seven days in barcelona.

monday--first day back in the wonderful city. it was columbus day so C didn't have school. we wandered from his apt toward plaza catalunya and whatnot. we picnicked in ciutadella and mostly just wandered around the city. on our way back towards his apt (in the northwestern part of the city) we happened upon a columbus day celebration of sorts. it was interesting to watch. lots of posters, and drums and people in costume. after a mexican feast, we watched running with fire in the les corts neighborhood. this celebration is generally done in the city during a festival in september, which i missed my first go round. it was amazing to watch. specific people actually carry the fire, but anyone who wants to run with the fire is welcome to. unfortunately we were not wearing appropriate attire, but we watched from a small distance and took lots of video and pictures.

columbus day posters.

running with fire.

all the crazies.

tuesday--i wandered towards the mnac, plaza espanya, and the base of montjuic. i missed that on my quick barcelona tour before paris. i also got to visit C's school.

wednesday--i walked all of montjuic. i started from C's apartment. i ventured over to plaza espanya and the mnac and then conquered the mountain. i ended my journey at paral-lel then walked all the way back to C's apartment. (all in all about 4 hours of straight walking). that night C and i revisited the crazy see-saw swings several of us found in ohseven, between ciutadella and the beach. they were scarier than i remembered. we also found a cute little bar on passeig del born and watched the end of the fcb game. they won.

thursday--i walked from C's apt to the catedral. due to the weather, the blisters on my feet, and the fact that i actually had never been in the catedral, i spent a lot of time sitting in there. it was pretty. the interior somewhat reminds me of santa maria del mar. afterwards i met C and a friend for dinner at....oviso! although the names have changed, i ordered the fogosa, the massive feta salad. it was amazing. afterwards we walked over to the cccb who does free jazz concerts on thursday nights. we waited in line for a while, and entered. after getting into the concert, the heat was a little too much to bear. we opted to sit in some comfty chairs set up in their courtyard where the concert was projected onto the glass facade and the music was played through some speakers. all in all it was a good time.

friday--i toured the palau de musica. i missed this barcelona icon the first time around. the scaffolding is finally removed and you can actually see all the beautiful columns. the tour was really nice. i can't even remember the last time i took a guided tour. the building is absolutely beautiful. all the details are so exquisite. unfortunately, you can't take pictures on the tour. so you will have to google it to see the inverted glass skylight. fun fact: it weighs over 1000 kilos! i also did some shopping. oops. no major purchases. that night C and i headed towards sagrada where two of his friends (who are from the us) live and hung out.

front of the palau.

saturday--C and i walked from his apt through eixample and headed towards the water. we ate a massive meal from the conveyor belt sushi place. yes, we sat at a table and literally watched the dishes go by and grabbed whatever we deemed necessary. then we headed to the raval (our old hood) and spent a decent amount of time drinking coffee and watching the raval characters pass by the ambar window. we proceeded to walk down paral-lel to the mnac and watch the magic fountain. the sunset was amazing and the show was beautiful. i had never caught a full magic fountain show. it was definitely a great way to end the day.

sunday--C and i walked from his apt to montjuic. this time we were on a mission..to find the rope park near the montjuic castle. success! it was a rather warm day (it's been rather chilly lately, but nothing compared to the states from what i'm hearing). we picnicked in the park, played some on the ropes course, then hopped the metro back.

for those of you who don't know barcelona very well, i don't think you realize how much walking i am actually doing. to walk from C's apt to the beach takes about 1 1/2. (and i generally walk fast.) on the average day (when i do sightseeing in the older part of the city) and i don't take the metro, i am generally walking at least an hour one way to get to and from C's apartment. plus all the walking i do in-between. the past 6 weeks of wandering around europe are really getting to my feet. i have some mad blisters. and for good reason. despite the pain, i enjoy the walking. mostly because i love walking, but also because it's free. metro rides start to add up without even realizing it.

on another note, i realized how quickly my time is coming to an end in europe. i have about 3 1/2 weeks left. for the next 3 days i will be in barcelona. on thursday i am flying to london to visit T (a friend from camp). i will be there for a week. then i return to barcelona to soak up the wonderful city and all of its glory for just 6 short days before i hop on a plane. this time to dc.

dublin. (with a name like pollard)

first, let me say i was much more impressed with dublin than i expected to be. it reminded me of amsterdam. very clean. lots of bricks. just more english (in essence, and in language). the irish accent wasn't as thick as i expected it to be, for the most part. it's very compact and easy to walk everywhere. the city as a whole is cheap, the people are so friendly, and lots of things are free!

last thursday, C and i woke up bright and early to take the train to cdg and jet set over to dublin for the weekend. we arrived in dublin around 11 their time (so really 12 western europe time). i was greeted in passport control and got a nice green stamp in my passport. the passport controller asked me if my parents were irish. i told him no, but i suppose somewhere down the line i had some irish in me. he then responded 'with a name like pollard, you sound very irish.' (all said in a somewhat thick irish accent.) i made me laugh.

we then caught our first double decker bus to ride into the city. (btw, they drive on the opposite side of the street. weird!) we found our hostel without any problems (and without a map), dropped our bags off, grabbed a cheap lunch, and headed to the city center. we spent the evening on and around grafton street, which was a 10 minute walk from our hostel. our first stop was st. stephen's green, the central park of dublin. it was pretty and very apparent that fall has arrived. after walking through st. stephen's an irish band greeted us at the start of grafton street. we stayed an listened for a while, then worked our way up grafton street to trinity college. the book of kells is housed in a building in trinity college. we just visited the gift shop. we also tried to go upstairs to the library and proceeded to be asked to leave because we did not have a ticket. oops. so we worked our way back towards grafton street and found one of the greatest stores ever, dunnes. basically it's a target department stores, with amazingly cheap prices. we stopped into a famous dublin cafe to warm up. as we started back in the direction of our hostel, we happened upon another great band. we even bought their cd. after picking up dinner at the grocery store, we sat down in the kitchen to eat. friends was on tv, such a pleasant surprise! scrubs followed. all in all it was a great first day.

mutemouth

the riptide movement

the following morning we awoke to gray, rainy weather. typical dublin. the national gallery of ireland has free admission, so we took advantage and set off in that direction. after a quick visit to the national library, we found the museum. the museum was quite large and they had a pretty decent collection. lots of jesus and renaissance art, but there were a few goyas, a rembrandt, vermeer, picasso, and a van gogh, among others. after a mid-day break, we set off to the temple bar area, the cathedral, and then to the guinness storehouse. we didn't actually go into any of them. all were a bit pricey, except the bar, but it came at the price of a large crowd. after walking all the way to the storehouse, we were ready for a guinness so we stopped into a bar in the temple bar area.

me and C

saturday, we set off in search of the george street arcade, a market with various shops and odds and ends. afterwards, crossed the river to the northern end of dublin and walked around the o'connell street area. we started a quest for fish n chips and decided upon a pub right off of grafton street, near the st. stephen's shopping center. after eating we had to go to the shopping center where an ozzy osborne booking signing was happening. we worked our way through the crowd and managed to snap a few good pics of him. it was my first celeb citing, so it was a big day. our final evening was spent in an irish pub watching the ireland v. italy match. sadly, ireland lost in the last two minutes. i think there were a few disappointed fans in that pub.

the hairy lemon, our pub of choice

ozzy!

sunday morning we woke up, packed our things and caught the double decker back to the airport. C's flight was 4 hours before mine. so i spent the better part of my day in the aer lingus check-in. thankfully, i had a good book and an ipod to keep me entertained. i touched down in barcelona around 9 pm. got another bcn stamp in passport control, collected my things, took the train to sants, and walked back to the barcelona C's. i will be staying there until the 22nd, when i head over to london to stay with an old friend from camp for the week!

ten days later...

i'm sure you all have been dying to know what i have been up to the past few days. let's pick up where we left off. i left you with the cliff hanger of nuit blanche. so we'll start there.

saturday-- the day began with a hearty breakfast consisting of southern meal leftovers. yes i ate a fried chicken biscuit-esque sandwich and some apple pie. what are you going to do about it? (so did C) but for good reason...we were saving money and needed lots of calories for our busy 24 hours. we took the train into paris and arrived just before 12. we walked around the pompidou area, passed by the louvre, through tuleries (ps it was fashion week. models were out on the loose), along to seine up to the trocadero where our lunch scavenger hunt began. who knew bread could be so hard to come by in paris. after finding our nutella, bread, and cheese (the parisian staples) we picnicked with a lovely view of the eiffel tower, along with thousands of other tourists. after lunch we hiked back across the city to luxembourg gardens. C's host mom's sister and husband picked us up and drove us to the outskirts of paris (literally just outside the arrondissement borders) to a friends house for a little birthday celebration. the house definitely had a view of the eiffel tower. not too shabby. also, typical parisian crowd...i socialized with an artist who has an exhibit opening in 2 weeks at the louvre, a pr rep for versace who just returned from milan's fashion week, and a production manager among others. yes in case you are wondering, the parisians spoke english and were completely welcoming. after hanging out there, we braved the drive back into paris. let's just say i never ever ever plan on driving in paris. i would not come out alive if i was behind the wheel. anyways, we ate dinner at an american cafe in the marais (the gay district near the pompidou). around 12:30 or 1 am C and i's night really began.

nuit blanche-- so lots of cities in europe have their respective 'nuit blanche' in their respective languages during the respective time of year. paris' happened to fall on the saturday i was there. the museums are open late (and are free). however, the most exciting part is there are temporary art installations in different areas of the city specifically for the event that are open just for the evening. the best part...all of them are free. we started at the pompidou worked our way over to notre dame and the luxembourg gardens. these were the highlights:

notre dame: light installation by sylvie fleury

eglise saint-severin: the forty-part motet by janet cardiff

(well the video won't upload and being an audio exhibit these pictures of the church are lame when trying to illustrate the exhibit. this was definitely the favorite. there were 40 speakers placed inside the church, one for each singer, based on location there was an entirely different experience perceived only by the ears)

jardin du luxembourg: la maitresse de la tour eiffel by michel de broin

jardin du luxembourg: white (night) spirit by hugues reip

hotel d'albret: je vous aime tous by vincent olinet

so at 7 am our night ended, but our day was just beginning. in order to conserve an additional 4 metro tickets we decided to stay in the city until the pompidou opened. the first sunday of every month the museums offer free admission. so we hung out in a mcdonalds for 3 hours waiting for 10 am to come. long story short, obviously we were exhausted as we had been on our feet for the better part of 24 hours. the exhibit on female artists by female artists wasn't exactly what i needed that early in the morning and running on zero sleep. we also breezed through the permanent collection. luckily i've seen it before or it would have been a major bust. we arrived back in bry around 2 pm just over 26 hours since we had last been there. it was definitely an experience and one i will never forget. but let's just say next time i participate in a nuit blanche i will be in the early crowd.

sunday-- once arriving back at bry we ate a much needed warm meal as paris was quite chilly into the wee hours. i also took a much needed shower. the remainder of the afternoon and evening were mostly spent in bed, as they should have been.

monday-- a rainy day in paris. the morning was spent wandering around aimlessly. i did find an amazing bakery with a perfect chocolate muffin. the rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep. if ever in doubt about what life is actually like for a wandering soul, today was a perfect case in point. 80% of my time it is spent wandering around, without a map just going wherever strikes my fancy. the remaining 20% is usually spent sleeping and eating. generally i'd like to think it's divided equally between the two, but those of you who know me might assume otherwise. and are probably right.

tuesday-- most of my day was spent inside shakespeare and company, the amazing english bookstore just across the river from notre dame. i also got a nutella crepe outside the pompidou. my fave. and wandered in the beige and powder blue of the paris streets.

wednesday-- my last day in paris should have been eventful. mostly i wandered around the latin quarter. i went saint sulpice. (da vinci code anyone?) the church is really beautiful. there is a disclaimer about the novel and the whole line of the rose or whatever that is supposedly in the church.

so i realize that still leaves about five off. those five days include dublin and my first day back in barcelona. the rest will have to come tomorrow.

a little of this and a little of that.

ok so since i last wrote a lot has happened....

sunday--last day in bilbao. it was spent in montellano. it's a small mountain town about 30 minutes outside of the city. there we had a wonderful meal. i walked around some. mostly just enjoyed the view. and enjoyed my last day and night with S, C, and O.

cute montellano house.

and from the back.

the pretty view.

monday--i set off for barcelona! the trip was a little stressful to say the least. i condensed my luggage down to one heavy heavy suitcase plus my backpack with clothes for the next six weeks. and then my bookbag with my computer. stil a lot of luggage, but way less than what i came over with. yes, i found the inner stregth to ditch some of my clothes. i took the bus from bilbao to barcelona. instead of taking the metro, or paying for a taxi, i took the bus to the bus station. i had just missed the bus i needed so i had to wait about 15 minutes for the next one. i arrived just in the knick of time though. i sat down on the bus at exactly 10:29. my bus was leaving at 10:30 and they wait for no one. the trip took about 7.5 hours with a 30 minute stop in zaragoza. it was not the most scenic place i've ever been. basically a glorified truck stop. i arrived at sants at 6 with C (a friend from clemson) meeting me. we went to his apartment and walked the entire length of barcelona. we got dinner at samsara! then walked back towards the water, got a drink, and hiked all the way back to his apt because the metro had already closed. all in all a good day. i forgot how much i missed that city. returning felt just like coming home. familar.

tuesday--i woke up and walked the city. i took the metro to para-lel. (my old stomping grounds). i walked from resa to the port area. along maremagum to barceloneta. i put my feet in the mediterranean. then i headed into ciutadella through the born into my favorite church, santa maria del mar. afterwards i wandered to the catedral area and towards catalunya. C met me and we ate at a new walk to wok. it was amazing. we then headed up to gracia again. this time to revist my favorite parc, crueta del coll. we walked some more and headed into lesseps and took the metro back to his apt.

wednesday--my day began around 4:30. i walked to sants to catch the 5:35 train to the airport. i got to check out bcn's new terminal! i flew from bcn to paris where C (a friend from home) is working as an au pair. her wonderful host mom and the 3 kids picked me up from the airport. currently i am staying just outside of paris in a cute little town called bry-sur-marne. (depending on the trains, it takes about 40 minutes to get into the heart of paris.) the day was mostly spent catching up with C and playing with the 3 kids.

thursday--i woke up bright and early to escort C to her french class. her school is located near the luxembourg gardens. while she was in class for 3 hours i wandered around the city. i have truly mastered this. i wish someone could pay me to wander around cities for hours. i wandered wherever i pleased, and only looked at a map just to get back to C's school. first i walked around luxembourg gardens. then i found myself at the pantheon, which is where victor hugo and marie curie are buried, among others. i only looked at the outside though. i slowly worked my way down to the seine and into notre dame. on my last visit i never went into the church. i also found the most amazing bookshop in the entire world. it's called shakespeare & co. it's been in paris since the 1920s and many famous writers have found themselves within it's walls. hemingway's lost generation met there. during wwII it was an underground publishing place for james joyce. the entire place is covered from floor to ceiling in books with hidden nooks and quaint reading corners. i can't wait to go back. i made it back to C's school around 12 to catch the train back into bry.

shakespeare and co.

lots of books.

and nooks.

friday--C has no class so we woke up early and took the train to la defense. there we saw the grande arch as well as many great pieces of art. we found a serra, miro, calder, and others. i also found the nicest mcdonald's i've ever seen in my life. tonight we cooked dinner for C's host family. it was the most southern meal i've had in a long time. the menu included: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet tea, apple pie and vanilla ice cream. it was amazing! currently i am stuffed!

tomorrow is la nuit blanche. there will be some amazing art exhibits in the city as well as museums opened late. we need to do some major planning. we will be spending the entire day in the city. maybe the entire night. who knows.

oh yeah, C and i are going to dublin next thursday-sunday! then i return to barcelona for a few days until i figure out what the next destination will be on my tour-de-europe!

revists.

today i revisited san sebastian. it's a beach city about an hour bus ride from bilbao. the weather this go round was much better than the first. quite hot actually. i wouldn't have minded getting soaked by a wave today. however, the company last time was much better. ironically enough, i timed this trip during the san sebastian film festival again. the kursaal was decked out in this year's design. otherwise, the red carpets, movie posters, and crowds were just as i remembered. i passed on the whole movie going experience this time around. due to my inability to leave the house before 11, ever, i didn't make it to san sebastian until about 1 pm. i also took a slightly earlier bus back to bilbao than i probably should have, but oh well. i still had a decent 5 or so hours there. this time i made it out to chillida's wind comb. it was breathtaking. definitely worth the walk. i managed to navigate the entire day without a map. it's nice to know that my memory hasn't failed me. it might be the only thing going for me these days. mostly, i spent the day walking along the beach. the beaches were quite crowded today. oh, as i walked along the beach today i happened upon a few funny events, rather they happened upon me. first, i apparently look as if i am more than ready and willing to take anyone's picture. i had two different people stop me as i was walking by, with headphones in mind you, to take their picture. second, i passed by a large group of men who were suiting up for a bike race or training or something. i'll spare the details. let's just say spanish men are not modest and don't wear anything under their spandex. this was along the main pedestrian walkway along the beach too. i also passed an outrageous number of people in wheelchairs. i don't mean this in a bad way, but it's just not the norm. i would say every 20th person i passed along the beach was in a wheelchair. (this may be a slight exaggeration as i saw a lot of people today, but you get the point.) third, i love listening to people speak english to each other when they don't think anyone else around them speaks english. there was a rather annoying american girl, sitting on the bus across the aisle from me. i also enjoy hearing americans explain american culture. i really wanted to interrupt her and ask her where she was from. i don't think the man i was sitting next to would have appreciated my leaning across him to talk to someone. i was fortunate enough to return to bilbao just as the futbol game was letting out. (the futbol stadium is the same metro stop as the bus station.) the metro was packed and everyone was wearing their red and white striped jerseys. thankfully, most of the fans were going in the opposite direction. there were plenty of cops on guard in the metro area to make sure things didn't get too out of hand. i think that's all my random daily events. below are some san seb pics.

pretty day. walking along the river to the kursaal.

kursaal for the 57th film festival.

walking along the beach. i pretty much walked from the far right to the far left, where the wind comb is located.

first wind comb,

second wind comb,

third wind comb.

to continue with some random events, well observations really...bilbao has a ridiculous amount of blind people. i mean on any given day, i pass at least 3-4. i really have never seen so many. maybe it's just because no one in america walks. or bilbao just has a high population of the blind. several of these blind people are lottery ticket sellers. i find this funny for several reasons. i have passed many lottery ticket sellers around the city. i would say 90% of them are blind, or have some sort of physical deformity. here lottery tickets are not sold behind the counter at a convenience store. hundreds of tickets are literally hung from the person's neck. i mean don't get me wrong, but if you were going to rip anyone off or steal something i would think these people are an easy target. they can't see you, there is no theft detection device, they are selling them on the sidewalk, and all you have to do is rip the stupid ticket off. the odds of actually getting something out of the stolen product are low, but you're talking about a big pay off if you did in fact win. and i doubt there could be major repercussions because it's not like they have a police officer standing there to protect them. they are just perched along the busy sidewalk. no, i am not plotting against these people nor am i planning on jacking a few lottery tickets. but i can not possibly be the only person who finds this somewhat ironic.

so yesterday was my last day with family X. no remorse there. actually, the only person i felt bad about leaving was the housekeeper. we bond. even though we don't speak much to each other. the day was basically same deal as always. when M wanted to listen it was semi-bearable. otherwise, i mostly wanted to slap some sense into her. her birthday is coming up so we got to make birthday invitations. woohoo. otherwise i baked some more cookies for C and S. we made burgers last night. it was amazing. i haven't had one since i've left the states. (yes, i have not caved and gone to a mcdonalds yet. for some reason it becomes quite tempting in europe. i realize how american this sounds.) i watched babe last night. i hadn't seen that movie in like 10 years. it was great. mostly, i've been trying to minimize my luggage. this does in fact mean i am trying to get rid of some of my clothes. i've done fairly well. with the exception of my backpack (my traveling bag with everything i will need in the next 6 weeks) 95% of my luggage fits into my rolling suitcase. i need to do a little more ditching to make the last little bit fit in. there are a few extras that will be in my other suitcase, but all of that has to fit on the top of my rolling suitcase. (sorry for all the stats today. and thanks for acting like you care.) i'm all on my own this time. i am taking the bus to barcelona on monday. i've already decided that my first meal there will be oviso. wednesday morning i'm off to paris for the week. i still need to establish my plan post-paris. i think the plan will consist of time back in barcelona, then off to the uk to do some exploring. the number of places i visit depends on how adventurous and independent i feel like being. also, i need to ask myself how broke i want to be when i come home?

yummy cookie dough.

moving on.

the sheer amount of uneventful rainy days correlates to my lack of posts. today was the first time i saw the sun in eight days. on the first day of fall, it felt more like summer than it had in two weeks. the weekend was mostly spent indoors. watching movies. eating lots of food. mostly pizza. monday morning i booked my flight to paris! i leave one week from today! this week with family X hasn't been too bad. of course there are the usual spiteful refusals to do homework and whatnot. nothing compares to the drama of last week though. yesterday, the mom was actually home. after M threw a temper tantrum, she let me leave at 6. what a relief! today, M did her homework relatively quickly. she was rewarded by a trip to the local sports club. we swam for about 45 minutes. it was actually a good time. she does in fact have some redeeming qualities. (wow, i sound like a terrible person.) i even swam a few laps. boy, i am out of shape. it was nice to get some real physical activity though. albeit slightly half-assed.

yesterday, was the first time it wasn't raining during the time i wake up and four o'clock when i have to go to family X's. i wandered around casco viejo (the old part of town) for awhile. i revisited the chocolate shop. i also found this park on top of a hill. it had great panoramic views of the city. check out the pictures below. actually, they aren't that great. it was gray and hazy. but it's the thought that counts.

what a climb. for real.

the river below.

a typical bilbao day.

today i basked in the basque sun. i took the funicular up to the top of the mountain directly across from the guggenheim. at the top there is a suburb of bilbao. well technically, it might be part of the city. people actually use the funicular as a form of transportation, it's not all fun and games. there was a small park at the top. the view was pretty awesome. my favorite thing was this sculpture on the edge of the park. it looked like a giant curved fingerprint. the sun and the shadows it cast were beautiful. i took a ridiculous amount of pictures. that could also be attributed to the fact that i was actually doing something. and there was sun!

the gug below.

lots of shadows.

the sculpture

to scale.

fun building i passed on the way up.

on another note, my days in bilbao are dwindling. monday i am setting off to barcelona. wednesday i am paris-bound. the uk will be happening somewhere in there. who knows. i booked my ticket home to the states today. i have exactly six more weeks to get my europe on. i also won't be flying home but to dc. a little states mini-adventure before it's time to buckle back down in the real world. the unknown. but a more comfortable unknown.

part three.

well thursday was not completely horrible with family X. i had to tell them (in spanish) that i could not be their au pair. i used the lack of a visa as my excuse. i told them i could work one more week. partially because i felt bad ditching them. partially because i am in desperate need of money. and beggars can't be choosers. i also got the wonderful news that they didn't need me on friday. the past few days in bilbao have been typical bilbao weather. gray, chilly, and lots of rain. friday was spent entirely in the house. oh i cleaned some. i also made a ballin' pizza. basically a mellow mushroom kosmic karma, minus the really good mellow mushroom crust. i've been watching a lot of the office lately. S and C had never seen it. they are now addicted. i hadn't watched it in awhile. i forgot all the great one liners.

so today i had the joy of going back over to family X's. as you can imagine i was not thrilled about going over there on a saturday. most of my days are exactly the same (because i do nothing), so i don't know why the weekend is a huge deal. i helped M with her homework. to my absolute and utter astonishment we did her homework in an hour. with zero arguments, losing patience, etc. i also got paid. which helps. it's not nearly enough money for what i had to put up with, but i can't complain. i also talked to the mom. i actually feel really sorry for her because M acts like that all the time. not just about homework, or because of me. it's sad really. i am thankful i have the ability to get out of the situation. i am working next week for them and then i'm out!

as for the grand scheme of things...

i will be leaving bilbao the last week in september. i am heading over to bcn. yay! so excited! i am visiting with C for a few days (and leaving my luggage). then i am heading to paris to visit another C. the next two weeks after paris are a bit of a gray area. after traveling for about 3 weeks, i will be back in barcelona and then i will be stateside!!! i guess we get to call this traveling, and bumming around europe some more, part three. at least i get to see more familiar faces.

i'm actually looking forward to going home. mostly because i've been dealing with a bunch of crazies. i have learned a lot. i think. i guess this is the whole 'finding yourself' journey everyone takes after college. i've learned how to speak up for myself when i am not happy. there comes a point when it's not worth it to grin and bear it and i know myself well enough to know where that point is. despite what anyone says, independence is not overrated.

i've flown thousands of miles, been to various cities, met many different people that i will never see again, to realize that i am looking forward to returning to a familiar place with the people i love. i also can't wait to have some sort of job unrelated to childcare. not that architecture has much to offer right now. but one can hope!