Procrastination

So, here I am, back in sunny Castellon (the rainy season ended while I was out of town). In about seven weeks I should be home in Norman. That's very hard to grasp. It's been awhile. The weather here is fairly nice, though it could easily turn oppressively hot. While this makes drying clothes easier, it does make me wish that I had a fan.

For those of you that don't know, I recently got back from a quick trip stateside. My grandmother died and I was able to make it to Arizona for the memorial service. Taking advantage of the trip, I also went to my sister's graduation from Illinois Tech. During the trip I got to see my nephew, who is adorable, currently aging three and a half months. I spent a lot of time with family, blood-related and otherwise (the otherwise including a family friend Anna, my best friend Dakota, and my future brother-in-law John). I also got to know the family of my sister's boyfriend, which was fun. Before I came back I was sure to buy peanut butter (four large jars), packets of dry ranch dressing mix, barbecue sauce, and butterfinger bars.

It was sooooo weird being in the states again... The money is rather boring looking, in my opinion. And everyone speaks English!!! Everywhere. I guess this is normal, but it took awhile for my ears to get used to it. I'm used to zoning in on a conversation in English when I hear it, because it's nice to hear something familiar. But while I was waiting for a connecting flight in Newark, I was attempting to read, but couldn't at all because there was so much being said in English. It was rather overwhelming. One amusing occurence included hearing a family speak in Catalan from the row behind me during Katy's graduation. I chatted with them for a bit afterwards and found out that they are from Barcelona. While they don't speak Catalan here in Castellon they do speak Valencian and they are quite similar, so I was able to recognise it. That was fun.

Anyway, after lots of flying and lots of waiting in airports, I am now back in Spain and getting ready for four final exams that will occur within about the next two weeks. The first of these is Spanish on Monday, the one that I should currently be studying for... Then Chris comes into town, shortly followed by my dear fiance and we shall travel about Spain for a few days. It should be a lot of fun.

By the way, does anyone have any suggestions for recipes that would fall under "american cuisine"? Roommates and friends keep asking and I often have nothing to say more than peanut butter and the various things that can be made with it.

I'm off back to study.....at least for a little while...