When one door closes...

Well, everyone, although I am not done writing blog posts, my year-long adventure in Spain has come to an end. It's hard to believe that I am sitting here in the very airport that I nervously arrived to in September with high hopes. I had absolutely no idea the amazing experiences, knowledge, Spanish skills, and friendships I would return back to the States with 10 months later.

This has been a year that I anticipated and excitedly waited for for years. That being said, I had pretty high expectations for what I would get out of it all, and I have gotten absolutely everything I could have hoped for and more out of my time in Spain and Europe.

Sevilla was the perfect place for me to study abroad. The weather, culture, Spanish, size... everything. My host family really became exactly that--family. I made a new very close friend, Luisa, who just happens to be Spanish, and was able to hang out with her and her group of friends all year long, speaking Spanish and really getting to experience the culture head first. I met many Americans through my program who also changed my life, and I'm so grateful for them (Caela, Olivia, and Kathleen!!). I got to travel to EIGHT new countries and many cities throughout the wonderful country I've gotten to call home, mi querida España.

However, although this wouldn't have been possible without all of the people and places above, as well as my insanely incredible parents, the most amazing thing I am leaving Spain with is my new self. It sounds super cheesy, but I really am returning a whole new person, with an entirely new confidence, skill sets, view of the world, and all all-around greater happiness.

To get to the point of this post, I'll start out by saying that it's no secret that I have become totally obsessed with taking pictures of doors throughout Europe. I think every album of pictures I put on Facebook has at least one picture of an ornate door. I knew that at some point I wanted to write a blog post with pictures of some of the "highlights" of the doors I've encountered throughout the past year. When I got to thinking about what I would write about, I realized that it was the perfect metaphor for ending this life-changing experience.

"When one door closes, another door opens." Although this experience is over, I am excited to come back and take on the world with a smile, a more relaxed attitude, and hopefully lots of Spanish speaking! So, despite the sadness I feel right now as I'm sitting at the airport about to board a nine and a half hour flight, I am happy to close the door behind me, because I know that both what lies behind it and what lies ahead is full of excitement and adventure.

Madrid, Spain - September 2013

Sevilla, Spain - September 2013

Universidad de Sevilla (the entrance I walk in every day!)

Sevilla, Spain - October 2013

The 21st bday girl, Kathleen, at the Catedral de Sevilla

Sevilla, Spain - November 2013

Real Alcazar (Royal Palace in Sevilla)

Ben's Visit!

Rome, Italy - November 2014

Roman Forum (with Ben)

Fiesole, Italy - November 2014

Visiting my BFF Cara!

Paris, France - November 2014

Barcelona, Spain - December 2013

My beautiful mommy in the Casa Batlló (Gaudi's work)

Aracena, Spain - February 2014

With mi amiga Luisa

Chefchaoen, Morocco - February 2014

Assilah, Morocco - February 2014

Trujillo, Spain - February 2014 (???OR MARCH??)

Mi novia, Caela

London, England - March 2014

The Orangery for Afternoon Tea with Caela

Grazalema, Spain - April 2014

Sevilla, Spain - April 2014

The love of my life <3

Versailles, France - April 2014

Palace of Versailles

Palma de Mallorca, Spain - May 2014

With Caela and Luisa

Bruges, Belgium - May 2014

Solo Eurotrippin'

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - May 2014

The Heineken Experience

Lisbon, Portugal - May 2014

Castile de Sao Jorge

Lisbon, Portugal - May 2014

Almería, Spain - June 2014

With my next door neighbors from Libertyville

¡Adios, España! You will always be my home...
A

The Colors of Lisbon

As I begin to write my real post about my trip to Lisbon, Portugal a couple weeks ago, I wanted to get together some of my favorite shots of the various graffiti/street art that covered the city. Lisbon had such an awesome artistic vibe, and I think these pictures put together on their own really convey it better than I could describe it. (And better than a couple of them mixed in with cheesy tourist photos of me could!)

I give you: the many beautiful shades of Lisbon...

Full post coming tomorrow!
<3 A

20 Little Things

Four. Freaking. Days. That's how much time I have left to soak up the life I have been fortunate enough to enjoy studying in Sevilla and traveling throughout Europe.

One of the biggest reasons I decided to blog about my study abroad experience was so that I could look back and remember the things I did, although of course a major motivation was sharing my experiences with you all, as well. I have realized, however, that most of my blog posts are about the bigger things I've been doing.

It's logical that if I take a trip to London or Morocco, I am going to write a blog post about it. But does that mean that the "mommy daughter dates" I've enjoyed with my host mom throughout the past several weeks have had any less impact on my life and my experience abroad? Or that joining a Spanish gym and going to workout classes taught in Spanish is any less of a great story to share and remember? Don't think so.

Thus, I wanted to post about some of the "little things" that I've really enjoyed this year (mostly focused on this semester), including common occurrences and one time things, big and small. Most of them include the time I've spent with three very special women who have made my experience this year what it's been--my host mom, Eva, my Spanish friend, Luisa, and my American friend who goes to Boston College, as well, Caela.

1. Mommy daughter dates: My host mom, Eva, is an absolutely wonderful person. Being able to live with her for a year has been so fun, and she has been my absolute #1 source of learning. She has really taken me in to her family, and in the past few months, especially, we have done a lot of bonding just the two of us, including a few "mommy daughter dates." It's really fun to do things with her out of the house, but I also enjoy the times when we open two bottles of Cruzcampo beer and enjoy them with a big lunch before a nice, long siesta.

2. Joining a gym: I was training to run a 10K in Madrid when my knee started to bother me, so I decided to join a gym (called "Lowfit"-haha) that is very close to my house to get some cross-training in. My knee pain didn't go away, so I didn't run the race, but I did stick with the gym as a result! I have been going to the gym about four days a week, and I've been trying to take advantage of the unlimited class they offer as another way to practice my Spanish skills.

3. Hanging up my laundry with my host mom: Spaniards typically do not have dryers in their homes, maybe because it's pretty nice out all year long. We have a beautiful patio at my house where we hang our clothes out to dry in the warm, Spanish air, and hanging up my laundry has been something I insisted with helping from day one.

(This picture was taken by my lovely roomie, Rachel. Check out her blog here: checklisttheblog.blogspot.com)

4. Wine Tuesdays: This tradition started as a once a week thing but slowly started to branch out to multiple days a week as my friend Caela and I got closer and closer. She left Spain about a month ago, but I am infinitely glad that we go to the same college and can continue to have lots of long wine-fueled heart to hearts!

5. Talks with Caela: Obviously related to the above tradition are the long talks we shared all over Europe. Whether it be on a bus when we couldn't sleep, at a chic café in London, or in the bed we shared in Mallorca that was just a bit too small for two people, we could talk for hours and hours!

6. Movies with Luisa: Throughout the semester, I have gone to a few movies in Spanish with my friend, Luisa. The majority of movies in theaters here are dubbed American movies. I saw American Hustle ("La Gran Estafa Americana") and Her, both dubbed in Spanish. I had seen American Hustle in English, so it was fun to compare the two. I think the Spanish version was missing quite a bit of the humor that the English version has, but it was a good movie nonetheless, and I was happy I had seen it first to be able to understand the somewhat complicated plot. I think Her lends itself well to being dubbed, since half of the time the voice is coming from a computer (ie-it's not a problem that the words don't match the lips, because there are none.).

7. Getting ready for Feria: I was lucky enough to wear my host mom's old flamenco dress for Feria, Sevilla's world-famous spring fair/week long party. Caela and I spent literally hours getting ready for Feria each day... I did our hair in awesome Pinterest-inspired updos, complete with giant flowers on the tops of our heads like everyone wears with their flamenco dresses. Complete with some Spanish wine, the getting ready part was honestly just as fun as the actual time we spent at Feria!

8. Springtime in Sevilla: Spring is without a doubt the best season in Sevilla. It is warm but not too hot, and the city has an amazing energy to it. There are beautiful flowers on every tree that make the entire city smell wonderful. It helps that there are two week-long breaks for Semana Santa (Easter week) and Feria that are filled with fun and tradition.

9. American dinner with Caela and Luisa: In April, Caela and I decided we wanted to make Luisa some American food. Although it was a little upsetting when we couldn't find sweet potatoes to make sweet potato fries, we made some awesome "gourmet" macaroni and cheese and a Waldorf salad. Caela and I accidentally bought Swiss chard for our lettuce (language barrier probs...), which made for a bit of a different tasting Walforf salad-haha. It still ended up great, and Luisa loved it!

10. Siesta: Let everyone now know that, yes, this Spanish tradition is still very alive and well. I have done my very best to soak up the "no pasa nada", relaxed lifestyle here in Spain, and taking a nice post-lunch siesta has been one of the best parts of that. Spanish lunch is the biggest meal of the day and is usually served between 2:30-3:30pm. After a long lunch with lingering conversation (called "sobremesa"), everyone retreats to their rooms or couch and takes anywhere from a 20 minute to two hour siesta. (Or if you're my host brother you just kinda linger on the couch for the rest of the day...)

(Saw this pillow at a store and reeeeally want it...)

11. Triana market Juice Bar: The markets in Europe are just awesome. Maybe places like them exist in the States, but I don't think so. In Sevilla's largest market, called the Mercado de Triana, there is the cutest juice bar ever. I've become a semi-frequent guest at this lovely place where everything is incredibly fresh and tasty and the woman who works there is super friendly (it isn't a given in Spain, guys...)

12. Colette: Another one of my favorite places in Sevilla happens to be a French bakery. Since I've been here, they've opened up another location, so it seems like the Spaniards are feeling it, too. My host mom was the one who recommended it to me in the first place. I will really miss going and getting a lemon tart, with my roommate from the Fall, Olivia, with Luisa, or with my friend Lindsay.

13. Making cookies with Luisa: In March, Luisa and I attempted to make my mom's chocolate chip recipe at her house. It turned out to be a bit more of a science experiment, due to all of the measurement conversions and different types of ingredients here in Spain. Darn you, America, and your lack of metric measurements! Regardless, after one totally botched batch, the cookies ended up being good! Not nearly as good as my mom's, but, hey, are they really ever? It was a great memory, nonetheless.

14. Hearing Spanish children singing from my window: The way my apartment building is designed, if I have my window open I can hear what's going on in pretty much the entire building, but just if I sit next to my window. It's perfect because it's not annoying, but it's just enough that when I'm sitting at my desk I can hear lunch being made, kids playing and singing, and just... Spanish life. Spaniards love to sing, let me tell you!

15. Sunsets: ...because I swear they're actually more amazing here. Could that make sense? Someone who knows something about the sky will have to explain this one to me...

16. THE FOOD!: Another "conclusive" blog post I'll be posting this week will be about the food. In October, I wrote a post about Spanish food as taught by my lovely host mom, who I like to call "Eva la cocinera" (Eva the cook). So I won't go on too much about it now, but maaaan, will I miss the food.

17. The weather: Despite the seemingly nonstop rain and 50-something degree weather in February, which still couldn't even compare with the crazy cold/snow back home, Sevilla's weather is perfect. It reached the mid 70s in March, and now it is pure summer. Some days are a bit hot, but my building has an awesome pool, and the beach is just an hour away. What more could you ask for when picking a city to study abroad?

18. Music festival with Caela and Maria: In March, Caela and my friend from BC, Maria, came to visit us in Sevilla. It's weird how long ago her visit feels! She was studying in Madrid this semester and came down for a quick trip, which included a few too many gin and tonics at a Spanish music festival. Because #pignoise, right girls?

19. Nights out: I haven't been great about taking pictures out at night. This semester, most of my going out has been with Spaniards, who seem to not take pictures like us Americans. Whoops? Anyway, I will miss my nights in Alfalfa, Alameda, at El Tenderete or what I've coined the "orange wine place" because the name is too long... I'll miss the Cruzcampo and mojitos as big as my face, but not nearly as much as I'll miss the wonderful people who were by my side.

20. Speaking Spanish all the time... This is not so little, but it's one of the parts of my life that I wouldn't necessarily write a blog post about. I love being surrounded by Spanish. It's such a happy, fun language that I have really enjoyed learning more and more of. It's often been frustrating, of course, especially with the thick Andalusian accent, but I really feel like this is one area of studying abroad that I just did right. I might not be able to speak as perfectly as I had thought I would before I came here at all, but I have really immersed myself in the language and have gotten to a point that I've really only dreamed of getting to.

That's all for now, amigos. I have way too many blog posts I want to get through before this is over, so stay tuned!

Besitos,
A