I piss red, white, and blue

I've been thinking a lot about my time here in Spain as it's coming to a close very fast, faster than I would like. I asked my roommate Jenna, if you could sum up this whole experience in one word what would it be? "Roller coaster." I 100% agree. Like I said in a previous blog, studying abroad in a country with a different language is a completely different experience, mainly with the different culture and the roller coaster of a process it is when learning the language. One moment you can have all the confidence in the world, whether it be because you were able to give a pedestrian on the street correct directions in Spanish or having a nice conversation with your host family. A second later you confidence can easily be crushed by any number of reasons.

Jenna and I also realized the other day walking back from the bus stop down our street which we have probably done hundreds of times now, that it has been a roller coaster for another specific reason as well. It was as if the thought slapped me right in the face, for the past 5 months it was like we had the feeling of being ashamed we were American. Literally trying to hide it as much as we could, trying to seem less American and more Spanish, which is pretty ridiculous now that I think about it. I mean don't get me wrong, I think assimilation is important in other countries, but to feel ashamed where you come from, now that's bullshit. I started screaming in the street like a crazy person, "No! I'm not ashamed, I'm PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!" To which Jenna said, and I don't think I'll ever forget this, "I piss red, white and blue!" Such a perfect line for how we were feeling at the moment.

Enough of my antics and disturbing the peace in el bosque, since I wrote I've had a very busy schedule trying to fit all the last minute things I want to do before I cross that big polluted ocean to New York. I went to Avilla, Spain which is only about an hour from Madrid by bus. It's a very small town and it's main attraction is a huge wall that surrounds just about the whole town, and you can walk on top of it. My friends and I had a nice day walking around, taking in the history and having some good Italian food believe it or not.

Next was an action packed weekend full of bullfights and fútbol...can you guess which one was the more enjoyable one for me? I knew going into it that they were going to kill a bull, what I didn't know that my friend Rory informed me of is, it wouldn't just be one but six bulls. Oh boy...I tried to prep myself, but it didn't work. I ended up crying after the first bull. I know, I know, call me a softie or wherever you want, but the whole process of the bull dying was so obvious and just too much for me. You could see the blood, the bull getting weaker and weaker, breathing heavier, and the final twitch when they move the sword around to make sure it's dead was all too intense. I just felt like I had all the wrong reactions. I wasn't expecting the mass amounts of people, I knew bull fights were still popular, but the stadium was packed with people shoulder to shoulder. I don't think there was a free stop, and the stadium is huge. Everyone would be cheering when a matador would get a sword in the bull on the first try and I would just be sitting there is disbelief. I will say what was really cool is the matadors were on horseback, and I have never seen a horse move like that before. That was impressive. But overall bullfights were just not for me, I wanted to go since it's still a huge part of Spanish tradition. In a way I am glad that I went to at least experience it, and now I know...even if the little kids there probably made fun of me for crying. 

Sunday night was probably one of the coolest things I've done here in Spain. My friends and I went to Madrid's final game of the season at the  Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid V. Mallorca. It was madness. We had descent seats as well, so that made the experience even better. Of course Madrid won, 4-1. After the game there was a huge celebration on the field and Madrid was awarded the 32nd trophy en la liga. All the players and coach came out, and the fans went nuts. They act like they are gods, not futbol players. The whole experience was so amazing, the energy and the atmosphere is something I will never forget. 

Last weekend I went to Sevilla, Spain for a girls weekend and some sight seeing. Of course, weather report was rain all weekend because it seems like every time we plan a trip it is supposed to rain. We really lucked out though, it only rained when we first got in and then right when we were leaving to go back to Madrid. We left Friday night and got to Sevilla at 7am after a seven hour bus ride, although it was supposed to be six but we had some bus problems. We couldn't check into our hostel right away since it was so early so we went cafe hopping...yep exactly how it sounds. A snack here, a coffee there, until we could check in at 11. When we finally were able to, I was surprised by how nice the rooms were. Very clean, with our own bathroom and a locker for our things. We hit the streets for some exploring until a flamenco show later at night. It was the best flamenco show I've ever seen, it literally took my breath away. We were so close I got sweated on a little bit. Since flamenco started around Sevilla, I figured the show would be good, but it was far beyond my expectations. After the show we had a lovely Spanish meal and then just went back to the hostel since we were exhausted from the bus ride. Next day was our free walking tour with our tour guide Phillipo. I've had nothing but great experiences with these free walking tours. I think it's because they work for trips so they try to make it as interesting as possible. I highly recommend it if you're traveling and you see a flyer or something for a free walking tour to take up the opportunity. I guarantee it will be worth your while. One of the highlights was the Plaza de España, absolutely amazing, plus it's where Naboo was filmed for the second Star Wars which made it that much more awesome.

Now as I'm writing this blog I'm sitting on my friend Katharina's porch in Germany. Germany is absolutely beautiful, I didn't really know what to expect in terms of landscape, but especially where Katharina lives it's full of lush trees and rolling hills and it really makes for a picturesque town. This will be my last big trip and I'm so grateful I got to see her before I leave. We started off in Koblenz where she goes to school which resulted in a nasty hang over, now in her hometown of Pforzheim then off to Stuttgart for the day with her brother Alex. Oh, and I tried spätzle! Unfortunately I leave tomorrow and it's back to school and all the work my professors decided to leave until the end of the semester to give.

Every time I think of how little time I have here it gives me almost a panicked feeling. I do miss my friends and family, but it's a bit weird to think about going back. I'm used to my life here and I'm not ready to say goodbye to everything. More on that thought when I finish some of this school work. Until then, auf wiedersehen.   

Streptococcal pharyngitis

Damn you. You got me, and you got me good. I'm pretty sure that was partially my fault since I waited so long to go to the doctors. Woops, I guess I learned my lesson.

On Monday, after feeling sick for about 6 days, I asked my host mom to take me to the doctors. She took me to the local ER in Villaciosa, and after waiting in line for a bit, the receptionist told us they could not treat me because I was a non-European citizen. It was back to plan A which was going to the doctors at my school. I tried an ER first because I thought whatever I had might be a little too serious for a school doctor since you usually go there for the minor cough and runny nose type stuff. But I didn't know where else to go, and started to get nervous because if the doctors in Villa wouldn't take me, there would probably be other places who wouldn't take me as well. Well it turns out the school doctor couldn't technically treat me either, and only did because they felt bad. Now there's a story to bring back to the States.

Turns out UEM never gave me my card to be treated my their on campus doctors, which apparently is pretty important. I only had my insurance card from home, and the one Oswego mailed me which are pretty much useless. Good to know now. There's a number on the back of the Oswego card that you're supposed to call and they refer you to doctors that will take your type of insurance that are in your area, but I learned this bit of knowledge after the fact. I was delirious and seemed to have forgotten everything I was told before leaving about insurance and getting sick in a foreign country. I'm extremely lucky that it all worked out.

The doctor took my temperature, examine my lymph nodes (my neck and cheeks were so puffy and swollen), and checked my throat, oh and slapped me on the wrist for waiting so long to come in. Luckily I didn't have a fever, surprising since I felt like I was literally on fire. Unluckily, she told me I had really bad strep throat and prescribed me and antibiotic.

Today's Thursday and I'm still not 100% but I feel so much better. There is barely any swelling, my tonsils are getting back to normal and it's not excruciating anymore to take the smallest sip of water or tea. I was down for the count for a while there, and getting better just in time for the mounds of school work I have to do.

I can't thank my host family and roommate enough, they took such great care of me. I have heard of a couple horror stories here about students and their awful host families and I just feel so bad for them. I can't imagine being in a situation like that. I am so lucky to have the living situation that I have, I wouldn't change it for the wold. Our host brother came by yesterday to take pictures of our rooms because a girl from Mexico is study abroad next semester and is interested in staying here. So weird to think about.

One of my worst semi-dramatic nightmares

It's happened. One of the top things I was worried about for my study abroad trip, the list going something like:  -being mugged
 -losing my passport
 -having a crazy host family (or host lesbians, since I originally thought my host parents were two  women...something was obviously lost in translation)
 -having to use my insurance card...because that would mean I was extremely sick

Welp, not the worst thing that could happen on that list, but I am very sick. Although writing that list out does kinda put things into perspective and makes me realize things could be much worse, but it's my last month here and I don't to spend it like this. I figured I would get the usual head cold or travelers sickness once, maybe twice. Instead my body decided to skip the pussy shit and go straight to the hard stuff. I absolutely loathe the doctors, so for me to even think about going is a red flag right there. I'm under the impression that just about anything can be fixed with hot tea, airborne and sleep. Sadly it's been about 5 days now, and when the copious amounts of vitamins didn't work and I noticed spots on my tonsils I figure I'm going to have to cave and go to that germ infested cesspool they call the doctors office, or la oficina de doctor, which would be more accurate to what they call it.  

Guess it's part of the experience, there's just something about going to the doctors. Maybe it's because they can give you potentially bad news or maybe Spanish doctors terrify me even more. I've never had to look up words in a dictionary before to prepare for what I want to say. Words like tonsils (amígdalas) and lymph-nodes ( ganglio), so this is defiantly a learning experience. Yo estoy nerviosa! Hopefully all goes well, I'll update with the prognosis.