My first lesson is that there are barriers to be broken. They are many. After twenty-one years in one country, flying into another one is a truly bizarre and at times irrational experience. That said, there is something truly magnetic about this town and this country. I am positive that what I know about it now is incomparable to what I will know in five months. So let me introduce you to León as I know it now, on my first full day immersed in this culture.
León was the recent host to pope Benedict XVI. In several months, on the 16th of November the sky here will be filled with an explosion of colors, in the international festival of hot air balloons. I hope to go up there. From the home of my host family I look over a small hill side covered in beige adobe houses. It looks like an intricate and beautiful ant hill. At night the houses sparkle in a collage of glow worms among the canvas of sky.
With beauty comes sacrifice and adjustment. The adjustment of a brisk and awake shower to start the day. Adjustment in an awkward door mechanism on the local bus that curiously smacks in the side if you are too close when it closes. Moreover a university clerk that looks at me and my fellow students with a confused and slightly hilarious look when we introduce as the exchange students.
This is just my first impression. This is the rambling of an overwhelmed mind the first time abroad. A bizarrely intoxicating experience that will surely define many years to come. More to come.
Esperando lo mejor,
Zach
Siento como ese niño. Con un nuevo mundo a la vuelta de cada esquina.
