Its the day I knew would come.
Its coming much later, and the person leaving Spain tomorrow is more whole, more fulfilled, and more grateful than I could have ever imagined almost a year ago when took off for the first time, and started a life in an unknown place. Its hard to sit down and really reflect on a year, to understand the transformation that has taken place, and how to best maximize the experience going forward, and to leverage it to the fullest in moments to come. Somehow, with enough reflection, I’m sure that it will happen, and I will manage to synthesize the 10,000 thoughts running through my head right now, and produce some sort of coherent conclusion.
I’m currently in Madrid, spending my last nights here before I take off to the United States. I took a long walk today, camera in tow of course, and I found it hard to think about anything, but I did manage to reflect a little bit on the experience. Its everything from the cultural adaptability, to the new people you’ve met, to your own personal growth, the things you’ve seen, the experiences you’ve had, everything that you managed to do, and the things that you let slip by. I can’t say that I have any regrets…none whatsoever. There have been things I maybe shouldn’t have done (like haul off to Morocco and almost get kidnapped) there have been poor decisions (all those “one last drinks”) but none of it caused harm, all of it caused a good laugh, and some of the worst moments are the ones that I now remember most fondly. It just goes to show that everything happens for a reason, everything has a positive consequence, and you should never discount the importance of even the smallest occurance.
Over the past year, there have been highs and lows, smiles and frowns and even some tears. There has been exhilaration and upset, there has been friendship, some nasty partings, and along the way there were a few special moments I will never forget..its just unfortunate that they had to come so close to the end. When the plane takes off tomorrow, I know that I am going to be a wrecked flood of emotions, but thats ok. There have been few things in life that have reached so deep inside of me that they turn me inside out and really give way to thought, and so if Spain can do that to me, it says something to me about what Spain means in my life.
Tomorrow at 11am, I am going to fly out just like I flew in…pensive, a little nervous, unsure of what will come next, and ready to start a new chapter in life. I’m not saying goodbye, I’m saying hasta luego
todo pasa y todo queda…pero lo nuestro es pasar
