Moments of Recognition

Considering the fact that it broke down, our last day on the bus was pretty uneventful. We all just sat around and relaxed, partly because we were in the middle of nowhere but also because we all needed the time to relax. For about two hours I retreated to my bunk to watch a movie. I thought it interesting that I would wait until my last day on the bus to use the personal DVD player in my bunk, but I honestly hadn’t had much time before that.

I settled on watching Vicky Christina Barcelona, which some may consider a “chick flick”, but I didn’t care. In the end I was surprised. It wasn’t that much of a “chick flick,” and it was actually well done. I thought that the acting was great. I was impressed with Scarlett Johansson’s performance and as well as her counter part, whose name I can’t remember. I couldn’t place where I’d seen her before, and actually wasn’t sure if I had seen here somewhere before. Regardless I thought that she did a great job of holding her own up against such august cast mates like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

The writing is what really caught my attention though. Prior to watching the film, I had talked with several people who mentioned that they didn’t quite enjoy the writing, so that made me pay closer attention, I was pleased. There were some scenes that were a little far fetched, but I think that the unrealistic moments fit into this story well, because it’s as much about people’s fantasies as it is about their realities. The main thing that I enjoyed about the writing was the concepts of triangles and parallels that I kept noticing through out the film. This made me take notice of what the writer was actually trying to do. By the end of the movie Vicky and Christina have both changed significantly, despite the fact that they are still in the same situations that they started in. But I digress from my main point

As I watched the film, there were several moments where I began to think about how cool it would be have their situation: to be young, carefree, traveling and expanding one’s cultural horizons. Then I would remember that I am their situation. I am young. I am carefree. I’ve been traveling across the country. I am expanding my cultural horizons. And on top of that I won’t have to deal with jet lag when I’m done. This trip has been awesome, because I have been to places that I may not have ever gone to. If it weren’t for this trip I think I would have ended up like every other college student who goes abroad before really understanding home. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with traveling abroad, and I still think that you have an opportunity to understand more of what America is like, but it’s from a different perspective. Now when I go to Spain, I can be more confident in my American culture, while embracing Spanish culture because I’ve been there and done that, and I know what it means to be an American.