A point on the horizon

One of the most beautiful things you can experience is the sunset or the sunrise. I've been lucky to see them both, in many different places. I watched the sunset in Hawaii surrounded by my family. I also watched the sunset on a boat right off the coast of Maine. Just this summer, I got up at 5:00am with my best friend Molly to watch the sunrise on the beach. I'm lucky that I can add Spain to the list of places I've seen the sunset. It's really beautiful here, the way the sunsets behind the mountains. No wonder we're so obsessed with sunrises and sunsets, it's a natural type of beauty that we get to see everyday not once, but twice, if we want to. There's just something magical about the way the sun falls beneath our line of vision, casting beautiful, rich colors across the sky, and the way it always appear again; peaking it's tip slowly and then all at once, lighting up the sky to start a new day.

Sunset in Navia

Halfway is a major point. At one time in my life, not too long ago, it seemed like just another point on the horizon, so far away, so untouchable, a hypothetical place I thought I would never reach. But I shouldn't have been so ignorant about time. Time doesn't stop for anyone, or anything. My five months in Spain have made me believe that time doesn't move constantly. It's not a linear passage of events, but instead, our messed up, biased perception of our surroundings. There were times when I thought my day dragged on for weeks, like the moments were moving in slow motion, and there were times when I wondered how another week had possibly flown by. Anyone who has asked me, knows that when I look back on my five months I think two things- It feels like yeaarrrsss but it feels like just yesterday. How is that possible? Well... it's just my messed up, bias perception.

So now, the halfway point has come and gone and each day is one less day that I have left. I'm no longer homesick, I am so happy here, but at the same time I'm so excited to go home. Talking to some of my fellow exchange students made me realize that most of them have already gotten to the point of never wanting to come home, but for me, that's just not the case. I don't know if it ever will be the case. Of course I love Spain. I love the culture, the family, the food, everything! but America will always be my home. It will always be the country that made me who I am, filled with the people I love, and the culture I come from. I'm trying to learn as much about Spain as I can while I'm here, but in the end I know that I will be going back to the US one day, and I'm okay with that.

So my point on the horizon now is June 29th. A day that will come, without a doubt, but in this moment it seems so unreal. I know that day will bring a mix of emotions like a tidal wave and there is no way I can do anything to prepare for it. Even though watching the sunrise or sunset is beautiful, it lasts for mere minutes. Just like some dates we have in our head, for me, the end of this journey, seem like magical days, unlike all the rest, in reality they aren't any different. The sun will rise, the time will tick, and the sun will set. So with that in mind, I'm not focusing on the horizon point right now, but instead, looking around me, taking it all in, because I know I won't be here forever.


Happy Belated Birthday Ekorb <3