This Monday marks the last in Prague. Somehow we have made it to May. The last time I remember feeling so confused on where the time had gone I was heading to a foreign country by myself, recounting every decision I had made to get to this point. And that was last January. Wow. I am almost done with my semester abroad.
I would say the word bouncing around our program the most is bittersweet. Some of us are excited to head home and see our families while others are just plain depressed that these are our last days. Luckily for me I extended my trip an extra ten days of travel with one of my friends. We are heading to Luxembourg, Belgium, and London where we will then part ways as I head back to Prague for one night (so I can catch my flight to Frankfurt and then Chicago) and my friend journeys for another ten days to Rome, Pompeii, and Lisbon. (Im pretty jealous) It is so weird to think that in just one week our program will literally be around the globe, some kids will be going to South Korea, Israel, Thailand, and the Philippines. Most of the kids in the program are from the west and east coasts, very few Midwesterners, so if and when I want to hang out in Boston or San Francisco I have a place to stay! In that same boat though, I won’t see and will not be around most kids in the program ever again, which makes me pretty sad. I think the hardest thing to leave behind are the friendships that I have made here. Everyone bonded so quickly and the experience of traveling together in small groups is like nothing else in the world. We have been through a lot together and hopefully we will stay in contact through the years.
As we wrap up this nontraditional finals week it’s really hit me all the things I was able to do while studying abroad. I joined a political protest in Greece, I was able to go to Auschwitz in Poland, I went medieval silver mining in the Czech Republic, I went to Carnivale in Venice, and I ate way too many fries in Amsterdam. (Literally the best fries ever) I am so happy I was given this opportunity of a lifetime. Even as I sit and write this blog I am sitting in a kitchen looking out my balcony that overlooks some very European backyard gardens. This whole experience has been one of joy and excitement. I think I am in more shock now then I was when I arrived.
And as the word bittersweet runs around in my head again I realize that for all the sadness I feel I am excited to go back home, something I never thought I would think let alone say, I am actually excited to head back. I miss my family and my dogs, I miss American hospitality, I miss not being called out on an apparent Chicago accent (because we all sound the same in Chi-town), and I really miss Panera.
Yes, Prague has been a whirlwind; but I would not have changed any part of my experience here for anything in the world.