114 days ago I left my home in a suburb of Los Angeles, California to embark on an incredible and definitely life-changing journey on the other side of the world.
113 days ago I took the most nerve-wracking taxi ride I have ever taken to meet a family I had never met, in a city I had never been to, in a country I had only spent 5 days in before.
The first few days seemed like a dream to me. Everything was so foreign to me, something I expected, but I knew that it was going to change. I knew that I would find my way to the CIEE Study Center without getting lost and be able to make it back to my place with relative ease. Soon all of the talking around me would make somewhat sense instead of just sound like a buzzing noise that I could in no way comprehend. This I expected, but I couldn't have expected what really happened to me.
113 days ago I entered a city that felt as foreign to me as any city could. Tomorrow I leave a city I call home. A city that I fell as comfortable walking through as any city that I have lived in before, if anything more than any other city. I can listen in on conversations and understand the basic idea of what they are talking about. When someone asks me a question I no longer stare at them blankly with no clue what they are saying. I can hold a conversation with a native pretty well, they know I am not a native speaker but I can keep a conversation going with them.
113 days ago I met complete strangers who would soon become my family here. They helped me through the tough times I faced here and made the good times better. They supported me like I was a part of their family and taught me as much as they could about the culture here. My first day I remember pretty well. Eating lunch with my host mom and her son-in-law, barely understanding anything they said and what I did understand I responded in phrases no longer than 5-words. Tonight I just had my last meal with them and was able to understand everything they said and respond with semi-complex thoughts. They have helped me and pushed me to get where I am and I know that living with a family, even though it had it's challenges, was completely worth it and the right thing for me to do. They are people I will never forget and hope to keep in touch with for many years to come.
112 days ago I met three amazing women, two of my professors and my program director. I introduced myself with my broken Spanish and just thought that I had met three people who were going to teach me Spanish. They taught me that and so much more. They pushed me to get over my fear of speaking in front of people, my biggest fear in life and something I have never been able to overcome. Growing up I had a hearing problem and soon got behind on speaking. After years of speech therapy and being made fun of, I have overcome that fear and gained a new-found confidence that I never thought I could have. I never would have guessed that 112 days ago that I would overcome a fear I have had for most of my life.
The past 113 days have been some of the hardest of my life but I would never trade it for the world. I got to travel around Andalusia and discover cities I had never heard of before- from Carmona to Osuna to Aracena to Ceuta and the many more I got to visit. I got to travel to Lisbon, Portugal and Germany and France and take a once in a life time camel ride in the Sahara Desert.
Throughout all of my travels my best memories are by far in Sevilla. From finding random cafes and gelato places to studying at one of the most amazing universities in the world. The third largest cathedral in the world became something that I grew to expect to see. Walking the cobblestone streets soon felt as natural as any road in America. For the past 113 days I have gotten to live in one of the most unique and amazing cities in the world and see it from the eyes of a local not a tourists. The cafe I frequently went to started to recognize my face, I was no longer just a tourist to them. I started to dress like the locals and soon was able to blend in as much as I could and not be mistaken for a tourist all the time. I had a routine and got used to my life here. Today, May 9th, seemed like a long way away but next thing I knew I was studying for finals and saying my final good-byes. I wrote 16 blog posts in the process and now I am sitting in my room in Sevilla writing my final one for this journey.
However, my time in España isn't over yet and I am so fortunate that is not coming to an end right now. After about two weeks of traveling with my parents around España and London (so excited to go back after spending two months there last summer), I will head to Madrid for 8 weeks and intern and take Spanish classes. I am so excited to have this opportunity and am looking forward to what it has in store for me.
As I finish packing my bags and am reminded of all of the amazing experiences I have had I know that I will never forget this experience. The final words of this chapter of my life are being written as I write this but who said you can't go back a re-read a chapter. Just because it is over doesn't mean you will forget it and never revisit the memories.
"You may leave a place for the last time but the experience will never leave you."
¡Adios!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Relaxing and Ronda
Wow, where has the time gone! I can't believe that in less than one week this amazing chapter in my life will be coming to a close.
For my last full week in Sevilla I only had two days of classes. Wednesday was their version of Labor Day in the US and Thursday we had off, my program knew that by having a Wednesday off very few people would show up to class the following day and it is true.
Anyways, so that meant I had a five-day weekend. At first I was thinking about traveling a little bit and exploring another country but quickly decided not to and just stay in Sevilla. I could not think of a better way to spend my last weekend than relaxing in the city that I have called home for the past four months. Also my host sister was leaving for Switzerland to be an au pair for 6 months Friday morning and I wanted to be around to see her before she left. I am going to miss her so much, she has been so helpful and nice to me, definitely an older sister to me while I have been her and I am so grateful to have met her. Good luck to her on her next amazing adventure!
Wednesday and Thursday I spent hanging out with friends and relaxing and studying for my finals the following week (okay, I at least made an effort to start and that counts, right??) Wednesday night I went out for tapas and there is a thing here where you order five tapas but they are a surprise so I decided to try that. When I went back to my place I was talking to my host mom and found out that one of them was toro. That's right, I ate bull! Yeah, definitely got sick to my stomach after finding that out.
As for Friday a few friends and I decided to take a day-trip to a near by town called Ronda. I had never heard of it before I came to Sevilla but a bunch of my friends had gone and it looked absolutely gorgeous! Plus it was only about 2 hours away by bus and I thought it was a perfect day-trip.
Ronda is absolutely gorgeous and it looked like it was going to be a great, nice day! Yeah, that wasn't the case for the second half of the trip. Luckily it started to pour down rain after we were done hiking and exploring some really cool areas.
For my last full week in Sevilla I only had two days of classes. Wednesday was their version of Labor Day in the US and Thursday we had off, my program knew that by having a Wednesday off very few people would show up to class the following day and it is true.
Anyways, so that meant I had a five-day weekend. At first I was thinking about traveling a little bit and exploring another country but quickly decided not to and just stay in Sevilla. I could not think of a better way to spend my last weekend than relaxing in the city that I have called home for the past four months. Also my host sister was leaving for Switzerland to be an au pair for 6 months Friday morning and I wanted to be around to see her before she left. I am going to miss her so much, she has been so helpful and nice to me, definitely an older sister to me while I have been her and I am so grateful to have met her. Good luck to her on her next amazing adventure!
Wednesday and Thursday I spent hanging out with friends and relaxing and studying for my finals the following week (okay, I at least made an effort to start and that counts, right??) Wednesday night I went out for tapas and there is a thing here where you order five tapas but they are a surprise so I decided to try that. When I went back to my place I was talking to my host mom and found out that one of them was toro. That's right, I ate bull! Yeah, definitely got sick to my stomach after finding that out.
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| Bottom left=toro |
Ronda is absolutely gorgeous and it looked like it was going to be a great, nice day! Yeah, that wasn't the case for the second half of the trip. Luckily it started to pour down rain after we were done hiking and exploring some really cool areas.
Well, I have to finish studying for finals. ¡Hasta luego!
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