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May 09, 2007
The Letter that was Never Received
Dear friend,
I arrived in Mérida in the early morning of January 1st, 2007 with little foresight of the coming months and a lot of heavy baggage on my shoulders. I came with few expectations and high emotions, excited to finally study abroad.
Those five months have all too rapidly disappeared; I’ve had the opportunity to greatly improve my Spanish, learn a lifetime of knowledge, and see the world at a different angle. And I’ve been fortunate enough to pass this time with some incredible people, both Mexicans and Americans.
Friend, you might say that we’re just students studying abroad, but the fact is, I see things differently. We’re travelers, adventurers, and learners. And from every great traveler, from every great leaner, is born a seer and a conjurer, to whom everything becomes a sign in his magic crystal ball—the pebble on the beach, the melted ice cream, the bird in flight. It is the traveler and not the student who explores the outer depths and the inner self; it is the traveler who is embedded with the powers of the human eye and the human heart. And it is he who makes great discovery by losing himself and by staying lost, by embracing culture and people to write his own yet unwritten story.
`
I thank you for helping to write my story, both as a traveler and as a friend. I’ve walked life on a tightrope of high morals and values with few people to stand beside me; I never thought that here in México, I’d find a friend to walk with—someone that I identify with in so many ways and find myself being different from in so many more.
You see, the real meaning of this experience and of my story, friend, has not been formed by just our travels. It has come from our conversations together. Through the flames of talk by the fireside and the shade over under benches white, I’ll remember our conversations and pack them up with me to take back home. I’ll remember sitting talking for hours over the same subject for the first time in my life. And even when we did reach disagreement due to the differences in our backgrounds and opinions, we’ve always left agreeing to disagree.
And so, as a person who’s self I’ve come to respect, I pose one last question to you: how do YOU think we, as travelers, should measure these five months? Should it be in the food that we’ve eaten or in the music that we’ve listened to? Should it be in the things we’ve learned, the things we’ve read, or the people that we’ve spoken to? Should it be in the love for our families both here and in the United States? Or should it be in the friendships we’ve made, the conversations we’ve had, and the places we’ve been to with others?
How do we know if we’ve made the most of our experience as travelers?
As days draw near, I hope that you too, will do some reflecting as I bid you one final “salud”— to new landscapes and new eyes, and for having the chance to return with more memories and ideas and insight than we carried when we first arrived. Thanks for teaching me things I never knew before and for listening so intently.
I may have come with no one, but I’ll leave at least having made one good friend.
Thank you.
Because remember, ------, that no good story is ever written alone.
I wish you safe and happy traveling as you head homeward bound.
Jason
Posted by jlsumich at May 9, 2007 10:00 PM