Grand Arrival

Well, I made it Sevilla safe and sound. Took a lot longer than expected, but I got here all the same. My flight from Newark to Madrid was smooth, if long. Add to the fact that I experienced a time change and got virtually zero sleep, it felt longer. Fortunately, the entertainment system had some fun movies, so I finally managed to watch Prince Caspian and rewatched Iron Man (though that involved a lot of fast forwarding so I could see it all before descent).

Once I made it to Madrid, I got thoroughly confused. Picked up my bags, went to the area supposedly called "Connections" only to be directed to a different door. I realize now that I should have brushed up on my airport terminology. Might have saved me some time. Anyway, finally get past customs, I'm in the terminal, and my next flight is nowhere to be found. Turn's out, it's in a satellite terminal a good 20 minutes away by bus. Again, finally figured that out after a lot of huffing and puffing around with my luggage.

Once I get to Terminal 4 where Iberia had their check-in, I checked in fine and dandy (though I had to pay a 50 euro fee for my second bag. Could've been worse). The teller was very friendly though, so that it wasn't all bad. After that, I decided to go find my gate and get some munchies, etc. One problem: apparently at Terminal 4 they don't post flight gates until 1 hour beforehand. And Terminal 4 is big. I mean, REALLY big. Takes you a solid half hour to walk from end to end even using those speedy flat escalator thingies. Didn't help me save much energy. So I had a few hours to burn...which involved a bag of potato chips and 2 cans of soda. Which is essentially all I had to eat until I finally got to Sevilla.

Well, that took a lot longer than expected. First, my flight gets pushed back by an hour. No biggie, happens all the time. No worries. I plop down and watch a tv show on my iPod (which died...) Go back to the screen, and now it says my flight's been delayed another hour and half. So now, my flight won't be taking off until a solid 15 minutes after I'm supposed to be at my hotel in Sevilla. Well, I went to the Iberia customer service, they couldn't tell me anything, so I dropped about 10 euros in coins at some internet terminals emailing folks, including my program director hoping she'd get it in time to give me some advice (she didn't), and generally exhausted myself some more. When the plane finally got there, I boarded and promptly passed out.

Now that I'm here though, it's a gorgeous city. I've only seen my hotel and a few streets and back alleys, but I have a feeling I'm going to love it here. It's very picturesque, so I think I'll be bringing my camera everywhere too. Met my roommate for the next few months, and he seems pretty chill. Apparently we'll be living with a single woman who, I'm told, will dote upon us like our grandmother. "Eating alright? Sleeping alright?" etc. I can't complain. We move in tomorrow and then we get to see the school. Should be exciting.

With that, I'm going to pass out. Maybe 3 hours of actual sleep since 9 am yesterday morning (it's now midnight local time) just doesn't do the body good. Fortunately, I've been saving up a lot of sleep the past few weeks, so hopefully I won't be in too bad shape tomorrow.

Pre-Trip Jitters

Well, this is the beginning of my European adventure blogging. I've got all the necessities, minus a few electronic components for charging my laptop, camera, etc. Haven't started packing exactly, I've just got all my stuff laid out across my brother's bed...with my suitcases right next to it. So essentially I'm procrastinating (how surprising). Don't feel like doing it yet.

I am a little nervous, and from certain sources, I'm going to be missing a good semester at school. So I'll just have to have an amazing time to make up for it. For all those following along at home, I leave Tuesday night at 10 pm, and I'll be in Sevilla, Spain on Wednesday at some time. Not sure exactly when I'll get internet again but that will probably precipitate another blogpost of the god awful long plane ride, food, layover, lost luggage (hopefully not) etc. etc. etc. Anyway, take care everyone! Adios!

Imagine...or Don't

It has recently plagued my subconcious mind that we have lost something, that we as adults, people, humans, etc. have lost some invaluable piece of ourselves. Once we were the all-powerful all-knowing gods of our domains, never mind the fact that those domains were crafted of sandy mortar and plastic molds. Once we were fearsome air pirates, haunting and hunting the skies for any prey that came to us. Once we were saviors, protecting princesses (or princes?) from a ghastly fate. Once we were young.
It seems to my mind and my eye that we have lost, the majority of us, our ability to imagine, to dream. What happened? As we've grown, have we become more important? More responsible? Or have we become less innocent? Less naive? Has the pain of reality erased the power to find happiness in a new world of the mind's own creation? Or are those who remember that power merely eccentric, or worse, crazy?
It seems that once the world was at our fingertips. We could do anything, BE anything, merely by turning our thoughts in that direction. We did not need expensive electronics and flashing screens to show us something beyond ourselves. We merely had to...adjust our eyes, adjust our thinking. When did we lose this ability?
The world is a dark and terrible place. But it can also be a heaven, if only more people could pierce the shroud of existence and REALLY live. People must learn to recapture the innocence of their childhood, to learn from the children we "try" to teach. We must relearn from them innocence and acceptance, the innocence to seek out the new and the ability to accept the different, the otherworldly, the extraordinary, and the purely unbelievable.
We must to seek out the new with the courage of one who has never been hurt and to grasp beyond reality like one who has never been burned. We must become again like children to realize that there are worlds beyond that which is presented to our fives senses. We must learn to adjust ourselves, our sense and our thinking, to realize that Life truly is what you make of it.

Power of the Mind

The mind is a wonderous thing. So we're always told. It can do impossible calculations that modern computers would take centuries to get through, control thousands of different processes and still have time to make dinner. I've always heard that the average person only uses 10% of their brain; geniuses like Albert Einstein, only 15%. What I've also heard, and to some degree experienced first hand, is that the mind can overcome the weakness of the body. Now, for everyday examples, this would be like forcing yourself out of bed when your body seeks at least another 30 minutes of sleep (bet that snooze button looks awful tempting there), or maybe forcing up another repetition of weights at the gym when it feels like you can't even lift your arms. Sounds familiar right? But what about that portion of the body that the mind has the greatest difficulty controlling, the region of the heart?

Yes, I know, emotions don't actually come from our hearts. It's already working hard enough as it is with keeping us alive and our bodies well stocked with oxygen. (I point this out merely because I have a very sarcastic sibling who enjoys taking things much too literally.) But the figurative heart of which the great poets speak, that is the harbor of death-defying feats of love, devotion, gratitude...and life-defying atrocities of hate, anger, and jealousy. Can the great and all-powerful mind truly dominate and control the heart? Can the mind govern the uncontrollable?

This Whole Puzzle

Someone asked me recently if I believed in the notion of soulmates. Oddly enough, I didn't even have to think about it. My immediate response was "No." I went on to use a puzzle analogy, thinking maybe there are some people in this world that we are "meant" to love in some form. By "meant" I don't mean some overarching plan by God or Destiny or Fate or something along those lines; merely that when you meet that person, through some genetic memory or random act, you can't help but fall immediately and helplessly in love with them. My analogy took the form of "You're a puzzle piece. So that means there are several other pieces you connect with. The pieces on the edges and corners probably have fewer options, but nonetheless there is more than just one "supposed to be." Now that I've continued thinking about it, if we consider the whole global humanity as the puzzle, then there really aren't any corners or edges. So theoretically everyone has around the same amount of chances to find that kind of helpless love.

But going back to my earlier analogy. This phrase has recently bothered me. "Supposed to be" most often used in phrases like "if it's supposed to be it will be" or "supposed to be that way" or whatnot. But what does that really mean? Who is supposing that? I guess it's us (people). Or maybe not. Because "supposed to be" presupposes something that has some sort of control over things...Fate? Destiny? Now I personally hold to the belief, mistaken or otherwise, that Fate is a load of bullocks, and that anything that is "supposed to be" only comes around due to hard work on a side's part. Unless we truly are pawns in some superterrestrial equivalent of a chess game, then it is up to us to create "supposed to be." We have the final say in our lives. And I'd rather have a say in something that makes me happy in this life, rather than hope that if I screw up in the next 60 years (cross my fingers) I'll have a "redo."

The Ladder of Good

I recently began Socrates Cafe by Christopher Phillips, and it has awoken my usual dormant quizzical nature. And for some reason, I have been mulling over the concept of Goodness. What is Goodness? Is there an universal Goodness, as in Good versus Evil, or is it merely a social conception that is constantly redetermined? Perhaps this line of questioning was brought on by a recent event in my life...

I remade my acquaintance with a side of me that I had suppressed, mainly because it was a nuisance and an obstacle. It was the nice guy, the good guy, side of my personality. The essential question that has been...not necessarily plaguing or bothering me...just rattling around pretty incessantly...anyway, the question is this: For Good, who's good is more important? Mine or someone else's? In the past, I have generally told my friends that another's good, as compared to my own, should be considered paramount. The issue this philosophy of course entails is not actually getting what you want, which for some (most/all) people poses a great problem. Including myself. What good (pun intended) does it do me to not allow for my own desires to take any kind of precedence?

I personally believe Goodness is subjective, and after examining this case, I believe the Good does not lie in my favor. This of course prompted the question. Good, Right...these ideas are fickle, constantly changing depending on the situation.

Once Again We Meet

So life has changed, and all for the better. Spain is in my future, y estoy muy feliz. Ese es lo que he deseado. Und mehr, alles ist endlich richtig mit meiner Freundin. Ich bin sehr sehr glucklich davon.

And the sun rose over the trees,
The mottled leaves turn green again,
The light shone over the crystal lake
Dashed upon the rainbow rocks.
And the flowers turned their faces
Reaching ever upwards.
The golden orb hanging suspended
Shedding its life-giving light
Over all of its domain.
Thus Spring arrives in the world
Once again we meet life
In full blossom, full bloom.