Exchanging a kingdom for a horse. Well, two actually.

I realize I haven't written in a while. Apologies, but it was on purpose. As you've probably come to notice, my posts on my travels are long, and with finals looming and papers to write, I decided to save summaries for my trips to places for a cohesive effort when I'm back in the US and can reflect a little better on Paris, Barcelona, and Jaen.

Tomorrow, I have to leave Granada at 6 pm to grab a bus to Madrid. My flight leaves at the extremely inconvenient time of 7 AM from Madrid Barajas, and when you factor in traveling time, plus subway hours, this is unfortunately, the best way to go. I leave the Kingdom of Spain and Debbie will pick me up at the airport at 6:35 PM on Saturday, where for the first time since August, I can say "hi" to her horse, the cats, and Timmy (of course).

However, I do want to say this is my last night in Granada, and I want to give it a goodbye, both on my blog and when I go out tonight in a little bit. Although I've done a lot of moving around a lot this past year, Granada has been an amazing experience, and one I will doubtless recall many times for the rest of my life. I was clearing out my room in the Residencia when I came across the study abroad guide that Brandeis gave us. I started flipping through it until I came to the page about the 5 stages of studying abroad.

1. Entry
2. Euphoria
3. Irritation
4. Adjustment/Biculturalism
5. Re-entry

Most of this is nonsense, but the bicultural part rings true. Although I've only been here for 3 and a half months, there's something about taking an extended stay in a different culture that does change the way you think, if only a little bit. Its like I've developed, or I am developing, a Spanish way of thinking and an American way of thinking. I don't know if it'll last when I return to the states but its kind of interesting.

Anyway, I am looking forward to going home. As awesome an experience as this has been, this hasn't been my real life. I'm taking easier classes, and although some are interesting, I kind of feel like I'm sort of treading water on a lot of important things.

Thus, I head out in a few to bid Granada goodbye and give it one last hurrah before I put it up on the shelf of my little pantheon of nostalgia. Tomorrow Madrid, and then at 7 am Saturday morning, my flight leaves for London and from there, to home.