Exchange is Weird

Hello from Spain,

I haven't updated in a while because I've been quite busy enjoying the summer here in Spain. On the 18th was Matt's going away party. People have yet to upload photos so when they do I'll post a few. Matt left on the 20th, although it wasn't that hard to say bye because we'll be seeing each other soon in Iowa. About a week ago I went to a water park in Torremolinos with some friends. Again, I don't ave any photos -- we figured cameras and water parks don't mix that well.

Mostly I've just been chilling out with friends lately. We go swimming, watch movies, relax. I was a bit bored after getting back from Italy, but lately I've been so busy going out with friends and things Summer life is good. I finally have a solid date for returning home -- August 8th. I guess that leaves me 10 real days left here. In some ways that seems so unreal to me.

Exchange is so [for lack of a better word] weird. You come and dive into the culture, hoping to learn about yourself, make friends, and gain learning experiences. Well during the year those things happen, believe it or not. BUT THEN comes the end of the year, and you ask yourself, "Why do I have to leave all these friends? How am I possibly going to leave this place with all these new experiences?"

I look at myself now, and I can say that I've had a pretty successful exchange. I've made great friends, I've learned another language, and I've also learned a lot about myself. However, I feel a bit torn and discontent. It's like if you've moved to a new city and at the end of the first year you finally start to think, "Hey, this is going to be okay. Even if it's not my 'home' still, I'm enjoying life and I know everything is going to be alright." But then your parents say "PYSCH!" and move you back to your old city, right as you were settled in. You think, "I just went through the whole year, trying to get to this point, and you tell me now that I'm going back to where we all started?!" That's kind of how I feel. In a way. Ish. I hope you're picking up what I'm putting down, cos I'm finding it hard to explain.

I am so excited to see my family and friends in the US, but I'm leaving a whole other family and group of friends here that I don't know when I'll be able to see for the next time. It kind of kills me inside when I think about, so I try not to. I'm making the most of the time I have left and we'll see what happens from there. Sorry this ended on a bit of a sad note. I've been having so much fun and loving life lately, so don't think I'm here in Spain all sad! It's just that when I slow down to really think about things like this, it can be a bit overwhelming.

Until next time,
Josie