1/20/2009
It's been a while since my last update mainly because I've been doing so many things, from experiencing Spain to experiencing people, that I've barely had time to sleep let alone sit down and write out my thoughts (in English, anyway). Our trip has taken us to Segovia, Toledo, and Granada -- three beautiful cities with so much history that they're like a drug to a nerd like me -- and yet so far some of my favorite experiences don't come from the places themselves but rather what being here in a foreign country does to the people on the trip.
Something about being someplace foreign makes a need to connect. There are only so many things you have with you that are safe -- and by safe, I mean smell and feel and look like home -- and some of the most important ones are your traveling companions. (Of course, this is the case for me; I can't speak for anyone else I'm about to mention.) I have grown rather close to my housemate Mayjean, who I have known or at least been acquainted with since freshman year, but it wasn't until this trip that I really got to know her on a personal level because here we are in a stranger's house trying to get adjusted and sharing things about ourselves that maybe if we weren't in this heightened environment of unfamiliar surroundings we wouldn't share; we wouldn't bother creating our own safe place to share things because we'd already be complacent with ourselves and our surroundings.
I have had so many in depth, deep discussions so far on this trip that take place very far away from the classroom but that are no less significant to the world, our place in it, and how we view and understand others. Misconceptions I've held about people I've known for over a year are being torn apart by this ability to get past the usual social niceties of home and explore other areas of ourselves and the world around us. What it comes down to is that we can't afford to stay quiet about our thoughts or our opinions; staying in a stranger's house, we have to be upfront and honest about what we want to eat, how we feel about this or that. There's no room to be quiet or shy or reserved, and as people warm up to that, more and more gets shared about our opinions on people, society, the government, other peoples' governments, the other Americans on the bus in the morning, that person's jeans, etc.
Side anecdote: If you've seen Little Miss Sunshine, then you can visualize the day when we sat down in a cafe and started pouring water, only to have someone look around and ask, "Where's Corren?"
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