By Mel Faxon
A wise man by the name of Dave Matthews once wrote, “It’s not where but who you’re with that really matters.” This quote has been a favorite for a long time – I’m pretty sure it’s on my middle school yearbook page. I like to think that I was wise beyond my years, but I’m pretty sure I google searched awesome quotes and put something cliché and naturally a DMB song lyric down.
However, as I’ve moved through life, through different places and spaces, that point has only become more and more true and significant for me. The relationships that I have made with new people in each new stage of my life are what have made those moments worthwhile.
Never has this sentiment hit home harder than during these past few months working for Bus2alps. You can look at my pictures and see these amazing places and incredible buildings full of history and say to yourself – this girl would be crazy to complain. But you can be lonely in any city, as I’ve learned in the few weeks I was in Barcelona without my roommates. And yes, I will remember the Eiffel Tower lit up at night and the tapas in Seville and the view from Eze in the French Riviera, but I’ll also remember that it was the first time that Amanda had ever been to Paris and the five amazing girls who were lucky enough to have Rafael as their guide through my favorite town in Spain and the near-fainting experience that Sydney had when we saw Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban in Eze.
I will take home with me memories of Bar del Born, the days wandering around el Gotico just because, the awe from the inside of the Sagrada Familia, the family dinners where we stayed in just to hang out together. Those “Wow, my life is incredible,” moments that stop you in your tracks as you realize that you are so incredibly blessed to be alive and to know the people you do.
This job really has been one that has turned coworkers into friends, and friends into family. My Barcelona crew is now another part of my family, the ever-growing group of people that have made their mark on my heart and who I will carry with me always.
So hasta luego, Barcelona. …here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
