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A Wonderful Winter Break!

January 8th, 2011 nmmari12

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Can you believe it is 2011 already? I cannot! I have finally made it back to A Coruña after a wonderful 2 weeks at home. It was great to be home and see my family and friends. While I haven´t seen some of them for over a year, we were able to pick up exactly from where we left off and it felt as though nothing had changed. I also managed to fly out to the east coast to visit my family in New Jersey and friends from HC. It was great to see their smiling faces and hear their stories from the past semester!

While I have loved my first semester in A Coruña, I have realized there really isn´t any place like home, nor anyone like family and old friends. While it may sounds cheesy, I have also realized that in order to grow as a person I must explore the world and take advantage of life changing opportunities aka study abroad. It may be hard to leave the comforts of home and family, but I know that they are always supporting me and will be there upon my return. After a relaxing and truly enjoyable Christmas and new years, I am ready to start España Parte dos!

Favorite memories of winter break (not in any particular order):

1. Waking up to a white Christmas, with about 1 foot of snow outside my window.

2. Meeting the new member of the family, a 4 month old yellow lab, named Higgins.

3. Competing in the annual Christmas Eve ping pong tournament

4. Having a large dinner with 10 friends from high school

5. Seeing the famous Lincoln Park Zoo lights, so magical!

6.  Eating at the best ever flat top grill of Evanston. YUM!

7. Seeing my family in New Jersey and watching the movie ¨Zombie Apocalypse¨ and being the oldest and most terrified cousin. This was followed by ringing in the New Year by banging pots and pans at the stroke of midnight with my cousins on the streets of New Jersey.

8. Seeing 7 of my HC friends in NYC!

9. Watching the complexities and brilliance of ¨The Bachelor¨ with my sister. (Im trying to be sarcastic…)

10. Knowing that I still had another semester in A Coruña waiting for me upon my return!

Dato Divertido: In Spain, Christmas is fully celebrated, but the holiday ¨Three Kings Day¨ which falls on January 6th is the big holiday of the season. Historically, on Three King´s Day, the three kings brought gifts to Jesus, Mary and Joseph after Jesus´s birth on December 25th.  In Spain, this is the day that gifts are exchanged (especially for the kids) and families come together. Unfortunately I spent three kings day in the DC airport, awaiting my flight back to Spain. But upon my arrival in my apartment, I received my first Three Kings Day gift, a cute purse from my host mom!

The big dinner!

The Magic of Zoo lights

Liz, Sheridan and I at the zoo lights!

The new pup!

HC friends!

2 Responses to “A Wonderful Winter Break!”

  1. Kelsey says:

    Let Espana Parte Dos begin!! It is going to be a blast!!

    So glad you had such a great time at home – all of your adventures sound so amazing!!

  2. amguar12 says:

    I’m so glad the Bachelor made it into one of your top memories of break. You can watch it with me next year then lol.

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