The Beginning of the End

So, I’ve been filming too, and I intended to make my own Vlogblothers-style video to respond to Amanda’s.  However, because we’ve been busy and my camera’s been feeling ill, I don’t have quite enough footage for what I was planning.  Instead, I’ll keep recording during our final weekend adventure for a video early next week, and meanwhile I’ll use plain old text to relate a few recent events.

We graduated!  Today we had a cute little “graduation” ceremony in the oldest building of the university, where we were awarded “diplomas” for completing our semester at Instituto Franklin.  This seems a little premature, since we haven’t even taken all our finals yet, but I guess they have a lot of faith in us!  It was a nice ceremony, although it was alarming to realize that in less than a year and a half, I will be graduating UCF for real.

Next we had a sort of picnic in a different university building, where we ate empanadas and tortillas, socialized with our professors and fellow students, and posed for some photos.

The last event of the day was a talent show.  A class presented a virtual yearbook to the tune of Gangnam Style, and prizes were given for various contests.  Our very own Amanda took second place in the photography contest with a lovely picture of the stained glass in the cathedral in Cuenca.  Go Amanda!  After a slideshow of pictures from university events throughout the semester, a few people were persuaded to take to the stage in some unrehearsed displays of talent, and it turns out we have some great singers and dancers in the group!  It was also fun to see the confusion on the faces of the Spanish faculty at the gusto with which every American student joined in singing Don’t Stop Believing.

A week from now, we’ll be back in the air over the Atlantic Ocean, this time heading home.  It’s crazy to think about how quickly this semester has passed.  I wish we could stay longer, but at the same time, I feel like Amanda and I have made the most of our time here, filling our months with school and adventures and new friends.  Maybe it sounds cheesy, but Spain has been everything I could have asked for and more.

All that said, this country isn’t getting rid of us just yet!  We leave shortly to head for Madrid, where we’re catching an overnight bus to Sevilla!  We are going to make the most out of this final week!