Espana!

My Easter Holiday/Spring break, whatever you wish to call it, started with my voyaging from London to Madrid. Waking up at 3am was less than desirable. In fact, the only thing worse than that was being pelted by the mixture of rain and snow as I walked to the train station. After taking a train, the underground, and yet another train for over two hours, I finally arrived at the airport where I waited for roughly another hour to find out which gate my flight was boarding at. After this, I stood in the freezing cold area, nothing more than a hallway, with hundreds of others awaiting our flight. We did not board through a tunnel bu rather we walked up a portable stairway into our plane. I used to attach this image to being famous and boarding a posh, private jet but this was not even close. I stood on the stairway in the rain while people pushed and pried their way to seats, which were not reserved. I feel that I must add that  flight company that I booked with is rather cheap here in Europe, therefore the accommodations matched the price. So finally, I am in my seat and ready to get to Madrid where the weather is hopefully way better than what I can see from my window. But what would this trip have been without a two hour delay? That's right, I sat in my seat for two hours awaiting a deicing truck to come clean off the plane so that we could leave. I was not thrilled. 

Eventually I arrived in Madrid where I had no trouble finding my friend who was waiting for me. Daniela was a foreign exchange student at my high school a few years back as I may have already mentioned. She is a native of Germany but is currently studying in Spain so we figured, what better place to meet up than the capital of Spain? We arrived at our hostel where our room looked as if it was straight out of the 70s and then headed out on the town. The weather was a bit chillier than I had expected but still far better than snow. We saw many monuments on the first day and had a wonderful catching up on all of the time that had passed since we last saw each other. 

The next day was followed suit weather wise and was sunny, although a bit windy. We went to a market that filled many of the streets. This market told a lot about the culture of Madrid and also is where my Spanish speaking skills began to work their way back into my brain. I had thought that all hope had been lost and that the years that I spent learning the language a waste, but that proved not to be so and I got along fine for the most part. After this we visited a large park in the city which was beautiful. The flowers, the sights, the sounds, it all was exactly how I had imagined Spain to be. Also, at dinner we were serenaded by a mariachi band who was playing for a family celebrating a birthday. This day was definitely my favorite day here.

The next two days were filled with nothing but rain. The weather was colder than expected and the rain only got worse instead of better. I had no jacket since I had refused to bring one thinking that somehow it would force the weather to be so that one wasn't needed (this plan failed miserably, I might add) and I had somehow forgot all of my makeup back in London. Cold, wet, and a bit insecure after having not worn any makeup for the past couple of days, I was not in the greatest mood. To add to this, I had a man stalk me around the streets for about fifteen minutes before approaching me and attempting to communicate. Needless to say, I understood very few words and eventually ran into a store in order to flee from him. 

Despite the bad weather, or how bad my feet may have hurt by the end of the trip, I had a wonderful time catching up with a great friend. I learned that my Spanish speaking skills are not nearly as bad as I had assumed (maybe I should have kept Spanish as a minor after all) and also that for being a capital city, Madrid has not much to offer other than art museums. Nevertheless, I am happy that I was able to have the opportunity to take this trip. It is not easy keeping in touch with people when your homes are on different continents and I am now able to say that I saw paintings from Degas, Dali, Picasso, O'Keiffe, etc., but also the futbol (soccer) and bull fighting stadiums plus much more. I had churros, bocadillos, paellas, and obviously sangrias, and I feel that I got a true taste for the Spanish culture, both literally and figuratively. 

With Spain now behind me, my next trip will be to Italy. Arrivederci friends, until next time!

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

This week is full of anticipation. Not only does Friday mark 50 days until my return home, but in the early hours of Saturday morning I will be beginning my Easter Holiday by heading to Spain to visit Daniela for five days. However there is much that I must get through in the days to come. A 10-17 page Capstone literature review awaits me and quite frankly that is the last thing I want to focus on right now. And then to think about the presentation, two 1,500 word essays, 3,000 word essay, and exam that I have to look forward to in the three weeks upon my return from galavanting across Europe.

For now however, be it a form of procrastination, a precursor to the insomnia that is sure to ensue as it is already well into the night, or just me, trying to understand my thoughts by way of making them public. I have had numerous occasions since coming to London where I have felt less than comfortable. This discomfort has not been due to me stepping out of my small town comfort zone, shockingly. Actually, I am finding that I am getting along quite well living in the city, bustling through hoards of people as if us humans were mere animals flocking toward the watering hole. This discomfort is on a much deeper level unfortunately and it is not something that I have come across before.

Growing up in a rural town and then choosing a private-liberal arts college has not offered me the chance to come in contact with much diversity. The "minorities" (I use this term loosely because I find it degrading, although fitting in this application) either by race, religion, or sexual orientation have always been few and far between, although always welcome in my life. As I mentioned in a previous blog, just a simple ten minute walk to school becomes a whirlwind of culture here. On average I would say that I hear a range from about five to ten different languages spoken a day and I see people from every continent as well. Although religion is much more difficult to spot by appearance that has probably been the largest different from what I am used to. Don't stop reading now, this is not going to turn into me preaching in any way, no pun intended. Instead, this will hopefully reach out to you and possibly make you think.

Irregardless of your personal view on religion there is no denying that it is a driving force in society. Religion at it's core definition is the act of having faith in something supreme. In my Understand Religious Experience course last year (one of my favorite college courses thus far) we discussed various world religions; Hindu, Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim, and Christianity and Catholicism. From this I took that everyone that adheres to a religion has one goal and that is to practice their faith devoutly and to eventually become one with whatever or whoever they worship. The rules may be a bit different, the practices a bit different, but the goals, no. Those are the same. Within these religions are many sub-religions as well, with variances here and there but again, ultimately there is little difference. My question then is what is the point in arguing over which faith, faith being the operative word, is correct? To have faith in something purely means to believe in it and as everyone knows, belief is not a static concept.

That notion brings to my mind the idea of opinions. Everybody has opinions, as they should, and they are entitled to them. So say you have an opinion about something and you meet someone who disagrees and then proceeds to tell you that your opinion is wrong. How would you feel about that? Would it make you think any less of your opinion? No, probably not. In fact, all it would do is probably make you think less of that person. Well my friends, the same goes with religion. Everybody is entitled to their beliefs and their opinions but nobody has the right to criticize someone else's. Nobody.

Organizations such as the United Nations and The Peace Corps have been striving toward making the world a safer and more peaceful place for people to live but you know what? It doesn't need to come down to someone imposing ideals of what peace should be like. All it takes is for one person to realize that their judgement's will not change the way another person views the world, only the way they view the person casting the judgement. If enough people viewed the world like this, peaceful coexistence would eventually become natural, maybe not in our lifetime, but isn't the thought of it's possibility enough?

Maybe this is purely my opinion and therefore I may sound a bit hypocritical, but I am not asking you to agree with me. When discussing this very topic the other day a brilliant man whom I admire very much said to me, "The people who are willing to have their minds changed and probably not the ones who need it."

I couldn't agree more. Being closed minded hasn't done much for the world thus far but some people are so closed minded that even the notion of opening up to a novel idea is enough to turn them away. I am hopeful that with our generation we will see a change. People will accept the things that are foreign to them just as they would anything else and most of all people will learn again to love one another despite difference in opinion, appearance, or whatever else.

We all live in this world, we all breathe the same air. Why should anyone fill it with hate? By spreading venomous words or actions the world becomes a toxic place although this filth may be intended to poison the "enemy" everyone will inhale it.

Living the Dream

It's been awhile, folks. I have been somewhat of a recluse to the blogging world not for reasons of avoidance but because I have been too busy living. It seems that after nearly two months I have finally adopted the feeling of "locality". It has finally set in that I live here and am no longer a tourist.

I first realized this last weekend when I was in Central London. As I was walking across Westminster Bridge I became very agitated with the people that would suddenly stop walking to take a picture or crowd the streets with confused looks as their cameras pointed at anything made out of stone. My intentions were not to become annoyed at these people, after all I was one of them not too long ago, but I couldn't not help myself. I had places to go and people to see and these people were in the way of that. The sidewalks are just that, sideWALKS not side-stop and take pictures so nobody can-walks. Through the last week my realization of becoming a local has strengthened. Buying groceries is just buying groceries and walking to class is just walking to class. I am no longer mesmerized by mundane activities, and whether you think that may be a sad thing to have happen, it is not. In fact, I welcome it. It means that I fit in now, it means that I have finally found my place in this new world of mine. All of these discoveries of my new found adaptation manifested throughout this past week as I found myself walking around various areas of London, Soho, Covent Garden, Trafalgar, Westminster, you name it, without needing any sort of guidance or a map. I have never has such feelings of pride. 

Although I found myself fitting in here, in two weeks I will be leaving. No, not to go back to the States, but rather to go on Easter Holiday. For this break we get three weeks of schooling to do as we please. Most students will go back to their hometowns, but for me this is not a feasible option, and therefore my break will be somewhat different. On March 23 I will be traveling to Madrid Spain to stay with my old friend, Daniela. If you are someone who has known me for awhile you might remember that Daniela was a foreign exchange student from Germany when I was a sophomore in high school and her, Missy, Grace, and I became very close friends. She is currently studying in Spain and therefore that is where I will voyage to see her. I have only seen her once since she left the States and so I am very excited for us to reunite. After this I will be going to Italy with Sarah. We are going to the southern tip of Italy in the Reggio Di Calabria. Not only have I always been intrigued by Italian culture but my Aunt Patty is from this part of Italy. I am excited to see and learn the things that she once did, even if only during a short period of time. After Italy, Sarah and I will spend two nights in Dublin, Ireland learning firsthand about both of our Irish heritage. To end our break we will be staying with my flatmate, Amelia, in her home in a town called Harrogate in northern England. I will finally be able to see how the English truly live by being a guest in their home and that is an experience I had hoped that I would get to have so I am very much looking forward to that as well. 

I am lucky, you know? Sometimes I don't realize how lucky I really am to have the ability to do these types of things. As I am writing this I think about three years ago when I was a senior in high school and all of my friends were boarding a plane for a two week trip to Europe and how upset I was that I couldn't go, and now look where I am. I am living a dream and I don't know if any of the people who helped me make this dream a reality will ever know how thankful I am. One day I hope to pay it forward in some way or another, but until then I will continue to travel, continue to gain experience, and continue to make memories and friendships that will last me a lifetime. 

Not quite the Ides of March

Today I am feeling extremely homesick. March 1st has always been a joyous day to me for many reasons. Firstly, it marks the end of February. I don't want to be too discriminatory to that month in particular but find me someone who claims it be their favorite month and I will find at least a thousand ways that they are completely wrong, not to mention undoubtedly crazy. February is the worst month because Winter is still in full swing but everyone is completely over it, even those people who enjoy being buried under five feet of snow and being so cold that they cannot feel a single extremity. Don't ask me why these people exist, they just do. Spring is so close and yet so far away but then March comes and suddenly Spring becomes a reality. Sure there is still snow and  insurmountable rain and yes, everything is still physically unappealing with horrid shades of brown as far as the eye can see but with March that all generally goes away. Unfortunately for me, I am England (and when I say unfortunately, I only mean it in this sense-I am very fortunate to be here!) where the grass may always be green but the sky is always gray and the wind is always blowing at least 50 miles per hour. So no, I did no experience the dreadful snow storms that hit back home but the best part of Winter is seeing it end and that is not something that will occur for me.

On a less superficial note, March 1st marks the day that my wonderful Grandparents got married 44 years ago. They were true high school sweethearts and are an inspiration to me and to anybody else who may have any doubts about what true love is like. Five years after they were married they brought my mother into the world and without her I would quite literally not be here. It is also my best friend Missy's 21st birthday and I am quite upset that I am not with her to help her celebrate, especially since she drove me around for hours on end on mine. Lastly, my softball team is traveling to Florida for our annual Spring break training trip. I am very sad that I am not able to be with them and support them. Florida is a wonderful experience for team bonding and by not being there I feel that I will am missing out on a great deal.

But there is a way to cure this homesickness. And what is that you may ask? Well readers,I have just booked my own Spring break trip. My Spring break is rather long and is from March 22-April 14. I will be spending four nights in Madrid with my long lost friend, Daniela, who was a foreign exchange student at West Forest years ago. I will then head to Sevilla to meet up with Sarah and her family for a night. Sarah and I will then go to Italy for a week to stay with my Aunt Patty's family who are nice enough to welcome us into their home. From Italy we will be heading to Ireland to stay in Dublin for two nights and then we will go to Yorkshire to stay with my flatmate Amelia before returning back to London. I cannot even begin to fathom how amazing these trips will be, despite the 55 hour train ride from Spain to Italy. I am still relishing in the fact that there are trains with beds in them to make sleeping more convenient. I know-I make it far too obvious that I have seldom traveled outside of Tionesta.

Whether you are reading this from the States or wherever else you, happy March! I'm sure the birds will now start chirping a little louder and the sun will shine a little brighter wherever you are.