Walking past a run-down park, you watch a group of teenage boys playing football. You stop and sit.

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Finally, you walk into the place that you have waited to see come together for what seemed to be an eternity. You close your eyes, breathe in, breathe out, open your eyes, and immediately know you’re home… Finally, it is game day and you’re located in the happiest place on the planet, Doak Campbell Stadium.

 

You miss this. The college days. This place-- where you are RIGHT NOW-- is so beautiful, yet you find yourself wanting to leave it day after day. You want to stay with him, but don't know how much more you can take. Someday you hope this place will feel like home...BECOME home. Your current home (away from Costa Rica), will become the foreign place. Is that the goal?

 

One of your favorite pictures from college pops into your head.

You reminisce about this day.....the day you both shared your first kiss.....a game day!

 

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Suddenly a ball whizzes over your head wwwzzz. You look down at your watch; 20 minutes have passed. The boys stare at you-- wanting you to leave. You keep walking down the street-------->>, but pause                              when you see a Seminole baseball cap moving through the crowd...? You long for it to be someone from home, that soon-to-be foreign place.



                                             "Look around," she says. "What do you see?"

 

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                             Questions will arise with no sign of answers. You are l          . 

                                                                                                                           s

                                                                                                                      o

                                                                  In a city that speaks.

 

                             But you can't understand what she says...what her people say.

                                                                                                                                         

 

 

 Children ride by on a bike. You wonder where they are going--where they are coming from. So you ask,

 

"Where are you going?"

 

This is your answer: ____________.

 

Silence.

They continue their ride to nowhere.

 

 

 You walk on the black sand beach. Surfers carve through the water; they speak the language of the ocean. You want to understand so you ask,

 

"Where did you learn the language of the ocean?"

This is your answer: Na-ci con el-la.

Or at least that's what it sounds like.

Foreign language is just as good as silence.

 

Your frustration rises. Looking into the distance, you see a dog.

 

 

Tossing a coconut near him, he brings it back to you. He looks content, licking the water. You breathe in the salty air, finally feeling at ease. This new friend barks as a car drives by and chases it--leaving you A L O N E.

 

You wonder why you agreed to come here with him. Will everything be okay?

 

On the walk home, you see a simple sign. It says, "Si." Yes. You think back to your question.

 

The city has spoken.