As i'm sitting her at 5:30 in the afternoon with my roommate next to me listening to David Archuleta on youtube i'm thinking about the undeniable fact that tonight i begin saying farewell to Sevilla. tonight is the CEA program farewell dinner which means the semester really is coming to a close. and as i cling to the thought "NO! i have 2 and 1/2 week left!!" i can no longer resist the idea of going home to the great U.S. of A. any longer.
while my time here slips away i'm trying to live every moment to its absolute fullest. and im realizing that its not the traveling and seeing the world, or the independence, or the incredible learning experiences that i'm going to miss the most, instead, it's the little, quirky things that make my life here so different and amazing. the little things that would never be "normal" in the US. those tiny details that for most of the semester i overlooked, but now am trying to hold onto as i experience each one every day.
it's the little things like my 10 minute walk to class every day when i listen to my ipod and stay as close to the buildings as possible so i can stay in the shade and not burn alive. the dog that has dreadlocks who sits outside the bar on the corner and always makes me laugh. the building i take classes in with its big indoor patio and chandeliers in every classroom. how it has become totally normal to walk 45 minutes or so when i need to go somewhere and how i don't even remember what it feels like to drive. it's ordering a bocadillo (sandwhich) at my favorite bocaillo place and eating it walking home. it's walking up my beautifully tiled staircase to enter the apartment that has no air conditioning and is impossibly hotter than it is outside. it's laying in bed for an hour laughing with steph because we can't sleep because it's so hot and the fan won't stay on without the light. or listening to the little children on the street speak in their little spanish voices. or the beautiful little prams that new moms push their babies around in. it's getting stared at for wearing shorts and a t-shirt in 90 degree weather while i stare right back because these spaniards are crazy for wearing long sleeves outside. it's staying in with steph instead of going out and watching stupid youtube videos and laughing histarically until the early hours of the morning. it's going out for tapas and trying something new every time even after four months. or drinking tinto del verano every wednesday at 100 mondatitos when everything is a euro. it's watching a little spanish boy and a little english girl play together and discovering that laughter knows no langauge barrier. it's the little old ladies who walk arm in arm down the street. it's the openness of affection that spanish people know so well. or the dos besos (2 kisses) you recieve upon meeting someone knew. it's wandering around for no reason whatsoever other than to see more of your own city. it's knowing that no matter how much i travel, sevilla is going to be there when i get back. it's going to bed every night knowing that if the dog who insesently barks, or the men who drill at 8 a.m, or our obnoxiously loud folding bathroom door don't wake you up in the morning, the heat sure will. it's sitting by the river doing nothing but enjoying your life in that moment.
these are the things that i will miss most. not the big obvious things, but rather the little quirks that make up life for me here in Sevilla. the things that are so not normal back home in the States but that i have come accustomed to here in Spain.
i would have to say that i'm ready to go home. i have so much to look forward to: nights spent hanging out with my parents, helping my beautifully pregnant sister get ready for the twins, a wedding on the beach. with all of that, who wouldn't want to go home? but i really will miss Sevilla. there is so much that i wish i could take home with me and i know i will make my best efforts to incorporate parts of my new life here into my old one in Charlotte.
but for now, (once i can convince myself to get off my bed and get ready for the farewell banquet to the tunes of David Archuleta, who seems to be the flavor of the day), i will enjoy my 45 or so minute walk down the streets of Sevilla and soak up all the spanish life that i can until the day that i truly have to say goodbye.
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