Although it was only for a month, I feel like my time spent in Spain was a dream…On my return home I kept thinking, Was I really in Spain?!?! I was experiencing overwhelming waves of appreciation because I had been to a place (lived there for a month) that most people only get to hear about in history lessons. To go beyond that, I lived 10 minutes away from the Cathedral, a HUGE landmark on the Pilgrimage of Santiago that people from all over the world come to see. Despite having a fantastic time, I was happy to come home because my younger brother would be heading off to spend his junior year of high school in Germany as a foreign exchange student a week after I got back and I wanted to spend as much time with him. Needless to say, like my arrival in Spain, my arrival in Portland was a welcomed one but I was also instantly busy both times (the similarity was that I had dinner at midnight in Portland too). Everything was a rushed experience but that made it all the more exciting. It did take me a while to adjust the everyday life here because my mind was still wandering the streets of Oviedo and it was strange to realize that I wouldn’t be enjoying the social event of drinking sidra in the evenings. However I got plenty of chances to relive my Spain experience through sharing the stories with my family because shortly after my brother left, I traveled to the midwest to spend the rest of my summer with my extended family over there. Also, telling the stories was a good process of reflection for me as I thought about things that happened from a different perspective or my family would ask questions that added to my view of everything that happened. The adventures never end and like I said before, I plan to visit my home in Oviedo again. 🙂

Never think that just because you are confident in your abilities as a walker and traveler that you can get around a new city without help, especially one as big as Edinburgh. I decided that I’d walk to campus from my dorm via the union canal path. Google maps informed me that it would be a 38 minute walk. I was confident but I was unprepared for what I found out. Google maps has no idea what they are talking about. I wandered in the canal for three hours into a seedy part of town and through several parks. I finally met a nice Bulgarian family who offered to take me a mile out of their way to the school. I am so grateful to them! The woman was very friendly. She explained that she too had once been foreign here and that she saw a bit of herself in me.

The day wasn’t all bad though. I got home and went over to the CIS-Abroad welcome dinner. I met a lot of people from the states and we instantly became friends. I even met one German fellow who  seems nice. After the dinner a few of us stayed behind to chat and eventually made our way back over to the dorms to a school-run rock show. They were playing quite a few American songs. I had a pretty good time. I even danced (awkwardly). We’re all going on a walking tour today of the city with CIS-Abroad. So, I’ll make sure to post pictures of that as well.

I’m crying! I’m so sad that it is over. The last week of classes went great. I got A’s and B’s in my classes. I am so sad that I wont see these professors again. They told us to keep in contact with them so I will have to once i’m back in Oregon. All of my friends are ready to go home. I think Mikayla and I miss our family back home but the idea of leaving our new family makes us really sad.

I’ve enjoyed everything about my trip. The new food, the people, the places I went. All of it was great.

My host mom made me cry. She surprised me with a goodbye dinner and invited all of the family. She made my favorite meal. She is the sweetest. I’m gonna cry so much when i actually leave.

I want to come back one day. I will come back one day.

-Anahisse Gonzalez

This weekend we took a trip to Mexico City. It was so much walking. I’m hurting now. My feet hurt and i’m badly sun burnt. We went to many museums. I learned a ton about the history. It was so interesting to hear about my culture. I learned so much. I called my real mom this weekend and told her all about it. She was impressed I remembered it all. I was off on some names but she was proud. I also brushed up on some of the information with my host mom and sister. They helped so much. I have an assignment for class about the history so this should be super helpful when writing about it later. On our trip we also went to the Frida Kahlo Museum it was amazing. I took so many pictures. it was nice getting to read about her story. We walked La Casa Azul which is very famous world wide.

We climbed the pyramids in the ancient city of Teotihuacan. The steps were so steep I had to stick with my friend Mikayla who was crawling up the pyramids. We partner crawled up. It was scary but so much fun. It was also the best view. I will have to go back one day.After we ate in the town and enjoyed a feast and shop the local shops.

Everyone around me is beginning to feel homesick and all I can say to them is that they will soon see their real families but they should enjoy the time here without constantly being reminded of home. I have been. I just wish they could enjoy the time that we have left the way I will.

-Anahisse Gonzalez

Classes have been going extremely well. I love my communication class the most. I am able to understand almost everything the professor is saying. I just wish I was able to practice more with my group of friends. We try to speak Spanish most of the day when we are together but since we all understand English it is much easier just to switch over to it. It is also a little break from the Spanish. My home stay has been the best. I love the food my host mom makes me more and more. I love her white rice with zucchini soup. It is my favorite so far.

We visited La Peña de Bernal. It is the second tallest monolith. With the support of my friends I was able to make it to the top. I’m super out of shape and don’t hike/climb much anyways. It was so worth it. I wish my real family could have seen it. One day I will bring them and have them climb up.

-Anahisse Gonzalez

My arrival home was much warmer than that of my arrival in London. My parents greeted me with hugs, kisses, and a cup of Oregon ice water! Compared to London, my flight home was not late nor were we scrambling to get from the airport to point b. Sadly, I feel that I was more excited about my return home than arriving in London. Upon landing in London, I was full of uncertainty because we were late landing, there were problems at the boarder patrol, and it seemed like no one had planed on any of the groups arriving late whereas going home, I knew that no matter how late I got in, there would be someone waiting for me at the airport to take me home. Furthermore, the US boarder patrol was a walk in the park compared to London’s.

It’s good to be home!

~Kallan

Hello!

I have made it back home safe and sound! The layover was brutal and long, but at least I was in the same time zone as my family and friends! It was so nice being reunited with my parents and being able to share everything that I had done while I was abroad to my family and friends. I will miss London but this was such an amazing opportunity and experience!

London was not what I expected, but at the same time it was also so much more. The history is mind blowing and it’s people are interesting. And the landscape is simply breathtaking. I expected there to be a mixing of different cultures, but I was not expecting so much of an Indian influence. Everywhere I turned was curry or a worker with a Indian-British accent, which is very hard to understand. I knew that there was going to be a bit of a backlash at us being American, but I never expected so much. It’s very frustrating knowing that people are judging you for your accent. I eventually began telling people that I was Canadian. I also didn’t expect to feel so safe in London and I only had two scary experiences on the bus and was completely comfortable with the tube.

I’m looking forward to going home and seeing my family. This is the first time I’ve been away for home by myself for so long. It was truly a growing experience, I don’t know how, but it was.

~Kallan