Little Piece of Home + JBell (Video)

 
How in the world is it already May? I’m sure you’re all thinking the same. Time is flying and I couldn’t be more conflicted about how to feel. But I do know how it felt going home two weeks ago and surprising my family – amazing.
 
When my second term ended the last week of April, I had a week off before my third and final term started. I’ve known about this since I came to Madrid, but I kept it a secret in case I was able to fly home and surprise my family. Surprising people is underrated and you will see what I mean in Derek’s video.
 
I left Saturday, April 28, bright and early to fly to Dan in Wisconsin. One nine-hour flight + one two-hour flight + one three-hour bus ride and I was in Madison for one last trip. I couldn’t surprise Dan because he had finals so I needed to make sure I was able to come and he had time to study for his finals. (Hence no surprise in Derek’s video) I spent Saturday to Wednesday there and then spent Wednesday night to Saturday night at home.
 
It was a busy week with lots of appointments, visits and a little shopping. If you expect me to be in the vicinity of TJ-Maxx and not pop in for a visit, you’re crazy and obviously not a Maxxinista.
 
While I was secretly flying back to the states, Jared, also known as JBell and one of Derek's longest friends, was in Europe and decided to pop in to our little shoebox of an apartment for a visit! Unfortunately, I left the morning after Jared arrived and was not able to spend any time with them, but Derek does a good job in his video showing the different things they did together. 

​Below are some pictures of what we've been up to and my trip home.

Before watching the video below, here are some updates and our upcoming plans:
Mr. and Mrs. Singer (Cara and Julie’s parents) were just in Madrid for a long weekend and I was able to see them for a bit, which was a lot of fun, especially during the San Isdro Festival. San Isdro is the patron saint of Madrid and the city throws an almost weeklong party for him. There were concerts everywhere, traditional Spanish dancing in the streets and lots of flea markets. We hung out at the Royal Palace for some contemporary Flamenco dancing and then spent sunset at Templo de Debod watching the sun go down as a group of classical musicians played in the background. 
 
Olivia will be traveling to Madrid at the end of May (just in time for my birthday) and we will be traveling to Mallorca for one of the weekends she is here!
 
Stephen Howard and his parents will be in Madrid in the middle of June and then my parents come for my graduation and a trip to the Almafi Coast at the end of July. Derek and I will then end our European adventures with a month of traveling in August. Derek and I will be joined by my friends Emily, Mark and Kevin in the middle of the month for a week in Greece and then Julie and I (and possibly Derek) will meet in France for the rest of our travels.
 
And then my dear Grandma, Aunt Amy, Mom, Dad, Dan and other concerned parties – we will be home “for good”. ​