Hey guys Just another note This has to be without a doubt the best month I have had here in Hungary…it’s definitely not as exciting as Javier’s “surfing a river” but its still pretty cool. Before Gio and I left for Europe…we both agreed that it would be wicked plan if we could meet on the other side…time passed, and that possibility seemed to be lost in the wind until he told me that he would be traveling to Budapest as one of the destinations on the Euro tour he was apart of. So I met up with him… After arriving late, getting lost twice, missing buses, etc. we made it to his hotel…which let me tell you, would get a person who has grown up in the city lost trying to find it…but I did… So living up to the standards of an ordinary Bahamian, I ran in screaming and shouting all excited…like national geographic style man… So I go in and saw Gio sitting down in the lobby…stands up, throws down all of his things on the floor and runs to me… I swear man, if you didn’t know us, you would think that we hadn’t seen one another in years rather then just months. It was great to see him…we spent the whole day together…doing what us island people do best…shopping… We did a bit of sightseeing…acted like tourists… Unfortunately we only had one day together but we did as much as we could. I got to meet all of his friends in his Rotary club and some others that live throughout Germany. It was great to speak in front of them…they were all like, “are they speaking English?” It was classic. That night, the nice Rotary members from Gio’s district invited me to the dinner cruise on the Danu River…which I might add was fantastic… All of the buildings were lit up…sparkling over the water… It was gorgeous…and was the best thing that I have seen since I have been here. It made me proud to be in such a country. On another note I turned 18 on the 16th of May. It was quiet but nice. I celebrated it the whole weekend. I can’t think of any other place that would have been more memorable and unforgettable. I got many gifts – all of great value. My room still smells of daisies, roses and lilies. I heard from family and friends from all over. That part was one of the best for me. I was happy to hear from them and that they are doing well. We spoke about my coming home, and then reality set in again. Nine months down, one to go. A week or so ago…all of the exchange students here took part in another trip organized by Rotary. This was better then the last. We spent the weekend in a city called Miskolc (Mish-Kolts) It was my first of being there as it is quite far from where I live. It is positioned on the eastern side of Hungary, and if you ask me, it takes forever and a day to get there. But the travel time was worth it. There we had a language competition consisting of written and oral tests. It all went well…and at the end, we got prizes for our award for speaking such great Hungarian (of course not everyone received something) The only unfortunate thing during our stay was that we didn’t get to see the entire city…we didn’t have enough time because the town itself is so big. On the day that we arrived, we went on a Tram ride through the hills and valleys that were filled with lush thriving forests. It was beautiful. It was like the sky was painted with green. Everywhere that you looked, it was all that you saw. It rained that day…and as it did, rainbows stretched themselves across the open lucid earth. The essence of light embodied me…it was the first I have seen of sunshine in all of my months of being here… (but this time, it was different) It dried the lingering drops of water that fell onto my face…staining my skin with a luminosity that I found only then.  From that moment…time was spent with the laughs that we shared and the memories we created. It portrayed to us the wisdom of friendship…an unbreakable bond. It was one the last times I would see them again. It was dim. But, change is what we live for. Who knows what the depths of the future has to offer. As time is coming to an end for me here in my once unknown world…I am saddened. The other day…I stood and watched as my class graduated; holding hands and sharing familiar smiles with one another…it was great to have been apart of that. A made eye contact with them whilst they were on stage, so nervous, fragile, ready to break with distress at any moment…fighting it…holding it back. I remember because I felt the same. I have learnt that things come to an end…starting others. Whichever steps we choose or that are chosen for us, we are given new elements – colors, tones, attitudes. We are contrasted by that of a darkness and a light. The narrative of our being. We do not grow, just become so proverbial with it, that, at times it is not even noticed. Eternal chapters running into the next…a subsequent fairy-tale. We write our own book, our own stories…our own life – sometimes forgetting to live rather than exist. It is as though; we confuse them unvaryingly A few days ago, my mother told me that one of our family members has grown to be very ill…that they were expecting to loose her at any time. And in my breathless awe, I sighed. Last night, I opened my email account and read reprehensibly, that she had passed. Tears filled up in the back of my eyes…and they fell. I lit a candle in my room, with a flame that stands unfalteringly…resembling that of her stature. And I realize, that it was beauty at its best. A glorious release. She belongs to a place much greater then this world. She is home. And its ok. She had the ability to make you laugh, forgetting all about the worries of the world; They just disappeared. With her life, she brought many things that were needed for mine as well as many others. Throughout her time, she has given us a happiness rich with love and a sadness that we despise. The sadness of her absence. A quality that if we were without, we are unable to be… Her existence has departed, as ours has yet to become. Rest in peace Auntie Vera. Say a prayer for her. Until next time. Laura