T-minus 31 Days

Today is a big day for me. I am constantly reminded of how much, yet how little time I have left in Spain, until I go back to Minnesota. Today I have exactly a months, or 31 days left in Spain. Tomorrow I will have 30. That number will keep getting smaller and smaller until it reaches zero and I am waking up, getting ready and heading to the airport for my first of three flights back to Minneapolis. In 31 days, I will have to leave my new friends, family and life that I've made for myself here in Spain.

People have started to ask me when I am leaving and then follow it up by asking me if I'm looking forward to going back to Minnesota. It always seems like a trick question because most people are expecting me to say yes, but when I say no, they are surprised and taken aback. Now don't get me wrong, I am excited to see my friends, family and pets back in Minnesota, but at the same time, I love my life here and don't want to leave it.

The last month or two of exchange has been and will be a little stressful and filled with many conflicting emotions. On one hand, I'm happy that my exchange is almost over so that I can see everyone back in MN, but at the same time, I am incredibly sad that it's ending. I have made so many amazing friends here and now that my exchange is drawing to a close, I don't know when or if I will ever see them again. It would be relatively easy to see my school friends again since most of them live in Pamplona, but if I want to see my exchange student friends again, it would be very hard to do so because they live all over the world. However, that gives me an excuse to travel even more. As it is, I am already trying to plan a trip to Australia in 2020.

It may come as a surprise to some, but I had my suitcases packed a good 2 or 3 weeks before I left for Spain. Well, here I am now, 4 weeks before I am supposed to leave and I already have my suitcases packed. Some of you might be thinking that this is a little extreme and that I should've waited until closer to the end to pack them and I agree. However, I have an excuse called Eurotour!

Eurotour is a big trip that most of the exchange students in Spain go on in June and we tour Europe together for 18 days. The trip starts on June 4th in Paris but our flights leave from Madrid at 9am, so I need to go to Madrid a day early and spend the night. That means that I have approximately 3 days until I leave for Eurotour. So, I figured it's probably best if I pack my suitcases now so that I am not rushing to do it on Saturday night. Although the trip only lasts 18 days, I'll be away from Pamplona for 20 days because I am spending two extra days in Madrid (one before and one after). Once I return to Pamplona, I'll have one week left before I have to return to Minnesota.

I'm not going to write too much about Eurotour yet because I'll be publishing a blog post about it afterwards, but for now, I'll add a map of the route that we will be doing.

Here's to an amazing last month in Spain, filled with unforgettable memories and lifelong friendships! Once Eurotour ends, I'll post another blog post about it, but in the meantime, I'll keep posting pictures on Instagram and Facebook about my adventures. Stay tuned for more!