My Evacuation Story

For those of you who don't know, I was studying in Spain in the Spring of 2020. This experience was unlike any of my study abroad programs that I had participated in prior. I had visited Rome in the middle of February and a few days after my trip the virus took over the country. Around that time I watched programs in Italy start to close. As fellow students were slowly sent home, I was thankful that I wasn't in their position. My host parents and the university kept reassuring me that we would be able to finish out the semester. Although I tried to stay optimistic, I had a feeling that we too would soon be sent back to the states.

The night before my birthday my phone began to blow up. Articles in Spanish were rolling in from classmates and friends. I ran to my roommate for her to translate for me because I don't speak Spanish! Then it was confirmed that all schools in Madrid would close for two weeks. And we were thrilled. We got dressed up and headed to the only club that was still open. I swear everyone from the entire city was there, I'd never seen it so packed. It was the absolute best way to spend the start of my birthday. The next morning I was ungodly hungover but I still dragged myself to my last class. My professor was optimistic that classes would resume after the two weeks were over. I didn't even say bye to him! I thought I had an additional two week vacation in the middle of the year.

After two days of exploring Madrid the city began to close. That night I grabbed drinks with my friends but everything felt "off". I was scrolling through my phone way too late and I got a call from my mom. She said,"Wait, Trump is about to give a speech can I call you back in a sec?" I agreed. It was 2am and I didn't have anything else going on. My mom called me back in a panic to tell me that our President was closing the US border. My mom rushed to find me a flight and I ran to wake up my roommates so they could make plans. Within five minutes I had to make the decision to come home or to stay in Madrid. I chose to come home, which my six other roommates decided to ride out the virus in Spain. I began to pack all my things and someone had to wake up my host mom to tell her the news. She was absolutely devastated but she rushed to get my suitcases from storage. I packed everything I owned in about an hour and a half. By the time I was done it was already 4:30am and I needed to leave for the airport soon. I hung out with my roommates for what little time we had left together and I cried with my host parents about having to leave so soon. I was at the airport around 6am and I have never seen more insane lines in my entire life. I was on a plane home before my university had recommended that we leave the country.

I went about 38 hours with sleep in the most exhausting days of my life. I am so thankful that I made in safety home before the border closed. Once I was home I did a 14 day voluntary self quarantine and I watched as our entire country shut down. And that is my evacuation story from my third and final study abroad program.