By: Abby Stanley

Tuesday we took our last group excursion here in Spain. We took a ferry boat to Puerto de Santa Maria, where we toured the castle that Christopher Columbus stayed in for a little while and a bodega filled with wine/sherry! We were able to sample several different sherries, some in which you just had to acquire a taste. The trip was short and sweet, but a great experience.

Thursday I helped my host family prepare paella–our lunch for Friday! It was an interesting experience, to say the least. They were trying to explain it all in Spanish, and when I went to write the recipe down in English, they made me write it in Spanish, too. We had to peel the shrimp ourselves. I’ve never had to take the heads off of my own shrimp before, so I was a little disgusted at first. However, in Cádiz, they eat the heads of shrimp and love it! Paella is my favorite, and the best Spanish meal by far!

My final presentation Friday has prepared me for Dr. Bejarano’s class in the fall at VSU.

We had an extremely long bus ride to Madrid on Saturday (nine hours to be exact), and then we flew for nine hours back home to Georgia!

I’m going to miss my host family so much. We got to spend a lot of time together last week, but I feel like it was not enough. I wish I could have just taken them home with me!

I have truly had the time of my life this summer, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to share my experiences with some incredible students from VSU, UGA, GCSU, and of course, all of you!

I also have learned so much about myself and who I am as a person now, and who I would like to be in the future. I still have some growing to do, but being here has opened my eyes to new things and opened my heart to the possibilities of living in a foreign country, starting a career and maybe even a family in some place other than the United States. I want nothing more than to leave my mark on the world, and I believe in order to do that, I have to step outside of my comfort zone and start acting instead of just talking. After all, actions speak louder than words.

I don’t know when I will be coming back to Spain, but I definitely want to and plan to return and hopefully use my major, Communication Sciences & Disorders, and my Spanish minor to better this country in some way.

I am so incredibly blessed, and I will never forget Summer 2013 in España!