So I’m Wrapping My Head Around the Fact It’s Over

My year abroad ended two weeks ago, this coming Sunday. I’m finding it so difficult to believe that it’s really over and I won’t be going back to Granada. Instead of the usual two week break where I have to cram in everything I want to do and everyone I want to see, I have an endless stretch of time to enjoy as I please. But at the same time, I have to acknowledge that I really don’t get to be a resident of Granada again.

I don’t get to walk down the gorgeous Puentezuelas on my way into town, I don’t get to ride the bus up to uni and see the beautiful view from that horrendous hill on campus, and I don’t get to hear Spanish day in day out. Though a couple of days ago in town I did overhear some people conversing in Español and definitely earwigged on their conversation a little.

I spent my final week in Granada doing anything and everything that I had enjoyed during my time and wanted to tick off before I left. This mainly included eating at all my favourite places and taking advantage of the shopping as much as my luggage weight allowance would permit.

Education-wise, though I’m still waiting to find out one more mark and my overall Year Abroad result as dictated by UoB, I ended up coming out of the year much more successfully than I initially thought. But when you think about it, or certainly when I think about it, whether I got a 2.7 or a 6 or a 9 in something doesn’t actually matter that much. Education is about so much more than numbers and grades and I would have been, and indeed have been, unbelievably educated this year even if I hadn’t stepped foot inside the University of Granada.

I can’t be the cliché and call it the best year of my life because that would be untrue. There were days when I hated my life and situation and was desperate to catch the next flight out of there because uni wasn’t going well, or it was freezing cold with no heating or I felt desperately lonely. One memory that will always stick with me and my parents, and probably my lowest point, was when I FaceTimed them on a Friday night and sobbed throughout their whole dinner, begging to come home. But you pick yourself up and you get through it. The year is a marathon, not a sprint.

Because even though I was lonely, I was never alone. I couldn’t and wouldn’t have got through the year without the support of my closest friends both at home and out there with me. I’ve made friends in Granada with whom I will always be bonded because of the experiences we shared. You don’t realise how many people are in the same situation as you, emotionally, until you voice it to them. Even though we were in different cities, Shira was always on the other end of the phone to rant to and whinge about all sorts.

But even though I can’t call it the cliché, I can say without a doubt it was the most rewarding year and the most life-changing experience. I feel as though I’ve come out the other end a happier, more confident and more mature individual. I’m certainly more independent and I certainly value my life and my choices more. That’s the education I’m talking about. The one where I make life decisions on my own, where I do my own laundry and where I don’t necessarily need to ring Mummy for advice on everything – although I usually still do.

On one of my last days in Granada, the usual bus I got to uni stopped running so I had to figure out another way home. I ended up on a bus that took me out to a suburb of Granada called Chana and once I was sure I had no idea where I was, I got off the bus just because everyone else did. A year ago, I probably would’ve freaked out, called my mum and had a complete meltdown.

Instead, I found it hysterical. I thought it was one of the funniest experiences I’d had in Granada. Of course I was stuck out in a suburb in the middle of nowhere and had no idea where I was. Absolutely typical. In the end, I wandered around Chana for a bit and got back on a bus on the other side of the road that eventually took me back to the centre of Granada.

Your life experiences amalgamate together and make you who you are, and having a year abroad is one of the best life experiences I could have ever had. Even though there were parts I hated, for all those miserable days, I had twice as many that I loved. I know it was compulsory as part of my degree, but if I had the choice, knowing what I know now, I would still do it in a heartbeat and I would completely advocate it for anyone if it’s an option.

UoB told us to set ourselves targets before we left and try to achieve them. Jokingly, my target was to aim to be considered a native by the end, in part due to my olive skin and Mediterranean features. But appearance aside, after 10 months, there were certainly people coming up to me thinking I was Spanish, from my attempts at fluency. And though I’m nowhere near fluent, the improvement in my Spanish and my confidence in speaking it is so vast and so astounding.

So all in all, my year?

One of the best lifetime experiences, the most incredible opportunities and the most wonderful selection of memories.

These pictures are not in any kind of order, because I am lazy. But I have helpfully captioned them.

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