Thursday, July 17 was a bittersweet day. I finished my last two finals, one of which was an oral exam. I was so relieved to be done, but this was also my last day in Valencia, as we had to leave for the airport at 4:00am the next morning. Thursday night, all of our professors and the university staff threw us a farewell dinner. We had tapas and drinks at a local restaurant in Valencia, and danced the night away. It was so much fun to hang out with our professors outside of the classroom, and it was great to have one last night with everyone from the program all together. After the dinner, we spent the rest of the night at one of our favorite local bars, Roa. The owners had grown quite fond of us MSU students over the past nine weeks, and were so sad to see us go. They brought out a complimentary bottle of champagne and gave a very sweet toast about their favorite customers. As we raised our glasses, it was at that moment it finally hit me… I was really leaving Valencia. This was one of my last moments in the place I called home for the past two months, and I was full of mixed emotions--Excitement, sadness, disbelief… Although I was misty-eyed, the feeling that overcame me most was thankfulness. In that moment, I realized how incredibly lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.
Stay tuned for my last post!
Stay tuned for my last post!