Too many goodbyes, Toledo, and Madrid

Goodbye Salamanca 
The end of our time in Salamanca was very bittersweet. It's nice being done with school, but it was hard to say goodbye to Nicol(my host mom) and the city where we lived for 6 weeks. We were pretty familiar with it by the end. Friday night we were taken to a very nice restaurant for a 5 (small)course meal which included wine, salad, octopus, fried veggies, rice, and duck. On Saturday, Bridget, Alyssa and I gave the final presentations on Toledo while everyone ate ice cream, we said our goodbyes to Zach and Caleb who were leaving early, we packed, and Karen and I took a walking tour of the city getting pictures of all our favorite spots which ended with our last mass at the round church, St. Marcos' which was built in the 12-13th century. I also said my goodbyes that night to Nicol's friend Heli and her son Carlos(Caqui). Sunday morning Nicol sent us of with our last sack lunch and told us to come see her again before we went to meet the bus at 8am.


Toledo
Like most of our other day trips with Mester, Toledo was a very quick trip but we saw some cool stuff. For one, Toledo is known for its metallurgy(metalwork for swords, sheilds, jewelry, etc.) and there were storewindows everywhere filled with swords and other awesome stuff. Another cool sight was the painting by 16th century artist El Greco called The Burial of Count Orgaz which we had studied for our culture classes. Third, we saw the cathedral of Toledo. Things to remember from inside were the beautfiul white pillars with black and white tiled floor and El Transparente, a baroque work that covers a whole wall with sculpture and painting, and is lit by a window cut in the ceiling for that specific purpose. They also had museums with lots of old church books

After the cathedral we made our way slowly down to the bridge over the river and to meet our bus. Toledo has the windingest roads of all of Spain, I'm pretty sure. None of the cities align to a grid like in the US, but Toledo has especially small and twisty roads that cars barely fit through(but still do!). The bridge was beautiful, I got some pictures. The bus took us to Madrid where we checked into our last hotel as a group and ate our last dinner together. It was really hard seeing everyone for the last time in Spain, especially with my stomach ache still continuing and my future so uncertain.


Madrid
The next several days have all been focused on a combination of relaxing and experiencing a little of Madrid. On Sunday night I was advised to take it easy and to treat it as a stress ulcer with antacids, a bland diet, and no worrying so that's what I've been trying to do. On Monday all we did was check into our Hostel and stay in the rest of the day. Karen and Catherine each took a four hour nap and I went for an hour walk around the Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol(mile marker reference point for Spain's highways)We paid an extra 5 euro a night each to have air conditioning, TV, and a private bathroom and it's been really worth it so far. The room also has wifi included so that's where I'm updating the blog from. 


Tuesday was an eventful day. We went to el parque del buen retiro(the park of good rest) and explored several gardens and sat on lots of shady benches for abut 5 hours in all. You can also rent boats for 5 euro, but I haven't been feeling up to it, unfortunately. After our time in the park we went to El Museo del Prado, a very famous museum for its collection of greatest works of the last five centuries. It's free from 6-8pm so we went in for about an hour before going back to the hostel for dinner. Karen has been leading the charge in shopping at the nearby grocery store and fixing us nice meals in the kitchen provided at the hostel, so we're really living fairly normal lives but in a hotel atmosphere on a semi-spanish schedule, and I'm trying to rest extra for my stomach.


Yesterday we stayed in the hotel room all day until going to el Prado again. Karen and Catherine went out to buy some food but I stayed inside trying to be stress free. We went to el Prado from about 6-8 so we got the whole free time experience. Catherine gave us a special presentation on a work by the 16th-17th century artist Velázquez called Las Meninas on the way because she had written her research paper on it and wanted to help us appreciate it more, which we did. Although we went to el Prado when we first arrived in Spain, it's so much better now that we've studied a number of the artists in class and can recognizes their works and styles. Karen and I also spent the last half hour in the pre-15th century section which had some really cool religious works. After el Prado, we ordered tickets to see the Harry Potter premiere tonight (preceded by year 7 pt.1) and then found the Half-Blood Prince online to watch since I hadn't seen it before. We watched about half of it(which we finished today) and finished the night by Skyping our friends in Costa Rica followed by Karen and Catherine's mothers.


Today has been much like yesterday with a lot of relaxing in the hotel room(and finishing Half-Blood Prince). We won't be visiting el Prado today because we have to leave early on the bus if we're going to make it to watch both Harry Potter movies tonight. Tomorrow we're hoping to make one last visit to the Park and el Prado before we go our separate ways on Saturday. I may update tomorrow with my impressions of the end of Harry Potter, but I don't expect to have much internet access next week so I may not be able to update my blog until the end of next week.


Lastly, an update on my stomach. It continues to bother me, but I upped my Tums dose today because I realized I was taking it more on the "calcium supplement" level according the instructions. Later I am going to the pharmacy to check for a better antacid like pepcid. As of now, I haven't changed my flight to go home early, so I'm still set to be here another week. Keep me in your prayers! My flight to Rome leaves at 6:30am, saturday morning(11:30pm Friday on Missouri time).

I finished my paper!

I finished my paper!


I am now officially done with coursework in España and can enjoy myself for two more weeks. I'm really proud of my achievement. This was the first time I didn't stay up all night starting a research paper due the next day and I don't think it turned out too badly. Also, I got an A- on my coursework with Mester so my chances of getting a 4.0 for my 12 credit hours here is pretty high. My classmates also did very well on their work and tonight is time for celebrations.


On a more worrisome note, I've had a stomach ache all week that hasn't gone away so I finally talked to Sra. Pites about it. She thinks I have a virus and suggested a diet and a medicine I can pick up at a pharmacy on the way home. If that doesn't help, she will take me to the doctor tomorrow while I still have insurance here. I'll be fine, but please keep me in your prayers. I'm really nervous about the next two weeks if this can't be sorted out quickly.


Finally, to answer Laura's question, Salamanca is a very safe city. It's recommended that girls walk accompanied at night, but during the day there's no concern.


Tonight we are going out to celebrate(I'll be drinking water and going home early though), I have a brief presentation on Toledo tomorrow at 1:00pm and then we leave Salamanca forever on Sunday. From Salamanca we'll go to Toledo for the day and at night end in Madrid where the group spends its last night in Spain. On Monday, Catherine, Karen and I will be on our own.


I'll try to update you on my health as soon as possible, but it may be a few days before I have a computer.


God bless!

Thought of the Day

Dr. Pites decided last week that to help us get through our final exams and papers, she would ask us each to take a turn sharing a Thought of the Day. So, we've all been receiving daily e-mails with an inspirational quote from her and two quotes/messages from our classmates. There have been a lot of message saying to just keep moving, it'll be over soon, and remember to smell the roses along the way because we're still in Spain and it's awesome. Tomorrow is my turn so I just sent her mine and thought I'd share it here. It's pulled from favorite quotes on my Facebook page, so some of you might recognize parts.

Here it is:

To go along with the theme of fight the good fight, push through, I would like to share this inspirational message from a 5 year old who taught me the mysteries of life, death, and heaven.

Describing death, he said to me: "It's like when you have to poop but it's really hard and you have to squeeeze it out, but you can't because it's really hard. And then you go to Heaven!"

Breaking from that trend, however, I want to share a story from www.catholic.org about Teresa of Ávila. Malicious rumors about her spread quickly because many within her order didn't want to be reformed, and her scandalous spiritual raptures were an easy target. She complained to Jesus in prayer, and He said to her, "Teresa, that's how I treat my friends." To which she replied, "No wonder you have so few friends." but she continued working for reform because she thought if He had so few friends, they should be good ones.

Take that to inspire you as it will.

If you want to read more about St. Teresa of Ávila, I recommend her page on catholic.org. You can find her under the saints tab if you run a search or by clicking the link above.

Also, as of last night I have 2.5 pages written. Halfway there!

Today is a good day

Right now I want to count my blessings.


This weekend was really rough. The group went out to Tapas(drinks and small sandwich portions), but I had to go home in the middle because I was nauseous. Then, Saturday night we were supposed to meet to celebrate Aaron's birthday with cake and happiness, but there was a miscommunication and I wandered around town for an hour trying to find everyone and never did so I went home and watched TV until Preston came back. It was bad. But! As titled, today is a good day.


My blessings:
-I just got an e-mail from dad telling me about 4th of July celebrations and encouraging me.
-It's Independence Day! And what a great country it celebrates.
-I read the comments on the last blog entry which reminded me of friends and support from back home.
-Last night I went out for helado(ice cream) with Karen after mass.
-Even though I missed the birthday party, Preston and I hung out and studied till 2 in the morning.
-Even though I spent 6 hours studying on Saturday(at least) and more on Sunday, I now know the history of Spain very well. Its kings, its governments, its artistic movements, and more.
-I have met a lot of new friends on this trip: Molly, Alyssa, Caleb, Preston, Jackie, Cait, Emily, Courtney, Isabella, Aaron, Andrew, Samantha, Jessie, and Emily G. all of whom I could go on about.
-I've gotten to see a ton of beautiful churches and countryside and live in a spanish city for 6 weeks
-Sra. Pites has been a joy, despite the work. She has a lot of faith in us and always wants to encourage us.
-the food is great! (as long as I don't have a stomach ache) :)
-I still have two more weeks in Europe after this one.
-Assuming I can get tickets, I'll see Deathly Hallows pt. 2 seven hours before my friends back home
-Thursday Bible Studies
-my 22nd birthday
-lots of correspondence with home
-magdalenas (little muffin things we get at breakfast to take to school and eat on breaks)


I'm sure there are many more, but I'll be late for lunch.


¡A-Dios! y gracias a Él por todo.

Update on School

I don't know how much I've communicated it through my blog entries, but I have been really stressed about my paper due next week. Most conversations between myself and others of the group these days have been  more or less "I can't believe we have so much work to do! Pites expects so much" "I'm just trying to remember that I'm in Spain and not let grades or work get me down. Plus, we ARE getting 12 credit hours in 6 weeks, and this is a lot less work than a regular semester." "Yeah, you're right, we can do this!"


Anyway, the point of all this to let you know that now my conversations are becoming more like "I'm making really good progress on my paper! I've found all my sources and Pites approved my thesis! Now I have a whole week to start writing!" "That's great Joe! Do you want to study party this weekend!" I've been working hard this week and life is looking pretty optimistic. Keep me in your prayers as I enter the last week of coursework. I have an exam of spanish culture and history on Monday and a grammar final on thursday. My research paper is due on Friday. After that I'm done and can enjoy two weeks of freedom in Europe! Thanks a lot to Dad&Mom for helping me with the trip.


In other news, we talked about Euthanasia in my conversation class today. Based on what I think I know of church teaching, I argued that no particular pain or suffering merits giving up on the goodness of life. Of course, that's not something you can just tell a person who is in such suffering, as my opponents argued. As I am right now, I'm still willing to fight to make it illegal, but more importantly do my best to comfort those close to me and encourage others to do the same so that we don't need laws, but love and support one another freely and willingly.


Anyway, talk is talk and action speaks louder.


¡Hasta luego!

Santiago de Compostela! and other news

My trip to Santiago de Compostela was awesome. We got in around 8 pm, checked into our hostel(50 beds to a room), and explored the city by evening. It was very relaxing, and the sunset was beautiful, but the real excitement came the next morning.


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History of Saint James and the Camino de Santiago(Santo Iago=St. James):
When the apostles went out to spread the gospel, St. James landed on the Iberian Peninsula. Having much success and being well loved, his bones were shipped back to Galicia in Northwest Spain after he died. Centuries later, as bones were rediscovered and a large cathedral built on the spot. It then became the largest pilgrimage sight in Christendom as Christians throughout Europe would travel across northern spain on foot, strengthening their faith, and building up the economy of the route. It's famous for it's giant incensor which swings from the ceiling, pushing back the stench of sweaty pilgrims.
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After getting to see the incensor(which takes 6 Brothers to manage the pulley), we attended mass and spent the day exploring the city. We ate lunch in a big park across the way from the Cathedral where we could see it in the distance. I had a loaf of bread and some peach marmelade that I bought at a local supermarket. In the evening we took the bus home.






Sunday was also exciting because the feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated at the Cathedral followed by a procession. They had the full choir out for the occasion, many priests and seminarians, and there was a whole section in the procession just for first communicants(who enjoyed throwing rose petals on the monstrance during the benediction). Mass was a little hard to understand because of the echo, but it was worth it to get to walk in the procession afterward. 8 men carried the large gold and silver monstrance through the streets with loudspeakers projecting words for reflection and songs from the choir. It was really cool.


Today however, we're back to the daily grind of classes. Not many more though! We have a test a week from today and another next thursday and then we're done. As for my research paper, (almost)everyone has a lot of work yet to do and I just e-mailed my professor for some help. It'll be a struggle, but I'll get it done.


¡Dios te bendiga!

Since it was asked...

My friend Laura, who is studying in Costa Rice right now on a similar trip, asked how many days a week we have class and if we take weekend trips.


To answer her question, we have class monday through friday and take day-trips on the weekend. The only homework we really have to do is study for weekly vocab quizzes(3qz/week), two compositions for Pites, and a research paper at the end of Pites. Depending on your teacher, you might have to write two 150word compositions each wk, but mine has us write them in class and they're easy. Also, some teachers will ask you to finish grammar exercises at home, but they never take more than 10 minutes and aren't collected.


So far we've only taken two weekend trips(Segovia/Ávila, Sierra de Francia), but this weekend a bunch of us have gotten together and are excursioning to Santiago de Compostela(Saint James of the Field of Stars) in Galica, the northwestern-most province of Spain. We're going up tomorrow, staying in a hostel, and coming back Saturday evening. It'll be a nice change from the Andalucía in the south, which we got to know so well the first 9 days of the trip.


¡Hasta pronto!