The Goodbyes Begin

I have to take a break from our road trip story for a quick topic change. The goodbyes have begun.

Our time in this wonderful place seemed like it would never end and returning home seemed like such a far away concept. It wasn't until Tuesday when we returned from our trip that we realized we only had a week or so left. But it didn't really sink in until Wednesday night, our last night with everyone from AIFS. Waking up Thursday morning I felt like I was in some kind of weird haze. You'd think the day would fly by because we didn't want the evening to come, but it surprisingly drug on. We had nothing to do but wait for their van to pull up and take them away. Finally 7 o'clock came and we slowly made our way out of our flat. Our vacation group decided to take one last jumping picture, something that became a tradition for us in each country. And for the first time and at least 10 attempts we got it!

After that, the boys said goodbye (it's really unfair how easily guys can slap each other on the backs and say see ya later), and we walked out to the front of Concordia with the group. At first everyone stood around awkwardly looking at each other and trying to make small talk because we all knew what was about to happen. A few minutes passed and finally Hestea, their advisor, said it was time to say goodbye. I started with Nick and the tears flowed all the way until my last goodbye. The worst part was seeing them in the van looking back at us before finally driving away.

Saying goodbye was really hard, but it was more than that. It finally truly sunk in that our time here is over. When I left Morgantown, I was scared and didn't want to leave my family and friends. I don't think I stopped crying until I fell asleep on my long international flight from JFK to Qatar. When I arrived,though, everything was fine and I've had the time of my life and made friends and memories that will last a lifetime. But going home won't be like that. The hardest part of leaving is knowing that we'll never be able to get this back. A lucky few of us might be able to return on vacation years from now , but we won't ever be able to get the way that being all together in Stellenbosch feels back again. I was told that this time would fly by, but I had no idea that it would end so abruptly. I had no idea it would be harder to leave my second home than it would be to leave the home I've known for 21 years.

Lisa is the only one that didn't leave with AIFS. She's on a trip around southern Africa and will be back later this week. We'll get to see her for one day before she leaves. Then it's off to Cape Town for the Dave Matthews Band concert on Sunday, and then I leave at 1:30pm on Monday. After me, Emmi leaves Tuesday night and Damon Friday night. This entry was hard enough to write, I can only imagine Monday's. Until then, I'll be attempting to enjoy my last days here to the fullest.

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard...