Pre/Post Abroad

If there were one event that had such an impressive impact on my life, so that I could divide my existence into two separate eras, I believe it would have been the collective experience of studying in Spain. This past fall semester I studied and lived in Valencia for close to six months. For the first time in my life, I was forced to look at the world through a different cultural scope. Or should I say that I was forced to look at myself through a different culture’s perspective.
Although it is ultimately impossible to be empty of all your previous knowledge and experiences – my abroad experience provided an opportunity for me to reevaluate what is truly important to me. I pondered for hours daily. And then I started thinking about nothing (which is essentially meditation) to reach sound original thoughts. I thought about: religion, politics, time, being, string theory, cops, law, death, Zen, empathy, Spain, U.S., Spanish women, and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, I was doing all of this thinking in a new language, and on my own.
It was incredible. The only fear in coming home for me was not being able to practice what I learned.