As I wrap up my time in Alicante, the predominant thought I have is where did all the time go? I have grown to love the experience of living in a country with a second language, as it is a constant puzzle to figure out what people are saying, and constantly keeps me on my toes. I feel that I have grown and developed so much since coming to Spain, both in my language skills and my identity as a global citizen. Although I have only cracked the surface on the amount of cultural experiences that I needed to have in order to consider myself a citizen of Spain, the amount that I was exposed to certain proved to provide a taste of the many subtleties that differentiate Spain.
One of the only things that I would change about my experience is that I would have spoken more in Spanish with the other study abroad participants. Although we tried to speak in Spanish at all times, often times it was easier to convey the message in English, so we relied on the crutch instead of making use of all the resources available to us. That being said, the experience of living with my host mom and constantly speaking Spanish with her made up for a lot of the other time, because there was no other option when conversing with her.
My biggest takeaway from the summer besides the language would be the ability to immerse myself in a situation in which I felt uncomfortable. I went to Spain not knowing anyone or anything about the country, and was able to make it through the difficult situations with relative ease. Even though there were some times when I wished that I would understand the language perfectly, learning new words and the colloquial language was constantly exciting and provided new revelations. I hope to visit Spain again soon.