Closing Remarks

I've been home from Spain for a month now, giving me time to reflect on the year abroad and better understand the impact it will have on my life.  The verdict is in: I am genuinely glad I studied abroad in Granada despite all the hardships I encountered at first.  I already think the year will be a highlight of my life, a truly unique experience that so few ever experience, or if they are lucky to experience it, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  And while studying abroad is becoming increasingly more popular, I think I speak for myself when I say that I went through many things study abroad students never experience.  All in all, the not so great times really helped me appreciate when things finally did turn up.  My last few months in Spain felt exactly how I had hoped my first few months would have felt.  Of course I now know that it was really only natural to feel the way I did at first, especially given my circumstances.  I think most people have feelings of doubt in the beginning.  I remember thinking that I had seriously gotten myself into a huge nightmare.  At the end I felt the feelings of excitement and adventure that I had anticipated when daydreaming about Spain the summer before.  My year abroad obviously taught me many life lessons, including having a little faith when things don't go exactly as planned.  Things can often be tougher than we imagine, but with the support of loved ones mixed with some faith and confidence, we usually manage to overcome our obstacles.  I think the year abroad gives me confidence to persevere in life.  I should always strive for my goals no matter what may get in my way.  I will try to always think back to Granada when I am in a tough situation. 

I consider myself very fortunate for how good things turned out in the end, mainly the amazing friendships I made.  I really think friends help make the journey worthwhile.  When I get sentimental thinking of Granada, it is most always remembering the good times spent with friends, and much less of the not so fun times like carrying heavy groceries up the hill to my dorm!  My friends made the time so much more enjoyable.  They helped me through the thick and the thin.  And the last few days were no exception.  Jose Luis and Marta helped me pack my suitcases after we all realized it might be a challenge.  Hansol helped me take winter clothes to the post office to ship home.  I divided up all of the items in my room that I couldn't take home, and my friends were more than happy to take it all.  Claudia, Jose Luis and Marta all woke up at 7 AM to say goodbye to me.  Jose Luis and Marta even helped me roll my suitcases out to the taxi.  I was really touched with all the nice things they did at the end.  Jose Luis and Marta made a video with pictures throughout the year.  Regina wrote a long letter for me to read once I was home.  Friends like these really are one in a million and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to meet them all.  They have all said that whenever I want to return to Spain I have a home in each of their cities.  Likewise, I have told them they are all welcome in the United States, and that the offer will always stand.  As the saying goes, mi casa es tu casa.

While the people in Spain were the ones  I saw on a daily basis, all of you back home also played an essential role throughout the year.  All the kind words and well wishes were greatly appreciated.  My parents talked to me daily, always helping me to look on the bright side and encouraging me to stay in Spain even when times got tough.  Their concern showed me just how much I am loved.  My grandmother, Meme, helped keep me company when I was feeling especially lonely or when I was in need of a good listener.  She was always ready to talk and sounded so excited to hear my voice on the other end.  

"When one door closes another one opens" 

The excitement and adventure of Spain may be over, but new opportunities await me in the not so distant future.  I am so pleased that I will be transferring to UNC-Chapel Hill next month. After spending a year in Granada, at a huge university, I thought I was ready for something bigger back home.  UNCG was a good starting place freshman year and it gave me the opportunity to go to Spain.  Now, I am eager to see what Chapel Hill holds in store.  

As a junior in college, it is not too early to begin thinking of what to do after school.  If you asked me in October if I would ever leave home again, I am sure I would have said "never," without thinking twice.  I would actually now consider living in another country later in life.  Maybe not forever, but I think a few years could be fun and enlightening.  I already have such a different perspective and outlook on the world from having studied in Granada.  Living in a different country is so different from traveling to a foreign country for a week.  I really witnessed another culture and learned that other parts of the world do not function the "american way."  I appreciated the different way of life and learned to accept it for what it is.  I saw what little part of the world Sanford, NC occupies.  This helps me to keep everything in perspective and remember that there is another world out there, outside of the United States.  

I can't say for certain where the future will take me, all I know is that I am open to any adventures that may come my way.  

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." 
-Eleanor Roosevelt

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."

-Henry David Thoreau

Day Trips to Malaga and Sevilla

As you'll quickly see my last week in Spain was a hectic, exciting, adventure full of traveling--exactly what I wanted!  I took advantage of knowing the bus system so well, and decided to hop on the bus and go to several nearby cities.  I first planned to go to Malaga with my neighbor in the dorm, Claudia, who had invited me home with her one weekend.  Due to a change in her exam schedule she didn't go home and I ended up taking a day trip to Malaga by myself.  My main reason for going to Malaga was to see the Pablo Picasso Museum.  It was a bit of a rushed trip to Malaga, but I did see the main things on my list: the Cathedral, Picasso Museum, and Picasso's Birthplace.  Throughout my traveling I realized that even though I had lived in Spain 10 months, I still stuck out like a tourist in these other cities.  In Malaga I had a hard time finding one of the Picasso Museums and a man on the street offered directions.  Of course after he directed me to the museum he asked for money.  It was creepy that I later saw him again and he tried to offer some more "help."  I went back to Granada that night on one of the most noisiest bus rides ever and headed for Sevilla the following day at 10 AM.

Malaga Cathedral 

inside the cathedral-very similar to the Granada Cathedral 

Picasso Museum 

"Picasso was born in this house..."

outside of Picasso's Birthplace

I was warned that Sevilla is one of the hottest places in Spain during the summer, but this didn't stop me from going.  I arrived in Sevilla and soon discovered that the heat of this city was no joke.  The heat in Spain is so dry that it almost makes it unbearable to do anything.  And Sevilla was 10 times worse than Granada.  I did make it to the Cathedral, which was the main tourist spot.  I walked up to the Giralda and was almost out of breath by the time I made it to the top.  I now know that I should have visited Sevilla before the summer months arrived.  It did make it nice that Sevilla has an above ground metro train that runs along the main street of town.  At one metro stop I got ready to buy my ticket and a man jumped up and tried to "help" me.  Later he asked for money and I just walked away while he scoped out his next target.  My bus ticket back to Granada was for 7:30 and I arrived back at the bus station by 7:25, confident that the bus would still be loading.  Unfortunately the one time I was late, the bus was early and actually pulling out of the platform when I arrived.  I waved to the driver but he made a face that let me know he would not be stopping to let me on.  Frustrated, I walked to the customer service desk where a not too helpful woman told me the next bus left at 11 PM.  I was annoyed that I would have to spend 3 more hours in this hot city.  I camped out at Starbucks and walked around the shopping district before heading back to the station.  We were all loaded on the bus at 11 PM and while the driver was backing out we all heard a loud BANG.  Turns out the driver had forgotten to close the luggage compartment and it hit the post while we backed out.  Thirty minutes later, 3 bus drivers had removed the door and all of the passengers were asked to put their bags on the bus.  We were off on the craziest bus ride ever. And not even 10 minutes on the bus, someone's huge suitcase falls down from the overhead compartment.  The whole bus broke out in laughter.  Later, we randomly stopped for a 15 minute coffee break, and kept ending up off the highway in small towns.  I was sitting beside an Australian guy who was very talkative, and neither of us knew what in the world was going on with the bus ride.  We finally made it back to Granada around 2:45 AM and all of the adventure came to an end.  

the huge Cathedral in Sevilla 

entering the Cathedral 

Christopher Columbus' tomb 

Side view of the tomb

enormous altarpiece 

view from the giralda 

the giralda

the cathedral 

Plaza de Espana

the giralda 

Gold Tower 

Escorial and Toledo

Before leaving Spain I was eager to do some traveling around the country that I called home for 10 months.  After much thinking and planning, I decided not to travel to any other countries, but focus on seeing major spanish cities I had not yet visited.  The first stops on my busy itinerary were the Escorial, the monastery of Philip II, and an afternoon in Toledo.  I booked this trip through an online travel website that had a package to the Escorial and Toledo with lunch included.  Since I was traveling alone and I was unsure of how exactly to get to the Escorial, going through a tour group seemed like a good choice.  I went back to Madrid for the 4th time to meet up with the group, and to do some leisurely touring of Madrid for the last time.  I was proud of myself for managing the Metro from the bus station again, and then finding my hotel which was located right off of Puerta del Sol in the heart of the city.  I arrived exhausted after not having any sleep the night before due to studying for my art history final exam.  I ate dinner and was in bed early to start the tour the following day at an early 8:30 AM.  I was slightly nervous about finding the Plaza de Espana, where I was supposed to meet the group.  Fortunately I had no problems, and within minutes we were on a bus destined for the Escorial.  I met a friendly young woman from Florida who I hung out with throughout the day-- we didn't exactly fit in with the other older American couples on the tour.  

The Escorial is about 30 minutes away from Madrid, in a small community called San Lorenzo de El Escorial.  I was determined to see this royal monastery before leaving especially since we studied it in my art history course.  The Escorial is an enormous monastery of  Philip II (former king of Spain, son of Charles V/Holy Roman Emperor) built in the late renaissance by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera.  The building itself honors the battle of St. Quentin--our tour guide told us during this time it was common to build palaces honoring battles.  It is in the shape of a grill to represent the grill on which Saint Lawrence was martyred on.  The building is made up of a church, library, residence, monastery, and royal pantheon.  The church or basilica is said to be the most impressive part, and unfortunately it was closed during our visit.  We did, however, tour the pantheon, viewing all of the tombs of the Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties.  Surprisingly, the living quarters of Philip II were quite modest in comparison with other royal palaces.  The Escorial also houses some great works of art by artists such as El Greco, Tintoretto, Velazquez, and Alonso Cano.  I enjoyed the trip to the Escorial. My only complaint was that the tour was a bit rushed.  

Courtyard of the Kings

main entrance to the Escorial 

one of the buildings functions as a school--all of the school children had recess in front of the Escorial

side view of the royal monastery 

pretty view of the Escorial

After the Escorial, we drove over to the Valle de los Caidos, or Valley of the Fallen, a Spanish Civil War memorial and the site of Franco's tomb.  We stayed here for about an hour and toured the inside of the monument that has an impressive basilica.  

driving up to the Valle de los Caidos 

close up of the cross and memorial underneath

supposedly one of the biggest crosses in the world 

We ate lunch in Toledo in a traditional Spanish comedor that had a nice view of the city.  I sat with a woman from Argentina, who was also by herself.  She spoke no English which gave me a good opportunity to show off my Spanish.  I picked up on the differences between Latin American Spanish and Spain Spanish.  She said "lindo" instead of "guapo" and used it often to describe Italy.  "Elizabeth, Italia es lindo, como un sueno, tienes que ir." We had a quick tour of Toledo, seeing El Greco's obra maestra (El Greco lived in Toledo), El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz, touring a monastery, visiting an artisan workshop, etc.  

We returned back to Madrid around 7 PM, and realizing the day was still young, Grace (the girl from Florida) and I headed to the Tourism Office in search of a flamenco show.  A helpful guy told us about several shows that night.  We headed to the first one and it was cancelled, and the second one was difficult to find.  Luckily, tickets were still available and they were still seating people.  This was my first flamenco show in Spain--it was the perfect length (about an hour) and not only was there a dancer, but also a singer and a guitarist.  We enjoyed the show and then trekked over to the Hard Rock Cafe for an american dinner.  I was proud that I was able to show Grace around, she was in Madrid for the first time.  I helped her figure out the Metro and told her some good tourist spots.  The next day I slept late and then went back to the Prado for lunch and to see other paintings we discussed in my art history class.  I was pushing it close to make it to the bus station by 5 PM and had to allow an hour to get there by Metro.  The whirlwind trip was starting to take a toll on me by this point.  While going through the turn stall at the metro stop a woman ran in behind me and got in on my ticket.  Later I fell down the steps with all of my bags going toward the train.  I finally made it to the bus station and headed back to Granada to continue the rest of my last minute traveling.  

standing in front of the outdoor escalator leading up to the old part of Toledo 

standing with Grace in front of the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall)

cute "dolls" outside the Ayuntamiento

visiting El Greco's Obra Maestra 

posing with a sign for El Greco's home

Toledan Landscape

a building entering Toledo 

an artisan working

knight in shining armor 

in the gift shop

finally found the bear statue in Madrid! 

flamenco show in Madrid