home.
I wake up slowly and slip out of my dreamy haze to see i'm back in my old room. It is nostalgic, it feels completely normal to be back in the bedroom I was sleeping in months ago, yet it does not.
I arrived home last night around 6:30 pm, jet lagged with a caffeine high. My friends and family surprised me with huge "welcome home" balloons and we celebrated my arrival over chips and guacamole at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Being in the presence of them felt like it was yesterday but the time we had been apart stood between us reminding us that it obviously wasn't yesterday. There was so much to catch up on yet so it felt so natural carrying on conversations like the time apart was inanimate.
After dinner my friends and I gathered around my kitchen table, like we have been doing for years now, and talked for hours until the Starbucks venti coffee I had a few hours prior no longer fueled me. In conclusion, it was the perfect way to end my first night back at home.
Yesterday marked the end of my chapter abroad. It's hard for me to fathom that it has come to an end because Madrid had become my home, a place where I created patterns and schedules, had school, my favorite restaurants, and a solid friend group. I wholesomely lived in Madrid for a good chunk of time, and suddenly, now I do not. Just like Virginia Beach is my home, europe became my home as well. But it wasn't that my home was where I lived with my host family. Home became the hostels my friends and I packed ourselves in, the hotel beds we slept in, and the airbnb bathrooms we showered in. They all became my homes away from home just like the foreign streets and random cafes were routine for me. They were what I knew, and as each moment passed by I was unendlessly growing within them. The serenity of unfamiliar chaos became my comforting lullaby and my girls, Elizabeth and Lydia became my family.
Saying goodbye to it all is so bittersweet, and as sad as I am that it is over I can't help but to be excited for what is next. Moreover, to see how my experiences abroad will infiltrate everything I do on out.
What is home to you?
xoxo,
Lauren.
