I sit down on my bed and stare out the window. I am home.
Today, I took the last of my final exams for my summer program in Almaty, Kazakhstan. As the time I have left in Kazakhstan dwindles, I am overcome with silent thoughtfulness. I reflect back on the last few months, trying to understand how the first days felt like years, when the past seven weeks flew by in what felt like seconds. And yet, in a way, my seven weeks here have been a lifetime in themselves.
At first, I cannot help but to measure my experience in Kazakhstan by the places I have been and the things I have done. I think of my first excursion to Kok-Tobe, where I collided with others in bumper cars, screamed down the side of the mountain on a perilous roller coaster and walked through the zoo with faces that barely had names for me yet. I recall standing before the Big Almaty Lake, breathless and speechless, knowing nothing of the other beautiful lakes I would visit during the following weeks. The eagle hunting demonstration, truly one of a kind, comes to mind. My bones freeze, while my heart warms, at the recollection of swimming in the icy Kolsai and Kaindy lakes. I remember my weekend in Balkhash, rolling around under the sun, floating in the lake, watching a sunset that neither words nor photographs could ever capture.
