The Days of the Lasts

If you want my spring break blog, check below. :)

    So begins the days of the lasts in London.  I have 16 days left in this crazy, loud, busy, beautiful city, and while I feel like I've seen it all in the past four months, I know I've really only touched the surface.  I don't think you could ever see all of London, not even in a lifetime.  There are so many diverse neighborhoods to explore, so many landmarks and monuments to see, so many markets to wander, and so many people to meet that there just isn't the time for it all.  So instead I've started having that anxious nagging question in my head whenever I go somewhere--is this the last time I'll be in Covent Garden?  Is this the last time I'll see this person for a while?  Is this the last time I'll walk along Southbank?  Is this the last time I'll eat sketchy Thai food at Camden? Is this the last time?   It seems a little ridiculous I know, but no one wants to know that they're doing something they love for the last time, at least for a while anyway.
    Yet in a strange way, I think I'm ready to move on.  When I came home from Wales, I was literally a mess.  I really, really struggled with being back in America those first few months of 2011, and I could not wait to go back to Europe.  Looking back, I know I probably said a few things about being home that hurt a few feelings. It was never that I disliked home, it was just that I had made another home in Wales and I couldn't stand being away from it and the people I had become so close to.  I think that my change in attitude this time around has a lot to do with the fact that I don't have the same friend ties this time--obviously I'll be sad not to be in the same country as them, but almost everyone I've gotten to know in London is going back to the States too.  The one exception to that is my aunt, who I will really miss.  This semester was worth it alone to have gotten to know her.  I also think that the fact that I'm ready to go home has a lot to do with the fact that, scarily enough, I'm growing up.  I just turned 22-yeah, scary for me too.  I had to make decisions this semester about what I'm doing in the future, and I think this semester has given me a lot of perspective on my life that I didn't have before.  I have so many good people in my life in Iowa--my family, friends from high school, friends from Central, people from church and Iowa Falls--and honestly, I miss you all!  I think I really needed this semester to appreciate that.  Plus this semester has given me a world of experience, from the places I've been to my internship to the people I've made connections with.  Nothing can ever take that away from me, and it was worth every penny.
    So for the last couple of weeks I'm just going to enjoy being here.  I'm going to one of mum's friends' in Derby for the weekend, but otherwise I'll be in London.  I do have finals unfortunately, and a whole lot of packing to do before I go.  But I am really going to try and enjoy every last moment before heading home for graduation.  I still have a little panic attack every time I say that word.  But it's going to be okay--everything is going to work out just the way it should.
And with that, I'll leave you!
Much love always,
Lucy