Everyone at the villa is a bit homesick today. Some people say it outright. For others it's not as obvious, but I get the sense that more people are gathering in common areas, needing some sort of family. There's going to be a turkey dinner tonight, but we have classes the same as any other day, and our European faculty seem quietly bemused about the whole concept of Thanksgiving. Lunchtime conversation turned to the foods we missed--pumpkin pie, barbecue, green chile--and then to more general lacks such as being able to cook in a kitchen, watching the football broadcast, taking a break from eating to toss around a football with your dad--all these unremarkable moments that somehow turn out to be rituals.
But it seems much more in the spirit of the day to turn my attention from what I don't have to what I do. I'm in Italy, living out an artist's dream of education and exploration, and I'm here because of the emotional and practical support of several wonderful people who I am lucky to have in my life. I'll be coming home to a different president-elect, and--even more important--the knowledge that I am not at all alone in wanting to work for social change. I am surrounded by beauty, by people who stimulate my mind and my creativity and my compassion and my funny bone, and that's pretty amazing. Thanks, everyone.
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