Today was our final day in Bilbao. Although my body may be ready to go home, my mind can’t believe that my time here is already over. I have felt like my perspective on the world has changed so much through this trip, and I have really learned a lot. I have enjoyed so much of Spain, but there still feels like there is so much left to see. However, I truly believe I was so lucky to have had all the great guides help me learn so much on this trip. Mikel, Saioa, Mangel, Nora, and Dr. Professor have all helped me learn so much in different ways throughout these past 12 days. I will miss it so much, and hopefully, I will not let myself dwell on the past for too long before moving on to my next adventure.

We started our morning with a presentation from Saioa recapping her experiences with the Spanish healthcare system. Everything she discussed sounded so much better than how it is in the U.S.; it is unbelievable. I wish that the U.S. could adopt something similar to this, even though I know it is not feasible. Even the fabled long wait times that people talk about with socialist health care did not seem to matter, as she was able to schedule appointments for the same day. Everything here seems so much simpler.

After this, we visited two different labs, the prosthetics lab that Leire is a part of, and the music lab. Both were fantastic, and it seems like everyone in these clubs is so passionate about what they do. I wish I had something similar.

After the laboratory visits, we returned to the classroom to reflect on our trip and offer constructive criticism to our teachers. It felt great to be able to talk about everything we did and fully appreciate how much we did in such a short time.

After that, we had lunch and headed to Getxo to visit the hanging bridge. It was a fascinating feat of engineering, but by that point of the day, it was rainy and cold, and that did not bode well with the heights on the bridge. I am still glad we were able to experience it, though. I feel like I would have regretted not getting to see it.

Then we grabbed some sweets at a coffee shop before we took the metro to our farewell dinner on the beach. I had a delicious truffle burger and was able to connect more with Leire before we would not be able to see eachother for a while. We ended our night with a sad goodbye, but hopefully “see you later”, with Saioa and Mikel.

And finally, on the bus ride back to Bilbao, we did our final group singing to wrap up the trip. I am really going to miss this time, and I have a feeling I will be looking back on this for a long while.

What a fantastic opportunity I was lucky enough to participate in. I hope that I will be able to do this again next year.