Beacon reporters write about their experiences overseas
(The Beacon)
By Enid Spitz, Staff Commentary -- The Beacon
London has a certain feel – under your fingers, under your toes, swinging alongside your arms, in your nose, your hair, your eyes.
Since coming to Britain's capital I've explored all over the city, been lost many times and become intimately acquainted with the particular feel of life in this city.
The streets are always busy and bustling with cars and buses that take no heed of people on foot, so you're likely to feel buffeted by the hot breeze in their wake.
It's said that here in London they don't tear things down and rebuild; instead, everything new is just constructed around and over and in-between the old. The feel of the streets reflects that, as they wind around, changing between concrete and cobblestone and gravel park walkways beneath your feet.
During the evening rush hour on a weekday, you might feel the slightly sticky plastic wall of an underground train pressed against the side of your head, the involuntary dance of its forward motion sway your hips and of course the oddly dusty and warm underground air tickle your nose.
Honestly, after a day of all that, I normally feel pretty grimy. There's a way the city air sticks in your hair that I find best remedied (other than with a nice hot shower, of course) by pyjamas and hot tea and fuzzy wool socks.
Among bumpy brick streets, comfy coffeeshop seats, slick tile in the tube and city life in the air, London can envelop you with a huge mix of sensory adventures, new ones every day.
But this past week's midterm break allowed me a quick break to enjoy something completely different: the warm sun and relaxation of a bed and breakfast in the remote Canary Islands.
I took the opportunity of a week off to find a yoga retreat tucked away in the volcanic hills of Fuerteventura, just minutes from white sandy beaches and a World Heritage Site. There I spent my days reading in the sun, attending yoga and pilates classes, watching great soccer with locals at the town store and meeting wonderful people.
The more I travel, the more I find myself captivated not just by the places I see but by the people that populate them. One couple I met on the island was taking a quick break from their yearlong adventure circumnavigating the globe in a fire engine! They've spent nine months camping out through New Zealand, the States, Russia and everything in between to raise money for charity and commemorate a beloved firefighter who died of cancer.
It's stories like these, the laughing local children on their way to school or the weathered smile of a whistling neighbor, that really give a place it's spirit.
London and the island couldn't be more different: one grey, one brightly sunny; one bustling, one incredibly slow; one seemingly endless, one a dot in the sea. I feel incredibly lucky to be able, in a matter of days even, to enjoy such varying experiences. Travel, with all its challenges and excitement, has been the greatest gift from this semester abroad so far. And with trips to Dublin, Paris, Brighton, Canterbury, Greece and Scotland planned in the next two months, I'm sure there are even more adventures to come.
Enid Spitz is a sophomore English major. She can be contacted at spitz13@up.edu.
