Ode to CIMBA
Written by Kelsey V. April 20, 2015
Saying goodbye in Paderno
I’m incredibly lucky. I’ve seen more of the world at 21 years old than some people will see their entire lives.
I climbed 463 stairs to the top of the Duomo to overlook the red-brick rooftops of Florence. I walked the streets of the Gothic Quarters in Barcelona. I paddleboated in the lake of Buen Retiro Park in Madrid. I took a water taxi down the Grand Canal of Venice. I listened to the Pope give his Sunday blessing in Rome. I wrote a letter to Juliet at her castle in Verona. I jumped off the edge of Mount Grappa and paraglided over Italy. I got a fish pedicure in Budapest. I strolled through the parks of the Belvedere Castle in Vienna on a Sunday afternoon. I listened to a man play Beatles music as I walked the john Lennon wall in Prague. I stood in the gas chamber of one of the first concentration camps in Germany. I watched the statues dances as the glockenspiel struck noon in Munich.
As I return home, I am reminded how lucky I am each and everyday as I share my experiences through stories and pictures. CIMBA allowed me to make lifelong friends (we’re booking plane tickets to our first reunion today), achieve personal growth deeper than I ever knew possible, and see the world. So thank you, CIMBA, for the time of my life.
Blogger: Kelsey V., Purdue University
