The End: Part II (Last Will and Testament)

[Side note: I wrote most of this post on my last colectivo ride to my Avant-Garde internship. I've been revising and adding to it ever since in order to explain to the most precise degree my experience in Buenos Aires.]

Buenos Aires became real to me. It lasted beyond an escape, a vacation, a visit. I stayed and I lived there.

I immersed myself in my internship, my classes, the language, ultimate, a Latin-European culture. I got lost in translation, I was lonely, I grew independent. I became vulnerable to it all. I shed the shell of temporary times to more permanent perils. I didn't always have excuses or justifications. I didn't live a glamorous life. I didn't live everyday like it was my last because each felt like I was a step toward a seemingly infinite stay. I missed home, I ached, shed tears, spent numerous hours on Skype... I sometimes lived in mediocrity, flew down depression and back up to ecstasy in the matter of a day. I strolled down streets beaming and shook my groove thang on boliche dance floors. I found pure independence blissful at times, I hosted my loved ones, I found a family in Sapukay, Avant-Garde, and my program.

I didn't just thrive and exclude the bad, I experienced it all- the underestimated, emotional pendulum that is studying abroad. I lived a full life in Buenos Aires.

I lived a life in four months (stick with me as I try to explain study abroad via yet another metaphor):
Everything was new, I saw it for the first time. I was young and curious, easily fascinated and intrigued.
I went out often to play, make friends. I learned lessons the hard way, I fended for myself. 
I had a mid-trip crisis full of prolific questions and panic, a sense of helplessness, a loss of direction. 
I became content, aware, and experienced. I balanced work and play, I developed relationships, I gained patience. 
I hammered out my work and retired to one last city escape, Mendoza. 

Then I made this will -of things I refuse to let go, to disappear into the future- to impart on all of you: Those who know me better than I know myself, those who've never met me, my peers, my best friends, my family, those who plan to study in or visit Buenos Aires, those who already live there and are interested in what a gringa thinks. I've laid out my thoughts in this post and blog, the only real possessions I can claim. Take or dismiss what you will without the hassles of an attorney to distribute them accordingly.

I'm signing my name, I've flown back home.

Until next time,

-Anna