I can't believe that I'll be home in exactly one week! It's really sad and really exciting at the same time. I have two tests today and the first one starts in twenty minutes. I didn't study very hard but I figure I already have the highest grade in the class so I shouldn't be too worried.

I'm ready to be in Morocco. All my stuff got packed for the most part yesterday, and all I want to do today is go to the beach. Although it's cloudy for the first time all month, I think it will clear up by afternoon because that's what usually happened. No rain this entire time we've been here!

On Saturday night we saw "La Pantera Rosa" -- "The Pink Panther" on the beach. Harry Potter is next week and we're missing it!

I checked online to see what traveling restrictions were for American Airlines and it said that we could bring carry-ons (which I heard we couldn't). The only problem is that I checked Iberia and there was absolutely no information about traveling. Would it be the same, or stricter? I am worried that I'm going to get to the airport and they are going to tell me no carry ons and I'm going to have to panic and rearrange all my stuff. Hopefully I'll get that sorted out in the next week.

I can't believe this is my last real day of school.

Well, it's not really a real day. A couple people still have to present in linguistics, and then we are reviewing for Monday's test. In literature, we are having a party. (All the food has to relate back to what we have studied, so we're being creative, and my teacher, Rebeca, is bringing her baby.) I presented first yesterday to get it over with and I think I did fairly well. I'm just glad to be done because now I can relax my last few days here!

Tonight is our farewell dinner with API. Last night we went to the movie theatre and saw "Bandidas." I don't know what it's called in English (probably "Bandits) but it's the new movie with Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek. It was hilarious in Spanish, but I bet it would be funny too in English with their accents and all. I also got to have palomitas, which means "little doves"--popcorn! It made me miss home BIG TIME! I can't wait to order popcorn in an American movie theatre and at least the overpriced food would actually be large quantities. They think a large Coca Light is 50 centiliters!

The biggest complaint about my home here would have to be the shower. It's fine in itself, and the water can be hot or cold so none of that's a problem, but the water pressure is so strong that it knots up my hair when I use it! It's pretty annoying because my hair always looks ratty. Oh well... in just over a week I'll be using my old shower!

I had a VERY busy weekend!

On Friday, API went to Sanlúcar. We toured the Barbadillo winery, who is famous for their manzanilla. I think it's a type of sherry. The bodegas were cool, but the wine was disgusting. I couldn't even finish the quarter of a glass they poured us! We spent the rest of the day on the beach there, and didn't even have to get up and move for the horse races... they went right by us! The funniest thing about the races is that little kids set up booths that look like lemonade stands... and take BETS! It was hilarious.

Saturday morning we left at 11:30 am for Gibraltar. Unfortunately, that was the earliest bus and we still couldn't get there until between 2 and 2:30. There were only six of us: me, Jenny, Kate, Bonnie, Angela, and Allison. We took a taxi tour that took us up the rock of Gibraltar--we went inside caves and tunnels, saw the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and Africa all at the same time, and at the top, we got to have the wild apes crawl all over us! It was AMAZING... Mom, you would be jealous, it was really the coolest thing. When the others post pictures I'll put them up. The other great thing about Gibraltar was that they had DIET COKE and everyone spoke English! It made me ready to come home. The only problem was, the trip was more expensive than I thought... 22 euros for the bus, 25 euros for the bus tour, plus eating. So it cleaned out all my cash. I'll try to get a little for my last week here and then some before I go to Morocco.

I have a presentation in linguistics on Wednesday and a paper due! Then two tests a week from today, one in each class, and I am finished!

UPDATE.. Pictures from Gibraltar!

The cuban orchestra show got cancelled last night, but tonight we are going to Havana Blues, a cuban rock concert, instead! I think that it will be a lot more fun. Our group went to O'Connell's, this "Irish" pub that plays American music. It was fun hanging out as a group and I saw the only good looking Spanish man I have seen so far on this trip, the bartender.

We got home around 12:45 but I ended up not going to sleep until 4:30 am. I read, I made lists, I wrote, I did my bible study, I prayed, I listened to music, but I could not for the life of me sleep! It was terrible, but I don't feel tired yet. Of course, it's only noon. Plus, the girls want to go out tonight, and I'm sure the concert will go late, and I have a busy weekend ahead of me! We'll see how things turn out. I'll be reporting back on Monday, most likely.

I think I might have shin splints. BobieJo has had them before and said what I have been describing is what they are. I just have shooting pains up the sides of both of my shins/calves. I couldn't finish my run yesterday because it hurt, so I'm going to take it easy the next few days.

I was really worried about my literature class, because a girl who had been here last session said that she gave B's and C's as final grades to students. I know for a fact that I'm not the best in the class, because the girls who went to Hockaday have read almost every single piece before that we read. But Rebeca, my professor, has always seemed really nice and usually after I look up a few words I can understand what we read. So we got our first test grades back from last week. I was pretty sure I had bombed it... I got a 94! So that means that so far I'm doing really well in my classes. All I have left is a test in each, and a paper and brief presentation due next Wednesday in linguistics.

My watch broke. I guess the body surfing in Tarifa was too much for it. It actually stopped on Sunday, and yesterday it was just ticking really quickly. It says you can get it wet up to 100 meters!

We watched two episodes of Grey's last night. The second season comes out on DVD in September, two days before the new season. I'm thinking that I may want to invest in the DVD's; I mean, the show is great even dubbed in Spanish!

We have been bonding with Ramón, our señor, lately. He still scares BobieJo and I a little, and he's an old man so he just likes to talk to us forever (aka, he will talk to us the ENTIRE time we are eating). But yesterday he gave us cookies to take into our room, and when we were watching TV, he brought us a cold bottle of water, and glasses, and offered us a second dinner. Our family is so weird, but I like them.

Have I talked about Tolo? That's our dog. The only thing Ramón does, ever, is walk him three times a day. Did I write walk? I meant drag. He's 14 years old, blind, and deaf. I have seen him run into a wall. Mercedes told us the doctors wanted to put him down years ago but she just couldn't bear to do it. The best part is that both Mercedes and Ramón call the dog and talk to him a lot. He's deaf!

I haven't asked yet if any mail has come for me. I have never seen them with mail though. I'm wondering if the address for my house is incorrect, because our building number and apartment number are both 7, and there was only one 7 in the address API gave, if I remember correctly. I hope this isn't true because I gave a lot of people my address!

Some pictures: me in the labyrinth at the Alcázar in Sevilla, some of my group in the gardens of the Alcázar, and then our Tarifa group waiting for the bus to come, after we had watched three buses say Cádiz that weren't actually going to Cádiz! (they may not be in that order)

Okay, everyone has left the school except us 15 UT students I think, so the school is closing really early every day. It's getting harder and harder to use a computer! And the cafeteria has closed, which was our saving grace up until this point. And it seems a whole lot hotter in the building.

This weekend was so much fun! Thursday we took a train to Sevilla (BobieJo, Hannah, Brielle, and I), checked into our hotel, snuck BobieJo in successfully, and just ate and shopped and hung out. On Friday we met up with the group to tour the Alcázar. We were going to go to the Cathedral too, but it closed early and no one was aware. Also, our lunch was paid for by API!

Saturday was a beach day, which was much-needed. That night, we went to Playa Victoria in new Cádiz, because every Saturday night they put a blow up screen on the beach and show free movies. So my whole API group watched X-Men 3, in Spanish! I had never seen it, so that was really fun.

Eight of us left for Tarifa (it´s on the coast about 2 hours south of here) at 11:30 Sunday morning. We thought Cádiz was a beach town--Tarifa is ten times more so! The water was freezing but we spent an hour and a half boogie boarding and body surfing because the waves were INCREDIBLE. Tarifa is famous for kite surfing, but it's kind of expensive to learn. When I come back to Spain, if I have the means, I am going to take lessons because I am obsessed with the waves and the water there. Plus, you stand in the water and you see the beach, the city, and then mountains surround it. It's beautiful!

We went back to the bus station around 7 to get on the 7:30 bus home so we could make it to Cádiz in time for dinner. That bus was full, so all of us had to get tickets for the 8:55 bus. We sat around an extra two hours, just reading and being bored, and then to top it off, that bus was late! We got home to eat at about 11:30, but overall it was a great day.

Now I have my second linguistics test; wish me luck!

Today is Thursday. I am going to class, going home to lunch, maybe taking a bit of a siesta, packing a VERY light backpack. Then, Hannah, Brielle, Bobiejo, and I are taking the 4:50 train to Sevilla. We have reservations at the (nice) hotel that Hannah's parents are staying in tomorrow night. Sevilla is less than two hours away and I am very excited to get there, and to stay in a hotel again!

Here's the tricky part. There are four of us staying in a triple. Which means that we are going to have to practice our stealth skills to avoid sleeping on the street. Don't worry, it will all be under control, and if not, I'll have a really funny story to update on Monday when I get back to the internet!

I love you guys and have a great weekend!