I feel a little lost now. I have just accomplished one of my major life goals. Where do I go from here? I need to occupy the heck out of myself.
As you may have read, the goodbyes to Carmen were terrible. Friday night was so sad. I was hoping Saturday morning would not be as bad, but it was worse.
Megan and I lied in bed Friday night, looking around our room that wasn't ours anymore. Everything was packed up and we may as well have already been out of there. I got about three hours of sleep.
We woke up at 4 a.m. to start getting ready to leave. Carmen called a cab to get us at 4:45. She walked outside with us as the driver packed all of our bags. Carmen stood in between Megan and I, holding each of our hands until the driver was ready. "As long as I'm in good health, you can always come back," she told us. She saw us into the car and then bent over to peek into the windows at us as the driver prepared to pull away. We were all crying.
As the taxi drove us up Almirante Topete for our very last time, we stared out the back window at Carmen and waved to her, as she stood in the middle of the empty road waving to us until we could no longer see each other.
It was like saying goodbye to a stand-in mother or grandmother who you had gotten so close to, and who you weren't sure you would ever see again. Quite literally, it was awful. But all I could think of is how lucky we were to have been with a woman who made leaving so awful.
Carmen called me a few hours later (around 6:15) once we were through security to see how we had gotten through. That was the last time I have spoken to her since then, but I think about her every day. I am going to write her a letter and include pictures once I print them off. She does not have a computer or e-mail address.
I am happy to be home, but when I think about her, I get very sad.
My semester in Sevilla was everything I'd hoped for and more. I know that city now. I lived and breathed it for four months. I walked by the same shop owners every day, ordered toast from the same waitress, and saw the same people walking their dogs. I learned the ins and outs of the language, the differences between Andalucian Spanish and the rest of Spain's Spanish. I learned how Franco changed Spain, and how King Juan Carlos changed it again. I have gotten to know real people and real families, and have learned that people really are all the same.
I do not know what I want to do with my life, but I feel more confident now, with anything. Living in Europe was a thrilling experience. I've done so many thing I never imagined I would do. I am so blessed to have been able to have this opportunity. Study abroad should be a requirement for students! It has enriched me further than any class I have taken in my life.
For all my faithful readers: thank you! Your questions helped me appreciate my semester and I wrote better blogs knowing that people out there were reading them.
So for the last time, hasta luego, everybody! It's been real.
P.S.-- This blogging has gotten addicting! I decided to create my own separate blog about my life as a 20-something college student, trying to make a name for myself. Check it out at thewannabeglamgirl@blogspot.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment