The countdown had begun. We have less than a week before we leave Urbino and go back to San Antonio. Several of us are going straight home, but myself and a couple of other friends are going to be travelling around Europe for the following ten days. It is a bitter sweet feeling, this place had become more of my second home, and my classmates have become my second family. It is going to be an adjustment to wake up without seeing my roommate Rosalinda, or waiting for people down by the gathering area to go get breakfast or eagerly wait until it is 12 pm to go get food all together.
Since the departure date is coming up, this past week we decided to take one last group trip to London. We met up with three of our friends that we had met earlier on during the semester in Urbino. I loved the diversity that I had encountered in London, it was more diverse than any other place I had visited in Europe. We got to see many land marks, go ice skating and eat a lot of food. i finally got to take the group to an Arabic restaurant to provide them to experience a part of my Arabic culture. The food was amazing we ended up getting a lot of free pita bread and Hummus, everyone loved it
On the way back from London, Urbino had experienced a 4.2 magnitude earthquake. We did not get informed of this until reaching Bologna, this incident caused problems getting back to Urbino due to the railways being delayed. But we eventually got on a train and made it back to Urbino safely. I was surprised at how calm everyone was with the situation. Italy is known for earthquakes, so my guess is that they are used to it. As for me it was my first experiencing a situation like that, it was nerve racking but seeing people acting normal and resuming with their daily activities made it all seem okay.
I had another major trip this past week and this time it was to my home country Jordan. It was my first time travelling alone since I have arrived. It was interesting challenging myself in a country that barely practices the English language. Jordan was great, I got to see my lifelong friends, my grandparents, and other close family members. I did not realize how much I have missed Arabic food, I had asked for all my favorite dishes and did not eat out once. I only had four days to spend so I tried to make the best out of it. Visiting Jordan, a place I grew up in, my main concern was not going out site seeing and getting to know the country, it was more about spending time with the people that you love. Smoking hookah, drinking Arabic coffee, and playing cards. That right there sums up the idea of hang out in Jordan. One unusual experience I had done was ziplining and driving an ATV four-wheeler through the forest. It has been a festive week and I have had my portion of fun, but you always got to go back to real life.
