Every End, is also a Beginning

Hey there! It's been a while!

I've been meaning for the whole month of August to come on here and finish this up, but life got a little..... crazy. I'll start back at the beginning.

My trip home went very smoothly, I didn't miss my flight in Madrid (yay!!!!) and both flights were easy ones. I didn't sleep at all again this time. If you're planning on taking a trans-Atlantic flight, I do not recommend Iberia. Let me put it this way, a guy in front of me was asking someone behind him what Iberia meant in English and I jumped into the conversation with, "cramped and always late!" And that's exactly what all of my flights with them were, though because I made my second flight, punctuality wasn't too big of an issue for the last one, thank goodness.

My parents were waiting for me on the other side of baggage and customs at the International Terminal at O’Hare, complete with huge hugs, smiles and balloons. It was incredible to see them, and it almost didn't feel like I had been gone for two months. I called my host mom, Gudrun in Berlin to let her know that I had landed safely and then we all went home.

The next week was such a whirlwind, I turned 21 at midnight the night I got home and went out for a rather subdued (well, compared to some) celebration with my best friend Cathi, my friend and her boyfriend Alex, and her roommate Brian. It was really nice to celebrate my birthday with people I've known since high school and before. We went to TGI Fridays where Cathi bar tends. Shots and drinks were had and then we went back to Cathi's to continue the celebration. I think I passed out from exhaustion by 1:30 at the latest. I had been awake and waiting over thirty hours for my birthday what with all the time changes I had gone through!

I got to see Nick, my boyfriend for the first time on my birthday, I went to visit him in the city, and it was very good to see him. We had lots to talk about, and a spectacular birthday dinner to eat.

Two days later, my parents and I left to meet my brother and his girlfriend, Hannah, in Las Vegas. If you've never been there, you need to go, it's one of the most surreal cities I've ever been to. We stayed in The Flamingo, and visited almost every hotel on the strip. My brother and Hannah and I rode the roller coaster at NY NY, and my gift from my brother was tickets to Ka, the Cirque du Solei show, which was absolutely incredible. We all liked it so much that we went and got tickets to go and see Mystier, one of the other Cirque shows the next night!

My parents took me on my first gondola ride at the Venetian, which was so much fun. Our gondolier sang for us in Italian, including Happy Birthday. Being in the Venetian was one of the most surreal and odd experiences of that whole trip. It's set up as a smaller carbon copy of Venice, the city I can say is my favorite place on earth other than home, and the ache of missing it is still fresh. Being there and.... not being there was a rather strange feeling.

I think though, despite all of the glitz and glamour of all the surroundings, I think my favorite memories of the entire trip were when we would all just be laying in the pool. We'd all be sitting with margaritas or drinks of choice (hey! 9am in Vegas is FIVE o'clock in Berlin!) and talking or floating. I got to spend hours just talking to my parents, precious moments that these days happen all too few. I got to hang out with my brother.... something that hasn't happened in almost two or three years. His girlfriend was really nice too, I hope she sticks around, I like her. But it probably is the conversations and moments with my Mom and Dad that stick out as the ones that mean the most to me. I love them beyond measure, and that vacation was exactly what I needed between being away and moving downtown. It brought us closer together and helped us to speak more openly with each other, a gift above all else.

And then, it was back to reality, and my entire month of August was taken up with my job downtown here in Chicago. I'm the desk staff supervisor of the front desk at the newest residence hall on the UIC campus. My days were filled with hiring, training, scheduling, troubleshooting and doing everything and anything that did not fall under my job description but that needed to get done nonetheless. I still have about eight more employees that I need to train, which will bring me up to about 22 people working under me. Hopefully that will be enough. It's been a ridiculous whirlwind that has made me feel capable, but drained me so much and made it almost impossible to focus on other areas of my life.

Classes started this week, and my life should finally begin to settle down to a dull roar, I hope, and then I can begin to think on other things that are of importance, finishing finding homes for all the stuff I unpacked a month ago in my new apartment, studying, friends in my life - both here and far away and connecting with them again, seeing my parents more often, going on some dates with Nick and strengthening our bond, figuring out how my classes will affect my major and date of graduation, calling up my sister's family for all their birthdays and as always, my ever-present work will still be there with phone calls and problems at inopportune moments.

Through out all of this, the memories of this summer weave their way into my daily life. It is small reminders every single day that make me smile nostalgically and pause in whatever I'm doing. I miss Berlin, I miss Europe. I miss the people from over there, my friends most of all. I miss the food, and have brought some of the things I ate over there into my apartment with me. There are ever-present bottles of balsamic and olive oil on my cupboard. The picture of us rafting down the river on the Poland/Slovak boarder is framed and on my window seat. My Italia scarf will soon be gracing the wall above my desk, there are four types of currency scattered on my coffee table, and my mask from Venice is in my kitchen where I can see it every single day. I have been changed by this summer, and the memories of it will always be with me. I'm slowly working every lesson I learned into my life here at home, I'm hoping that I can soon completely bind this summer together with life here, it's been difficult, but I'm hopeful. Not a day goes by that I don't longingly think of Venezia.

Lastly, but most importantly, must come the gratitude for you, those who read along and shared my journey with me my whole summer. Those I knew about and who left comments and those who didn't. I've heard about you all through the grapevine of people who passed my blog address off to others and that you've enjoyed it. To everyone who read this, thank you. I can't say it enough, because it meant so much to me that throughout my travels, especially the ones in which I was, or was feeling the most alone, I never truly was because there were people waiting to hear about 'what happened next!' including those who have been badgering me to finish this up. Thank you for your patience.

Traveling to me has never been just a luxury, it is something that is apart of life, that needs to be done. I hope that my life will consist of being on the move and seeing new sights and new places. The more I travel though, teaches me how nice it is to have a place to come home to, with people who love me. I hope I will always be lucky enough to surround myself with people who smile at my crazy adventures, and are willing to welcome me back with open arms. Who knows, maybe they'll even start coming along!

If you've ever thought about doing something crazy like I did this summer or even just a trip to one of the cities that I've been too and would like some pointers, advice or a good restaurant to have dinner in, don't hesitate to get in contact with me (silverwanderlust@gmail.com). If you can dream about doing it, it's possible. I've had a dream of backpacking Europe since I was eight years old. Dream, fulfilled.

Missing those far away, Gratitude to so many, and Love to all,

Miranda