Visiting my fridge is a habit I liked to do often (it’s not that now I don’t) but now it takes more than just grabbing something to eat. I end up with an endless stream of memories pouring out of the fridge magnets that I’ve bought from every place I have visited.
I came back with thousands of pictures and lots of souvenirs, things to comfort me when I feel nostalgic. But most of them time, what you are missing can’t be revived with a picture or a souvenir. It’s something you lose contact with the moment you leave. In Portugal, I met my true self for the first time.The Culture there has allowed me and the other participants (who’ve become my family) to experience feeling liberated and free but yet responsible. No society pressures or judgments for being who you are. Two months have passed since I came back and I wake up everyday longing to feel the same. Me and my friends still maintain daily contact, share thoughts and express how life has stopped being the same for us. We were respected and accepted effortlessly.
A Portuguese friend once told me when we were saying goodbye: Now you know what you want and you can pursue it! Did I only meet wise people or all people in Portugal happen to be very wise!
Anyway, I forgot what I wanted to get from the fridge.
Sarah Qabbani