Goodbye

 Goodbyes are strange, but I have become surprisingly accustomed to them in the past couple of days. I have said good bye to all of my friends. I have said goodbye to all of my family members and I have had to say goodbye to all things familiar to me. I don’t believe there is a comfortable way to say goodbye to someone in a case like mine, especially to people whom I have known since childhood and whom I know I may never see again. I have tried my hardest to avoid having to say awkward goodbyes, but tonight I can’t hide anymore because it is my last night in America. I just ate my last American meal, and watched my last American movie and tonight is the last night I will sleep in my own bed. This exchange is still what I want more than anything in the world, but I underestimated how much I will miss life in Portage, Wisconsin. I have lived here in the same house in the same room for 17 years. I have known nothing else, and now I am looking at this life here from a distance, it is the most peculiar feeling. I hear my friends talking about plans that they have for this weekend and I realize that I am no longer part of the group, this isn’t my life anymore. A chapter of my life is over, the only chapter I have ever experienced. Everything I have ever owned fits in two black and pink polka-dotted rectangular suitcases and strangely I couldn’t even fill them, after packing everything I still have 15 pounds of extra room.  The things that I have been doing for 17 years like going to the fair or going to a music festival I now can no longer be a part of. I am going to miss a lot, but I know that I will be experiencing so much more than I could ever here. I am more excited than ever to go to India, but I am pained to leave the life that I have lived here for my entire life. To be honest I never really expected to miss this life, but I will. I’m not too proud to admit that I am a little scared, but I know I will have an amazing year. Goodbye America!