Kristin and I with our host mom, Cristina. Love her!!
Oh, the adventures of returning back to the USA! Why, you might ask? As I type, I am currently at my aunt & uncle’s home in Charlotte, NC, because flight #4 of 4 on my journey home to New Orleans was cancelled yesterday evening. Luckily I have relatives here who could rescue me from the airport (forever grateful!). This 25 hour return home journey has just turned more into 40 hours!
I started this post on plane # 3 of 4 on my journey back home. Right now it still feels a bit surreal to be back in America. Let’s just say that my journey though customs was a bit of a Spanglish mess (used words like gracias and hola a lot more than necessary!). :p I’m already missing Spain, but I know that now is the right time to come back. I accomplished what I meant to do in Spain, and that’s the best I could ask for! If my 30 hour conversation with my cab driver yesterday or my 4 hour conversation with a new Spanish friend in the Madrid airport aren’t indications that I’ve achieved fluency, then I don’t know what is! I’ve updated my More from la Vida en Sevilla gallery with some photos of my last days in Spain.
So this morning I’v embarked the journey of returning to some of American ways. I’ve been thinking about what to say in this post for awhile, and I’ve compiled a list of some of the things I know I’ll miss most about Sevilla but also what I’m grateful to return home to:
WHAT I WILL MISS ABOUT SEVILLA:
– My wonderful host family, especially my señora Cristina (she’s the best!)
– The directors of our MCP Sevilla program
– All of my new Michigan & Cornell friends who I won’t see in the spring!
– My new amigos españoles and my friends from the Intercambio lingüístico program in la Universidad de Sevilla
– The comida and bebida of Sevilla (especially the helado/ice cream, the tinto de verano, the tortilla española, Nocilla… the list goes on!)
– Siesta time 🙂
– My rowing club, el Club de Remo de la Ciudad de Sevilla
– The many discotecas
– Cruising through the city on a SEVICI bike
– My many international traveling adventures (Portugal, Morocco, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga, and more!)
WHAT I’M GLAD TO RETURN HOME TO:
Not going to miss the miniature coffee of Spain!
– My family/pets!
– PENN! It’s been a long 8 months since I’ve been on campus (including VanPelt; never anticipated missing our library until I didn’t have it!)
– Normally sized coffee
– The wonderful breakfast foods of America (although I became accustomed to my desayuno of pan tostada/toast, nothing beats chocolate chip pancakes or a veggie omelette)
– The dollar (that Euro exchange rate was killing me!)
– Cafés with unlimited WiFi & normal sized napkins
– Texting (peace out to my dumb Spanish móvil!)
__________
As indicated in the title, I’m not saying adios (goodbye) to Sevilla but rather hasta luego (until later). I’m not sure when, how, or by what means I’ll return to Spain in the future, but I definitely plan to. Sevilla grabbed a spot in my heart forever, and I will be eternally grateful to everyone who helped make the journey possible. The past four months were truly one of the best experiences of my life.
Shannon en Sevilla 
Congratulations on a very successful journey Shannon! Welcome back home and thank you for sharing this experience with all of us.
Reblogged this on pennabroad and commented:
Welcome back, Shannon! And thank you for sharing all of your adventures with us!
I loved following your blog over these past few months. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed your semester studying abroad. It sounded like you really made the most out of your time in Spain. I’m looking forward to catching up with you and hearing more about it when you return to Penn.