October | 2013 | newyorkerabroad

An acoustic guitar player singing; his voice carrying in the wind, sometimes overpowered by diverse tongues chatting in Spanish, Italian, Valenciano , y mas with the clanking of forks, knifes, and glasses touching.

The smell of a fresh market surrounds the plaza of restaurants, as well as the meal in front of me of fresh vegetables, shrimp and roasted potatoes. I savor and enjoy each bite con calma as time isn’t even a factor.
While eating I look forward to my café con leche at the end of my meal, which will be followed by a walk through the old city center, which is where my piso can be found. Tranquility as well as excitement fills my 22-year young self as I begin to think about my year ahead in this foreign new city.

It is moments like these that one can’t take for granted, nor ever forget.

Though I continue to feel 10 emotions in one hour, and I begin to become adjusted to a new city in a different continent, with a whole other perspective on living, knowing absolutely no one…I can’t think of a more dominant feeling than the feeling of happiness.

I cannot predict what this year holds for me; the people, places, and experiences I will have.

While eating my lunch I thought about how I could have currently been in New York City, 6 hours behind Spain time, about to wake up for work.
I would have walked to the A train to take my hour commute into the city (which if I make the 7:15 a.m train can be guaranteed a seat) followed by picking up my venti pike soy misto with no sugar at Starbucks, then I would begin a full day of work with a quick lunch break, another hour-commute back home, dinner, computer time, and sleep.

Predictable. Typical. Routine. Comfortable.

Now don’t misunderstand, I absolutely love the career path I have chosen, the field I can not wait to enter after this year abroad—but at 22 years old, I felt too young to live such a predictable life.

No matter how much my family and certain friends might not understand why I decided to come to Spain for a year, I don’t regret this choice at all.

I have practiced my Italian more than I have in years; I love learning more advanced Spanish and having the chance to constantly read and write it…I’ve even picked up on a few German words thanks to a new friend.

The different people I have met from all over the world, the discussions I have had, the diverse personalities, the new minds and new outlooks I’m listening to…it is both fascinating and beautiful to me.
These are moments you cannot plan, and experiences you cannot repeat at an older age.

This is my life now, and I can’t stress how blessed I feel to be here in Spain this very moment.

We all had known each other about 2 hours before this photo

Today officially marks one week for my time in Valencia. After days of no sleep, some sleep, forgetting to eat, trying to adjust to the hot climate, all while searching for apartments and beginning my new internship, stress may have been they key emotion to have popped up during these days.

But throughout this entire experience one common thread knitted this hectic experience into a beautiful acknowledgment – how precious the kindness of strangers truly is.

From having multiple men and woman helping me with my oversized luggage, to the grandmother offering me food and magazines to read on my train ride to Valencia, to the tour guide taxi drivers, and the amazing and delicious welcoming dinner I was invited to by my new landlords—it has truly been some great moments to cherish.

I can’t honestly say I have received the same treatment from New York City strangers—not saying it doesn’t exist, I’m also no stranger to NYC,–but there must be a reason why I am in total awe at how nice strangers have been in my new city.

It’s an incredible human experience—being kind to one another. We all are stuck in our own world, our own troubles, but just the simple kindness from another human that comes to us for no particular reason is something to value.

I want to say travel is a factor that defiantly instigates that.

Those people who saw a tiny girl struggling with 3 bags helped to carry or lift them onto stands, the taxi driver who spoke of his city with passion to the new habitant he truly wishes an incredible stay, and the chef who made an incredible lunch for this newly arrived flatmate …all these small experiences made my chaotic, frantic, and rollercoaster of a week an incredible first week in retrospect, with much restoration in human kind.