I was hoping this day would never come.

Do I feel like I am home and that I live here? Absolutely.
Do I feel like I've been here for 4 months and it's time to go home? No way.

This is one blog post that I have almost been dreading and putting off. I knew it would come, but I never thought it would come so soon. As finals are winding down and people are getting ready to say goodbye, I thought I would post a blog about a few things I've learned since being in Spain.

1. The world is a lot bigger than you think. There's a whole lot more out there than the small, comfortable town you grew up in. There's completely different life styles and ways of thinking.

2. Just because something has been done one way for a long time, or even as long as you can remember, it isn't necessarily the best way to do it. 

3. I'm definitely not the same person I was when I left in January. I've grown as a person, learned to live independently, make friends very quickly, and found my place in the world.

4. Going off number 4, it really takes a certain person to study abroad. I think that's, in part, why I became friends with our little group. We're all open for new experiences, new ways of life, trying new things, flexible, outgoing, and just want to make the most out of every minute. I've never bonded with people so quickly in my life, and I know some of these people will be my friends for life.

5. Don't be embarrassed. Someone here told me Americans get embarrassed to easily, and so many people come here and their Spanish doesn't improve because they don't want to speak out of fear of making a mistake, or not being perfect. I know that I came here to learn, I made a lot of mistakes, I still make mistakes, but it's the improvement that matters.

6. There's more the life than just work. Americans live to work, Spaniards work to live. They know the importance of making time for family, friends, and just time to enjoy life, because that's all we have. Dale tiempo al tiempo (make time for time).

7. I've learned not to worry so much. About a month ago, I was going to the train station to take the AVE to Madrid. I asked how much time I needed to get to the train station, followed that, and 9:40 rolled around, my train is at 9:45, and I'm still on the bus, 2 stops away from the train station. Before, like when I was worried about making connecting flights in the states, I would have been imagining every horrible outcome that might be (I'll never make in to Madrid, mom and dad will be mad, I'll have to buy a new ticket, mom and dad will be waiting in the train station but I won't be there, etc). But instead, I thought, you know, I'll get where I need to go, there's nothing I can do right now, so there's no sense in worrying about it. No pasa nada (or the Spain moto) has been ingrained in my brain. Coming home to the U.S. will definitely be a shock. 

8. Life doesn't need to move so fast and not every little detail of your life has to be planned out. Before I came to Spain, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted out of life. I had this cookie cutter plan of how my life was supposed to be. Now, I open to whatever may come my way and there's so many more things I want to try and do, and so many places I want to live in my life.

Study abroad, and specifically, Spain, has changed the way I think about so many things, the way I interact with people, and the way I want to live my life. I am externally grateful for this experience that I have had. 

I could write blog after blog after blog, but I know I'll never be able to put into words what I have experienced here. There are no words to describe how I feel when I'm in Seville. 

No me ha dejado, y nunca me dejará.

Waka Waka

April 15-19; Marrakech, Morocco 
So, another continent that I can cross off my list. We made it to and from Africa all in one piece, and it was one of the most fun and interesting experiences of my life. 6 of us decided to go to Marrakech all on our own. All of our friends that had gone to Morocco went through a travel agency, but after weighing pros and cons, we decided to go on our own. We got to go to Marrakech, instead of just the North African coast, we were there for 5 days instead of a 3 day weekend, and we got to fly, plan our own itinerary, and it was about the same price.

Sevilla to Marrakech. This was the group

We left Friday from Seville on a 4:30 flight, and we landed in Marrakech around 5:00, since they are two hours behind Spain time. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I noticed not only a difference in temperature (it was around 95 when we got there), but culture as well. As soon as we got in line for customs check, I realized how different the culture was. For once, we were the outsiders coming into a new place. After an hour of customs check, we caught a cab to our hostel. This was our first impression of Marrakech: our cab diver dropped us off on the street, gave us directions to the hostel, then tried to overcharge us. Our hostel was kind of hard to find, we had to wind down a pedestrian only street, find a small alley way, and there was our hostel, with the name written in colored pencil on the wall next to the door. 

Our hostel

But when we got inside the hostel, we saw of nice and welcoming people really were. We were greeted with a very colorful hostel (named waka waka) and some very delicious Moroccan tea. The first night there, we took the recommendation of the hostel staff and wandered into the old town and had dinner. I had chicken and vegetable couscous, and it was fantastic. We looked around the shops some, and then headed back home since we were pretty tired. We asked about some excursions, and settled on doing one into the Sahara the next day.

The city

Tuesday, we woke up around 6:30, since the bus came and 7. The hostel fed us breakfast and we went on our way. We drove for a few hours, stopped, had tea, took pics, then kept driving. We stopped for lunch in this old Moroccan town where the have filmed lots of movie, like India Jones, the Mummy, and a many more. We got a tour, had lunch, then were on our way.

My friend snapped this pic while we were at the top of the city and
I thought it was neat.

our camel ride

Then when we got to where we were going and we were met by a berber tribe. We got saddled on our camels and were on our way. We rode the camels an hour and a half into the dessert, then we got set up in our tents. It was 4 people to a tent, so it was comfortable. They cooked us dinner, we had tea, and then, they taught us our to play the bongos, traditional instruments, and find constellations. I have never seen stars so bright as they were when we were looking at them from the sand dunes in the Sahara. 

our tents

We went to bed that night in the tents, then they woke us up so we could see the sun rise over the sahara. It was something I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words.

The next day was a lot of traveling to get back into Marrakech. That night, we went out with a guy we had met on our excursion who was from London. It was his last night in Marrakech, so we got dinner and did a little shopping. On our last day in Marrakech, we shopped all day. And I mean, all day. We got up around 10, had breakfast, then hit the shops. We had agreed to speak only in Spanish, because we thought they might respond better to Europeans than Americans. We shopped, had lunch a rooftop cafe, and took in a lot of sun. We were outside all day that last day and it was probably 100 degrees.

Morocco was definitely one of the most memorable trips I took here. It was great to see a totally different culture, and I'm lucky enough that I was able to go with some great people!

Only 6 days left!
Adios