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I think I just realized one of the hardest things in life - saying goodbye. These last 3 weeks have really been an amazing experience for me. I got to see the beautiful Greek landscapes, I learned about the many magnificent mosaics and how the Greeks identify themselves today, and I met 16 new friends who even though I may never see some of them again - we will be facebook friends for life.
Friday was officially our last day all together as a class. We took the final exam that morning and then after we all took our teacher out to lunch. The exam wasn't that bad either. I knew the information enough that I was perfectly ready for our final which was just an essay. I actually enjoyed writing it. So after the final, we all headed to a cafe right around the corner from our Center. After the final, I started feeling probably a million emotions. I was happy to have been done with the essay, I was proud to have walked out feeling like I had written a good, successful essay, I was upset when I thought about leaving my classmates, I was laughing with everyone as we reminisced about the last 3 weeks - I was basically all over the place in my head. So we head to lunch and we're all laughing and having a good time just like we always have together. We didn't even think about parting or saying goodbye. We just wanted to save this for when we actually had to do it. But even through all the laughter I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that this was the last time I was going to wake up and see these people. This is the last time I'm going to wake-up at like 8am and prepare for a day of class with everyone whether we'd be climbing a mountain or touring through a museum. In fact there's a lot of "last time" things in life.
The food was pretty good too! I had this mac and cheese like penne pasta and a stuffed tomato. It was good but I didn't really eat much because I was too busy laughing and just having a good time. So we finish lunch and we're heading outside. This was my first goodbye out of 16. I first said goodbye to Alice, my teacher and then second to Julie who was leaving for Mykonos with her roommates for the weekend. While I will probably never see Alice again I will certainly never forget her and what she taught us. She's the reason why I've come back here with such an appreciation and a knowledge of Greek culture. Everything we did was amazing on this trip and I enjoyed every second of it. Then I had to say goodbye to Julie. Julie was awesome - she's from NH and she's a college senior. She did my make-up and hair when we went out in Mykonos. She cried when we all said goodbye to her. I gave her two hugs.
The rest of us decided to meet at 4:30 for gelato to say goodbye to Alex and Sarah who were leaving for Santorini for the weekend. So in between lunch and gelato, I went with heather, lauren and cathy to the Bizarre to do some last minute shopping. I was wearing myself out at the Bizarre. After about 2 hours of shopping we were exhausted so I go back to the apartment with about an hour left til gelato. I was seriously dredding saying goodbye to Alex and Sarah. Alex, Sarah and I hung out a lot over this past week and really got to know each other. We became really, really good friends. The two of them were staying for the next session so I wanted more than anything to stay. So we all met at 4:30 and had our last gelato and said goodbye to two. Alex and Sarah's ferry was scheduled to leave at 8:00 so they had to leave at 6:30pm. After everyone pretty much left around 5 or 5:30 I stuck around and hung out with them until the two of them got on the taxi and left to catch the ferry at Santorini. You know how people talk about how they don't actually feel things until they hit them. Well it hit me that it was officially over as I watched the taxi drive away. "parting is such sweet sorrow." I think I say this quote a lot. Sarah lives in L.A., CA and Alex lives in New York. We decided that the next time we see each other will be the beginning of next summer when Alex and I meet up to drive across the country on a mo-ped to stay with Sarah. Man I'm going to miss them.
After saying goodbye to them, I met up with lauren, heather, cathy, jess, steph and julie b to watch the sunset over the 1st olympic stadium. It was here that I said goodbye to lauren, heather and cathy. The three of these girls were three of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Heather and cathy were actually runners so we ran together some times during the past 3 weeks - we were the runners of the group. Lauren and I always studied for the quizzes and the final together. But in-between the hard work, the three of them were apart of our clubbin/party crew. Man I miss them too! Lauren is from Rhode Island, Cathy is from Minnesota, and Heather is from Washington, state that is. I think it's so cool how we were all from all over the US. Although it sucks because it just makes it that much harder to see each other again.
After the stadium, I met shaina, cassie and vina for dinner to say goodbye to them. Man by this point I couldn't take anymore goodbyes. Cassie ended up being our semi-translator/Greek teacher because she took 2 years of Greek in school. In fact I remember her teaching me Greek words one night and she taught me how to say I love you = Sagapo. We definitely said this word a lot throughout the trip, mostly jokingly. After dinner, I went back to my apartment because I had to shower, call my parents, pack, and clean my room. I didn't go to bed til about 2:00am that last night. I had to wake-up and be at the bus stop to take us to the airport at like 7:30am. Man I was dragging that whole day. Luckily there were four others on my flight to JFK so we all got seats together and spent 10 final hours together. We watched the Bucket List - such a good movie, really sad but good! So we get off the plane and say goodbye and I head to layover for 3 hours in a little spot in the airport.
In the airport I did a lot of thinking just about everything really. I thought about how much fun I had over the past 3 weeks. I thought about what it was like to be back in America and seeing Americans and reading and hearing everything in English. I thought about American food and just the way of American people. I felt like after 3 weeks I was just starting to get used to everything in Greece - the people, the location, the food, the way of life. I miss it so much just writing this now.
But I'd say after spending 3 weeks in Greece away from my friends and family, away from my home, away from who I am, I've never learned more about myself. I didn't realize how much I wanted to stay until I had to say goodbye to these 16 people. I didn't realize what great friends I just made. I didn't realize that I went off on my own, halfway across the world. Man, it was awesome! I can't believe it's over and I'm back home. I recommend if you ever have an opportunity like this to take it because if you don't you will never realize this experience. so that's it. I'm back in the US until I make a trip to go back to Greece - hahaha jk. Now I'm set for the second part of my summer - camp counseling. Bring it on.