Un paseo por Sevilla

It's taken me two months to finally get to this, but I want to share some pictures from early December when Hilary came to visit me. She spent a weekend in Granada, four nights in Sevilla, and then two nights in Extremadura with me. It was an amazing week, and weirdly enough actually my first chance to be a "tourist." We hit all the big Sevilla sites - the Giralda, the Catedral, the Setas, Torre de Oro, the Alcázar, exploring the old centro of the city, Plaza de España, Parque María Luísa, and the lovely Triana neighborhood - while in Extremadura, we worked our way through Cáceres and Trujillo - both of which boast impressive old neighborhoods, churches, towers and castles.

A significant part of our visit was spent taking advantage of the local cuisine: in Sevilla, Hilary was able to eat with my host family including some wonderful Moroccan cous-cous, we visited cafés and bars around the city, and most importantly went twice to my favorite ice cream place; in Extremadura we sampled the local jamón, migas (a bread-crumb dish native to the area), sheep cheese, and an amazing comida (the 3:00 meal) in Trujillo in the main plaza. We traveled as Spaniards - rising late, eating a big lunch, walking it off while sightseeing, an afternoon coffee, and grabbing tapas and drinks at night.

One of the most impressive things about travelling within Spain is the hodge-podge of cultures and time periods that are built amidst and on top of each other. In Sevilla we have ancient Roman ruins beneath the Setas, a modern wooden architectural piece named for its mushroom shape; one finds Baroque churches next to Gothic cathedrals; half of the Giralda is of Moorish origin while the top was built by the Christian invaders; the Alcázar Real (Royal Palace) was partially rebuilt form its Arab mudéjar style to the simple Renaissance columns and arcs. History is entwined and out of order and amazingly close here, and my History of Art class has been a wonderful opportunity to embrace that closeness. From my new house I can walk to the famous Puente Triana within minutes and I run by the Torre de Oro every day, and I have to remind myself that this city existed before my continent had even been discovered by Europeans. I'm amazingly blessed to be able to spend a year in this beautiful city of Sevilla. I find I have to quote one of my entries from June before leaving, when I had no idea what this year had in store for me:

"The bad part is not that the sevillanos think that they have the most beautiful city in the world... the worst is that they might be right." 

 --Antonio Gala

Found in Helarte, my favorite heladería: "This is not a freezer... it is a first aid kit full of rich homemade cakes that are a remedy for: sadness, lovesickness, exhaustion, apathy... and a celebration of love, friendship, encounters, care, the sweetness of living. That's why this isn't a freezer, it's a first aid kit."

Plaza de España at night

The Arab style windows in the ramps up the Giralda

The view towards the northwest of Sevilla from the Giralda

The view south from the Giralda

The view east from the Giralda... I think

The Giralda and Cathedral

The Miller sisters inside the Alcázar

Sunset over the Guadalquivir and behind the famous Triana bridge and neighborhood

TOP MOMENTS OF 2013

I KNOW, I KNOW... it's been way too long. I finally stopped procrastinating and decided to update this lonely and deserted blog with a very unoriginal post. My sister told me to write about the top moments of 2012 and I can only assume she meant 2013, so here we go: some of my favorite moments from the past twelve months. I'm almost guaranteed to forget some, mostly just because life in the US feels like four years ago instead of four months, so in chronological order...

1. January - I went to our Outbound orientation in Hopkinton and waited, literally shaking, to be called up, told my country, and pin it on a world map. Somehow, I ended up with my first choice and stuck a little red pin in Spain before running outside to call Hilary and tell her. That was the first time I started to believe this might actually be happening!
2. January/February - Ski Team! I could never pick just one moment, but our whole season was pretty amazing; I will never forget our interesting bus rides, the crazy amount of ice we faced last year, our Friendly's trips and pasta parties, and getting to compete in GS at States. For all of you who have or will have graduated, I love you and will miss you. Everyone else, I'll see you next year for our 2014-2015 season!
3. January... possibly - our CD recording. Wind Ensemble got to play professionally (at a going rate of $1 per musician) to record the soundtrack for a short movie. As a musician, it was an amazing experience and I also got to be part of our wonderful group of friends and artists.
4. March... I think - Spirit Week 2013 was awesome as per usual with Disney Day (I went as the rose from Beauty and the Beast) and Animal Day or something like that (lobster!). It's one of those traditions that you can't really explain to someone who hasn't experienced it (the Spaniards were pretty confused when I tried) so kudos to Timberlane for being unique.
5. April - All State! As 4th oboe in NH I got to spend three days in Concord practicing, practicing until our lips ached, practicing until our lips went numb, and playing some more. It also meant that I got to spend the weekend with my favorite people in the world during breaks, meals, and in our hotel. 
6. April/May - Les Mis. Being part of the Les Mis pit was one of the most time-consuming and stressful things I've done; playing the English Horn and oboe part in a two hour long musical four times meant almost constant focus, 5-6 hour long practices, lip endurance, and also trying to fix my oboe in the middle of a show when it broke. Nonetheless, it was an incredible experience, an incredible show, and incredibly talented young artists.
7. May - Outbound orientation weekend. All the District 7870 Outbounds spent three days at a camp in the woods talking about our exchange years and experiences, getting to know each other, and also doing volunteer work. This is another incredible group of people that I feel so lucky to be included in, and the relationships we built before leaving are so valuable this year. I hope your exchanges are all going well and I can hardly wait for our Rebound orientation when we can share our experiences again.
8. May - I got my first correspondence from Spain and learned I was going to live in Sevilla! I happened to check my email during Chemistry class and got permission to call my sister, who was sleeping at 8 a.m, but still picked up the phone for me. 
9. June/July - Summer Gym. This one barely makes the list, but jumping off a bridge with my best friends into a river was pretty fun, even though I was sunburned so badly even the water hurt.
10. July/August - Hiking. My dad, Hilary and I went up to the White Mountains on a few amazing trips to Franconia Ridge and the Northern Presidentials that made me remember how much I love hiking. The views, the time together, and off course the ice cream and pizza when we made it back to the car are some of my best memories from the summer.
11. August - Going away parties! The most genuinely frightened I have ever been was in the split second that I got to my kitchen and like fifteen people all jumped out at me shouting "SURPRISE!" My going away party with friends was so much fun and I miss you all. Later, Hilary, my cousin and I had a joint going away party with our extended family that was tapas-themed. We had great Spanish food and I got to say goodbye to Pine Point in Maine along with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
12. September 7-8 - flight to Spain. I flew out of Boston at 8:30 p.m. with Hilary (after trying very hard NOT to fly with her, I eventually accepted fate) to Madrid; there, we said goodbye and I caught a connection to Sevilla. At 1:00 p.m. I left the airport with my host family, overwhelmed by everything about Spain but most of all the language, the Andalusian accent, and my beautiful city.
13. September 13-15 - the Inbound Orientation outside of Madrid. We spent the weekend up in the mountains getting to know each other as our exchange began. Most of the Inbounds in Spain are Americans, with a few Canadians and a few other nationalities as well, but we communicated almost entirely in English. The camp was beautiful and we also took a long hike to an outlook onto Valle de los Caídos and El Escorial.
14. September 17 - starting school. Honestly, there are too many landmarks in my four months in Spain to count them all but I have loved attending my instituto here and have met some really amazing friends and teachers. I'll have to make a post at some point about the differences between Spanish and American high school, but I have learned and grown so much at school here.
15. October 12 - my birthday party. I invited a bunch of friends over to my host family's house and everyone brought food and drinks to share; the night turned into trying to teach the Americans how to dance sevillana and singing Disney songs in both English and Spanish.
16. November 2-3 - going to Sanlúcar. This was my first chance to get to see a town outside of Sevilla - on the coast of Cádiz - and I got to explore the small but beautiful coastside town, including a walk on the abandoned Spanish beach.
17. Fall - Betis games with my host dad. Anyone will admit that Betis is terrible this year, bottom of the league, but I was lucky enough to go to at least six or seven Real Betis Balombié games in their stadium, Estadio Benito Villamarín. I even got to see them win once!
18. November 9 - Seeing Los Miserables! I went with a few friends to go see Les Mis performed live in Spanish. The show was amazing, there was a live pit, and it was a beautiful theater. Some of the songs were insanely hard to understand in a foreign language (especially when five people are singing different lines at one) and I was completely able to pick out the oboe parts. Afterwards, we got to say hi to some of the actor while they were leaving and got our pictures taken with Marius.
19. December - Sevilla and Extremadura! I got to be a complete tourist for the week as Hilary visited and I showed her around the city, hitting the Giralda, the Alcázar, the Cathedral, the Setas, the Torre de Oro, the Museo de Bellas Artes, Plaza de España, the Triana neighborhood, and my favorite ice cream place Helarte. We spent two nights in Cáceres, taking a day trip to Trujillo as well, and lived like real "Spanish" tourists. A definite highlight of that trip was the Extremaduran food (including their cheese, jamón, and migas). 
20. December 20 - Holiday/end of trimester/birthday/costume party. As a way of celebrating the start of our winter vacation and a few birthdays among my friends, we all got together and dressed up - costumes included from a Mexican, a cat, a mime, Rapunzel (me) and many others - and spent the night together until about 1 a.m.
21. Christmas vacation - the past two weeks. I switched to my second host family who live near Plaza de Armas as opposed to my old neighborhood, Los Bermejales, on December 22. It felt weird changing so close to Christmas but I have had an amazing time so far. We celebrated Christmas Eve with a huge family dinner (about 25 people) with delicious food and desserts. Christmas Day isn't as important in Spain so I spent the day relaxing, reading, and watching TV. For New Year's Eve I went to my host-grandmother's house for dinner at 10:00 and ate my twelve grapes with the family (for those who don't know, Spaniards traditionally eat one grape for every stroke of 12 o'clock on la Nochevieja, New Year's Eve, to give them luck in each of the 12 months of the coming year). This is not technically part of 2013 but I then went out with my host cousin to meet her friends and celebrate the start of 2014.

That's the year in review, although I'm definitely forgetting some of the highlights! Thank you for everyone who has supported me during some of the tough moments of exchange, happy holidays to everyone, and happy 2014!

un beso,

Meg

Life goes on... October update

     It's been almost a month since I posted anything, so even though I'm not feeling particularly inspired, I'll give it a try. Life has been very average here - school, family, etc. - and I left my camera charger in the US so there hasn't been much to share. I would say that I've gotten past homesickness (of course there's always some lingering feelings, but in general I'm doing a lot better there) but I've still been having a really hard time. I'm dealing with it, and I'll be okay, but I guess the one piece of advice I would have for future or current exchanges is to remember that you only have one year here, and to waste that time doing something you don't enjoy is insane. Also, remember that you can't hold yourself to the same standards as you would in your home country. I'm taking a rather atypical approach to exchange by actually attending school and extracurriculars as I would normally. This means I have to work very hard and definitely adds to my stress level, but it also means that I managed to pass an exam! I am very proud of my 6 on a History of Art exam that was essentially an hour straight of writing in Spanish.
     I've decided to drop rowing, as it has become the source of a lot of my problems recently. This definitely goes against my instincts (quitting) but, like I said, you can't waste your exchange year doing something you don't enjoy. I'm currently searching for an equipo femenino de fútbol (a soccer team for girls) but the sad truth seems to be that soccer is not a girl's sport in Spain. There exist a few teams and I'm using my typical "persistence" to exhaust all possible options before giving up. I REALLY want to play Spanish soccer, but we'll have to see...
     Yesterday was Halloween, which is an odd "holiday" in Spain. Officially it doesn't exist, but many people (particularly kids and teenagers) have decided to adopt the American custom because who doesn't like dressing up and getting candy? However, the best metaphor I can come up with is when you're in a group of people and someone tries to start doing the wave, and half the people participate and the other half glare at them disgustedly. Trick-or-treating is a custom that dictates that EVERYONE participates, meaning that kids dress up and adults buy candy and turn on their lights and the town shuts down for a few hours. Spanish Halloween scared me a little bit because it involves copious amounts of alcohol and trick-or-treaters almost getting run over because they're in the middle of the street.
     I celebrated the day by going to a Betis soccer game, which was my fourth here in Sevilla. My host dad has two season passes and the rest of my family doesn't like soccer. We tied 0-0, but it was an interesting game to say the least. A Betis player was red-carded at 30 minutes and at about 75 minutes we were awarded a PK which we missed - twice, due to the goalie moving the first time. Betis fans are a loyal bunch, applauding and singing even as their team hovers in relegation territory. Most of them have spent their entire lives supporting the team, and have never really expected them to be the best in Spain. Rather, being bética means going to games, cheering when they lose, and having a drink afterwards with your family and friends (along with hating the sevillistas, supporters of the other team in Sevilla).
     Congratulations to the Red Sox, love to all, and good luck to the other Outbounds from 7870!

Top 5 things about Spain (after one month)

As mandated by my sister's going away present (a daily calendar with wisdom, pictures, suggestions, and orders like this one), I'm making a list of my favorite things about Spain.

1. The best of both worlds: As far as Rotary country selection goes, I know myself and a lot of other kids were stymied between the cultural splendor and geographical beauty of Europe, while the warmth and openness of South American people was tempting as an exchange student. Spain has the best of both! Geographically, it's part of Europe but historically has kept very secluded. The culture of lights and love that people encounter in South America came from the Spanish settlers, so I get the best of both continents here in España.
2. The night: It's a weird answer to give, but it's usually the first one that comes to mind when someone asks me my favorite thing about Sevilla. Yes, it's pretty amazing to be able to stay out until after midnight going to restaurants or hanging out with friends, but I mean "noche" in more general terms. I love the way the city lights up at night but in some places you can still see the stars; the way I can go for a walk just after the sun sets; the way the heat fades right away to the perfect temperature; I love the breeze that comes off the Guadalquivir that's almost like a night at Pine Point.
3. People aren't as PC: Political correctness can get a little out of hand in the US, and in Spain they just have too much history to care about potentially offending someone. This extends to television as well, where swearing and nudity are not regulated HALF as much as in America (caution: this can also lead to awkward host family moments).
4. The food: It doesn't need saying. Although I do miss spicy food (when I'm warned that something will be picante, it means that there will be some black pepper in it, and doesn't even register on the American spicy-scale), Spanish food has every other flavor and most of it is homemade. I've had amazing (and stereotypical) tortilla española, paella, and gazpacho, but also some surprises like moussaka, meatballs today, macaroni, and various other "normal" food. All with a Spanish twist, off course. It should also be noted that I miss fresh bread SO MUCH, because my host family freezes any bread they buy and eat it toasted, and do crackers with meals.
5. Public transportation: Also an obvious answer, but taking the city bus to school is pretty nice, and Sevilla also boasts the best bike paths in Spain throughout the city. I bike every day to the Nautical Club, about a 25 minute ride, that does become painful after a workout. Also, drivers are weirdly polite in this city and stop for any pedestrians. This means I will probably get hit by a car the next time I'm in Boston.

There are almost certainly more things that I love about this country and could add to the list, but I'm out of time (this post wasn't on my to-do list today, Hilary). ¡Hasta luego!

♫ "Feliz seamos todos"

     On a Monday morning seventeen years ago, much like this one, my parents were in a hospital for a Cesarean section. Most people can't say that their births were scheduled, but for once in my life, I was right on time. Most people also don't spend their seventeenth birthday thousands of miles from home, but the internet means I can still talk to you all. Today is an important day for me, measuring years as well as days. I entered the world seventeen years ago today, the third child to the most loving, supportive, and ultimately selfless parents anyone could ever imagine. One month ago today, I gave them impatient hugs and left.
     My dad and I have a running tally of how people react to my exchange. From my peers, the results are mostly: "That's amazing! You're so lucky!" which I sometimes think discounts how hard I worked for this opportunity, or "Why would you want to?" which I can't answer. Before, because it seemed obvious to me and the best answer I could come up with was "Why wouldn't you?" Now, I am starting to wonder why I did want to do this. Please don't misunderstand that - I am happy here and excited for the year, but I also am gaining respect and appreciation for those who choose to remain in one place for their lives. Of the adults, a few respond with enthusiasm about my exchange, but most look my parents up and down, subtly estimating their straight-jacket measurements, before bluntly asking, "Are you insane?" Frankly, I would like to ask them the same question, but madness is clearly hereditary.
     The Spanish birthday song that I received for the first time yesterday, and presumably many more times today, is a little different than I learned in high school.

"Cumpleaños feliz,

cumpleaños feliz,

feliz seamos todos,

cumpleaños feliz."

     The third line translates to "that we all be happy," which is the message of this post. Sometimes I'm sad about the past or worried about the future, but birthday should be about the present and, most importantly, about others. Today, I celebrate seventeen blessed years with the most wonderful people literally in the world. I hope that my family, friends, pets, and everyone back in the US are happy today. I hope my Spanish family, friends, pets, and everyone are felices today. I hope that my exchange family, spread out across four continents, are all feliz, joyeux, glücklich, sretan, lykkelig, senang, ยินดี, mutlu, खुश, or however you may say it in their language. (Don't let me down, Google Translate! Sorry for the mistakes, guys... I tried).I have two homes now, and I want you all to know that I am thinking of you. Thank you to Hilary, whose gift got lost in the mail, to Nana, whose letters I am anxiously waiting to open, to my Rotary family, spread out across the globe but always there for me, to my families, friends, teachers, coaches, classmates, and to you, who are reading this.
Feliz seamos todos... cumpleaños feliz. I love you all.

Un abrazo muy fuerte,

Meg

10 things I wish someone had told me

Alternately titled: 10 things someone probably told me but I wish I had listened to
I've been in Spain for two and a half weeks now, which alternately feels like a lifetime or five minutes. I underestimated the level of stress that moving would put on me (yay getting sick) but am finally starting to adjust for real. Still, if I had to say one thing that surprised me about exchange is just how hard it is. This may sound obvious, but I got so caught up with people telling me how lucky I am and looking at pictures of Sevilla on Google Maps that I forgot about the absolutely singularly terrifying side of the experience. Well, I got bored in class today so I compiled a list of ten pieces of advice that I would give to someone starting exchange. By the time I come back to the U.S. and have the opportunity to talk to Outbounds, the memory of what it's like will have faded into one happy blur, which isn't fair to tell someone.
So here it is: 10 things I wish someone had told me about exchange

1.  Realize that you will under-pack or over-pack but never the right amount. It does not exist.
2. If you've never been homesick before, that is going to change. You're going to miss your bed, your bathroom, your fridge, your parents, and your life. For me it hasn't been overly dramatic - crying in the shower, considering going home, etc. - but rather omnipresent and subtle.
3. Exchange is uncomfortable. All of your normal routines, customs, and acquaintances have changed, and sometimes it feels like you have to work ten times harder than anyone else. Right now, I would really like to curl up in sweatpants on my couch in the U.S. and watch a movie, but instead I'm stuck in a philosophy class with a teacher who doesn't like me and thinks I don't speak Spanish.
4. Talking with your parents makes this worse. You get pulled back into that world of American-ness with all the things you miss and instead of being reassuring, phone calls can make a bad day worse.The stuff the Rotarians tell you, about cutting off contact and immersing yourself here? It's actually the best advice out there.
5. If you're feeling uncomfortable and tired (all the time) and plain homesick, do something. Anything. It's the last thing you feel like doing, but wallowing is the worst solution there is for homesickness. Go for a walk, ask your family to show you around, find a sport or activity - anything.
6. In orientations, you're told over and over that "exchange isn't a year in a life, it's a life in a year." This is not, I'm coming to see, a hokey expression designed to inspire you to live life to the fullest. It's a warning that when you arrive in your country, you will be a baby. Completely helpless, unable to express yourself, depending on the kindness of others, and possibly crying a lot. As you pass time in your country, you become the eternally curious toddler, the incompetent-independent 10 year-old ("I can do it myself!"), the overly emotional teenager, and then - I don't know. I haven't gotten there yet, but I can only assume that like life, exchange comes full circle. Maybe you're ready to move on, full of wisdom in your old age, or maybe you feel like you didn't have the time you deserved. I can't really guess yet how I'll feel, but I can tell that I'm somewhere between the stages of eternally-curious toddler and incompetent-independent 10 year-old right now. Who know how I'll feel in a week, let alone a year?
7. Two weeks after getting here, everyone will expect you to speak perfectly, or not at all. Surprisingly, few people realize that speaking slowly and clearly is the best way to communicate with an exchange student. NOT in their native language, and NOT in rapid fire host language, pausing occasionally to quiz them on what is being said.
8. If you're like me, you forgot about how hard this was going to be. With the whirlwind of packing, shopping, last minute online exams, goodbye parties, and sewing of clothes (the morning of my flight), somehow I was so occupied with what was ending that I forgot what was beginning. I carved a year from my life for the exchange, carefully wedging in my American life and classes around it, but some part of my mind definitely went sophomore year --> some fun stuff happens --> senior year. One of the most important things about exchange is to realize that this is still real life. You will be exhausted, have hard classes, have boring classes, feel uncomfortable and out of place, disagree with your host family, and wonder why you ever thought this was a good idea.
9. From your friend's pictures, maybe you thought this was going to be paradise. The truth is, the place is not nearly as important as the people, and people are only as good as the relationships you form with them.
10. Be happy. Choose to put your laptop down, go out, and do something. Practice your language. Don't be afraid to speak. Make mistakes now, rather than in May when people won't make excuses for you. Work at school; it's good to have the teacher's respect. But most of all, live. With some combination of luck, stubbornness, hard work, and passion, you were given this opportunity. Now live.

I am halfway through my second week of school, which is tough because I attend the hardest instituto (high school) in the city. I'm hoping to be able to leave my class during English to help out the younger kids, because segundo bachillerato (senior year) focuses entirely on grammar and reading/writing. My History of Art class has been fun (I got an answer right today and defended it in Spanish!) but other classes, like the History of Philosphy, are impossible even for the native speakers. In my lengua (Spanish) class on Monday, the teacher grabbed my critical analysis and read it out loud to the class, commenting and criticizing as he went. I can affirm that as an exchange student, smiling and nodding will get you through almost any situation, but that was rather overwhelming. As far as crew goes, on Monday they let me out onto the river in a two-person boat for the first time with another new remera (rower) and we managed to not fall in. My host dog has developed the amusing (at first) habit of sitting outside my door while I'm doing homework, showering, or sometimes sleeping, and crying. She misses my host brother, doing an American year, so I guess I can sympathize with that. I've managed to make a few friends here (surprise!) and we went out twice over the weekend. It's amazing to see how Spanish parents regard their teenagers going out for the night. Some kids have a curfew (typically around 1:00 a.m.) but for others, like me, the rules are simply to come home at a reasonable hour ("not at 6:00 in the morning" say my parents) and, more importantly, not to come home alone. The good news is that I've gotten to know some girls who live in my neighborhood who can usually give me a ride.

Monday night, I was invited out for my grandmother's birthday in typical Spanish style: the whole family (her seven children, with their families and spouses) gathered at the neighborhood tapas bar and spent the night drinking and talking. I almost decided not to go, because I had barely started my homework, but everyone knows that exchange students don't need sleep! Everyone knew about "the American" and a few adults wanted to test out their English on me. This is extremely difficult, because an andaluz (person from Andalusia) has a very strong accent in Spanish, and I can't tell which language they're speaking. Everyone tells me that I speak very well, but have an American accent (obviously) and I know I need to work on vocabulary. Even so, my Spanish has improved so much in these two weeks. ¡Hasta luego, amigos!

A week in paradise

Yesterday, my sister tweeted to me a list of the top ten places in Sevilla that she wants to visit if she comes to visit me. The official Sevilla Tourism account responded with this video, saying "You need to stay until you see all of these places, take a look!" From what I've seen of the city so far, the video actually captures what the streets and sights of Sevilla feel like, so it's worth watching.

I'll do a quick update on everything that's going on here. I arrived in Spain last Sunday and spent the week here before heading to Madrid for the orientation for Inbounds. It was a little more than six hours in bus to Madrid, before getting on another bus to the campamento where we spent the weekend (about an hour and a half outside of the city, in the Guadalarama mountain range). It was an amazing experience to meet and know so many students who are all in the same boat as I am, although I wish there were more international students. With the exception of a few students from Canada, one from Austria, and one from Japan, all the Inbounds in these two districts (2202 and 2203, mine) are American. Because of this, and because many kids still don't have a great handle on Spanish, the whole orientation was held in English. Saturday afternoon we hiked out to an incredible view of el Valle de los Caídos. It was built by Franco, partly using political prisoners, and he is buried there. 

By the end of the weekend, everyone was very "homesick" including me, so it's great to be back home in Sevilla. I've finally gotten comfortable here, with my bed, my family, our food, and our neighborhood. It's still very hot, but starting to get more bearable as the fall comes. I have a presentation tonight at my school, which starts for real tomorrow. My host family has been very busy (both parents are lawyers and my sister has been studying every day for her exámenes) but getting to school should help with getting out more. Also, my sister has her final exam Wednesday so I hope to spend more time with her then. ¡Hasta luego!