it's no fairy tale, take it from me, that's the way it's supposed to be...

I hate goodbyes.

Yet this nomadic, aiesec, lo que sea, existance seems to inevitably lend itself to a continuous stream of farewells. Without a clue as to the if, where, and when you will meet again, I force myself to remain optimistic albeit the tears that threaten to fall.

I believe that I am who I am, and where I am, today in a large part because of the people who have come into my life. The people who have challenged me, who have pushed me, who have INSPIRED me. The people whose lessons have remained deeply engrained into my being long after we are separated, often by hundreds of miles of land and ocean.

I had been dreading tonight's goodbye for quite awhile. How do you let go of the person who has been your closest friend since the moment that you arrived to a place that once was completely unfamiliar but has slowly become home, the person who has been there for you through the highs and the lows, who understands the foreign culture which have emersed yourself into and a lifestyle which no one "back home" could really comprehend from emails and blog entries alone?

And so you take a deep breath. You know that if your paths are meant to cross again they will and you appreciate how much richer your life is because of that person. The flip side of the curse of having your friends spread out thousands of miles away across the entire globe is simply that....no matter where in this world that you find yourself, you are at home, because that is where your friends are.


thanks for being there for me alex. love you. prost.