But I just got here...

It is hard to believe that it is already time for me to leave Alicante and Spain. It seems like just yesterday I stepped off the plane, hopped onto a train and made my way here to Alicante. Now, it is time to reverse the journey. 

It is amazing to see how much progress everyone, including myself, has made. These past few weeks have been filled with projects and presentations and my classmates (and myself) who once were afraid to give even one word responses in class are now writing 6 or 7 page papers and giving full presentations in Spanish. Granted, we all still make mistakes, but we understand a lot and know how to get our point across.

Back in March when I wrote I thought then that I had come very far with my Spanish, but an incident occurred this week that really made me see how far I had come. Unfortunately,  I lost my wallet on the bus this week with all of my ID cards, bus pass, and debit card inside. I didn't realize it until the next day as I went to take the bus and I had to explain to my madre why I had returned home and was frantically searching my room. We then called into CIEE to explain what happened and ask for advice. My madre handed me the phone to explain and the person on the other end of the line was speaking to me in Spanish. As I frantically tried to remember the word for "wallet," I tried to give up and asked to speak in English. But when Jennifer told me to just explain what happend, I found myself telling the entire story in Spanish anyway. Jennifer, in Spanish, then advised me to just come into CIEE and sort everything out there. As I hung up the phone I realized that as frustrated and freaked out as I was, I was still able to tell my story and understand everything. I know I could never have been able to do this at the beginning, or even a month and a half ago. So, even though I am out of a bus pass, debit card, and ID cards, my consolation prize is the confidence boost my Spanish  received from the whole ordeal. This makes my upcoming Spanish exams seem not quite as scary as I originally thought.

I know I am going to be upset leaving Spain, way more upset than I ever was to leave the U.S. but I have had such a great experience, met so many great people, and seen some of the most amazing sights. I wish my time here could have been longer, but I know this is definitely a semester I will never forget!

Here are some of my favorite memories from the semester:

 Up at the top of the Castillo de Santa Barbara

Siempre Mulligans

 Seeing Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao (Unfortunately Barcelona won)

Touring the Bernabeau

Flamenco in Granada

Ireland trip!

Last day of Spanish class...minus Tim

Comments

[Rafa]

Great comments MB. I'm so glad that you improved so much. Good job!

[Carka Botella]

enhorabuena por todo lo que has mejorado, Mary Beth. Me encanta lo que has escrito y todas las fotos que has puesto. Espero que tu semestre acabe muy bien y que sigas en contacto con el español, con Alicante, y con todos nosotros.

[Study Abroad UK]

I tried to give up and asked to speak in English. But when Jennifer told me to just explain what happend, I found myself telling the entire story in Spanish anyway. Jennifer..