Irish Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia: The contented and happy state you feel when you travel.

Irish Eudaimonia is the joyful state I currently find myself in, because I am less than 24 hours away from embarking in my first adventure across the pond. Born in the small, developing country of Honduras, I could only dream of what was on the other side of the world. When I was a little girl, I assumed that magical land was filled with unicorns, fairies, and leprechauns. Now, I know that the world is filled with even more mesmerizing landscapes, monuments, sights, and people than I could ever imagine. Still, a small part of me hopes the leprechauns will somehow become true in Ireland.

As I sit down and write this post, so close to leaving my home country for an entire year, I cannot help but reminisce about my college experience and how it has changed my life and my notions of the world forever. I was lucky enough to find a second home at Rollins College, thanks to the gracious scholarship of the Alfond family. Before this opportunity, I had barely visited another country, so I lived in the Honduran bubble I called home. I was used to my own set of norms, rules, and values. I was used to speaking, writing, and talking Spanish, and the idea of living 3000 miles away from my family seemed like an impossibility. Yet there I was, August 2016, ready to make the jump that would alter how I viewed my own reality.

The culture shock took me by surprise. I was also not yet ready to become an adult and the world seemed to sense it. For the first couple of weeks, I felt lost. My brain was not wired to translate so fast, and I had a hard time understanding what people were asking me. I did not understand why people greeted each other without hugging. Thankfully, I found a group of friends that was kind enough to help me get through it. (Shout out to my Rollins friends for still dealing with my Spanglish, my lack of American slang, and the constant mention of my home country). Slowly, I started getting the hang of it. However, I never stopped viewing the world around me from the lens of my Honduran identity.

Over time, and thanks to my anthropology professors and the myriad of international students at Rollins, I learned that each person interprets the world differently according to their identity. To me, hugging a stranger that was introduced to me was the norm. The case was the same for most of my Latin American friends. For Americans, however, hugging is seen as something personal that is reserved for the people you really care about. And not only was being Honduran my identity, but also the other words I chose to ascribe to, like being a sister, a Catholic, and more recently, a Rollins student. All these different aspects of my life have shaped the identity I have right now. The adventure that awaits for me tomorrow will further develop and mold this identity.

I definitely believe that my identity will affect how I view Ireland. Every single landscape, painting, and sight that I take in while visiting Ireland will be through the lens of the identity I carry around with me today. Every professor, classmate, and local person I meet will create and impact on me based on that identity. However, I also believe that identity will be completely different by the time this adventure ends. All I can say, as I spend my last few hours in the company of my family, my two very grumpy cats, and a cup of hot coffee, is that my identity is that of every traveler seeking thrill: Eudaimonia.