So Long Salamanca

I have been avoiding writing this specific post for a few days now.  I've been saying to myself things like:  "I really should get this suitcase unpacked."  "I need to go to the store."  "I don't know how to write this."  Well, I think that I've put it off long enough.  The truth is, driving away from Salamanca on Tuesday was an awful feeling.  I hadn't let a tear fall up to that moment, but when I saw the beautiful skyline slipping away, I couldn't hold it in any longer.  Mom and Dad got to see all of the beauty of Salamanca...everything I had fallen in love with.  I think they fell in love with it too.  We spent a lot of time just sitting in the Plaza Mayor sipping coffee.  We talked about everything this experience has meant to me.  We talked about how it's over.  And we talked about coming home.  My folks were able to meet my host family and my program's director.  We sat talking for hours and hours and it could not have been better.  My one condition for our entire trip was that we end in Salamanca.  That city will always be home...in the same way that DeKalb and Ventura feel like home.  I know that I will go back there someday.  I don't quite know what else to say.  I could talk for hours about my city but writing it down is difficult.  There is so much feeling associated with that place...I loved, laughed, and lived as much as possible.  I'll write another post in a few days time...after the realization that I'm actually home and not going back sinks in, after I have a grip on how I actually feel, after just a little more time.  Thank you all for walking with me through this incredible journey.