Final thoughts. Thanks for following!

If you know me at all, you know I always use a planner. Before this year, I decorated my planner (like usual) and chose two Hello Kitty stickers to put on the front: one Hello Kitty with a backpack and one writing in a notebook, to represent travel and research - what I thought were my two goals/major activities for the year.

It turns out that neither has been the focus of my year. It turns out that what has been most important, enjoyable, and valuable for me has been getting to understand the culture of Spain and of the different regions of Spain - people's mentality, attitudes, beliefs, way of thinking about things - through the friendships I've formed, expanding myself and seeing what I can learn and adopt from a different culture, and understanding myself and others in the context of where we come from, and what we have in common despite coming from different backgrounds. I've learned that I can really connect with people from a different culture and language, which I didn't really realize with my past times abroad. I know this sounds kind of empty and like what I write in application essays, but now I've lived it and I know it's true! I really value my friendships from this year.

I guess it's fitting that both stickers have since fallen off, despite my many attempts to press them back on.

After a year of pretty intense immersion here, I've been feeling more and more Spanish. Staying out late with friends (1...2...6 am) seems normal now - the idea is have fun while you can, and worry about work and sleep later. I'm getting more comfortable with the idea of never planning ahead very much - for example, a few months ago I was thinking about doing a big multi-city trip at the end of my time here to see some new cities and visit friends. It turned out it was SO hard to plan ahead of time and coordinate with people here...in general that's just not how it's done. I ended up planning my trips weekend-to-weekend. And of course everything turned out great and did most everything I really wanted to. Also...I had big plans to review material for my classes at Berkeley this fall, but completely did not - the idea is I don't want to right now and I'll just worry about it when I get there and I'll probably regret it, but oh well. Also, I barely use my planner anymore.

All of this might sound like bad things, but I think it reflects the more in-the-moment and less rigid mentality of Spaniards. In general. I know I've loosened up a little and will be able to handle stress better. Partly from taking in the culture of Spain and partly just from living on my own for a year and getting more life experience.

I've also just really thoroughly enjoyed this year - although of course I had hard times (more at the beginning/middle of the year) when I felt lonely or lost or like I wasn't getting anything done. I loved getting to travel a lot and see new places, both with friends and on my own, and to both places where I don't know anyone (like Paris) and places where I have friends (like Madrid). My work at the lab has been interesting and not overbearing or stressful, and I've learned what it's like to have a life outside of school and work and have time for myself.

A year has been a good amount of time to live here, though, and I'm ready to move on. Next up is starting grad school (chemistry PhD program) at Berkeley next month! Thank you for reading. I hope this blog has served its purpose of keeping you updated on my year and hopefully it's been entertaining and/or insightful for you. Stay in touch y ¡hasta luego!