Saying goodbye

Last week, we all said goodbye. Thursday night, we had a farewell dinner for everyone in the program to say goodbye to the staff and faculty. Friday night, all the students got together on the Rabat beach to say goodbye to each other before we left. Saturday, we parted ways from our host families.

On the beach, most of the goodbyes were fairly blunt. “See ya never!” most people said. I think most people in our generation are fairly realistic about staying in touch. Despite the fact that we have a plethora of ways to stay connected at our fingertips, we know how ridiculous it would be to stay in touch with everyone from every phase of our lives. Those phases wax and wane, and our time in Morocco has come to an end.

The last three and a half months have been full of moments both small and big, both intimate and majestic. It has run the gambit from the mundane and ordinary — spending hours on the bus talking with the other students, finding English bookstores in Rabat, having a picnic with my host family — to the more meaningful — being welcomed into someone’s home, someone’s village, riding through the Sahara, being invited to a wedding with my host family. I can’t speak for everyone on the program, but I know I came out of the program a more self-possessed, confident, and interesting person. Now, I’m off to Freiburg for the EU Summer program! Thanks for reading.