My Home is Wherever I am

By Lawrence Selby - Guest blogger traveling in Montevideo. I went to the Teatro Solis for a concert tonight on an excursion with the school. The Teatro Solis is one of the premier music theaters in Latin America, so I definitely didn't want to miss the opportunity. The big event also had the unexpected side benefit of drawing out all the other current students at the school: Lorenzo (or Lorenzo Numero Dos as he is sometimes referred to) a new Swiss German student, Anna from Holland, and Daphna an Israeli American. The concert was violin and piano pieces by Mozart and Shostakovich which I thought was an odd combination, though I did enjoy the music and the experience of being in a grand theater again quite a bit. The Teatro Solis itself is a beautiful building. It reminds me a little of Lincoln Center in New York City only much smaller and more intimate. After the concert Adrian, Anna, Daphna and I went into the Cuidad Vieja in search of a cafe for coffee and dessert. Strangely, Lorenzo Numero Dos wandered off abruptly after the concert performance muttering, terminar, terminar ... He doesn't speak much English or Spanish unfortunately. The Cuidad Vieja was beautiful at night and we found a nice outdoor cafe on Sarandi Calle (the main street in the Ciedad Vieja). Without doubt one of the best things about traveling is that you get the chance to meet some of the most fascinating people. Daphna semi-retired and a self proclaimed gypsy who feels she may have finally found a home at long last in Montevideo. Anna is another free wheeling, bohemian sort of person. She started studying Spanish in Montevideo in November and recently returned from a volunteer project at an orphanage in Cordoba, Argentina. We had a long conversation that spanned many topics including: life in Montevideo, learning new languages, how to meet people when you move to a new city, making and losing a fortune, failed marriages (Daphna had 4) and relationships, life in an Israeli kibitz, and winter in Siberia. They both agreed about something that immediately struck me as profound. "My home is wherever I am," Daphna said. This made me think of something that Alan Alda once said, "Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place is where no one else has ever been." Later this month, Anna is going to pack up again and live in Vienna, Austria with her boyfriend (whom she met a few months ago here in Montevideo). She is looking forward to learning the tango and the Viennese waltz with him. Daphna recently had all her things shipped to Montevideo and is renting a great apartment in the Ciudad Vieja for $300 a month. She feels that she is living her life backwards. And for an encore, I am going ... where? Maybe I'll go home.