| last stop: dallas, texas U.S.Ait was the best of times, it was the worst of times... WOW!!! that's all i gotta say really about the best experience of my life. of course, i've only lived 21 (soon to be 22) years, but i dunno if anything in the near future can top the past 3 months of my life. all the heartache & inner turmoil, mixed with the eye-popping travelling & heart-rendering growth, have all-in-all made me a stronger, wiser person. in my first entry about this trip, i wanted to bring back certain characteristics, such as adaptability, world vision, confidence in living alone, and i think i've grown in those categories, as well as others. september 2006 was the hardest month of my life b/c of having to go through certain trials and tribulations all alone. BUT, God has been faithful and really blessed me with every single experience, good and bad. i truly believe that He has used the past semester to prepare me for a life of solitude in this upcoming semester at UT (my last college days...) i've learned a lot about friendships as well. while at the same time it sucks to realize all the time and effort you've wasted on something that was never meant to be, it is also absolutely amazing to know that some people will truly stick with you all your life, no matter what. so to those people, i must thank you from the bottom of my heart. although i don't believe in regrets, i must say my biggest "regret" was that i didn't hang out with more people sooner before i left. my program was perfect really, i just wish i had reached out to more people towards the beginning rather than with like 3 days left. the friendships i did make over the course of the semester will persevere through the long-distance, i hope. once i get a home in austin, i open it up to any and everyone from abroad. allow me to amplify your stereotypes of texas as we go tipping cows and rounding up the herd. i will miss ROMA and europe immensely. right when i was getting acquainted with the eternal city, it was time for me to go. the length of my stay was perfect, not too long but maybe a little too short. i hope that i will be able to continue learning and expanding with everything that i was exposed to in europe, especially in art history (caravaggio, enough said...) i encourage everyone to travel to europe and just open your eyes to all the different people, culture, language and food. travelling in a nutshell:
-italy: ROMA, napoli, sorrento, capri, positano, pompeii, amalfi coast
-stockholm, sweden
-barcelona & figures, spain
-brussels & brugge, belgium
-luxembourg city, luxembourg
-glasgow & edinburgh, scotland
-paris, france
-dublin, ireland
-budapest, hungary
-warsaw & krakow, poland
-prague, czech republic even with all that jet-setting, home is where my heart is. although i don't necessarily enjoy dallas as a city, i will forever love everything associated with it, i.e. my family, friends and childhood. i feel torn about going back to austin. i want to end my college career with a bang, but i also must wake up to the cruel realization that nothing is the same. life has moved on without me and that's that. i am anxious to return to the very place i consider the best years of my life, knowing that all my friends have moved on and away. but i am excited to meet new people and create new beginnings. my pessimism creeps in, whispering that 5 months of friendship is not worth it, but in the end, meeting new people births new experiences that i will grow from. you just never know...everything happens for a reason. a huge shout out to unni & lisa, omar, anna, carol and others for the heart-warming care packages, letters, cards, emails, messages, etc. i felt loved... so for now, i must say "ciao" (along with the kissy kissy cheek thing) to ROMA, or rather "a dopo," b/c i do plan on visiting my favorite place in europe again with my parents sometime in the future. p.s. la dolce vita is merely a state of mind. |
