Mama, I'm coming home

It's 3:45 AM in Milan. In 45 minutes a taxi is going to pull up to my dorm and take me to the airport. From there I will fly to Rome, then eventually all the way across the Atlantic to sweet home Chicago. I will likely see my parents in less than 12 hours. I can hardly believe it.

I know my blogging has been terribly inconsistent these past few weeks, even months perhaps. As always, I apologize for this; however, I know that there is no way I can accurately describe the many places I have seen since Tarifa, so I will not attempt to try. Just know that the pizza in Naples goes best with a Coke, the Christmas market in Prague serves the absolute finest spiced cider, the Eiffel Tower is very photo worthy (and filled a good amount of my camera's memory card), and that the snowy powder which comes off of the Alps looks like frosting from the vantage point of a moving ski lift. I have had an incredible final few moments on the other side of the pond, as my friend Mitch might say. But I am ready to be home.

I think this trip has forced me to realize the incredible number of people there are in this world, the vast variety of cultures and languages, and the splendor of cities scattered across the globe. I think that's a lesson that is very difficult to absorb if you don't actually have the chance to go out and see those places, meet those people, hear those languages. For instance, I have made friends this semester with people from Turkey, like Emre, who exposed me to the delicious late night flavor of Turkish kebap, India, like Himanshu, who thinks everybody is "[expletive] great man!" (he yells with a big grin on his face), and other newly made facebook friends from the countries of the world. I've seen some of the most famous cities in civilization and there encountered people as familiar as my best friends in little Champaign-Urbana. As the saying goes, it is a small world after all. But enough with the cliches.

I feel that right now, at this moment, I am writing the conclusion to a chapter of my life, and a fine chapter it's been. Perhaps the title is "Josh Goes Italian!", but maybe not, this is a figurative novel after all. Just know that I have had a life-changing experience these past 16 weeks, as everybody predicted I would. I'm still me of course, but I feel like my connection to others around this world has somehow grown stronger. Maybe my understanding and appreciation for all the places there are out there has increased. But my appreciation for one place in particular has never been stronger, and that of course is home sweet home.

Though there may be thousands of cities around the world, right now I only want to be in one. It might not have the best pizza in the world, fantastic hot wine, iconic monuments, or snow-capped peaks, but it has my family and friends, and a whole lot of history to me. I will see you all very, very soon. 

With love,

Josh