ITHACA

Man, it's great to be back in Ithaca!  Too bad I'm already gone.  I'm sitting in the Binghamton Bus Terminal, making my way back to Summit one last time before I skip over to Spain.  But I had a great weekend.

Ithaca is a special place and I’ll miss it.  Visiting this weekend, just as everyone was digging in for junior year, I almost could have stayed.  I slept at 509 South Aurora, where I will be living during spring semester and I felt quite at home. The house has three floors and seven bedrooms, but the only room worth mentioning is the lounge on the second floor.  There are no posters in this room, only tapestries.  Ample seating is arranged around a coffee table, on which there is an ashtray, a scented candle, a supply of incense, and a piece of an overhead projector.  There is a mini-fridge, and a speaker system with the warmest, most premium sound.  There are often comedy programs or children’s cartoons playing on the TV.  It’s a great room for relaxing.  But greater than any one room or house is the South Hill community.  Friends living next door, across the street, and around the block from each other have thrown off the shackles of dorm life and welcomed the freedom of being off campus.  Everybody seems to be vigorously seizing and loving life, and it makes me eager to jump feet-first into my own experience abroad.

With Spain, I am anticipating the unknown, and I feel a bit like I did waiting for freshman year to start.  Over the weekend, I was given a unique opportunity to reflect on this comparison.  As it goes, I was walking with a few friends when we were asked by a group of juniors, “You guys freshman?”.  After answering ‘yes’ I found myself reverting to the mindset I had when I was walking back from my first night out at Ithaca.  The conversation I got into was about how I should be active in every way, how I should not be shy of grasping opportunities, and how I should party.  All I did was agree with him and state the plans I had two years ago - join the swim team, maybe play club frisbee, get involved with music, etc - and I told him how excited I was for all the experiences of college.  I never told him that I was a fellow junior.  At any rate, the point of this story is that I now have as many or more possibilities than I had as an incoming freshman, granted I will have less time to chart my course in Spain, though the unknown is much greater.  Then after I come back, I may get caught up in a conversation or a daydream where I see myself standing next to the man I was before studying abroad.  I’m going to become very worldly.
Anyway, I got a good fill of Ithaca.  Gorges were jumped in, shenanigans were had, and music was shared.  I couldn’t ask for more of anything but time.  But I’m off in a couple days, so peace out, Ithaca. Stay good for me.