One week and counting...

 Weekend update? Friday night we tried to get into a bar but it was too packed (rare) so we met up with some friends at a place down the street. Katherine dumped a whole drink in her lap, which was pretty funny, and god bless her for being so cool about it. We ended up leaving and getting into the place we wanted to go to originally, but within a few minutes of being there we got to watch a kid puke all over the floor. My cue to leave. Uneventful evening. Saturday night a group of us girls went to our favorite Irish bar (haha) Molly's to watch FC Barcelona play Real Madrid. They're the biggest rivalry in the league, obviously, but not just because they're the two best teams in Spain. Barcelona is Catalonia, which has been trying to get independence from Spain for ages... so a victory from Barca is just a slap in the face to Madrid, the capital of Spain. Molly's was packed, and we found awesome seats on the ledge of the staircase, but the bartender kicked us off it after the first half. Of course Barca won... duh. It's because we're better. I had never been in sucha  packed establishment with such a rowdy group of people. Every time we scored (3-1 baby) the entire bar erupted in cheers and screams. So much fun.

Today at dinner Feli mentioned how this time next week we will be in the States, in our homes, eating dinner with our own family. That shook me a little. I can't believe I will be home in less than a week. Technically yesterday was our one week mark. Six days. What can I do in six days? Oh, besides take four exams and write a ten page paper. I know it sounds so cliche but I feel like it was last week I was walking to my first day of class with Katherine. I think time went by so fast because we were just so busy. I know I always wrote about how boring my life is here... but I've really accomplished so damn much here. Let's see... I've traveled to Girona, France (somewhere in the south, don't entirely remember the town's name), Mallorca, Sevilla, Ireland (Dublin, Wicklow, and Gloucester I believe), Italy (Florence, and technically Rome's airport), Amsterdam... woof. Ive been on wine tours, I've hiked mountains in Monserrat, I've been to the Dali museum, toured Guinness and Heineken's  breweries, went to one of Europe's biggest parties (Sensation White), I swam in the Mediterranean, went to an FC Barca game, I've climbed belltowers and toured cathedrals that are older than my country... and I think most importantly I met some of the most amazing people in the world. I can't even begin to describe how lucky I feel to have met the group of friends I made here. Some of the funniest, sweetest, wildest girls and boys I could ask for. This is a collection of some of my favorite pictures from this whole trip, all of which are of course packed with people I will never forget. I'll be honest, I basically hung out with mostly girls here, haha. Oh well.

If anyone ever asks me how my study abroad semester was, I can't even for a second doubt that it wasn't the best experience of my life. To anyone that worries they can't hack it, they'll miss home, they don't want to leave loved ones behind... listen to me: You will never experience something like this at home. I know I've complained, I've whined, I've cried harder than I ever have before... but I don't regret choosing to come here. Your home will always be there when you leave, and the people you love will still love you when you return. If not, well, then they probably weren't worth being in your life anyways.

I feel the need to get sappy on you all right now, because I honestly just don't think I'll have the time the rest of this week. I have muccchhh too much work to do. I actually shouldn't even be straying from it now, but there's only so much you can ready about inequality in economics in one day. I'll probably throw a "signing off" blog up here at some point... but for now, thanks for reading everyone! See you soon :)