I’m writing this from the airport, on my way back home, the last thing I do as a volunteer in Bremen. What a year, huh? Yeah, truly, what a year… full of all the emotions I knew, and many I didn’t. A year of discovering, of discovering myself, of losing and getting lost. I’ve learned to feel at home more than 3,000 km away from mine, I’ve learned what I want for myself, for my future, and for my life, and what I don’t.
There have been many occasions, more than I’d like to admit, where I was one click away from buying a ticket back earlier than planned and giving up. There have been nights of anxiety, loneliness, tears, and insomnia, but there have also been days of discovering new cities, new cultures, of connecting with people with whom I couldn’t exchange a single word due to language barriers. I’ve had beautiful moments, thanks to not letting the bad outweigh the good. That’s the most important lesson I take from this experience: learning to value all the good that life has to offer, to face each day grateful for the opportunity to be alive, to live and to feel.
I don’t know what the future holds for me, whether my home in Spain, my home in Germany, or maybe a new home somewhere else in the world. Who knows? All I know is that I’m grateful to the Álvaro of the past for embarking on this adventure, for holding on, for not giving up, for making it through. Today, I reap the fruits of the past 12 months and return home with them.
Thank you, Bremen. I will always have a place in my heart for your key.
Alvaro was hosted by Kultur vor Ort e.V. on our project co-funded by the European Union.
