Top 5s of the Missing Month

Rather than write a long, detailed post about something you may have experienced first hand, here is a collection of "Top 5s" covering the missing month:

Top 5 Reasons My TAPortugal Flight Was Enjoyable

(Despite paying 80€ to check my carry-on bag)

1. Since they weigh your carry-on and only permit 8 kilos, boarding and de-boarding was quick. Light travelers make the awkward retrieval of overhead storage bags much more bearable.
2. I got seated next to an adorable young English boy who shared his Werther's candies with me and described the granola bar as "delightful" (insert British accent).
3. Mealtime was interesting, offering choices between "meat" and "fish", which when prompted for more information, turned out to be rabbit and salted cod. Not your usual airplane options.
4. I had my own TV, which meant I finally watched Life of Pi.
5. Since I got picked up in Newark, a stop at Wawa for a Philly soft pretzel was quite convenient.

Top 5 Typical Holland Experiences

1. Mom and I stayed with the Clarks and we had a wonderful dinner of Wiersma's kebabs. It wouldn't have been complete without the awkward conversation of Kevin grilling Jackie about her relationship.
2. I spent a lovely afternoon and evening with the Bengelinks, discussing my life and feeling at home with my Michigan parents.
3. Jackie and I hit up LJs at 6:30 in the morning. The muffins are truly better at that time.
4. The Holland Brewery was wonderful all 3 times, and provided the perfect place for catching up on everything UBmissing. (I had to do it...)
5. I couldn't resist ordering "nuggies" but realized just after calling that I didn't know what they are actually listed as on the menu. While explaing to the girl that I wanted the garlic bread knot thingies, she laughed and said not to worry, everybody has a different name for them. Phew.

Top 5 Wedding Preparation Memories

1. Mom and I fully enjoyed hitting up every flea market in Hershey and Holland in order to gather vintage looking goblets.
2. The feeling of seeing Ali in her first wedding dress was pretty indescribable. It only got beat when we saw her in the wedding dress.
3. Mike, Ali, Mom, and I all held our laughter back as we tried to compliment the awful conference-like reception room in Middletown. "It has lots of parking!"
4. Over dinner at Freeze and Frizze, we all laughed over the $54,000 wedding that another one of the places tried to sell us. Everything was included in the package except for flowers and a cake. However, it was requested that we use their florist and their bakery. When we talked about doing something other than flowers for centerpieces and cupcakes instead of cake, the woman politely said, "Flowers are kind of required and you can discuss the possibility of having cupcakes." Okay...
5. Nanny and I had a blast doing shower invitations and goodies after the bride packed up her bags for Messiah and we could work without working that she would walk into our mischief.

Top 5 Family "Stay-cation" Activities

1. We headed off to Lititz and practiced rolling our own pretzels at the Julius Sturgis pretzel factory. Then we headed over to the Wilbur chocolate factory, where Justin made Maddy, Brandt, and Amaya "sit" for the chocolate coins he bought them. Yes, "sit", like a dog.
2. Let's be serious, we ate Mom's stromboli and played board games. It doesn't get more typical Rogers family than that.
3. Mom, Mike, Josh, Ali, Tami, and I went over to Milton Hershey to do Ali's Messiah workout (or work out in the vicinity of those doing the MWS workout). Go team!
4. We hiked up Governor Dick and after 5 minutes, realized why we don't go on family hikes. "Are we there yet?!" was asked multiple family members that were over the age of 12.
5. The Jigger shop obviously has to make this list. Root beer from the tap and watching Brandt smear ice cream all over his face? How can it get any better?!

Top 5 NYC Adventures

1. The Warm-Up concert is an annual summer event held at the MOMA in Long Island City. The concert features up-and-coming rappers and since J.Cole was appearing, Hanah and her rapper self were all over it. The event was made a little more exciting by Mikella's surprise entrance via a VIP member's extra ticket and the subsequent evasion of said VIP.
2. Hanah and I literally spent a day and a half trying to find a pair of jeans that would replace my beloved, 6-year-old, spur-of-the-moment-purchase, skinny jeans. This was a necessary adventure since all of the jeans in Spain are made for people whose thighs are the same size as their ankles.
3. I took my first serious cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education. During such class I found out that fire is no big deal, since the teacher shrugged off the burning tea towel Hanah frantically pointed out. Apparently the paella was more important than a NYC skyscraper.
4. Per usual, I fully appreciated my eating adventures: Levain cookies, diner food, Vietnamese sandwiches, and Hanah's post-yoga green juice were among the favorites.
5. Last but not least, I saw my first Fulbright friend stateside! I was delighted to see Dan's sneakers have just as many holes as they did in Spain.

Top 5 Reasons Why < 24 Hours is Worth 6 Hours of Driving

1.  If Natalie and Mikella and hadn't sucked it up and drove, we wouldn't have been able to share our 9 hours together. Mind you, those 9 hours were from 11:00 PM to 8:00 AM, meaning we had to sleep in there.
2. Mikella and I drove to Hershey together from NYC, which meant quality discussion and quality snacking on Levain cookies. When you are 23 years old and living 2 completely different but equally hectic lives 6 time zones away from each other, you make do what you have.
3. 6:30 AM breakfast at The Hershey Pantry reminded me of all of our early morning Phelps breakfasts. The difference is we didn't have to go to ballet afterward. WIN.
4. When you get a sampler at Tröegs Brewery, lunch becomes a 4 hour affair. Since Natalie was leaving after lunch, we stretched it out to include a post-lunch popcorn course, and then a cookie course... the snack bar didn't see us coming.
5. E-mails and blogs and skype are great, but if you can have a real hug, does it matter how long it takes to drive there?

Top 5 Reasons It Was Hard to Say Goodbye

1. Leaving, I knew I won't get to be around for all of the ongoing wedding preparations.
2. There's something about snuggling up on the sofa at home that is unlike snuggling up on any other sofa.
3. Sunday afternoons with Dad and hanging around with Mom become Sunday skype sessions once again. And for those of you who skype with me, you know the connection is less than ideal.
4. I didn't get to see a single Messiah Women's Soccer game in my little sister's senior season.
5. I, once again, left behind the chance for random weekends with my siblings or grandparents or out-of-town friends.

Top 5 Phrases in My "Back-to-Spain-Getting-Over-Jetlag Beach Trip"

1. Culo veo, culo deseo. (Butt sees, Butt wants.) I spent 3 days with two 5 year-old twin girls and a 2 year-old boy. Of course there was a frequent redistribution of shovels, toys, seats, food, etc. Being a child is pretty universal.
2. ¡La fuente está funcionando! (The fountain is working!) Darío (my teacher's 2 year-old son) was obsessed with the fountains that were on the sidewalk in front of the house. It wasn't always on, so every time we left the house, we had to see if the fountain was "fufionando". It's a pretty hard word for a 2 year-old and he almost got it right.
3. La ponemos en la olla... ¡y la comemos! (We put it in the pot and we eat it!) The kids were obsessed with a figurine of a chicken that had real feathers, which of course fell off every time they touched the chicken. Whenever the adults were hiding it, the grandmother would claim they were getting ready to put it in the pot so that we could eat it. 
4. Tienes que hacer caso a la primera. (You have to listen the first time.) Again, being a kid is pretty universal. Thus, Elisa and her sister were constantly reminding their kids to listen the first time. Sometimes the kids were even trying to convince each other to listen the first time.
5. ¡Los Simpsons! (The Simpsons!) Another one of Darío's obsessions was the inflatable Simpsons bounce castle. He didn't actually want to jump in it, but we went to look at it a number of times over the three days. Now I see how Spaniards get their obsessions with the Simpsons at a young age.

Well my friends, that is a delayed summary of my past month. Since being in the U.S. was its own sort of vacation, I figured I should comment on it like I would my trips around Europe. Unfortunately it is a text heavy post since I didn't take my camera out once during my stateside adventures. However, I can leave you with one picture of Almería...

An overcast day at the beach in Southern Spain

 

Stay tuned to hear about my adventures as a WWOOFer!

Much love, as always,

Amber