(I really love parenthetical phrases)

Sometimes it's just so wonderful, and sometimes it's not.

It's like that time I walked into the German bakery in Fredericksburg and I was so excited to be in a place that sold so many delicious pastries and cookies and cakes because (let's face it) I have a sweet tooth the size of an elephant's molar. I'd been inside before, eaten the apple turnovers and snickerdoodles and bearclaws (my dad likes those, as I recall), and looked at the decorations that told all the tourists how proud the owners were to be of a German bloodline. And I walked in and I looked around and I took a breath and I gagged and I walked back outside. The air inside was sweet. It was sweet sweet sweet, so sweet, too sweet for me to breathe in. My sweet tooth might've been able to handle it, but there is more to me than just my sweet tooth, and those other parts of me couldn't do it, couldn't take the weight of the sweetness.

Sometimes I find myself back in that bakery. But the thing is, when the bakery isn't really a bakery, there isn't any exit, and I have to find my own way out, MacGyver-style.

Humans need community, I know this. But sometimes, just every so often, isn't it easier to be the hermit? It is a very selfish thing to say that dealing with other people, other people's issues, other people's emotions, is really just a big hassle. Some of my favorite times have been when I am driving home to Colorado or driving back to Texas, when I have 11 hours of solid thinking time, all to myself, no one to interrupt, no one to bother me, no one else to think about.

And that is selfish.

Solitary drives aren't all bad, of course (sometimes they're all that keep me sane), but I might have a tendency to cling to the hermit-like aspects of them. "Because we're all just temporary nomads, traveling side by side until there is a choice. Then you will take one, and I will take the other, and we will be 'us' no longer but 'you' and 'me'."

Thank God my hermit tendencies do not rule for long. Thank God (quite literally, not me) that I do not regard others as merely a hassle for the majority of my thoughts. Thank God, in short, that I am only an asshole part of the time and not all of the time. You'll have to forgive me (or not, really) for the times when I am.

The music starts again.

Whoops.

I forgot I had a blog.

Not that it's a big problem or whatever - blogs aren't actually that important, in my not-so-humble opinion - but it's still nice to be able to keep track of your life in a somewhat tangible way. Then again, this is the Internet, so I guess even that's not accurate.

I'm back in Lubbock, I'm in a new house near campus, I'm almost totally moved in, I have my old job back and I'm stealing the neighbors' Internet. So good to be back in the States, right?

Well, yes, yes it is. It's great! Really. However, I find that I've been asked the questions, "Would you do it again? Would you go to Europe again?" several times now, and my immediate mental response each time is What the hell kind of a question is that? Isn't it obvious, if you even know me a teeny tiny bit? The answer is clearly yes! Okay, granted, I wouldn't do things exactly the same, so maybe the questions aren't totally uncalled for. I would go to a different city, perhaps, maybe live in Madrid, Barcelona, or Paris. Of course, Edinburgh still has a piece of my heart from all those years ago (okay, just just six or so), and I would like to travel a bit more before making a decision, but Yes! Yes, I would do it again!

Enough about that. I'm bored of talking about Europe to an audience that only asks about it out of politeness. The world doesn't stop just because you move to a foreign country for a little while, and I definitely feel a little left out of things. Relationships, recent happenings, inside jokes, etc. I know it was my choice to take myself away from all those things for four months but it's still hard to come back to even more life changes.

Blah blah blah.

I miss Spain people. I really really do! 27 new friends, all of whom I adore, and now I'm not around them for hours every day. Golly gee, life is hard, eh? Guess I'd better get to sucking it up and toughening up as soon as I can. Ah, Viva la Vida!

We were neutral.

Yes, alright, okay, I've failed again in keeping up-to-date with my blogs. Apologies all around. Things have, however, been rather busy on this side of the planet.

We went to Switzerland last weekend. Yes, that's correct: Switzerland. It's the only country in Europe that I've been to that is not in the European Union, and I think I may may now understand why. As it turns out, Switzerland can stand on its own two feet. I actually left Sevilla a day early to go to Milan and spend some time with Urte (she's studying there for the semester). It was so great, getting to see a familiar face from back home in a foreign land. Urte was an awesome tour guide, showing me all kinds of amazing places like The Duomo and the Castle, and taking me to eat and drink delicious things that evening.

Everyone else arrived in Milan mid-morning on Friday, and we all hopped on a train that would take us from Milano Centrale to our final destination! Granted, we actually had to change trains 3 or 4 times, and we kept accidentally sitting in 1st class, but we finally made it. Our group (there were 12 of us, can you imagine?) spent our long weekend in Interlaken, known for its geographical beauty and extreme sports. We got to experience plenty of both, especially the beauty. I loved, loved, loved Switzerland, and it is now a goal of mine to go back and explore the rest of it one day.

We took a couple of days to go exploring around the area - mountain bikes, four-wheelers, motos, what have you.

Our moto!

A lovely church in a different village.

Swiss chocolate... a little piece of heaven, if you ask me.

Group photo! I was really surprised that we managed to have such a good time since there were 12 of us all together. We really had a terrific group in Switzerland - lots of fun, lots of love, and no Debbie Downers!

Paris, je t'aime

So a couple of weekends ago, we went to Paris. Yeah, you know, Paris. No biggie.

Actually, it was my second time to experience the amazing beauty that is Paris, and I'm pleased to say that it captured my heart all over again, just as it did the first time. This time, though, was so different from my first visit. Nothing can ever replace or measure up to one's first experience with this city, to be sure, and so it would be a lie to say that this trip was better than the first. This trip was different, though. Last time I was in a huge school group with guided tours and bus transportation everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love guided tours, but there's something to be said for experiencing the sites of the city on your own terms. Instead of a huge group of wide-eyed, young high schoolers being carted around and chaperoned everywhere, this trip was a group of wide-eyed college students, old enough to be resourceful and explore the city without needing someone to shepherd us, yet still young and naive enough to be in awe of what we were doing and seeing.

My favorite difference between this trip and my first one, though, was being able to walk everywhere and just explore and experience the streets and people of Paris. Walking, taking it slower, savoring it all, was infinitely better than traveling everywhere by means of a tour bus.

Notre Dame, lit up in her nocturnal glory.

Maggie and I took turns posing in front of the French Senate building in the Gardens of Luxembourg. Government and gardens... the French know how to do it.

Gardens of Luxembourg. These are flags for all of the countries within the EU

Who is that? Oh, the Venus de Milo? Oh, right.

View of the Louvre's pyramid from one of the windows

The Opera House! It was absolutely incredible.

Anyone recognize this? On my last trip, we went to see it at night. It was little safer in the daytime.

We went to the Eiffel Tower on Saturday, our last night. It was fantastic.

Lisboa, where Spanish speakers don't know what the heck to do...

Lisbon! It's the capital of Portugal and was, for a long time, one of the world's most powerful cities. We went sight-seeing for a while the first day and explored a huge monastery with beautiful structuring, as well as one of the cities old protective fortresses, the Tower of Belem. That evening, we all went out to eat at a Brazilian meat house. I don't think I've ever eaten so much meat, not even during the Labor Day Goat Cook-Off in Brady! The black beans and rice with fried bananas were absolutely delicious as well.

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting the largest aquarium in Europe, a zoo that specified in African and Asian animals, seeing some old castles, checking out restaurants and doing a bit of shopping. All in all, a great weekend.

Tower of Belem!

Playing look-out, holding down the fort (literally).

Know whose dead body that is? Vasca De Gama!

Some of that really delicous food I mentioned, as well as some pretty terrific company.