Finals have started and sadly, they´re a lot harder than I was anticipating. I have my final two tests next week. While I´m excited to be done with school and start my summer vacation, I´m also dreading the end of finals because that also means that I will be leaving to come back to Texas. I´m in a little bit of denial that I am leaving Barcelona in 9 days. I feel as though I am about to leave another home.

school

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Things I´m Going To Miss

  • The culture– I´m going to miss the way everyone in Barcelona greets each other, with one kiss on each cheek. I´m going to miss the way people invite you into their homes so warmly, and have hearts oozing with generosity. I´m going to miss being around the Spanish and Catalan language. I´m going to miss the random protests. The protests were always friendly, but I found them amusing. At one point during this month I wasn´t able to go to class because all the students decided to ¨protest¨and not go. I was not complaining about that.
  • The food– I am looking forward to having Mexican and junk food again, but I am going to miss tapas, paella, sangria, and churros and chocolate.
  • The scenery– I love going on random strolls and finding myself gazing at random buildings. The architecture here is breathtaking, I´m going to miss seeing Gaudi´s work everywhere. I will also miss the beach. The beach quickly became my favorite place to go, and I am going to miss constantly making up excuses to spend hours there. Even the most boring alleyways had interesting stories to tell, and I am going to miss constantly being surrounded by the mixture of modern and antiquated buildings throughout this city.
  •  The activities– It is impossible to be bored in Barcelona, and I am going to miss constantly finding new things to do. I was able to climb the mountain with the breathtaking view, Montserrat, this month. Hopefully I´m able to hike up the other mountain, Tibidabo, at some point before I leave. There are many museums to go inside of, many cute little markets to walk around in, and many events constantly taking place. This month I also went to carnival, which is the equivalent to Mardi Gras. That was a night I will never forget.

tapas2 churros and chocolate beach

Tapas and Sangria, Churros and Chocolate, Beach 

bubbles  gaudi  montserrat

Bubbles, Gaudi´s Casa Batllo, Montserrat

carnival Parc de la ciutadella

Carnival, Parc de la Ciutadella

Things I´m Not Going to Miss

  • The general feeling of unsafety– I can´t express how excited I am to be back in Texas where I don´t have to assume that every person around me is waiting for a chance to rob me.
  • My apartment– While the apartment I stayed in during my time here is considered quite nice and roomy compared to others found in Europe, I can´t wait to be back in Texas where I have a dishwasher, a dryer, air conditioning, and more storage space.
  • The expenses– I´m ready to go to a restaurant back home where water is free. Here, water more often than not costs more than alcohol. I can´t wait to no longer be thirsty while eating my meal because I´m worried about conserving my water.
  • Street Performers– I know this is a random one to put, but people dressing up as statues freaks me out personally. My roommate thought they were funny so I think I might be alone in this distaste.

Overall

Overall, I cannot put into words how much this experience has meant to me. I discovered a lot about the world, but perhaps most importantly, I learned a lot about myself. I´m capable of being independent and I can´t wait until the day comes when I can greet this sense of independence again. So, rather than say adios to Europe, I intend on saying hasta luego. I may never get the opportunity to spend 3 months in Europe again, but I will return one of these days. I look forward for that day to come.