It’s been a while since I wrote my last blog and I have had so many experiences during this period. First of all, I must mention that I am no longer in Salamanca, Spain and that I am currently in Rome, Italy. I must say leaving Spain was very hard for me and it took me a while to adjust to Rome and to the Italian culture. It’s incredible how countries so close in proximity have such different cultures, customs, and gestures. For the last two blogs I mentioned that I would describe an interesting similarity that I discovered between some Latino Americans and some Spaniards.
This similarity is what some may call an inferiority complex. Some of my colleagues back in the US loathe Spain and anything that has to do with European cultural influence. They believe their only connection to Spain is the Spanish language that was forced on the indigenous people of Latin America. I believe that we cannot change what has already happened in the past and hence, I take on the side of embracing all three sides of the Latin American culture, that being African, Indigenous, and European. Americans in general believe that the Europeans are all stuck-up, materialistic, and rude. As I mentioned before in my previous blogs, wherever one may travel, one will find all different kinds of personalities, some more friendly while others more arrogant.
Ironically, while enrolled in the Language and Culture of Spain course, I realized that Spaniards actually have an inferiority complex as well, and that is with the Romans. As you may already know, Spain was once conquered by the Roman Empire and in many parts of Spain, including Salamanca, there are many remnants of the Roman Empire in some roads, bridges, etc. While some Latinos may feel inferior to Spaniards because Latin America was once conquered by Spain, some Spaniards also have inferiority complex in regards to Rome. I strongly believe that we should study history closely so we, as humans, do not replicate the gruesome and horrendous segments of our global history. At the same time, I believe we live in a global society and we should all strive to help people from all over the world.
While in Salamanca and now Rome, as part of the curriculum of the program that I am currently enrolled in, I must complete a certain amount of hours of community service. While in Spain, I volunteered for a Soup Kitchen that provides one daily meal for the poor men and women of the community. Since Salamanca is a small town and Rome is a large city, Rome has much more poor and homeless people, as well as much larger organizations.
While in Rome, I have had the opportunity to volunteer for “Caritas” and “Life is a gift.” Caritas is located next to Termini train station, which is like the Penn station of Rome. Life is a gift is located in the outskirts of Rome. While Caritas is very urban and gritty Life is a gift is very calm and serene. They are two distinct organizations with the same purpose, to help the homeless and/or poor people of Rome by providing clothes, food, and even shelter. The homeless and/or poor population of Rome and Salamanca consists of not only Italians and Spaniards but of people from all over the world, including Romania, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Pakistan.
I am thankful that I am having the opportunity to witness poverty in Europe. Now I have the chance to tell my readers that Europe is not all glitz and glamour like the American media makes it seem. Europe has many social, economic, and political issues same as the US. For example, not many people in the US are aware that Spain has an unemployment rate nearly twice the size of the US or that there is a massive strike all throughout France and airports and train stations had to be shutdown because workers refused to work. I am beginning to catch the travel bug and develop a more globalized perspective of the world. I am now more than ever willing to take any and every possibility I have to travel throughout the world.
I must say living in Italy and not being able to speak the language is very difficult. I now feel what my colleagues felt while we were in Spain. For my next blog I would like to elaborate more on the similarities and differences of Spanish and Italian culture and the beautiful sites of Rome that I have visited.
