Sit back, take a deep breath and image this with me...
You're sitting on a plane. Excited, nervous, scared, and slightly shaking from adrenaline and fear. You have no clue what lie ahead of you, and you think you are ready for anything... invincible if you will. Your family has driven away, and the plane lifts off the ground. You can't sleep for the ten hour flight, but even so, it seems to pass quickly. You land in London, everyone speaks English, but it may as well be a different language because you can't understand a word. For one week everything is perfect, new and exciting, then reality sets in.
You get to school in a little town outside of London, things are different than you imagined, your expectations were not met in any of the ways you think they were going to be. For weeks on end, the only place you want to be is home, with family, with friends and loved ones. But that is impossible, because you are on the journey of a lifetime, a journey that will make you grow and see the world in a new light. You just don't know that yet.
Things get better but they still aren't great. There are good days and bad days, and soon the good days seems to be outweighing the not so good. Right when they seems too easy to be true, something that seems unrelated to this life experience in England pulls the world out from under your feet. All seems lost again, and all seems unfathomable. But there is your family, they pull it all together for you for a while, and then you are right back in the mix of things. You travel Europe, try to figure things out and then realize you can't do everything on your own. That cocky kid who thought he was ready to grow up needs to go away, and you need to broaden your chest and face the facts that life throws your way sometimes. You need to actually grow up. You didn't expect it, but it ends up playing a major role on how you are going to grow while in a new country.
Second semester starts, and this time things are different. You aren't relying on your own will power to get up in the morning, but trusting that the Lord is going to do it for you. You throw your problems His way, He looks at them, solves them, and then says "Pick your chin up and move on, I've got work for you." So you do, and the days aren't so long, and your family doesn't seem so far away. Sure some days are better than others, but all in all life has a flow to it again. You travel some more, and meet some amazing people, traveling is where you feel the most comfortable, where no one knows you, and you can be whoever you want... so you decide to be yourself. It's comfortable to be yourself. You also realize that home is where people love you, and you realize you have that in London with a very special family.
Then you look in the mirror one night and realize that kid from Laguna isn't the same kid you saw in the mirror a few months prior. The boy from back home is still sitting in the airport in Los Angeles, waiting with his expectations. Home will return a young man. He will walk past the boy in the airport and quietly nod, aware of his expectations, and content with new ones. This young man, not fully grown up, still a kid a heart, but a man firm in what he believes. Firm in his belief that the world is still a big place, that people are people and everyone deserves a chance. Firm in the belief that the Lord will always provide, and firm in the belief that you can still get off the map.
Before it all ends ends, your family comes to see you. You travel together and experience more of what the world has to offer. They tell you how you've grown, and for brief moments you can actually see who you really are to another human being... things are going to be alright. Your last nights you spend with your closest friends you've made in England. You laugh about the funny times, speak candidly about the serious times, and wonder cautiously about the future. You get a little teary eyed as the bell rings, and the bar staff begin to wipe down the counters. You are the last to leave, and for good reason, no one seems to want to let it all go. Being the first to leave, everyone seems to realize the end is near, not forever, but for now. You hug, shake hands, high-five, push, bring it in close, and stare into different sets of eyes, each one as sincere as the last. You say "Thank you" to everyone, and tell them truthfully, "This time wouldn't have been the same without each one of you". Like that bar of bittersweet chocolate, it won't last forever, and it really is bittersweet all the way through. You think about it though and realize, that is exactly the way a goodbye should be, bittersweet. Bitter because you have to leave, but every so sweet because you had the time together. You crack one last joke about yourself and everyone laughs, leaving all on a good note. Smiles fade into deep sighs, and everyone turns into shadowy figures in the cool spring night.
You room is nearly empty, just a computer and few random items cluttering the desk. So much happened in that little room of yours, you can't even begin to mull through it all. You stand there for a moment, not sure of what emotion is going to leap out of your chest, and then you simply smile. All that needed to be accomplished was accomplished. It came and went ever so perfectly. It seemed so impossible in September, and now it seems so unreal, so perfect, so not meeting your expectations, that it turned out to be the perfect curveball. And guess what, you smashed that sucker right over the big green wall, leaving the seems behind, and calling out "Elvis has left the building!" as you watch it sail out of there. You say goodnight to those four walls for the last time, and that's it. Ending just like it started... with you getting ready to board a plane, excited, nervous, sad, and happy all at once, and full of expectations. Some that life will meet, others that it won't. But this time was perfect, this time is what you needed, and that little room in England, those close friends, that house in London, those hours on Skype, and those hours upon hours spent in new and exciting places, are the times that you will remember, and forever will they help you grow.
So take a deep breath and imagine all those things, and maybe, just maybe you will get a glimpse of how incredibly amazing my year abroad has been. The Pirate Crew set sail, and let me tell you, sail we did. The crew grew and at each new port, a new member stood proudly on deck. So this is to The Pirate Crew, all of you who came along for the journey, here in England, Europe, or the United States. This is not the end of our journeys, but just the beginning. We will continue to sail around the world, and at each new port, add new faces to our memories. I am beyond blessed, and by that I mean my blessing are unable to be attached to a number, for that number does not exist. Continue to tune in, for the Pirate Crew will continue to post, but for now, Europe is behind us. What seemed to be a storm without a port, was actually a port in the storm all along. So, until next time... Vaya Con Dios.
Blurry eyed, and Sails Abreast,
The Pirate Crew
