I'm Back! I'm Back!

Hi friends!

Here I am, back from a whirlwind week of London, a trip to Doñana National park, school, and flamenco shows. Where do I even begin? Since London is officially my favourite ever, I say we start there.

We went to London.

We met up with our friend from Samford for dinner at Harrod's food hall. We strolled in new and familiar parks. I drank Mountain Dew. (OH! The joy!) We ate cadbury creme eggs. We woke up at 5 a.m. to wait for theater tickets and chatted with a new friend from New Zealand. We saw "Singing in the Rain" and "Matilda" the musical. We visited the tallest escalator in the London tube system. We wandered around Hampstead and its beautiful heath, which we've been pining after since February 2009. And we felt very much closer to home.

It was wonderful to be surrounded by English, go to a church service in English, and see familiar faces. And since it's the city I know the best this side of the Atlantic, it really did feel very much like going home. (though only in comparison to living in Spain!) In all, Ellie and I were both overwhelmed with how blessed we are to be able to find ourselves in London in February, 3 years after our semester studying there. In fact, I remembered as we were walking through the city that we had dreamed about coming back to London in 2012 during our sophomore year days. A reunion for the olympics! Though we didn't quite make it to the olympics, it still felt like a joyous reunion, and the only other thing I could have wished for is that more of my London friends were there as well.

We got back to Spain late Wednesday night, and I headed out with 150 1st year students to Doñana National Park the next morning. Whew! I was tired, but the park was so beautiful, it didn't even matter. There were birds galore, wild boars, horses, deer, and supposedly otters, though I didn't see the otters. Shame, shame. There was also a 3 hour long ride down the pristine beaches and through the sand dunes. There is nothing quite like jumping straight into a sand dune, knowing that nothing will hurt, because the sand is like the best of fluffy gym mats at the olympics. By the time I got back to my flat around 9:30, I was ready for the weekend. Two early morning classes later, it finally came.

Enter flamenco show stage. Last night, I paid a measly 5 euro to enjoy a brilliant flamenco show in a small but lovely venue. I went with two girls who also work at my school--one American from Maryland, and one Italian girl from Pisa. As in the leaning tower. Again, I found myself in a circle of foreigners in Spain all speaking their second languages. It's such a neat, beautiful mix of cultures. One of the best parts was hearing the Italian girl use her fantastic accent talents. She is able to flawlessly speak Spanish in a Spanish accent, Italian accent, or an American accent. And the latter two are simply hilarious. ;)

I'm looking forward to catching up on all of my planning and work and also to a "normal" week. I suppose weeks are never quite normal in Spain, but this is the closest I get. So. With all of those grand adventures squeezed into a few bursting paragraphs, I'll let you simply enjoy the pictorial evidence of it all. Take care!

London, Beautiful London. As seen from the Tate Modern, which I finally had the opportunity to walk around and shake my head at. I'm not much of a modern art aficionado. hehe.

Me and Ellie, jubilant at Kensington Gardens.

The beautiful location of Singin' in the Rain. :)

Our huge jeep/land rover things parked on the dunes to let us play...

Me with two of my fantastic students!