Somehow, I am officially halfway done with studying abroad and I don’t know how it happened so fast. I was standing in the kitchen with my host mom earlier this week while chatting and looking at the big calendar posted on her refrigerator. As we started scheduling upcoming events and marking the dates where I would be traveling, we both had the exact same realization, and simultaneously we said to each other in Spanish, “el tiempo vuela." And truly, when you are traveling, time flies even faster than you would imagine.

Last week, our spring break came to a close after spending ten days in Chile, and we are now in the home stretch before coming back to the States. With a month and a half to go, I can’t help but feel myself splitting into two. Part of me is still so thrilled and excited to explore the unknown parts of Mendoza. The other part of me is counting down the days until I arrive home, see my family, and reconnect with all the people and places I miss.

Being home will be surreal, as I have never traveled away from home for this long in my life. That makes it all the more amazing once I get back. However, I feel as though this foreign city has become my new home, one that I can honestly say I will be tremendously sad to leave behind.

My time in Argentina has been unlike any other experience in my life, as I recently went sand boarding in the highest desert in the world! I ran a marathon here (although it was only one mile), swam in a salty lagoon, zip-lined from one mountain to another, and hiked through the Andes. I have been stuck at the border between Chile and Argentina on a windy, never-ending road where every time the bus makes a turn it somehow misses the drop off the cliff by just a few centimeters. I have seen geysers at 3 am, swam in the Pacific, graduated from a wine tasting course, and stayed in a hostel for the first time in my life. I have been living in another hemisphere for two months already!

I have made long-lasting friendships here, both with my group from HWS and with my host family. I am surrounded by the breathtaking view of mountains everywhere I go and am fed home-cooked Italian meals after I come home every day. I have met local students here and chatted with them about their lives. I have danced until 5 am. I have eaten more empanadas than I can count and have enjoyed dulce de leche on almost every dessert I’ve had, and there have been many.

I have been lucky enough to explore South America with a great group of people and with the help of a fabulous, supportive host family. Not only am I getting to know these people better every day, but I am also becoming more comfortable with my life here. I can say for sure I am not ready to leave, and while I am beyond excited to see all that I have missed from home, I cannot wait to see what the next month and a half has in store for me here.