The End

I am currently in Barcelona where I decided to spend my last ten days and it’s really nice. The weather is great, the beach is close by, shopping is ridiculously cheap, and I’m living in the best hostel I could have ever chosen (Sant Jordi Sagrada Familia). I would say it’s similar to “L’auberge espagnole” although people come and go. It’s a hostel composed of apartments enclosing a single, double and quadruple room with a shared kitchen, living room and bathroom as well as a common area for everyone. So everyday I come home and meet up with this French guy who is living here for two weeks as well as different people everyday or so.

The first afternoon I got here, I had 3 Australian roommates and had the best time with them as we went to watch the world cup at Placa Espanya on a giant screen , then went out to a club where we had a couple of shots and ended up sleeping on the beach waiting for the metro to reopen. Today I have Italian roommates. We spent some time talking and listening to Italian and Canadian music, they are so funny. And other than wondering who I will have as roommates the next coming days, what’s good about this hostel is that there are parties organized every night.

I also had the chance to spend a few days with my roommate from Amsterdam who’s been living here as well as one of my best friends from Canada who was here for the weekend. We spent an evening together at the luxurious W hotel where she was staying and it was magical. I hadn’t seen her in six months and it felt unreal to be reunited in Barcelona, in the sky bar from the hotel.

Even though my time here has been amazing so far, I can’t help but feel a little sad. In just a few days, I’ll be back home… and everyday feels like I’m closer to something I want but don’t want at the same time. I am obviously looking forward to seeing my family and friends and just be home…but I have the feeling of leaving something behind and it’s difficult. At times, I cannot help but wonder how my return will go. Will I miss Europe so much that I won’t be able to enjoy it? Will I get used to my old life? Will it be relatively the same as when I left? And if not, will I like it?

The weird thing about coming home is that some things will have changed. For example, like many others, I left having someone in my life and will return single. I also recently learned that one of my good friends is moving to Toronto which is about 6 hours away by car. It’s not the end of the world… but it’s still something I’m going to have to get used to. I know that other students have had even more difficult situations to deal with though, from having to leave the girlfriend/boyfriend they made during the semester, to coming back home with a relative “missing”.

It is obvious that our lives will never be the same, although, if we don’t like our “new” lives, we’ll just have to make the necessary modifications. At least now we know that our lives can be anything we want them to be. Like my European “BFF” repeatedly told me before I left, we need not to be sad it’s over but happy it happened. After all, this is not the end but rather the beginning…