Hemos llegado (We've Arrived): The Ride In

FLIGHT ITINERARY:

LAX (Los Angeles, CA)- MIA (Miami, FL)- MAD (Madrid, Spain)- VLC (Valencia, Spain)

LAX: CAn You Believe It?

My wonderful, loving, and supportive family. Without them,
I certainly would never be here. Thank you guys so much.
 For everything.

When I got to LAX, I wasn't sure what to feel. On one hand, I was beyond excited to finally begin my four year journey with Florida State; on the other hand, I was devastated to be leaving behind so many loved ones: my friends, my city, my country, and (especially) my family. The day started with many tears of joy and sadness, but we all knew that we'd see each other very, very soon.

With my traveling companions, Brittney and Parker, we boarded the plane and were off, starting our journey to College. 

MIA: Thank God for Delayed FLights

Our plane arrived to the Miami International Airport at 5:00 pm ET, which was, to our surprise, a half hour earlier than we were supposed to be there. Expecting to get to our 6:35 pm flight to Madrid with plenty of time, we sat back in our seats and awaited the planes arrival to our gate... Boy, were we in for a big surprise. 

So, despite our early arrival, Florida's fabulously stormy weather had managed to keep all other planes at bay, preventing our plane from getting to the gate. An hour had passed (6:00 pm, for those keeping score at home) before we could even get out. They say the bulls that chase daring Spaniards in Pamplona can run up to 20 mph; but I think participants of the bull run would have been running too had they seen three hungry, tired teenagers with oversized backpacks and two guitars galloping across the Miami Airport, not unlike the bulls, to make it in time for their flight. 

But don't worry (which is easier to say now than it was in the moment), because the damned weather that had delayed several flights did not spare our flight to Madrid. Our departure time was moved to 7:20 pm. A sigh of relief was released. We met up with FSU Sophomore, Nick, and another FYA (First Year Abroad) student Christian N. at the gate.

We had a long 8 hours ahead of us, but we were happy to just be on the plane. 

The one question that kept circulating among us, though, was this:

"Could you imagine if we had missed that flight?"

MAD: MAdre de Dios! Hemos Llegado a España! (Mother of God! We Have Arrived to Spain!)

I know it's a little hard to see. But you can kind of
make out the geometric shapes. It looked great
from the plane.

Flying over Spain was flying over a huge Cubism painting. The fields and land plots looked like random geometric shapes and figures that would astound Picasso. Needless to say, I was breathless at my first glimpse of Spain.

But I hadn't slept a wink on the plane, despite several feeble attempts to do so. Let's do the math: I had spent about 13 hours on a plane, a total of about 15 or 16 hours traveling in general, with perhaps a measly hour or so of sleep. At this point, I was more excited to see the sleeping arrangements at the study centers than the town of Valencia. The five of us explored the Madrid airport before our 12:30 pm (Spanish-time) flight to Valencia; the last leg of the trip. Customs was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be (they literally just stamped the thing and shooed me away). It was at the gate for our flight where we met up with about twenty other FSU students with the same final destination. 

As if we had all suddenly become family, it was here that we boarded the flight to the city that we would all soon call our homes.

VLC: VÁle (Okay) Valencia.

The Valencia Airport.

This plane ride I was most excited for for several reasons: a) it was the shortest flight on our itinerary (only thirty-five minutes) and b) it would take me to the place that I had been anxiously awaiting to go to since I made the decision to go to FSU. On the plane ride there, I met María, a former resident of New York who was on her way to live with her new husband in Valencia. As I was looking for an overhead compartment on this miniature aircraft to put my traveler guitar in, she gave me a look that was just as confused as I was. María and I talk for the majority of the flight. From nightlife to locals to sites to see and visit, I could not have been more excited to get there.

When we finally landed, I couldn't help but just. Smile. I smiled the biggest smile any face had ever smiled before.

This was it. The Beginning. I can't wait to enjoy the Middle, and I hope the end will come when it has to. Just not too soon, please.

'Til our roads meet,
Christian Camacho

The Traveling 'Nole

Amigos (Friends): Where the Sidewalk Ends, and New Roads Begin (or the See Yah Later Post)

Friendships are priceless. No one can put a price tag on friendship. To do so would be to sell one's self short of the happiness a genuine friendship can provide at the incredibly low cost of one's love and appreciation....

This week has been an exceptionally hard week for me. I've had to say goodbye to friends, old and new, in such a short span of time. And even with the allotted amount of time that this busy Summer has given me, I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to everyone.

My good middle school friends, Austin and Boa.

I believe that the people one surrounds his/her/their self with are key to defining the kind of person one is. But if that's the case, then, oh boy, do I have a personality disorder. I have developed groups of friends so varied in character, it is hard to  believe they tell the same story: the story of me. Friendships vary from birth to now, but there are no two people whom I call my friends that are alike.

To me, that is the unique, incredible, and miraculous part about my friends: no matter how different they all are, they all contribute to how I have grown as a person in someway. I embrace difference: quirky, wild, passionate, stubborn, outspoken, recluse, innovative, clever, you name it, there's a someone who matches a different descriptor. I've had the pleasure of getting to know so many wonderful human beings who, I know, can amount to so much.

But where does the time go?

Like I said, it's been the hardest week so far. How do you say goodbye to so many people whom you have come to love so whole-heartedly, whom you admire, and who will go out on their own path? Simple. Well, the process is easier said then done, but the idea behind the process isn't too hard to grasp.

These guys have really helped me live. Thanks for the memories.

First, you understand that this is not really a goodbye, only "see yah later," and when you do see them again, you'll cherish that time even more. (Sorry that you had to hear that for the billionth and first time.) Goodbye has such a casual ubiquity about it. Everyone says it, and yet nobody means it. Which is great, but "see yah later" just sounds a lot sooner than "goodbye."

The irreplaceable Upward Bound Crew.

Second, you appreciate what everyone has taught you. My friends have expanded my world views, shown me new ways to look at situations, taught me how to love someone or a group of people, and most importantly how to love myself. These are lessons that no classes at any university, college, or community college can teach us. What a valuable resource.

Third, you learn to take what was given and apply it to the future. I haven't quite figured this one out yet, but I will let you know when I get there.

My incredible, blessed CORE team
at OLG.

Nick, my lifelong brother from another mother. 

Many people get caught up in the wrong crowd, but I'm so thankful and proud to say that I have kept up with the best of friends that anyone could have. A few friends have maybe gone a little off course, but I hope they consider me the right crowd.

La Frateli: the brothers.
You two will always be my brothers. 

"I would rather walk in the dark with a friend, than walk alone in the light."
~Helen Keller

ENCORE! The two guys I love
making music with.

Those who love you will stay and walk through the darkness, and those who remain superficial will only come when you have something they want, which is as good as having no one at all. I'd rather have that security in times of need than have no one to share high-standing achievements with.

Jess, Cam, Ember, and Abby; four women
I couldn't have suffered high school without.

Of course, leaving the company of such outstanding and amazing people comes with suffering. One can't help but feel lonely in the new the place they'll venture to or in the old place they'll stay without friends. But, as the wise Evans G. Valens said, "how lucky I am to have known somebody and something that saying goodbye to is so damned awful."

And I can't make a Silverstein reference (albeit an unintentional one) and not quote the poem itself.

Luke, my right hand man.

My dear Cam.

"Yes, we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow.
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the side walk ends."
~Shel Silverstein





Well, we're no longer children. Yet, somehow, we (kinda) know what we're doing.

I wish we could walk with a walk that was measured slower. But now is the next phase in our timeline; the next chapter in our book; the next book in our collection; the next step on the path that we chose when the "two roads diverged in a wood." (Frost) (I could go on all day with these, people.)

This is where our sidewalk ends, and new roads begin. See yah later.

'Til our roads meet,
Christian Camacho
The Traveling 'Nole

Hogar (Home): Prologue

Los Torres de Serranos with FSU Study Center in the back.

Home.

Home is a nomadic, impermanent, and limitless concept. 

Nomadic, because home moves wherever we move (yes, yes a cliché, move on). Impermanent, because in the midst of human conflict and calamity, change is inexorable. And limitless, because home can be whatever you want it to be.

(Eat your heart out, Hallmark reading cards)

After having the luxury of being born and raised for 18 years in Reseda, California, the longevity that is now my adult life, home is now changing. I have had several concepts of home over these 18 years: California, The San Fernando Valley, School, and, of course, my house that has been the Camacho household for the past 19 or 20 years (all I know is that I came 2 years after).

California has and always will be my home. When I started the college application process, I could have sworn that I'd attend a university in California, whether it was CSUN (California State University, Northridge) or San Francisco State University. Several out-of-state opportunities presented themselves to me (namely, being a finalist for the POSSE Scholarship, Dickinson College). I chose Florida State University, not just because of my dad's unexplainable 20+ year love affair with the University, or its (in)famous Football program, but because I felt it was the home I had wanted my entire life.

In all honesty, the real kicker for me was the First Year Abroad (FYA) Program, where I could choose to study abroad as a Freshman from one of four International locations: Panama; London, England; Florence, Italy; or Valencia, Spain. Being of Latin decent, Spain would be the perfect home to hon my Spanish speaking skills and become immersed in a new culture. 

I recently made a new home, prior to and following orientation at FSU. Through social media and GroupMe, I've already established great friends on the other side of the country, a roommate from Georgia, and a great friend who has shared California as a home with me. This home is with people I will be spending the next four years or so with.

My home is Nomadic. I will take pieces of my home that cannot be separated from me (memories and the person I have become) to Valencia, Spain and make new homes along the way. 

My home is Impermanent. I will have to return from Europe to Tallahassee, Florida (from here on, now known as "Tally") and leave the home(s) I've made. 

But that's okay, because my home is also Limitless. Tally and Florida State University will become my new home, and I will always have the ones I left behind, be it in Spain, London, Florence, Paris, Panama, Rome, and especially Reseda, California.

Home to me is where one feels most comfortable.

My favorite lines from one of my favorite poems go:

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I––
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

The Road Not Taken~ Robert Frost

My fellow Florida State FYA's and I have taken a road less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

'Til our roads meet,

Chris Camacho

The Traveling 'Nole