Unaccustomed Earth

Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth. –Nathaniel Hawthorne

Pause. Breathe. Reflect….carry on.

Pre-term has come and gone. Marks are set and rather inconsequential at this point. Term 1 and everything it has in store for us has pierced our reality and we strap in for another several months of academic pursuits.

But September was more than just another month in our calendar year. We all set out on this journey with different motivations and varying goals. We converged on Barcelona – a foreign land to some but home for others. We blindly opened ourselves to 179 others from day one. We walked into living situations with perfect strangers without question. We humbly accepted new roles and accommodated new norms to promote the success of five other people. We stumbled a time or two and will again, but for the coming months this is our unaccustomed earth.

These are our days to learn from each other and exchange ideas, opinions, cultures, food and drinks. And we are going to have a blast doing so. So perhaps for a day or a weekend and maybe even just for a moment…

Pause. Remember the streets and sidewalks that robbed the soles from our shoes, where we promised ourselves this opportunity. Oh! the carpal tunnel syndrome we still battle, developed from writing our essays, our ideas and our beliefs.

Breathe. Now that it seems the ESADE West-Nile-Bird-Sars epidemic has subsided – we can all breathe.

Reflect. We had ideas in those essays, we had goals – personally I may have thrown in a little blue sky to help with the admissions process, but the message was still the same – grant me this opportunity and watch me flourish.

In my moments of reflection, I have realized:

In this single month I have made ‘lifers’. (How can you possibly NOT remain lifelong friends with someone that shares more than 100 friends in common with you on Facebook?)

I am an amazing air fiddler.

Sundays are not for shopping, perfect for drinking.

The flashing lights at the pedestrian crosswalk are less a warning-more a sign of imminent danger.

You can bond over happy meals from McAuto at 4am.

If this whole clean energy thing doesn’t pan out, I have a future in horse whispering.

Just because the hairdresser cut your neck – no discount is guaranteed.

Taxis don’t frequent uphill neighborhoods quite as often after midnight.

Everybody loves a good nickname.

Some people just need to sleep right here. Right now.

And also, that while our stay in Barcelona may only be temporary, we are all setting about to strike new roots in our own unaccustomed earth – watch us flourish.

Now carry on….