Words cannot even describe how emotional the past week has been. On top of finals, both wanting to go home and not wanting to go home and being stressed about the next two weeks of traveling Europe I haven't had the time to think about the fact that I'm actually leaving this beautiful city and won't see the amazing people I've meet for quite some time. Last night we all met at Ovegra Negra to say our final goodbyes. I literally LOVE my friends here. Through laughter and tears we all said our goodbyes and kept making plans to all visit each other. We all probably hugged each other about 15 times before moving locations and hugging another 10 times before parting ways. Fortunately, after all this traveling our sense of distance has shrunk and we all feel like we won't be THAT far away from each other back in the US even if we all live in different states. It's funny how I used to think states like Colorado were so far away from me, but I'm now thinking about how close it actually is and how plausible it is to go visit. Literally, we're all just a plane flight or road trip away. Of course it's going to be weird not seeing some of these people everyday anymore. I feel like we have all become such a funny little thrown together family and even though we all get on each others nerves sometimes we really do always watch out for each other. If someones having a bad night there's always someone there to talk to and make sure they're alright, or when someones not feeling well there's always people looking out for each other and making sure they have what they need and get home okay.
I just can't even believe how fast this semester has gone by. I feel like I just got here and it's the first week, where I came here knowing no one and was calling my mom crying saying that I made a mistake coming here and wanted to go home. All the Spanish was overwhelming at first, I couldn't understand my host family, I was constantly lost and with everything being so new it was just really scary. However, about a week later I had begun to adjust, made some new friends, started to pick up on a little bit of Spanish and was unfortunately still getting lost... Now three months later I'm crying because I'm leaving, have made some amazing lifelong friends, can semi communicate Spanish (more so understand than actually speak, but i'll continue to work on that), and I'm STILL getting lost (you win some, you lose some). I'm without a doubt in love with this city and all the people I have meet here. I could probably go through every single person I met on my journey and write a whole post on each of them. A few of my friends I've made here are without a doubt some of my favorite people in this whole world.
It;'s crazy to think that the majority of us came here knowing no one and were all thrown together and we came out with such amazing experiences and friendships. I really wish I could explain how much this experience has impacted me and how much I will treasure it forever. I've done things here that I never thought I'd ever do in my life. I've grown more independent and have learned that I really can manage to survive nearly anywhere. It's not as hard as you might think to put yourself out there and make new friends and learn about a whole different culture. It's weird how in this short amount of time I've become so attached and somewhat depended on the people I've met here. They have really become my support system. Sometimes it really does feel like a dream when I think about the fact that I've lived in Barcelona for this long and have traveled all around Europe. I've traveled to Rome and Paris. I got to see my friend Ellen in her hometown in Germany. Then the hardest one for me to believe sometimes is that I went to Africa, slept in the desert, road a camel and walked the streets of Fez like it was just my casual everyday life. It's just so strange to even believe that I have done all these things when I say it out loud. It literally feels like it has become normal to just book tickets to go to Rome this weekend while sitting waiting for class to start. Why not, right? Or to just walk past Gaudi's buildings daily nonchalantly glancing up in amazement but then carrying on with your day because you get to see the same building people travel specifically to Spain to see everyday.
As I sit here tearing up on my bed in my little yellow room in Spain I am filled with too many emotions to even comprehend. I am going to miss this place so much. I feel like I've been living a dream for the past three months and it's going to be a shock to go home. Though don't get me wrong, I am SO excited to see my family and friends. It's been rough without them and I wish I could make all my Barcelona friends here stay longer and then bring all my family and friends here as well, but that would just be TOO ideal. I can't even manage to be on facebook right now with everyones posts about going home. It's all becoming so real that it's Friday morning and I'm not up doing my homework while waiting for everyone else to wake up so we can go adventure. Or that I won't get multiple posts in our group facebook message about what everyone's doing tonight. All these things are just little pieces of this trip that I will miss just as much as the things I've seen through my travels.
I'm so grateful for the time I've had here. I'm looking forward to coming back, you can't keep me out of Barcelona. I'm also looking forward to getting back to Arizona where I can still hangout with a few of the friends I've made here! I've already made plans to get Mellow Mushroom, Sprinkles Cupcakes and Cheesecake Factory (they have patatas bravas which I will forever be obsessed with from now on) when I get back to school.
It's going to be a weird transition back to the States. Everything I've done the past three months has really been such an intense experience it's going to be really different to go back to reality and get back into the groove of old friends and school. I have honestly become attached to my host family and a few friends who are always there for me. I really have no idea how I would have gotten through this whole experience without them.
I'm all packed up in my empty room now, not willingly ready to close this Barcelona chapter of my life, but accepting it. Off to Travel Europe with Rose for the next two weeks then back home for the New Year. I better go say my goodbyes to Celia now, this might be one of the hardest. She has been the best mom I could ask for here, literally treating me like her own daughter. Taking care of me when I was sick and encouraging me with little chocolates when I needed to study. I got so lucky to be put in the best homestay.
I know I am becoming repetitive but I'm so thankful that I got to have this experience. I really have grown and changed as a person and I hope that I will be able to have more adventures like this one throughout my lifetime.
Hasta luego, Barcelona. don't you worry, i'll be back.
Besos,
Lauren
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