It’s my last day in Spain, my last day in Alcala, a place that has become like home to me over the last four months. I’m going to fair warn you now this could turn into a small novel and not only that I have no idea where I will go with it, so be prepared for randomness. While words do not even describe how excited I am to come home and how much I have missed everyone, it is still sad to leave. My host mom was in tears last night because we are leaving tomorrow morning. She is a truly unbelievable person. I have had some wonderful sit down talks with her one on one and not only have I been able to practice my Spanish but I have been able to learn about her and her family, life here in Spain as well as life in Ecuador as this is were she is originally from. In the midst of being removed from everything I have known for the last 20 ½ years of my life, she has been one of the constant things that was stable while I was here. Stable things become very important, especially in the beginning because everything is so different. I could not have asked for a better host mom, I plan on keeping in contact with her and one day returning to visit her.
I don’t even know where to begin, there are so many things about Spain to talk, things that I will miss, things that I won’t miss. One thing is for sure, it is very different here than in the States. But, one of the most important things you learn while studying abroad is to see that just because something is different doesn’t make it better or worse than what you know or are used to. I have been able to see several different cultures and places and each place has its own little things that make it unique. To me, each one is different and special it its own way. There is not one right way of doing everything. We met a couple from Britain once, they were here in Spain and they didn’t realize that we were Americans at first. When they found out that we were, they were shocked. They joked with us and told us they didn’t think Americans knew there was a world outside of the US. Unfortunately for some I think this is true. While I realized that there was a world outside the US before I came, its one thing to have the idea in your mind and a completely different idea to actually experience. The most important advice that I can give people is to explore and see as much as you can. Everyone in the States say they never have time, there is never enough time to do anything in the States, everything is work, meetings, etc. There’s always something stopping people. I’m not saying that work isn’t important here and people aren’t busy because they are, but it’s different. A large majority of the populations of just about every country in Europe travel during Semana Santa for one, Easter Week and as well many people will take up to an entire month off in the summer to travel and spend time with their families. It’s a joke here in Spain that the reason the divorce rate is so high at the end of summer, around September, is because married couples spend the whole year doing their own thing, going to work, living normal life and then in August they take the whole month traveling together and end up fighting and hating each other by the end of it. But again this is a joke.
Another big thing that has surprised me is that living in the States the idea of going to another country is a big deal. It just sounds big; you have to deal with passports, etc. Here in Europe as long as you are within the European Union, traveling to another country is like crossing a state border. I was able to do a fair share of traveling as well during my time here. I was able to see so many different parts of Spain. Each autonomy, which is like a state, has its own little variations with food, culture, dialect, people, the list goes on. Each place has had something wonderful about it and there are so many wonderful things to talk about in each place that I have been. I drive other people crazy asking them what their favorite place has been, etc., but the truth is I could no sooner choose one favorite place either. Each place that I have visited has been wonderful in its own way. I loved Germany and I loved Greece. Italy was gorgeous as well, a lot of people but it was one of the biggest travel weeks here in Europe. Mallorca was gorgeous although I still say the beaches don’t compare to Latin America. The water was very pretty there though; the Mediterranean is gorgeous, so crystal blue. If you want to go to a country where they love Americans, I would recommend Greece and Portugal. I have also heard that they LOVE Americans in Brazil. We talked to some students who had been there and they said they were literally treated like celebrities; people wanted their autographs just because they were Americans. The people in Greece were wonderful. There are a lot of Americans who have vacation homes there. A lot of the people there speak English as well. Its funny in most places that we have been the older generations do not speak any English, but the older generations in Greece spoke English very well. I adored Germany though; I can’t wait to go back there. And we were having a discussion with our Cine professor and he was explaining to us just how important Germany is to the rest of Europe. The rest of Europe relies so much on the business and economics of Germany. Our professor used an analogy that went something like if Germany has a cold, the rest of Europe has a flue, if Germany has flu, the rest of Europe has an epidemic.
But back to Spain…I have learned so much here. I didn’t realize just how much I had learned until we retook a test that we took at the beginning of the year. I couldn’t believe how much easier it was. My listening has improved, my speaking has improved, and I have learned so much. My host mom has commented too on how much our speaking has improved as well. In the beginning I really didn’t want to come to Spain. In high school I never learned a lot about Spain, so it has been such a wonderful experience to learn about its culture, its history, people, movies, literature and civilization. The list goes on and on. I have so many wonderful things that I will be able to share with my future classes.
In addition to all of the wonderful experiences, I have met some amazing people as well. Without Jules and Jacqs these last four months…so my shout out to you girls and everyone else in the program. And Susana and Magda are what really make it and make the program so amazing!
I will be the first to admit that it has been hard at times over the last four months. I have been all over the emotional scale, up and down. But the things that I have learned and am able to take away from this, I can’t even put into words how valuable it has been and will be in the future.
To everyone who has made this possible, I don’t even know where to begin, but thank you. For everyone who has gotten me through and kept me sane, thank you. There are so many things that I would like to say to each and every one of you that have been there for me. But I think I will save that for a little later as I have probably rambled on love enough for right now. So for the last time from Spain…goodbye to everyone, I will see you all back in the States…thanks for everything, reading, listening and following my journey! Adios...
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