Choir Monday night was ok. We spent a lot of time waiting for the men to learn their parts. Tuesday was a full day of classes. I went to the market on my way home and bought cookies and cough drops, both of which would obviously help make me feel better. I spent a long time on Skype with my parents that night talking about all sorts of things. It was very nice, especially since I don’t talk to my Dad as often as I would like to. They told me that my grandma had just come home that day, which was definitely good news! Hopefully she starts to get better sooner than later.
I coughed all night again and when morning came I was exhausted. I ate my breakfast, showered, and went back to bed. When Brittany came home for lunch, we ate, and then took siestas. I wasn’t very well rested, but I headed to school an hour before my piano lesson to warm up. What I hadn’t realized was that with the United States’ shift in daylight savings time, our original lesson time was now an hour earlier here. I emailed Dr. Blinov as I trotted through the city to tell him that I was on my way, but we ended up rescheduling for Friday anyway.
Instead of practicing right away, I sat by myself out in the patio area and wrote postcards for a while. Writing them is hard work! I have to write very small and to try to say a lot in a little space. Then I practiced for about an hour and a half. I got a message from Brittany asking if I wanted to go to Cien Montaditos, which I obviously did. We each got one montadito. Hers was a hotdog – figures. I ordered a green pepper and bacon one. It was divine. We drank tinto de verano and enjoyed being out and about.
I forgot to mention that that morning, Carmen had taken Antonio to the hospital because his anemia is getting bad. When we went home, our dinner of pumpkin soup was ready to be heated up. Carmen was home, and she actually sat and talked with us while we ate, which was a nice change. She told us about Antonio’s history of heart trouble and how he’s really not himself lately. She said that he’s usually very joking with the Americans and loves to tell stories about the Sevillan culture, the history of Triana, and about his life. I so wish he could do that with us. I know he wants to. He jokes with us a little and obviously cares, but it just hurts too much for him to sit up and talk a lot. Carmen said that he works with iron, making different things like the table and chair set in our livingroom, which is super impressive! She said that he has done it since he was rather young, and, even though he is retired, he likes to make small things when he gets an order. That’s where he always was before he fell. You can tell he misses it.
Gosh, I hope he’s okay. They gave him two bags of blood that first day. Carmen got ready for bed and so did we. She was gone when I got up to go to class in the morning. Classes were very long all day, which wasn’t helped by my waiting to go home to open the care package I got in the mail!
When I finally got home around 8 after a really lousy 2 hours of Anthropology, I tore at the tape with my keys. On top was a card with smiley face stickers. Mom knows me so well! The box was overflowing with Rice Krispie treats, Special K crisps, and peanut butter / cheese crackers. I laughed out loud as I took all of them out. There underneath was a big purple fluffy mess of yarn. I knew it was a scarf, but I was quite confused for a few minutes before I figured out how to put it on. It is beautiful. My sister is so dang crafty. I just love it! Under the scarf were 2 journals so that I have somewhere to write after I get through this one. The one is like old Latin world map kind of things with some texturing. It has a magnetic closure like my first one, and I love it! So travelesque! The second one has a dark, peacock-feather cover. The outer tips of the pages are gold, and there are little feather designs on each page. It is gorgeous. I might be writing slightly bigger now because I can’t wait to use them!
I was home alone talking to some friends online until Brittany got home from class. We heated up our vegetable dinner, which is sort of like salsa, so I like it, and hotdogs! It was great. We also switched the one show on TV back to the original English, which was also great. Except it was a horror film and after about 20 minutes, I was legitimately freaked out. Brittany enjoyed making fun of my jumpiness. I did my homework and got ready for bed.
I coughed all night again, so having a full day of Friday classes to make up for a missed Thursday was awful. I am starting to get annoyed with a few of my classmates, and in particular one who just loves to hear herself talk. Anyhow, during my lunch break I met this girl, Emily, who was working on one of the easier Mozart piano pieces. We talked all about classical music, which was refreshing.
At one point, some random man stood and listened to her play. He complimented her and asked her about some piano things, and then they made me play. I was nervous, but I played my Mendelssohn as best as I could. I hadn’t noticed that two of our directors had come in to listen. They were quite impressed, and I was quite embarrassed. A few minutes later, the one director, Virginia, who is like 24 and super cool asked me to be her roommate on our Morocco trip! I’m pretty excited, but also nervous about not understanding her. It should be fun!
Well now I have Anthro before my piano lesson. My focus is going to be so bad. Tomorrow I go horseback riding on the beach, though, so all is well! Have a great weekend! Go see the Susquehanna University Opera!!! It’s going to be AMAZING.