Je veux parcourir le monde...

Every time I meet someone and they discover that I have never traveled outside of the United States, they are astounded. They cannot understand how someone with as much interest in culture, in religions and languages of the world, has spent his entire life in one country. Well, with the exception of one hours-long stay in Canada, back when US citizens could just walk across the border and back, it's true. To make things worse, I occasionally encounter someone who doesn't even believe that I'm
American. In their opinion, and perhaps in their experience, Americans do not study other languages. Americans do not really care about the cultures of people who live outside of their borders, and most of them don't even want to know much about the various cultures of those living within their borders either. For these people, I'm an enigma.

On the one hand, I feel very lucky to have grown up in the US. As a child in northern New Jersey, not too far from the New York City cosmopolis, I was always surrounded by children whose families came from other parts of the world. My closest friends were Jamaican; my cohort also included Haitians, Puertoricans, Colombians, Trinidadians, Poles, and many others. By the time I was in high school, my friends came from all over the world - every continent represented. Being the sponge that I am when it comes to cultures, I absorbed as much as I could about the places where these other kids were from, not to mention the fascinating mélange of cultures that influence American life. I feel very lucky, indeed.

On the other hand, my soul has always felt constrained with a fierce Wanderlust, together with a feeling of sodade for places that I have never physically visited in this life, but which feel every bit as real to me as the Atlantic coast I have called home for all my 35 years. Sometimes these feelings are so strong that I try to avoid discussing anything cultural with people I have only recently met. It's kind of depressing to be reminded that I haven't gone anywhere. It feels like I haven't done anything with my life, which isn't really true...but Americans tend to care a lot about what someone does rather than who someone is. We place a lot of stock in college degrees (something which I do not have) and professions, as though these alone define a person's worth. I suppose that I, as a product of this culture with all its benefits and its drawbacks, have internalized this notion as well, which fuels the feelings of inadequacy and failure.

In any case, I still want to travel the world. I want to go everywhere. I want to prendre un café in Paris. I want to sway to bossa nova in Rio de Janeiro. I want to browse in a souk in Marrakesh and eat falafel in Tel Aviv.

I want to do so many things! But I don't know how to make them happen. The business of "making a living" is always in the way. It's never the right time. I can't really afford to both take a trip abroad and  not work for the time it would take do it. At the same time, I am trying to convince myself that these are superficial excuses, and that I shouldn't hold myself back so much. I don't quite believe it yet, but I'm getting there.

Perhaps the first step would be for me to get a passport. I've never needed one before...but maybe if I actually get one, I will actually use it! I think it's worth a shot. The application is at home...

lingvamanto means language-lover

Welcome to lingvamanto!

My name is Adrian, and I primarily blog about religion and spirituality over at UUXMNR, read "UU Examiner", a moniker I chose for myself years ago while writing for the online edition of the Examiner on topics of interest to Unitarian Uninversalists and other religious liberals. And while religion is a major part of my life, I have many passions relating to other aspects of culture, and one of the primary ones is language.

I have always had a fascination with words. Growing up outside of Manhattan in Northern New Jersey, surrounded by friends from places all over the world, I was accustomed to hearing many different languages and observing many different customs that the other kids and their families had. Rather than be intimidated by the vast assortment of differences, I became drawn to them and have wanted to learn all I can about other people's cultures — and my own! — ever since. One of the most direct ways for me to do this, and one that enjoy immensely, is to learn something about the language(s) they use.

Each language that I study or encounter has particular associations and uses for me; I have varying degrees of comfort and practice with them, depending on their relative relevance to my life at any point in time. But my fascination with communication in general keeps me ever in awe of words and anything having to do with them — vocabulary, grammar, syntax, dialect, register, code-switching — all terms I wish I was more familiar with, but understand to a certain degree. Maybe I'll actually study linguistics some day! For now, I'm content to learn languages whenever I am able, hopefully helping me to understand the world we inhabit a little better with each one. Anyhow, my love for language extends to writing, something that I ought make more time to do.

In an effort to realize this goal, I am partaking in a 30-day Zero to Hero challenge, with encouragement through a Facebook group of fellow Unitarian Universalist bloggers. I hope this helps get me in the habit of writing more frequently and posting my thoughts and experiences with others out there who share my interests. For this first post in the challenge, I will answer the suggested questions to get started. Here goes!

Why are you blogging, rather than keeping a personal journal?

I choose to blog for the simple fact that it provides the opportunity to interact with others, and to find/build a community of people with common interests. When I journal, I write things down on paper that are meaningful at the time I'm writing them. I may gain insight from the practice, and it has a sort of therapeutic quality to it, but if I'm not engaging with others I don't learn as much. Besides, after I've written in a journal I almost never go back and look at what I've written. A blog, at least potentially, can keep the conversation going much longer than the time it takes to write the post itself.

What topics do you think you’ll write about?

Language! Of course. But more broadly, about any aspect of culture influenced by or influencing the way we use words. Perhaps folks with much more formal education than I have can chime in and learn me a thing or two.. *wink* I also hope to use this space to actually practice the language I am familiar with and those that I'm studying. Not everything will be posted in English! I'm really excited about the opportunity to actually use the languages I encounter.

Who would you love to connect with via your blog?

Polyglots. Linguists. People of different cultures who can tell me a thing or two about what makes theirs unique, or interesting, or weird, or embarrassing, or anything! People who are studying English as a foreign language. English speakers who are studying other languages. English speakers studying other varieties of English. ANYONE! Really, I just love learning about the world and everything in it. Tell me about your experience hosteling, or going on safari, or hiking through Europe, or visiting monks in Asia, or riding the subway in New York City. I want to live your experiences vicariously through your stories. Maybe I can write about some of my own. They won't be quite as fabulous, but hopefully all experience is important, and telling stories is how we move forward.

If you blog successfully throughout 2014, what would you hope to have accomplished?

Connection. Learning. Teaching. Improvement in languages I'm just beginning to learn. Maintaining languages I've studied for years but fail to use in daily life. Making writing a necessary part of my every-day practices. Engaging my tribes, and feeling connected to the universe beyond me. I want it all! Ready-set-go...

I hope this project goes well! Thanks for stopping by.