On New Year's Eve last year, I ran around my street with an empty suitcase when the clock struck 9 pm.
(I read in some article and confirmed it with Colombian friends that apparently, a New Year's Eve tradition in Colombia is to run around with an empty suitcase at midnight to bring a year full of travel. So when it was midnight in Colombia, I did just that.)
I think it worked.
I look back on this year with complete satisfaction. As I anticipated, it did write itself in the most wonderful way, and I am especially content with the new friends I've made from around the world as well as the friends I was lucky to have the chance to see again. I'm also pleased with the person I've become as a result of what I went through this year.
It's important to note that this was the first full year I had as a college student, and the first full year I've been friends with my Harvard friends. What a ride it has been.
There have been so many significant events that have happened this year that I will distinctly remember as being part of 2015; it's safe to say that they have all been documented in this blog and if not, in my journals. So here, I will commemorate moments and little things that may in their own way be defining lived experiences of the year.
• Going back from sledding at Harvard Stadium, my fingers were starting to get really, really cold because my gloves weren't snow resistant ski gloves and the cold had seeped through them. I remember them getting number than I had ever felt, and this mad uncomfortable heat throbbing at the tips. I was genuinely afraid something bad was happening, and I remember running through JFK Street freaking out about them, wanting to get back to my dorm as quickly as possible, trudging through the snow. My Brazilian friend Lucas then offered me his gloves to wear, which was a huge relief.
• The day my blockmates and I found out where we would be housed for the rest of our years at Harvard, we were all in my friend Magaly's suite anxiously awaiting the arrival of upperclassmen. Sugar by Maroon 5 played and Alkmini and I sang along to it, not knowing what else to do with our energy and anticipation. Suddenly, we sensed people outside the door; unlike representatives of other houses, they weren't raucously calling out the name of their house, and were trying to stay silent. Instead it was just a firm knock. We opened the door, and a bunch of people rushed in excitedly shouting, "C-A-B-O-T, welcome to the family!" We were overjoyed.
• It was already brought up briefly in this blog, but seeing the look on Natalia's face after she realized I was standing in front of her after two years apart was a moment I'm going to cherish forever.
• August 28 was a mess of a day. It was the three year anniversary of the first day of my exchange in France, and it was also my last day in Bolivia. I was already distraught about the thought of having to leave when I felt like I was just going to get to know the country and its people, but to make matters worse, I lost my wallet that morning in the market when I just wanted to buy a flag. I didn't have the cash I withdrew, I didn't have my cards, I didn't have my student ID, and I didn't have my driver's license, so I couldn't pay for the last minute things I needed to be able to pay for, such as the airport fee (for having changed my flight) and a taxi ride upon arrival. Frazzled at the inconvenient turn of events, I asked my host mom if she could lend me some money that I would pay back somehow. Later that evening, she went up to me and handed me the equivalent of $50. I asked her how I should repay her, and she replied, "Don't even worry about it. This is something I'm doing for a daughter." I was already feeling emotional about my departure, and that touched me so deeply, I cried. Considering the exchange took place in Spanish, that was one of the instances I remember that affirmed the fact that Spanish had become a language my heart understands.
• Prior to this year, I don't recall ever having encountered clocks that ran backwards. But somehow, I came across three. The first one was in Greece, in a traditional restaurant in a charming seaside town called Nafplion. The second one was in La Paz, in a plaza where one can find a row of executive buildings (one of which I saw the president of Bolivia exit, who actually waved back when we waved at him). The third one was in Glendale, California, where I am writing this entry, in the house of my dad's cousin. I don't really think there's any mind-blowing connection I can draw from having encountered this peculiarity, so I'll leave it at that.
As people usually do at the turn of a new year after reflecting on the year that was, it's time to look ahead. I anticipate 2016 being quite similar to 2015 in the way I will be reunited with some faraway friends, and I will make more friends from faraway places to meet once more in the future. I think fondly of the people I met this year and how I met them, how this time last year I wouldn't have been able to imagine these encounters at all. So I stand at another turning point, ready for whatever is going to happen, excited at who life is going to introduce to me, how, and what they might end up meaning to me. I don't really think I'm going to meet any particularly majorly life-changing people (the kind that I would have as a bridesmaid at my wedding/the kind that I would actually marry and not just in the "omg I'd marry him he's so hot" way), but I'll keep an open mind. Who doesn't love a surprise?
Now that I'm old enough to have experienced being away from people for a considerable amount of time and then meeting up with them again after significant separation, I've gotten to thinking about the people we meet and how they are also living their own complex lives. The uniqueness of each human life is something I've acknowledged a long time ago, but now that I know so many people from so many places it really is quite a mind-boggling thing to be considering. The concept of "It's like no time has passed since we last met" when you meet someone again after a long time is an interesting one, because usually, both parties involved have been through an innumerable amount of things in the time elapsed. It's also interesting on Skype to talk to someone and to hear about the mundane, everyday things that most recently happened to them, rather than the major updates you get on social media. Either way, these occasions affirm my faith in true friendship, and the fact that one is never alone even if they are far away from a lot of people they care about. I feel truly blessed to have many such friends.
Also, what about the concept of having resolutions? It's a given at this point, but I'm going to travel to some pretty cool places. So I won't bother putting that down as a resolution. But I'm not entirely sure about resolutions in general; people have become rather cynical towards them, because there is the usual motivation at the beginning of the new year that exists, but withers away sooner than you can say "Happy Valentine's Day." People have problems with being consistent. Life just gets in the way, which is why I don't really believe in a list of unrealistic resolutions. Instead, I believe in building off of what was worked on this past year, making improvements, and implementing additions to some life changes I may have adopted. That's simpler than regarding the new year as a fresh slate. While that could be exciting, it's also just a setup for more difficulties than one should be handling. It's all really just a continuation, an opportunity to look ahead with a renewed sense of purpose. After all, 2016 isn't going to be what it will without whatever I went through in 2015, 2015 wouldn't be what it was without whatever I went through in 2014, and so on. And so my story shall continue to unfold.
Finally, in the words of the languages that have defined this year:
Szczȩśliwego nowego roku!
¡Feliz año nuevo!
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