PALMA!!!

Well hey there!!

 I can’t believe that there are only 15 days left here in Oxford. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was unpacking my things and finding my way around this wonderful city. Time flies!! As I think about the last few weeks I have left here in Oxford, I am increasingly thankful for this semester and everything I have learned and experienced by living in a different culture for 5 months! I am going to miss so much about British culture, and I can assure you that I will be using British terms a LOT when I get back to the US!

Anyway, I just got back from a trip to Palma De Majorca in Spain!! This. Trip. Was. AWESOME. Seriously, it was exactly what I needed this weekend. There is nothing better than chilling on the beach in the sun with your friends. Nothing, I tell you! (And I found out that the Mavs clinched the playoffs over the weekend, so that made it that much better- GO MAVS!!!). The only bummer was that I had a cold the whole weekend, but I was on the beach so it was all good! We stayed in a hotel this time, and it was so wonderful. It was great to have a break from staying at a hostel (although they are not that bad) and have a hotel room for a change! I roomed with Audrey and Megan and they were the best roomies ever!! The first day was spent traveling (we started at 12:30 am Thursday morning haha) and spending the rest of the day eating and laying out on the beach. Of course, laying on the beach for me mostly consists of talking and building sand castles as I listen to Ben Rector! We had a traditional Spanish meal for lunch, and for dinner we had German food (in Spain… I know, it was slightly weird- but delicious!!). Friday was spent mostly at the beach and in a neighboring town shopping. Saturday was spent again at the beach (feel a theme? Haha) and then a day trip into downtown Palma with 5 of my friends! (there were 15 of us on the trip total).  We built a legit (and I do mean LEGIT) sand castle with a tunnel and everything on the beach that day, and my friends buried me in the sand. That was fun haha. That day, we also got into the water. After getting over the initial shock of the freezing water, we all enjoyed body surfing the waves. Ok, the waves were SO big!! Some of the biggest waves I have ever seen for sure. It was so much fun! During the day trip, Courtney, Megan and I bought paintings that are so beautiful! The six of us then saw the beautiful cathedral in Palma, sang ‘Nsync songs, and played on a beautiful playground before meeting up with the others for dinner. Now, for dinner we had… TEX MEX!!! WAHOOOOOOO!! Ok, it wasn’t real tex mex, but it was as close as I have had in months! I had a delicious tostada and a glass of ice tea (wow, I haven’t said that word in so many months! Haha). Dinner and the conversations that followed were so funny and life-giving. I am so thankful for my friends its not even funny! Sure, it is fun being on the beach, but my friends are what made this trip amazing! Anyway, Sunday was again spent on the beach. Then, that afternoon a couple of us went to the Palma Aquarium… BEST AFTERNOON EVER!! The aquarium was so cool. Megan and I also split the best banana split that I have ever had. We walked up to the restaurant and were handed 4 (count them 4) desert menus with over 16 banana split choices…. It was so sweet. We definitely picked the right one too! Yummmmm. Anyway, our flight was at 11:15 pm Sunday night, so we headed to the airport where we chilled for a little bit before getting on our flight. When we got to London, we had an hour or so before our bus to Oxford, so we chilled again. Also, we flew into Stanstead, which is a 4 hour bus ride to Oxford (DEATH). Ughhhh that was long. Needless to say we arrived in Oxford at 8:30 am Monday morning… AM. On little to no sleep. It was awesome. Fortunately, I don’t have class on Monday, so I spent the day sleeping, doing laundry, and doing Greek translation ( Oh, and watching Lost haha).

 This trip was absolutely amazing. It was very relaxed and chill, and I had a wonderful time getting to hang out and know my friends better. I traveled with some people that I had not traveled with before (besides Italy where we were all together), and it was so much fun getting to know them better! Our God is so good- I saw his beauty firsthand through the weather, the waves, and my friends this weekend.

            

The thought of leaving here depresses me, so I choose not to dwell on it. It hit me for the first time this weekend that I was leaving soon, and it almost brought me to tears. This semester has been absolutely amazing and life-changing. I have made life long friends here and have learned so much about myself and life in general. I am ready to come home for the fact that I miss people at home, but it is going to be so hard leaving here. So so so hard. But I am so thankful for everything this semester, and I wouldn’t trade one moment of it for anything in the world!

            

Well, I’m going to Ireland this weekend, so there will be many more stories to come! Thanks for putting up with my rambling!

PS- I can’t believe that Pudge retired! He is the reason I began to watch baseball and thus start to watch sports. I owe a lot to that man!! haha