Samantha Hirschman | Blogger

Hello readers,

This past weekend was definitely one of my favorites. Being with Lindsey and having a piece of home with me in Europe definitely made me happy. Lindsey and I went to Paris, where we spent two nights, then she followed me back to Rome, where I showed her my city for a day.

When we were in Paris, we did all the highlights: visited the Louvre, climbed the Eiffel Tower, saw the Arch of Triumph, prayed inside Notre Dame, and discovered the underground Catacombs. But when we were there, we didn’t have any specific thing we wanted to see. We simply wanted to have a chance to talk and comfort each other in our memories of Buena Vista, our home.

Since it was Halloween, we were constantly reminded that we wouldn’t be joining our classmates to celebrate. We wouldn’t be dressing up at all or going out to Malarky’s.
However, Halloween wasn’t completely absent. Throughout the night, we saw a few children dressed in costumes and young adults, probably about our age, dressed as witches and monsters. While we were outside Notre Dame, we also encountered a few adults playing instruments and dancing. The lady playing the bagpipes instantly saw how excited we were when we saw costumes. “There’s a witch,” Lindsey said casually. We both were overjoyed as we watched children dance to the music, allowing us both to enjoy a piece of home.

We talked about how we felt being away. Forgotten. It’s the best word to describe how we feel being away. Our school, our friends, our activities who have created us, they all have moved on and forgotten who we are. Sure, people will remember who we are when we return, but it will never be the same. Our previous BV student lives have all moved on and left us to rediscover ourselves yet again.

Study abroad has been a blessing for each of us, but it’s also been one of the hardest things we have lived through. We both have lost a loved one being away. We’ve learned things about ourselves that we may or may not want to know. We have missed our families, our friends, our loved ones.

We both are excited, and ready, to be home. Back to our beloved school we call home. Buena Vista.

I hope that whoever you are that is reading this will not forget neither Lindsey nor I. We miss our school and everyone there dearly. We hope you miss us too.