As some of you may know, I recently had to take a trip back to America due to the bureaucracy that comes with crossing international borders. Although I was very frustrated with having to go back to the States when I had planned on being away for the entire year, I am very glad it happened for a variety of reasons.

The first reason I am grateful for this trip back to the States is because I got to see my family and friends. Even though I have been staying with my cousin in Los Angeles, my parents were able to make the 9-hour drive from Carson City to come see me for the weekend. Although nothing really changed with my 18-year old brother, my 10-year old brother and my 9-year old sister were completely different. Emilio is on the verge of going into middle school and is almost as tall as me. I am shocked about how rationally and thoughtfully approaches situations and how chivalrous he has become. Cristina is no longer the little baby that I left in January. No longer is she the little kid who was fascinated by princesses, but now she has hit the “diva age” where she wants to be the next big pop queen. My mom and dad were relieved to see that I had all of my limbs, but not to stoked about the tree on my ankle or the hole in my nose. It was nice being back in the family setting. I missed my mom making me food and making jokes about my other family members and I kinda missed my dad constantly questioning my life choices. A few more of my uncles came into town as well and we had a BBQ and a beach day. It kinda felt like I had never even left. I even got to spend a couple of days riding horses and eating most of the O.C. with Sarah Ghods in a red bug convertible. I love spending time with the people that I love and although people and things change, one thing never will- saying goodbye to your mom at the airport never gets any easier.

Secondly, I think that a week back in the states was a good way for me to come back down to reality and shift my mindset. Personally, I feel as though the UK is not extremely different from the US. Turkey and Ghana are going to be very different, culturally at least, from what I know and am familiar with. This week reminded me of why I am traveling- to experience new things and go beyond what I am comfortable with.  During the next six months, I am going to strive to continue to be as uncomfortable as I can possible be (in a good way). It also allowed me to ditch most of my luggage. Right now I am only carrying a carry-on backpack and my school backpack for the next six months. I have somehow become an expert at packing light. Who would’ve thought.

Finally, I have had the opportunity to reflect on the current state of the world that I am so eager to see and explore. Being caught up in the things I am doing during the day, it is really easy to forget to keep up on the stuff that is going on around you. Less than 24 hours after landing in LAX, I watched the news unfold in the Istanbul airport- the place I was meant to be landing in less than a week later. After many worried phone calls with my mother and father, as well as communicating with my program I decided to go ahead with my plans to travel to Turkey this summer. The world is a scary place to be in right now. Many things are changing- politically and culturally. We as human beings are being taught to fear and hate our fellow human beings because of our differences. I am going to Turkey with a lot of caution, but I am not necessarily afraid. There are bad people in this world right now that are choosing to kill hundreds in order to send a message. As a society I do not think that we are responding well to these messages. Instead of coming together as one strong community, we are breaking apart and pushing each other away. No matter what happens or what changes, there will always be bad people in the world and as a society, we cannot let these people define us. We can not let them dictate how our lives are going to be lived. I want to see the world and embrace the things I have in common with other people instead of strengthening the differences. I am not making light of the horrible things that are happening in the world. I believe that they are atrocious and my heart goes out to all of the families that have been affected by all of these tragedies that have plagued the news over the past few weeks.

My generation has grown up witnessing some of the worst acts of violence in history. These acts should not become our norm, and it is up to us to do something about it to not only change the system, but to change the mentality that is associated with acts of violence. Instead of stepping away and turning our backs on fellow people, we need to embrace each other to stop these acts from doing what they are intended to do- create fear.

As I prepare to get on the plane to Istanbul, I want to leave with these words:

Every person, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or what they have done, had infinite worth.

-L

P.S. Remember to tell your loved ones you love them and how much they are worth to you. You don’t realize how important they are until they are gone.