It is April 29th, 2013, the Monday following the
return of our arrival and I surprisingly realized that today, above all
emotions, I am happy. Who would have thought that after the most amazing
experience that I just got home from, that I would be smiling instead of crying
right now? What I have come to realize is that I am smiling because everything
that I just experienced…happened. Secondly, I have realized that I can’t say
that this journey is over because that would be the biggest lie I ever told.
It seems like yesterday when we all boarded the plane and
took off for Cape Town. Who would have thought it would all go by so quickly?
As I’m in my bedroom, typing this blog post, I am pleasantly reminded of all
the amazing times I had in such a memorable place. To measure the greatness of
this trip in one moment would be impossible. It is of course the most tiny
moments that are sometimes even forgotten that amount to some of the best
memories. Therefore, I am lucky that I am able to revisit these moments through
the pictures I hold dear to my heart of all who touched my life.
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| Brianna with her students from City Mission Educational Services |
I have realized that the mood I am in isn’t a sad one. Of
course, I miss those that I left back in Cape Town and all the people who
helped make my trip everything it was. But it is to my surprise that I actually
stand here happy and I have realized that my happiness is because I found
satisfaction in everything I was a part of and I know that as much as I have
touched the lives of others, they have reciprocated the favor and for that I am
forever grateful.
What I have come to realize through this trip is that
although Cape Town is visually one of the most gorgeous places I have ever
seen, what has made my experience was not the mountains, beaches, penguins, or
safari that we all excitedly prepared for.
What made my experience were indeed the people around me.
Whether this was my co-educators or everyone else I met along the way, they all
contributed to my experience abroad. Our tears, smiles, laughter and good
company with one another is what made this trip so memorable and unforgettable.
Everything was real…every tear, every hug, as well as every ounce of laughter,
but above all every smile. Our happiness was the most genuine emotion felt and
it was contagious among each and every one of us.
What I have come to realize, was that deep down we all set
off for this trip with a mission at hand. Some of us came to find a piece of us
that was missing, while others hoped to remember a piece once forgotten.
Some of us wanted to get away from home for a bit and be
independent, fully on our own in a new place that would soon become all too
familiar and some of us simply wanted something new and exciting that surely
remain unforgettable.
But amongst us all we were each ready and prepared to embrace
a new part of our lives. We each stepped into the unknown and filled our hearts
with hope for the best.
But instead of focusing on all of the differences that got
us here, I am going to focus on our similarities and what unified us all. What I
have discovered was that no matter what each of our agendas were and no matter
how different they were from the other, we were on a mission and within each of
our missions, we shared one commonality: the quest for true happiness.
The beauty of it all, is that this happiness was found in
the most obvious and difficult spaces. Sometimes it was in our faces and other
times we had to look harder for it but at the end of the day, we all felt it not
just independently but also as a whole…together…as one. Therefore, I have realized
in this very moment right now, that my happiness is from realizing our mission
was accomplished even though our journey is not yet finished.
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| Brianna (far right) with all her co-educators |
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