There I was surrounded by tons of strangers during our breakfast and series of orientations videos and lectures about our new surroundings and culture. \u00a0Luckily, I made a new friend on the flight, Kathleen now one of my bridesmaids, and had someone to chat with.\u00a0 During these informal lectures there was always some guy in the back of the room cracking jokes and laughing out loud.\u00a0\u00a0 Naturally, I turned and looked around the room to see who it was.\u00a0 After scanning the room a few times I figured out who it was.\u00a0 First thought: \u201cWoah he\u2019s really really cute and so funny!\u201d\u00a0 Kathleen on the other hand was not nearly as amused, I guess his good looks didn\u2019t seem to have the same effect on her. \u00a0So, naturally I mirrored her \u201cthat guy is so annoying\u201d look.<\/p>\n
Eventually, we all left the Al-Andaluz hotel and went to live with our respective se\u00f1oras and their families.\u00a0 One night, a large group of us met up with a Ana, a Sevillana guide who was going to take us out on the town.\u00a0 We all sat and filled up the steps to the Ayuntamiento in La Plaza Nueva.\u00a0 Somehow, that really cute guy wearing a Carolina blue T-shirt ended up at the bottom of the steps, now his stage, telling everyone jokes.\u00a0 I was cracking up, but as usual I looked to Kathleen next to me who gave me that \u201creally?\u201d look.\u00a0 So, I quickly realized, I was acting like a school girl, \u201coh boy I think I have a crush on him!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
That night, we went dancing at Catedral and I got to see that cute guy again, he was laughing having a blast and not to mention he knew how to dance.\u00a0 And if anyone knows me, they know I LOVE to dance.\u00a0 As time went by I found myself constantly looking around to see if I saw Dave, in school, passing me by on the street, in a coffee shop.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help it; there was something about him.<\/p>\n
I remember one day it happened. \u00a0I was wearing my favorite floral dress and sunglasses (of course I always made sure I looked my best in case this moment arrived).\u00a0 As I was walking out of our Spanish class, there he was walking straight toward me.\u00a0 We smiled and passed each other by.\u00a0 Although I only saw him for about 3 seconds, I remembered everything about that moment.\u00a0 Again, I was like a school girl blushing and nervous just because he passed me by.\u00a0 This is silly!\u00a0 But after that, I wanted nothing more than to see him again, maybe even talk to him.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think he knew my name!\u00a0 Did he think I was pretty?<\/p>\n
When it came to nightlife in Sevilla, there was always something to do.\u00a0 Usually I would meet Kathleen for dinner.\u00a0 But on Wednesdays there was another thought in the back of my mind.\u00a0 I love to go dancing and I think I\u2019m pretty good at it, plus the one place I knew where Dave would be that night was Catedral.\u00a0 Naturally, I made sure I looked extra good and made my way to the club.\u00a0 After a few Wednesdays, I let Dave dance with me, he\u2019d been asking for a while, and of course I was a lady and rejected him.\u00a0 I wanted him to know I was a challenge and not like some of those other girls!\u00a0 Truth be told, I was too nervous to dance with him.\u00a0 Mostly because I had a crush on him and if he\u2019s a good dancer and I\u2019m a good dancer…well sparks were going to fly.\u00a0 And they did.<\/p>\n
For about 2 months, we hung out with a bunch of our friends and went to clubs, hung out at school, at the caf\u00e9 across the street from the university and our friend Ana\u2019s house.\u00a0 Dave and I started to really get to know each other and had long conversations about art, music, what we wanted to do with our lives.\u00a0 We never hesitated to act silly or goof around and of course we always laughed a lot.\u00a0 Everyone saw there was something between us but we were not about to start something that we couldn\u2019t continue when we moved back to the states.<\/p>\n
One day, our study abroad group organized an excursion to Granada, Dave and I also went.\u00a0 By this time, my friends, particularly Kathleen, had heard me talk about Dave incessantly and how I felt about him.\u00a0 During our tours of the gorgeous Alhambra Dave and I would sneak glances at each other and find ways just to be next to each other.\u00a0 That night we all went to a bar, but my feelings were weighing heavy on my mind, Dave even asked me if I was ok.\u00a0 Later that night, we walked to our hotel and we were that last 2 people awake and stalling to say goodbye to each other.\u00a0 We sat on a bench in our hotel lobby and I decided to confess how I felt.\u00a0 I took a deep breath and told Dave \u201cI like you, I mean, I have feelings for you.\u00a0 I think I have a crush on you.\u201d\u00a0 To my amazement, Dave confessed he felt the same way about me.\u00a0 But, we decided that now was just not the right time.\u00a0 After all we would be going back to the US in about 6 weeks.\u00a0 So we agreed that it was a relief and we could just be friends like we were.\u00a0 Great!\u00a0 The next day on the bus ride back to Sevilla I sat directly in front of Dave.\u00a0 At one point I put my hand over the top of my seat, Dave reached up and held my hand.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t let go until we got to Sevilla.<\/p>\n
A few days later a bunch of us went to Ana\u2019s house to watch a scary movie.\u00a0 Of course, I sat next to Dave.\u00a0 It was cold and we had a throw blanket over our legs.\u00a0 Somehow by the end of the movie, Dave and I were holding hands under the blanket.\u00a0 To this day I have no idea what that movie was about!\u00a0 That night Dave walked me home, but this time we couldn\u2019t say goodbye.\u00a0 We talked for hours and after much contemplation and resistance we kissed!\u00a0 We stayed on the steps of my building talking, embracing, and kissing until the sun came up and we had to be on a bus for another excursion in an hour.\u00a0 I had never been so happy!\u00a0 So, it was official Dave and I were together, all our friends were happy and we were beaming!\u00a0 Unfortunately, the day came when we had to say goodbye.\u00a0 A few friends and I went to the bus station to see Dave off. \u00a0I was absolutely heart broken to see him leave.\u00a0 For years, I thought that was the last time I would ever see him again.<\/p>\n
Dave and I spoke on the phone every once and a while for about a year after we got back to the states, but neither of us made the move to visit the other.\u00a0 Eventually we decided that we each had to move on with our lives.\u00a0 Over the years, I never forgot what Dave and I had, I always wondered, was it real.\u00a0 I missed him and how much fun we had together.\u00a0 About 8 years later, I was applying to medical school and decided to Google Dave and see what he was up to.\u00a0 Was he married, single, what was his occupation?\u00a0 After many failed attempts at remembering how to spell his last name, I found him!\u00a0 It was a Twitter account.\u00a0 I clicked on the link and there it was, his profile picture….my heart raced a mile a minute! He was gorgeous!!!!\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t believe it!\u00a0 So, as logic would have it, I opened a Twitter account and started to follow him.\u00a0 That very same day he messaged me, I was freaking out! Running around like a teenager calling my friend Lisa asking what I should say to him!\u00a0 Dave told me that he and Thomas were still friends and my name had come up in a recent conversation.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t believe it, \u201cDid he still think about me like I thought about him???\u201d \u00a0A few days later I got an email from Dave.\u00a0 In it he told me everything I had ever wanted to hear.\u00a0 He confessed that he knew that what we had in Sevilla was real, and he did love me.\u00a0 He included his phone number at the end, so I called him immediately.\u00a0 My hands were literally shaking.\u00a0 When I heard his voice for the first time in 7 years I almost cried.\u00a0 It was a voice I loved, and one that I longed to hear for so long.\u00a0 We started talking almost every day about the past, the present and the future.\u00a0 I told him that I was interviewing for medical school and there was a chance that I would be in DC.\u00a0 As luck would have it, the next week I was scheduled to be in DC.\u00a0 I told Dave and we couldn\u2019t believe that we were going to see each other again after so long.<\/p>\n
It was a cold winter day when I waited for Dave to meet me at the bus station.\u00a0 When he drove up to me, he got out of the car and hugged me.\u00a0 It was at that exact moment in his arms that I felt our love for each other.\u00a0 After all these years, it was never gone, it was always right there. \u00a0We went to dinner at Il Tiramisu and it felt like no time had passed.\u00a0 After great food and conversation Dave reached his hand across the table and I held his hand.\u00a0 From that moment, we knew we were going to be together and this time nothing would separate us.<\/p>\n
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