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So I am offically safe and sound back in the states don't worry. I know this is not quite an exciting blog because I'm not in Europe but I thought I'd fill you in on my last couple of days in Alicante and my final thoughts on how the experience went.
So the thursday night in Alicante after I went to the beach and studied I decided to make a banana cream pie for my going away gift for my family. And let me tell you what trying to find pie ingredients in spain was the most difficult part of my whole journey...ok...over dramatic but it was hard. Pies don't exsist in Spain...I know crazy thought they haven't really lived until they try half the sweets we have over here in the US. Then again there could be a reason why most Europeans think all Americans are obese.
Needless to say the pie was not quite as sweet as it usally is back home but I found close enough ingredients to work and my family loved it! After I taught my madre how to make them we ate them together at our last comida as a family.
Then I went to my last day on the beach with some of my best friends on the trip bc of course if they were my best friends I made on the trip they weren't just going to lay around and nap the rest of the day...we all had to get our last beach day in. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went one last time.
Then I showered got ready and went out with my friends that night. Our last night in Alicante was a rather rare one to say the least. We couldnt go to our normal meeting spot on the beach to hang out because there was a giant wind storm. So we went and all hung out by the Castillo where there were a couple of other groups of Spanish ppl as well. My other friend and I had walked a little ways up the steps of the castle to look a the view and were talking to a few of the Spanish ppl when the cops showed up below us. We ran up the steps with the Spanish ppl and watched all our friends get lined up on the wall by the police. I thought I was going to have to go bail all my friends out of jail on our last night. However, one of the spaniards we were hiding with happened to be a cop...of course like half the ppl I've met in Spain...he assured us that nothing would happen to the Americans and the Spaniards would have to pay a 90 euro fine. And sure enough all the Americans were let go and all was well. But it was still a random event for our last night...
Then the rest of the night continued as normal us going out to our usual club spots for one last time as slowly our group started breaking off and saying goodbye as ppl left one by one. It got a little harder each time someone left to say goodbye. It was quite sad by the end of the night but it was also good that we were out togehter one last time to say goodbye. Then saying goodbye to my best friend out of the spanish helpers was really hard and sad too. She had helped me so much while I was there. She introduced me to her friends, let me hang out with her, and even helped me with some of my homework. It was really sad leaving her and it made me wish that I could have spent a semester there to really get to know the Spanish friends I had made.
However, the fact that I was leaving still didnt really hit me until I was moving all of my packed bags out of the room. As I was eating my last breakfast with my host mother I noticed tears in her eyes as I sad that last night was fun but really sad at the same time. I wanted to ask her how hard this was for her each time she did this because she has had a lot of different students but I was afraid that if I asked her I would start crying.....I was trying really hard to hold back the tears a number of times as we talked about me leaving.
Then as I was moving my bags out the door and my host father who I never really talked a whole lot with told me to remember him as his father made me really want to start to cry...I gave him a hug goodbye and managed to keep in most all of the tears when I hugged my mother goodbye as well. However, it was really hard. I was leaving the place that I had made my home for the past 6 weeks. They had done so much for me and treated me so nicely this entire time and now I was leaving when I was just beginning to feel even more at home.
However, they both reminded me that I could come back whenever I wanted to visit. and many study abroad students end up returning and I can understsand why. Alicante is amazing and esp the ppl of Spain. It was such a wonderful experience that I would never trade for anything else. It was more than just a vaccation around Europe it was learning to live in a new culture and having a new family and making new friends as well.
The friends I've made on this trip are the only ones who can really understand the struggles and the things we experienced and went through on this trip. Although there is a chance that I may never see some of them again it is also really cool to say I know a lot of diff ppl from all over the states and it may come in handy someday...
Overall at times this experience was one of the hardest most challenging trips I've ever been on but at the same time I think I grew and learned so much from this experience. Many ppl told me that studying abroad was one of those once in a lifetime experiences that you can't pass up but until you actually do it for urself you dont understand what they mean by that and it isn't something you can really explain. It is completly different for each person who does it but in my opinion completely worth it and a must do for everyone. Operation Study Abroad: Success in so many more ways than I ever imagined possible!
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