn't either. ;) ). PLI eventually did get my name and he said it quite clearly. I was impressed. I then proceeded to ask him his name and he told us it was Eunice.

EUNICE! how freaking amazing is that?! That was the moment I fell in love with this man... we have already decided we were going to be regulars. Homeboy down the road make a BIG mistake closing his shop early... that's all I got to say. Just when we think we've experienced it all, we experience more. It's situations like this that make me glad I still have 2 more weeks.

So... Colleen is gone for 10days... I'm literally sitting here in silence, well.. James Morrison is singing to me, but... you know. I feel so incredibly calm, relaxed, and just flat out good. Not because Colleen was the cause of me not feeling like the three adjectives listed above, but because I am by myself. Ah. I'm sure after a week or so I will be ready for her to come home, but until that time... :D

As far as the Daniel Sanders life lessons go, I have a doozy for you today... I am going to preface this by saying that this is one of his most idiotic statements yet... and had I been back in The States on Redmond street, I probably would have smacked him.... multiple times. I considered withdrawing the title of BD from him.. yep that serious.. This is Daniel Sanders on helmets while riding a motorcycle... I will never stop trying to convince him to wear one every.single.time.:

"If I'm going to get hurt riding a motorcycle, then I'm going to get hurt riding a motorcycle.... but for the sake of convenience and being cool..."

He also redeemed himself with this quote as well... I can't remember the discussion, but apparently it was about fire:

"What happens when you mix fire with fire? You get a big @$$ fire."

Crazy, crazy kid.

My geography professor didn't know what a truck was (makes sense).. the other kid from Texas and I's jaw pretty much dropped to the ground..

Grooveshark was down today... at that moment, I officially deemed this day bad.. then I checked again, and it was back up... this day has been redeemed to good.

Dos besos,

Courtney