new directions

The blogger.com bookmark on my computer has been staring at me for the last 20 days, nagging me to come back and post, to wrap-up the story of my adventure and my summer, and to let you all know what I've been up to! (I'm kidding on that last one...does anyone even read this besides my Dad? Probably not.)

Anyway, I guess I'd been in denial that this amazing summer was coming to an end and just couldn't bring myself to sit down and reflect on it all. However, the first day of class has forced me to face the idea that summer is in fact over, and that it's time to close that chapter of my book and open up a new one.

It's hard for me to make anyone else understand what the 7 weeks in Spain meant to me. I'm sure anyone who's gone abroad knows what I mean. When people ask how it was, obviously I say that it was amazing, that I had the best time ever, that I can't wait to do it again - but I've said those same things about a roller coaster at Hershey Park or a Sugarland concert. The words sound empty when I use them to reference my trip, because I just can't find the right ones to describe how delicious the gelato was, how breathtaking some of the sights were, how funny some of my conversations with Rafaela, Carmen, and Marie were, and how badly I want to go back.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE being back en los Estados Unidos. I soaked up every second of my days with my family in the Outer Banks, loved my 2 weeks at home, counted down the days until I got to see my friends again, and can't imagine anywhere else I'd rather be right now than in my cute new apartment in College Park.

What I mean is that I'd give anything to relive the experience, and to share it with everyone that I love. What good is an amazing experience if you have to keep it all to yourself? This blog has been my attempt to do that - to try my best to share my Spanish adventure with you all, in hopes that one day, we can experience it together =].

But the question remains - the trip, the summer, the adventure...they're all over. Does that mean the blog is over too? I had a major dilemma over that question. I definitely wanted to keep it going, but what would I write about? Even though I love reading other people's blogs about their lives, I'd never assume that anyone would want to read about the in's and out's of my everyday life - it's just not that exciting! I knew that if I kept blogging, it would have to have a topic, a subject, a purpose, etc..., not just be a journal of my thoughts published online for the whole world to see.

So the answer is, yes, I'm going to keep blogging. I came up with (well, I didn't come up with it, I saw someone else who did it first) an idea of a new direction to take my blog in, and I can't wait to get started. Stay tuned later in the week to see what it will be.

thanks for reading!

xoxo

lauren