#dijlepark

Our huis, which is silent due to the finals terror, was suddenly filled with the sounds of opera. Undoubtedly each person assumed they were hearing things - losing their mind from too much study, coffee and solidarity. I remembered that scene from "Chasing Liberty" where they're sitting on a building rooftop watching this opera take place in the square below. Of course my first thought was, "this is Europe". And my second thought was "it's 10:30 at night, this probably isn't lasting much longer, but I NEED to find it". On a whim Katia and I decided to find the park which ended up being just 3 minutes from our huis. At first we were kept out by a gate but a little wandering led us right in, and without having to pay the 12 euro charge. I sat right down in the grass and like a little girl seeing her first ballet, I was mesmerized. Since being here I haven't seen a theatrical performance of any type and I forget just how much that aspect of my life means to me. I have also ALWAYS wanted to see an opera. Something about the emotion, even though I have NO idea what's going on, just grabs me.  The park was beautiful and we got to hear three songs before it was over. It was the perfect way to go to sleep the night before my last final.  That's right. I am DONE finals. I am officially done. It was a ROUGH exam period with many tears and fears of failure (it's a mad world huh?), but somehow I truly think I will make it through. Reminding yourself you can do anything, sleep is for the weak, and that coffee is cheap is the only way I did it. So PRAISE!  I leave for Budapest in 3 days with Katia and Andres. I will return early Friday morning and then it's packing, room check Saturday at 4:30 and Early flight Sunday morning.  We have all decided to just stay out Saturday night and party until our bus comes at 6am. It's either party or cry in our beds. I choose going out with a bang. 

I'm not looking forward to these goodbyes at all. But I'm also going to put off thinking about it for as long as I can. I have another trip with Katia, which is really the most important thing to me right now.  Also my cousin Janelle is getting stronger everyday. I have never been so proud of a person.   Here's another video of a man singing. :)