ice water princess

Ah, water with ice, who knew it was so American?! And now I can have it anytime I want, yay USA!

Oh geez, I know it's an ungodly hour, but my internal clock is all messed up after my flight home and sleeping 14 hours straight. You sleep when you die, right?

Since last time, I've passed through Barcelona, London, Paris, and B took a visit to Santander last weekend. Her visit was definitely the most memorable part of my trip, we lived the "bellafigura" life, Spanish style. Which consisted of looking cute, going to the beach, eating paella/kabobs/helados, chatting in the plazas with the locals (who knew Italian and Spanish were so similar?), drinking vino tinto with lollipops, watching Spain beat Paraguay, dancing to house music, and chilling on the beach til sunrise. It would have been absolutely more perfect if yall (C&K) were with us :( BUT no worries, B & I have already discussed possible reunion ideas when we are all together before school starts. Dinner date at home, and a night out in Austin?! Done, and done.

Overall consensus of my trip:

I'd be lying if I said that I absolutely fell in love with Spain as soon as I landed there six weeks ago. I was off to a rocky start, homesickness, wanting ice water, reliable internet, etc. ha. And it's probably because when I'm home with my rents, I admit, that I'm spoiled a bit. But like with any new change, I became more accustomed to the Spanish life as the weeks progressed. And just looking back on it now, I can't believe that I was able to do it all on my own (and with help from my new sis: Adriana Perez).

If yall ever need help navigating the metro systems in Madrid, Barcelona, London, or Paris, call me pleaseeee. Heck, I even met Joe Jonas in London!? No worries, he's not that impressive looking in real life, nor does he have much of the hyped charismatic charm.

As ridiculously cheesy as this sounds this trip, made me realize how lucky I am to be American. Crazy!! I know, but there are Europeans that do like us. People all want the same things in life regardless of language and borders, and here in the States, we have more opportunity (duh, democracy). So with this experience, I'm not a "study abroad snob" (as Cullen would like to call his peers who venture to Europe and come back all worldly and shit) just more appreciative, blessed, thankful, and wanting to explore more of the things that I love, with the people that I love.

So here's to the next two years of college:

nights in and out, good food, less stress (tranquila!), more exercise (fingers crossed), more live music (hello?! we live in the live music capital of the world, and B has got the goods!!), saying YES, random encounters, inviting new people (it's not creepy), talking about ideas not people, more wine (it's good for your heart), gentlemen for C & B (Sorry K, I adore Andrew too much to grant you more men in your life) ...and the list goes on and on...

Sleep beckons, but I'm in the process of organizing my photos, so they will be up soon via FB, blog, or flickr!

B: I can't thank you enough for showing me the real Spain. That weekend was incredible and I like I've said before, we are going to adopt the bellafigura when you return. Be safe and have a blast backpacking!!

C: I'll be in Austin on Monday for sure, so we are definitely meeting up later in the week. Call, text me!

K: Have safe travels all over Europe! Ahh you and B are going to have a ridiculously fun time backpacking, and I can't wait to hear all about it!

besitos!!
con amor,
M