Back in the swing of things!

Coming home felt soooo good!

Despite a rather disappointing first day, I knew there were days coming with not enough hours to spend!

I had only managed to get one job, so I didn't save up the money I wanted to see a bit of Spain this coming semester, but at least I settled my debts, which is one less thing to worry about.

The job required me to get out of the house a few hours in the day, this motivated me to stay out and go work out, or meet with friends. It felt so good to take the car and go wherever, whenever I wanted. I worked in the fish department, this was really refreshing; since I don't eat red meat, my protein intake is quite limited and I learned so much about fish, I'm not scared of it anymore. So I think this semester I'm gonna wip up some fish-dishes!

It also made me realize though, that I never want to work in a store again. I think it's time to find jobs that will contribute to my future carreer.

It's the most cliché thing in the world, but absence makes the heart grow fonder, as I was really fond of my family this holiday season. Moments of laughter and conversation were precious.

I didn't get to see too many friends, since most of them were studying, but I knew this beforehand. We had one big night planned on New Year's Eve, and it was absolutely marvelous! To be honest, I think this was the longest I've ever stayed out in my life, I got home at 7.30, and I wasn't drunk, haha!

My final week put a downer on things. I had an exam the day before going back to Spain, so all my attention went to that. There was no time left to enjoy the wonderful thing that is Belgium.

After my exam, I had a few hours left to do some 'belgian essentials' shopping, I was in such a hurry, that while getting ready I stormed up the stairs and hurt my finger in the process. While running my errands, my finger kept bothering me so I thought it best to have it checked just to be sure. I went to the emergency room where they told me the delightful news it was broken.

They wrapped it like a present, which let me tell you, did not help me at all packing the rest of my bag!

To top it all, most of my friends were busy my last night in town, so my vacation almost ended exactly how it started. Thankfully, I found a victim, and we ended up having a very low-key evening which aided me in leaving the country stress-free after all.

My parents had gifted me the most wonderful gift of all, bacteria. So my first week in Spain was spend in bed with a cold, coughing and exhausted. It was good to be back though, I must say, there is nothing as uplifting as the Spanish spirit.

I took a taxi from the airport to Alcala, and the taxi driver was the nicest man, we talked the entire way. He was genuinely interested in everything I had to say, even though we would never see each other again. The sun was shining, it was warm and I hoped this day would set the tone for the rest of the year. (We did have a minor glitch today when they predicted snow in Alcala, but it turned out to be raindrops on steroids )

Today I had a challenging task, I had to have my finger checked at the local hospital. First of all, I thought the hospital was amazing, an over-abundance of employees, something you'd never see in Belgium. First they noted your details and gave you a number, I took my number to the craziest waiting area I've ever seen, there must have been about a hundred people there. 20-ish doors led to an equal amount of examination rooms. And when your number was called on the screen, you had to go to the corresponding room. Felt just like a factory! On the other side of the room was the exit door to another waiting area. So in this first room they just asked me what was wrong, they didn't do anything yet. In the second waiting area, ushers kept taking people away to the department they had to be in. So a lady came and took me to 'trauma', which had, no joke, ANOTHER waiting area!

Again, I waited for my number to be called on a screen and continued to the corresponding examination room. There a doctor again asked me what was wrong, put my data in the computer and told me to go back to the last waiting area until my number was called for the x-ray. Once I had done that, I waited another hour before getting back with the doctor who told me there was no fracture and my monster claw bandage could come off.

As some of you may know, pain, blood and hospitals are not my friend. I may be obsessed with Grey's Anatomy and E.R. but real life agony makes all the blood drain from my brain.

Waiting an hour in a room with people screaming in pain I survived, but when the doctor removed my bandage, it took all my might and focus not to faint. Try warning the doctor in Spanish! He was so confused and didn't understand what I was saying; I think I might have actually said in Spanish: "my blood is leaving me" haha

He kept asking me where it hurt, and I could feel it somewhere, but my brain wouldn't tell me where exactly, which didn't make the doctor's job any easier :D

Even writing about it makes me lightheaded, I'm such a wuss!

My last week of vacation is coming up, I have an appartment move planned, a friend visiting me, and maybe some bachelorpaper research.

This last thing has been quite the ordeal. My counselor told me to find a Spanish teacher to assist me, so I wrote an e-mail to the department-head asking for contact information on professor X, Y and Z. She wrote me back saying: that information is personal, I cannot help you.

Idiots.

Also, I'm spending my free time watching Les Miserables over, and over, and over and over again.