SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

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Last one!

As I explained before, this comes as a slight delay. With all the craziness of traveling and re-adjusting to reality, I found myself consumed in just being home. I actually find my postponed blogging to be of benefit, because it gave me more time to reflect. At this point, I have been home long enough to totally re-integrate. In fact, it didn’t take me long. Only being gone for a month has its benefits, one of them being a shortened recovery time. The major differences that I noticed were as follows:

I understood what people were saying! I got so used to not comprehending the conversations as I passed them on the street, but the moment we got on the airplane headed back to the United States, English was everywhere! At first it was almost annoying, hearing everyones private discourse, which was surprising! But eventually it was comforting.

Next, the food… this was probably the most disappointing thing about coming home. Not so much the variety, but the quality! I missed the freshness, the abundance of fruit, the organic and free range meat! It is much easier to notice the difference in processed food when you are spoiled for over a month. I also found it almost offensive coming back and being rushed through a meal! I got used to sitting at length when we would go out to eat, and hardly ever having a waiter come and bother you. The simple difference of having to ask for a check versus them handing it to you after a mere half hour was notable.

Lastly, the pace of everyday life. I grew up in the country, so living in a city was interesting.  I appreciate the calm streets, green scenery, and wildlife at very turn. In Barcelona, there was a constant buzz of noise at all hours of the day, the city never went dark, and many people stayed up until the early morning! The only animals I saw were pigeons, seagulls, and dogs on leashes. I was definitely happy to drive home from the airport and see mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers.

Needless to say, there was a roller coaster of emotions as a result of coming home. I do believe it when they say that returning can actually be more difficult that arriving! This entire experience has opened my eyes to joys and pitfalls of so many types of travel. Whether it be for business, school, vacation, asylum, immigration, etc. No matter what, there are adjustments that must be made, and I was lucky enough to have had immense support and guidance throughout my entire journey. I will forever look back and deem this trip as totally necessary and worth it.

Adios..