Katie and Wanderlust: One Month Later

We went to dinner last weekend with some neighbors and one of them told me I should update my blog saying that I'm back. I hope most people know that I'm back, but I finally arrived home June 3rd! I wasn't able to update while in England because the internet didn't work most of the time, practically at all in Bath, but at the end of this I'll attach a few photos from my awesome trip there.  The UK is definitely one of my favorite places I've ever traveled to (it helps that we have a common language!) and there are so many places to visit and things to see and do, especially in London. Last summer when I went with my two friends we did a lot of the touristy things like see the Tower of London (so worth the fifteen or so pounds), rode the London Eye, took photos on Abbey Road, etc. I made a list of things I wanted to see and do there this time and I still didn't do half of what was on my list!

Usually by the time a trip is coming to an end I am ready to leave. You know you'll be home soon and there really is no place like home so you become anxious. Amazingly I didn't feel that way at all in England, although the night before I left I was ready. Why do I always have the awful hostel experiences while traveling alone (i.e., vomiting) when last summer we didn't have any of those hostel terror stories? Needless to say the night before I left I probably got three to four hours of sleep due to adrunk guy coming in and vomitting and more drunk guys coming in. They had to catch the chunnel to Paris and decided to not sleep that night and party instead so they could sleep on the train...even though the chunnel ride is only two hours. I had to get up super early to catch a taxi to Victoria train station where I had to take a train to Gatwick. It was a lot of traveling before even six in the morning. I didn't sleep at all on the flights home which isn't surprising because I've never slept on the flights back, but the upside was I only had one layover in Atlanta. I was so happy to be back in the U.S. where people could understand me, I could use my own currency, and it felt like home.

People keep asking me if I've adjusted to life in the U.S. and really it didn't take long at all. I didn't have the whole reverse culture shock and I didn't have as much of a culture shock as most would think when I first got to Spain either. Maybe it was because I've traveled to Europe before or the fact that, for the most part, Western Europe is modernized and things aren't all that different. Sure we may speak a different language, eat meals at different times, and I didn't have all the same facilities there as I did back home, but it wasn't as if I was living in the desert like a Berber nomad.  It was easy to adjust to the different eating times (something I was thankful for) and I still think that 'oh, in Spain it would be 1:33 a.m. instead of 7:33 p.m. (the current time as I'm writing this)'. I kept wanting to pull up on the toilet to flush it instead of using the side handle and when I drive I occasionally say 'venga!' (come on!).  It's been fairly easy to slip back into things back here because it's home. Spain was a great learning experience and I'm thankful for the fact that I had the opportunity to do it, but it's just not home.  I was recently reading my friend's blog who did the program in Cataluna and she seems to have all these great memories with people who helped her and in her school. I wish people had been more welcoming instead of throwing you in Andalucia and saying, 'Here. Find a place to live, get your NIE, set up a bank account and somehow get to and from work. Good luck, now 1, 2, 3, go.' It seemed like the schools where she was at and the Cataluna program was way more helpful and welcoming than in Andalucia which can put a damper on your over all experience.

But the bright side of living in Andalucia was the thick accents.  People speak fast there and it was so difficult to understand it there at first, but by the end it was ten times better understanding it and speaking with someone from there. I feel like if you can learn the accento andalus then you can learn to speak and understand Spanish in any part of Spain. Not to mention Andalucia has a lot of great cities to travel to which leads me to one of the things I miss most about living in Spain. The travel opportunities. For the most part it's cheap and easy to travel within Europe, unlike here in the U.S.  When people asked about vacations back home and how long it would take to get to the beach they were amazed when I said at least ten hours and usually you drove since flying is expensive. I already have the travel bug again and can't wait to travel again.

I do miss being surrounded by Spanish, although English is just as fabulous. I miss some foods (amazingly), like my baguette bocadillos con chorizo, which was basically pepperoni, and super cheap fruit. I do miss those kids a little, especially the little ones, but I'm pretty sure I would have needed a vacation from then asap if I had to have stayed longer. I don't miss having to light a match just to get hot water, having to dry out my laundry and hoping it doesn't rain. I'm so glad I have a car, a REAL shower, and a washing machine. It's the little things in life.

So where do I want to travel to next? I still want to get to all those places on my travel bucket list, but I think some place cheap would be best! My friend and I have talked about doing a road trip next summer (news to the familia I'm sure, as always with Jill and I) out west and that's definitely on the list. We'll see what happens, but for now home is just is good as any place.