A Journey's End

Well, almost anyway.

Before I tell you about our bittersweet last day as a study abroad group, let me tell you what's been going on these last few days.

Thursday and Friday were free days in Edinburgh and we had a great time spending it with these cute girls:

Just stole from your blog, Sarah. Not sorry.

With no 8:20 am departure times, we slept in both days. It was pure bliss. On Thursday, we trudged through the rain to get to the Elephant House.

J.K Rowling spent time in the Elephant House writing the early HP novels. It was so packed in there, but very cool to see!

We walked to Princess street and did some shopping before the rain did us in. We stopped by Tesco on the way home to get stuff for quesadillas and banana boats for dinner. Then we watched Nacho Libre and laughed our heads off.

On Friday, I got to see my parents! I packed up my stuff and got all set up in their hotel. We had a lovely lunch with Kelsey and Catie, and got to do a little shopping before the closing banquet.

We held the banquet at our first hostel in Edinburgh, and the fed us a lovely 3 course meal. After dinner, we headed into the conference room to watch a slideshow of everyone's top 20 pictures. There were a lot of awww's and laughs. The professors expressed their gratitude to us for being such a great group. We really had no serious problems (there was the occasional crankiness, of course), and everyone was so flexible. I really lucked out. I made some great friends, and I loved our professors.

This is what I'm going to miss:

> All of these people. We seriously had the best group in the whole world.

> These boys (aka my new adopted brothers). Don't you want to squeeze them all?
> Quoting Nacho Libre and various youtube videos with Hilary and Sarah and laughing obnoxiously (and beneath the man... we find his... nucleus. STAY ON YOUR SIDE!).
> The bananas here. Kinda weird, but I think they are just extra tasty.
> The kind people we have run across.
> The accents.
> Our amazing professors.
> Hob Nobs, Carmel Digestives, Bueno Bars, Chewits, Fruitella, Cadbury Carmel Bars/Nibbles.
> The history.
> Having people say: "You're American, aren't you?"

This has definitely been a once in a lifetime experience. I have learned so much and I will never forget the many experiences that I've had. It's going to be so weird not seeing these people everyday. I'm sad it's over, but I know I will see these girls again and that we will all continue to be friends. I am so incredibly lucky to have gone on this trip.