It's A Small World After All..?

5.26.2015 Tuesday

You know how there’s those times when you bump into somebody that you haven’t seen in years (your BFF from the 6^th grade, your first neighbor, the former basketball coach of your kid)? It’s weird, right? You’re at the grocery store or pumping gas or out with the family and suddenly you recognize someone and think to yourself, “Wow… what a small world?”

Well, my dear friend, you don’t even know the half of it. Today, during our walk to ECELA, the school in Santiago where we are studying Spanish, my friends and I had a strange experience. I feel that coincidence is not a strong enough word for what happened because the probability of it is likely incalculable. On a street corner near the school, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, probably in her mid-twenties, asked our small group of five clearly American girls where we were from. Abby, one of my friends began to talk with this stranger in Spanish. Another American in Chile… How bizarre!

Don’t worry… I’m just kidding. Santiago is home to people from all around the world! What was strange was that this girl was from Minnesota. Martin Luther College (MLC) is in Minnesota also and is the school that I attend along with the rest of the students in my study group in Chile. MLC is in New Ulm, a small town of 13,210 people (yes, I looked it up). Abby not only attends MLC but her family lives in New Ulm. The blonde girl that we met was also from New Ulm. Coincidence? Sure. We can call it that.

Seriously, (if you’re a math person figure this out for me because I’d like to know)what are the chances of two people from New Ulm, probably the only two people from New Ulm currently living here, bumping into each other in the metropolis that is Santiago? Even more so, the girls could have crossed paths and never spoken a word to each other, but this stranger in the streets went out of her way to be friendly and speak with us. It absolutely blows my mind.

This experience was eye-opening for me because it really is such a small world. There is so much to see and experience in creation: the cultures, the traditions, the peoples, the languages, the foods, the arts, the mountains, the oceans, and so much more. In these ways, every country is different, every family is special, every person is unique. Yet, we are all similar in so many ways. We all want to succeed. We all want what is best for our family. We all search for a greater power and a meaning to this life.

I’ve only been in Chile three days but this striking country doesn’t feel strange or uncomfortable to me. My fears were pointless; I love it here. Maybe that’s due to various factors. After all, Santiago is a large city that is very Americanized and I am exploring it with a group of people that I already know. Moreover, the teachers at the school and mi Madre in my temporary home are very kind, sweet, and understanding in such a way that although I am speaking (and many times butchering) a language that is not my own, I am not scared to try. It may not be perfect, but I have already shared many of my thoughts, opinions, and beliefs with these people, practically strangers, because I feel comfortable to do so and because after only a short period of time I am confident in my imperfect Spanish. 

It’s a small world, but a magnificent one if we are willing to open our eyes to it. The splendor in the environment and the formations of the earth are stunning; at this I am always left breathless. But it is nothing when compared to the beauty that surrounds us in every place, near or far, when we forget our fears and doubts and open our hearts to the culture and people who embrace us. It is my goal to be like the blonde girl from New Ulm: kind and willing to open myself up to new experiences. I will be bold, fearless, and ready to seize everything around me, everything that is different from what I know. For when we open our eyes to what is peculiar, that is when we see the true beauty and creativity in God’s creation.

Ciao!                

Carpe Diem.