back to mon routes... this past weekend I was in Oregon with Eriquinha and Matze-Katze visiting Rita and Wayne. Such good times.
I have so many incredible memories of that place and the way the weekend unfolded was like a magically orchestrated symphony through the best of my memories.
On Friday we did a walking trip around campus that included a quick stop at the new business school, a brick hunt outside the EMU (see the pic below), an intro to the Mills International Center and a peek at 2 of my old homes: The ISA and the ASUO offices. It almost brought me to tears. To top it off, I even bumped into Kellen (who I had only met via phone) and got to give him a well deserved hand shake for all his incredible work in helping mobilize international students and alumni to demand transparency on the whole Magid and Kathy deal. And we really closed the day in the best possible way. An hour visit with Magid in his office. Everything felt so perfect, so familiar, so serene.
On saturday we fired up some old bikes and did "the loop". Basically from their
house through Amazon park, through campus, by the river, through the park, to VRC ending at Saturday Market downtown. The weather was incredible and doing that route 12 years after I had done it the first time was just priceless. The smell of the fresh grass, the sound of the river, that familiar burn on my bike-loving legs and even the smell of the beer as we rode by McMenamins were like an ode to my past.
And speaking of, a wild salmon sandwich with a pint of Hammerhead, was exactly what I was thinking of to wrap up another awesome day. And guess what? That's what we did! :)
Sunday started with a trip to the Glennwood for breakfast and then a quick trip back to the house for packing. Before I even felt like I was awake it was time to head over to the airport.
Rita and Wayne continue to be as sweet, energetic and welcoming as on that first day they picked me up from terminal A at the Eugene airport...at around 3pm on September 12, 1996 to be more precise :)
This trip at this time of my life really meant a lot to me. Last time I visited was 5 years ago and at that time I was consumed with feelings of defeat and even managed to fire up the rental car after everyone had gone to sleep and drove around town to all my favorite spots and said good bye to all of them. Looking back I can't believe I had really convinced myself that that was the last time I would be there. It still makes my stomach turn just remembering what that felt like. I fought back the tears all weekend long. Bitter-sweet doesn't even begin to explain it.
As I said to Wayne this weekend, this last trip felt like I had come full circle and that all the pieces of my puzzle were finally back in place. From the day I left, a month after graduation, I had told myself I would go back and make it all right once I knew I could stay. I wanted to go back and nod my head at Magid, at the EMU, at Johnson Hall, at the college of business (heck, even at the school of Biology! :D), at the ISA office, at the ASUO office and at the Library and say thank you for what those 4 years did for me.
As I said good bye to them at the airport this past Sunday I stood there and thought of that afternoon that I sat at my parent's dinner table with a U of O envelope closed and heard my mom say "well, even if the lady said the UO didn't give you a scholarship, let's open the envelope and read it anyway". And of course I also though of the moment I opened the envelope and read that I had received a full tuition scholarship for 4 years. At 1:30pm this past Sunday I smiled to myself thinking that the resilience and curiosity in me had taken me to that place 13 1/2 years later. All of a sudden the last 8 years (till 06/06/08) didn't seem that bad at all.
As long as I can continue to open envelopes, hold back my tears, keep on plugging and come back for a micro-brew and bike ride, I think I'll be ok.
