I will be home on Tuesday the 22nd, but here are a few final thoughts from Madrid...
It’s hard for me to say right now how I'm feeling about going home. I think I've known for a long time that the hardest part would be leaving Salamanca, and now that’s done. I still can’t decide if it was better or worse that it was dark when we left – it meant it didn’t hit me as hard, which made it easier, but I kind of would have liked to have been able to see everything for my last ride out of the city. Everything I've done and am doing in this process of leaving just feels so unreal to me. It doesn’t seem true that I'm not returning to Salamanca when the weekend is over; that I wont be eating at home with Mamen and Lila in a couple of days; that all my classes are over, and I wont even see those professors again. It’s consoling to know that I have a couple more days left in Spain, but the fact is that Madrid really has nothing to do with what I think of when I think of my time here.
When I think of my time in Spain I guess I think most of Salamanca – the city itself – and how well I got to know it, and how comfortable I was there. I definitely think of the people I spent time with – the friends I made, and the crazy things we all did together. I certainly think of my host mom – who I always just called “my mom” – and how much I'm going to miss her sense of humor, and generosity in so many ways. I think about her cooking too, definitely…that was an amazing part of my stay in Spain…I can honestly say that I can only ever remember ONE meal that she made that I actually didn’t like. And we ate a lot of meals in four months.
I can’t even believe that I just said goodbye to just about everyone yesterday and that they’re home, and I’m still here. I’m still waiting for it to really hit me, I think. It’s gonna be rough getting on that plane alone on Tuesday…
But I'm definitely looking forward to seeing all my friends and family again. I think if it weren’t for them, I would be more than happy to spend four more months here. I'm so comfortable – Salamanca really just feels like home.
I think a lot more will come to me when I'm actually at home – I think there are things that I don’t even realize I’ve gotten used to having (or not having) here. I adjusted so quickly to being here that it will be interesting to see what kinds of things stand out to me as being odd when I return home. For example, the other night I was meeting a friend at a bar for a quick drink, and saw tables of people eating dinner. It was totally normal to me, because I was in Spain, but I realized later that it was actually eleven o’clock, and I would never see people eating dinner so late at home. Its just little cultural things like that that I think will be interesting to compare when I get back, although mostly I think the transition will go pretty smoothly – there’s really nothing like being at home, and I'm excited to relax and be there for the holidays. It’s hard to say goodbye, but I have a lot to look forward to…including visiting Salamanca sometime soon!
