When you're studying abroad, it's really easy to get high hopes about what you're going to be able to do and how much time you have. Even though I knew this starting my program, with only a week left it's starting to feel real, and I have to start preparing to go back to the United States.

The simplest part of my preparing to go back to the US is that I need to start packing my suitcase. It was the hardest part of getting ready to come over, but going back it will be even more difficult. Not only have I bought more things while being here, but there are also some things that I can't even pack until the day before I leave.

While I've been in Spain, I've gotten to see a lot of the country, but there is still more that I want to see. There are still so many places that I can visit and just not enough time to see all of the places that I want to go to. I haven't been able to visit any more of Europe, and I know that I want to come back as soon as possible.

When I started the program, I was hoping to improve my Spanish. I feel more confident in my skills and have been able to communicate in all of the situations that I have ended up in. It's been a lot easier to speak in Spanish, especially as I've spent more time in Spain. I've yet to have any problems understanding others when they're talking, not even when they don't know that I'm not a native speaker.

At the same time, I feel like I expected to be able to do more with the language. There are still some things that I don't feel like I know how to communicate that I believed I would be able to. Knowing that I have to come back to the US and prove that my level of Spanish is good enough is somewhat stressful. While there are more things that I could've done to improve my speaking, I also feel like I've improved a lot during my time here.

I was also hoping to escape the problem that all Spanish classes have: the people who only want to speak English. When going somewhere with people who have different levels of Spanish and different reasons to be learning a second language, there are always going to be people that aren't as interested in speaking as much or as often as others. I hoped that being in a different country people would be more likely to speak in Spanish, but there are still some people who I have yet to hear actually speak Spanish outside of classes.

While I don't feel like my love for the city that I'm studying in has gone away, I feel like the thrill of exploring is gone. There are still things to see, but for the most part, I know how to get to them and what they're near. While there are things that I still want to see, I feel like I'm trying to squeeze those things into my last couple of days.

I would love to be able to spend more time in Spain, to be able to learn more about the country and continue to improve my language skills, but I'm also ready to go home. My time here hasn't been exactly what I expected, but it's still been a wonderful experience. I feel like I've learned so much and had so many great experiences. I can't wait to come back someday, and I can't wait to share my experiences with other people.