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I had an acquaintance give me the biggest compliment the other day. 

I’ve recently been trying to find a purpose in taking the time to write this blog.  In a deeper sense, I’ve been trying to figure out what the exact purpose has been for me to do this particular study abroad program.  

As I mentioned in my post about Belgium, I was getting worn down from hopping from place to place without really getting to experience what the cities and the residents had to offer. 

The compliment was that he approached me at an event and told me that he had been following this page, and that he generally liked what I have to say.  I was so pleased to hear that another student and traveler is following and appreciates this page!

So, I’ve decided on a few things.

What they boil down to is this:  It’s the little things.  For me, traveling to Paris wasn’t about the Eiffel Tower, but about practicing my French again, and Europe wasn’t about checking a bunch of places off my list, but meeting the people who make Europe what it is.  The relationships I’ve built aren’t about the places we go together, but the way we make each other feel on a daily basis.  

I’ve compiled a little list of things that have made my study abroad experience what it is.  I’ll look back at this list someday soon and be reminded of the most beautiful things that I’ve noticed, and I hope some of my student friends can relate to these things as well.

Pura Vida

  • Listening to the call to prayer multiple times a day in TRNC, Palestine, Turkey, and wherever else there were mosques.

The flags that we see, the Cypriots have to look at them, even though they’re in the North.

  • My new favorite sweater, bought in the men’s section at a thrift shop for 4 Euros one afternoon.  It doesn’t match ANYTHING, but I’m pretty sure some adorable old Cypriot man wore it at one point.

Because patterned pants, with a patterned knit sweater and patterned tshirt almost makes sense… The Chacos pull it all together.

  • Sitting on my roof, and finding the constellations. Teaching and doing yoga up there.  Taking time to read.  Talking to myself.  Finding solitude.
  • Seeing the two Turkish flags when daydreaming out of my classroom windows.
  • My mean Chacos tan that I’ve grown quite proud of.

Chacos are shoes.

  • Leaving to a new continent for the first time, and doing it alone.  All with less than 8kilos of baggage for 10 days of travel. It wasn’t about where I was, but the feeling of independence and liberation.
  • Leaving my phone at home countless times
  • Eating lemons, mint, oranges, or whatever else right out of the ground. Jumping in and out of cucumber gardens and learning to like tomatoes. 
  • Taking random sabbaticals from shaving, and being 100% ok with it. 
  • Running in to people I know in public.
  • Not being surprised anymore when I hear the drag racers outside. 10pm sharp.
  • Old women with mustaches. And when they clearly cut themselves shaving…

Waving at a Cypriot woman in Troodos.

  • American cookies.

Our local bakery, Zorpas.  Thanks for the American Cookies.

  • Halloumi on every menu.  In every supermarket.
  • The smell of gyros drifting out from every alleyway.

It’s the little things.