July 4- San Antonio

We are finally home and I am still not adjusted back to the American lifestyle. Our flight came in Monday night and ever since then I have not been able to hold down any food. I've been home drinking Gatorade... It is getting old but at this point I have no choice. In three weeks I completely changed the limitations of my stomach. The only thing is, I don't know how to get my old stomach back :(

Studying abroad was a great experience. It is different when you see things in person opposed to pictures in books. Personally, I skim over pictures. In person you get to see every angle, impressions of other people, and most of all the urge to ask what you want to know and understand. For some reason when I see something very unique or beautiful, I can't focus until I physically touch it. It is the same with statues, walls, flowers, animals, you name it! You can imagine I had an extremely hard time in museums, especially when seeing Picasso and Van Gogh.

Personally, I don't think the study abroad experience changed me much. If anything, it made me more aware of how strong and independent I am. Not once did I get home sick or feel the urge to call my family every two days. That sounds pretty cold hearted, but I'm not. (I did miss my cat!) I took advantage of our free time in Madrid and found something to do every day rather than sleep in. I even tried to adapt to their lifestyle. Siesta is a very beautiful thing once you get a hang of waking back up.

The world doesn't seem so big anymore. Everyone has their own way of doing things, sets of values and laws just like we do here in the States. There are beggers, hustlers and successful people here, there and everywhere. It comes down to the same general thing but its just different everywhere. You can't expect to find the same thing in every place. You just adapt to the set lifestyle. Once you do that, you already won half the battle (you can win the whole battle if there isn't a language barrier).

Then before you know it, you are back on a plane heading home awaiting the whole "adjustment" period. It's exactly what happened to me. I'm just waiting for it all to be over...

This was an experience I will never forget!