In Conclusion...

Well, I think it might be about time I wrapped this baby up (in my usual long, rambling fashion of course). I have only actually been home for one full day, and I thought I might give myself a few more days to settle in, think, and reflect on my time before I wrote my final post. But due to a beautiful thing called jet lag, I woke up at 4am this morning. I dinked around on my computer, I read a bit, I heard my mom get up because she couldn't sleep, I heard my dad get up for work, I tried to sleep but I kept thinking... mostly about Toledo. So I relocated to the living room, where I can sit in the glow of our pretty christmas tree and reminisce.

My last few days in Italy were great: Wandering around Naples (and not getting pick-pocketed, mugged or killed), seeing the ruins of Pompeii (so cool), and eating the best pizza ever.

Then came the long journey home. Naples to Rome to Madrid in one day. I "slept" in the airport. At 7 am I flew to Munich. Then I got on a 9 hr 44 min flight to Chicago, and it was the best flight of my life. If I have gained one thing this semester, I have become a better flier... and that is saying a lot. (I was a mess on the flight to Spain... and all of my life before now.) Then my fam picked me up at the airport and we drove home!

I am so glad to be home. 

There, I said it. Three weeks ago, if I had come home straight from Toledo, I would have had to be dragged out of Spain, kicking and screaming. But being on the move for three weeks straight (even in Italy) is exhausting. I hated putting on the same dirty clothes every day, I hated lugging around my life in a little heavy backpack. Once my mom and the world of nice hotels left me, I hated worrying about where I was going to stay and how I was going to get from place to place. Don't get me wrong, Italy was wonderful, and I loved every minute of my time abroad, but it's so nice to come back to my old, comfortable world. And my bed.

Also there was pie waiting for me when I got home, so....

The Good
Toledo was absolutely the time of my life. Now if I'm ever asked what the most memorable/amazing/life-changing experience in my life was, I actually have a ready-to-go, honest answer. This was the first time I've been out of the USA. I traveled to so many amazing cities, places I've only ever read about. I made life-long friends. I fell in love with a beautiful little Spanish city. I got a crash course in classical art in about one week in Italy. I saw ancient cities, extravagant palaces and awe-inspiring cathedrals. I learned a lot about myself, and I think I have grown as a person... whatever that means. (If nothing else, the plane thing)

Don't worry, I didn't change that much. Example: I still hate coffee.

The Kinda-Bad
While this semester was remarkable overall...there were a few downs amid all of those ups. Well, one really big down. I didn't want to write about it before, because I think I didn't want to mar my perfect blog with the bad stuff. But the bad stuff happened too. And I'm including it now because in the end, it was part of my experience.

In Toledo I lived with a host family. This was supposed to be my gateway into Spanish culture, my chance to really get involved, make connections, etc. But about 3 weeks before the end of the semester I moved out of my house and into the dorms. It's a long, complicated story, but essentially my host mom and I were two very different people, we had some communication issues, things grew very awkward, and I felt I was not respected, but I tried to stick it out. I didn't want to give up. But one day I realized I had to snap out of it and do what was best for me. I was unhappy. I was uncomfortable in what was supposed to be my home. I wouldn't have my last weeks in Toledo ruined just because I had to "make it work." So I packed up, moved into the fundación, and moved on.

Part of me felt like a failure, but mostly I knew that was the best thing for me to do. That was the worst week of my semester, and perhaps one of the worst weeks of my life. But I pulled through (with the help of good friends, a few packages in the mail, lots of chocolate, and Barcelona), and I think I came out stronger.

Wrap it up
Despite that bad thing happening, I didn't let it ruin my experience. I still have so many good memories, and I wouldn't change a thing! I'm sad it's over, but I'm thankful for everything I did and all that I got out of it. And I'm so glad that I made many good friends who I will still get to see back in Minnesota!!!

I had a great time blogging too. I have always wanted to write a blog, but I never had anything important to say. Studying abroad was a great excuse! I kept it partly for me, to thoroughly document EVERYTHING, and also to inform and maybe entertain all of my five readers. It was kind of therapeutic, to keep track of everything and write down my little "story," whether or not it was a good story. It makes me want to keep blogging! Maybe I'll start a separate "real life" blogger blog, or a tumblr... or I'll just go back to tweeting short little Hannah-thoughts.

If you read all of my blog, congratulations , I am very impressed. I went on and on a lot (kind of like right now... I'll be impressed if you've read this entire post, much less all 22 posts), but I tried to include as many pictures as possible. If you only read some of it, or just looked at the pictures, I hope you enjoyed that too!

Thanks for reading!


Signing off,

Hannah Conley - World Traveler and Blogger Extraordinaire