Counting down the days until I return

11) Personal Choice

After my finals were completed and our last field trip came to the end, I had one last week to travel around Europe.  My friends and I couldn’t think of a better place to spend our last week than on the beach.  Fortunately for us the Croatian beaches were everything that we thought that they would be. 

Out flight landed in Split and my first day in Croatia I spent lounging by the beach.  The beaches in Croatia were unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  The water was as blue as the pictures on screensaver.  The beaches were a little rocky, but the views made it worth it.  I also got to see palm trees so I was a happy girl.

After a day in Split, my friends and I took a boat to Hvar, an Island about an hour away known for its beautiful beaches.  There are a few Islands very close to Hvar that have the best beaches, so Louie, Emily, and I decided to rent a boat.  None of us had ever navigated a boat, so we were a little nervous, but it was our last week in Europe so we had to try.  Fortunately, the “boat” was incredibly small and Louie took the liberty of driving.  That day we went to three different coves and got quite a lot of sun.  Unfortunately, that sun turned me in a tomato, but it was still worth it. 

Our last day we spent river rafting.  We had the opportunity to raft down the longest river in Croatia.  It was a bit more shallow and rocky than anticipated, but we still had a great time.  Rafting down the river was a great change of scenery.  We got to see the terrain by the lake which was almost as pretty as the Ocean. 

I don’t think that there was any destination that would have prepared me to leave Europe.  Studying abroad has been the best experience of my life.  I learned more in the last three months than I ever could have imagined.  I met people from all over the world and learned something from every one of them.  I met people that grew up speaking a different language than me and people that practiced a different religion.  Studying abroad showed me I could learn so much from just a simple conversation with someone who had always seen life from a different perspective than I do.  I am incredibly sad to be leaving Europe, but I am excited to take all of the knowledge I obtained back to the United States.