Two months in Spain!!

Wow, I can't believe that it has already been two months since I have been here! It feels like I got here not that long ago. I feel like right now this is the place I am supposed to be.
Last night I called my mom on skype and everyone was at home, so I got a chance to talk to everyone in my family. I just sat here laughing, imagining everyone passing the headset around so that they could get a chance to chat for a few minutes with me. It's odd to think that I have not seen them since January. It's odd to think that they are on the other side of the world right now. There have been a couple of times while I have been here that I have gotten a bit homesick, but it really hasn't been that different here. Of course there are things that are different and there are things that I have tried here that I would never think about trying at home, but it feels natural here, like this is where I was meant to be.
One of the things that I am still getting used to is having to chat with my family and friends at specific times. When I am in Iowa for the semester, or when I was in D.C., I could just pick up the phone any time and know that I could talk to my mom or my best friend, or that when ever I was online that there would be somone to talk to. Eight hour time difference makes it harder to schedule times to talk, especially when everyone has a bust schedule or is not near a computer. I miss just being able to pick up the phone and talk for hours with mom and friends, something that I have not done here.
I have come to realize since being here how important technology is in our lives. That eight hour time difference does not seem so bad when I can get one line and hear my mom's voice or send her a message instantly. I cannot image how different it would have been to study abroad 20 years ago, how different communication was. Not everyone had email, facebook did not exist, you had to send lettters to people, everything was not instantaneous. I feel like now everyone relies on technology so much that we would not know what to do if we did not have it. We would be completely lost without it. I know that when I first got here and did not have a cell phone that it was one of the strangest feelings, not having a means of communicating instantly when I was out. We feel naked when we leave the house without our cell phones, sometimes to the point where we rush home to get it or when we get home we frantically run to see if we have missed a call or have a message.
We live in such a different age of technology that we sometimes fail to stop and appreciate what is around us. I feel like being here in Spain has made me stop and notice things that I would otherwise just ignore. I feel like I have grown to appreciate things so much more since I have been here. I have grown to appreciate my family, friends, and just this amazing opportunity that I might never have again.