I like to think that I’m fluent in volleyball. I’m no professional player of course, but I love to see that even though several weeks may pass in between the times I get to play, I still have the basic sensibilities of a volleyball player. Though my skills get rusty, I know I’ll never get to the point of someone who’s never played – I’ve spent too much time learning the plays, doing the drills, and using the lingo for it to ever go away completely.
I’m hoping that Spanish will be the same way. The fact is, unless I decide to devote my career to it completely, I’m going to have long stretches of time where I don’t get to speak it everyday, and the times when I don’t will probably be longer than the times when I do. And just as I’ve come to accept that I won’t be a professional volleyball player, I think I’m alright with the idea that I’ll never sound quite like a native speaker as long as I can count on it that basic competency to always be there. That’s not to say I won’t be practicing at all – I really do hope that I’ll have chances to use it throughout life, and I know it’s necessary to keep using it if I don’t want to forget, but even in the few days I’ve been home, I’ve realized just how hard it is to find chances to use it when your whole world revolves around English. Still, I’m hoping that, like volleyball, it’s something I’ve put enough time into that I’ll never really forget it.
Anyway, before I get to my last thoughts on my time in Spain, I do have a couple things to report. Unfortunately, I had to spend the majority of my time over the last few weeks writing papers and studying for finals, so they weren’t quite as eventful as the rest. Still, I found some time to have some last adventures with all the people I met in Mallorca.
This chunk of time started with a trip to Germany:
Alright, not really – we actually just want to S’Arenal, a beach in Mallorca that’s extremely popular among Germans. Since I didn’t get the chance to make it to Germany on this trip, I joked that this was the next best thing. The beach was full of people, and it was hard to blame them with the beautiful weather and the incredibly clear water. The Germans who come to Mallorca even have their own song about coming on vacation there, and we heard it several times that afternoon.
On the way back home from the beach, we saw some dancers on Paseo Born doing a traditional dance – something that seemed to happen every now and then as we’d pass by. It’s nice that these little reminders of the island’s culture would just pop up without warning.
At some point in these three weeks, I also went to a typical Mallorcan restaurant called Los Rafaeles with my friends Jake and Julian. It was great to have good, typical Mallorcan food one more time, although Julian ordered us some snails to try, and I can’t say that was my favorite part… that texture is something I’ll never get used to. At least I can add it to the list of things I’ve tried now.
My friend Vranici and I also made it to the island’s Ikea one day, since both of us love the food there and were curious to see how the store changed from one country to another. I was glad to have finally made it over there after seeing it when I first got to Palma.
The three of us who tried the snails also went paddleboarding one day. The water was super choppy and none of us stayed up very long, but it was still fun and brand new to all of us.
The last week was filled with some intense studying, but I made time on my last day in Palma to get a lot done. I got one more afternoon of volleyball in before saying a difficult goodbye to the nice people I played with. It was really great having this routine way to get some Spanish in and meet the locals, and I’m sure as I play back here all the Spanish terms I’ve learned for the game will come to mind.
I took the bus back to Palma to get ice cream with two of my friends from our linguistics class: María and Mónica. They were incredibly nice to reach out to us Americans when they saw us in their class, and all of us really appreciated getting to know some Mallorcans. We had a great afternoon sitting and chatting at Can Joan de S’Aigo, one of the best places for ice cream and ensaimadas on the island, and we were sad to say goodbye but thankful for the time we got to spend together.
I had some souvenir shopping to finish up after, so I took one last walk around town. This included going to the beach for a while to get some shells to bring back home, but even though it had a practical purpose, I took my time with the walk and just tried to take everything in as much as possible. It was relaxing and kind of surreal to take one last look at the Mediterranean and the Cathedral.
The nice park outside of the Cathedral reminded me of our first big walk around town when we explored all that the city has to offer and felt so excited about living in such a cool place. It definitely feels like it went by fast, but when I think back to how long ago that actually was and realize that I hadn’t had all of the experiences I had in Palma yet at that point, I realize just how full of an adventure it was, and I think that makes it easier to go back knowing I really lived it to the fullest.
Flying back was a long, tiring process that included a 2 hour flight to Dusseldorf, Germany, followed by a 12 hour flight to Los Angeles, but lots of music and 3 movies managed to get me through it. I was able to get one last shot of the island from the window of the plane:
And with that, my study abroad experience was over. On the one hand, it was hard to believe it had already come to an end, but I really do feel like a got a ton out of it, and as hard as leaving any place is, I was able to accept that it was time to go.
I really wanted to add a song into this last post to describe my time in Palma, and thinking about it now, it would’ve been nice to share all of the music that soundtracked my journey. I considered several different ones that talk about things coming to an end, or going back home, or California specifically, but I settled on one that captures in two words the wealth of new experiences I had abroad and my philosophy towards all the adventures that will come my way in the future: Stay open.
Here’s hoping I have the occasion to revive this blog again for another experience abroad. Until then, I’ll leave off with the way Spaniards normally say goodbye – a phrase that more accurately means «see you later»:
¡Hasta luego!
vistasdelcamino 