My friends are coming!

It's great when your friends come to visit you in your Erasmus city. You can show your new friends how awesome are your old friends and these can see how is your party life and then come back home and tell everyone that you are living the crazy life. Yeah, this is what we all like but everything comes with a price: the tourism. When your friends come you have to take them out; you have to go to places you are tired of and take the tours around the city that by now you know perfectly well. We all know how it goes. Sometimes it works very good because in many cases Erasmus people doesn't do tourism around the city: we know where to eat and where to party but we have never been at Wawel Castle. So this is the perfect time to look around and see the city at the sunlight. Sometimes, you have done a lot of things and you just repeat but we also know that doing things with friends is completely different and of course, more fun.

But i want to focus on Krakow. Krakow is a city that you can see in two days: City Center, Kazimierz, Wawel Castle, Jewish Guetto.. are the obligatory subjects. You can go to some museums if you have time and spend half a day in bed recovering from last night party. In some cases we dont know what to do with our visitors. And the visit that must be a happy reunion can turn into an awkward and boring companion -luckily, this is very rare- The good thing about Krakow (or maybe the bad thing, it's on you to decide) is that is has a lot of things to do outside the city and that requires at least one or two days to enjoy. Here is when you run out of time. You have Auschwitz with its historical importance, Zakopane and its beautiful landscapes... and its so easy to go to other cities that you can even go one day to Wroclaw and spend two days in Warzaw. Krakow offers a lot of opportunities and it can be very tiring.

There is one thing that I think is important to remember. Yes, our friends are coming to see a new city, to party, to have adventures but mainly they are coming to visit us. So, its good to take them out and show them a lot of things but is even better to enjoy our time together, having a great dinner and a long conversation at the end of it is an excellent way to welcome your friend. The best thing is when you have plenty of time. When your friends can actually realize how you live, going out to your favorite places with your people, getting up late the next day and cook something quick in your crowded dormitory kitchen, get to know your friends, get to know you in this new new life, and share moments that you won't forget. Sharing all this experience with someone important to you is a blessing.

When your friends come to visit you it's not only to make you look good. That is not what makes you feel happy. It's also the fact that you feel home, you have a piece of your city and your life, and its even better when they bring little things from your country. Yes, we are having a lot of fun but we still have time to miss our people, even if we don't realize it. We love our new friends and they are like family, but is so good to enjoy old jokes.

When my friends came and my friends here had visitors I realize that on Erasmus we change a lot; maybe not in a conscious way, maybe we dont want to fool people or fake anything, but you are living a completely different life that the one you have home and that, of course, makes you change a bit, to adapt yourself. So when we have a bit of the old life back we can be more like we really are and this is relaxing. So, if going to places we already know and see things we already saw is the price for that happiness and the opportunity to be yourself and have fun, I will pay it gladly.

Anyway, this is a lot of thoughts and words to describe the simple fact that we are very happy when our friends are coming. Let's enjoy them!

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