It's not "adios," it's "hasta luego..."

And just like that, the past four months of living in Sevilla have come to an end. This morning I left bright and early from my good friend, Marta's house after staying there for a week after the program ended. And boy did she spoil me this past week. I had so much time to relax, go to the movies with her (in Spanish of course), tag along with her and her friends and eat so much amazing food! Life in Spain just looks a lot different when you are living with a young married couple as opposed to elderly grandparents. I feasted on peanut butter (haven't had that in 4 months!), cookies, homemade spaghetti, pizza, bruschetta, crepes....I told Marta she needs her own cooking show, "Cocinando con Marta." We had an absolutely amazing week together and I am so thankful for her friendship here in Spain. She was truly a blessing.

This chapter of life studying abroad came to an end this morning with yet another train ride out of Sevilla, this one just happened to be my last. The only way I can describe how it feels right now is surreal. I cannot believe how incredibly fast time can fly these days. I'm starting to sound like my grandma... "Hard to believe...time flies," she always says in her think Swedish accent. And boy is she right. I know as much as I want to, I cannot just sum up these past 4 months in a quaint, one sentence phrase. It will definitely take a lot of time to decompress and process while I jump back into another culture shock, reverse culture shock that is in my own U.S. of A. Hard to believe, but I've been told that that adjustment process is actually the hardest because life has moved on while you've been away and no one can fully understand the life you've lived across the world. But I am thankful for some great transition time before that reality strikes with some more traveling around Europe! Up next-Madrid, London, Ireland, and Sweden.

As hard as it was to say goodbye to my beloved, Sevilla today, I look back on some of the most incredible experiences, complete with lots of growing opportunities and meeting amazing people. And I am very thankful to fondly look back on my life here as well as look forward to the next great chapter that God has for me.

I definitely see myself coming back to Sevilla some day in the future. It will always have a piece of my heart. Seville's famous symbol is the "No8Do" motto that can be found all over the city on street signs, potholes, buses, etc. The legend states that King Alfonso X gave this title to the city of Seville when his son tried to take over the throne and they still stayed faithful to him. It is a hieroglyphic meaning, "No me ha dejado," or "It (Seville) has not left me." The "8" represents a "madeja" or skein of wool and when put together, the letters and symbols make the same sound of the sentence, "No me ha dejado."

And so, I am leaving Seville with that same mentality. It has not, nor will ever leave me. As my spanish señora kept saying, "it's not 'adios.' It's 'hasta luego....'"

Hasta luego, mi querida Sevilla.

So what's next?!

For those of you confused as to why I am not on a plane headed towards the U.S. with all the other program students right now, even though I have officially finished my finals....here you go! Today, I did indeed finish my junior of college (say whaa?!) with my last final. It feels wonderful. But also a little weird because everyone in my program is actually leaving bright and early tomorrow morning to catch a flight home to the U.S. of A. Tonight we also had our last family dinner with my roommate here and so it is definitely hard to see her go.
I on the other hand will be staying in lovely Sevilla for another 9 days with my sister's friend that I have had the privilege of befriending this semester as well. So I am very grateful for a little more time to transition out of school, soak up my last moments in this city, and say my final goodbye. After that, I head to Madrid for 2 days to meet up with my friend, Jodi who has been studying abroad this semester in Senegal, Africa. From Madrid, we fly to London for 4 days to stay with Jodi's family friends, then to Ireland for another week where we will be staying with my family relatives on my mom's side. We shall finish our backpacking adventure with a week in Sweden to stay with even more of my family on my dad's side.
I am so very excited to be able to connect with family that I have never met, see where all of my grandparents grew up, and connect with my Irish/Swedish roots. This is an amazing opportunity that I have always dreamed of having and now, here it is! Here's to adventure, folks!

Dominoes and toothless smiles

My friend, Juan 

The soon coming end of my time here means the beginning of the hard 'goodbyes.' One of these recent moments was having to say goodbye to all of the old men that I have come to know this past semester from my weekly Tuesday visits at the nursing home. These men have taught me so much about patience (playing dominoes game after dominoes game can sure get old...), love, and serving others simply to serve them. I had the privilege of not only playing dominoes with them over and over but also getting to know some of them like my friend, Juan on a deeper level and I am so very thankful for those special conversations with him.

The following video is one that I made for my final presentation for my community service class here in Sevilla. I believe it captures quite well the toothless smiles, the dominoes games, and the joy from our time with these men at the nursing home.

Alcazar, flamenco, bullfight...all in a Spanish weekend's work

My last official weekend with the other students on the program just came to a close and I would have to say we went out with Spanish style, for sure.


Saturday afternoon a few of my friends and I went to the Real Alcazar, the former royal palace of Sevilla. Wow, I wish I would have gone before just to be able to spend even more time there. It was absolutely beautiful, full of garden after garden, fountains...you could definitely get lost with a good book in there and be in your own secret garden.

Saturday night, we went to this famous Spanish bar in Barrio Santa Cruz to watch flamenco! The passion and emotion that this dance has is mind blowing, especially when you are watching it right before your eyes in a crowded Spanish bar at midnight on a Saturday night. I couldn't help but think to myself, 'what is my life?' Sometimes, I catch myself remembering how this really isn't normal life for me and how different it will be once I go back home and these type of amazing cultural things are no longer the norm.

Sunday evening finished off the weekend with a bang-una corrida ("bullfight!")! I couldn't live in Spain all this time without going to a bullfight, now could I? Especially when the bullfighting ring is literally a 5 minute walk from my school. It was quite the nerve-racking, fascinating, thrilling, and sad experience all at once! First of all, the very first bull that came out had me on edge because we were not all that far away from the ring itself and these men are literally escaping death with everything they were doing to get this humungous bull mad. And of course there's the blood that comes from stabbing a bull several times to tire him out and weaken him before he gets one final stab that must go perfectly into his spinal chord to cause death. Yep, it was gruesome and so sad to see 6 bulls die just like that from a sport. But it was also so fascinating once you get over the initial shock to see how much of an art form and prestige this sport holds to the Spanish people. I am so glad I went and was able to experience something like that that is so foreign to our American customs.

I promise, between all of these amazing cultural experiences I actually was studying for my 4 finals, 1 presentation, and finishing my 6 page paper I had due this week. I cannot believe I am already entering my final exams week here in Spain. And after that...more adventure awaits this traveling heart of mine! Another week in Sevilla, Madrid, London, Ireland, and Sweden await!

Dulce Merienda: sweet moments over coffee

Me and Kate with Carmen

The great thing about having such small classes (my smallest, being my grammar class of 4 students) here is that I have really gotten to know my teachers. My grammar and art history teacher, Carmen has quickly become one of my favorite people-not just a favorite teacher, but person in general!
 At first I was super intimidated by her because she can be tough and definitely expects the best out of us every day. With a class of 4 students, it´s also a little harder to slide by without knowing something...and she will definitely make sure you know it. As the months have gone by though, she really isn´t that intimidating at all and we´ve all discovered that she loves a good conversation. When prompted, she can spend an entire class period just talking about life with us, answering random questions we have about Spanish culture, etc. And the best part about us going off on tangents for an entire class period here is that we are still learning and practicing our Spanish, so it really isn´t a waste at all! These really have been my favorite classes with her because she seriously exudes so much wisdom, I can´t get enough of her conversations.

So my fellow friend and classmate, Kate and I decided that instead of always just telling each other how much we love Carmen and how much we just want to talk to her more, we invited her to merienda (Spanish snack/dessert time around 5 or 6pm since dinner is at 9 or 10pm) of coffee and pastries, to which she gladly accepted. We spent a good two hours almost just getting to know each other even more and learning about her life and what brought her to Semester in Spain, having worked here for about 30 years (sidenote: all of the professors and staff members have been here for close to 30 years and it is amazing to see that the whole staff really is like a family). It was a very special, sweet moment in my semester here that I will always cherish.