6 weeks gone, 1 to go.

i am leaving. on a jet plane.
in the morning.

what??
i can't believe it. i feel like i have seen, experienced, and learned an incredible amount in the last six weeks.

culture shocks in nyc. culture shocks in spain.
falling in love with cities. and bridges. and heladerías.
learning so much about myself. what i want in life. where i want to be and what i want to do.

a new appreciation for things i take for granted -- fresh fruit, salads, family just a phone call away, air conditioning, clean air (meaning NOT walking through puffs of smoke on every single street), a gospel-oriented home.

man. it has been a grand experience. and now i am off to D.C. (after a bus ride, plane ride, overnight layover, plane ride, and one more bus ride) to visit with my beautiful sisters (jen and becky).

and then more exciting things when i head back to utah. it is a great summer indeed.

love love.
--cheri

where i've been.

visited 24 states (48%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

create your own here

by the way, I have 14 more days until I am home! 4 more nights in Spain and 9 days in Washington, D.C. with my sisters. Can you believe that? I promise to post many pictures when I am finally able to see them! I have taken more than 1,000 so it might take me a bit to narrow them down!

time of my life.

all these pics were taken on the same day. can you see my happiness? yeah. spain is amazing. life is great. my roommate...couldn't have asked for a better one! we have such fun times together (buying cacahuetes bañados en chocolate, "pring-less", chocolate loafs, peanut m&ms, ropa, and zapatos..) and we keep saying how strange it will be to not be around each other 24-7. she has taught me so much and i love learning about her life! we are both silly and crazy and have crazy families too, but it makes everything much more enjoyable. alex is such a strong, incredible person! she is a great example too. we have a little book of quotes from this trip that none of you would laugh about...but anyway, we have fun together. the end :)

glad game: spain edition.

in Pollyanna, she plays the Glad Game. I thought I would try to do the same with some things that might otherwise be a little...less than happy :)

Bad: Having a group project and doing homework in the middle of June on a beautiful sunny day.
Glad: Preparing for said project in El Parque de Federíco García Lorca (it is beautiful) AND having the teacher love your presentation. Even better? When you were the one who thought of the topic for debate AND had examples from society...yes!!

Bad: A crazy teacher who shows up late, speaks very fast, and goes over time.
Glad: Being able to laugh about her very precise enunciations and her being oh-so-scatterbrained.

Bad: Missing family and friends
Glad: Having a roommate and group who become like family. Oh, and Google Chat and Skype help too.

Bad: Having a bird poop on your arm on the way to school this morning.
Glad: Having it poop on your arm, and not in your hair.

There you have it, round 1 of the Glad Game. You should play it some time!

crock, crock.

More stories straight from España!

-well, around here if you are talking about a frog, you don´t say "ribbit, ribbit." No, frogs say "crock, crock."
-if you are poor and have no money, but you don´t care about money because you love or like someone, you might say something like: "¡Contigo, pan y cebolla!" As in: "With you, bread and onion!"
-i will be so happy to have a bowl of multi grain cheerios when I get home. BUT, I do enjoy these little mini loafs of bread with sugar on top that we eat for breakfast. I think I will buy a pack for my suitcase because I´m sure I will crave them after I leave.
-everyone here smokes. it makes me sad. and it makes me smell. but, overall, it just makes me sad! why are these people ruining their own lives by becoming addicted to nicotine? and sometimes the people who smoke are very young too. ¡Qué triste!
-each week we have a list of food to try and places to visit (this is for the 3 culture credits we receive in addition to the 4 language credits). One of the items this week was chocolate con churros, basically a HOT chocolate drink that you dip churros in to. I really enjoyed the hot chocolate. Yum! But I´d like it on a cold day rather than in the middle of the afternoon, when we tried it.
-We visited the Alhambra yesterday. Go Google it if you have never heard of it. It is the most visited attraction in Europe. And it is gorgeous. I took more than 150 pictures there yesterday. It is very beautiful.
-There are times when I start to think of how long I have left in Granada...the times when I crave my mom´s homecooked meals, a shower head that you don´t have to hold above you the entire shower, fresh-from-the-garden vegetables, family, friends, dates, not wearing shoes in the house (it is a custom here), no summer school, etc.
Then I remind myself, "Cheri! You are in Spain. In Spain! Enjoy it while you can. You will look back and love the memories you have there and regret all the times you had a bad attitude because you missed what you were accustomed to. Try new things. Dip in to new cultures. Learn. Explore. Enjoy this experience." So, here is to a great attitude the rest of the trip!

Alright, those are a few stories to keep you updated on my life! Thanks for reading about my summer adventures.