Looking above

Last night, as I was walking back home from dinner at Araz's and Gee's I took the regular way home: The big street, in front of central station, channel street and home.

Since few months, I have realized that every time I walk down the channel street I get very reflective. I simply cannot stop it. As I walk down that street, I go by looking at the cars and in the windows of those houses that for my taste are way too low (you can actually see the kitchen's sealing of one of them not higher than my hips) and the channel itself is also quite distracting. But last night I didn't start that way. Maybe because I had just eaten a large amount of Mexican food at my friends' just before I didn't sink in my thoughts and I looked at the higher part of the houses, the roofs.

And then I was able to see the typical Dutch architecture of those houses, all of them. The stairs facade, the red bricks with white lines, the narrowness of the buildings... and then a thought came to my mind "I am in Europe". Big realization after four years right?

But the point is that in my mind a picture came of the world, in which I could see how far away Mexico and Europe were. I remembered the moment few years back when in the Eiffel Tour I first realized the existence of this 15 000 Km. I remembered how 20 years back, opposite to now, I thought the world was immense... Europe was something that came every now and then on TV, something maybe I would never see with my own eyes. Later on only 10 years back as I was watching the French world cup it was the same, I thought - Will I ever go to France?- I decided I would once, maybe after I finished my Bachelors'. Who would have thought that only four years down the line I would move to the US, go for the first time to Europe, where I would end up living, France would be something that I do few times a year and that I would have discovered many other European countries I love.

So tonight, having dinner in The Netherlands, having dinner with a Canadian and a Hungarian (something that wouldn't come to my mind back in 96 either) I realize once again how Europe became my home, so much that I never look above any more, but I should.

And it is July 4th, American Independence Day. A day in which each year my life changes. Let's see what's up for the menu today.