Now I must give the disclaimer that this time, it was not by negligence that I have not written here for awhile, but quite they contrary. For the past 20 days (excluding a few days which we'll get to), I have done little but lock myself in my room and study for my three final exams in Electronic Analog Circuits (CEAN), Analysis and Design of Circuits (ADCT), and Mathematical Methods of Telecommunication II (MMT2). It was especially hard to study for everything because a lot of my friends finished early and were always asking me to do things (which I had to turn down) and then the weather here has become unbearably hot, 35 degrees Celsius which is mid-90s Fahrenheit, and with no air condition and the sun setting now at 10PM, leaves you in a continuous pool of sweat.
The week before last, as a little break from this incredible month study session, my friend Jonas came to me. Jonas was one of my best friends at IIT in Chicago the year before last, but he was only there for a year as an exchange from Norway. However, as he was extending his master's degree to another year of study, he was able to request another exchange and this semester chose to study abroad in the community of Murcia, Spain, in a city called Cartagena. Jonas and I had made a few good attempts to see each other this semester so far (after all, we were in the same country!) but things kept coming up every time we tried. Since Jonas had to return to Norway this past weekend, he came to visit me here in Madrid the 8-10 of June even though we both had exams close. It ended up being a really nice visit, and I got to do even more touristy things throughout Madrid :). Before Jonas left on the train, we went to the Feria de Tapas (Tapas Fair) which was inside the Palacio de Deportes, Madrid's basketball stadium. It ended up being awesome cause you bought tickets and the door and then could go around and use the tickets to try various gourmet tapas from hundreds booths of selection. Also, we were selected from the crowd to go on stage with the event sponsors, Mahou Beer, and learn how to correctly fill a pint of beer from the tap. So that was pretty cool!
After Jonas left, I went back to studying all day. During the nights, I also had longer and longer dance rehearsals, cause I also had my dance show sandwiched in the middle of my exams! Needless to say, since this Wednesday, things have been super hectic because first I had CEAN exam, then Saturday morning ADCT, and afterwards all day rehearsal and recital that night, next day dance recital, and then yesterday MMT2. Overall, I think my exams went ok, let's hope I passed. It's just way different here, because the professors always add something to the exam you've never seen before on a problem, and since there are normally 4 problems, that one thing is going to end up costing you 25% of your entire grade in the class! That's why I'm trying to be optimistic about the exams but not too overly-confident. We'll just have to wait and see. As far as my dance show, that was awesome! Two of my roommates came, and then five friends so it was really great to have people in the audience for me. I have a pretty low-quality video taken from my digital camera, but maybe I'll even be able to acquire a better one from someone else. Also one of my friends took a ton of pictures on his Canon so when I get those, I'll upload them!
So now is my first day of freedom, of 'libertad'. I'm a bit at a loss of what to do with myself, now that I have no obligations. One thing for sure, is that heat is quite unbearable, especially with no AC and no large body of water in Madrid! It would really be the perfect city if you added an ocean or something. However, in a week from now that will certainly not be a problem, because I begin to travel! Next Tuesday I leave for a week and a half road trip through Andalucia, the Southwest part of Spain. I will be doing the traveling with a local, too, my friend Jose (a different one then the one from Madrid) who I met last year in Chicago. I was super lucky because we hadn't really talked in awhile and then he randomly messaged me saying that he would be returning to Spain, and from there we devised this road trip. Overall, I know it's going to be amazing! The day after I return from this trip, I leave for Stockholm to visit Nicole and hopefully my little sister in Kappa, Marie who is Swedish! Then after I return I'm going a few days later to Barcelona. It'll be super busy but also super incredible and I can't wait!!! :)
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