This blog has been quiet for a few days as we have all dispersed across Europe – and one of us even to Africa! – on our mid-term adventures. Some of us met our parents, and some of us journeyed with fellow students. I personally traveled with six friends on a nine-day tour of Paris, Ireland, and London. For the first time other than one short weekend, the unit of twenty separated and left entirely the safety of the Palace to venture forth, unanchored, into the world for the first time.
Our view from our picnic one fine Paris evening!
There was a bit of a wind atop the Cliffs of Moher, but we didn’t really mind. The view was worth it.
Living cloistered with 19 other young women has given us all – I know it has been especially true for me – a unique opportunity to observe the beauties and the heartbreaks of human interaction and to take part in them ourselves. Living in such close quarters with very little private space has given us the choice to grow…or not. Our break was our first opportunity to test our new growth – in the unknown, for those of us traveling independently, and in the familiar, for those of us traveling with family.
Making a very important conference call.
My own 9-day adventure was a whirlwind of three delightful cultures. Paris gave us a picnic beneath the Eiffel Tower, delicious crêpes and macaroons, and a walk in the bird and flower market beneath the song of the bells of Notre Dame. Ireland, with its rolling, verdant hills and beautiful, jagged cliffs – both bathed in the capricious Irish sunshine – is a place that lends itself to song: one could gaze upon that land and be inspired from the depths of despair or the heights of hope. Music and laughter pour from open doorways, and smiles wreath the faces of strangers, though Irish strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. The teeming city of London was another experience, with its chic markets and adorable teashops providing an interesting contrast with its somber, stately architecture. (Clearly, I fell especially in love with Ireland.)
Our trip also had its fair share of anxiety and frustration, as can be expected from our first time exploring Europe unaided. However, we learned much about ourselves and about what it means to support each other in an anxious, overwhelming world. And we had fun…lots of it. Did we pass our “test?” I think so.
by Sarah Fuller