(My fifth grade class on our last day)
After six months of on an off traveling, it is a little strange to finally be home – to be still. The last several weeks passed by unusually quickly as I fit in a little traveling and said goodbye to all the friends I made along the way. I have found that I am a person who requires change and transition in my life. Without new and exciting experiences I often grow bored and restless. However, I have also discovered that as much as I continually strive after new adventures to entertain myself, I find it painfully hard to walk away from the people and places I love.
If you would have asked me about my social life during the course of this semester, I would have told you that I had friends and was having a great time but that I felt somewhat distant and disconnected from those around me. In truth, I was missing my friends and family back home (and I still long to catch up with those I have not seen). However, I could never have predicted just how close I would grow to my friends in Mexico in the short period of about four and a half months. And unfortunately, I did not realize this until I had to say goodbye.
To me, this says a lot about human interaction and the relationships we form between us. First, we seldom recognize the value of our relationships and what they mean to us until it is too late. Whether it is looking someone in the eyes and saying goodbye, not knowing when you will see them again or whether it is death that separates (at least our physical bodies) indefinitely, we are often too obtuse to soak up what we have when we have it. We fail to live in the moments we are given.
Secondly, we fail to recognize the power of human interaction, especially in terms of relationships or dealings that seem insignificant. The more I live and the more experiences I gain, the more I realize how much we need each other. A simple smile or a hello often has a strange way of lightening dark moods. In the case of Mexico, I hardly believed a semester was sufficient time to develop any meaningful relationships with those around me. However, in retrospect I can honestly say I felt a deep connection to many of those whom I left behind.
After leaving one of our friends at the airport the day before I left, one of my friends told me that she preferred to meet people even if it meant saying goodbye after a short time rather than never having known them at all. She was quite upset to see everyone leave, and I think her statement holds a lot of truth. Too often we do not take advantage of those that pass in and out of our lives quickly. We seem to devalue those relationships as transient or short-lived, when in reality, we do not need much time to mean something to someone or to have them make a difference in our lives.
It will different, but wonderful to be back home. Catching up with old friends after time apart is always something that brings a smile to my face. Facing down my last semester of college and the ever impending graduation, however…this is a little more frightening. I have only been home two days and already I have been inundated with talks of jobs, job searching, marriages, ring shopping, and the exciting question of “what are you doing after graduation?” It makes me want to hit the pause button, slap everyone around a bit, and tell them to stop this nonsense grown-up talk. We are only kids after all. Unfortunately, I think time is dragging me into the “real world” no matter how hard I kick and scream.
I would tell you all about my last trip to Puerto Escondido, but in all honesty there is not much to recount. And I mean that in the best way possible. I think several pictures will do enough justice, unless of course you want to read paragraph after paragraph of me running my toes through white sands and staring off into the crashing waves with a head so clear and carefree it was thoughtless. The first picture is my favorite bay that we spent the most time at. The second picture is the sunset at my favorite bay. For the week I went 5 for 5 catching sunsets, not bad at all.
See you all soon. Feel free to call on my American line!
