Melissa's Travels

My journey started last fall
or maybe sooner
You prayed, paid, studied.
I journaled, wept and shared.
Preparing to learn, explore and befriend.
Setting up to mentor, impart and guide.
We both google searched images,
set up blogs for family, friends.

Some stepped on the flight scared, doubtful, overjoyed
or relieved.
Onward to Madrid,
for better or for worse.
To learn a language, make a friend,
escape from something
or someone.

We hauled our luggage across the Atlantic
Maybe hoping to ditch baggage along the way.
Crammed in rooms,
creaking beds.
Hopping on and off too much.
Photos snapped, days recorded,
glances of frustration and giggles shared.

You cultivated patience, spontaneity and the now dreaded-
"flexibility."
Swam in foreign waters,
lost shoes,
sprained wrists,
prayed hand in hand.

To love or hate paella?
Day or night?
Big cities?
Or small towns?
You asked yourself these questions,
whether aloud or only within.

Homesickness
rolled around in your mouth,
dirty taste on an enviable journey.
You endured.
Weeks passed as wished.
And now Berlin threatens to be a memory.

One week, one month from here you'll sit,
sunny day while night rolls on,
through your home of 10 weeks.
With other friends,
eager to hear,
unable to know,
you will find a secret dawning::
The return to your home doesn't end the journey,
it is here where the journey truly begins.