NO8DO

"Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos
Playas y desiertos, montañas y llanos
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio"

-Violeta Parra

These past four months have been what I call "fake life", in which we all had the opportunity to step outside of our bubble and into a completely new scene. All the things you think about; like going to the gym, what someone said at work, if gas prices went up, what traffic is going to be like... have literally stopped, and its been replaced by the endless possibilities of what you can do on that day. Wake up, have breakfast then go back to sleep until lunch? Sure! Didn't have time to run an errand, doesn't matter, you can do it tomorrow. Sit by the river and have a bottle of wine? Yes please. The best part is that no one knows anything about your life, so YOU get to decide who you are, what you do and what you like.

That's the whole point of this, finding out what ultimately works for you and what doesn't.

Obviously there is the whole cultural immersion aspect; travelling to different cities, getting lost, all the wonderful architecture, the good and the bad food, not to mention the ridiculous Andalusian accent... but six months from now when I'm heartsick for Sevilla and looking through all the pictures I'm not really going to be saying "look at that fountain" am I? Absolutely not. I'm going to be saying "I remember that day when I was with ________ and ______ and we did this and that." 

These people are the ones that I chose to spend my days with, and all of a sudden it hits that after we part ways, that's it.

People always say that age is just a number, well I think that time is also just a number. Who's to say that your friend from high school is more significant than your friend from a month ago? You enjoy each other's company all the same, you share about your past and talk about plans for the future... a friend is a friend. Of course Portugal will still be beautiful and you can sit on the beach and watch the sunset, but it will be boring after a while if you have no one to share it with.

Sevilla will always have my heart, and I know that sooner or later I will come back and visit good old 100 Montaditos on a Wednesday, go to Los Coloniales for dinner, grab a beer at La Cerveceria Internacional, then head to the river. This beautiful city will always be here, waiting. 

But all the people who made it special will not... and they too will always have my heart.

So to España and all my friends, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart, every single second of these past four months exceeded my expectations. I hope life and its crazy ways will throw us back together again.

NO8DO.