I’ve been dealing with the whole homesickness thing pretty well up until now – that is to say, I’ve been so busy traveling and “studying” that I hardly have time to think about wanting to be home. Well, I thought I was doing well until the homiest, familiest holiday rolled around. Thanksgiving. Each year my mom invites everyone and their mother (literally) to our home for a huge feast, racking up a guest list of around 40.*
Naturally, I started thinking about home, but lucky for me the residents of Sicilia 242 had some fantastic Thanksgiving plans lined up. On the actual holiday, a Spanish friend of ours invited us over to his apartment to show a few Spaniards how Americans do Thanksgiving. We appreciated their contributions to the meal (including guacamole and honey mustard pretzels), but the 6 Americans did our best to deliver the closet thing to an American feast we could muster up. The marshmallows on the sweet potatoes may have been pink, but I’d say we did a fantastic job throwing together a Thanksgiving dinner in Spain, turkey and all.
As soon as I got back to the apartment that night, I Skyped into Thanksgiving back at home. Mom took me around the house to awkwardly wave at everyone I passed, and I had a few pose for a quick screen shot. Definitely got me excited about the imminent reunion, but also had me devastatingly homesick!
The next morning all of my sorrows were alleviated as I hopped on a plane to reunite with some of my favorites in PARIS. Nothing like snuggling up to your favorite Dukies in the most beautiful city in the world to rid yourself of the homesick bug. We did a second round of Thanksgiving, explored the city, and talked about how excited we were to return to Duke. It was just what I needed to get me through the last stretch!
Just 2 weeks before I’m boarding a plane back to the United States. I can’t believe it!
Besos from Barca,
Ashley
*Mom told me she was cutting down on invites this year. 40 is the reduced guest list.