Final farewell from abroad

By: Amanda Reid, Columnist

As my semester slowly comes to a close and the spirit of the holidays fills the air, there are a few things I would like to thank my study abroad experience for:

  • For introducing me to lifelong friends. We’ve travelled together, laughed together and eaten a hell of a lot of food together. Those are the memories I will cherish the most from this trip.
  • For my wonderful host family, who inspire me to one day be a host mom myself.
  • For giving me a new global perspective. I have met Italians, Chinese, Dutch, English, Koreans, Syrians, Russians and Spaniards. Learning about all their different cultures in class has opened my eyes to how different and similar they can be at the same time.
  • For giving me the ability to travel the world. I have now been to Portugal, France, Poland, Morocco and Amsterdam as well as cities all over Spain. I hope to next semester visit Italy and England. I still can’t believe that this is my life and I just feel so incredibly blessed every day.
  • For teaching me how to pack a backpack for a weekend trip to another city or country in less than 30 minutes.
  • For introducing me to new foods like beet soup, couscous, fuet, baby pig, huevos rotos (fried eggs and ham over French fries), and so much more.
  • For teaching me how to use public transportation and my own two legs to get me everywhere I need to go.
  • For giving me enough fantastic “Throwback Thursday” pictures to last a lifetime.
  • For showing me the joy that is Burger King delivery.
  • For helping me realize that distance really does make the heart grow fonder, and how much I should cherish my time with my family and friends back home.
  • For improving my Spanish language skills to a level I had never dreamed possible.
  • For teaching me that I can survive without all of the things I am used to having at home, like a shower curtain or buffalo chicken.
  • For helping me learn how to adapt to changes and remain calm in a crisis.
  • Above all, I’m thankful that I still have another semester here.

Not all of this semester has been easy, with the hardest blow being the one to my wallet, but I wake up every day feeling blessed. This experience has made me more confident and less terrified of airports. I have friends from all over the world now, as well as a new global perspective that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I’m glad I got to share all my experiences with you all back home at TU. If you want to keep following the rest of my journey, I’ll be continuing my blog next semester at www.expeditionespana.blogspot.com since this is my last Towerlight article. Thanks for reading, and I hope I’ve inspired at least some of you to want to travel abroad in the future! ¡Hasta luego!

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