Friends

As a very curious person, I enjoy having friends with interests vastly different from my own. Though I’ve met quite a few good friends by living abroad, sometimes it’s strange to think about how many wonders I’ve seen that my college friends have never visited. I suppose it comes with the “International Education and Development” territory. They’ve all traveled some outside the States: P to Paris and Brittany, K went to Vienna once, and R to Pakistan and China. Still, I’ve traveled all over Europe, taken a boat tour of a South American rainforest, and washed my feet off after stumbling into an African sewer. Plus, I’m the only one who can somewhat se débrouiller in multiple foreign languages (French very well, Spanish OK, salutations/taxis/restaurants in a few West African languages). Until my junior year of college, I had never even been out of the country. Now, I have friends spread throughout the globe and am currently studying with others who embrace the “citizen of the world” concept. In both Senegal and France, I was lucky enough to meet some great people who I enjoy chatting with about all manner of topics. I am incredibly grateful for my friends’ stories and support – they go a long way towards keeping me sane. As much as I enjoy discussing international policy, it’s nice to chat about significant others, studies (most are in graduate/professional school), and other more quotidian affairs. These are the people who knew me as I started to discover who I was, who appreciate me for being Steven instead of “American,” “teacher” or any of the other labels I’ve recently acquired. They know that I enjoy French colonialist literature, detective stories set in Botswana, and guilty pleasure reality television. In return, I love their diverse interests: history of sexuality, painting, free and mobile clinics, vegetarian cooking, playing the clarinet, work/life balance for physicians, wine, writing poetry. While it’s fun to be around so many other people who share similar interests, it’s also nice to hear about something very cool, yet totally different. In return, I’m excited to learn more about my fellow Trainees and their interests. Excuse me, but I have to keep reading The Mysteries of Udolpho to prepare for a conversation about Gothic literature.