Curioso elemento, el tiempo (Curious Element, Time)

The title is from one of the songs from Cristina, "Tiempo" by Jarabe de Palo. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcgwAePTNk4)

Well folks, this is it. Probably the last blog entry until I am back in the USA, which means the beginning of the end for this trusty online journal.

My exam on Tuesday night was hard, my exam on Wednesday morning was alright, and I have a paper due and a test to take tomorrow morning. Then I'm free. Angie comes on Saturday, we leave on Tuesday. Having here her will be wonderful, no doubt, but it is strange to think about. Angie comes to Spain on Saturday. Two totally different worlds, meeting. And then our travels begin.

Liliana left on Tuesday. It's very weird to be here without her. I remember both deciding to come to Sevilla Sophomore year, both getting in, realizing we were going to get to spend a year together rather than being apart like normal, and then tackling this whole experience together. A year felt like a very long time. And now it's done. She's gone. I'll see her when I'm in Michigan. Liz left early this morning, too. I met her here in Sevilla this semester, but I feel like I've known her for longer. And now this context, this whole construction of our friendship, is done. Liz goes to Cornell, so I'll see her, and Liliana lives in Michigan, so obviously I'll see her, too, but that's not really the issue. My problem is that this situation here is ending, it's all ending, and going so, so quickly.

I wouldn't want to be here another semester. I should put that out there. In a lot of ways, I am ready to be back at Cornell. But being ready to be home does not mean that leaving this will be easy.

I canceled my Sevici card yesterday (for the bike system) and am giving my laptop to Amy tomorrow to take back to the hill for me.

I'm not sure what else to add. Not much interesting stuff has happened to me. I've been studying literally all day every day, with a bit of packing and getting rid of stuff mixed in.

I know traveling with Angie will be great and the tone of my next post is likely to be entirely different, but for right now, all I can think about are tests and leaving and how bittersweet it all is. This place and the Spanish people I have met mean a lot to me and it will be hard to go. I've never done anything like this before.

Because I won't have my laptop this summer, steady internet is unlikely, so I'll post our travel schedule until the end of July now. That way, even though I'm not updating, you'll have some idea where I am. Here it is:
June 13 - 25: Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona -- Spain
June 25 - 30: Lyon, Marseilles, Nice, Cannes, Monaco(?) -- France
June 30 - July 10: Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome -- Italy
July 10 - 12: Prague, Czech Republic
July 12 - 15: Bratislava, Slovakia
July 15 - 18: Budapest, Hungary
July 18: HOME

That's it, in a nutshell, assuming all goes as planned. I originally wrote it out literally day by day, but I think this way is safer. I hope you all have a wonderful month. It's going to go by fast.