School Begins...FINALLY!

I sat down last night and read my most recent journal excerpts about my experiences in Spain so far. (The journal was given to me for Christmas by Frank; it has owls on it :-) ) In the first few passages, it sounds like the typical tourist log: "Salamanca is beautiful. The architecture is insane." "Today I learned that Toledo is the religious capital of Spain." etc. But as the days go on, things get a little bit more...emotional: "I feel like I'm dreaming", "I miss him", "If someone gave me a plane ticket to go home right now, I'd take it," etc. Then, I try to rationalize everything that's going on: "I'll be fine; I'm in Spain for God's sake," "This is where I'm supposed to be," "All I need is for classes to start; once I have a set routine, I will be fine," etc. Well, let's all hope my passages get a little bit happier in the weeks to come...for everyone's sake...

However! One of my wishes has finally come true! (And don't make fun of me for wanting this.) Classes officially start today! I know, I know. How weird of me to want classes to start, but as most of you know, I'm only good at being spontaneous for so long. I need a routine. I need to feel like I have a purpose. So today, I am off to The Practice and Theory of Prehistoric Material Culture (an archeology class) and Spanish Art: From Veláquez to Picasso. These are probably the two classes I am most excited about because a) they don't offer archeology study or practice at Wheaton and b) I have had NO space in my schedule at Wheaton to ever take an art history class. So Spain is my chance.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share the (good!) news, and leave you with the photograph below. I was at El Campeon drinking one of the drinks with the gummy bears at the bottom (do you remember??), and I looked on the wall and saw this plaque. A part of me felt great at first, reading about what is to come as a woman in the world, but then things got a little bit...darker.


Rough translation:
A woman is like the world.
At 20 like
Africa, almost completely unexplored.
At 30 like
India, warm and mysterious.
At 40 like
America, technically perfect.
At 50 like
Europe, everything in ruin
At 60 like
Siberia, knows where she is, but no one wants to go to her.

I'm not sure I believe it...

Oh...and it's still raining...