mt once told me that you can laugh with someone without having to speak the same language. It’s so interesting to look back on that moment. I thought to myself, “WOW, YES! That is so true,” but it never really hit me until I experienced it myself.
I took a hiatus from writing for a while because I went to Ireland for a semester. Let me tell you, it was amazing. I went to the Blarney Stone, naturally, and was able to see the beautiful Irish countryside with amazing lakes, rolling hills, and scenery so picturesque it could make you cry. I now understand what Yates and all Irish poets mean when they speak of Ireland as this breath-taking beauty. I sampled the local beverages from time to time, overindulged at other times, while having a great time and never caring about the time. I learned a lot about Ireland and Europe in my classes. I went to Spain, Italy, France, and other countries and loved every minute of it. I could spend hours writing about what I learned, felt, and experienced. I could talk about my new knowledge and appreciation of other cultures I found while traveling, but since having to write my immersion project I’ve been reflecting on my time abroad and have picked out moments that I think are the most special of all.
The moments involve pictures, laughs, and smiles. I’ll try to sum up all of Europe into what I think are the top three most beautiful sites i visited (you can imagine how hard this is) but I would say Corniglia in the lemon orchards, Nice looking down on the city, and La Rambla in Barcelona. Now I have a picture of all of these places, but the thing about pictures of yourself is that you have to ask people to take them for you, and when you travel in Europe, you don’t also find someone that speaks English. But the beautiful thing about it is everyone knows that when you walk up to them and hold out a camera, they want you to take a picture, and then you usually return the favor. What a delightful friendly system that is. You are storing memories of beautiful moments in the form of a picture and making friends in the process. I’ll never forget the faces of the people who I took pictures for and who took photos for me. You may not speak the same language, but beauty can act as a common language, and it’s perfect when you see it with your eyes and capture it in a picture.
In Barcelona they have street performers. There were two in particular that stick out in my mind. One was a headless man and the other was a baby in a carriage. Both times someone walked in front of the street performers and the performers scared the shit out of them. Everyone who was around started laughing. I looked around at people and people looked at me, and there was that moment of connection where you understand someone through laughter. It was nice to laugh with people. It felt good. I didn’t need to talk to them. I don’t even know if they spoke the same language as me; it didn’t even matter. It was a great moment.
And in Corniglia I looked at someone on the cliffs who turned to me and we smiled at each other. We smiled because we saw how much we appreciated the same beauty of nature. It was a wonderful moment with no words needed.
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