Agridulce

Agridulce. 
I'd bet anything that this isn't the right context for that word in Spanish, which means bittersweet. But, I think it's pretty and it's exactly the right word in English to describe my situation.
I'm sitting outside at a café and this is my last blog post I'll write in Spain. Just ordered espressso with ice for the last time (hallelujah...I'm so excited for regular coffee again), and the last time I'll have to attempt to pour the burning coffee into the ice cup only to spill it all over the table and burn my hand. Gonna miss moments like these!! Seriously though it's the stupid little things like that make this experience what it's been and I love all of them. It's honestly unreal that I've been here for 103 days. But, I'm listening to my summer playlist as I write this and it makes me so excited to be home in two days, even though I'm really sad to leave at the same time.

Since I last wrote, I've finished finals, gone to Portugal, and gotten to experience La Feria in Sevilla.
Lagos was absolutely beautiful, and the BEST way to ever celebrate the end of school. Three days on the beach with my friends and literally no worry in world; can't get better than that.

I finished finals on April 30th, and have just been hanging out until I leave tomorrow night. My program wanted to give us the chance to experience La Feria de abril so they let us stay an extra week, because it's something really culturally important to Sevilla. (It's pronounced "La FEH-ree-a", and Brendan has been pronouncing it "Fur-EE-ah" just to piss me off so I'm setting the record straight for everyone so you're correctly educated. DON'T LISTEN TO BRENDAN.) I'm so glad they let us stay because it's one of the coolest things I've ever gotten a chance to be a part of. It's pretty much a week long party, where everyone goes to drink Rebujito (chamomile sherry mixed with 7-UP...surprisingly not bad), dress up in beautiful flamenco dresses, and dance Sevillana all day/night long.

There are hundreds of "casetas" set up in rows, which are individual tents where families or companies host their own private parties all week. Walking by there at night is something you have to do in your life. Each one is decorated differently, with chandeliers, plants, lanterns, etc. to give them their own personal style. They each have a different name too like beach/ski houses in America have. You can walk around for hours and just look in awe of how cool they all are, while the friends and family members of each one eat and drink and dance flamenco the whole time.

There are public casetas too, for the peasants like me. KIDDING I'm exaggerating. But they're for people who don't have connections to people who own private casetas, and they're just as awesome. I did get a chance to go into the Fútbol club private caseta last night, and it was so cool to see. But I felt super out of place in my sundress while all the girls were beautifully dressed in flamenco gowns, so I went back to the public tents. It's like Titantic where the upper elite deck is cool to be at but the lower barrack level is even better and more fun. Just kidding again....kind of....
They have free entrance and the bar at the back is decently priced, and filled with extremely happy people dancing up a storm on the stage. It's the best place to people watch and enjoy the real cultural experience, and it's unlike anything you could ever see in America. YOU HAVE TO SEE LA FERIA SOME TIME IF YOU GO TO SPAIN! It's been my favorite cultural immersion the whole time I've been here.

I'll have one more blog post, which I'm hoping to write during my four hour layover in New York on Friday, as a goodbye post after this amazing adventure. This shout out is for everyone back home: See you all very soon :)

Desde España, por la última vez, gracias por leer. Espero que ustedes lean mi última entrada como una conclusión de todo, y estoy triste que necesito terminar esta aventura tan increíble. Hasta viernes!

-Moll