What a long time it’s been. When I last wrote I was heading off for my long awaited return to the USA. It was quite an adventure! Coast to coast, 5 states, 3 weeks, and lots of friends and family to be seen. Oh yeah, and tons of good food to be eaten!
I left Madrid on March 26th and was headed first for New York City. The flight west really isn’t
too bad (6-7 hours) but especially when you are very lucky like I am and get to sit in business class thanks to wonderful family friends who work for Delta. The first signal that I was once again surrounded by Americans was this: The flight attendants served dinner and I dug in. About three minutes in, the flight attendant comes back to say, “Are you finished?” I looked at my plate (which was 75% full) then looked back at her with a face that hopefully read, “Does it look like I’m finished?” I said no and she left me alone. About two minutes later she was back with the same question. Once again I said no. At that point I looked around and realized most of the other passengers were on the next course. So unless there’s some new prize on airplanes for who can eat the fastest, I’m going to guess Spain has changed my eating habits. 
When I landed in JFK and picked up my bags I immediately got a taxi and headed for NYU law campus. As we merged on to the highway I noticed one thing, “Man these cars are HUGE!” I’m not just talking about the big SUVs. I mean, clearly those are enormous. But even our “compact” cars seemed big to me. Example: early in my time here I met a Spanish guy who was quite proud of his “big American car”. He was bragging about how he has the biggest car of all his friends but also lamenting that it was nearly impossible to park. The car? An old Ford Taurus. WOW… HUGE!
Anyway, I got to NYU and headed in for day 1 of an admitted students weekend. All in all the school was great. I met lots of awesome students, was wowed by the faculty and the programs, got to see the tiny, exorbitantly expensive student apartments, and was really impressed by the whole thing. I was definitely excited about it.
I was lucky enough to have a friend, Ryan, from USF who lives in Brooklyn who let me stay with him. It was great to get to see the Brooklyn side of NYC also. I had all day Saturday just to 
explore the city so Ryan played guide and took me on a walking tour. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge through China Town and Little Italy. We took the subway up to Times Square, got a cupcake (or two) at famous Magnolia Bakery, and then explored Central Park. We also had a slice of pizza (or four) from a place that got voted “Best Pizza in NYC” by Food Network (though best pizza in New York is a huge debate I don’t want any part of). It was great! I had a really amazing time in New York and while it’s not somewhere I would want to live forever, it’s a pretty awesome experience.
After a fun weekend in NY, it was time for the next stop on the tour. I jumped a plain to Detroit, Michigan, where our old family friend, Steve was nice enough to pick me up. I got to hang out for a bit with his ridiculously cute children who were so sweet. I used to babysit them but they were really little so I figured they wouldn’t remember me. But when I got there Hailey (age 7) ran and gave me a big hug and said, “I really missed you.” I love kids.
I left Madrid on March 26th and was headed first for New York City. The flight west really isn’t
too bad (6-7 hours) but especially when you are very lucky like I am and get to sit in business class thanks to wonderful family friends who work for Delta. The first signal that I was once again surrounded by Americans was this: The flight attendants served dinner and I dug in. About three minutes in, the flight attendant comes back to say, “Are you finished?” I looked at my plate (which was 75% full) then looked back at her with a face that hopefully read, “Does it look like I’m finished?” I said no and she left me alone. About two minutes later she was back with the same question. Once again I said no. At that point I looked around and realized most of the other passengers were on the next course. So unless there’s some new prize on airplanes for who can eat the fastest, I’m going to guess Spain has changed my eating habits. 
When I landed in JFK and picked up my bags I immediately got a taxi and headed for NYU law campus. As we merged on to the highway I noticed one thing, “Man these cars are HUGE!” I’m not just talking about the big SUVs. I mean, clearly those are enormous. But even our “compact” cars seemed big to me. Example: early in my time here I met a Spanish guy who was quite proud of his “big American car”. He was bragging about how he has the biggest car of all his friends but also lamenting that it was nearly impossible to park. The car? An old Ford Taurus. WOW… HUGE!
Anyway, I got to NYU and headed in for day 1 of an admitted students weekend. All in all the school was great. I met lots of awesome students, was wowed by the faculty and the programs, got to see the tiny, exorbitantly expensive student apartments, and was really impressed by the whole thing. I was definitely excited about it.
I was lucky enough to have a friend, Ryan, from USF who lives in Brooklyn who let me stay with him. It was great to get to see the Brooklyn side of NYC also. I had all day Saturday just to 
explore the city so Ryan played guide and took me on a walking tour. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge through China Town and Little Italy. We took the subway up to Times Square, got a cupcake (or two) at famous Magnolia Bakery, and then explored Central Park. We also had a slice of pizza (or four) from a place that got voted “Best Pizza in NYC” by Food Network (though best pizza in New York is a huge debate I don’t want any part of). It was great! I had a really amazing time in New York and while it’s not somewhere I would want to live forever, it’s a pretty awesome experience.After a fun weekend in NY, it was time for the next stop on the tour. I jumped a plain to Detroit, Michigan, where our old family friend, Steve was nice enough to pick me up. I got to hang out for a bit with his ridiculously cute children who were so sweet. I used to babysit them but they were really little so I figured they wouldn’t remember me. But when I got there Hailey (age 7) ran and gave me a big hug and said, “I really missed you.” I love kids.
That day we drove through Ann Arbor (the town I came to see) and I spent the night catching up on some sleep. The next day I walked to the University of Michigan campus where I had a little day of activities planned. I met with an admissions director to get some of my questions answered. I wandered around the cute college town and got a great deli sandwich for lunch. I sat in on a transnational law class that was pretty interesting. And finally I took a private tour of the law campus with a second year law student. The Michigan law campus is unbelievably beautiful. The law quad is part of the main campus but its four walls keep it quiet. All the wonderful things I heard about the school were true.
From there I got on yet another plane, this time going to LA. My good friend from high school, Ryan (another one!) was my gracious host. My first day in LA I had a day planned to visit UCLA law. My situation was interesting in that I was staying near the USC campus but had to get to the UCLA campus. I decided to save myself a lot of money on a cab ride and take the bus. I’m a pro with public transportation at this point, right? Well, let’s just say it was an epic journey. According to Wikipedia the campuses are 10 miles apart and the bus ride took a little over TWO HOURS! What fun! It was also a nice opportunity to get the scenic tour of some of LA’s less picturesque neighborhoods. But once I hit Sunset it was a pretty nice drive. We went 
through Beverly Hills and finally landed at UCLA.At UCLA I met with the Dean of Admissions, sat in on a class, had lunch with a student, and took a tour of campus. It was a warm, sunny day and it was amazing to see students studying outside! The campus is beautiful and just what you would imagine of a campus in southern California.
The next day I was free to do fun things in LA. Ryan and I had lunch at In N Out (my request), walked down Santa Monica Pier and a cute shopping area, and later went to a concert in Hollywood. We also went to one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to, The Standard. It sits on top of a hotel, is surrounded by skyscrapers and has incredible views. So fun!
The next day I was free to do fun things in LA. Ryan and I had lunch at In N Out (my request), walked down Santa Monica Pier and a cute shopping area, and later went to a concert in Hollywood. We also went to one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to, The Standard. It sits on top of a hotel, is surrounded by skyscrapers and has incredible views. So fun!After a great few days in LA it was time to go back to the city where I left my heart almost one year ago, San Francisco! It was a great weekend :) I stayed in my old apartment with my old roommates which was such a blast! I was lucky
enough to get to meet up with soooo many wonderful friends on this trip that I won’t mention them all. But it was really great to reconnect with everyone I love in the Bay. But I didn’t just go for fun! I went to visit Berkeley law. This was another admitted students weekend planned by the school. It was a pretty packed day which involved a mock
class, student panel, tour, lunch, student organization fair, and reception.Unfortunately there is a pretty major construction project going on that won’t be finished until my third year of law school. But the inside of the law school is state of the art. I met some cool people and enjoyed the sunny, relaxed atmosphere.
After some days of just having fun in SF, it was finally time to go to the most important leg of the trip, HOME! I ended up staying a little longer than I planned and enjoyed every minute of it.
The older I get, the more I love home. It was so fun to hang out with my family. If you haven’t spent time with my little brother lately, you should because he is hilarious! I loved having family dinners and just relaxing at home.I also got to see my closest friends from Utah. My best friend, Stephanie, even flew in from Spokane just for the weekend! She, Megan and I took a spontaneous road trip to Idaho to take a dip in the hot springs. (They were really hot).
Hanging out in Utah was the perfect ending to the trip.
Finally it was back to Madrid! After some set backs due to tornadoes in Atlanta, I made it back safely to Spain. I'm usually pretty good with jetlag but I made the fatal error of sleeping for seven hours my first day back. Therefore I was nocturnal for about a week.
It was so wonderful to be back in the States. I have learned so much during my time here in Spain and one of the greatest things I think I’m taking away is a new appreciation for America and my home. There is definitely something special about the US and I know it now, more than ever. I’m already looking forward to coming back in July!
But that’s not to say I wasn’t happy to be back in Madrid. I definitely felt like my time wasn’t finished here, and I had more things to see and do. The weekend I got back all my closest girlfriends met for a reunion dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Chueca! It was really fun to hear about all the exciting things people did during the Easter break. And the nachos weren’t bad either!Now I’m back in the swing of things at school and with my private lessons. The highlights of the teaching week included trying to help a student understand Beyonce lyrics (“Boo stop trippin” is when… “Shawty got swag” has to do with…) and making Mother’s Day presents in first grade (a popsicle stick recipe holder of sorts).
Tomorrow two of my friends here, Blair and Kristen, are running the Madrid Marathon! A bunch of us are going to go support them at various points of the course. Oh yeah, and out of 11,000 runners there are only 500 women!!! WOW!
I have some exciting trips planned for May and June! More details to come…
I wanted to say thank you to all the friends and family I was able to see on this trip! Thank you for everything from rides to lodging to meals to just your company! I feel so blessed to have loved ones on every corner of the earth.
One last thing! If you’re wondering where I decided to go to law school… well, it’s a tricky thing. I’ve narrowed it down to NYU or Berkeley but it’s a pretty agonizing decision. I thought I settled on NYU, then had a mild panic attack and reversed my choice, then thought some more… so I’ll let you know for sure in a week or two. Either way, I feel extremely lucky to be stuck in a win-win situation.
Besos!
One last thing! If you’re wondering where I decided to go to law school… well, it’s a tricky thing. I’ve narrowed it down to NYU or Berkeley but it’s a pretty agonizing decision. I thought I settled on NYU, then had a mild panic attack and reversed my choice, then thought some more… so I’ll let you know for sure in a week or two. Either way, I feel extremely lucky to be stuck in a win-win situation.
Besos!
