The End.

Well, I'm home. I can say that in my last days in Sevilla, I really didn't want to leave. I was really excited to go home during exams because everyone is finished with school and I was getting annoyed by them, but once those were over...I didn't want to go.

As apart of my last days in Sevilla I went to get Rayas with Candace, my favorite ice cream in Sevilla and one of the contenders for best ice cream I’ve had in Europe, and it’s a field of tough competition. I finished off my Thursday night with a botellon by the torre del oro next to the river where we met some really great, genuine Spaniards that we talked to in a mix of Spanish and English for a long time. One of the guys introduced me to his female friend beside him, and then she said she recognized me from getting on the metro every morning at Plaza de Cuba– so we had a fun interaction and then she gave me dos besos – and it’s that kind of encounter that I’m going to miss so much about study abroad, just the wealth of people that you get to meet from everywhere.

I got home at 6 am and woke up in time for a flan lesson from Ana - that kind of sentence I’m going to miss so much as well. I brought Ana some gorgeous yellow flowers and I thought she was going to cry, it broke my heart, but she got excited again and told me to grab some paper to take notes with and she showed me how to make flan and I scribbled the directions down – not only that, she bought me and Syd our own box of flan mix to make at home. So, I won’t write the recipe down here, instead you’re going to have to come hang out with me and I’ll make you some authentic Spanish food. After the flan lesson she walked us through gazpacho which we’re having this afternoon, I loved scribbling down a cooking lesson in Spanish and understanding the entire thing – my language skills have come so far this semester it’s unbelievable, even if some days were more frustrating than others.

Friday afternoon was spent at Isla Magica riding rides and then enjoying tapas and drinks, and then I had to say goodbye to everyone for real, and I have to be honest, I cried. Especially when saying bye to people I won't be seeing for a while - like Claudia or Antonio. Yes, Antonio made me cry.

At 4:30 in the morning we left for the airport and Ana saw us off, I didn't cry saying bye to her because I think my body was in shock at the early hour. Traveling home was NOT fun, of course. My flight to Miami was delayed over two hours, missed my connecting flight, and the next one out wasn't until 9 PM - when I was supposed to BE HOME long before then. I eventually rolled into Charlotte around midnight and it was about 3:30 before I was finally in bed - the cake my family had ready for me to come home was forgotten on the table and my dad's girlfriend had to go home for work the next morning so couldn't see me come home. BUT, I am home, and there's plenty of time to see everyone.

I hope to have another reflection or some final pictures up soon. It's hard to believe it's over and sitting at home it's almost hard to believe that it even happened, but it did, and will remain the best semester I've EVER had.