Ailie Abroad: 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.