I am a little tardy to the blogging party, but the last few days up until my departure were more hectic than expected. Since I am from LA, I left most of my things back in DC for the winter break. That being said, it only made sense for me to return to the nation’s capital to retrieve my winter apparel (which was not at all needed in sunny Southern California) and of course, to visit my friends who were abroad during the Fall semester.
While in California, I purchased all the things I knew I wouldn’t be able to find while in Spain: my favorite leave-in conditioner and shampoo, my cold/allergy medications, some makeup, deodorant, etc. (you know—the essentials). These essentials took up the majority of my luggage space and weight, thus leaving me to bring less clothing which was somewhat of a challenge. Something that I had to really prepare for was the weather. Salamanca, being in the north, yields much cooler temperatures than say, Seville, which is in the south. Right now, Salamanca has weather equivalent to Washington D.C. which I am pretty used to by now given that I’ve been living there for nearly 3 years. But with the colder weather, comes turtlenecks, wool coats and boots—winter apparel = heavier luggage. I was told there were major holiday sales during this time in Spain, so I figured I could buy some new outfits there.
Something else that I did to prepare both myself, and my family was I created extensive lists and copies of important documents. I had purchased a binder with rings and dividers to put in paper copies of my tickets, medical information, passport and student visa, IDs and emergency contact lists. I made multiple copies of my passport and student visa to give both to my parents and to my host family just in case I lost mine. I also emailed copies of my emergency contact list to all my family members. I come from a huge family and I am the youngest of 5 kids (or adults I should say because my siblings are much older than I), and I am the only one out of my family who left California for college and am the only one who decided to study abroad. So, you can imagine how nervous and excited everyone was for me. My mom was of course thrilled for me, but with every ounce of excitement came a liter of worry. To prep her, I created a study abroad Google Drive folder, with subfolders where she can find all of my important documents at any moment, if needed. I also created wallet sized emergency contact cards, laminated and all, to carry with me at all times. Having my binder and this Google Drive folder really put my mom at ease and knowing that we both had easy access to this information, gave us both peace of mind. One might think that this may be a bit overboard, but as my mother taught me, you can never be over prepared, and it’s always best to be safe rather than sorry.
Although it may sound like I spent my last few weeks in California scrambling around my city in search for the various necessities for a semester abroad, I wasn’t really stressed or worried. I made my lists and checked them more than twice. Since I was more than prepared, I spent most of my days with my family and my closest friends from home who I only get to see when I come back for breaks and holidays. If I needed to run an errand, they didn’t mind coming along. Every day was used to its advantage and there was never a dull moment—every second spent together was absolutely crucial to prepare us to be thousands of miles apart for an extended period of time. Even though I am already 2,300 miles away from home during the school year, this time it was going to different. This time I’m 5,817 miles away, and I don’t plan on returning home until Thanksgiving. This time, it’s very different.
My time in D.C. was time well spent, both with my friends and my family who live there. Luckily, my mom came to D.C. as well to help me re-pack and
see me off. Not a second was wasted, but with every second that passed, I realized that my time there was not enough. It was hard for me to leave
behind my family, friends and some of the new friendships I had developed over the Fall semester (especially with those who will be graduating this Spring), but I knew that these relationships wouldn’t fade and would only strengthen my communication skills (a bonus in my opinion).
Even though being abroad will allow me to disconnect to the world that I am so familiar with, I am very excited to share my stories that will result from the adventures that await.
And with that, ya me voy (“I’m leaving”).
¡Hasta luego! (See you later!)
Teodora
