Last Blog from Spain... only 2 weeks late!

Well, this is it… my last few hours in Spain. I am sitting in the Madrid airport writing this post, but by the time I put it on my blog I’ll already be home. I had to say goodbye to Alicante this morning when I left at 6:35 AM, but what a way to say goodbye! The plane took off as the sun was rising over the mountains, city, and blue sea, and I waved goodbye to my home. It’s crazy to think about how my semester here has flown by, yet I don’t feel as if I have wasted one moment of it. Everything I did has helped me learn something; obviously I have greatly improved my Spanish, but I think I also improved myself.

This week was a long one because I was the last of my friends to leave Alicante. Therefore, I was the one who ran around saying goodbye to everyone. I am going to miss everyone; my friends are the only people on the planet who will truly understand what we all went through, good and bad, in Alicante. I was starting to get worried when I hadn’t shed a tear, but then I went to the country house with my family on Sunday.

It was such a perfect way to end my stay here. Everything was just so normal, and my family was my family even though I was freaking out about having to leave. We swam in the newly finished pool (which they built by hand!), ate lunch (best food EVER!), and of course talked about everything in Spanish (Proving that I have improved greatly!). When it came time to say goodbye, I lost it. Maria Jose turned to me and said that she and her husband needed to leave, so we needed to say goodbye. She tried to give me the normal dos besos (a kiss on each cheek) but I just pulled her and gave her a huge American style hug. Although we look like polar opposites, she is the closest thing I have to a real sister. I started balling, and dos beso-ing and hugging everyone only became more difficult. After about 20 people, I seriously couldn’t catch my breath between crying and trying to speak broken Spanish; I cannot remember the last time I cried that hard. I said goodbye to Maria Carmen, Fran, Claudia, and gordito (Kay… gordito literally means “little fatty,” his nickname). For the last week, Kay has been running around saying, “Sarah! Guapa!” He just mastered saying Mama, Papa, and a few other words, one of them being my name. I don’t care what language you speak, if a little kid who just started talking can say your name, it makes you feel very important. I will miss that for sure.

Claudia gave me a huge kiss and said, “No te preocupes sarah, nosotros vamos a visitar tu y benito en los estados unidos, claro mama!?” That translates to, “Don’t worry Sarah, we will come to visit you and ben in the U.S., right Mommy?” At this point, the whole family proceeded to tell me that they insist that not only I marry Ben, but have the wedding on the beaches of Alicante. They continued to create the whole wedding, including the reception which would take place at their country house. Of course we all laughed when they mentioned how many ovens we would need to cook chicken and rabbit for their family and my family. At this point, the laughing mixed with the crying produced some snorting, and I had 30 people hugging, kissing, and laughing at me. Only with family can you do all that in front of, and walk away not embarrassed, but missing the people who laughed at you.

I know that many of you are going to ask me what my favorite part of studying abroad was. That is an unfair, ridiculous, and loaded question; however, I am probably one of the few who can answer it. I mean, there are about 20 different parts that I could say, but one that I could mean with all of my heart. The beach, Semana Santa, Las Fallas, Paella, Palma Mallorca, my cruise, learning Spanish, my teachers at school, beating my half marathon time, the Valencia region, cooking classes, drinking wine, getting to know some awesome people I will never forget… yeah those are all highlights. But, my family, they were definetly the ones who made my trip the best. I would say 80% of my best memories include my family. They are the ones I laughed with the most. I told Maria Carmen that if she ever didn’t want Claudia or Kay, I would adopt either one of them. Of course she thought I was joking, but I am so serious, I love them like my little brother and sister.

The best way to describe my madre here is to say that she is exactly like my madre at home. How on earth do I have two awesome Moms? Amazing cook, loves everyone, genuinly kind to everyone, a little crazy at times (in a good way), always carrying conversations with me, and a great friend. Saying goodbye to her was extremely difficult. She insisted that I come back to visit, and I promised her that I would without hesitation. The last thing she said when I walked out the door at 4:45 this morning was, “Remember Sarah, we are your family 100%. Not just me, but you will always have 10 more aunts, more cousins than you can count, and a niece and nephew who love you like an aunt. Let me know when you get home or I won’t be able to sleep. And I love you.”

I am going to miss my Spanish family as much as I miss my American family. Yes, I am thrilled to be coming home and I have learned a lot about myself through all of this. But above all, I somehow gained another family, which I never thought was even possible. And I love them all.