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Friday, 17 April 2020 08:49

Time to sum up

There is something magical and at the same time terrifying in holding the ticket that will take you to your destination, the destination of a journey that, even if not yet started, is already so tangible. And here I am. New city, new home and new life. It was all so fast, I found myself catapulted into a whirlwind of novelties and emotions. Things I could not imagine and others I expected. I learned to go shopping with the translator in hand and being careful not to take too much stuff, remembering the five floors of stairs without a lift waiting for me. I met people from all over the world, shared cultures and idioms. I learned to grow and survive in a different, foreign environment. I faced melancholy and homesickness, thinking too often that I would soon be longing for that life that I had created, and I could not miss even a second. I lived every day to the fullest, created memories that will remain among the best of my youth. I made speeches using three different languages ​​simultaneously and hugged people before I knew we would become friends. I learned to deal with the fear of walking alone in a city, especially at night, slowly trusting more and more of others, but always paying attention. I hoped to the end of never waking up from that dream that I had turned into reality, until the day a virus entered the lives of all of us. The premises were starting to close, the kindergarten was increasingly empty. All of my plans for the future have suddenly stopped; in fact, in the last period I had decided to stay in Leipzig to continue with a European volunteering project, very similar to what I was already doing, and instead I found myself packing my bags, emptying my room and tidying up the photos I had in every corner of the house. It all ended like this, suddenly. I said goodbye to colleagues and children, with a knot in my throat, I laughed at sunset with my friends, convincing myself that that would not have been a farewell, we will surely find ourselves again in that city, the city that has taken a piece of our heart and that keeps us tied.


I took a train, an airplane and a bus. I had hours of time during the trip to think about these six months, and I realized that a part of me remained in that small town in eastern Germany. In that city that changed me and made me grow.

I thank Apro International for the opportunity he offered me, for this incredible experience I have lived and for the distance support that has never been missing!

See you soon, Leipzig!

Francesca

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