Alejandro Simon: A new land and its belongings
View from my bedroom window. All those buildings are part of the "Unversidad Politecnica de Valencia"
Alejandro Simon in Valencia
The same thing I had said and experienced already two times in my life. The first one on March of 2002 when I arrived to the United States of America (Miami) to start a new life with my family, and the second one on August 2010 when I arrived to Tallahassee to begging my studies in pursuing a Master in Fine Arts. Both were shocking experiences in their own particular ways.
Right now I am in Valencia, Spain going through a very similar feeling. It is that feeling of starting a life all over again in a very different place, with other people with other culture, with other belongings. I think I have to admit that have forced my self to explore life in very different ways, with very different people and environments thinking or knowing that it would help me grow as a person and as an artist. It has definitely showed me a rich world of diversity and contradictions. Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban writer/novelist from the middle of the 20th century once said “… los azares de andanzas por otras tierras suelen traer a la mente más de un punto de comparación y referencia…” “… the ups and downs to other lands often bring to mind more than a point of comparison and reference…”
I was lucky to find a three bedroom apartment five minutes from literally everything. The university is right in the opposite corner from the building I am staying. I can see it from my bedroom window. The market, pharmacy and every small business you can think of are down when you exit the building all over the block. I am sharing the apartment with two other guys that are finishing their bachelors’ degree in architecture at the Univerisidad Polytecnica de Valencia a well.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://news.art.fsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2012/03/Ale.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Alejandro Simon (MFA ’13) is spending this semester abroad in Valencia. Find more images and experiences from Alejandro’s trip at his blog: backtotheroots87.blogspot.com
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