Weeks have passed now, and memories are still being made. Within the first few weeks we had a rollercoaster of emotions that tend to continuously flow. The first day our group got here nobody knew what they were in for. Nobody knew what was to follow. Nobody knew just how beautiful this city was.
My time here was well spent but felt like a fever dream that I just have not woken up from. On one of our last excursions, we took a ferry over to an island called Santa Clara. Santa Clara is home to the fourth and final beach here in San Sebastian. This beach is known as the ghost beach as it comes and goes with the tides. On this island there was so much to see. There was a beautiful lighthouse with an even more precious view. With the light house there was a bar, trails, and a dock we could go swimming off. Even though the weather was a little less than favorable, all of us still decided to submerge ourselves one last time. The water here seemed to be pleasantly calm and peaceful as we all came together. We united in solitude as now is the time to come together and get ready for the life we must go back to at home.
On this island we shared a talk about everything we had achieved here. We talked about the good and even some of the bad, although there wasn’t much to say about the bad. Everyone agrees, we do miss home but home is just going to miss that special feeling we have here. There will be no beach 10 minutes down the street. Our early mornings spent going to Spanish are over and to be quite fair the odds of us all being together in the same room together again are slim. We are going to miss this place. We are going to miss everything that San Sebastian truly has to offer. Going home is going to be a reverse culture shock for sure.
The feeling you get walking through this city and eating pintxos is unlike any other you will ever feel. There is a special feeling that comes with walking down the slippery streets of San Sebastian. In San Sebastian the magic floats through the air. It’s an experience you can’t explain but only feel. While all of us are taking some sort of magic home with us, a part of us will always stay here. A part we may never have back. Many people might see study abroad as just a vacation; for us, it became a binding experience of a lifetime. I mean who can say they went out with 11 of their friends to a foreign country. This ferry excursion brought us together and made a memory I will have for a lifetime.
This island that we took the ferry to also had a sentiment to it. Sitting there with the beautiful view in the background had us savoring every moment. Our time here was short but in the same sense it was the longest three weeks of my life. Every day was jam packed with some new adventure. On this island we laughed and even made more memories to follow. We reminisced about our time here and realized just how traumatic going back may be for all of us. Reverse culture shock is going to hit all of us in the face and not feel great. But this trauma helps affirm the realization of the dream we were living in. It is what will help us affirm all the memories we have and even then, last chance bucket list items we want to complete.
With everything set aside we all agreed that three weeks just is not enough. San Sebastian has a magical aura to it that pulls you in. It’s peaceful but energetic, tranquil but chaotic. Without San Sebastian many of us would be the same old students going to the same old lives back in Lowell. But now we all are slightly different. But that’s the difference that makes us truly who we are.