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| We have dubbed ourselves "La Familia" <3 |
So I know I haven't been very consistent with writing lately. To be honest, I haven't had a whole lot of time. In the past two weeks, I've both visited Dublin, Ireland, and Fuerteventura, which is one of the Canary Islands. Class for me ended about a month ago and I've just been hanging out and waiting for my final exam that I had to stay for. That means lots of beach time :) As I've been telling adults (particularly my Spanish family) about all the things that I've done or things that I would like to do in my remaining time here, they all seem to refer back to one word: aprovechar(se). This means to take advantage of, or make the most of. Although it gets slightly annoying to hear them all saying the same thing about my trip, the meaning has really sunk in during the past few days as I get ready to leave this place. I have had the opportunity in the last 5 months to travel to 3 separate countries, 8 different cities, and spend the majority of my time sitting on a beach. How many people can say that they did that? Especially since I've technically been "going to school" the whole time, and literally have improved my Spanish skills by leaps and bounds. I feel so fortunate to have been here and done what I've done, not to mention how lucky I am to have met the people I now look at as amazing friends, not to mention my Spanish madre, whom I love like a second mom. My REAL mom reminded me today how difficult it will be for me to come back to the States: I'll jump right back into working, routine, household chores, and driving myself around instead of walking or taking the bus. But the most difficult thing, I've realized, is that no one else but the people I was here with will ever understand this experience. Of course there are others who have come here and lived this life, but my experience is unique to me and the people who lived it with me. I just know that I'm going to be walking down the street at some point when I get back and see or hear something which reminds me of here and want to immediately call one of them up to talk about it and have a good laugh. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely excited to go home! I miss my family, my friends, my pets, my house, my country way of livin' haha But it's bittersweet, to be sure. Above everything else, I can say that I have aprovechado every second of my time in this paradise with people that I love.
