Five years ago, pretty much exactly around this time, I visited a friend in the United States. It was the first time for me to leave my continent behind to cross an ocean. And, oh boy, was it an adventure! Me, alone in a different country, in a place where nobody spoke my language, among people I had never met before in person. And although this was five years ago, it feels like it was yesterday. And that first night, after being on my feet for about 20 hours, when I was still terribly insecure and incredibly jetlagged and tired, when everything was new and strange and a little overwhelming,…