Life Lessons in Spain

 I've learned and been exposed to so many new things in my 10 months in Spain, and here I share with you all the best things that this country has taught me.


Good things can come out of awkward situations.
I had a pretty awkward introduction to one of the sweetest girls I've met here who has been so kind to me. And who I can now call one of my best Spanish friends. There's been a lot of those, actually. Awkward moments are common in the life of an exchange student, I'd say.

The most important things in life are the relationships and connections we make with other people.
There's a reason we are 7 billion people on this Earth and not just 100. People are meant to form connections with other people. That's how babies are born and new relations are created. That's not exactly my point with this one, but basically now I just talk to anyone. Because why be bored on a long bus ride when there's a perfectly talkable person sitting right beside you that you don't know anything about?

Just go for it.
The decision to come to Spain, (made that one overnight), travel to Barcelona/Madrid/or wherever it may be., to pierce my nose, all the little daily decisions.. have all been what you could say split-second decisions. It's not that I didn't think them through, but I certainly didn't over-think. I used to be someone that needed weeks to make a decision, I've learned to in the end just kinda go for whatever my intuition and my heart tell me. (within reason!) That everything will turn out well in the end. So Why Not?


Don't worry so much.
I'm a much more relaxed person now than how I was before this year. I've become much more laid-back, and that is surely due to how the Spaniards live. If you spent the whole morning talking to a friend you run into in the supermarket, oh well. There's always time to get done what you had planned on finishing. When you go out for lunch, the important thing is that everyone enjoys each others company and that the food is delicious. The lunch can last 5 hours, but that's okay. Life goes on. Just relaxxx.

How rewarding they are, and how much you learn from difficult experiences.
This year has been the most challenging year of my life. It has been a much-needed year, though, and therefore a good year. In the end, I, like many, am sad to go home. It's not that I don't want to, just that I don't want to leave my life here behind either. But the end was inevitable from the beginning.

So, USA, I'll see you in 4 days. Hasta luego, Spain.
Besos,
Lani