Oi

Well, it is the end of my program. My last class in Barcelona, Spain was this morning from 8:30-11:30am. WOW. I have learned so much Spanish it is unbelievable, and I have also written down so many words and said "I'll go over those soon" and never did

My first finals are tomorrow for Literature and Art History. My Literature professor was pretty lenient with what we chose to do as a final, so I chose a paper and wrote about some themes I found across four of the narrative texts we read and discussed in class. A lot of people did something like this. The other options were to complete the final in class which consists of 5-6 questions that you must choose 2 to develop; an interview-type situation in which you sit down with the professor for roughly 10 minutes and go over the texts with her and get to know each other a bit; and then anything else you created and had her approve. My Art History final will be either be short answers in paragraph form or a longer essay response dealing with the art movements we studied, mostly gothic and romanesque. Thursday is the day I have been dreading...Gramatica y Practica final. If you get half correct you are lucky. Then later on Thursday I have my Catalan final which I really need to study for (memorize the words, conjugations, etc...). Catalan is a lot like Spanish 1 in which you learn basic introductory things, however I haven't really been studying too much for it these pasts 4 months, so I'm crunching!

I had to say goodbye to my friends Lauren and Usman recently because their programs ended earlier than ours. Saturday I move out of my apartment and Mike arrives at 9pm. We are staying at his Spanish friends' apartment and then leave Monday for ROME! We will be staying with his friend Gianluigi and family. After Rome we head to PARIS on the 15th where we will be staying with his friend Tomas. After Paris we are off to Dublin on the 19th, then Prague on the 21st, and then return to Barcelona for two nights before we leave for America! Whew! I am very very excited!

It is really going to be hard leaving Barcelona because I love it so much here, especially in the Spring, but it will be nice and refreshing to be back in USA where I can enjoy some hearty, tasty food and make runs to Target or just drive. I am very happy that I am staying with Mike for a while before returning to SB because I can chill by the pool and try to darken my pasty white skin that has hardly seen the sun in 4 months. I'll take this time to gym it and start studying for the GRE as well

I'm planning to visit Rocklin to see Mom and Richard (and of course Mr. Henry and Michaels!) in early June, then I start summer school June 23rd along with training for my new JOB as the Student Divisional Manager for Nicoletti's Coffee Shop in UCen Dining Services! It is a lot more responsibility, managing a massive staff and dealing with the ordering, leading Retail Meetings, etc...but I'm happy to accept the challenge. It also means I will be making quite a bit more money, which is very much needed.

I'll be living with my good friend Kailey for roughly two weeks until I move into my new apartment overlooking the OCEAN with Jenna (!), Yevie (!), and some new people on July 12th. Dad and Karen are visiting me on July 4th!

Besides the whole class, studying for the GRE, and work thing, I have a pretty wonderful summer set out for me. Fall quarter brings a heavy load of units for me to graduate on time after missing out on two quarters, taking the GRE, and applying to grad school (yikes!), then Winter and Spring will calm down, but be filled with my Senior Thesis. I'm excited to get back to school and in my element again.

Ok there's my little update for you all...sorry it was short and simple, but it's something, eh? If you are wondering where my pictures are, my camera is in the states with Mike because it needed to be fixed. He gets it a day or two before he leaves, which is really great timing. I will be trading pics with my friends to get the ones I don't have from the last couple months and will post them sometime in the future! Hope all is well, miss everyone and am SO THRILLED to see everyone! lots of love!