Cast of Characters

This post is more about the philosophy of exchange, I suppose. I'm not sure. No stories here, no action, just thought. This time it's mind, not matter.

One of the things I've noticed about going on exchange is that my surroundings are different. Call me Captain Obvious. I'm actually going somewhere with this.

Last summer, I read this book by Brent Hartinger called Project Sweet Life. Among other things, one of the dominant themes is whether you are who you surround yourself with. That really got me thinking. On one hand, it makes sense. Obviously, other people influence us. These have been psycholinguistical studies that show how syntax between close friends changes to become more similar. On the other hand, it begs originality. If we are who we surround ourselves with, then it follows that everybody has taken some part of themselves from somebody else. Obviously, something original had to spring up somewhere.

But it's an interesting question. I think that the answer is a bit of both. We have our unique selves, and then we have the parts of us that are bits and pieces of what we've encountered, and maybe they've been modified a little bit to become part of us. But I think those parts are traceable. I see my friends do something, and I think, 'You sound like your mother' or 'Annie always does that'.

So, inevitably, when you uproot yourself so abruptly, some part of you is gone. Just to avoid confusion, I'm gonna say this - you can't keep some part of you living back in your home country. I'm not saying anything to dispute that. Or maybe, in a way, I am. Doublethink it. (This is a 1984 reference. Read it, and then watch a happy Disney musical. Or go shopping for cute throw pillows at Target. Whatever floats your boat.)

A couple of years ago, whenever A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire was published, I read this book called Cast of Characters (hence the post title), and it detailed all of the significant characters in the New Testament. It described their role - why they were important. It was like a literary analysis of the Bible. I know that's really dorky. Work with me. I didn't particularly like it, but I thought the concept was interesting.

This crossed my mind Monday, when I was sick with nothing to do expect expand my ever-growing list of vocabulary words. Languages have so many words! (Once again, call me obvious.)

I think that, while real life is certainly not fiction, the elements of literature are definitely applicable. Granted, we're not in a story with a nice, tight plot and a dénouement and polysyndeton and conceits and all that jazz, but certainly, this stuff applies.

I just believe that everything is this big bowl of what is probably really disgusting soup. And so when you come across something new, into the soup it goes. And then that soup probably gets even more icky.

So back to the point. People.

Right now, my brain divides the people I know into two very distinct categories. There are the people I met before AFS, and the people I met after AFS. So friends, family, teachers, neighbors, etc. from Maryland are all in the first category. Anybody who I know because of AFS - volunteers, other exchange students, and everybody in my life in Brazil - falls into the second category. And as things currently stand, there's very little overlap.

I know, in the last post I said that my brain connects everything like soup, and now I'm saying it compartmentalizes everything like a waffle. It's yucky waffle soup. Or the astral dimension. Just work with it.

My brain also divides the influence from these people. Fluency in a language has been taken away from me, so I am forced to use other methods of communication (this isn't to say that I don't ever speak - I do, I'm just not fluent enough to understand everything that is being said towards me, nor am I able to articulate everything that I want to say). And therefore, I see things about people that I otherwise wouldn't. I spend a little more time pondering. It's like going to the beach and looking at all the shells, not just the smooth ones.

And the characters in my life - the people in my life - are different now.

And that affects me.

Just some interesting food for thought.

Will add pictures to the Rio post soon.