My favorite color, my mom's name, the boy I loved in seventh grade - any of my high school friends could tell you that. My show on Netflix, my drink of choice, the class I hate the most - any of my college friends could tell you that. But what about my favorite place in the whole wide world? What about my unfortunate habit of losing all of my belongings when I need them the most? What about the foreign boy that stole my heart? There is only a small group of individuals who can tell you these stories.
The friends you make abroad are unlike any you'll make for the rest of your life. After a short five months, they get to know you better than people you've known for 15 years. You left home to find yourself, to find this arbitrary version of you that is everything you've ever wanted to be. You spent a couple months stumbling over yourself, your preconceived ideas, and your utter ignorance in the ways of the world, but little by little it all started coming together. It is this incredibly amazing thing that these brand new people in your life get to watch you put together all the pieces. They meet and get to know the most authentic version of you, the you with funny habits and flaws. They see you at your absolute best and your flat out worst. They praised you for finding that super cheap flight and they laughed at you (non-judgingly) when you got kicked out of the club for sneaking in a bottle of wine.
They understand your passions and push you to pursue your dreams, but even aside from the big stuff they know the little things. They know you can't live without peanut m&m's, they know to make sure and double check you have your phone before every departure, they know to always order you a tequila if you're out on the dance floor.
I was amazed by how quickly strangers became friends and friends became some of the most important people in my life; we did everything together. We bussed, we climbed, we drank, we ate, we spoke, we smiled, we learned, we taught, we sang, we screamed, we ran, we stumbled, we rode, we flew, we fought, we hugged, we laughed, we cried, and we loved. I've done everything in the world with this stone cold pack of weirdos I'm proud to call my people.
Another full five months later there isn't a single day I don't miss walking hand in hand along the cobblestone streets, there isn't a single night I don't miss bickering over which bar to start at, there isn't a single moment I don't miss every single moment.
So here's to the people who still answer my 3 a.m. FaceTimes and already planned to travel from one coast to another just to see me. Here's to the people with whom I saw the world. Here's to the people who now are my world.
