It is clear that throughout this trip, that lasted a mere three and a half months, we have experienced a great deal of narratives. These have ranged from incredibly uplifting to deeply solemn. These stories have shaped the people, places, and history that we have learned about, and continue to shape the people who encounter them today. Some of these narratives are extremely hard to express, verging on the border of the inexpressible. However, there lies an importance in being bale to articulate certain memories and experiences to pass them on to the ones who did not have the privilege of experiencing them. These experiences have shaped me beyond belief, and I hope to express how these varied experiences have changed me for the better. One …show more content…
Arguably my favorite experience while on the trip happened during my visit to the Musée de l”Orangerie. Housing the famous Water Lilies by Monet, this place was spectacular within itself. However, what a couple friends and I had randomly stumbled into was something truly spectacular. A pianist, who was to perform his concert piece later that night, requested to practice his pieces in broad daylight for all to hear. He took us through a range of emotions, and the paired them with that of the varied colors and lighting of the Water Lilies. It was truly something remarkable, and it lead us to sit there in the middle of the museum and listen to his music while being enraptured by the paintings around us for the next three hours. Another vivid example of this that I found was the role of the guitarist in Flamenco dancing. It especially helped that we learned that each dance is to represent a type of emotion. The ability and mastery of an instrument to the extent that you can tell a s through things such as notes, pitch, progression, and tempo are truly something spectacular. These two events that I had the privilege of experiencing are what lead me to try and tell a story through music in my creative …show more content…
How does one find strength amidst heavy oppression and suffering. We covered a wide array of suffering on this trip, such as cultural, social, and even mental oppression. These types of suffering ranged from the terrible atrocities that the Jewish population experienced at place like the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz all the way to the mental oppression in the novel Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky. The idea of finding strength through adversity is something that I believe boils down to the words of Christ himself in the verse that I always seek out in times of adversity. From John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this life, you will experience trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Finding a will to continue to push forward despite your surroundings is something that I will always wrestle with, especially after experiencing the stories from Europe