Barcelona

Some of the best things come out of us when we’re unceremoniously dumped somewhere and forced to rise to the challenge.

Transitioning from Chile back home came with a glaring lack of ceremony. We only had time to say goodbye to some, and in most cases we weren’t aware in the moment that it’d be the last time we saw each other. I had to unexpectedly leave in the middle of the night one night, with about 15 minutes to pack my things and fly out of the apartment that had hosted me so graciously. I thought my makeshift ceremony would be sleeping one last night in my bed, but no. 

Two chaotic and haphazard days later, I was back in Minnesota, at a friend’s little apartment in the Twin Cities. My homecoming ceremony was to fall asleep on the couch for 17 hours. 

Part of me couldn’t understand how there could be such a raw transition from one life to another, a transition so unprotected by the ceremonies we like to use to cushion change. Without that cushioning (the health scientist in me would like to call it cartilage), these two drastically different lives have bumped up against one another. It’s been a little uncomfortable. 

But the fact that the transition wasn’t smooth, it wasn’t slow, and it wasn’t foreseen for months and weeks and days, means it’s required something special from us: it’s called upon us to create meaning where meaning isn’t inherently built in-- where ceremony hasn’t created it for us. 

I think we’re all trying, bit by bit. For my part, I’m evaluating the things I found most meaningful about our time there and saying thank you and goodbye to each one, as they come. Most of them are people, moments, or giant hunks of land that knocked me over with their glory. Or, just my morning four-block walk from the apartment to the metro, with the angry streets and the happy sun. 

In this way, although we couldn’t properly say goodbye to Chile while we were there, we say goodbye now, a little each day. And the parts we can take with us-- the strength earned, the joy, the things we’ve learned that we’ll never not know-- we’re keeping all of them. 

To anyone wondering if they should spend their semester in Chile, know that it’s a hard place to leave. But after having gone, you can take comfort in knowing it has stayed pretty close to your heart. 

After I spent a decent amount of exploring Rabat, I was ready to explore more of Morocco. The public transportation system in Morocco is super affordable and easy to use. (Unlike Michigan, where this is almost no public transportation). Weekend trips were super easy to do! I could take the tram to the train station, take a train to a new city, and taxi wherever I wanted to go.

My first weekend trip was to Tangier, a city north of Rabat. People often know about Tangier because it is on the Straights of Gibraltar. On a clear day, you can actually see Spain from Tangier. The train ride to Tangier was only 1.5 hours. There is a fast train between the two cities. The cities are so close, it makes a perfect day trip. 

Early Saturday morning, a friend and I hopped on a train. We got to Tangier mid-morning. At this point, classes had started and I had spent a lot of time studying. I was ready for a day away from homework. We had a loose plan for the day, but we were really just exploring the city leisurely. I prefer to travel this way. There was no pressure to do everything on our to-do list. Instead, we just explored the city and went wherever we felt like going. 

We stopped at a cafè to get breakfast. The cafè was right on the beach and looked out over the ocean. The beach was pristine white sand, so we wandered around on the beach for a while after we ate. I put my feet in the water and it was actually pretty warm by my standards! But a lot of Moroccans were still wearing their winter coats. 

We took a taxi to the medina of Tangier. The taxi driver never expected me to speak Arabic. But when they discovered I had some basic Arabic skills, the driver would start teaching me words. Every taxi ride was transportation and a mini Arabic lesson. 

The taxi dropped us off at the medina. While we wandered around the medina, we found a museum. Everything was in French and Arabic. Thankfully, my friend does speak French so she translated key information. It was nice to have a general idea of what was going on. While we wandered around the museum, we found a garden inside the museum! I was living my best life surrounded by all the green. 

We decided to eat an Italian restaurant to mix things up. By this time, I had eaten a lot of Moroccan food. Moroccan food is hands down the best food I've ever eaten, but it was nice to switch things up. 

We spent the rest of the day exploring the city. We explored a park, wandered around the medina, drank mint tea, and found a coffee shop. At the end of the day, we caught a taxi back to the train station to go home.

It was a short and sweet trip. I thought it was the ideal way to spend a day away from Rabat. I had the rest of the weekend to sleep, catch up on homework, and explore Rabat.