T Minus Two Weeks!

My leaving gift from K.

That's right! Two weeks today and it will be time for me to head back to the UK having finished my year abroad as an Erasmus student. The goodbyes have already started and I've realised that, as excited as I am to be returning to the UK (and I'm sure my blood-sugars are pretty excited about getting some stability in the very near future, but this is not the post for that), I'm not ready for this experience to be over yet. 

Yesterday evening, I joined my friend, K, for one last dinner and drink at our favourite restaurant, El Burrito, (our entire friendship is built upon our love for mexican food, margaritas and the fact we both speak English!) before she set off on her European travels and then back to the good ol' U-S-of-A. 

This is the worst part of year abroad. I did the whole goodbye thing when I left Toulouse for Alcalá de Henares. Leaving Toulouse was hard, but I knew it was more of a "see you later" as opposed to a "goodbye" - my closest friends in Toulouse were from England and Greece, so chances of us meeting up in the future is very high. 

Here in Alcalá, again, most of my friends are English and Spanish, apart from K, who's American. And when I said goodbye to her, I said goodbye not knowing when I would next see her. I don't doubt we'll keep in touch, but it's not the same. Flights within Europe are cheap. Flights to the USA, however...whole other story! The last time I bid farewell to an American, I was an absolute wreck. My housemate from first year, Lopez, weaved her way into my life like she knew she belonged there. K's gone and done the same. And I love her and hate her for it. Before we said our goodbyes, she told me she had a gift for me: a Mississippi State Bulldogs t-shirt. It's absolutely huge, but I love it (sorry, Lopez, I'm a Mississippi girl now ;) ) and I'm currently wearing it as I write this. 

I'm really gonna miss her: from mexican food to way too many margaritas that one night (that second pitcher seemed like such a good idea at the time), from the Madrid 10km run (which I happily watched from the sidelines whilst K actually ran it) to moaning about life/exams/culture differences.

Until next time, Miss K. Thanks for everything this semester. I've had a blast! Hopefully see you in DC in the not too-distant future! In the meantime, thank god for the internet and social networking!