Hasta luego, Spain.. :(

Well the time has come where I have to say goodbye to the 3rd home of my life.. I can't believe it has been 18 weeks and I'm not ready to go yet! There were definitely those times when I just wanted to be in my comfortable, small college town or the good 'ol QCA, but it took about 2 days for me to realize what an incredible time I was having and how there was no way I wanted to leave. Spain is really a great country. The lifestyle, the people, the shopping, the beaches, and the sites made for the perfect place for me to study abroad.

(quick break for the trip we took last friday to Tabarca, an island off of Alicante. It was beautiful!)

random beach we went to on "labor day" for Spain

some of the girls from our group on the ferry to the island

tabarca beach-super windy!

Im not even going to go in to how much I'll miss my new friends I have grown to love so much. It's never goodbye :) My flight to New York is booked and ready to go for a mini reunion this summer. The re-entry into my "normal" life will be a struggle. Going to work, having a schedule, having responsibilities for that matter, and not waking up to the mountains on one side and Mediterranean on the other will be difficult. Some of the daily lifestyle differences I'll have to adjust back to are:
--packing my sandwiches on regular loaf wheat bread in a ziplock rather than tin foil
--having a breakfast of something other than strawberry yogurt with granola
--drinking a grande starbucks coffee instead of a mini shot of espresso with a splash of milk
--not taking my favorite, hot and sweaty 24 bus every time i want to go somewhere
--buying blue moon for $3 each instead of my wine juice boxes for .35 euro cents
--taking tequila shots with a lime instead of the gross lemon they give us here
--the lack of fresh, sweet fruit for super cheap in the grocery stores
--salads with something other than olive oil and salt as dressing
And many more lovely things about life here that I have grown to love. If someone were thinking about studying abroad and didn't know where to go, I would definitely recommend somewhere in Spain. The country is so different than the rest of Europe and especially the US that it is a lot to adjust to culturally. For the complete study abroad experience, Spain has been perfect. It wasn't always easy, but neither is life, so you've got to roll with the punches and figure out how to brush the little annoyances off and move on.

A semester wasn't nearly enough. I cant imagine even only going abroad for a few weeks, because the past four months have just finally seemed like spain is my new home. And part of me wishes it was, but as my dad so conveniently reminded me, "Kate, it's time to come home." grr.... But I don't wanna! Looking back on my first few posts, I can see I wasn't overly excited about many things regarding the Spanish lifestyle at first.. Luckily that all changed and I got over my "I want the easiness of life if the US back" attitude. I've also come to enjoy not having a smartphone where everyone is always on it texting or on twitter or Facebook. None of us here have anyone to text, much less money on our sweet go-phones, so we have been able to actually enjoy each others company! Imagine that! Facebook has also become one of the most useful websites ever for study abroad kids. I have so many groups now with all my Spanish friends, CIEE kids, dorm kids, etc that it will be so much easier to keep in touch with everyone.

Cody, my first friend outside of CIEE in Spain, and Kim-two of the people I will miss the most.. Cody was the first goodbye today and I did not like it one bit.

The semester I've been waiting for since 5th grade has come and gone, and I am thankfully able to sit here and say how thankful I am for the whole thing. It really has been an experience of a lifetime and i'm never going to forget all i have learned about life by being here. I have loved every minute of being in Spain and have also been fortunate enough to make it to a total of 22 different cities in 8 countries! I'm also now a great traveler :)

Time flies when you're having fun, and I think my life is passing me by quicker than I realize.. It's time to say a few more goodbyes and savor the last few moments of the semester that has given me such a positive, new outlook on the world and what lies ahead for me. Thank you all for taking a look at my little diary now and then! This was first supposed to just be for my family, but my mom seemed a little too excited to pass the website around town, so I'm glad you could all share in my study abroad experience a little bit. I'm sure I'll be itching to share more stories as soon as I land!


Now time to get excited about finally seeing my mom, EB, and Aunt Eda in Rome on Saturday! Luckily, it's not quite over yet :) What a great life this is.


-k