There is no doubt in my mind that some may be out there looking at my life at feeling green with envy. The grass always looks greener on the other side....when you don't see the price the other person has to pay. For me, seeing the world and making friends on other continents is a perk that I wouldn't trade anything int he world for. But this perk has a price that costs more than even the costliest ticket to Buenos Aires. And that is the effects of separation when it comes time to leave. What makes separation even more difficult is when you happen to have someone in particular that actually does not deal well with separation.
Unless you've walked in my shoes, you cannot know what a weight it is on my shoulders. I've had some situations in the past where I thought someone wasn't going to deal well with separation but they end up doing just fine. Then there are the opposite situations where while I was in the country, the person didn't seem to mind the fact that I was leaving but when I actually left, it was obvious that they don't deal well with separation.
What makes it worse is when I thought I would be back sooner to see them but due to a variety of circumstances, I get caught up while abroad and am unable to come back when I thought I would. When you have someone in your life that does not deal well with seperation, every minute in Canada feels like an hour. Every day feels like a week and every month feels like a year. Minute by minute, hour by hour, knowing that this person desperately wants you back in the same country of them can feel like an anchor on your soul.
Although separation for the most part is considered a negative thing, in my experience I've come to realize that separation can be something that is both beautiful and needed. When I'm apart from my loved ones in Argentina, often times things in their character begin to manifest. Things that I would not have seen if I had continued to see them on a regular basis.
As a result, I know which friends deal well with stress and separation and which ones don't. The only way I can explain it is like when one leaves fresh milk to stand and after 24 hrs the milk separates from the fat. And it becomes so obvious which is the milk and which is the fat. People's character becomes clear as day to me when I am abroad and I've come to see separation as a gift, not a curse.
Unfortunately, separation could not save me from the venom of an Argentine Serpentine....
