LA DESPEDIDA

Translated it means farewell and that's basically what it was for me. Also called "la graduación" or "la fiesta de fin del curso" it was my Spanish schools version of Prom. Definitely not as extravagant nor american and much more school oriented but a great party for the last time I might see some of my classmates. Also that morning I finished my DELE exam which I definitely passed (spanish proficiency B1 level).

For a while now my friends have been asking one another whether they got a dress, from where, what does it look like… the same as back home to build up the hype, and make sure no one has the same one. I felt pretty safe with my plan to wear my black semi formal dress I brought from Canada and haven't worn yet. Black wasn't the most common colour for this spring event and my friend Ana liked to tease me about "copying her" because we went with similar styled outfits and same coloured dress. But mine was "palabra de honor" (word of honour), meaning strapless so it wasn't like we were twins.

Friday night started, for me, with a gym bag full of stuff and off to Maite's house to get ready. Her hairdresser was there to do her hair and then I did her makeup. Leaving me with about fifteen minutes to get myself all ready. No problem though. Then we walked across the street to our school to go to mass. It was a bit special the mass and afterwards we got pictures in the church the whole graduating class and then had a "lunch" for students and parents in the comedor of my school. After that we had some time before the fiesta.

For the night we rented out a part of a nearby big hotel for dinner and a dance. We weren't aloud to go through until 10:30pm for the dinner and the dance would start at 1:00 and go till 6:00am. So to pass the time we went to a bar close to school before heading to the hotel area to hang out at another bar. Like back home I end up with a bit of a job when I go to certain functions or get togethers and that's to bring the camera. Before the actual fiesta began I had 190 photos and all night people kept asking me to take pictures. Which I don't mind at all - that's why I own and bring my camera - but it's nice to be in some of these photos too. It wasn't so bad though and I hope they like the photos.

Finally inside we started first in a big dinning hall where we got some appetizer meat and bread (jamón = spanish ham and pan = reason exchange students gain weight). Also our three wine glasses were filled, one with water, another with Chardonnay and a local red wine in the third and largest cup. Followed shortly with a delicious filo pastry topped with salad and pimiento; I believe I always like the first plate the best because it has the most vegetables. Then a really yummy fish dish followed by a steak that I was too full to eat and for desert and chocolate mousse with some banana flavour that I managed to find a little room for. After the four course meal and continuous wine flow the waiters took our drink orders…

Dinner then was followed by a five hour dance (that all the teachers stayed for) accompanied by a free bar (that all the teachers took advantage of as well). It was a lot of fun. Partying with teachers still just seems weir to me, hearing stories of having to take one (my history teacher) home the previous year, but "when in Spain" right? So I danced all through the night with all the great people I've met this year.

At six am we all worked on getting our stuff together and heading out of the hotel. I had made plans to walk home with a friend who lives nearby so we hooked up and realized we actually live about two blocks from each other! She wanted some food in her so we went to McDonalds… one euro hamburger before seven in the morning - I just couldn't do it. So I sat at a table with a classmate and told him how much I liked his suit, the jacket was a velvet or something and nicely cut, interesting unique and not overly tacky. Txetxa ate her burger and we headed on home. Walking in semi formal wear with heels in your hand in the early morning sunrise can be quite peaceful actually. I got home at quarter to eight, saw my hostdad in the hallway, he laughed at me a little and I went to bed until meal time. After which about two hours later MY MOM DAD AND SISTER ARRIVED IN PAMPLONA!!!!!!!!!!! A wonderful 24+ hours (seemed just like one day)