Home!

As the end of my trip approached, I realized I was ready to come home. Getting to spend an extended period of time in another country has been a blessing, and I am so glad I have been able to experience it. No matter what, though, it will never be home.

What I've really taken away from this trip is a nationalism that I would never have predicted. Upon embarking on this trip, the expected outcome was a love for Europe so great that I would never want to come home. In fact, the opposite took place. I found myself talking to my European friends about all the great things the United States has to offer, and getting defensive over their slights. As someone who has never considered "patriot" an applicable term for themselves, I was surprised by my sudden pride in my country.

It was a wonderful experience to be able to really get to know a country and its residents. It was the first time I have ever been able to get past the feeling of being a tourist in a foreign place. By the end of my trip, I could

• Get around without pulling out a map
• Speak enough Dutch that I could (occasionally) communicate without revealing my ex-patriot status
• Recognize what that bell dinging behind me meant, and get out of the bikes' way

I've learned so much in the past five months, and I'm really going to miss it here. 

For now, though, I can't wait to get back home!

Dustin's visit

Because this post is so late, but I didn't want to leave it out, here are the pictures from Dustin's visit. We had a really great time and it was a good way to end the trip. We went to Bruges and Brussels the first weekend, then hung around my area, and spent the last night in Amsterdam. 

Bruges:

Brussels:

Amsterdam:

Brussels Street Art

Holiday in Spain

A few days before Christmas, as described in my previous post, I flew to Barcelona to meet my mom and Becky in Barcelona. After a rocky start, things got a lot easier, and we had a wonderful trip. We were in Barcelona until the 28th of December, when we drove to the Costa Brava where we stayed until New Years Day.

Barcelona was a place I had been excited to see, and had only heard great things. It lived up to the expectation, and although we didn't get to any museums, we pretty much covered the city during the time we were there. After finally meeting up on Christmas Eve and having a great Christmas Eve dinner at Botafumeiro, we went to an evening mass at the "Catedral Basílica de Barcelona." We spent one day in Barcelona seeing all things Gaudi, we walked along the waterfront, and found time to walk La Rambla and the Gothic district before leaving.

View from Park Güell

Park Güell

La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia

Patchwork wall

Roman burial site / road under Barcelona

On one of our last days in Barcelona, my mom saw a postcard with an albino gorilla from the zoo in Barcelona. She said that was the one thing she regretted not seeing while there.

After Barcelona, my mom, Becky, and I headed North to the Costa Brava in our rented car. With Becky at the wheel, my mom navigating (yikes), and me in the back, we managed to make it there without getting too lost. We stayed in a town called Sant Feliu de Guixols, right on the water. During our time there we also drove to several of the other little towns along the Costa Brava. We saw lots of great places and ate fantastic seafood. 

View from our apartment in St Feliu de Guixols

Only in Spain

Sa Tuna, Costa Brava

Sa Tuna, Costa Brava

Clear water

Weird wall art

Cadaqués in the distance

Cadaqués

Cat standoff

Because our return trip was on New Years Day, it was a very mild New Years Eve. We did, however, do the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes as a countdown into the new year, for good luck. 

It was a great trip, and I was sad to leave Spain, which just gets better the more I see of it. Now I'm back in the Netherlands awaiting Dustin's visit- he arrives on Wednesday. I'll show him around the Netherlands after a short trip to Belgium, and after he leaves I will be going HOME! It seems crazy that the time has finally come, but after four months here I am really ready.