hello, goodbye: Rewind

So about that 5 month hiatus...

I'm planning a massive comeback. A montón of incredible things have happened in these past few months that I feel are worthy of documenting on the inter-webs for eternity. Have a look at some highlights! More entries coming soon.

Fort Myers, Florida
November 18th-26th

When we left off I was just about to head back to Florida for an unexpected appearance at our Thanksgiving family reunion... I recited a hand-written Spanish speech begging the principal of my school to let me go and take the week off (completely not allowed) and he said that there are some things in life we just can't miss. He was right, of course.

View from the beach house, FMB

Mom and the Birthday Girl!

Cousies

The fam at Parrot Key

Palma de Mallorca, Spain
December 7th-11th

Then it was off to Palma, the capital city of Mallorca (one of the Islas Baleares), for yet another vacation from my vacation. I traveled with my co-worker, Amanda, and it was a nice December escape from the impending Madrid winter. Here are some highlights:

Catedral de Palma

Cotton candy bigger than my head

Castillo de Bellver

Salamanca, Spain
December 15th-16th

The next Thursday happened to be a special occasion for the students of Universidad de Salamanca, Spain's oldest university. The name of the game was Nochevieja Universitaria, meaning "University New Year's Eve." This night includes an entire city full of college students pretending it's New Year's Eve (December 15th) just for an excuse to celebrate together before the holidays begin. Andrea and I arrived at 12:05am and missed the clock striking midnight at which point everyone eats 12 gummy bear-like candies in the Plaza Mayor, but we didn't let that stop us from partying like it was already 2012. More so than the crazy festivals themselves, I'm going to miss the nonchalant Spanish attitude that lends itself to the mentality that it's always worth throwing a party, no matter what the occasion.

Por ejemplo:

We have a lot of tomatoes and we want to throw them at each other- La Tomatina. We want to make some giant, satirical paper maché sculptures and burn them- Las Fallas.

We want to pretend it's New Year's Eve 2 weeks early and party until the sun comes up- Nochevieja Universitaria. Take a look!