Closing Ceremony

Closing ceremony sucks, at least that’s what I thought as a delegate, which I still believe is fair enough.

Why is everyone crying, aren’t these people seeing each other?

Truth is every closing ceremony as an official has been different for me. But there was a background feeling that stays in the back of my mind: I always feel grateful

I will tell you about the first time I cried during speeches: It was Huesca Nationals in 2022. I was an organiser and it had been a nerve wrecking session: I didn’t sleep, food was scarce and we were in the middle of a 40º heatwave. I sat down with my friends, exhausted, proud, and even though it pains me to say it, relieved it was over.

Then the speeches started, and the HOs got on stage. They started talking about how proud they were of all of us and how grateful they were to have this opportunity to lead the team.

As I looked around me I realised I also felt incredibly grateful to have met these people that were now sitting around me, I pictured the tough moments where they were always there for me, I pictured the jokes in the middle of chaos and the sleepless nights talking about whatever. A singular tear rolled down my cheek, then another and another, and as I looked around me I realised most of my teammates were also crying. 

My friend Yago was sitting next to me, and he was also crying, but when he saw me he just dried my tears with his tie with a kind of half smile, which just made me cry harder while I smiled back and thought

“wow, we really care about each other”

Every time a team leader gives a speech I think about this, how my life would be like if I hadn’t done my first session and how incredibly grateful I am for the people I have met and everything I have lived.

You see, EYP love is a special kind of love, it doesn’t care about borders or time, it appears quickly with people that deep down you may never see again, but the best part? You do. 

People that matter will keep in touch, you will run into them on other sessions or even on vacation. You may only know them from that week you spent in Pordenone but it will be like no time at all has passed. 

Think about it for a second, it’s amazing, it’s beautiful to know that you are loved from every corner of Europe, that when you plan a trip with your non EYP friends you can text your friend you haven’t seen in 3 years and ask her if she will be home, because you are spending some days in her hometown and you should catch up. It means never being completely alone in a foreign country.

Closing  ceremony doesn't represent an ending for me, but it still means that you will miss these people in your time apart.It's a promise you make knowing that at least a year may pass before you get the chance to be together again. 

But even then, as Winnie the Pooh said: How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. Or as EYPers often say: I will see you again, somewhere in Europe.