Wrapping up the year.

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Hello all!



Well, we are getting to that time; the time to say goodbye to cyber-Devin and maybe a few of you will finally get to see me in person for a change. On that note, I would like to say that the blogs will continue through my trip with my parents and my trip to South Africa, so no worries, I know you all just can’t imagine your lives without my blog; it’s just the gift that keeps on giving. 😊



Officially I have until this Saturday as a “student” here at La Universidad de Cádiz and only one week from today I will be departing the city with my parents (although by the time I get around to posting this it will be less). Lately, my life has been all about being a “student” although I can’t complain because Carly and I were calculating it and up until exams came around I probably only did about 1.5 hours of “school work” outside of class all semester; at Clemson I probably average about 3 hours a day. So, the semester as a whole is pretty relaxing, all I really have to do is show up to class and pay attention (which is a lot of work in itself when it’s in Spanish), but when exams come around suddenly you’re wishing that there were such things as homework, mid-semester tests, and study guides because now its crunch time and I've been on cruise control for the last 5 months.

You may be wondering, “Devin why are you writing a blog if you have so much work to do?” Well, that answer is twofold; one: I really would like to get a blog in before my parents get here, because that will definitely be a huge shift from my daily life, and two: it’s a little thing we like to call “procrastinating.” Currently I am “procrastinating” on studying for my Contemporary Spanish Art class, which has been so devastatingly boring I am convinced I may actually appreciate art less than I did before meeting Professor Cirici Narváez; what a lively man – yeah, not so much. However, that exam is tomorrow and I can say I am more excited to be free of that class than my Coastal Engineering class, whose exam is on Saturday.



The end of this study abroad experience is really concluding quickly. I’ll have about 3 hours between finishing my exam and having to go pick up my parents in Sevilla and then two days later I am leaving Cádiz “for good,” if you will, and if you saw my room you would think that I had months left, haha! So as you probably guessed from that comment I haven’t started packing…other than the 20kg box I sent home. I’m not going to convert that for you because it’s a heavy box and I’m embarrassed how much crud I've got and yet somehow it’s all incredibly important and I can’t stand to just leave it here, haha!



Between studying for exams I've been spending most of my time with my friends here. A few weeks ago was my friend Elena’s (from Mallorca) 23^rd birthday, so we arranged for a surprise lunch and spent the afternoon eating delicious food from Mexico, Germany, Spain and the US! 😊 The best food, I must say was the guacamole made by our friends Elsa and Irlanda from Mexico. These are the girls I have gotten to know throughout the semester during long breaks between classes where we would hang out in the cafetería or on the lawn and eat lunch or pass time talking about differences between where everyone is from, most conversations having to do with food. 😊 Olaya is a friend from northern Spain and one day while we were at school she said, “Ok, Devin I have a question. When you go to a Chinese restaurant in the States and you want a box to take away do they really put them in those cardboard boxes with the metal handle?”

“Yeah, actually a lot of places do.”

“Oh my gosh that’s so cool! It’s just like in the movies!”

It’s sort of like how I think the way Alessandra, who is from Italy, makes pasta is about the most fascinating thing ever. To be honest, she doesn't make it that much differently than we do, but I’m convinced that it is way more delicious when she does it. The other day we were studying and I brought a sandwich to each for lunch, “Devin, why did you bring a sandwich?”

“Well, for lunch.”

“No! I am going to make you pasta!”

She had a skillet with nothing other than a little bit of olive oil, diced onions and some squash and then a pot of pasta. I was sort of skeptical because I kept thinking, “No sauce? I mean, Kate turned me on to eating squash, but there is usually more with it.” I should never doubt an Italian, well, actually, a Sicilian to be exact. It was a Homer Simpson eating donuts good.

This Thursday my friend Nadine, from Munich, organized a going away picnic on one of the beaches one evening to hang out and take a break from studying. One of the things about this week has been that it really has not hit that these are the last times I will see a lot of these girls. I even had to say goodbye to my roommate Carly yesterday because she is headed to Ibiza until next Wednesday and since I leave Tuesday we won’t see each other again. A few would like to come and tour the States, and even though I have very clearly explained I live near nothing that will be “just like what they saw in the movies” they are insistent they will make a stop by Nebraska (or Clemson).

Even Alba has sworn to come visit Carly and I, we have made a lot of progress getting to know her. After the whole disconnecting our Wifi incident things have gone rather smoothly and the three of us have even developed a good friendship. She’s closer with Carly because they have more in common, but the three of us have had fun. We went out and celebrated her graduation with her (her graduation from what we are still not sure, associate’s degree maybe?) and a few of her friends last week and it was probably one of the most fun nights I've had here. We spent most of the night running around on one of the beaches and then in the new part of the city.

That was about the last night I stayed out past midnight because finals have taken over my life. Alessandra has a pretty strict study schedule that involves wake-up, study, eat pasta, study, watch Italy in the EuroCup, study, sleep, and repeat. To give you a reference frame, in Italy the grading scale is from 0 to 30, Alessandra is a Civil Engineering major who has an average of a 29. We studied a LOT for Coastal engineering...and you know what? It paid off; because I am pretty sure we both got perfect scores. And in case you were wondering, studying in Spain isn't the easiest task in the world; it’s not the third noisiest country in the world for no reason. Currently, the EuroCup is going on and as we were studying one night in the nearly quiet study room the guy next to us was apparently watching the Spain-Italy game on his computer and suddenly he stands up raises his fists in the air and yells “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!” Haha! The room burst into cheers and maintained the noise for the next few hours. That kind of stuff is pretty fun though, instead of annoying.

Not sure I can say the same for my Contemporary Spanish Art exam, which I think I passed, but it may be a repeat of my Roman Religion and Mythology exam which I passed by the skin of my teeth. The important thing, however, is that I passed and the even more important thing is that it is the last time I will take a class or write a paper about Contemporary Spanish Art.

A note, you may notice that at the beginning of this blog I said “Officially I have until this Saturday as a “student” here at La Universidad de Cádiz" and you may notice that Saturday has now passed. Well, that is because I started this blog on Tuesday and then the procrastinating had to stop, as you may have guessed from what I said about Alessandra and I’s studying regimen, and now I am currently sitting in the Seville airport waiting for my parents to arrive in about fifteen minutes. But as I said, I thought it was important to get a blog written before they get here, and technically they are not here yet, so, it counts. Sorry for the sort of time warp blog.



Colonel Sandurz: Try here. Stop.

Dark Helmet: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie?

Colonel Sandurz: Now. You're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now, is happening now.

Dark Helmet: What happened to then?

Colonel Sandurz: We passed then.

Dark Helmet: When?

Colonel Sandurz: Just now. We're at now now.

Dark Helmet: Go back to then.

Colonel Sandurz: When?

Dark Helmet: Now.

Colonel Sandurz: Now?

Dark Helmet: Now.

Colonel Sandurz: I can't.

Dark Helmet: Why?

Colonel Sandurz: We missed it.

Dark Helmet: When?

Colonel Sandurz: Just now.

Dark Helmet: When will then be now?

Colonel Sandurz: Soon.

Dark Helmet: How soon?



(That was for you Heather 😊)



Anyways, it’s been a fun school year. Definitely challenging and tiring at times, but always worth it.

Love always,

Devin 😊

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Photos

Beach Picnic
Elsa and Irlanda

Cena de Despidida
Our whole API Spring group with our director new Carmen

Comments

[Natalie]

AWESOME BLOG!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!! :)

[Heather Elliott]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When will then be now? SOON... I loved it Dev! Thanks for the shout-out =)