First of all, I have to say a huge thank you to my family and friends - those of you who supported me, who loaned me money, who sent me silly pick-me-ups when I was homesick, and who tolerated my bragging about all these adventures. It's been an incredible ride and I couldn't done any of it without you all.
Without exaggerating, I can say that this has been the most amazing 6 months of my life. I mean, honestly, just look at the list of places I've seen (listed in chronological order):
Geneva, Switzerland
Nyon, Switzerland
Arzier, Switzerland and surrounding villages
Gruyère, Switzerland
Rome, Italy
Lausanne, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland
Chamonix, France
Rabat, Morocco
Casablanca, Morocco
Fes, Morocco
Farraha, Morocco
Nice, France
Monaco, Monaco
Yvoire, France
Montreux, Switzerland
Paris, France
Budapest, Hungary
Lisbon, Portugal
Annecy, France
Zermatt, Switzerland
Prague, Czech Republic
Brussels, Belgium
Interlaken, Switzerland
And I've taken a lot more away from my travels than just photos and knickknack souvenirs.
It may sound cliché, but I've learned so much about the universality of human experience and the generosity of people worldwide. In Farraha, Morocco - a rural village with no market, no cell reception, and no running water - I stayed with a family that, even with their limited means, welcomed me like one of their own. In the wake of the Boston bombing - an event that deeply rattled me and brought on a kind of homesickness that I didn't even know was possible - people came out of the woodwork to offer their condolences. My fellow students, my professors, even guest lecturers at UN agencies like the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross took me aside to extend their sympathies and express their solidarity with my home city. I was honestly overwhelmed by the level of support I received from the Swiss people and it touches me even today.
I was so fortunate with the people I met and the situation I was placed in. My program of 23 students became incredibly close - even our professors remarked that we were the most bonded of any semester they had seen. And my home stay family was, as I've mentioned before, one of the highlights of my experience. Saying goodbye to them was one of the most difficult things I had to do.
On my last night, my host mom gave me a present: a "Swiss VIP" t-shirt. She explained that VIP means "Very Important Person" in English, which means that "you are very important and you can always come back to Switzerland." I almost started bawling on the spot.
But, as sad as this moment was, this parting gift is also a promise: Switzerland, you've got a piece of my heart and you can bet I'll be back. A bientôt!
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