Final Goodbyes

alright so I have officially been out of Spain for the past two weeks and I must admit that I do miss it. My final goodbyes to the kids I work with were very hard (they always are) and all of my coworkers told me that if I ever come back to Madrid then we have to get together. I, in turn, told them that if they happen to be in Michigan then they better stop by and see me. My boss gave me a picture in a frame of my kids from the pool and it was very sweet of her. I must admit that when people ask me what is my favorite part of Madrid I know it is my internship and those kids so saying goodbye was tough.

Saying goodbye to my host family wasn't any easier either. Don't get me wrong, there are some things that I will be very glad to be away from (the bed bugs I have slept with for the past 3 months, the 3 minute maximum showers I took, the nasty salad with buge globs of mayo on it) but there are some things I will miss terribly (the cat Felipe, my best best buddy in the house Eva, and her sister Cecilia). I left at midnight to take the metro to the airport and I figured I would leave alone since Ines and Eva always go to be at 10:30. However, Eva's sister Cecilia was over for the night and they all told me that they were going to stay up until I left. So we watched movies and ate soup and chit chatted until I had to go. Saying goodbye to Ines (my house mom) and Cecilia (Eva's sister) was no problem, but when it came to Eva (Ines' live in assistant)I really had to hold back the tears. We took the elevator down together and she held the doors open for me as I lugged my big suitcase outside. Once outside, she gave me the biggest hug and told me the sweetest things. I told her how amazing it was to have her in the house and we promised to keep in touch through email. She went back inside and once she was gone I finally started to tear up. I was almost to the end of the block when I heard her yell out my name and say goodbye one more time. It was very sweet of her.

Now I am with Kelli and Katie traveling around Europe. We have been in Italy for a week, London for 4 days, and just got into Ireland. I absolutely love everywhere that we have been and could not possibly even begin to write about my experiences. Fortunately, I will be home within a week so if you want to know how the traveling was then you can talk to me about it!

I must admit though that I do miss Spain. I miss the daily challenge of hearing a foreign language all around you. I miss taking the metro around town. I miss reading in the park. I miss walking around downtown window shopping. I miss Eva. And I miss my kids.

Part of me is ready to come home though. I am starting to get tired of living out of a suitcase and going from one hotel to the next every day.

So there are three parts of me, one that loves the European traveling, one that wants to stay in Spain, and one that wants to just come home to see my friends and family. There isn't one thing that is more dominant than the others, they all just exist together. It is kinda strange, but I am just trying to live for the moment and treasure the experiences I have today and not think about the past or the future.