Week 35: Endings and beginnings

This week has brought so many emotions, so many events with it. I’m actually already on the road again, beginning another trip, but the rest of the week has been the start of a series of endings that I never realized would come so quickly. It has been such a relief to actually finish all my finals this week, and I even got to know all my results right away on Saturday!

Monday and Tuesday weren’t too bad; I didn’t have final exams on either of those days, so I took it easy and finished writing papers those days. I did go to my internship all day on Monday, and that was a great day; even though it was my last with the students, we had fun just talking about life in America and what I would be doing now that I was leaving them. The most touching moment of that day was that the kids in the one French class I helped out in actually sang and danced for me!

Wednesday and Thursday were my exam days; theology on Wednesday and history on Thursday. My last day of my internship was Wednesday, and I brought cookies for all the students I worked with (including the ones I had missed on Monday), which ended up being quite a lot, and so the students got a little treat as I was saying goodbye. I thought I pretty much aced my theology exam, and my history exam didn’t go too badly either. On Thursday I also had my last French conversation with Noelia, which was, as always, a fantastic experience, and we made sure to add each other on Facebook before we parted ways.

Friday was day one of two chill days this week. The teachers I worked with at the high school actually invited me to lunch at their school on this day, and so I happily obliged! It was a great way to end a wonderful experience, as I chatted with just about every teacher I had been in contact with over the past semester at the school and regaled all my lovely memories from the semester. After that, I walked home, and before too long I had my last English conversation with Sara. I will most certainly miss chatting with her about popular Spanish culture, show tunes, and her experience as a student in Spain! Later in the evening, Allison and I made our way to a bonfire that Rodrigo had invited us to at his house, and so we two joined him and his friends playing ping pong, darts, and guitar, and playing with their three-week-old kittens. Eventually, we all made our way out to the backyard, where the guys put together a fire, and we even roasted marshmallows! Altogether, it was a bittersweet day. The last element of the day that sealed the deal was that this was my last night staying with my host family.

Carolina was so nice as to make an almond cake for the occasion!

And we decided to play at greatness, with Belén as the Little Prince, Carolina as Shakespeare,
and me as Cervantes. ...and Santi lording over all.

Saturday was another pretty busy day, but fortunately I did get the opportunity to sleep in at least a little bit. In the morning (or what was left of it), I posted pictures on Facebook and worked on my blog some more, so it was a pretty cozy morning/early afternoon. I actually was lucky enough to get to hang out with Rodrigo and his friends again, and María even showed me her house and hamsters, and introduced me to her sister and mother. It was a great experience! Rodrigo was nice enough to drive me home, and then I had to get ready and finish packing, because not too long after that, we would be taking my suitcases (yes, with all my stuff packed in them!) up to the Fundación, and then attending a concluding ceremony of the semester.  Once we made it up there, we got my suitcases to where they needed to be, and then not too long after that, the ceremony started, and we all got our program completion diploma. My host brother Alonso was nice enough to take a few photos of me receiving, and then we all trickled out into the courtyard to nibble on some tapas. Once I said goodbye to my host family until I see them again when my own family is with me, I went out with lots of friends, and we had a great night getting margaritas and going to a couple clubs. All in all, it ended up being a great day!

Receiving my diploma from my theology teacher.

There it is!

I owe so much to this amazing woman, my host mother, Maria Carmen.
I was so sad to say a preliminary goodbye to her that night!

Celebrating with friends!

Today has been the start of something new: the Fundación is taking most of us on one last grand cultural excursion: to the city of Zamora and the Camino de Santiago! So far today we’ve left Toledo on a 5-hour bus ride to the city of Zamora, which has been quite important to Spain’s history. Maybe not the most integral part, but it certainly has played a role in some significant historical events, or so I hear. So far it's been pretty good, we hopped on a bus (which is always fun when you're on it with people you know!), and we've gotten to the hostel and all settled in. I'll certainly write more soon!

Wow. What a week. I can’t believe time has gone this fast, and the semester is over. Soon all of us from Toledo are going to go our separate ways, and life will move on just as normal… mostly. I’m definitely looking forward to what this trip has to bring, especially since seeing the movie "The Way" before, which is a story of a pilgrim on the trail who has lost his son. With that in mind, I’m going to get back to enjoying this trip while I can, and so before it’s too late, I’ll tell you - ¡Hasta pronto!