"Those who dwell too much in the past are bound to lose an eye, but those who ignore it are bound to lose both eyes."
This old Russian proverb has been running through my mind quite a bit recently. Five years ago today I happened to look at the headlines on my local newspaper (a rare occasion for me, I am not proud to say), and saw a picture of a sea of faces full of agony, and read something about terrorist bombings in Spain. I have always been a fan of European history, but in this point in my life had studied and known little about this unique outcropping of Europe.
Yesterday in a cafe the television replayed scenes of this tragedy. My heart jumped as I saw the wreckage of familiar looking Renfe train cut in half by an explosion. I use trains like that weekly. They run right by my house all day long. A neighbor told me that on that the terro
rists placed the bombs on a train that ran out of the train station by my house. I can step out on my front stoop and see the station! Also unknown to me until recently was that fortunately the bombers were slightly off in their calculations and the bombs exploded just before entering the Atocha trains tation in Madrid, where ALL RenfeMadrid lines run, saving hundreds of lives. --->Studying Spanish history is what brought me to this country in the first place. I had always wanted to visit Europe, but when listing all the countries I wanted to see, Spain never made the list, even though I studied Spanish and loved it. When I decided to make Spanish my minor in University and saw "Culture and History of Spain" as an option for a class, I chose it only because I liked the professor and Europe in general. I didn't realize that it would change my life. Walking through its history in my secular class the spiritual climate of this country and the reasons why became more and more clear. I wanted to know more! I wanted to come and meet these people and know them!
I currently live in a fiercely proud country. Their history can be easily traced back to Roman times, some of the streets here are named after the fouding Roman tribe. Moors conquered the land and then were pushed back again, claiming this land for Europeans once and for all. It was, after all, Queen Isabel who comissioned Columbus to set off for the New World, changin history forever. What other country sent so many missionaries and conquistadors to South America, irrevocably changing their history? This is the land where Spanish has its origin, and identity found in this can be heard on the lips of every Spaniard as they refuse to pronouce any word in the manner of another language (like "iPhone" is pronounced "EE-Pohnay"). This country recently survived 50 years of a harsh dictatorship and overthrew it simply by its new leader returning power to the people!
Yet I can also see how Spaniards may easily feel separate from their European counterparts. Only a small strip of land connects them, and that is marked by the daunting Pyrennean Mountains. There is even a phrase stating "Europe ends at the Pyrennese" signifying that Spain is not part of Europe. They have fastidiously stuck to learning only Spanish until recently, realizing the great need to learn English in this political climate. However their English is far behind many other European countries. I do realize that I am only postulating, as I have not yet been to every other European country or met represenatives from every country, but I do think that my former ignorance of Spain does stem from some fact that I am trying to sort out in my head. There is something about this land, its history, its people, that sets it apart for other european countries and attitudes. I want to learn even more about the history of its people, for in learning this history maybe I can uncover more of who they are today...
OK, rambling done.
