February 15th: the day Catie Jaffe was born.
When I signed up for this trip, I knew I would be spending
my 20th birthday in Australia. I knew that I would be with a group of
people who I had only known for a month on a day usually spent with my closest
friends and family. While I wasn’t necessarily sad about this, I was a bit
worried that not being with these people would stir up some potentially suppressed
feelings of home sickness.
The day before my birthday, on Valentine’s Day, it was
business as usual. We had a paper due at midnight, so we all furiously typed
during commercial breaks of The Bachelor
in order to get it done on time. When midnight rolled around, everyone sang me "Happy Birthday," and we went to sleep. We planned to get brunch the next
morning to celebrate, but I had no further expectations. After all, I have only
known these people one month.
I woke up the next morning a bit sad. Usually on a birthday
morning, there are birthday texts and calls and the excitement in knowing you
will spend all day with the people closest to you. Because of the time
difference, my phone screen lit up with very few birthday wishes, and I
accepted that this birthday just wouldn’t be the same.
Enter the roommate, Abby. Abby is a great human for so many
reasons, but Abby’s roommate/friend capabilities truly stood out to me this
morning. I woke up to a soft spoken Happy Birthday and then a present! This was
not just any present, this was a very well thought out and meaningful present
in my eyes. The set of watercolors and post card papers that she had so nicely
wrapped up for me could not have meant more. I, being incredibly awkward when receiving
presents, giggled and thanked her before I heard fake coughing an music outside our
door.
Enter all other incredible roommates. I walked into the
hallway where the rest of my roomies were standing with video cameras ready as
I walked through the balloons and decorations into the kitchen. Big 2-0
balloons were hung above the kitchen with mimosas waiting to be enjoyed by all.
WOW! Never in a million years did I expect anyone, much less these people who
have known me for such a short amount of time to go to this much trouble to
make it feel like a birthday celebration.
We continued on to an excellent brunch followed by a day of exploration
and shopping. We all ate great food and made some great purchases. Maybe I am
biased because it was my birthday and the morning put me in such a great mood,
but I would say that it was a pretty incredible morning.
That night we all went to an opera at the iconic Sydney
Opera House… talk about feeling sophisticated on your birthday! The whole group
dressed up and sat together, and as I looked around, I truly appreciated
everyone. I appreciated that we are all here, battling new and strange
obstacles, together. I appreciated that we all help each other through each
day, even if we do not realize it in the moment.
To all of my fellow CCI Global Scholars, thanks for making
my birthday feel like a birthday and allowing me to remember what an honor and
an opportunity it is to be here with all of you at the ripe age of just twenty
years old. Thanks, roomies, for the decorations and the love. I guess this is why
they say the best gifts are the ones you don’t see coming. J
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