The last week and half were, unfortunately, mostly filled with doing work. Although I had quite the breezy semester work-wise, it all came crashing down on me at the end. I had two papers and two tests in the span of two days and class going on up until the end. It was really sad to be stuck inside doing work all the time when I wanted to be out enjoying my last days in Seville, but I knew that I had spent the rest of my semester really well and a few days of intense work were worth the rest of the time I had gotten to spend relatively work-free. The most exciting thing that happened in my last week was that I lived through an earthquake! I was up studying really late in my room, and as I walked to the kitchen where my roommate was studying, I could hear the doors of the apartment rattling loudly. I wouldn’t have thought too much of it except when I got to the kitchen, my roommate asked me if I had felt anything because she had been sitting against the wall and felt it shake. I looked at a bowl of water that was sitting on the counter and the water was swaying in the bowl and I realized something more than wind had just happened. We tried to google and see if there were any reports of the earthquake, but of course it was too soon. We talked to our other friends in the neighborhood and they had felt something too. The next morning the first thing I did when I woke up was google “earthquake Spain” and sure enough, a big earthquake had occurred in the Atlantic 100km off the coast of Portugal. People in Portugal and Southern Spain had gotten the aftershocks. No one was hurt in the quake, so it was a good, small first (and hopefully last) natural disaster to experience. I told my host parents about it and they had slept through it but told me all about the earthquakes that had happened previously in the city. Our program also had a goodbye breakfast for us in the last week with traditional Christmas sweets and music. It was nice to see almost everyone and spend one last time all together. My last full day in Seville it was raining and there was even thunder and lightning for the first time all semester (go figure) so I didn’t really get the chance to go back to some favorite places like I had wanted to. I did walk around the city with a friend getting some last minute gifts and just being out in the city for as much time as possible. That night I was so nervous and sad about leaving I couldn’t even eat dinner. I really had such an amazing four months I couldn’t imagine it ending. I did, however, have to get a new memory card for my camera before my two-week trip to Greece, so I went down the street to an electronic place. I ended up leaving the house three times because the card didn’t work the first time and when I went back to return it for another one, I stupidly forgot to bring it. I eventually did get a card though, the situation just showed how much of a mess I was that night. Then my roommate and I gave some gifts to our host parents and we took some family pictures. It was fun to spend some time with them, talking and laughing. My host mom, being true to the frankness that I had come to appreciate from Spaniards, told us that she didn’t want to be a hypocrite and say she only has host students for the companionship, the money was nice too! It was such a funny thing to say on our last night, but I loved the honesty, it was true to her character. My host mom told me she was waking up early to say goodbye the next morning and my host dad would drive me to the bus station, which was really nice of them, so we didn’t have any emotional goodbyes. A bunch of people from the program went out to a bar and got a big table at the back and just reminisced. It was such a nice way to end the program. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to everyone because even though we can still communicate, it won’t be the same as being in Seville together. Saying goodbye to my host parents and other Spaniards was even harder, however, because there is probably no chance we will ever see each other again. It was strange to think someone who had been such a big part of my life would disappear from it completely, but I guess that’s part of life.
I can’t yet comprehend the effects of the trip or everything that I learned about myself and life in general, so don’t get excited for any deep revelations and insights. Eventually, of course, I’ll reflect about the experience but for now I’m still basking in the glow. I know it was one of the best experiences of my life and I certainly think it will change my perspective on American culture, European culture, people in general, but I don’t have enough time away from it to really understand what it fully meant. However, do get excited to read about my two-week trip to Greece and even more excited to see the pictures because the landscapes were spectacular. Oh and I guess while I’m being at least something thoughtful (or thinking about being thoughtful in the future) I wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped make this trip as amazing as it was – everyone from home and school and Seville and especially my parents and grandmother because without them I wouldn’t have even gone in the first place. Ok, sorry for sounding like an acknowledgements page for a second there, just wanted to give credit where it is due. Now read on for some great Greece stories!
my host parents, roommate, and I in the living room
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