Find the sunscreen, buy a hat and rent a bike. Those are just some of the minor things on my to do list as we ramp up for another (near) month of study abroad on the Cycladic island of Paros. Yes, it is that time of year again. This year Albert and I have 14 students in tow, plus our TA, Alcey Childers, who was on the trip last year.
As with each year, one of my favorite moments of the trip is watching students experience Paros for the first time. This year, a bunch of students, some of whom had just arrived earlier in the day, joined Albert and me on a post-dinner walk through town. The night air was calm and the evening temperature perfect as we ventured downtown for the magical experience of Parikia at night. Probably because of a light rain that fell just an hour earlier, we found the city streets relatively empty, which is a pretty unusual occurrence. The lack of tourists wandering about just added to a sense of authenticity.
Most of our students have no firsthand experience with the narrow labyrinthian streets of old European towns and cities. They understandably relate them to what they have seen back home, like Universal Studios, and themed restaurants, or even movies. To walk the streets of an ancient city for the first time, even one as modest as Parikia, can be an uncanny experience. For me to have the privilege to watch the uncanny play out on students’ faces and to hear it in their sense of wonder is truly a delight. This is my 5th year taking students to Greece and I have yet to tire of seeing students marvel at what they encounter.
One comment that struck me last night referred to the fact that people actually live here in this ancient town. I completely get what she meant. To me it speaks to the vast difference between our lives in the US: With our isolation in houses in sprawling suburbs, long commutes to work and shopping, and long distances from family and friends. Here the people who live in town might be living in houses that have been in their family for hundreds of years. They might live with their extended family. They know most of the local people they encounter everyday. They walk to a lot of their destinations. They might even live above the business they own. There is a long-established and palpable sense of community that is missing from so many aspects of American life. And here the community bonds are physically manifested in the narrow streets and whitewashed buildings of Parikia, as well as hundreds of other Greek villages from one end of this country to the other.
As important as the making of our videos is, and it is indeed important work, providing students with the opportunity to step out of their normal lives and see firsthand how others in the world live is where the real life-changing potential lies for me. We better understand our own lives and our own society when we see it in contrast to others. It is my sincere hope that in the next few weeks all of our students will embrace this opportunity and the result will be impressions that inform their lives in profound ways.
By Thomas Lewis