20 October 2017
Written by Karrie

So far we have not regretted our decision to move abroad in order to experience the amazing opportunity of immersing ourselves in a new culture.  But this does not mean that there are parts of this experience that aren’t difficult.  (Sorry for the double negative!)  The hardest part for me in moving from the United States is leaving people who I dearly love.  Luckily with all of the awesome resources available to us in terms of technology, I have not felt so far away from these people.  Mike and I are no strangers to change and leaving friends and family in order to experience new places and opportunities.  We both left loved ones in our home state, Ohio, in order to live in Boston, MA before we knew each other.  Since then we have now moved three more times to places further away than the last.  Leaving the friends that we became so close to in each city has been very difficult.  Every day that I have been in Spain so far, I have had contact with multiple friends or family members, and this has made all the difference for me.  I am so grateful for video calling and texting applications for constant and instantaneous communication with loved ones.  Our two weeks without easy access to wifi were difficult because our communication abilities felt so limited.  It makes all the difference to hear day-to-day anecdotes from people.  Now if we could just find a way to participate remotely in pub trivia!  So please keep those texts, photos, calls, and video chats coming—I appreciate every single one of them!

Just a few of our WA friends