I’ve got something between my teeth…metaphorically speaking. Something is uncomfortable and I want to pick it out and find out what it is. I consider this feeling a side effect of living abroad and link it to the fact that I left everything back home in the U.S, the land I devoted 23 years of my life to. Or maybe it’s just that I tore some ligaments in my ankle when I rolled it while jogging through the woods yesterday and will be in a cast for the next two weeks.
Either way and for whatever the reason, feelings always seems to fade with the passing of time and what better way to pass time than blog, eh?
I’m writing this post to document these two weeks I’ve spent pondering life abroad, improvising on my guitar and breaking in the new apartment with a steady pounding of crutches. I must say it’s awfully distracting trying to write as this hamster I’m baby sitting spins non-stop in her spin wheel.
This song goes out to her & for as serious as it sounds I hope you find it funny:
I travelled abroad for something larger than life and what I’m learning is that life is just larger. That doesn’t really make sense at first so let me explain. A good friend of mine recently told me that “the beauty of the unknown is the journey it takes to find it out… not the fear that should stem from unknowing and the necessity to know”.
By the time I left for Europe I was burnt out on the American society that I fully exploited. I scraped together every penny for my flight and expenses by working 2 jobs 6 days a week. It was about time to escape the daily grind to explore a new world. My goal was to take on new challenges in my life and I did not even realize it at the time. I was blind folded by my urge to explore and I did not devote much thought to the challenges that arise from living in a new culture. Like the color inside a lava lamp, I am together and whole one moment then break out into tiny pieces the next.
If you strive to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad, you will realize that your perspective is dependent on your attitude. A positive attitude will bring a brighter perspective.
A three hour car ride to the Carpathian’s is a blessing and it sure outweighs the obnoxious stray dog‘s I have to weave through to get to the public “blistering hot” transportation. Snicker’s bars are 75 cents! Fresh fruits and vegetables are a skip away in any direction which makes for a healthy diet.
But these examples just scratch the surface of life in the developing world. What is most interesting is the instilled desire to create and develop. To look beyond the crumbling bus stops, stray dogs, over population, horse buggies, corruption and language barrier. I could spend weeks and months searching for something here in Romania but I feel more inclined to create it.
