Today's blog has a slightly melancholy beginning, a stunning middle (not really), and a happy ending. I just thought I would let you know in case you wanted to skip to a certain emotion.
Melancholy Beginning:
Well, really it was the ending that was melancholy. Last Saturday was my last day in Switzerland. Because our program is only an accredited university in the states, and not in Switzerland, we didn't get student visas, so we had to leave the Schengen Zone after 90 days. I knew this going into the program and was excited for our Croatian adventure at the end of the program, but it felt too soon.
It was really hard for me to leave. It's been an incredible dream to live in between the Alps and the Jura, to look over Lac Leman every day on the way to the city, and to walk home alongside vineyards. Switzerland has burrowed so deeply into my heart that it was such a struggle to get on that train with all of my bags and leave.
It was also really hard to say goodbye to my host family. In fact, it was much more so than I thought it would be. I always consider myself a tough girl, but I became a big mush-ball when my siblings came into my room one by one to say goodbye to me and wish me luck in the next stage of my life. It's so strange to have watched them grow over the course of the months and to feel a part of their successes and failures, and to know that it is over now. It feels very abrupt. It was especially hard to say goodbye to my host mom. She brought me to the train station very early in the morning and stood with me on the platform in the cold. She kept reiterating how much she would miss me, what a great semester it had been, and how I was always welcome back at their house. If I hadn't been so sleepy I probably would have been bawling. I tried my best to convey my gratitude in my limited French...I hope she understands what she has meant to me.
Stunning Middle:
We traveled for 13 hours by train out of Geneva. You would think that our directors would have booked us a plane instead of a train, but no. That would be too easy. As it was, we utilized every nook and cranny we found in the train to shove all of our luggage on (28 people x 3 months worth of stuff? MAYHEM.). It was a huge hassle getting everything on, but on our transfer we organized ourselves (and by we, I mean the students. The directors are useless.) and managed to get everyone plus all the baggage off the train in 1.5 minutes. It was quite a feat.
 |
| This is about half of the stuff from our group. It was absolute mayhem. |
The first few days in Croatia were spent in self-imposed lock down. Our big papers were due the day before Thanksgiving, so everyone was sprawled out throughout the hotel, typing as fast as possible. In the end, we all triumphed! My paper was 48 pages, 30 of which were body text. It was rough at the end, but I'm happy with what I completed. I have my 30 minute presentation on Wednesday, and then I am officially done with classes for the semester! Not a bad life.
Happy ending:
Since completing the paper, we have spent the past few days celebrating and exploring Pula. It's a very pretty place that feels much different than anywhere I have ever been. It's a little run down, but still clearly developed, and I can only imagine how different it must be during summertime. Our hotel (resort, really) is out of town, but we can easily get to the city center on a bus that stops nearby, so it's not a problem.
The currency here is a happy departure from the Swiss franc. They use the Kuna here, and the exchange rate is about 5 Kuna to 1 USD. It's nice. What's even nicer is that everything is so much cheaper here than it would be in Switzerland! I was shopping today and saw something I liked. When I picked it up to look at the price, I saw 12 and thought that was a reasonable price. I was thinking 12 francs (about 12 USD). So I while I considered 12 francs a fair price, they considered 12 kuna a fair price! That's under 3 dollars! Plus movies here are 15 kuna. THAT'S 3 DOLLARS. It's incredible how grateful I am for these prices after living for 3 months in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
A few of us went on a walk down by the water the other day. Over the course of the walk, I really came to appreciate Pula. It was a semi-stormy day, so the water kind of had that angry tinge to it. It kept crashing up on the rocks and generally being awesome. I took about a million pictures, because I just couldn't get over how gorgeous it was. I live a very blessed life.
 |
| Just a resting point on our walk. My life is so far from average. |
 |
| You'll find me in that place where the sea meets the sky |
The countdown to Phoenix has now reached 10 days. I'm still not feeling ready. I was hoping at this point I would be extraordinarily homesick or exhausted or broke or something. Anything to make me feel like I want to leave and go back to the states. But that's not the case. I am excited to see everyone and to be home for Christmas, but it's going to be hard. It's going to be hard to enter back into my stateside reality, where I'm not lucky enough to spend every waking minute walking through scenes worthy of a post card. I've started to consider myself lucky that I always feel so chagrined to leave the place I was staying, whether it be Washington, Geneva, or Croatia. I think it means that, while I'll always have these little pinpricks in my heart where those places belong, I was lucky to have that. I know not everyone is able to travel like I have been able to, and I am so grateful for the opportunities and the guts to do so.
10 days until I'm among the cacti once again. Everyone has to return to their roots now and then!
See you all soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment