Carpe Diem

This first week back has been so much fun. In preparation to study abroad, I talked to a lot of people both in the EAP office, and friends who had just come back, and the topic of returning to the place that you had made so many memories in, years later, to revisit the places that had become so familiar. The sentiment seemed to be shared across the board from returnees, that although returning is something they want to do in the future, it would be very difficult and perhaps saddening to see all of the same places visit all of the same cafes and stores, to see that the faces have changed, the appearances have shifted, and you can never really re-experience what you had, because you will never be with the same group of people, at that exact time again. This is why I feel so lucky to have gone home over vacation for 3 weeks, and come back again. Being home gave this experience in Barcelona a strange sense of finality, and made me think of the next step, and the next year. I came home and gained even more appreciation for what I have here in Spain, and how lucky I am to be able to live here for a year. Then, to be able to come back to all of my same friends, my job, my intercambios, my classes, my travel plans, makes it feel like time had just stood still here in Barcelona, and I was able to start right back up where I left, almost a month later. It made me realize that almost 5 months have passed, and this year is really going to fly by before I know it. Although after this year, there will be plenty more amazing times of travel and new friends and places, I will never be able to come back to this place with these people at this point in my life. Which is why every moment is so precious, and every day holds something totally new and exciting to see. This morning I woke up to the sound of a saxophone drifting in to my room amongst the busy street noise. I opened my window to try to see the man but couldn't find where the sound was coming from. Only the sweet melody of jazz on a lazy Sunday morning.