Submitted by Abigail Conklin on the 2013 spring semester study abroad program in Granada, Spain…
Our last full week in Granada was our last days of classes and the beginning of saying good-bye to everyone we met here. On Thursday, the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (CLM) made us paella for lunch but my Practical Oral/Written Expression (POE) class stayed in our classroom and had our own food party. We had PB&J sandwiches, guacamole, derby pie, and chocolate. Everyone pitched in and brought something. We sat in a circle and talked and ate. No one was being graded and there weren’t pre-planned subjects. We just talked about whatever came up. It was my smallest class and the one where everyone was close. We’re all from different parts of the globe and that was good-bye for those who are leaving early. People keep asking if I’m excited to go home and see my family. I always feel a little guilty when I have to explain why I have a bit of emotional conflict about that. No one seems to understand it except the other kids who are studying abroad here. How can I just drop everything and leave this home that I made for myself in January? How can I say good-bye to all these wonderful people that I’ve met and won’t see on a daily basis anymore? I am excited to see my family. I just wish that PA/DE was closer to Granada and all the friends that I’ve made here. And Saturday was a holiday that only happens every 100 years, Magna Mariana, where all the Blessed Mother statues from Semana Santa travel to the church of the patron saint of Granada, Maria de las Angustias, for her blessing.
