Purposely Lost.

We are overwhelmed with advice on where to travel to. We hear little of why we should go but how we could be more fulfilled by doing so; makes perfect sense, right? No. But it does, in our own heads. "Oh yes, that place sounds very interesting, oh yes I want to go there." meanwhile, I've only told you that the weather was nice and I saw some famous places. But of course, the same reaction is present. "I'd like to see that, I'd like to do that..." Dazed with incredible sights that we have never seen, only in our heads, but these images beg us to visit them. Taunted with the longing for memories to be created. Wanting to be part of something bigger than the place you reside at the moment. Few people come to the two roads diverged, but when you do, when I have, take the path less traveled by. It will make all the difference.

Travel is cheap hostels with one shower and maybe some hot water; if you’re lucky. It’s slow Internet connections, but no problem, because you’d rather be out exploring than on the internet. Travel is extraordinary conversations with ordinary people. It’s your life becoming the most interesting thing to the person at the bar next to you. It someone else’s life becoming more fascinating than yours could ever be. It’s cathedrals that are persuasive enough to dare to enter. It’s the realization that you might have been born in the wrong country, but being proud of it any way. Travel is taking a subway to a town you haven't discovered yet. Travel is the smile that leads to the best conversations in broken English. Travel is finding who you are in a city that you can’t even pronounce the name of. Travel is the same pair jeans again tomorrow. Travel is forcing yourself into a train with laughing strangers and new found friends. It’s a street full of bearded backpackers looking down at maps, pointing up to streets, and speaking a language you’re not sure of. A voice pleading you to come with them, to discover what is around the corner. Travel is wishing for one more bite of whatever that just was. Travel is getting off at a random train station, just because. It’s the rediscovery of walking somewhere and not knowing where “somewhere” is. It’s sharing a bottle of liquor on an overnight train to God knows where, with a new friend. Travel is getting drunk with a room full of people you've never met. Travel is something unexpected, something inexplicable.  Your travels are forever in your heart. Forever to tell stories.

Forever to be part of you.

"The hitch-hiker was a figure that defined a free-wheeling era. But for both hitcher and driver, the outcome wasn't always expected."

 I think that hitch hiking is such a cool means of transportation. The idea that someone could trust another soul so quickly, so easily, enough to get into a car with them, off on an adventure that neither party know of yet. For the driver the mystery of who is this person and why are they here? For the hitch hiker, its a question of who is this person and why did they stop for me? You learn to expect what is not expected. To have the courage to stick your stubby thumb up as an unsuspecting car approaches, and then yet, the courage to even get in when the car stops. What a thrilling adventure, don't you think? The driver could have a completely different mindset about where he would leave you. You could be wanting a ride to Calais (a city in the North of France) But,  the driver could need to go to Amsterdam first. You're then in for an adventure of your life, with a soul you just met, about to have a new tale to tell for generations. Cool, isn't it?

No, 

I haven't gone hitch hiking,

yet. 

So don't worry, 

yet.

Sweet Serendipity.

Don't Blink.

3 months. 3 amazing months. 3 crazy beautiful months. 3 incredibly terrifying months. 3 months.

131,487 minutes, gone. 394,133 minutes, left.

   525,600 minutes.
- 131,487 minutes.
=394,133 minutes.

Don't blink, time goes too fast.

The moments I have spent here, have been some that I can't even begin to describe to people. I have traveled, I have learned, I have seen, I have experienced, and I have danced. My life here has been so very incredible. There have been times where I have screamed my lungs out, singing with my friends. There have been times I have cried my eyes out because my sister was leaving me. There have been times where I have laughed so hard that I couldn't breathe. There have been times where I have been so frustrated that I wanted to break down and not continue; but that was the moment that I realized I had to keep going. You just have to keep going. Keep your head up, and keep going.

Last week, I was really very sick. So many things were going on, so many things I could've been a part of, but I wasn't allowed to be. That was the worst feeling ever. Being able to do things, but not, at the same time. It was such a disabling feeling. I wish I was well enough to do all the things I missed out on. That's what makes this experience so special. There are so many things I do, so many things I am part of, I couldn't imagine it any other way. I would hate to be missing out on so much.

In a few weeks, we have a Christmas Ball. I am so very excited, way to excited for words actually. We will go shopping for dresses soon. I also got invited to several parties already for December. One for Maria on the 15th, One for my new friend Taba on the 17th. One Rotex weekend the 7th-9th. It's so crazy that its already November, and that I'm already planning out December.

This past Thursday, we went to a Kirmes, in Soest. Which, is a Carnival. It's the largest Kirmes in Europe. And it was so cool to go to. We went after school, it wasn't too far, only about 45 minutes by train. The Kirmes was so cool, It was loud, and had so many rides. The whole Kirmes was throughout the entire city. It was really beautiful. I had a great time, I was so happy I could go.

Last night, Friday, was a small party at Maria's counselor's house. We had Brasilian food and drinks. It was a really awesome night too. We ate, and then sat around and played music and sang all night. It was cool to just sit and chill and enjoy the company of other people. That's what I like about things here. People are happy to just sit, and be with each other. In Florida, you always have to be doing something, but here, it's just easy to be with people.

My remaining 394,133 minutes I will spend here will be the best. Better than what i have already experienced, even though it may be incredibly hard to beat. My time here has been absolutely unforgettable. I cannot even begin to describe all the fun, crazy times I have had.
I look back on all my pictures that I have already taken. I see all the things I have already done. I can't believe that this much time has already passed by. I wish it would go slower, but it doesn't. You blink and it's just....gone. It makes me so sad and so happy at the same time to look at my pictures. They are really great times, but also they have already happened.
Now they are just precious memories.
Memories. That's what they are.
Only memories.
I love to remember them, but it's completely heartbreaking at the same time. They have already happened. The time has already passed.
I just can't even begin to imagine how the rest of the year will go. 

I can't blink.
I won't blink.

                                                          Sweet Serendipity. 

Colors.

The leaves are changing colors. The leaves are falling. The trees are getting bare. The trees are bare. Symbolism. You start at one thing and then progress on to the next. In a never ending cycle, of green to yellow, to red, to orange, to brown, to falling. to dying. to rebirth. But where does the cycle really start? In our heads, it starts at green; life. But it really could start at the last stage, death, or even somewhere in the middle, at orange. Its how you look at it. Green is really somehow the peak of life. Its a young leaf, with a couple hundred days to go until it reaches the yellow stage, which is similar to mid 30's, then you get to orange, mid 60's, and then to red, mid 80's, and then to brown...mid 90's a few days to go.. and then, at the very last moment, it finally lets go, and falls; peacefully, gracefully. Such a sad cycle. but also so very very beautiful. I have never seen the leaves change colors. It is something new to me; but I am ever impressed by how something like this can happen.

 It somewhat represents how we are ever changing.

We go through stages, such as leaves go through their own form of stages.
You can relate the changing colors to emotions, or years of life, or even individual days.

The young person is born, and then has the childhood years, moves on to the teenage years, and then early 20's. Still green at this point. Bright, lively, determined. Moving on to the late twenties, and then into the thirties and then on to the forties and fifties, now in the orange.yellow stage. The late fifties approach and on to the sixties. still orange, bright orange. Trying to make the most out of life, which is why the color is so bright. Then, red, it starts as a bright red, passionate, caring, lovely. And slowly changes into a deep, burnt, rusty red. Old, losing fire, but still just as caring. We are now in the eighties. The color is slowing down to an old, brown color, nineties. still holding on, but requiring more work to do so. That one little gust of wind from the North could be just enough to knock them down. maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But when it happens, they will be ready. They join all of the others of their family tree, extended family, blood related, all of them. The ones who have already fallen. Fallen from their tree of life.

Sweet Serendipity.

Home.

As much as I complain about being in an incredibly small city. Not even a city. A village. Yes, a village. I wouldn't change it for the world. It is so uniquely beautiful here. The grass is bright green. The streets, not so nicely paved, but still useable. The sky, not always blue, but always bright. The houses, oh the houses are just so beautifully and architecturally lovely. The trees, all types of trees. I see Christmas trees, and redwoods, and oak, and of course pine trees. The hills that engulf my little village of Küntrop, are just too marvelous for words. I wake up and look out my window to a breath taking sunrise over the mountains that tower over our village. Pink and orange and purple clouds painted across the sky light up the surrounding villages and villagers who are beginning their day. Driving through them today, was when I realized all of this. I would never change where I am living. At first, I was not very happy with where I was placed, geographically. But now; I really think that this is the most beautiful part of Germany. And I took it for granted. I can't imagine my exchange taking place in any other place. I am so grateful that I am here, in Küntrop. It's beautiful. More beautiful than I could ever describe to you. It is home now. 

Home is where the heart is. This is home. 

It's mind blowing for me to sit and look back on all that I have done. I mean, I think about it and I can't believe how much of the world I have seen; through people, and through physically being there. I mean, I've been in England already, that's a complete different country. And we had To drive through several countries to get to the boat to take us there. I have seen so much of the world in such a short amount of time. It's been 6 weeks and I've embraced over 26 different countries ranging from Korea to Japan to Brasil to Argentina to Canada to Australia to India to even, my own country; The United States of America. These countries are no longer just countries of the world; they are my friends; my family. The world is in my hands. Sweet Serendipity.

England.

Everything is royal.

The streets, the shops, the houses, the telephone booths, the buses, and of course, the people. Everything from the lavish decor of the streets and shops, to the never less than perfect pubs, to the inviting atmosphere of the nightlife. I feel like I'm writing an ad in a tourism magazine. But, it's a definite place to put on your map of places to go before you kick the bucket. I have seen so many things in so very little time. Literally from everywhere in London, you can see the Big Ben; ornamented in all its gold trim and the accent coloring of the brick, along with the always bright face of the clock. It's just impeccably perfect. We walked across a bridge last night and you could see it and its reflection in the river that flowed through and divided London. It was just a perfect sight. the city lit up the water, and then Big Ben rang it's bells. Its really hard to express all that i have seen and felt while being here. and its only our 2nd day here. The Westminster Abbey; we went to a choral service. It was just so wonderful, the sounds and the echoes. Oh it was just an experience that I will love forever. I can't even begin to describe the elaborate and incredibly lavish interior. We were not allowed to take pictures, which was sad, and actually the only time that I listened to someone tell me not to take pictures. It was just so very beautiful. Something that every pair of eyes should see in their life. One cannot express the detail and beauty within this structure. It's just indescribable.

Oxford. How can I even begin To describe this one? Okay, so I've almost decided that this is exactly the place that I want to study for university. Period. The ever inviting atmosphere welcomes you to come in, closer and closer. It's a very beautiful campus and there are many colleges to choose from. It's suitable for any young scholar; like myself. That was a joke. I hope you got it.

Any who, Contrary to popular belief, England is not one big city. London is, but there is much more to England that meets the eye. Yes, that was a pun, the London Eye, I hope you got that one too. But, I have seen the White Cliffs of Dover, which are absolutely breathtaking. They take up a majority of the side of the island we entered. It is so strange to call England an island, because you think tropical, but its actually the opposite. Some beautiful sight. I also have gotten the chance to ride a subway for the first time in my whole life. And believe me, I have done a whole lot of subway riding this past week. I also almost got stuck on the subway while my group had gotten off....story of my life, and a great story indeed. This week we also have to make some sort of music video to "gangham style" and it should be really cool, because our whole grade is basically in all different parts of Europe; we're in England, some are in Ireland, Rome, Austria, Berlin, Poland; all over. All of us are doing the same music video and dance so it'll be like a "world class" flash mob happening all over Europe. I think it's a really cool idea.

Something I have really noticed since I have been here though, is that German people are ridiculously good at figuring out which country people are from. We were sitting at breakfast and my friend pointed out a family and said they were French; not believing her, I waited for them to start talking, and guess what, it was French. And she figured this out, just by their mannerisms. The next day, a different friend pointed out some people and said they were Italian, and believe it or not, they were. It was so fascinating because they literally just watched for a few seconds and they could tell right there, what they were. It seemed so simple.

There is so much more that I could write, but simply, there is not enough time, or space.

Also I have finally had a real diet coke. The world is now back on it's axis.

Sweet Serendipity.

Life.

Someday, I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.
Wouldn't it be great if we all thought this. We all know we are going to die someday, so why not live your life like you are going to die tomorrow. We can only live for the moments we are given, so why not make those moments count, why not make those moments so amazing that you can't forget them, why not make those moments something you are proud of. 

By doing this program, I have been called crazy, stupid, brave, courageous, daring, determined, stupid, and many more things. But, by doing this program, I have learned more about the world, about myself, and about cultures than I ever would have if I was still in Florida. 

I can't even express how grateful I am for this opportunity. 

I can't even express how grateful I am for everything I have been given.

Rest in peace Tomas. You were one of us. Always were, always will be. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. You will never be forgotten. I didn't personally know you, but I have friends who did, we are all connected. We are 

a family and stick together. We love you and you will greatly missed. ♥ Rest in Peace. You don't know what tomorrow holds for you, so live in the moment. Always say "I love you". Live with no regrets. Never say " I wish I did that". Do what you want, because in the end, it's your life. You have the choice to make it good or bad. Tomas has made an impact on all of us, even if we didn't know him personally. We have all gotten closer, and also realized what we have and what we have been given. Don't take it for granted.

People from all over the world, from all different countries, speaking all different languages, and living very, very different lives have been touched by one person. 

So I challenge you all who read my blog, or even if you just look at the pictures, live like you were dying. 525,600 minutes, how do you measure a year?

Sweet Serendipity. 

Genuine.

So I went to Dortmund yesterday with a bunch of friends and this picture just happened to turn up by means of obviously somebody taking it. I am very grateful that that person took this picture because this picture means the world to me right now, and will be cherished by me for the rest of my life. 

My friend Cauê commented on this picture and said:
"esse é o tipo de foto que vai dar uma saudadeeee depois kkkk"

Yes, I know it's in Portugese, and yes I will tell you exactly what it means. 
It's along the lines of "This is the kind of picture that will make you miss it after." 

It really really will. I can't even describe how much the people in this picture mean to me, especially the girl i am hugging. It is truly indescribable. Just thinking about it makes me tear up. Because I know that after these next 2 weekends, I leave for London, and then we go to Deutschland tour and then Maria moves out. My life will change dramatically. It really really will. Yes, we have our separate friends, and we have our separate times, but she has become my sister, so I just expect her to be home when I come home. She is supposed to always be there. I have become used to having her always with me. It will be a very hard time. I also know soon that after she moves, she will then be on her third and last family, which means that her exchange will end soon. January, to be exact. It's going to be a very hard time. 

This is genuine friendship. There are people who are part of your life, who you are best friends with, but not people you can live with. Maria and I have lived together from the moment we met. There was no option. It was happening whether we had liked each other, or hated each other. Needless to say, we have become the closest and best of friends, obviously. There was nothing we could hide from each other. It was truly a sisterhood like no other. Our bad habits, our morning breath, our lovely late night snack cravings. Everything was out there. It's been really great. I know I've said this before, but it had to have been fate; us being put in the same house. Because this doesn't happen. Everybody I have talked to has asked us why, or how, and we never have an answer because it doesn't happen. It really doesn't. So this was meant to happen. It was meant to be. We will always be friends. Always and forever. 

I hope that our friendship is one that people look at and say, wow, I wish I had a friendship like theirs. I am my complete and total self around her. She is my best friend here, and definitely one of my best friends in this whole world. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost her. Or even, in January, when she goes back to Brasil. It's truly heart wrenching. I wish we had a longer amount of time, but we don't. There was one thing she said one time "17 years wouldn't be a long enough time to be your sister." This is a bond that I can't even explain, but it is very true, and very strong. 

We sit and look at the little river run through Menden. We laugh at the wrong times, yes dinner included. We talk about everything. We have gummi bear and beer picnics. We roll down the side of hills. We walk home from school. We ask each other if we look okay. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We are honest with each other. We share music. We say the same things, at the same time. We go to concerts. We go to parties. We spend almost every minute of every day together. There's just too long of a list to even keep going. I hope that someday, this is a friendship I can tell my children and my grandchildren about, and they can get to know their Brasilian siblings. 

 "immer mit dir"

I have now realized that you have to cherish every moment you have. Every moment you are given. Every moment you experience something new. Every day is an adventure. Every day is a new morning. Every day is something that you can share with somebody. Learn something new. Do something different. Live life spontaneously. I have learned so much here, I apply it in my life always. I am so excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for me, but I don't want time to pass by so quickly. It already has been. So take a moment everyday to think about what you've accomplished to get where you are today. What you've overcome to be who you are. Look at where you are. 

I listened to this song while writing this today, and this song is so very true to me right now. To my friends right now. Give it a listen. The link is at the bottom. 


                                                               "93 Million Miles"
                                                                   Jason Mraz

93 million miles from the Sun, people get ready get ready,
'cause here it comes it’s a light, a beautiful light, over the horizon into our eyes
Oh, my my how beautiful, oh my beautiful mother
She told me, "Son in life you’re gonna go far, and if you do it right you’ll love where you are
Just know, that wherever you go, you can always come home"

Ohh…ohh…ohh…
Ohh…ohh…ohh…

240 thousand miles from the Moon, we’ve come a long way to belong here,
To share this view of the night, a glorious night, over the horizon is another bright sky
Oh, my my how beautiful, oh my irrefutable father,
He told me, "Son sometimes it may seem dark, but the absence of the light is a necessary part.
Just know, you’re never alone, you can always come back home"

Ohh…ohh…ohh…
Ohh…ohh…ohh…

You can always come back…back…

Every road is a slippery slope
There is always a hand that you can hold on to.
Looking deeper through the telescope
You can see that your home’s inside of you.

Just know, that wherever you go, no you’re never alone, you will always get back home

Ohh…ohh…ohh…
Ohh…ohh…ohh…

Ohh…ohh…ohh…
Ohh…ohh…ohh…
Ohh…ohh…ohh…

93 million miles from the Sun, people get ready get ready,
'cause here it comes it’s a light, a beautiful light, over the horizon into our eyes…

You willl always be my sister, Maria Carolina Martins do Amaral.
Ich liebe dich. I love you forever. 
Immer mit dir.



Sweet Serendipity.