No Me Ha Dejado

As I sit in my bare room surrounded by my luggage, I cant help but still be in denial that this whole semester is over. The days leading up to Spain could not come fast enough and now all I wish is that I could slow down time and make this last longer. While it is true that nothing lasts forever, I was hoping this would be an exception. I have honestly had the time of my life here and these have been the most incredible four months of my life. While I am ready to return home to that dirty water of Boston, I know that I will forever call Sevilla my second home. I want to share my love of Sevilla with all of my friends and family at home but there is only so much my endless Facebook albums and blog updates can do to convince people. Only the people that have gone on this crazy adventure will truly understand. We have had nights we can never remember, trips to foreign countries, awkward conversations that get lost in translation and countless other memories that can never be duplicated. What a journey we have gone on APIers, life will never be the same without you. But this only now means we have a whole new country to tear up together! Ever since our first nights in Madrid tearing up the weekday night, we have become a perfect little family. We have all grown up so much and learned endless lessons from each other. For that, I will always be eternally grateful.
To continue on the topic of grateful, I for sure need to thank my amazing parents for allowing me to come on this adventure of a lifetime. I am sure they were worried sending their little girl off to a country 5,000 miles away for four months, only being able to communicate with me via email, facebook pics and the occasional skype call. But clearly I survived!  Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to study abroad and now in 12 hours, I will be a study abroad alum. My life will be forever changed by what I have witnessed on all of my travels and surviving four months on my own in a country where English isn't the first language. Being here has made me realize how much I love saying that I am from Boston and I really do need to travel around the US more now that I have friends scattered all over!
To end this quick blog entry, I am gunna go back to one of my last nights in the US. I went to PF Changs for a farewell dinner, and with every great Chinese restaurant, they ended the meal with a fortune cookie. They are my favorite part of the meal so I eagerly cracked mine open. I couldnt have asked for a better fortune that night. It read, "Sometimes traveling to anew place leads to great transformation." I kept that in my wallet from that moment on. It is now a tattered piece of paper but I will forever keep that with me. Traveling to Sevilla has transformed me in ways I dont even think I am aware of still but know I will come back to the United States being a better person because of the time I spent here and the amazing people that I have been surrounded by. The motto of Sevilla is NO8DO which means No me ha dejado, or it will never leave me. Sevilla will always hold a place in my heart. I will be back someday! That is a promise. This place has too much of a hold over me for this to be adios forever. This is only hasta luego Sevilla! Te amaré por siempre <3

Frolicking around my favorite place in all of Sevilla, Plaza de Espana :)