This is my last blog post about Spain! Today is June 27, and tomorrow is the one year anniversary since we left Spain and got back to the states. This trip was the trip of a lifetime and I not only became more confident in myself and my Spanish speaking skills, but I learned so much about a culture so different from mine and made lifelong friends along the way. I will be forever grateful for everything I experienced on this trip and I will always look back on it with love and fond memories.
So here it is, finally, my last post about Spain:
Madrid
Dia Trece: Madrid
Hoy es mi último día en España. We hung out around the house in the morning waiting for Gary to get up (he was trying to sleep off jet lag). Once he woke up we headed downtown to go shopping for traditional Spanish shoes for me and gifts for my friends. We had a great time walking through the stores and browsing. After shopping for a few hours and finding a lot of cute gifts, we headed back to the apartment to watch the Spain vs. Italy game in the Euro Cup. Even though Spain lost we had a lot of fun watching because everyone had so much passion and Perla brought us authentic snacks and Fanta Límon to have during the game (again, she’s a saint).
We had a large dinner because it was Gary’s first dinner in Spain and it was the perfect ending to my trip, as well as the perfect beginning to his. We had gazpacho, smoked salmon and more. After dinner I had to pack and it was a complete nightmare, but I did manage to get everything in. I am going to bed at 1 am and have to get up at 5:30 am to catch the bus to the airport so I’m sure I will be exhausted tomorrow!
Dia Catorce: Madrid to EEUU
Today is the day I left one of my favorite places in the world. I woke up at 5:30 and got ready to go back to the Real Madrid stadium to meet up with the rest of Live N’ Learn and catch the bus to the airport. Saying goodbye to the Lara Rey family was really hard because they have become family to me, and I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for me. I’m pretty sure I had the best host family out of everyone and I loved getting to know them and being a part of their lives. Hopefully I will see them again soon!
The Madrid airport was huge, but luckily we found our way pretty easily and had time to relax at the gate. The plane ride to Atlanta was long but exciting because we were all ready to be back on American soil. When we got to Atlanta we were so happy to be around English speakers! We all kept saying “gracias” and “pardon” out of habit but we laughed and bonded even more as a group. We had an eight hour layover so we said goodbye to the Denver kids and headed to TGI Friday’s for “American” food. Our little family dinner was nice and I had a BBQ Chicken Burger which was so good!
After dinner we all rested until our flight (most of us were going on 24 hours of being awake) and waited anxiously to board and head to Cincinnati. Our flight was delayed almost and hour but we finally boarded and got going on our way. We played a loud game of “Go Fish!” in the beginning (to the annoyance of our fellow passengers) and then slept the rest of the way. We got into Cincy around 1 am and it was a relief to see my parents and be back home again. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but luckily we all live close enough that getting together in the future won’t be hard.
I got home, went to bed, got up the next morning, jumped in the car, and drove all the way to Maine with my family. I didn’t have a lot of time to recuperate in between trips, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s one adventure after another and I can’t wait to see where I go next!
P.S. I’m going to Europe again this summer and I’m planning to blog again, so be on the look out for that and hopefully it won’t take me an entire year to document the trip this time!
Click on images below to enlarge and view as a slideshow.
India Kirssin 