fin (the end)

I was reminiscing with some friends who were in Madrid with me, Julia and Laura, and we were talking about how we are not the same people we were before the semester abroad.  Madrid has changed us.  And I think generally for the better.  We were saying that we all are a lot more laid back/chill now, and more secure and confident. Living and studying in a foreign country, especially one that speaks a foreign language, really makes you step outside of your comfort zone.  It's a little scary at first, but when you become accustomed to it, you feel so accomplished and proud.  Also, travelling with different groups of people to various different countries forces you to deal with different problems and challenges.  These experiences made me more understanding of people, and more care-free in a way.  If something goes wrong or not as planned, you kind of just have to laugh it off and see the upside of things.  (I now truly believe that there's always an upside... I guess kind of like the "glass is half-full" kind of thing).  I also feel that I really "lived in the moment" during my time abroad.  They say that Americans "live to work," while Spaniards "work to live" and enjoy their lives more.  From the time we (Americans) are young, we are enouraged to think about what we want to be (what job/profession/career we want to pursue) when we grow up.  There is so much pressure, and so much of who we are is based on what we do.  I know I have been stressing out about what exactly I want/am going to be able to do with my life after college while earning enough money to live and make my student loan payments.  But in Spain, it doesn't seem like they worry as much about these things.  I know for a fact that salaries are a lot lower in Madrid.  It seems like Spaniards earn just enough to get by, and they enjoy (Spanish verb= disfrutar) their lives more in the present.  And they take their time.  They spend lots of quality time with family and friends, especially over meals/drinks/coffee.  One thing I really miss are the restaurants there compared to here in the U.S.  Over there, you can literally sit at your table for 3 hours and they don't care.  They don't give you the check until you ask for it ("la cuenta, por favor").  In Vegas, I was having lunch wih a friend at Mimi's Cafe and the waitress put our check on the table when we hadn't even finished half of our food yet!  It's like they just want to rush you along.  This past semester, I didn't really think/stress about the future.  I lived in the present, and truly enjoyed and took everything in.  In a sense, it was a nice little escape from reality.  I mean, I travelled to different countries on the weekends!   Julia was also saying that now she doesn't care about getting coffee or food at school by herself because we were alone in many situations in Madrid.  We had to be more independent and secure on our own, and hope to remain that way.                        
All of this may seem a little too serious or sentimental, but I wanted to convey how meaningful my experience in Madrid really was.  And now that my time there has been long over and my new semester has already begun, I will close this blog.  I am very happy that I followed through with my goal of blogging throughout my semester there.  I did it so family & friends could check out what I was up to, but also for myself.  I am really happy that I have recorded so many awesome memories and details of my travels and time in Madrid that I can look back on forever.  I really treasured every moment there and realized how blessed I was.  I knew that my time in Europe was precious and limited, so I tried to live each day to the fullest and reflect on what I was going through, differences between what I was used to and what I experienced, and the overall meaning of it all and how it was making me a better, more well-rounded person.  I blogged and wrote about details because I wanted to highlight and remember things about my days there.  It was so special because it was a chunk of my college experience that I will always remember and value.  But it also made me realize that I can and should value the rest of the days of my time in college/even just days of my life back in my normal situations just as much... because we obviously only have so much time here.  I will try to journal, or even blog, about experiences, differences, changes, challenges, and highlights as I continue my journey.  I am closing this blog, but my appreciation and love of everything I went through over the semester will stay with me.  As I move forward, my time in Madrid will move farther and farther away from me, but it will always have a piece of my heart.