Donavan Astwood

No me ha dejado

So I am sitting in the plane looking at Seville. I thought a month was going to be a long time to be here and now that I am sitting here thinking of all the memories that I made, I wish I had more time. From the first night I met everyone here and went out I referred to this whole adventure as having the Breakfast Club Effect. For those of you who don't know, Breakfast Club is a John Hughes movie from the eighties were five students spent a Saturday in detention. They put a group of people together that would have other wise not even looked in the general direction of each other. However when the day ended they had memories, some new friends, and a new knowledge about themselves as people. I am not saying that everyone on this trip walked out of here feeling this, but I think I did.
As we cruise down the runway all of these things are running through my head. I am actually getting a bit of a tickle in my throat just thinking about it. I have left places and people many times before, but at some point the thoughts of change stop making you feel emotional. I am not sure if it is because it was a whirlwind of an experience where everyone was learning together at the same time about our surroundings and what not or if I am just getting soft in my old age. Whatever it is, I hope to have an experience like this sometime again. I do know this…. No matter how many adventures I have like this I don't think anything could ever replace the people that were on this journey with me. From the professors and staff at our school, my fellow students, the random people who I saw in the street every day whom at first couldn't really figure me out but then would let out an "Hola" or "Buenos Dia" and even the people in the stores and bars that we somehow became a part of; I could not imagine this trip being any better then it was.
We were like a group of orphans taken from our families and thrown into a home, think "Annie". We learned what we all liked, who we had things in common with and like most families we also fought, but at the end of the day I don't think you could walk through the halls of our school with out hearing the chatter of voices and laughter emanating onto the streets. I will miss these sounds, even from those of you who felt I would not. Because even though we did not really hang out as a large group all to often, because we all were witness to what happens when we do that, I feel I am taking something from each of you just for knowing you.
As time goes on I am sure the communication will dwindle with some of us, as it always does with friends, but until that time comes, we still have Facebook and the many pictures to post and go through and laugh at. So as we make our final ascension to our cruising altitude, I bid you farewell Seville. I came here with an open mind, a camera and a notebook. I left here with Seville in my heart and on my arm. So until next time….. No me ha dejado…….

And this is where we left off the last time............