Week 33: Settling back into life and Spanish culture

As my weeks here in Toledo draw to a close, I am becoming more and more grateful for each and every moment I have left here in Spain. I can’t help but start to think about when I get back to the States… but, before I get too far ahead of myself, I have to tell you a bit about my week, and then I can get to philosophizing about my stay here in Europe.

My spring break vacation was still going strong on Monday, after staying one more night at Fatima’s place and then heading to the not-too-far city of Ghent with her and Walker. On the train there from Antwerp, we all traded teasing remarks about Belgium, the U.S., and England, as has become the usual between the best of friends. In Ghent, we saw many of the same places I had seen with Corrinne and Laura so many weeks before, and everything came flooding right back to me! It was a great place to visit again. We got to enter the castle this time, and we took lots of goofy pictures, pretending to be knights and ladies and medieval characters in the perfect setting. As we were walking around the city, Fatima and Walker discussed Belgian soccer and what players were good and had been traded and whatnot, and I just kind of sat back in awe and wonder of how they could know so much about a sport. (Maybe it’s just because I’ve never really been that interested in any sport, even figure skating or gymnastics, my favorites).

Looking through the city streets in Ghent.

The Cathedral

Looking down the river. This definitely reminded me of the last time I was here, for sure!

Another gothic church across the river - it was huge!

The end of Graffiti Street.

Fatima and I by the river.

Part of the castle!

Archers at the ready!

Fatima playing queen of Ghent.

View of the city from the castle rooftop.

After Ghent, Walker and I said our goodbyes to Fatima (with promises to see her very soon!), and hopped on the train to Lille. We had a tiny bit of trouble figuring out which side of the train to be in, since the train would be splitting at a certain point and one half would be going the way we wanted and the other not, but once the stewardess helped us figure that all out, we settled in for the hour-and-a-half ride. We saw lots of Belgian countryside, chatted a bit, and before we knew it, we were back in Lille. I don’t know how Walker put up with me the first few minutes after we arrived; I was bouncing off the walls with excitement to see the city in which I had studied and lived for five months! Everywhere I turned, I remembered a moment from the last semester; I even got to visit and stay the night in my old residence! Figuring out logistics took a little bit of time, but once Alex actually arrived, my ecstasy was complete: I had seen all my friends over the weekend, in Antwerp; I had returned to the city where it all took place; and I got to see my best friend in the whole wide world. She even brought me quiche that she had made for dinner, and some moscato to celebrate! It was such a happy day! I couldn’t have been happier in those few moments - I was so happy to see my sister in person again, and talk to her a little bit in person about how she was adjusting to Lille. Unfortunately, the night had to end very early, because I would be traveling very early the next day -  but what a happy night!

On Tuesday, Alex was nice enough to wake up very early with me at 5:30AM to help me get to the Flibco shuttle so I would be able to catch my 9:00AM flight from Charleroi to Madrid. It wasn’t too sad of a moment, as I knew I would be seeing her in a few short weeks, but it certainly was another goodbye. After the hour-and-a-half ride across the Belgian border and lots more waiting in the airport, I finally boarded my plane, and before I knew it I was back in Madrid. Unfortunately I had had to skip all my classes that day in order to grab the cheapest flight left, and so I made it back to Toledo not too stressed… except for all the work I still had left to do before finals. I dug in my heels and hammered out some work that afternoon, but I definitely took my siesta that afternoon, as I was exhausted from all my travels.

Wednesday and Thursday were much the same as normal; I had theology class and my internship on Wednesday, along with my weekly conversation with Sara in English, and Thursday was chock full with four classes. As I knew I wouldn’t be traveling anywhere over the weekend and as such would have time for working on homework, I took it easy those days in the evenings, spending time with my host family and enjoying Spain in general. I geared up a little bit for the weekend, getting all organized and ready to really put my nose to the grindstone on Saturday and Sunday.

An excursion to Segovia, a historically important Spanish city, was in order for Friday! We saw the castle, which was the inspiration for the very first Disney animated film, Snow White, and also how Walt Disney’s heritage is actually in some part Spanish! (At least one of his grandmothers actually lived in Spain!) We had a great time seeing the city and hearing about all the history in the city from our tour guide, and my friends and I even got to visit a charming bookstore and a pastelería, a pastry shop, where they sold chocolate truffles, and got a few to share. Before we knew it, it was time to board the bus to get back to Toledo, and after the 3-hour bus ride back, we went back to our houses and chilled for the night.

The castle in Segovia, which inspired the castle in Disney's first animated film, Snow White!

View of the valley from the top of the castle.

The most historical part of the city: the aqueducts, which have been standing for centuries. 

The weekend brought some exciting events in Spanish culture! For those of you who don’t know, there is a famous festival on the west coast of Spain in Valencia called Las Fallas, where skilled craftspeople make statues that resemble parade floats, and then during one whole day, all the statues are burned. (Find out more about the festival here.) While this festival is mainly celebrated in Valencia, and a few weeks before this one to boot, there also is a traveling festival that moves around to different cities in Spain and echoes the big celebrations in Valencia itself. This year, Toledo was the city where this echo was selected to take place, and it definitely drew a crowd! On Saturday night, Allison and I met with our Spanish conversation partner Rodrigo, and he also invited some of his friends, and we definitely made a night of it! Then the next night was when they actually burned the statues, and so my friends and I returned to see the festivities. Apparently they had bussed in a whole bunch of people from Valencia so that people could enthusiastically celebrate the occasion… and as usual with Spaniards, that just meant that there were more people partying on the grounds. All in all, it was a great weekend, and our conversation partner even invited us to a bonfire next week at his house!

A photo of the Fallas in Toledo.

This week has been ramping up the pressure for finals week, which is fast in coming, not next week but the week after. In spite of this mounting pressure, though, I have been able to enjoy both traveling and Spanish culture this week, which for me is always a bonus! Not going anywhere this weekend was definitely worth it, I certainly had lots of fun experiencing the events in Toledo rather than picking a different destination to jet off to. I often have to remind myself that it’s not all about traveling every weekend (like some of my classmates do) - it is possible to just enjoy Toledo and its culture and history. And with that, I will leave you all until next week - ¡Hasta pronto!