Thanks I-House

Thinking back now, I cannot recall whether I was asked to write something for this semester’s biannual newsletter or whether I simply volunteered. Nevertheless, I am more than happy to be sitting here right now, ready to embark on another little pleasurable journey of literacy.
Simply put, I like to write, but what you are reading right now has less to do with literacy, and a lot more with gratitude. Yes! I say gratitude because this is a thank you note to the house, the International House.
At a time when being genuinely friendly and socializing are becoming skills, and the about – to – extinct – mammoth kind of ones, the International House gave me the opportunity to make new friends. New friends! Doesn’t that sound great!! New, polished, shiny, just – out – of – the –box friends! Don’t take me wrong. I have friends. If there is one thing that I am blessed with other than money, looks, gorgeous women, and a Ferrari Enzo, is friends! Real friends. I don’t mean the ones that you interact everyday, and casually refer to them as friends. Or the ones that are good for a few drinks, for a couple of times and then that is it. I mean “caps lock” capital F friends! Not pals, or buddies, or even hommies. My friends are people who have proven themselves as friends through hardship, and fun, and shared experiences. People whom I have sweat with, cried with, laughed with, and laughed at, shed blood with, and enjoyed life with. People whom, you say goodbye, as you are about to fly away, that when you see them again no matter how long it has been to see or hear each other, you can pick up the conversation from where it was left last time, continue sipping that last drink from where it was left…
Some of these bonds where form easily, others I had to fight for. I treasure them all the same…
Here in the House the cliché is that one does not have the time to maybe establish true, real, and long lasting friendships, especially if one is here for only a few months. But that is only if one chooses to follow the cliché.
I’ve been here for some time now. In between my time here I spend two years back in Europe, and that gave me the opportunity to value and appreciate a different kind of forming friends and bonds. Here I’ve noticed people come together, form groups or make friends out of sheer necessity. Because they are away from home, because they need to feel like home, because they need to re-invent that warm feeling that tells them that they are in their “fish bowl”, their own familiar nook. But one does not realize that. All of the above are in one’s subconscious. No one says: “ ok, I am a couple of a thousand miles away from home, so let’s make friends!” It’s an inner need, an intuitive need, and it is not consciously perceived, and that is why these bonds are sincere for as long as they last, because at the same time, when one gets back to its base, and feels that he or she is back in their “original” nook, they cease to be in constant touch with their international friends, and the distance is killing what is left of it...
The other aspect of the I-House friendships is that many times after a bond is formed, one stays behind and the other one goes home, so when the semester starts again what made the House a home is not there anymore, and a lot of people feel jaded and close up. Whether we like it or not, to form friendships is easy but to maintain them it’s harder and people don’t want to work as hard for something they know they are going to loose soon. They don’t want to invest feelings and time, to open their hearts again, to share….
Real friendships in the I-House are hard, but let me promise you this, if you let your self go, and I mean go, put yourself out there, and try not to compare the friendships you had back home with the ones you are forming here, I say again, let me promise you that beautiful things are bound to come your way!
I will say no more. You know where I am going with this… I have experienced all of the above. And there were times that I too felt jaded, but I made my choices, and today I am richer; with more friends, genuine friends, real friends; simply because I acknowledged all of the above and decided to fight for those friendships. And it worked…
So this one’s for you guys: David, Mathieu L. and F. Geraldine, Elena and Mateo, Alan,Keri, and Saro, Souley, Eitan, Adrien, Elke, Ksenia, Beste, Samuel, and Christian, and those who are about to come. Thank you I House.
My soul is full and my heart is open…

2006