I hope it lasts forever...

Today is my last day here in New Zealand. It was a very nice day for me as well as this trip. I have loads of things going on in my mind right now and I wish I could be able to explain to you about it all in a very good way, but I just can't do it... it's hard to tell you, but it's so easy to feel it...
I can say that I feel in the same way that I felt when I left Ireland. I spent there nearly 9 months studying, working, having fun... I lived in with a really kind Irish family that made me feel like home... and after all this time, I was really happy for getting back home, but at the same time, a little bit sad for leaving everybody there... And then, a couple of days before leaving, I wrote something down about how I felt... and it just fits so well now, at this very moment that I'm preparing myself to leave NZ... I'm just gonna post it here too and I hope it can explain my feeling about everything... Ooooohhh... I guess I'm nostalgic!! haha
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"No jokes, I’d say this is one of the most important experiences in my whole life. I can not explain what everything means certainly to me, because there are a lot of meanings in everything and equally, there are a lot of feelings that I can not understand yet. For sure, I’ll just find everything out further, when I look back from the future and I would see how my life is doing… Now, I can just say that everything is mixed in my head, although everything brings me good feelings to my soul and my heart…
What I can mostly say that brought me a real meaning to all this thing happening to me is that, in spite of the fear, besides the uncertainness, although sometimes everything seemed to be going in the wrong way, I could go through everything. And this is for sure what I mostly praise widely at this moment. And it’s not just because everything brings me this feeling that it’s done, but because we can learn from our misunderstandings, from our non confidence, from our uncertainness, from our mistakes… and I, that always want that everything could be perfect, I can see myself inside such a big mess that is just going to be fixed up just in the right moment… And that’s really terrific for me!
I miss everyone and everything and it really gets worse every time. But we can learn how to survive long distances, although the pain inside the heart, with no hug bear or someone best known. But we don’t know how to survive without having friends, without making friends, without building a new life with new friends. This is impossible in a big trip like that… Everything which is gained it is got with friendship’s company as well, and that’s because all memories that we’ve got from other places we will keep them to us forever, wherever we are… I’m just so glad that I could be in so many amazing places with such good friends, now that the return is getting close, now that the Brazilian warm weather and my lovely country are getting closer and closer…
I’ll miss these greens so green, this people so proud of themselves, those people so dearest for me with whom I’ve been living here… I’ll miss chatting, the life, the wind, that such different landscape for me… But there is no time for stops, neither for cry nor sadness. There is just this feeling of a big happiness, this feeling that life starts different from now. And, the restart is just the continuation of a life full of dreams, so full of desires, that this could just be called the first big step of everything else that will come from now…" (2008, 22nd June, 2am.)

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When I got here in New Zealand, it was still last year... After flying long hours, stopping over in Dubai and flying once again more long hours, I finally got here. I didn't know what I was going to face, but I was sure of one single thing: it should be a great time for me! I worked very hard in 2009 and I was sure I would enjoy my time abroad! But not so sure about how great it would be...
So, once the school had started it was easy to have a great time. If you make friends, it is always easy to hang out, to chat, to laugh with someone... That's exactly what it happened to me! I had such a great time and I'm sure it was because of all the people that I met here. I had loads of company and I had always been surrounded by lots of nice people and that made me really happy!
So then, I just would like to thank you all for all the company that I got from everybody! I'm sure I'll keep you all in the bottom of my heart and every time I remember my time in NZ, I'm gonna remember you all as well!
I hope you all could come to my lovely country in a pretty close future and know a bit about Brazil as well! I'll be always glad in showing you all my sunny and lovely country!

You gave me a brilliant vacations month as a gift... and friendship for life... I hope it lasts forever...

To English Speakers: Many thanks, my dearest friends!!
To Brazilian Friends: Obrigada, queridíssimos do meu coração! hihi
To Japanese Friends: Hontô ni arigatô gozaimasu!
To Spanish and Latin American Friends: Gracias, mis amigos!
To Russian Speaker Friends: Spassíba!
To Korean Friends: Komawoyo!
To Arabic Speaker Friends: Shukran!

I'm gonna miss you all for sure!

Love,
Erica (or as usual, Eriquinha... haha)