I’ve met so many people here in Barcelona. I’ve made friends with people as close as UMass Amherst and as far as the Netherlands. And while it is amazing to meet all of these people, I miss the people at Tufts. I miss my Jumbo community.
I recently returned to Barcelona after a week and a half of traveling. It started with a 6:30 a.m. Ryanair flight to Marrakech, where a group of 13 friends and I spent six days doing everything you would expect from a typical ‘Morocco’ study abroad trip: riding camels, sleeping in the desert and getting Instagram photos (you all should follow me on Instagram — extra, unregulated ‘Jumbo’s Journey’ content is posted there).
From Marrakech, I traveled with a smaller group (five of us) through Andalusia, Málaga and Seville before I broke off from the group and traveled to Córdoba and Granada. For Córdoba, I decided to do some solo travel, since no one else in my group was interested in joining me. If you read my last column, you might recognize a theme here. I did what I wanted to do without letting others dissuade me. See? Sometimes I take my own advice.
When I got to Córdoba, I expected to feel alone. After days of constantly being surrounded by people (even in bed), I thought the silence and isolation in a new city would make me feel uncomfortable. But instead, it felt like a relief — like a long exhale I didn’t know I needed.
And that’s when my mind drifted back to Tufts.
After spending so much time constantly surrounded by people, I thought I would finally enjoy being alone. And for a moment, I did. But almost immediately, I found myself thinking about the people I had left behind: my friends, my housemates and the communities I’m a part of.
It wasn’t something I expected. Out of all the places my mind could have gone in that moment, it went there — not to the places I had visited, but to the people I had experienced them with.
For three years now, I’ve talked about how amazing the people at Tufts are. For example, in my first-semester reflection, I wrote, “The people I have met have been the most surprising aspect so far. … Being able to connect with people from as far away as Singapore to the unparalleled kindness and openness that most students and professors exude are why I sometimes don’t cut the line in Dewick.” This has been an idea I’ve known about since my first day in Hodgdon Hall, but it still surprises me.
The people at Tufts are special. There’s a willingness to be present, to listen, to laugh and to go out of their way to make a moment better. I miss all the small things at Tufts: spontaneous plans, running into friends at Kindlevan, the big hugs we share at parties and the way people turn ordinary moments into something memorable.
Being alone in Córdoba made me realize something: Independence is important. Meeting new people and experiencing new places is, too. But in that quiet moment, I found myself thinking less about where I was and more about who I wished was there with me. And for me, those people are the ones I’ve been fortunate enough to spend the last three years with in Medford.
My time here in Barcelona is coming to an end. And while I will be sad when I leave, I find myself most excited to return to something familiar: the people who have shaped my experience long before this study abroad semester even began.
Because as much as I have loved exploring new places and meeting new people, this experience has made one thing even clear: I’ve been lucky enough to find a community of people who make every place and every experience feel like something more.
And for me, that will always be my big, fat Jumbo community.
With gratitude,
Ben Rachel
