Siamo Nella Stessa Barca

Happy Thursday folks...hope you've enjoyed the week and gearing up for the weekend. I have some very exciting news in the life of this post-grad: In addition to my current jobs I have added Comic Clerk to my resume. Last Wednesday I traveled to Million Year Picnic in Harvard Sq at 7am to fulfill my clerk duties. Much like the new releases of records on Tuesdays and theatrical films on Fridays, Wednesday is the faithful day when new books are released. In addition to talking comics, organizing comics, breathing comics and sleeping comics...I'm getting paid. Can't beat it.
I partook in a bit of culture this weekend, enjoying Boston Ballet's rendition of Cinderella. It was an amazing performance at The Wang Theater, and made even better with some killer seats ten rows back from the orchestra. The Boston Ballet preformed the show with a 1920's art-deco influence, modernizing the age-ol' classic. The dancing was phenomenal, and struck a chord as my sister is a ballet major at a school back in the Midwest. With a meal at CPK before... and after the show (don't ask) a better Saturday afternoon could not be asked for.
Before entering Suffolk I took myself on a forty-nine day backpacking trip through Europe. I graduated high school in Chicago on a Saturday, flew to Boston for Suffolk Orientation on Sunday and headed straight for London that Tuesday. By happenstance, I was born in Milan, Italy and having only lived there for a few months before moving to the states, I always had this drive to return. In my senior year of high school, I decided that I would travel to Europe the next summer. After visiting and applying to colleges, getting into Suffolk and others, I put all my energy into planning this trip.
The summer of 2004 turned into an amazing ride through six countries in seven weeks that I began and finished on my own. There has not been a collective of experiences that has taught me as much about myself, people as a whole, and life, as this trip did. Though I was traveling on my own, I met over 150 people throughout thirteen destinations. Some of the most memorable being the Italian jugglers I met in Barcelona. These five kids, ages 15-18 were riding their bikes to Paris for an international juggling festival. I spent ten hours with these cross-world peers of mine. After a long conversation with one of the girls, I realized that even though we had grown up on opposite sides of the world, we very much had similar outlooks and philosophies on life. I made the off handed comment, inspired by the Spanish port we were enjoying..."We're all in the same boat" She understood what I said, but not what I meant. After explaining the indium, she responded, "Ahh...Siamo Nella Stessa Barca" It was my phrase in Italian, and being one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard, I of course had her teach me how to say it. In this impromptu language lesson, she used my left forearm as her slate and I have since commemorated the event with a tattoo of the phrase between my left elbow and wrist.
One regret many assume I have is not studying abroad in college. Anyone who has studied abroad assumes its the regret of others that they haven't. I never once wished I had spent a semester elsewhere in the world, but that is only because of my own travels and the promise I make to myself to explore the world independently. One can never truly appreciate the size of the boat, through the stories of others or the books one reads. It is by actual lived experience that any ounce of understanding comes one's way.
If you're reading this and have yet to enjoy the conversation of another in a place you've never been, let that be my one piece of advice...whether its in college, studying abroad, or throwing yourself into another environment for any amount of time, take time to understand other people by experiencing them. If you have explored yourself through your interactions with others, take the time to remind others to do the same. Until next week - enjoy life -- cheers