Appreciate the Little Things in Life

It’s been roughly 2 weeks since my last post, and I’ll start off by saying I made it safely back to the United States! I’ve been here for 3 days now and the jet lag is finally starting to wear off, but the first 2 days were rough because my body is still on Barcelona time so I’m going to bed and waking up so early. My study abroad experience was definitely one that I will NEVER forget because of the experiences I had, the things I learned, the people I met, and so much more. I’ll fill you in on everything that happened since my last post when I had returned from Rome and was preparing for my visit to Southern France, finals, and my departure for the United States!

After my trip to Rome I realized how nice the weather was in Barcelona because it was incredibly hot during my three day stay there, so I was very thankful to be back in a place where it wasn’t so humid and hot all the time. During the school week I was busy shopping for gifts for my family, going to the beach, and preparing for my final presentations and finals for my two classes (which went very well) and the upcoming weekend trip to Southern France.

On Friday we left very early and departed for Girona, Spain which is one of the many cities we stopped in until our final destination of Montpellier, France. In Girona we took a guided tour of the city and learned about its history along with many other things. After a quick lunch break, we departed for Montpellier which was really a cool trip because every Friday they have a wine tasting/food festival, which was 5 minutes from our hotel! That night we walked around the festival which was filled with a massive amount of people from all over the world trying different foods, tasting different wines, and they even had a free concert that was right next to the festival. The funny thing is, they only sang American songs so we could actually understand what they were saying, opposed to the vendors who spoke mainly French and very little English. On Saturday morning we took a bus to three more cities in France and got to learn more about their culture. That night we were back in Montpellier and got to watch the 3rd place World cup match between the Netherlands and Brazil, which was a great atmosphere because of the amount of people we were with who were cheering for both sides. On Sunday morning we departed back for Barcelona, and to say that the weekend was a success would be an understatement because of all the activities we participated in and the things we got to do while we were there.

The following week was sadly, my last week in Barcelona with all of the people I had met and all the friendships I had made. During the week I focused on finishing the summer semester strong and doing well on my finals, and eventually the day came where I had to say goodbye to everyone. I had grown very close with the other 11 people in the residencia with me, and it was crazy to think that just 6 weeks ago I didn’t know a single one of them. We had all grown so close, living with each other and being around each other every single day, and meeting them and bonding with them was one of the most important things that happened to me while in Spain, because I definitely developed a level of friendship with them that I will always have, and plan on visiting them at some point this year even though we all go to different universities across the country.

The flight from Barcelona back home took what seem liked forever, and it was an increibly long day because I woke up at 6:45 a.m. Barcelona time (12:45 a.m. east cast time) and finally went to bed at 9:45 p.m. east coast time, so being up for roughly 21 straight hours, I was exhausted. Other than the sleep problems, everything went smoothly on the flight back home. Reflecting on the entire 6 week period and the months and weeks leading up to my trip, I was nervous because I wasn’t fluent in Spanish and was scared I couldn’t communicate with anyone, but after this trip I realize that English is pretty much spoken everywhere and even if you’re somewhere where it isn’t spoke, you can find a way to communicate someway, somehow. This trip was definitely the most eye-opening experience of my life and I loved every second of it because I learned so much about myself and to appreciate everything little thing that you have. People in other parts of the world have it so much harder than people in the United States and we take so many things for granted. I’m glad UofL gave me the opportunity to travel and study abroad, because I have grown as a person immensely in so many ways. It looks like this will be my last post because I’m officially finished my with program, if anyone has any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me because I would LOVE to talk about my experiences with you!

Hasta la proxima,

Matt Schafer

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