a letter to erin

I wish I could be unaffected but, I’ve been at college for 6 months now, away from familiarity. I’ve made only one friend, but that doesn’t help my longing for something comforting. I’m away from everything that is important to me. It’s harder to carve a path for myself when nothing feels secure.

dear erin, 

homesickness is no foreign curse to me either.

i have come from the south of this earth – although that is little more than a construct –, and i have been in these cold lands for a year and a half. given my longer relationship with this mode of solitude, i will allow myself to give you a piece of unsolicited advice and i hope you find it in your heart the compassion to forgive me.

but erin, you must love it here with all of your senses, with all that you got. do it even when the people are rude and the air is dry. do it when the food is mediocre at best and you are on the verge of giving up and going back home. because to love despite the challenges is a daily practice that should never be forgotten or taken for granted. one can be lonely in a full room, but for those who love without limits, or despite limitations, there may still be hope.

saudade is a word from my mother's tongue that has and needs no translation.