I miss you most of all, my darling...

Are any of you familiar with the old jazz tune "Autumn Leaves"?

When I was in the Bluecoats colorguard this summer, it was our corps song, so I got to know the words quite well.  My favorite is the line "I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall."

Well, autumn leaves are starting to fall in Indiana, and here I am at the halfway point of my semester in Spain.  I can't believe I've already been here almost two months, and in less than two months I will be packing up and heading home.  Anyway, it's about that point in the trip where some of the magic has worn off.  We no longer feel like we have all the time in the world here... and with midterms next week, we really don't have all the leisure time we thought we did.  

 I'm also starting to feel a little homesick for the first time.  Not in a big way.  I don't want to come home... but I do wish that I could eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant with my parents, or that I could just pick up my cell phone and call my best friends.  

Also, to go along with the Autumn Leaves theme, I miss AUTUMN most of all when autumn leaves start to fall in Indiana, and not Spain! For the most part, the weather here is warmer and I love it, but today was cold and rainy and felt like fall... but minus the beautiful yellow trees that we have on campus.

 I absolutely love fall and spring on Butler's campus.  During the winter, I won't lie, I'm pretty grouchy about having to walk through the snow or wind to get to class (a whole 6 minutes... yeah, my life is rough haha).  But during fall and spring I am just in love with campus.  I study outside on the mall, and I drink my coffee out on the patio and I take the long route if it means walking through Holcomb Gardens to see all the pretty trees.  I miss that.  I miss wearing a hoodie and a scarf and walking by the football game.  I miss going to the corn maze with the Student Foundation. I miss my best friend Betsy's obession with pumpkins.

I'm also a little sad to be missing out on Homecoming this week.  It's one of the times at Butler that is filled with tradition, activities and general college chaos. It is almost midnight here in Spain, which makes me think of Midnight Snack that will be happening in about seven hours Indiana time, when SGA brings in tons of free fast food (Hot Box pizza, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, McD's, oh my)... and now I'm hungry and jealous! ha.  I also wish I could be there to see my good friend Jacqui run for Homecoming Queen (best of luck, Q!) and I wish I was there to help out with Pi Phi's lawn decorations (although that did not turn out so well for me last year... haha).

Anyway, Homecoming is SO much fun, but it's also a crazy-busy week to live in a sorority house that is bustling with plywood and paint for the Lawn Decs Workshop and booming with music and clapping as our Yell Like Hell cheerleaders cram in their final practices before the competition.  

But, don't you worry... I will find my own chaos in Barcelona this weekend.  I hope one of the most culturally-rich cities in the world can rival Butler's Homecoming : )

It's funny... just writing about the things I miss made me feel better.  As much as I act like homesickness is for the weak, I'm starting to think it's okay to miss home.  If I didn't, it wouldn't really be a good home, would it??  But, the important thing is to know that it will be there when I get back, and for now, I've got a pretty fantastic continent to explore.

 I miss you most of all, my Butler darlings! Enjoy fall : )