I plunge into final exam review and a dizzy swirl of various emotions about leaving Spain in a week.
I try to eat all the delicious food only available in Spain (particularly icecream, coffee, chocolate, tortilla de patata, pinchos).
I retire from masking my evening loneliness. I confront the lesson I've learned from mistakenly opting not to live with other students: I crave independence, but to also to share experiences.
I confront my cravings for Asian food, long-time friends in Austin, my soft bed in my green bedroom, my arts and crafts set, Netflix, and a long list of likewise aspects of home.
I try to etch in my memory the kind host mother, classmates, and program members whom I may never see again.
I let the sight of the Santa Barbara castle right next to my host home, the hilly path to the main road, the mountains and palm trees around the university, seep into my memories.
I replay the historical and cultural tidbits I've learned here, hoping to carry them gingerly back to the US.
In my mind, I walk through the path I took from Austin to Alicante. Before, deep water made me tremble. I got lost walking in the neighborhood I grew up in. I had never ridden a city bus. I was tired of my parents' vicinity and of my home.
Now, I have tread deep water under the Guadalest waterfall. I've ridden a train to Madrid and traveled the labyrinth city of Toledo alone. The morning and noon bus is now a routine. And now I notice the comfort of home that I didn't notice before because I had never been without it.
I am indescribably grateful to have embarked on this journey. And I am equally grateful to be flying home in five days.
Now, I need to figure out how to fit a drawer full of souvenirs into my suitcase.
I try to eat all the delicious food only available in Spain (particularly icecream, coffee, chocolate, tortilla de patata, pinchos).
I retire from masking my evening loneliness. I confront the lesson I've learned from mistakenly opting not to live with other students: I crave independence, but to also to share experiences.
I confront my cravings for Asian food, long-time friends in Austin, my soft bed in my green bedroom, my arts and crafts set, Netflix, and a long list of likewise aspects of home.
I try to etch in my memory the kind host mother, classmates, and program members whom I may never see again.
I let the sight of the Santa Barbara castle right next to my host home, the hilly path to the main road, the mountains and palm trees around the university, seep into my memories.
I replay the historical and cultural tidbits I've learned here, hoping to carry them gingerly back to the US.
In my mind, I walk through the path I took from Austin to Alicante. Before, deep water made me tremble. I got lost walking in the neighborhood I grew up in. I had never ridden a city bus. I was tired of my parents' vicinity and of my home.
Now, I have tread deep water under the Guadalest waterfall. I've ridden a train to Madrid and traveled the labyrinth city of Toledo alone. The morning and noon bus is now a routine. And now I notice the comfort of home that I didn't notice before because I had never been without it.
I am indescribably grateful to have embarked on this journey. And I am equally grateful to be flying home in five days.
Now, I need to figure out how to fit a drawer full of souvenirs into my suitcase.