Basically the last week and a half was consumed with midterm exams. For the first six weeks of classes, we were never bogged down with work. The professors just wanted us to pay attention and gave some homework and books to read here and there. However, midterms rolled around and they basically buried us alive. Info from three new books, a creative presentation (where I dressed up as Zorro), a sizeable chunk of the art on display in the Prado, the history of Spain from 1800-1960, and more all had to be stuffed into my brain ASAP. I know what you’re thinking, I just procrastinated and I should have been doing my work all along. Incorrect. This is just the way midterms are here, apparently. There is some twisted joy in throwing all of this at us at once and seeing how we handle it. Good news – I survived. How well I did? That has yet to be determined.
But I survived. Which luckily for me, means that I have a glorious five-day weekend! Thank you, Spanish government, for closing the city frequently to celebrate a bunch of Saints. Thank you again, for believing that we shouldn’t work in between such special times. Here, folks, we call that puente (bridge). For example, when there’s a holiday on a Tuesday, you don’t work on Monday either. However, I get the pleasure of an acueducto (aqueduct), as I have off every Friday (wahoo!!), so from Thursday after my last final, through Wednesday morning, I am on vacation! (Get the bridge/aqueduct joke? It’s one of my favorites.)
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| Buñuelos - a traditional dessert for All Saint's Day (which is on Tuesday). They look like DD's Munchkins but they surprisingly taste nothing like them. |
What exactly am I doing for this long weekend? The plans changed about 4 dozen times, and I am more than pleased with the final decision. Here’s what was in the running, none of which I could try to argue as bad choices: Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Canary Islands, southern France, Rome (to visit Paul and Amanda! Happy birthday, Paul!), Athens, etc. Although most of this has yet to be checked off of my travel bucket list, I have no doubts that eventually I’ll be fortunate enough to see all of these places. So what exactly am I doing this long weekend? I am reuniting with my best friend Madrid. We haven’t hung out in a while, and we have a bit of catching up to do.
I’m off to enjoy some quality time with my favorite city. Hasta pronto, friends!
PS – Happy Halloweekend everyone! I might just have to dress up and ask my neighbors for candy. Social experiment? I have until Monday night to work out this genius plan…
