Grabbing Life by the Baklava

Lucky for me, the incessant strikes here in Athens allotted me an afternoon confined to my immediate area and an opportunity to think and reflect about my time here abroad. Just as I finished up lunch, and headed into dessert, the thinking bug bit me in the brain and I became overcome with the fear of not accomplishing or savoring enough my time here in Europe. And then my thoughts turned even more.
Part of the downside of being away from one's school, family, and country while studying abroad seems quite obvious: you are so far removed from the lives of such important people that you can't possible do justice to the relationships you have forged thus far. That's of course a complicated way of saying if you miss people, its too bad. While this wonderful thing we call the internet helps keep everyone connected at breathtakingly efficient speed, it can hardly substitute for the human element garnered by face-to-face contact with friends and loved ones. Sure, I employ Skype to video chat with those close to me or even my international cell phone (when the occasion justifies the nutso rates). But no matter how much fun I'm having wherever I am, there's that little piece inside of me that wishes I could be sharing these experiences with more of my closest friends or even back home having dinner at the kitchen table with my family and our cat and dog rubbing lovingly at our feet to beg food from us. Alas this experience abroad has been a testament of inner emotional fortitude for someone like me whose time here will be my longest and furthest away from home. Still, even then, my thoughts float to my cousins in the Marines and all those separated from their families for reasons far nobler than mine.
But what I find is that at the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows in my time here in Europe, I can use this affinity for home as a benefit just as some think of it as a detriment. There are incredible places I've been and amazing things I've seen and experienced here in Europe; I've had moments I wouldn't trade for any other and perspectives that I know will positively affect my life. But perhaps best of all I've confirmed just how happy with where I am in life. When this dream is over and I wake up in my bed in Fairfield, Connecticut, I'm not going to be upset nor rueful I'm not in some foreign land with adventures yet to come. You know why? Because I've been blessed with some fantastic things in life no matter where I am and my life at home couldn't be better. I am prouder now then I have ever been for who I am: an American, a Catholic, a New Englander, a Connecticuian, a Pepperdine student, and most of all a Lambert. No one can take that away from me, nor can I be robbed of everything I have done and learned here abroad. To put it simply, things are going pretty well for me right now.
Hopefully the self-definition I have gained from my time here abroad continues to pay dividends further down the line. There are many things I can accomplish and goals I have set for myself that I will not back down from until I have satisfied my harshest critic: myself. Sure I have my flaws as anyone with even the slightest clue of who I am surely knows. But the important thing is always remembering what drives me. I had one of those epiphanies today, hence this post, and the resulting "moment of clarity" helped me to cope with the realization of just how far behind I am at keeping in touch with those I love most in Malibu, Fairfield, and all over the USA. I'm always going to be separated from someone that would make my day by being there, but the important thing is remembering just why I'm away to begin with on this sojourn of mine and how its helping me become a better man.
Thats pretty good for one day of thinking, eh? Hard to believe such a tender moment was achieved over a plate of baklava. No wonder this country spawned such great men of reason, it must be the food!