Today was my last day in Tarragona. After getting back from Salou at 6:30 and only sleeping for three hours, we had a nice little day. In the morning, I just kind of laid around a little bit. Melanie and I went to lay out by the pool since it was a pretty day outside (but a little cool when a breeze hit). We played a card game with Anna and her friend for a few minutes before just laying out there. We didn’t spend much time out there though because we went to the abuelos‘ house for lunch.
Since Cruzma and Jordi are in Paris right now, we went to Cruzma’s parents house that is just on the other side of Tarragona for lunch. We ate some yummy rice, chicken, meatballs … just a lot of stuff. We also ate strawberries that were soaked in vinegar (… interesting. the taste wasn’t bad but I could smell the vinegar) and topped with nata, or whipped cream. At the end of the lunch, the grandparents’ popped a bottle of champagne for us!
They were such cute little grandparents. The grandfather kept telling me ¡Qué guapa! How beautiful! They also kept making sure we liked the food and that we are always welcome into their house when we are in Tarragona. After lunch, Pau, Melanie, and I watched Big Bang Theory. The show is still funny even with Spanish dubbing!
After lunch, Melanie and I went to El Corte Inglés, which is pretty much like a huge department store/fancy Wal Mart. We only went up to the second floor, but it was gigantic. We did quite a bit of shopping since it’s our last day of it. Melanie is actually staying in Tarragona for an extra day because she booked her ticket incorrectly, but most stores are closed on Sundays. I bought Iker Casillas’s book, the new purple Real Madrid goalie jersey, a Catalonia flag, among many other things. 🙂
We also visited with a family today that is looking for an au pair starting next May. That is the perfect time for me since I graduate May 10, but I will have to think about it. I want to be an au pair, but the daughter is quite young and they have another along the way. The whole family keeps telling me that they will help find a family for me though so I can come back.
We had our departing dinner tonight for our program. We ate at El Passadís, which is where the kids who have been living in the dorm eat every night, except this dinner was a little different. They started out with appetizers on appetizers. I ate so much bread and potatoes! Then our main course was a choice a different meats, but by the time that came, I was pretty full, so I just had a piece of chicken and half of a sausage. The dinner lasted for a really long time, which kind of sucked, but was also good in a way (I’ll get to that next). We got “diplomas” for completing the program and they handed out awards for people who did well in some of the activities along the way. At the end, the head director of the program had us all take a shot … melocotón (peach), manzana (apple), or crema catalana. I went for the manzana, which was more fruity than strong. It was just funny that as a university program, we all took a chupito.
By the time I got back, it was after midnight, but there was no one in the house. After reading a facebook message from my dad about my flight tomorrow (well technically today), I started to get upset and cry. I called my mom and talked about how much it sucked that I had to leave. I truly do love it here and I’ve made friends, both from JMU and Spanish ones. I was afraid that I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to Pau and Anna, but luckily they came home not long after I did.
I can’t express how much I truly love this family. When Pau saw that I was crying, him and Anna wanted to make me feel better. They keep telling me that I’m going to come back next year and that they will make sure they find a family for me to live with and au pair with so I can be here. I keep telling them how much I love Spain and Europe and that I don’t want to leave. I never expected to love Spain as much I did. I thought four weeks was going to be more than enough time, but boy was I wrong. It sucked that Anna was still in school and played tennis all the time and then Pau graduated while we were here but still had to go to classes to prepare for his national exams this coming week.
I have to brag about the kids for a minute. Anna just turned 15 about a month ago. She is a crazy chica. She is a bit of a drama queen, but I love the way her voice inflects when she talks; it’s very expressive. On top of being absolutely gorgeous (like every other Spanish person), she is also a great tennis player. She was told if she keeps her tennis skills up, makes good grades, and becomes more fluent in English, she can get a scholarship to play tennis at a university in the US! I sure hope so!
Then there’s Pau. I can tell he is so smart. He wants to be an industrial engineer and he’s already took some basic classes to head in that direction. It’s a little different here in Europe because the last few years of “high school” prepares them for what they want to do as a career. Unfortunately while we were here, he had a bunch of final exams for his classes and then this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, he has this big national exam that encompasses eight tests in three days. If everything goes as planned, he’ll be going to the University of Barcelona in September!
I can’t rave enough about how much I enjoyed this experience. I’ll probably be writing on here in the days to come when I’m just lying on the couch doing nothing about things that are different or cool here. I’m so not ready to go, but unfortunately plane tickets are pricey things to cancel or change. So here’s to getting up in two and a half hours and having a buen viaje back to los Estados Unidos.
