It's funny how things always seem to come full circle. When I was leaving Oxford a few months ago it was a sad occasion, and I remember asking myself "What is worse? Leaving a place and feeling like your leaving something behind or leaving a place and feeling like your leaving nothing behind?." As I wrap up my time here in Morocco I know for sure that I'm leaving a lot behind. I can honestly say that these last two months have been some of the happiest of my life. That is not what I expected when coming here. I expected a challenging and intensive summer focused on achieving my goals and truthfully in the beginning I kind of fought the idea that I could have fun at the same time. So silly. But that is just one of the many lessons I have learned this summer.
I learned a very useful phrase yesterday, "Sunnat Al-Hiat" which roughly translates to the story of life or more loosely the way things go. The doorman at the school I studied at and also one of my good friends here taught me that and it resonates well with my current circumstance. Everything comes and goes, begins and ends. It's sad but hey Sunnat - Al-Hiat. At the end of the day this is the life I have chosen for myself, at least currently. Part of the reason I chose to make this trip was to discover things about myself and perhaps now I'm realizing that this type of life isn't for me.
A good friend might disagree ;)
I used to think that I needed to travel and explore to be happy but maybe not. A while back, a good friend and I were driving around in my hometown and he said "Man I could never imagine living anywhere but here." At the time I thought that was a terrible way to think. Why the heck would anyone want to stay in Bay Saint Louis, MS? I thought that was a small way of thinking but now I know I was wrong. In these two months here in Morocco I have been lucky enough to create some great relationships, sadly many many many of them will end here. We say we'll keep in touch and build one them but the truth is for many of us the buck stops here. So what's better? Living a life in which you see the world, learn new languages meet thousands of people and are affected in a small way by all of them, or a BUILDING a life in which you know every inch of your town, know all the gossip, and meet just a few good people that impact you in a profound way every single day? I don't know the answer and like most things its probably relative and perhaps there is even a way to have both.
I fell in love here in Morocco, in more ways than one, and now I'm going to leave. I won't promise to return or that my relationships will continue as strong as they were here. All I can promise is that I will always think well of you.
Much Love Butros/Orion
I learned a very useful phrase yesterday, "Sunnat Al-Hiat" which roughly translates to the story of life or more loosely the way things go. The doorman at the school I studied at and also one of my good friends here taught me that and it resonates well with my current circumstance. Everything comes and goes, begins and ends. It's sad but hey Sunnat - Al-Hiat. At the end of the day this is the life I have chosen for myself, at least currently. Part of the reason I chose to make this trip was to discover things about myself and perhaps now I'm realizing that this type of life isn't for me.
A good friend might disagree ;)
I used to think that I needed to travel and explore to be happy but maybe not. A while back, a good friend and I were driving around in my hometown and he said "Man I could never imagine living anywhere but here." At the time I thought that was a terrible way to think. Why the heck would anyone want to stay in Bay Saint Louis, MS? I thought that was a small way of thinking but now I know I was wrong. In these two months here in Morocco I have been lucky enough to create some great relationships, sadly many many many of them will end here. We say we'll keep in touch and build one them but the truth is for many of us the buck stops here. So what's better? Living a life in which you see the world, learn new languages meet thousands of people and are affected in a small way by all of them, or a BUILDING a life in which you know every inch of your town, know all the gossip, and meet just a few good people that impact you in a profound way every single day? I don't know the answer and like most things its probably relative and perhaps there is even a way to have both.
I fell in love here in Morocco, in more ways than one, and now I'm going to leave. I won't promise to return or that my relationships will continue as strong as they were here. All I can promise is that I will always think well of you.
Much Love Butros/Orion
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