Day 100: Chasing the Sun

An important part of the Erasmus adventure had come to an end. It was time to go home for Christmas. I had been comfortable in Germany, but I needed to immerse myself in Spanish society again. See my family. See my friends. That’s why I barely did any work during the last two weeks. My eagerness to return home was so overwhelming that I let apathy take over. Despite trying a thousand times, I couldn’t bring myself to study German on my own again, and as for chemistry—better not to even mention it. In reality, the only thing I did during this time was realize how quickly time flies and constantly mumble about what I disliked about the Germans (my dislikes always battled with the things I did like, but as time passed, the balance tilted toward the former).

Finally, the day of my return arrived. Dresden woke up covered in snow. It had snowed a little in previous days, but just a few flakes that didn’t stick. But on this day, it snowed fiercely—30 centimeters of snow that made it impossible to roll my suitcase! When I arrived at the train station, there were some tense moments, as those living in the Günstrasse residence were almost immobilized by the snow. Luckily, the train to Berlin was delayed, or else they would have missed it. From that point on, the journey was smooth—no issues transferring in Elsterwerda, and we endured the annoying regional music that plays on the train to signal the arrival at each station.

Then, at four o’clock, when it was already dark, we boarded the plane from Berlin Schönefeld to Madrid. It took a little longer to take off, but that was expected—they had to de-ice the wings. Once we were in the air, the pilot began a race with the horizon, where the sky still glowed faintly orange from the sunset. It was a beautiful sight that lasted for half the flight, perfectly symbolizing the journey home from a country where the sun sets at three-thirty. Throughout the time we spent chasing the sun, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was leaving behind—and, most of all, what was waiting for me.

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