Life Update - June 30, 2021
- Amena Garber
- Jun 30, 2021
- 4 min read
Hello!
I want to start out this post by apologizing for how long it has been since I last posted, let alone since I last did a life update post. So so much has happened and I want to write down the highlights so I don't forget. I don't know if anyone really wants to read this, but it helps me process and to remember. I think I will just go from the beginning of 2020 to the present for my update :)
2020 - 2020 was quite the year for everybody. I started off the year on a trip to Chicago with some of my family. It was a super fun trip with sightseeing, ice skating, eating yummy food, hiking, and going to see Mary Poppins at the Drury Lane Theatre. It was so cool to explore a new city and spend time with family.
In late January I flew all the way to Israel where I would be doing a study abroad program for the semester. I travelled all over Israel and saw so many cool places, like the Dead Sea, Masada, Jerusalem (the Old City), Galilee, Tel Gezer, Kfar Hanokdim, and more! I took some very interesting classes and learned so much while I was there. Israel has a very special place in my heart as it was my first time traveling internationally. I went with a wonderful group of students from my college that I am now extremely close with. I miss them all dearly and wish we could watch one more sunset at Yad Hashemona. Sadly, we got sent home early due to COVID-19. I am still sad that I didn't get the opportunity to see more in Israel, but I am so grateful for all that I did get to see. What an experience! Our flight from Tel Aviv ended up being the very last flight from Israel, as 30 minutes after we took off, the borders were completely shut down. No more flights in or out. Perhaps one day I will write more on my experience of Israel and studying abroad. But for now it is still to difficult for me to write about. When I made it back to the states, I quarantined for two weeks across the street from my house until I could finally go home to my family. (This was mid to late March) The whole world was shut down and it was so odd to go from traveling the world to being "stuck" in one place and not being able to explore or hike or even see friends. Even then, I am so grateful for all the time I was able to spend with my family. I love my parents and all my siblings so much and I may never have a time again like that where I spend so much of my time with them. I finished up my classes and final assignments online and after that I spent most of my days in the backyard writing all of my memories from Israel in my journal so I would never forget them.
Eventually, August came around. Three of my friends and I went on a road trip across the country on our way back to school. We stopped at Arches and Zion National Park, which, if you ever get the chance, you need to go to. Eventually, we made it back to college and started up the semester. It was interesting going back to school with all the COVID protocol, but I'm so glad that we were allowed to go back. Classes in person are so much more conducive to learning for me than online school. The semester in person was cut short a bit, since my school was trying to prevent the spread of COVID as much as possible. I travelled home in November for Thanksgiving break and found out that I had tested positive. I had the coronavirus. I quarantined in a hotel for the week of Thanksgiving and did homework and watched movies until I was not contagious anymore. I ended up not having a bad case of it (thank goodness), however, I did lose my sense of taste and smell (I still don't have that back). I am thankful that none of my friends who I was around got it and that I didn't expose my family to it either.
Then it was Christmas season! (My favorite season of all) I got to be with my family again and I also got to see my boyfriend, whom I have been dating for almost two years now. The craziest year of my life had come to a close and now it was on to 2021. A year that the world hoped would bring new beginnings.
2021- The beginning of 2020 was pretty chill, but later in the month I flew to Washington state to visit my friends and then to drive down with my roommate to school in California. We enjoyed mountain drives and long talks and jam sessions. Another semester came and went with wonderful memories with friends and spontaneous traveling to National Parks. The semester ended and my roommate and I drove back to Washington state where I would be living and working an internship over the Summer. In the start of the month of June I was able to go to my friend's wedding and do her makeup for her special day. And just recently I flew back to California for my brother's wedding. I went to Disneyland and got to see my family and my boyfriend again! And now I am back in Washington with my four lovely roommates in our cute little house.
All of that happened in a year and a half. Crazy. I'm so thankful to be able to have the experiences that I have had and to have learned so many new things in this time. Hold on to your people and memories because life changes so fast. <3
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