Monday, April 9, 2012

Rebecca: can't choose your family--or study abroad housemates!

So yesterday was Easter and it is still Passover.  For me I’ve been pretty bummed for the past week about missing the holidays and not being able to see my family.  Last night made it a little better though.

The story starts around 6PM.  Picture a house full of seventeen college students, all different majors, ages, races, etc.  We all start coming together to make dinner for the entire house.  People are baking, scrambling eggs, making French toast, chopping potatoes, and in general just working together.  We had breakfast for dinner which was the most enjoyable meal I’d had all week.  Sometimes we don’t all get along.  We might fight over the dirty dishes or how tidy we want the house, but last night everyone put aside their differences for a few hours and just enjoyed.

Nicole, Brittany, Erica, Rebecca

When we started eating some people came up with the idea for everyone to say what they were thankful for.  At first I was a little wary because I didn’t know if people would be serious, but then we all started.  It was really awesome to hear the different thoughts people voiced, and even though I only said two things I agreed with everyone else.  It was an almost magical night, because we don’t sit together enough (without being in class) and just enjoy each other’s company as a whole group.  Yeah we spend lots of time together, but it’s usually in smaller groups, or we’re running around touring Cape Town.  Not once have I felt the peace and harmony in the house that I felt last night.  It reminded me how short my time here is; that I will actually be leaving in three weeks and that I will really miss my fellow students.  We are like a family (a dysfunctional one most of the time) but a family nonetheless.  I had been having a really rough emotional week, where I just wanted to curl up and be left alone.  I know a good deal of that stemmed from missing the holidays at home.  I finally realized that I had been overlooking the people who live in the same house as me.  There are so many different personalities to interact with in this house, that there is always someone to talk to.  I was just pushing myself away from them. 

 Ever heard that saying, “You can’t choose your family?”  People use it to reinforce the fact that yeah sometimes you don’t always get along with your family, or you may not like all of them, but they’re still your family.  That’s what the people in this house are to me. Yeah so what, we’re not all the same, and we may fight, but hey we didn’t pick each other and we depend on each other here.  We were thrown together by fate, just like family members.    My experience here would not have been the same without each and every one of my “co-educators” (Marita, McComiskey).  So if any of them are reading this I just want to say, Thank-you

No comments:

Post a Comment