7/1/17:
My final week and a half of traveling abroad in Spain was bittersweet. For the past four weeks, I had come to love my new country and I was sad that I had to leave it. I had made tremendous friends on this trip and I was very disappointed that I had to leave them. On the other hand, I was also somewhat excited to return back to America. Keep in mind that I have been traveling for the past seven weeks. So, it is safe to say that I was ready to return to the comfort of my home.
After the program ended, my family decided to fly over to Spain to spend a week with me in Madrid. I hadn’t had seen my family in over a month and I was ready to show them everything that I had learned. When they arrived, they were extremely jetlagged, but nevertheless excited that we were reunited once again. We ended up renting an apartment in the neighborhood of Salamanca in Madrid. The place was fantastic. It had many luxuries that I had been without for the last six weeks, like air conditioning. I had never thought of air conditioning as a luxury until I traveled abroad this summer. In the States, it is everywhere. However, when I was in Nicaragua and Spain, it was rare to have.
During the week my family was visiting, we toured Madrid and its surrounding cities as much as possible. I showed them the cities of Toledo and Segovia and the many treasures that both of these cities contain. I also showed them San Lorenzo and where I studied and lived for a month. I could see that my parents and my brother were extremely intrigued by Spain and everything I showed them.
Upon returning to the States, I was shocked by how much English I had to use. I practically don’t speak Spanish much at all now. I need to find a way to keep speaking Spanish or I feel as if I might lose the most valuable skill that I picked up during my travels. Despite that, I’m officially settled back in and accustomed to the American way of life once again.
