December 9 - December 16

December 9, 11:05pm

I really needed that church service this morning.  I don't think I had felt that refreshed in a long while.  It was so cool and wonderful to get hit with so many coinciding instances again and again and I am just dumbfounded and awestruck and amazed by how big and neverending His grace is for me.  I am humbled.

Cleaning up after playing Extreme Tabú at the coffee shop.

After coming home and a quiet lunch I did my blog like I try to do every week for everyone back home and out of nowhere got an email from Professor Westley about Costa Rica and I am SO excited that she basically confirmed me going back!  But I need to take all of this one thing at a time still!  I have ten more days here and I need to make the most of them.

I went after talking to my parents over skype to hang out with Laura, Jaime, and all of their friends (so Spaniards plus one American) and we all went to this coffee shop where you can play board games!  It was so cool and I wish something like that existed in  the U.S. simply because it's a great venue that attracts tons of people and it's wholesome.

December 10, 11:52pm

I got more sleep last night than recently so I woke up very tired today.  However, I had an enjoyable time at my internship helping my kiddos prepare for their English exam.  I'm trying to instill patience in them...it's hard.  In anthro we talked about integration and multiculturalism, which was all right, and then I rushed home for lunch only to turn around and rush back to Plaza Nueva to get some hardcore work done so I wouldn't be distracted by my own laptop.  I finished my seminar paper and touched up the Spanish paper, so I feel ahead of the game!  I then chatted with Alba, sat through a long review session in my Spanish class, presented my final project with Neda and Jessica, and then waited around Plaza Nueva because I was supposed to spend time with a friend Omar but I missed his call earlier and he probably wanted to tell me he couldn't make it or that I stood him up, I don't know.  It's okay because it allowed me to spend time chatting with Adri and getting to know him better and practice my Spanish with him.  I'm super thankful for his patience and pray for a strong friendship even now that I leave next week.

December 11, 9:41pm

My internship today was full of funny, fantastic, and great times.  I was super proud of Jose Manuel for starting to get the hang of English, of Marta for problem solving her errors, and of Ale Calvo for staying after and working super hard with me on the English phrases.  He has knowledge of some of the more difficult grammar things like the possessive, and other vocabulary.  I learned via Pablo talking with the new intern Támara a lot about some of the back stories of the kids, and I find myself wishing now more than ever that I could stay with them, help them more, and dig deeper into English with them while also supporting them.  I told Pablo there was one point I nearly broke down when Pepe asked me when I was leaving and he was super surprised it was so soon.  During the last hour I met some of the other new interns and had a very fun time with them helping them prepare for a short play they're doing next week.  I hope to see them again before I go.

After a lunch with my host mom and sister Paola, Emi, and my host mom's son and wife, I showered and dashed over to my internship seminar class, then to my Spanish class (where I'm ashamed to admit I basically checked-out in; I'm kind of done with IES...), then to the tetería where I am now with Jenny.  I am going to watch her and Laura at the open mic at Hannigan's and am excited for how that goes for them!

December 13, 9:45am

I was up until 2am writing cards to my kiddos for my last day today so I didn't get to journal, but yesterday was pretty cool.  In my internship when we were in the religion class Ale Calvo asked some really intelligent questions and I was super proud of him!  In fact I'm super proud o all of them, in Cindy's classes they discussed what was good about her teaching and what they like/don't like and how they have each improved and could improve more, and it just made me realize how great each one is.

Our last excursion as a Spanish class.

In anthropology we reviewed and basically finished the movie we were watching, and then I went home for lunch and then went to Hotel Saray to hang out with Daniel a little.  We walked together until Bibramblas since he had a meeting and I wanted to arrive early to IES to have more workspace, and it was just super-blessed time of learning and laughter and my first inside joke between me and someone who lives here.  So thankful for that friendship!

In my last Spanish class we reviewed grammar and then went out to a shwarma place to spend our last hour together as a class before the final exam.  It was kind of sad and with many mixed emotions because Antonio is super awesome.

So, that's about it.  We'll see how today goes!

December 15, 7:00pm

AAAAAAH I haven't written in forever.  I know it's an exaggeration, but still.  Allow me to attempt to recapture my past few days.  Let me start by saying that I am currently chilling with my friend Adri and it's fantastic, even though he's been pulling my leg the whole time.

I love my kiddos!

The last day at my colegio I kept telling myself I wasn't going to cry.  I wasn't planning on it.  I was enjoying my time with my kiddos, helping them and such, when all of a sudden Pablo and the students all surprised me with a couple of posters and cards and they had also brought food and drinks for a fiesta, and I was just completely overwhelmed and couldn't keep myself from crying a little.  They even wanted to do English for an hour and a half instead of our normal 45 minutes, so we sang Jingle Bells and had a spelling bee and took pictures.  It was super emotional, and even when I had to give my final presentation later that day I nearly teared up again trying to present well and still remembering what happened.  After, I went to Kassie's to study anthro with her, then got tapas with Jaime and discussed intellectual things, which was super cool and much needed!

Bar Dakota for the open mic.

Yesterday I spent a full two hours writing my anthropology exam; hopefully it turns out well!  After that, I returned home and relaxed and showered and such, and then walked with Adri since he lives super close to Bar Dakota for the last open mic, where I had the opportunity to recite a poem that I wrote in Spanish an hour beforehand.  Haha!  We all spent like three hours there, and then afterward a group of us went out dancing at Barrio Latino to celebrate and just enjoy the night.  We came back around 4:30am...

So when I woke up today around 11am, nobody was home.  So what do I do when nobody is home?  I did laundry, washed dishes, swept my floor, put on music really loud, danced around, and ate brunch.  I was going to study but got a little sidetracked with organizing my stuff and then just wanted to go spend time outside (it's gotten warmer!), so here I am now at Adri's house chatting and learning and breaking circuits with the heated table and just generally having cultural exchange.

Hopefully later I will go spend time and hang out at the church with Cristian, Jenny, and hopefully others!  I love them all so much and am really, really going to miss these people.

December 16, 3:44pm

Holy cow.  I don't even know.  Last night, first of all, was incredibly blessed and super powerful, and walking back with Cristian and Maru and another girl caused me to realize how much more time I wish I had spent with them.  When I got in, I chatted with Gaby, Mohamed, and Jenny on Facebook and then went to bed around 2am.

When I woke up today I finally started packing and was hit with a wave of mixed feelings.  It reminded me of a poem I analyzed earlier this semester for my Spanish class called "La noche antes del viaje" ("The night before the trip") as well as the poem I wrote a couple days ago.  I nearly broke down... I'm emotionally confused, haha!  But you know what, I think that's a good thing.  It means that this whole experience has impacted me.

Aurora being super fierce.

I went to the IES flamenco show to see Aurora and some other friends perform and am super proud of them!  They did so good!  Part of me wishes I had did that instead of taking anthropology, hahaha!  It looked so fun and super intense.  :)  I also enjoyed walking back with Aurora, Carrie, Kassie, and Jenny, just goofing around and talking and singing Christmas carols loudly and probably looking super strange in front of all these Spaniards, but as I told Maru and Adri yesterday when they mentioned that I'm a little not-normal, being normal is boring.  I like who God made me to be.