El Fin

For our last night in Sevilla Sara and I went to Aladin's for a Kebab. So GOOD! Then we took one last walk down to the Cathedral. As we walked down the tiny streets of el Centro, I remembered just how unfamiliar all of this was on our very first day. I thought I would never be able to navigate my way around this foreign city. There I was, 4 months later, after meandering through those same streets countless times. We stared at the Giralda by moonlight for a good ten minutes before we continued our last walk through Sevilla.

The next morning I got all of my stuff together to walk the MILE to the bus stop with two huge suitcases, a backpack, and a duffel. It was a VERY long walk. I looked through the house one last time and then closed the door on an amazing semester. It was unreal that I was walking away from this apartment for the last time of my life. I got on the bus to find out that the Sevilla airport was CLOSED!! I couldn't believe it. Could this really be happening??? I had just told Brandon a week before that nothing would keep me from getting home on the 11th and now this? My initial instinct was to get off right there and catch the next train to Madrid. Since no one was getting off, and Sarah wanted to talk to the airline we took the bus there. They told us there was nothing they could do. Sevilla and one other airport were the only ones closed. We immediately grabbed a cab to the train station and prayed that we could get to Madrid. We still had our Eurail passes so it only cost 10 euros to get the train there. After another costly taxi ride we were there at the Madrid airport. With little help from any staff, we finally found where we needed to be only to find that they had closed the check baggage area. The nice lady at the counter told us that we couldn't get on that flight even though it still hadn't departed. She found the next flight out to New York and advised us to get the heck out of Spain because the ash cloud could do anything. We snatched those tickets and made our way to the terminal. The worst part of all was that we had to watch OUR plane to Dallas board and roll away down the runway. :( :( talk about frustrating!!!

After another two hour delay, they finally called for the boarding of the plane to Nueva York! I was so excited! We were going to get out of Europe, finally. I unknowingly let out a loud WOOOO HOOOOO and the guy in front of me turned around with the most puzzled look. I caught his eye and responded..."OH, sorry". Why did apologize? I have no idea. I didn't care. No one could understand how badly Sarah and I wanted to get home after so many mishaps.

We got to JFK airport and had to get another cab to La Guardia. We got there at about 11pm and had to stay awake all night for our 6am flight to DFW. We were back in the state of crazy delirium, but more than that, we were really just relieved to be back in the states. When that plane finally took off I could relax at last. I was so excited to see my mom at the airport and be welcomed back to TEXAS!

In that 32 hour trek home we took almost all of the forms of transportation; bus, 3 taxis, train, and plane. We only lacked boat. But, I was HOME, none of it mattered.

Studying abroad in Seville, Spain has been a dream of mine since high school. It really was a once in a lifetime experience that can never be repeated. I could never express how much I appreciate my dad and mom for supporting me, financially :) and otherwise, because nothing I could say would be be enough. Thanks, Momma and Daddy, you're the best parents a girl could ask for. :)

Well that sums up my semester abroad. Thanks for reading : D

El Fin