The Two-Weeks Blog

This is it: the blog post that is two weeks before my departure, de regreso a los EEUU. Here are my thoughts.

14 short days are all the time I have left in Madrid, Spain. To say “time flies” is an understatement. Recently, I met some outrageous Canadian ladies who were retired, and on vacation together. Their comforting words were “honey, talk to me about it when 25 YEARS has gone by, in the blink of an eye!” Their humor helped to lighten the mood, but my resonating thought was “well, I’ll be 25 in four (almost three) more years. Shall I call you then?”

I am excited, don’t get me wrong. I’m excited for Abel to come home with me and meet my family. I’m excited for our family reunion/annual vacation in Lewes, DE. I am excited to reunite with some old friends. I’m excited for my host sister, Paula, to come visit, and for us to take trips together to Annapolis, Washington DC, and New York. I’m excited to move to NC, and start my new Elon life in a quaint apartment with my dear friend, Stephanie. I’m excited to find a job, and start classes.

Despite the emotion, the upcoming two weeks will be among the most bitter-sweet moments of my life. While I’m going home, to where my heart is, I will be leaving a piece of myself here in Spain, among the new family I have loved, and with the international friends I have gained. A part of them will always be in my heart. I will be stepping back into an old world with new eyes. This time of transition will serve as a connector between the two worlds that have come to define my life. My role will no longer be “American sister” or “international student.” I will be renewing my position as “oldest sister” and “best friend” in a place where I will always be loved, accepted, and welcomed home.  

I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to connect my two worlds. Family values are incredibly important to me, and to have been able to comfortably establish myself as a daughter and sister with my family in Madrid has been the blessing of a lifetime. In April, my grandparents come to spend several days with us at my home in Madrid, and now, in July, they will also be among those welcoming me home, and welcoming Abel to his new temporary home. My extended cousins are also coming soon to visit, so Abel will have some additional familiar faces when he is welcomed to our family reunion at the beach. Paula will have the chance to serve in the same role in which I have become so comfortable, “Spanish sister” to my natural family, come her visit to our home in the US, in six weeks.  

A sour touch of apprehension is mixed in with the bitter tears and sweet laughs that dominate the anticipation surrounding the impending end to my semester in Spain. As Javier pointed out to me this morning, “summer always ends too quickly!” with which I readily agreed. The end of my summer will be marked by newfound independence and responsibilities, the thought of which is quite daunting. My senior year at Elon will look drastically different from the previously established norms that I have grown used to over the past two years. I will be the epitome of a “poor college student.” I will no longer have the luxury of a personal kitchen (aka. campus dining hall and convenient store) right outside my front door. Instead, if I want to eat, I will have to go grocery shopping and prepare my own food. I will not have a plastic card to confirm my identity in my living space, but rather I will have a regular key accompanied by a home-owner security alert system to ensure my safety. I will no longer be confined to the four square miles occupied by my university, because I will have the freedom to drive myself wherever I please, thanks to the availability of a hand-me-down Ford Explorer. I alone will be responsible for the calories I eat, the amount I exercise, the gas I spend, the water I use, the clothes I dirty, and the homework I do.

As one door closes, another door opens. The next page of the story of my life is yet to be written. Although I hate to see this chapter come to an end, I can confidently and contentedly say that I have made the most of it. I hope to be equally as satisfied by what is to come.

Love, ~Taylor