It's been a little over three months since I've last blogged, but it seems like just yesterday I was writing all about my adventures all over Europe. A big part of the reason I didn't write very much at the end of the exchange was because I was dealing with very personal experiences. Saying goodbye, I have realized, is not an easy thing to do. So basically the my last entries would have consisted of sob story after sob story. Maybe.
After all those goodbyes, I am now back in the states. It feels good to be back home, to be with my family and friends, to drive my car, to see Chancie...but, and there's always a 'but', it is not always easy. Before I begin to write about how I miss my other life, I want to say that I am very happy to be home and that I am extremely excited about starting the next chapter of my life at OSU this Wednesday. Now, back to the 'but'...I do miss my life. My life. When I see people for the first time they usually ask me how my 'trip' was and I reply with, "absolutely amazing," and they smile and the conversation is over. Not always, but often. I guess I'm struggling because I want people to know that I had a life over there and that while the conditions weren't permanent, my experiences and the people that I have met will have a permanent place in my heart. And that's just it. They're always on my mind, my friends and memories, so I always miss them.
I realize that this blog is completely all over the place. We can blame that on the time: 1:20 am, and my lack of writing for three months. I was just feeling really nostalgic tonight as I looked back through photos (I had a problem with my iPhoto and thought I had lost all my photos, so I had to spend quite a while trying to figure that out...but I finally found the pictures and imported them back into iPhoto. So, throughout this process I saw all of my pictures from this year). My pictures brought back such great memories. So I miss the beautiful mountains that surround Pamplona and all of its beautiful parks and cafes. I miss my friends and our crazy conversations and our way of truly understanding each other. I miss my host families and their generosity towards me and making this a great experience. I miss the culture. I miss speaking Spanish. I miss walking everywhere and using public transportation. I miss dancing. I miss my other life.
Having said all this, I want to add that I am so happy I have all these memories now. I am happy that I have loved my exchange as much as I possibly could. And now that all of this is out there, I am ready to finally finish packing and get ready for my next adventure at Ohio State, because by the time next summer rolls around I am going to be blogging about how much I miss my life there, too, and how I can't wait for fall. This is just how I get. It's been a bit of a challenge trying to find my balance again, just as it was for me a year ago in my first few months in Spain. I've tried to keep the stories to a minimum, because I think people get tired hearing about people they don't know and places they haven't been. I don't know, but I seem to get this vibe from time to time. I talk the other Pamplonians (exchange students in my city) quite often. Almost every day in one form or the other. We are all still connected, and we all still care.
Now I must force myself to stop writing because I have to babysit in the morning. My parents keep telling me that I'm not getting enough sleep as it is and here I am at 1:40 writing about how I miss dancing in Spanish clubs. Silly. Nevertheless, here are my thoughts. Besos!
