New York, New York

The lights, the actions, the smells, and the sounds. When you think of New York, you most likely think of these things, whereas for me, I tend to think of the time I first lived all alone and by myself. I was a New York University Student from September 2008 to December 2011 (Usually American colleges last for four years, but because I had taken certain AP classes, I was eligible to graduate early). My parents came all the way via plane just to drop me off. We waited in the dorm for an hour. It wasn’t because we were checking in, that had been done quite quickly. They were simply afraid to let me go so early because they knew they weren’t seeing me any time soon. I told them they could leave. I had gotten into a good conversation with the other girl next to me on the bench, and all four of us sitting crammed together like pigeons was embarrassing. They finally realized it was time. They looked at me with sadness before they left, but at that age, I hadn’t learnt to think much about others. For the sake of myself learning new things, meeting new friends, and exploring an endless city, I was happy for them to go.

After I graduated from college, I kept on my globetrotting path. Once in a while I come back to New York for the sake of conferences or meetings. Even though I never went back to living there, there is still a part of me which sees it as home. I think generally any place I once lived in still can feel like a home to me. The reason why it didn’t feel that way before was because I simply didn’t want to recognize the United States as my home. These days I know and feel myself to be a foreigner even in my native country. So, seeing it as a foreigner again, I like it, in the same way I would, as if I were going back to Spain. New York never changed, though I did.

And, I am sure that New York would greet me once more, just as any other mother would greet a long lost child.