Study Abroad Roller coaster

On our second day in Granada, Miguel Angel was telling us about the roller coaster that most students go on during their time abroad. It was basically a sin graph, with two highs and two lows. He said that this was what the four months looked like for most students. Two highs and two lows. 

Uhhhh... I think I go on that roller coaster four times a day. 

This is without a doubt the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I'm a girl who likes consistency. I'm the one who takes awhile to transition from home to school and school to home, even though I absolutely love both places. I'm the little girl who got homesick sleeping over at a house that was two blocks away. I love things to be the same and I don't like being away from home. And yet right now, I'm 5,000 miles away from home and in a place where literally everything is different. 

At the same time, there's the part of me that thinks that this culture is really cool. I love seeing the way people interact and the different kinds of stores and restaurants that they have. It's absolutely gorgeous here, too. Plus, I can already feel my Spanish improving and I know how much that's going to help me in the future. I've met some really cool people that I like to hang out with and I'm really looking forward to being able to travel around Europe soon.

So I keep going up and down on this roller coaster. I have moments where I think, "Four months isn't so long and I have so much to experience in that time" and I have moments where I hear a plane overhead and want to sprint to the airport and jump on a plane to Chicago. I really am trying to make the most of this experience, but it's definitely hard.

I am trying to make strides and trying to make the roller coaster have more highs than lows. I joined a gym on my street so that I can work out, I talked to a few girls that I know that have done the semester abroad in Granada and asked them for advice, I've started planning some trips with my friends for weekends here, and I've been planning visits from my dad, Matt, and my cousin Lauren for the coming months. I know this is tough, but I do have faith that the roller coaster will start to smooth out pretty soon.