Adiós España

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Today is my last day in Alicante; tomorrow morning I catch my flight back to the states - Alicante to Madrid to Chicago. I’m a huge mess of emotions right now and can’t really pinpoint exactly how I feel. On one hand, I’m incredibly excited to see my family again and friends I haven’t seen in months, but on the other hand I’m really sad knowing that my time in Alicante is up. These five months were the most amazing of my life, and I’ll never forget this wonderful place and the great friends I made here. My study abroad experience was not exactly what I thought it would be, but it was amazing none-the-less. I expected to fall in love with the city and the country by the end of my semester here, but what I fell in love with more was the combination of everything that has made up my life since January. My experience was memorable because of the place, the time, and the people, and without a single one of those components, it wouldn’t have been the same. When I get back to the U.S. and people ask me how my semester abroad was, it’s going to be hard to answer. Of course “amazing!” is a good answer, but beyond that I don’t even know where to start. My experience this semester was so completely unique and personal to me that I don’t think anyone who wasn’t here can even begin to grasp what it was like. I think that’s a big reason why all the people in my group here got along so well with each other and formed such strong friendships - we all went through the same ups and downs together and grew together and shared this incredible life for nearly half a year. Although we all had classes and were here to study at the university, it really was a sort of five month vacation - a long break from reality. Because of that, I think going back to “real life” in the U.S. will be extremely difficult. When I get into Chicago tomorrow afternoon, Mom will be there to pick me up for the five hour drive back to Grundy and then I will have five days at home to relax, unwind, and catch up with family and friends before I move back to Columbia. THEN comes reality. I’ll go from just having class three days a week intermittently for five months to starting my first OT course: Gross Human Anatomy, meeting thirty-seven hours a week. My goodness, what a change! I’m sure I’ll be fine once I get into though; it’s just the concept of such a turn-around that’s scaring me right now.
So, I’m nearly all packed up, minus a few last things I’ll throw together tomorrow morning before leaving for the airport. Puri is gone most of today but will be back tonight for our last dinner together and to say goodbye before she goes to work tonight. After dinner, the Mizzou group - all that now remains of our program - is getting together to spend a little time on the beach before I come back and head to bed. It seems like so long ago that we were all stranded in the Madrid airport together, lacking sleep and stressed out by the awful start of the semester, but in a way it seems like yesterday - time here has gone by so quickly. In two days I’ll wake up in my own bed, eat an omelet for breakfast instead of dinner, talk to my parents in English, and enjoy ranch dressing immensely 😊 - all of which will be great. But I’ll also miss the view of the Mediterranean from my balcony, being able to go out at night, running along the beach, being challenged by a new language, traveling, and getting to see my “compañeros” everyday. It will be a change for sure, but you give and you take I guess. In the end, I’ll know that I feel amazingly blessed to have been able to study and live in Spain for five months, and I’ll forever cherish all the memories made here. Adiós España. Nos vemos otra vez algún día.

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