Five days

I don't know where the time has gone. I remember when I stepped off the plane in Dublin and again in Madrid and thinking, Five weeks is so long; what was I thinking? But now I'm wondering how it went by so quickly. I wish I had more time.
I feel like I have not done exceedingly well in portraying my time here, so I'll try to do that with this entry.
Dublin: in a day and a half, I managed to fit in everything I love about the city, from Guinness and Orchard Thieves, to Gino's Gelato, to Riverdance and the Liffey. I return this coming Saturday, but I'll be there for barely more than half a day- I'm arriving Saturday evening, and heading to the airport Sunday morning.
First week in Spain: I think this first week was the biggest struggle, in terms of adjusting to the language and the meals and the temperature. My ESTO professor does not speak any English, so I had to adapt quickly to classes taught only in Spanish. Luckily for us, the teachers and staff try to speak a little slower with us because they know we are learning. It made it much easier for me to understand! And now I feel much more confident in understanding people when they talk, which has always been the most difficult for me. It is hard to get into the mindset of interpreting on the go. After a full day of it, it can be very tiring, and it feels like my brain just shuts down and stops comprehending words. But by the third and fourth week, I began noticing that I'd read something and only notice afterwards that it was in Spanish rather than English, and I noticed I was thinking in Spanish as well, even if someone was talking to me in English. It was just easier to reply in Spanish.
Regarding the meals: I love dessert things. I really do. But even I started getting tired of the cafeteria breakfasts. The options included yogurt, a donut, a napolitana (my go-to breakfast, which is like a rolled flaky pastry thing filled with chocolate), or a creme pastry, and coffee. I went from being a pretty healthy eater back home, to eating dessert every morning. And the coffees are tiny- they give what equates to the amount of an American espresso shot, and you can add milk to it. But it's really just a shot of coffee. At first, this was hard to adjust to. I'm a big coffee drinker, so it did nothing for me at first. But just today, I had a "normal-sized" (AKA American sized) iced mocha from Costa Coffee, and after half, I was jittery and had a caffeine headache. So apparently after 5 weeks, I did end up getting used to the tiny coffees in Toledo.
Lunch was always HUGE. They offer the 'menu del dia', which is a fantastic idea, and which I truly love, but it is just so much food! There is a starter plate, which would be gazpacho (a cold tomato soup), or could be something as heavy as a plate of pasta. There is also bread and olive oil. Then is the second plate, which is a meat plate- generally the choices are between fish and chicken, or fish and beef, and both plates served with french fries. And then there is dessert- ice cream, pudding, or coffee. Too much food!!
Siesta: In Toledo, siesta starts around 2 pm, so right around the time we finish with lunch. This is also the time when I'd decide to go on walks. This is a terrible time for walks!!! The reason siesta is so important is because it gets deathly hot in Toledo/central Spain/basically all of Spain in the afternoons, too hot to be outside. Many places do not have air conditioning, or use it infrequently, because the cost of energy in Spain is much higher than it is in America. But I would usually walk during this time, and get lost in all the little streets of Toledo. I wanted to learn my surroundings very early on, so the first few weeks in Toledo was when I was out and about the most. I also felt that, since I had paid a hefty price to be in Spain, that my time would be best spent by actually exploring Spain, rather than sitting in my room on my computer. In Spain, siesta is important because lunch is important. Here, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and people in areas like Toledo close up shop and go home to lunch with their families. It is also a time for socialization. My professor was always so shocked to hear that in America, we don't talk throughout meals- it's generally a quick and quiet affair. Not everyone sits around a dining table and talks about their day. But in Spain, lunch can last for a very long time because it is also a time for socializing. Dinner is much smaller though. Here, breakfast is around 8 am or so, lunch isn't until 2-3 pm, and dinner isn't until 9-10 pm! I miss American meal times.
Weeks 2-3: I took an impromptu trip to Lisbon with a few other NIU students the first weekend I was in Spain. So beautiful! After that, we all really settled into our classes. I usually had homework daily, but not an excessive amount. I also kept up my daily walking routines, but generally I spent more time walking during weekends than I did on weekdays. My second weekend in Spain, I stayed in Toledo and explored. One Sunday morning, I set out for breakfast and decided I wanted to wander around after, not considering the time of day or my lack of water. So from noon until about 2 pm, I walked and I walked, in 100 degree weather, and I thought I was going to die. By the end of my walk, I had come back around to the more touristy area of Toledo, and after walking up an exceptionally long hill, needed to stop into every open shop I could find, just for a few seconds of air conditioning or shade. I was so tired and so warm that I thought I might pass out. In hindsight, I should've prepared better, but it was still a very enjoyable walk and I became acquainted with parts of the city that even my NIU professor had not really been to.
Another weekend, I went to Candeleda with the other students at the university. By that time, my NIU group had split off mostly into their own tiny separate group, because they did not share any of our classes or daily activities, so I was adopted into the Toledo, Ohio group and became friends with a few of the girls. So we all went to Candeleda, a town in the country very near the mountains, with a beautiful lake. The water was frigid, and there were tons of fish, but it was such a great time! The water was so clear I could see the bottom, and we swam all day except for a lunch break.
Week 4: During this week, we had our exams. The weekend leading up to the start of week 4, all the Toledo, Ohio students had gone to Barcelona because we did not have class on Friday, and I took myself to Madrid and Segovia. I truly enjoyed Segovia, and walked all around to see the aqueducts, their Cathedral (and climbed the very steep spiral stairway of its tower to get a view of the city), then went to their Alcazar, which looks just like a castle from a fairy tale. The next day, I spent exploring Madrid. Since I only had one day in Madrid, I tried to do as much as possible. I ended up joining into a free walking tour, and spent two hours with them- a very good investment, as they took me and the group to all the places I'd wanted to see anyway, AND I got the history of the city, which I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I have been very against taking public transportation except in times of need, so I walked the entire day- which ended up being almost 12 miles in total. I tried to go to El Prado (art museum) but could not get a student discount so did not go. Visited the Botanical Garden nearby El Prado. Many of the flowers had died or were not in bloom, but their large selection of trees was doing quite well!
Exams: The exams were difficult. I didn't study as much as I should have the night before, because I sat out in the residence's terrace with others from my group and the Ohio group and a few native Spanish speakers, too. We sat and drank wine and I talked 90% of the time in Spanish, so I felt it was still SOME form of studying and that I would be prepared. Wrong. The exam started with 2 listening sections, one of which I did very well on, and the second which I only did OK on. Then there were two reading sections. These were incredibly difficult!! I did very poorly on the first one- only got 1 out of 5 correct. It was a fill in the blank type of section, but you had to complete whole phrases. I thought I understood it, but this was not the case. The next reading section was also fill in the blank, but this time with only words, NOT full sentences, and I did much better. This was more of a test of grammar, so it was easier for me as it was mostly just picking what was the correct tense for a particular word in that sentence. There was an essay section, which I enjoyed. There were two topics to choose from. The last section was a multiple choice section which covered information we'd learned throughout the classes, and I did perfectly on that. After a short break, we returned for the oral exams. My partner and I were first, which was nice because after we finished up at 11:20, we were 100% done for the day, while others had to wait. We got to pick between two themes, and the expectation was that we would talk for 5 minutes straight. I thought there would be more prompting, like with the placement exams, but no, my professor was silent and just listened to each of us talk individually.
All in all, I did well, and I passed. I also went with my Ohio friends that week to my first and only flamenco class, which was so fun but so exhausting!! That same week, we had a farewell fiesta at a pedaleda, which is an open air nightclub. The flamenco teacher insisted I dance with the group for the dance presentation they'd been working on for 4 weeks, and I think I did well despite my one hour of preparation. We all filled up on tapas and paella and sangria, and then I said goodbye to my new friends.
I really love and appreciate this program because I have made so many new friends and met so many people from different parts of the world, and had the opportunity to learn more about their different customs and ways of life. I met students from China, India, Syria, Lebanon, made friends native to Spain, and in hostels, I've met people from Australia, Brazil, Russia.... I would never have these kinds of opportunities without the study abroad program at NIU, and for that, I am endlessly thankful.
Week 5: It's now week 5, and my last week in Spain. My NIU group just finished classes today, but since mine ended much earlier, I decided to travel. My original goal was to visit Malaga, Valencia, and San Sebastian/Bilbao, but I could not find hostels for all places on such short notice. So I booked a 4 day stay in Valencia instead! I am in a hostel here which is very centrally located in the city, near to all the historic monuments, and I have gone to the beach the past two days. It still strikes me as different how here, it is much more commonplace to go topless at the beach. In America, this would never work because breasts are so over-sexualized. But here, it is no problem. I've seen women go topless in areas where many men are around, or families with children, and nobody bats an eye. In some ways, they are much more accepting here. But also, 98% of the people here are so thin and in shape, that it is no surprise. I've never seen so many skinny people in one area! They are overall much healthier than people in America. But anyways, I actually tried this myself today, which is something I would never do in America, and it was very strange but also quite liberating. I went to the beach alone, which was a bit scary as a girl in my hostel was robbed at the beach the other day, but I kept close guard of my belongings. And so after a quick swim, I laid out and tried the topless sunbathing experience. I think American societal views have created a culture of body shaming, shaming of others as well as shaming of yourself, which has made it very taboo to be comfortable with yourself. People who embrace their bodies and their sexuality and their flaws are seen as brash, brazen, slutty, feminazi-esque, or entitled, when we should be preaching tolerance and acceptance. It's a shame.

Today I walked around the city, just taking it in, exploring, trying to get a little lost, and I found myself getting extremely emotional and sad. I don't want to leave. Others in my group have been dreaming of home for weeks now, but for me, the longer I stay here, the more I wish I could stay forever. I love it here. I love the challenge of the language, the culture of the country, the history. I love the food, the healthy lifestyle, the sun, the scorching heat of central Spain and the humidity of the south. I love siestas, long lunches, the relaxed way of doing everything. In Valencia, Madrid, the bigger cities, it is a bit faster-paced, but not everywhere. I dread going back home where everything is so centered around time, and how it's always running out. A culture where fast food is acceptable because it accommodates our fast lifestyles. A culture where everyone thinks they are entitled to something, but nobody wants to work for it. A culture that doesn't respect history, not our own history or the history of the world. I am trying to think of ways that I can keep from falling back into these bad habits when I go back, but I know it's futile. Schedules are necessary, and time is of the essence, and I'll get swept back up in it like I did last year, and I'll forget how to enjoy the little things, because I just won't have the time.