That’s it, the twelve weeks of my program are over. Saying goodbye to everyone was so surreal, it felt like I had been living in North Adams for years. I’ve been listening to the tear-jerking soundtrack of Grave of the Fireflies in a loop for the last few hours. It is a very beautiful but also an incredibly sad movie. Make sure you play the video while you’re reading this for optimal rendering.

Me being intense about our Vandercook press in the Berkshire Eagle

Everyone and everything has been so good to me during my stay in North Adams. Candidating for B-HIP, MCLA’s program, and coming to the US this summer has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. I have learnt so much from so many people. From Melanie, who took care of me, and trusted me with the gallery, to all my B-HIP friends. I’m confident in saying that I am a better person now than on that Monday night when I arrived on Holden Street at 4am. I made so many great memories at PRESS. During my stay, I took part in my first American 4th of July, I helped Melanie make a maze book, I handcrafted my own little sketchbook, I helped open two shows, and contributed to a third, The Politics of ____ (I won’t get to see the last one, which is sad but “c’est la vie”), my picture was in the Berkshire Eagles, I took 1500+ pictures of PRESS stuff and other things, I typeset the Pablo Neruda poem, I did collage, I wrote for this blog! … and the list goes on for pages.

My favorite PRESS picture

Thank you for everything, I really hope I can come to the Berkshires again sometime, and see everyone and everything again. I am slowly realizing these are most probably the last words I’ll write for PRESS, and that this is getting really dramatic and kind of cheesy. I should end this blogpost pretty soon. I can get really emotional sometimes. I remember during our last week, from time to time I would think about leaving and would just sit there and stare at a blank wall, enjoying how miserable and pityful I felt. Good times. So to everyone I met, thank you for being so nice to me, making me feel comfortable so far away from my home. And of course a special thank you for Melanie. You rock and PRESS is awesome.

“See you next time North Adams!”