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21 cities in 5 months:
Oviedo, Gijon, Leon, Covadonga, Llanes, Ribadesella, Cangas de Onis, Somiedo, Cabo de Penas, Salinas, Santander, Madrid, Barcelona, Tarragona, Rome, Sorrento, Naples, Capri, Pompeii, Paris, London
I can’t even believe how lucky I am to have gotten the opportunity to see what I did during those 5 months.
I was sitting on the plane home, not even halfway through the journey thinking just one thing, I did it. And “it” means everything. I picked up, went off to Spain, traveled through Europe, left my family, made friends and did a heck of a lot of growing up.
I spent five months over there building a life for myself, on my own. I have a new family here, I have new friends, and then it finally came time to just pack it all up and leave to go back “home”. There’s nothing left to do but put it all behind me, keep it in my memories, and hope I eventually get to see some of those people or some of those places again. And after all that, it is so difficult to grasp the concept of going back home.
There’s so much to be proud of myself for, after this trip. Learning a different language is the majority of that pride. From ordering food at a restaurant, to going to the pharmacy and finding the right medicine in Spanish, or even Arguing with someone at the flea market about prices. Spanish is now constantly in my head and I’ve even been speaking spanglish since being home. It takes me a while when responding to a question to realize that I don’t need to find out how to say the answer in Spanish
Despite the unrefrigerated milk, and the creepy men who stare American’s up and down on the streets, Spain is a magical place and completely stole my heart these past months. And there is no doubt that I will be finding myself right back there in the very near future.
These past 5 months were a wonderful ride, with incredible people and from that came unforgettable memories.
MY FAMILY! Finally a picture of all of us! I wanted to write one last post tonight, but after we had dinner Luisa suggest we drink some wine, and now Adrian talked us all into going to a new bar down the street for a little bit all together. (This is with the new host student here now - He’s gonna fit in just right with these loca people)
I think they’re trying to get me drunk before I leave at 5 am for the airport (JK, again)
5 months ago on June 9th or so when we all arrived in Oviedo and went to get our first sidra, of course I had to try pouring it myself. And this was me!
And here I am 5 months later, on my last night in Oviedo, at the SAME Sidreria as the first night, pouring more sidra. It’s a tradition now. See how the form has improved?! That’s five months of practice right there (jk)
(I guess if you can’t really notice how this “form” of mine has improved, you can at least take notice as to how much my hair has grown in the past 5 months ;))
Step 1: Melt butter
Step 2: I already forget. HOW in the world am I supposed to cook something successfully back at home when her directions are: “5 big spoonfuls of flower” “3 squirts of milk” “some salt”. This girl right here needs some measurements or it’s about to be a disaster in the kitchen. Props to Luisa though, she never uses exact measurements, it’s all in her eyes and I’ve never had a bad meal with her!
It was fun though. We spent about 2 hours chattin’ and rollin’ out some croquettes. They’re for tomorrow, but I got her to fry some up for me tonight so I could try my finished product. And the survey says…I went a little too heavy on the “some” salt instruction. Oh well, better luck next time!
Cooking away…
And the result!
Bags are packed. Bags are heavy. Bags are potentially overweight. We’ll deal with that at the airport. I have a “broken” scale that i’m using to weigh them so…pretty much no help.
Dad’s going today to sign the lease on my new appartment for the fall! So before I even arrive home I’m officially a “renter”! Talk about growing up too fast, my parents must be crying.
The weather has been treating us nicely for our last 2 days in Oviedo! After lunch today Luisa is teaching me to make croquetttes, and then I’m going out for sidra with my Spanish friends one. last. time. :(
Saying goodbye has never really been that hard of a thing for me, but, I’ve never had to say goodbye to someone who I’ll probably never see again, and that’s where today and tomorrow become a bit difficult. I’m just waiting and wondering when it’s going to hit me for the first time that I’m leaving 50 of my closest and only friends for the past 5 months. This is a huge chunk of my life coming to an end and maybe it’s the change that makes me more upset than saying goodbye.
But on a less depressing note, we had our goodbye group lunch with Carrie today and it was per usual, incredible. I’m so stuffed I could barely walk home, and also a little buzzed from all the Sangria, so instead of studying for my last final, here I am blogging.
After my test at 10 am tomorrow I have all Thursday and all Friday to myself to enjoy my time in Oviedo until 6am Saturday morning rolls around!
One of my last night’s out with some of my BEST Spanish friends that I made here! I’m so so so lucky that I got to meet them and I always have the most fun when I go out with them. They all have an open invitation to come visit me anytime!
