On to a new blog.

Okay so, as promised to anyone who cares, here is my new blog:

http://nakedwithoutascarf.blogspot.com/

I am making it a goal to write once a week. Or more. But at least once. Let's pick a day so I stay focused. Today is Tuesday, right? Yes. Okay so Tuesdays I will be writing. And probably random days as well. But starting today, every Tuesday I will post something. Today you got a little intro, and a few extras.

Hasta luego, amigos. Espero que has aprendido algo de Espana.

Besitos,

Michelle

For any stragglers...

I know I said I was maybe going to keep writing, and that obviously failed. The past few weeks I have completed the following:

an MRI with contrast on my ankle.... where they stick an eight inch needle three inches in with five inches out to inject dye into whatever part you are getting MRI(ed) and then they move it all around. Aka... total terror and panic attack type ordeal.

an advising appointment to plan my next two years :)

an amazing reunion weekend with the girls

a ton of excessive eating and counteractive working out

lots of Harry Potter watching

and plenty of Butcherknife Creek Trail walking.

Basically... I've had a lot of stories to write about, things that I did which were fairly stupid and amusing yet I didn't think to write them down. And most of them seem so silly, compared to Spain and Sweden and my last six months of adventure. So what do I do... stop writing because the adventures are not as exciting? Possibly. Here I am, still debating if I want to continue this. I think what I will actually do is start a new blog about my regular life, when I do, I will post it. That's the new plan. Soooo in the next few days I'll post a new link. If you want to read it, do :) and if not, I hope that my trip and travels provided a small amount of amusement or pleasure. I enjoyed writing for you and hope that someday you will write about your travels for me. If you do, please post the link here so I can follow you :)

Much love and a final Spanish farewell...

Besitos XX Michelle

Where do we go from here?

I am back in Steamboat now, and it is snowing. Which is a far cry from the beach weather I was laying out in listening to the ocean just a few days ago. Yet those few days seem like a year. The whole coming down, coming off the travel high is strange... it is so great to be home and back where English can get me anything I want. But I feel like I am on a strange vacation where I will be hopping back on a plane to Santander this weekend. Except that I'm not. So that leaves me wondering a few things:

1. What on earth did I learn about life, love, myself, and people in the past six months.

2. How do I expect to lose the flan weight on my thighs if I keep drinking a Starbucks a day.

3. Do I keep blogging about my ridiculous life experiences, like trying to pull open the mouth of my water bottle today at the gym and managing to pull off the entire lid and dump all the water all over the floor, prompting one of the fifteen firemen working out to say "Don't worry... We all saw that."

4. How do you respond to people who ask about a six month experience? "Well, I drank a ton, ate a ton, traveled a ton, and yes I think I am fluent but no I don't plan on going back to live there again." Does that sum it up enough? Or something like "Well my entire life outlook is different, I am still obsessed with cows and cheese, and NO I did not have a Spanish boyfriend because they are all midgets and creepy." Even my boss asked me if I had a boyfriend over there; I wonder if it is just a norm to take a Spanish lover while studying there? Did I miss that boat? Because I'm starting to feel like I need to create a fantasy man named Mario who was 6'4", suave and sexy to play off as my Spanish boyfriend so I seem more scandalous and worldly.

5. And lastly, I am wondering how I wrap this all up on one sandwhich of memories I don't want to forget, mixed with some kind of reflection and getting in touch with my emotions. Frankly, that sounds just awful to me. So then we get back to the idea that maybe I keep writing this for the sake of being able to get at least 1/100th of my random thoughts out of my brain and you can all just stop reading since it will no longer be about Spain? Who knows.

So the bottom line and the moral of the story and the punch line is that I haven't decided if I am ready to accept being home and thus finish this blog. Not to mention that I keep making a fool of myself and perhaps it provides some comic relief for when you are having a bad day. Or if you don't like me maybe it gives you less things to black mail me about since I'm coming out and admitting them right off the bat. Although I did forget that one of the firemen made a pee joke about the water spilling. Having an excess of water without shooting it out of a hose was probably new for him. Okay that's enough. I'll keep being confused and we'll see what happens. But either way, thank you if you have stuck with me through this experience, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.