.time.to.kill.

.so!.
.i know i'm uber lame and never update this thing.
.and for that, i apologize.
.the truth is, i don't have much time to re-cap my life.
.i write it all down in my agenda. and that's enough for me.
.however, i am down to six weeks left in madrid.
.it has been an amazing journey thus far.
.i turned twenty here... it was quite the party.
.esther came the week after, it was so wonderful to see her again.
.i went to athens, prague, then london for spring break.
.cooper even came to visit me in london.
.i've met so many great new people (and even befriended a spider, cecil)... people who i hope i stay in contact with once our time here is over.
.i've become more in tune with myself, and realized i'm braver than i think.
.i've been to toledo, segovia, valencia, and even a few day trips to places in the madrid area.
.next weekend, i'm going to merida with my archaeology class.
.the week after that, i'll be in belgium for easter with my family (the extended belgian relatives, that is).
.the week after that, i'm going to the coast with my oceanography class for snorkeling and sailing.
.then, barcelona.
.then... one weekend in madrid for finals.
.then, you guessed it, belgium. mommy is meeting me there. for two weeks.
.we'll go to paris, and i'll hopefully make a little trip to senden, germany, as well.
.all in all, this has been a life changing experience so far.
.i'm sort of sad i haven't updated this more.
.but i've got tons of pictures, and memories to last a lifetime.
.despite my homesickness... i'm going to live it up in madrid while i still can.
.lovelovelove from spain.
.leah.

.m.a.d.r.i.d. = .win.

.so. i've been here for nearly a week now. well. that's a lie. sorta like, 6 days. you could say. i guess.

.regardless, i've been either uber busy and had no time to write, or, when i did have time, i spent it sleeping or skype-ing with cooper. honesty's the best policy, right? what's the point in lying to yall about my daily happenings?.

.monday- orientation day one. realized i knew a hellofalot more people here than i thought. got up super early to get to the metro station on time. nena took us, and two more girls from our building. we all rode the metro together. luckily, we live only a block away from the metro stop. "puerta del angel" is what it's called. furthermore, we live on the same line as the school stop. so i just hop on the gray line (#6) ride it for 20 minutes (or so)... and 6 stops away, at "guzman el bueno" is our school exit where we have to walk another block and a half to get to campus. yeeehaw. after we got to campus, we sort of went around all day. got a campus tour. all that jazz. not too exciting, since campus consists of a two block radius. there's only 650 kids studying there, so we all have class in two buildings. the common area is super small, about the size of... like, the ABP outside area. so's the lounge and the cafeteria. the caf is smaller than fusz. hard to imagine, i'm sure. but true. after the tour, my group went to the place miguel cervantes was born. alcala de henares. it was so boring. we got back to campus an hour late. after not guesstimating my time correctly, i had to take a taxi back to my house since it was super dark out and i didn't wanna ride the metro alone. then i talked to cooper for a while. had dinner. then we all went out to the cave bar. drank sangria. first legal drink of my life. yay. met boris, and the other UF kids. then came home for beddybye.

.tues- second day of orientation. another campus tour. explanations of rules and stuff. a fun little "oh em gee, johnny!"-esque skit. anddddddddd... then a madrid tour. yay? after that, i came back home and talked to cooper for a very. very. long time. i was super sick, my voice was nonexistant... and i didn't feel well so i didn't go out with everyone to mahoney's. instead, i had boyfran time, and it was probably one of the best decisions ever. hooray.

.wednesday- class started. sylv and i have class at the same time each day. it's bomb, i never have to ride the metro to class alone! yayyyy! i've been reading "watchmen" on the ride to school daily, and people give me funny looks. it's a graphic novel, okay?! ha. anyway, archaeology was sorta a letdown. theology will be interesting. kids from like, 6 diff countries in my class. oceanography is gonna be a.w.e.s.o.m.e. i'm so looking forward to it. then i came home. laid around. had dinner. which, by the way, is varied nightly, consists of 4 courses and makes me feel like snorlax for about 4 hours after consuming it. fyi. thennnn... erm... laid around more. stayed in that night, cuz we had class in the morn. and were feeling layzee. mmm. hmmm.

.thurs- yesterday! got my abono. went to IB class. which will be... meh. i think. the teacher is sorta scatterbrained. but whatever, to each their own. then i went to lunch with sylv and co. then came home and slept for like 4 hours. then, had dinner way later. thennnnn... went out! to a discoteca. "supersonic" emily knew the owner. britpop bar. fun, but it was sorta depressing seeing people dancing and laughing and mackin and knowing the only person i wanna be with is thousands of miles away. thank god for text messages. but yeah. fun shtuff.

.today, i slept in. i'm going to el sol shopping with sylv and emily now. so, adios! more later!.

.casa.dulce.casa.

.things i love about spain (so far):.

.the airport is YELLOW.
.i live on the 8th floor of an apartment building that's very safe.
.the elevators have doors that open like regular doors, not ones that slide like elevators back home.
.my senora is so sweet. we call her "nena" and she's just a doll. she speaks relatively fast... and it's hard to keep up sometimes. but i understand her just about 80% of the time.
.my room here is smaller than my room at school. which, as you can imagine, is really fucking small. but it's enough room for me and sylv.
.there is a beday! it's hilarious. sylvia was like "what does it do?" and i was like "SYLV! you use it to clean yourself after you go to the bathroom!". i'm sure you knew that. or, if you didn't, there you go.
.there's wireless internet. which is awesome. cuz i can lay in bed and do things!.
.the view from my window is... gorgeous. for the most part. there's a pathetic little river. and we have a nice view of the oldest bridge in madrid (which has 6 lanes!). anddddd, there's a pretty cathedral that's all lit up. and a lovely park right across the bridge. there's cafes and tiendas all up and down the street, too. which i will explore when i have time.
.nena made an all vegetarian dinner! just for me. first course: soup. made from beans, carrots, and potatoes. second course: bread and salad. lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms and olive oil. huevos con tomates: hard boiled eggs sliced in tomato sauce. plata madridena: potatoes, green beans, and onions. third course: yogur(t) and a mandarin (clementine). dessert: assorted chocolates and marzipan. nomnomnom.
.my nickname. "lay-ee". since for some reason nena can manage to say "sylvia" but not "leah". oh wellz. i'm fond of it. :]
.there's a girl from korea living with us too. her name is "tiju" but nena can't remember that so she calls her christina. haha. furthermore, she goes to slu but for some reason, is studying abroad here. she doesn't speak spanish well at all, so sylvia and i are helping her.
.and that's just about it for now, since i just ate dinner and now i'm relaxing in bed.

.things i hate about spain:.
.NO COOPER.

:(

.waking up at 7 AM for orientation tomorrow. shower time now. then hopefully mi amor will call. hooray.

.tot.zins.

.this is going to be short and sweet because i cannot adjust to this silly AZERTY keyboard! however, after going from champaign to chicago yesterday, and the delightful flight attendant helped me figure out where i needed to be in o'hare... i flew to london! i even found a kid that is studying in madrid from SLU on the plane with me! i was in row 45, aka, last row. but whatever. anyway, i think i got MAYBE an hour sleep on the 7 or so hour ride. just could not sleep for the life of me. so, i read the watchmen; then watched two movies: eagle eye (which was just okay) and the dutchess (which made me blubber like a baby... i miss my cooper). once in london, checking in again was very stressful; i was worried i was on the wrong tram but it all worked out! flew to brussels. toured the city with my lovely tour guide berenice (thanks again for everything!) then came to aarscot where i finally napped. then went out to dinner with glenn and mj, my relatives, to a wonderful restaurant. now, i am ready for bed and ready for madrid in the morning! i will write once i am settled.

.love from belgium!.

.change.of.plans!.

.SO! after waking up at 7 AM to pack everything, i realize at 10 AM that my flight from champaign to chicago has been cancelled.
...AWESOME!.

.apparently it's snowing a bunch there and it's just very... bothersome! mom called the airlines and now thye worked me out a new dealio. i leave champaign at 3 PM and get into chicago at 4 PM. then i fly from chicago at 5 PM to LONDON where i will arrive there at 6:30 AM (saturday morning). thennnn... i fly from LONDON (!) to brussels leaving at 9 AM and arriving at 11 AM in brussels tomorrow morning!.
.i can only HOPE that THIS plan goes without a hitch. then i'm killing a day in belgium with the fam. shopping and sleeping and such. then i leave brussels around 3 PM on sunday arriving in madrid (FINALLY) at around 5 PM.
.if this whole LONDON shin-dig doesn't work out, then i'm off tomorrow afternoon, without killing any time in belgium. but that's worst case scenario. please, let the snow stop falling!.

.wish me luck!.

.here.goes.nothing.

.well. i'm going to be honest with you. i haven't packed yet. it's almost midnight, and i'm yet to do anything substantially productive with my day. i made cooper's birthday gift for a better part of it. then had lunch with em. did a bunch of random errands and things i needed to sign or find or arrange. everything's... TOGETHER. just, not really. it's all in my room. somewhere. it needs to find it's place into my suitcase(s?) and carry on luggage. mom was gonna help me but she conked out. and now i'm very sleepy too. so i'm just going to wake up at 7 AM and pack it all up. that's so my style. absolute. last. minute. i wonder if spain will help change my procrastinatory ways? we can only hope. anyway, stick boy is gonna call me any minute and we will say our goodnights. i took a jacuzzi and took care of all my womanly pampering needs. well, most of them. and nowwwwww... i get to sleep in my bed for the last time. parting is such sweet sorrow.


.next time i write, it'll probably be from aarscot, belgium.

.adios, estados unidos.

.love.from.the.states.

.i leave in just over a day and a half.
.i've never been so excited and scared at the same time in my entire life.
.journey of a lifetime... begin.