Various and Sundry May Moments

The majestic Burgos cathedral

May has been a busy, random month. It started with a five-day holiday weekend, which some friends and I spent traveling in northern Spain and southern France. In a massive van. First, we drove up to San Sebastián, where we ate too much food because a.) the food in the Basque region is to DIE for and b.) it rained almost non-stop, so what else was there to do? My friend Kate happened to be there at the same time for a conference, so we got to catch up a bit, which was terrific. The van crew also took a day trip to Bilbao and made a short stop in Burgos (a.k.a. home of El Cid Campeador!! says the Romance Lang & Lit nerd in me). The last two days of the trip were spent staying with my lovely French roommate and her family in Bordeaux. It just happened to be a neighboring wine region's "Portes Ouvertes" ("Open Doors") weekend, which means we got to roam around and tour various wineries for free! Darn, life is hard.

I bought one of these crank music boxes in
Saint-Émilion. It plays "La Vie en Rose". :)

By the end of the trip, everyone was sick (thanks, rain/lack of sleep). Once in a while, when I get sick, my voice drops to a really, really low range. Like man-low. Which happened this time. I didn't realize how bad it was until one night, when one of my friends and I went to our room to throw on our PJs. We shut the door and were about to change when I started to say something, I don't remember what. My friend, whose back was turned, jumped like three feet into the air and whipped around. I was like "What?" and she sheepishly explained, "Oh, I thought you had let a man into the room!!" THANKS A LOT, GIRL. :( 

My fave photo from the trip.
Hellooooo French wine country.

Since the trip, I've had a few weeks of normal school interspersed with fun times. For example, this past week was the Festival of San Isidro, Madrid's patron saint and the saint of farmers. There were special events programmed throughout the week, including bull fights (didn't go *shudder*), traditional dances, live music, and even an amazing fireworks show in el Retiro Park, accompanied by classical music (like the start of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5... and some other things I couldn't name) blasting from a monstrous amplification system. I love fireworks! Was glad we had braved the cold to go see them.

In other news, I'm learning this song on the guitar, finishing Fantastic Mr. Fox with one of the students I tutor, starting to really and truly scope out jobs in Chicago for August, and trying to eat more protein because I realized I wasn't getting enough. (Lentils are my new best friend. You say gross, I say not if you saw the multitude of delicious things to be made with them.)

Happy weekend-ing! xoxo,
E.