My Ocean's Eleven Moment

You know that scene at the end of the new Ocean's Eleven in which all the guys on Ocean's team are standing in front of the fountain and one by one they walk away? For me, that was an incredibly sad scene. It was a tight wonderful group that accomplished a lot together (I know that what they accomplished was criminal, but it was still totally badass and awesome). And the group breaks apart slowly until it's just Danny and Rusty and it feels like they're holding on maybe a little bit past when they should, because they're so sad to see it end? Well that's happening here! In early April, two members of our group left (they were part of a CIEE duo program and spent the fall in Chile so they weren't able to get visas to stay for as long as the rest of us). Then right after Feria two more girls from the program left, along with the best friend of one of those girls who had been with us for over a month and felt essentially like part of the group as well. And tomorrow another girl is going home to catch her sister's graduation from college, which is definitely a good reason to go home, but my goodness! The group has been reduced by almost 50%, which makes me really, very sad.

I have grown so close with my fellow gap year students. We have seen some of the most beautiful sites in Spain together, danced at some of the biggest discotecas in Europe together, gotten lost together, experienced culture shock together. We have been there for each other through everything from tummy aches (thanks to the absurd quantity of fried food we are fed here) to intense bouts of homesickness. For me, being in such a small group, having such an intense (intensely new, intensely exciting, intensely foreign) experience, has made my relationships with all these people grow deep and strong more quickly than I am used to.

The weird thing is, I'm actually happy to be so sad about this people-leaving-thing. My separation anxiety is just another demonstration of how much I have enjoyed my time here and the people with whom I have shared it. That's a silver lining, yes ma'am! And happily, a lot of the people here with whom I am close live in the Boston area, just like me. So it shouldn't be too hard to stay in touch once we get back on the treadmill of non-gap year life.