Bienvenidos a Espana!

I officially have a new favorite city. 


I know I'm giving up my roots in Philly, the splendor of New York, and the prestige of Washington DC, as well as many other cities and their incredible aspects, and I feel terrible about that. But every city I have been to in the United States has absolutely nothing on the grandeur, beauty, and all around good time that is Madrid.


Getting off the plane yesterday was interesting because Barajas is approximately 12 kilometers outside of the city. I looked out the small sliver of window my far seat mate was kind enough to crack and remember thinking, "This is Barajas? I thought it would be so much cooler." Long story short, Barajas really didn't look what I envisioned it to be, and I sort of clumped Madrid in that idea too since all I saw surrounding the airport was fields and farm land. But when I was in the cab and approaching the city, I realized I was completely wrong. Madrid is absolutely gorgeous and I am kind of a bit jealous of the forty or so Fulbrighters who get to stay here. (Of course, I will probably feel that jealousy until I move to Valencia, which doesn't get below fifty degrees and has miles upon miles of beach on the Mediterranean.)


Entering Spain itself was quite interesting too. At Barajas, you go through customs before you can claim your baggage. I figured that when working at the airport people would be bilingual, but the customs official  that I was assigned did not. He took my passport and my "Entering the European Union for Non-Residents" slip I had to fill out on the airplane (minus an address of my residence) and didn't say anything. Then he looked at my visa and said "Oh, estudiante! What do you, uh, study?" So, because he asked in English, I figured I'd answer in English. Big mistake. "Oh, umm, no comprendo." Okay, no problem. Spanish conversation numero uno: Success. Win. 


The baggage claim had its own little adventures into the world of speaking Spanish full-time too. First of all, there are upwards of 15 baggage claims and they are all obnoxiously large. I was standing next to some guy who couldn't have been much older than me and he kept glancing at me. He didn't say anything the whole time we were standing there, but as soon as I grabbed my bags he starts talking Spanish at a completely rapid pace, and quite animatedly, I might add. I'm shocked that in my utterly jet-lagged, sleep-deprived state I understood any of what he was saying, but he was telling me that, like me, he is a teacher but he just got back from studying in Chicago and telling me about his life. Then the conversation ended by him telling me my Spanish was good so I will be fine. Spanish conversation numero dos: Success. Bigger Win. 


Then came the dreaded cab ride from Barajas to the Colegio Mayor Mendel. I was really nervous for this one. Just imagine: Me, in a city I don't know at all, in a country I have never been to before, and a cabbie who speaks only "un pocquito" English. Luckily, we got through it together and he made good conversation and showed me around Madrid. He didn't take advantage of me, the meter in the cab was on, he got me where I needed to go and safely. It was a little scary because at first it didn't seem like he knew where the street the Colegio is on actually was, but luckily I knew a metro station that is nearby and gave him a map from the metro station to the street. He then seemed to know exactly where it was. Crazy cab ride and conversation numero tres: Success. Biggest win of my life. 


Everyone here is really nice as well, both the citizens and Fulbrighters. We spent the rest of the day walking around Madrid and getting used to Spanish time and customs. We were really hit over the head with a cultural 2x4 when we realized that the Spanish are pretty serious about their siesta time, especially on Saturday, hence why no cell phone stores were open from 2:00-7:00 pm. Also, we learned that "morning" here is considered 8:00 am to 2:00 pm, "afternoon" is 2:00-9:00, and "night" is dinner/when it gets dark until when it gets light. Dinner will also be served promptly at 9:00 every night in a cafeteria where shorts and flip flops are unacceptable. You are, however, allowed to wear and color pants you want, and the brighter and more obnoxious the color, the more points you get. The food is good so far, but I'm a little confused as to why the serve fries as an option at every meal at the Colegio. (I have not eaten them yet though.) 


Exploring the city was a great time. We spent time in La Latina, Gran Via, and later today will go to Atocha and the Palacio Real/Prado district for a bit. Hopefully we'll get around to Santiago Bernabeu, where Real Madrid plays, too. Gran Via was gorgeous. It's like an Old City meets 5th Avenue type of neighborhood and you absolutely cannot beat outdoor, open air plazas with completely outdoor restaurants all over. We sat outside at two restaurants with the best Sangria I have ever had just watching the locals celebrate the last weekend of summer. (Granted, in Spain they seem to look for an excuse to celebrate anything.) Also, the local theatre in the Plaza del Sol is playing a comedic rendition of "Julieta y Romeo." Gran Via is also home to the nicest McDonalds I have seen in my life: three floors, IKEA furniture, marble stair cases, real dishes, flat screens, and, sorry for this one USA, ridiculously clean. 


If day one of the adventure is any indication of what Spain is truly like, it will be a great year. But even so, I suppose that either way what's coming will come and we'll meet it when it does.

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

"The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving." -Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love


The quote above is practically the story of my life right now on this eve of my ten month departure from the United States. It's so hard to believe that at 10:10 pm tomorrow, September 2, 2011, the plane will be rolling down the runway at Newark Liberty International Airport and the last glimpses of the United States that I have will be of....Jersey. Hey, I begged my Dad to let me fly out of JFK but he didn't want to drive the few extra hours. Maybe if I play my cards right, I will be on the side of the plane that overlooks Manhattan as it takes off. That'd be reallllllllyyyy fun. But....I digress.....


I know I am embarking on a brand new adventure in Espana and I truly am looking forward to it. The problem is, I just can't fathom it yet. It's kind of one of those things where I won't believe it until I am at Barajas and everyone is rambling in Spanish. It will be so overwhelming but so beautifully fascinating all at the same time. 


That being said, I can't fathom life that isn't, well, here. 


The other night, my Dad and I were flipping back and forth between How I Met Your Mother and whatever baseball game happened to be on when a commercial for College Football came on the screen. Then came the question: "Are you going to miss football? Especially Temple Football?" And that's when it hit me: Yes, I am. I totally, completely am. Then I became an emotion-filled wreck and later that night started crying to my mom about how I didn't think I could do the Fulbright, how no one would like me, etc. Funny how the simplest of things can set you off.


 Yet, that instance got me thinking (a dangerous pastime of mine, I admit): There are a lot of things in America that I am going to miss profusely. Things they don't have in Spain. Things like the German Christmas Village at City Hall in Philadelphia each year, the Charles Dickens Village at the Macy's on Market Street,  and most importantly, PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES (of course Starbucks would wait until after I got to Spain to put that item back in stores). Things like New York City, the Emmaus Movie Theatre, cell phone plans that make sense to me, and running through the Parkway. Things like Thanksgiving, Halloween, and visiting my family. Things like Puppy One Eye and L-NUS the Rap Dog. Things like my friends, my family, and my Poppop. And quite frankly, the adjustment into living without these things is going to be really hard.


But as I was sitting there being nostalgic and weepy over everything I would not get to enjoy, I was smacked upside the head by that part of me that needs adventure and has wanted to do what I am about to do for the past God only knows how many years. It was the part of me that remember the constant and unending battles with my practical parents that knew studying abroad at Temple as a double major with a minor wasn't going to help me graduate on time. And I was going to sit there and think of everything that I wouldn't get to enjoy versus reveling in all that I would?!?!?!


Well, yes, actually, I was. And I was going to revel, too. 


Adjustment and change are hard and for the first time I am admitting, on this blog nonetheless, that the adventure I am about to undertake is going to be enormously challenging, especially without a Pumpkin Spice Latte to keep me energized. I know it is going to be hard to leave everything and everyone behind, but if I don't do this now when I have my opportunity, I will always look back and wonder, "What if?" I don't want to live my life in regret. That just isn't how I roll. It's a bittersweet conundrum; one that really does make me immediately think that "the only thing more impossible than leaving is staying; the only thing more unthinkable than staying is leaving." However, I have hope. The author of that quote, Elizabeth Gilbert, did this, too. She spent a year in places where she knew no one, had no place to live, and didn't even know the languages (at least I have one up on her there). And, guess what? It worked out for her. 


And, quite frankly, I know I can make it work out for me.

Onwards and Upwards

"I remember an old Catholic joke about a man who spent his whole life going to church everyday and praying to a statue of a great saint saying, 'Please, please, please let me win the lottery.' Finally, the exasperated statue comes to life and looks down at the begging man and says, "My son, please, please, please, buy a ticket. So now I get the joke and I bought three tickets." -Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love


So it's been awhile. Perhaps I've been a little negligent and lackadaisical in terms of posting on this blog within the last, oh, I don't know, roughly three months, but if you need an explanation as to why perhaps you should look at the title: Viva la Vida Buena. In phrase is Spanish (obviously) and translates to "live the good life," and, quite frankly, that's what I've been doing in the time that I have neglected this blog. Yet, these past three months have proven to be incredibly insightful to me as I've had time to reflect on particular moments in my life and contemplate what comes next to take me onward and upward. 


I worked at a summer program for urban youth this year, which is basically an extension of an after-school program I have worked at for the past two years. I absolutely love my job there on all levels as my colleagues, the program, and most importantly, the kids were all completely wonderful. A big part of my profession as an urban educator, besides the whole being in a classroom and teaching students bit, is ensuring that I learn from the students as much as they learn from me so that I can grow as well. In short, I learned a lot (including how to effectively wu-tang, cat daddy, and dougie). Yet, it was interesting that the most important lessons I learned were the ones I already had been taught: they had just been reinforced in my soul in a way that I will never forget them. These lessons came through the hardships my kids face everyday. First of all, I'm not sure if they completely eat on a regular basis at home. While they have clothing and lots of other basic necessities, most of them do not own more than a few books, if they have any at all. Most of them have never left Pennsylvania, much less the Greater Philadelphia Area. Some rarely see their parents because they are each working two or three jobs to support their family. Others are legally not allowed to see their parents due to problems in their personal lives. And the most shattering and heart-breaking of all of these things is that almost all of these kids, no matter how much or how little they have, have never in their lives been told by an immediate family member that they are beautiful, capable, or lovable. They deal with this issues everyday, and I worry because I may lose touch with a few people in the coming year or because the new tenants in my old apartment may have screwed me over as far as the gas bill is concerned?!?! Come on, Sara, have some perspective with your orange juice this morning.


You know how sometimes you are completely aware of something all along...like, you REALLY know it...but sometimes you just need to have some random life experience to have that ingrained knowledge dawn on you? That's what this summer with these kids was. That's what student teaching was before this. That's what practicum, the after-school program, Jumpstart, PGST, and every other experience I had teaching was before student teaching. But, maybe I just needed it slapped into me one more time. The bottom line is that I can't necessarily change everything about these kids situations. Yet, as cliche as this sounds, I can, and have, been able to change a few things in their lives to make them understand how beautiful, capable, and lovable they are and have brought they individual talents forward so that they can live better lives. You know, so they can go onward and upward. And, in turn, they have taught me about my talents and have shown me how I can use them to rise above and become better. You know, so I can go onward and upward. 


And in this particular case, I mean onward and upward in a completely literal sense. 


As of right now, Spain is only 19 days, 1 hour, and 24 minutes away. It's the next step onwards in the progression of life and I literally have to go upward to get there. I've know about this and have been in preparation for four months now, but it has only just become real to me. In reflecting upon my life so far and my experiences this summer, I have thought of the quote posted above. Like Ms. Gilbert, who I had the distinct pleasure of hearing speak at Lehigh only days after I received my Fulbright, I get the joke now, too, and I have my ticket...specifically on a Continental flight out of Newark on September 2. This ticket will take me to Madrid, where I will buy another ticket that takes me to Valencia, where I will buy other tickets that take me God only knows where. Each of these tickets will provide me with experiences that will help me learn, grow, and teach. And, ultimately, those experiences will help me more than I can even fathom at this particular moment as I buy a return ticket to the United States and eventually get my own classroom and have the privilege of teaching students so I can give them their tickets to a life that will lead them onward and upwards of what they know. So they can reach their potential.


And, just maybe, through all of this, I'll reach mine. 

Philadelphia, I love you.

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

Over the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about where my life is right now: a recent college graduate who is just trying to navigate her way through the eccentricities of life (which is essentially what this blog is all about). I'll readily admit that a lot of change has occurred in my life over the past few weeks in that I've left the comfort of the life I've known for four years in order to experience a year of seemingly crazy transition and will need to adapt quickly. Moreover, the "real-world" is calling and I really do not know where that is going to lead me, especially in these crazy economic times. When reflecting on the last few weeks and the changes that have been made, I remember the opening quote from Love Acutally, one of my favorite movies (seriously...how can you NOT love Colin Firth rushing into a restuarant in Portugal on Christmas Eve to find Aurelia???), which is posted above. In the movie the words signify a great deal about our personal relationships. I would not be what I am today without the love from those who have been with me and supported me the longest. I am truly grateful and appreciative of everything they have ever done for me. However, in another context, those words also exhibit our responsibilities to society, specifically the younger generations out there as it is up to us to show them the love they need to succeed in life.

I was reminded of the ideas I just mentioned above on May 12, graduation day, at approximately 10:30 in the morning when I was sitting at Temple University's main graduation ceremony. The student speaker, who was simply phenomenal, spoke to the importance of greatness and inspiring future generations of greatness by remembering who we are and where we come from before we can make our mark elsewhere. As he said, "We need to ensure that youth today do not become a product of their community, but that their community becomes a product of them."

That got me thinking: "What have I done to ensure that youth today have positive impacts on their community?" Well, I guess that there is the whole teaching thing as well as ESF Dream Camp and PGST. Educating those students to BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE everyday is probably one of the challenging, yet enriching endeavors I could have partaken in my life. I am so happy I did because not only have I made an IMPACT on them, but they have made an IMPACT on me. I've taken a piece of something from every student I have met and they will forever be in my heart. I can see their vigor for life and vitality and love for learning and know that if they stay on the right path, their communities will be improved dramatically based on the great things they have done. Also, through working through Jumpstart, I've learned the importance of reaching students early and look forward to seeing the progress the kids I worked with there have made very soon. Furthermore, I have learned to LOVE through working with all of these students as they love freely, truly, unequivically, and unconditionally, which yet again makes me understand the truth in the Prime Minister's Love Actually statement. 

I've been lucky in that I feel that I had "made it" in North Philadelphia. And as I move on to Valencia, Spain, I will hope to make a mark there. Yet, I will never forget good ol'

North Broad Street

,

Cecil B. Moore Avenue

, the Boulevard, and so many other incredible facets of life that truly and completely make Philadelphia the city of Brotherly Love. I will culminate by providing a quote from none other than Russell Conwell, the founder of the premier institution from which I had the honor of graduating yesterday: "Let every man and woman here, if you never hear me again, remember this, that if you wish to be great at all, you must begin where you are and with what you are. He who would be great anywhere, must first be great in his own Philadelphia."

Temple, Philadelphia, friends and family connected by the bloodline of Phillies red and Eagles green, THANK YOU for the impact you have made on me and the opportunity for me to make an impact on you. Thank you for becoming (if only ever so slightly) a product of what I have left here and allowing me the chance to help others have the same impact. I will LOVE you forever, always remember, and one day, will return.

This is the LAST song.

"Ohmygawwwdddd today is like...your last day as an undergraduate student everrr. How are you going to spend your last day of being a kid?"

If I had a dime for every time someone asked me that question today, I'd have at least $6.00, which gets me a delicious veggie crepe with long hot peppers and feta as well as a Snapple from the Crepe Truck with seventy-five cents to spare. And being asked that question, as well as listening to a multitude of other statements today, got me thinking and helped me reach a resolution: I wish the word "last" was banned from the English language around the time of large transitionary life milestones such as...oh, I don't know...an impending commencement from a certain university (..cough..T for Temple U bright and early tomorrow morning...cough..)

The thought of the word "last" is just so grim. It makes me think of either the end of something special (like PGST or Temple) or sticking out something horrible until you are at a point where you can be relieved (like working at Panera). The events of life shouldn't be dreaded, but embraced, and thinking about this being the "last" time something will happen is ridiculous and sort of sickening to me. I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow (no, really, I don't...we have no instructions for graduation), let alone within the next few months or year and I'd hate to think of my moving to Valencia as being the "last" time I am going to ever see my best friends and loved ones. Instead, I prefer to think of it as an "until we meet again and we WILL meet again" sort of phase because that doesn't denote anything is ending.

So, all of you mopers, dry your tears, stick your chins up, and put on those smiles I love so much. Remember that you are all my SUNSHINE and I don't plan on May 11, 2011 being the last day I see sunshine in my life. This will not be the last time we hang out, or the last time we get dinner, or the last time we post about the various eccentricities of life on our silly blogs. I mean, we'll probably just do this next week. (On a related note, this will also not be the last time we don that silly academic regalia since I totally plan on looking the part of Gryffindor for HP7-2 in July.)

In all reality, this is a time of careful and uncertain transition for many of us, and yes, it is technically our last night of undergraduate university. But that doesn't mean it has to be the last time with the people we love nor that we need to reflect on the "last" of everything versus plan for the future. And should it unfortunately be the last time we see each other, listen to this beautiful song to remember everything and smile about the memories:  

I love you guys. This definitely will not be the last time I say that.

For Good.

“I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason

bringing something we must learn.

And are lead to those who help us most to grow if we let them,

and we help them in return.

Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true.

But, I know I’m who I am today because I knew you.”

MAY 12. It’s coming and it’s coming quick. And as we lead up to that day on which we will reach the Holy Grail of Higher Education otherwise known as GRADUATION, I think it is safe to say, for all intensive purposes, that this is the day of all days that many of us have been equally anticipating and dreading.

That being said, I know we have “oh so much to look forward to in the future,” but right now, the thought of getting married, settling down, having the kids, the cocker spaniel/beagle mix, the house with the white picket fence in suburbia, and the mini-van with the built-in DVD player just really does not appeal to me. I’d rather be in my cramped three-bedroom city apartment with Gina, Rachel, and Bridget, riding SEPTA from Temple to Berks and Front and then walking down Howard to school everyday where I will be greeted enthusiastically by children that are not my own, visit my dogs at home, and spend leisurely evenings on the roof of 2152 N. Broad with Kyle, Sarah, Ellis, Jason, Jeff, and many, many others while glancing at the gorgeous view of Center City.

In other words, I’m really going to miss the college good life, especially at TEMPLE, where you fall asleep to the sounds of the subway and sirens every night. I must say, I truly agree with those wise sages in the ever-classic Avenue Q who sing about their desire to go back to college. Kate Monster, Princeton, Rod, Nicky, Brian, Christmas Eve, Trekkie Monster, and Gary Coleman really had it right when they mention how simple college life is, remember the good ol’ days of dorms (shout out to 1940) and meal plans (not so much of a shout out to J and H…it was merely adequate), the life advice and overall helpfulness of advisors, and the yearning to have done more in their time there. Clearly, I relate so well to the lives of these talking puppets!

Yet, then I snap back from my reminiscing and remember the closing lyrics in the song:

“But, if I were to go back to college, think what a loser I’d be.

  I’d walk through the quad and think, ‘Oh my God?!?!

 These kids are so much younger than me.’ ”

Alas, such is life and I really don’t want to be that kid who is 42 and taking Spanish Basic 1 with a bunch of kids who weren’t even alive on September 11, 2001 and don’t understand the significance of Lady Gaga. Guess it’s time to thrive in my responsibilities and live my life the way it was supposed to be lived.

But…what is that exactly???

The truthful answer is that I don’t really know. I know it involves education in some capacity whether it’s bilingual special education, school psychology, or assessment and evaluation, and, at least for one year, involves Valencia, Spain, but I’m not quite sure what comes after that. I’m constantly in conflict with myself over what I want and how my life is going to work out and I’ve finally (with an inevitable laugh from my mother) have come to the mindset that it’s okay to not know all the details or have every last minute of your life planned when you’re 21. I don’t know if I’ll have kids, a dog, a guinea pig, or a chinchilla. I don’t know if I’ll be in Spain, Philadelphia, New York (the big dream), Montana, Alaska, or Guam. But I do know that if I end up choosing to be a soccer mom I will not drive a mini-van since I kind of want to be a MILF. And I know that I will be in a city somewhere educating kids who need me and value me.

If there is one constant that I do want in my life always, it’s YOU, which brings me back to the point of this blog. “You” know who “you” are and “you” are more than one person. You may be a badass ninja who runs around quoting “A Very Potter Musical.” You may be a soon to be student at Wesley. You may have just been accepted into Temple’s DPT program, or teaching music at Catholic schools, or doing Teach for America in Camden, New Jersey, or going to grad school at Pitt or La Salle. You may be looking for a job. You may be returning to Temple for your sophomore, junior, or senior years. You may be going to Villanova in the fall and the person that I LOVE and MISS the most from both of my tenures at PGST. You may be getting married in September or October. You may be movie back to Poughkeepsie. You and I may have a strange obsession with John Gallagher, Jr. You may be in Nigeria right now trying to figure out a date to meet up with me in London. You may be discerning becoming a Sister of Life. You may, like me, be a soon to be Fulbright ETA, but unlike me, be going to New Delhi, India (Congratulations again, by the way!). You may be one of my best friends. You may someone I don’t know that well. You may be a member of my family both immediate and extensive. You and I may have spent hours just talking in your Oxford Village apartment, many good nights at the Fox and Hound, gotten into debates over our belief systems and values, or met in line for the Allentown School District at a random job fair. You and I may have driven to Target or Wal-Mart at 2:30 am to pick up random items for 64 crazy govies, made snide comments during Model UN conferences, or spent two years together working for Jumpstart. You may be someone who believes that “Bread is your soul, passion, and expertise,” or you may be my best friend from high school who I miss like crazy. You may still be here or you may be one of the three influential people that have passed on so far this year (I love you, Poppop, Sister Helen, and Sheri.) No matter the situation I value you and appreciate you and THANK YOU. You have all been in my life for a reason and I know that I was challenged, supported, encouraged, and motivated by all of you. I am who I am today because of you. In the immortal words of Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked:

“It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime,

so let me say before we part, so much of me is made of what I’ve learned from you.

You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart.

And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine by being my friend.

Like a ship blown from its mooring by the wind off the sea.

Like a seed dropped by a skybird in a distant wood.

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?

But, because I knew you, I have been changed FOR GOOD.”

I wish I could have put pictures of everyone up, but that would have gotten obnoxious. It doesn't mean I love you any less, it means I ran out of space. :-)

Tropical Eyes and How Time Flies

It has been quite awhile since the last post on this blog since I decided to lay low for awhile. But now I'M BAAACCCCKKKK and better than ever since I may have a bit (if only a bit) of direction in my life nowadays. I'm officially moving to Valencia, Spain in the fall to teach English in elementary classrooms as a Fulbright Scholar. I still have not grasped that concept and still think it is quite unfathomable that I got the Fulbright, but I guess it won't really feel that real until I get there. I am constantly having dreams that it is not true and that something is going to fall through, which will put me behind on the job hunt here. Yet, it is real and perhaps I need to just be hit with that realization...hopefully soon.

Over the past few weeks, my days have been spent either 1) student teaching (which ended on Friday, April 29) and 2) getting my Fulbright information together and mailed to the appropriate places. Luckily, I have had the good fortune of working with some people who have bent over backwards with kindness to help me get everything in order. I can speak volumes of how wonderful the Fulbright Advisor at Temple, the doctors and nurses that completed my medical forms and fought for appointment times for me, and the people at the FBI Fingerprint Services and Post Office have been to me. I do hope this applying for a visa process becomes a bit easier as time moves forward.

On a completely unrelated note, student teaching ended on April 29 (yes...the same day as THE ROYAL WEDDING...and, yes...I did allow the students to watch almost an hour of the highlights on www.cnn.com), and I don't think I was really prepared for it. I LOVE my kids but still did not realize how much it would hurt to leave them and my cooperating teacher. They all get me some very generous and nice gifts as well as write me letters which included, but were not limited to, the following hilarious phrases, completely penned by these third graders:

• "You are now free to live your life and be free."
• "I suggest when you go to Spain that you should take me."
• "I like how you look when I look at your tropical eyes."
• "Your eyes are yellow, blue, green, and hazel. They are tropical eyes and they are beautiful!"
• "I like how you dress like a lawyer."
• "You are my queen and I am your princess."
• "You are tall and short at the same time."
• "On the first day, the teacher showed you the attendance list. You called our names and said we said present when we were here or yes or no if we ate breakfast."
• "I like to stand next to you because I am very persistent."
• "Your new class needs to respect you like a teacher, not like a woman who is walking in the street."

Yes, I apparently have tropical eyes and am tall and short at the same time. There is clearly no better physical description of me.

It's crazy how fast this past semester went and literally does feel like I was just walking into that school for the first time yesterday. Seriously Time, where did you go? I graduate next week??? It's all just unfathomable to me. I'm going to miss those kids so much because they were awesome and I could not have asked for a better experiences than the one I received in their classroom. But, I guess it's time for a new adventure and I guess that new adventure is supposed to start now.

Oh...and as for that ROYAL WEDDING ...Gina and I just loved every minute of it and are currently plotting our entrances into the royal family as we speak. (...cough..Prince Harry..cough..) Also, thank you katemiddletonforthewin for keeping my days full of royal laughs. Keep it classy Britain, I hope to see you soon.