CelsAway

I’ll be the second-to-last of our little group to leave Lisbon. On Friday, Hekla, our party queen, flew home to Iceland, where she’s now enduring -14°C. True to form, she ended her stay in style, partying until 9 a.m. the morning of her flight. We had an organized party at the hostel, which in profit terms (or any other terms) totally flopped. The only people there were staff, Duarte’s brother, Mario (an Italian who has been here as long as I have and goes out every day) and Alexa. I should get a raise on my non-existent paycheck since I was the only one able to bring a guest. Despite the weak attendance, we made the best off of it and went to some bars and a club after.

Only 15 minutes after Hekla left, a former volunteer returned. Frederique left two weeks ago, but couldn’t resist coming back to spend some more time in Lisbon with us. Both she and Daisy are leaving tomorrow morning, which means the room will feel empty with just me and Ayana left. To celebrate one last night together, we’re hosting a “family dinner” tonight, and I promised to make dessert. I’m excited to bring out my baking skills, though it’ll be a challenge with our limited kitchen.

Ayana and me will share the room three more days, until I flee Lisbon on the 7th (my lucky number, yay!). Fortunately, Ayana won’t be alone long, because she flies back to Ireland the day after, leaving our cherished room completely deserted.

While I am excited for Morocco and really glad I’m not staying here by myself after everyone is gone, leaving Lisbon feels bittersweet. My time here was very different from what I expected but amazing nonetheless. It’s definitely not goodbye forever, though. After the holidays in Belgium, I plan to come back for a couple of weeks to (hopefully) explore more cities and give Lisbon—and the friends I’ve made here—the proper goodbye they deserve.