Today is a big day. A very high-emotion day for me (@audi @michael @whitney #sorryirandomlystartedcryingatthetrainstationlastnight). My heart is overflowing with gratitude, sadness, love, reminiscence, and quite honestly a lot of home sickness. But before I get in to any of that, let me tell you about my yesterday. Yesterday the group went to una Corrida de Toros. That's right. A bull fight. Dad, you are gonna LOVE seeing this. Me? not so much. Let's be real. I love experiencing it. It is absolutely a must-see. It is such a rich tradition in Spain and you cannot possibly live here for 2 and a half months and not see one. You just can't. But watching those cute little bulls go down was the saddest thing I've ever done. But, here are some pics..
The arena
Just playing :(
Olay!
The die-hards would say that whenever the bull got really close to the fighter
We're not going to talk about what he did with that sword..
Fake smiles.
We really were not happy at all
See comment above
After the bull fight we found MEXICAN FOOD!!!
It was unreal how excited we were.
We were literally acting like wild dogs.
A bunch of the guys went back for seconds. SO FUNNY.
We were making such a mess, you'd literally think we had never eaten in our lives
And then I saw this.
Never been so excited.
Came home to find THIS on my bed!!!
A package from my cousin DEZI!!!
It was my missionary notebook!
It took a little baby vacation to England. NBD.
J travelin in Europe
Alright. Next matter of business.
If you're mormon you know what Nutella is.
If you're not mormon you should still know what Nutella is.
Either way, zoobies love nutella. And so do europeans.
That whole chocolate hazelnut thing is big out here. So there is an off-brand of nutella that makes this stuff that is just like nutella (chocolate hazelnut) but it is swirled with hazelnut cream.
SO GOOD.
Spread it on a little maria cookie? sí por favor.
They sell it in glass jars which makes it inconvenient for weekend excursions (i.e. glass jar, having to bring a knife, big mess, etc.) Well, my friends.
Today I came across a little guy that would is changing my life as we know it.
Can you say SQUEEZE TUBE?!?!?!?!?!
¡fácil de untar!
easy to spread!
THEY ARENT KIDDING!
The only bad news is that this picture is not a joke..
my new purchase has turned me into the epitome of euro fatty.
AND I LOVE IT!!!!!
So alright. That was my yesterday and this morning. Good times in España :)
On to other news. Big day, right?
Let's talk a little about June 8th.
Last year on June 8th I graduated from Anoka High School. I saw some of my very good friends for the last time. I spoke at my commencement (about the Beatles, obvi) and basically wondered how the past 4 years had flown by so fast. I had the best high-school experience a girl could ask for. I was blessed with so many wonderful opportunities to learn, grow, and have fun and I wouldn't have traded any of it for the world. I grew close to so many incredible people who have made me the Rikki I am today.
Last year on June 8th, Dylan passed away. It's crazy to think it's already been a year. Dylan battled cancer for 22 months. Fall of my senior year is when they found out his cancer had come back in an incurable form. It was then that he started changing my life. Dylan made our school into something I had never imagined. Dylan brought everyone together. Everyone. Anoka fought for Dylan's cause and continues to do so. Dylan changed every life at Anoka and we will always be so grateful to him for that.
Forever young, forever strong DW7
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| Sam, Dylan, Lomumba Sam and Lomumba received the first Dylan Witschen #7 Football Scholarships |
Today, on June 8th, my best friend enters the Missionary Training Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will be there for two months learning the Spanish language and preparing to serve in the California, Long Beach mission for 2 years. I am so grateful for the wonderful memories I have with him and I am so proud of what he is doing. I wouldn't want him anywhere else :)
Today, on June 8th, my best friend Ashley graduates from Anoka High School along with all the other beautiful graduates :) Today, my friends Peter and Jeff both get home from their missions. Today, I am soaking up one of my last few days in Alcalá de Henares :)
One year ago today I was wondering where my life would go. I was a few short months away from driving my little Benji out to Utah with my friends Eleanor and Maura. I was getting ready to be away from home and living with and around 36,000 people I'd never met before. If you would have asked me one year ago, what I would be doing today, I would never have guessed that I'd be sitting in a little house in Spain, blogging about everything I've done in the past 7 weeks. I would have never guessed that I would be missing my favorite roomies ever!!!!! Or that I would be saying goodbye to bucketloads of awesome missionaries! I would NEVER have guessed that I would already be kicking of my future in the choral program at BYU or that I would have spent 2 months with the most wonderful, friendly, beautiful people in the world here in Spain.
As far as where my life is going to go? I still have no idea :) haha but I do know that the Lord knows. I know that as I keep doing all the things I am supposed to be doing, and stay close to the Lord, His plan will unfold itself piece at a time.
I am so blessed for this time I've had here. I've learned so much about Spain, about spanish, about friends, relationships, people, and I've learned a lot about myself. I suppose this is why BYU gives us these opportunities. Not just so that we can see cool places and learn cool things, but so that we can grow as people, and as children of God.
Él vive y yo lo honrare. A Cristo siempre alabaré. Gozoso, canto con fervor- Yo sé que vive mi Señor.
