Hey hey! The last time that we caught up I was headed into the peak of midterms here in Granada and had a trip to Rome planned, and I’m happy to report that all went well (I think)!

I had midterms for my religion and government classes, and was a bit more nervous for the religion midterm than for government. I haven’t gotten grades back for either of them yet, but I walked out of both of them feeling good about them.

For government, I had to write one essay and two short answer questions for the midterm and for religion, there were true or false, matching, and six short answer questions.

In this format of testing, because having short answer or essay questions helps me to convey that I studied even if I’m not completely sure about answering the question in full, I can write about what I do remember and show that I know at least some of the material that we learned in class and that I studied.

Now, it’s just waiting for the grades to come back, but since I feel good about both of them I’m expecting at the very least a B- on both of them, which I would definitely be happy with. Usually I’m the type of person who shoots for A’s, but I’m using this semester abroad to focus more on other parts of life and learning that grades and school isn’t everything.

The weekend trip to Rome was absolutely amazing, I got to see so much of the city and learn more about its history. It was also my first solo trip of the semester which was scary and fun at the same time.

I did walking tours of both the Vatican and the Colosseum, on different days of course, and it was so cool to see the places that I’ve learned about in history classes. It was amazing to see the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican with Michelangelo’s paintings and the quietness of the chapel compared to other parts of the Vatican.

I also ate so much good food, between pasta and pizza and gelato, there was literally no way to go wrong. My meals in Rome also made me realize that I’ve started to become accustomed to the pace of the meals here in Spain, and Europe in general.

When eating in Rome, I would sit and people watch while I sipped on my glass of wine, waiting for my food to come out. I would eat slowly and then sit for a while after eating, just enjoying the atmosphere.

Being here in Spain has definitely helped me slow down in many ways, between meal times and life in general, and I’d say it’s helped me learn more about myself in that I enjoy this slower pace of life compared to the fast pace that is ingrained in US culture. There are many things that I love about the fast pace of the US, but I’ve learned I need to balance it a little better with slowing down in some areas of my life.

That’s all I have for now, but I’ll keep y’all updated with anything new next time. Hasta luego!