Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Emotions

Emotions are big part of studying abroad. When I was leaving, the only emotion I felt was excitement. I was excited to leave, excited to go back to Spain, excited to speak Spanish again. I'm the kind of person who lives for putting myself into situations where I don't really know what's going to happen. By having a laid back "go with the flow" mindset, I was able to avoid being overly nervous and frustrated when my trip there turned into a disaster.

When you first get to your study abroad location, you are in the honeymoon stage. Everything is new and exciting, and you're always in an ecstatic mood. If you're there long enough, this feeling mellows out, and you return to your normal range of emotions. There are, however, overwhelming traces of excitement that still occur. They can happen when you're visiting a new place or doing something fun, but I found that I got this feeling at strange times. For example, sometimes I would simply be walking out a store and be thrown into the noise of the street, the warmth of the air, and the language being spoken all around me. It was in times like this that I just felt that I was doing something truly amazing and life changing, which is a good feeling to have.

Leaving is always a sad thing. I overslept the morning of my departure, so I was really rushed. My host mom was crying, and I was trying to comfort her while trying to finish packing my suitcase. Once I left house, all I wanted was to be back home. Not that I really missed my home, but if I couldn't be in my new home in Granada, I definitely didn't want to be traveling for 24 hours. It's strange to think that in a month in a half, I will already have been back home for a year. I still think about Spain all the time and try to keep in touch with all my friends. I'm just waiting for the next opportunity to put another stamp in my passport.

un saludo,

Jacob

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