Parting Thoughts

The studying part of studying abroad kicked in recently, and I’ve been pretty busy writing my final paper for my Area Studies class and studying for my Spanish final. I’ve had so much work to do, the last day really snuck up on me. Now, before I know it I’ll be heading to the airport and saying goodbye to the city that’s been my home for the past seven weeks.

I’m looking forward to being home again – I miss my family, my friends, and street signs in English. But I know that once I leave Barcelona, I’ll miss it. I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve gotten used to living in a city. I like having places to explore everyday, and discovering something new every time I leave the house. I stumbled onto a Castellers performance the other day – a giant human tower forming in the middle of a square, and I just happened to run into it. Barcelona is full of surprises like this. I love my hometown, but it’s very predictable. My life in Barcelona has been anything but predictable.

I’ll miss the people in Barcelona too. I don’t want to say goodbye to Maria, my host mom, and her fantastic cooking. I certainly don’t want to say goodbye to the friends I’ve made here. I’ve met such a funny, interesting, and diverse group of people through IES Abroad. I’ve lived in New England my whole life, and never met so many people from other part of the country. It’s funny that I had to come to Spain to learn about the rest of America, but I’m glad I did.

I’m not leaving Barcelona with many regrets. I saw mostly everything I hoped to see in the city. I do wish that I explored more of the rest of Spain during my time here. Spain is a beautiful country with a rich, interesting culture, and I’m disappointed I didn’t take advantage of my time here to see more of it. I hope that someday I'll come back to Spain and to Barcelona. I drank from the Canaletes Fountain one of my first weeks here, and the legend says that anyone who drinks from the fountain will come back to Barcelona, so I’m fairly optimistic.

I feel like its still too early to reflect on how studying abroad in Barcelona changed me. I’ll do some introspection on my flight and after I get home. I have one blog post left to write, so I’ll report my findings to you then.