Matt Kaplan is currently a Music Intern in Spain. This is a first in a series of blog posts he’ll be writing for us while there.
Hola a todos,
My name is Matt Kaplan and as of now, it has been about a month since I have been in Barcelona, Spain. I write to whomever is reading this with an open mind and feeling completely comfortable with my experience so far. By comfortable I don’t mean to say that everything has been perfect (because it has been far from so), but rather that my experience has truly been full of up’s and down’s that have made me a better person having been through them all. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.
Some would call me crazy to want bad experiences along with the good ones. The truth is, as I see it: the bad experiences are just as useful as the good ones, if not more useful (unless of course the consequences are not beyond repair; e.g. physical consequence or something that you could not bounce back from with all the help in the world). Sometimes I would almost prefer the bad ones. That’s living, right?! Attitude makes all the difference.
Traveling abroad and taking risks, while learning as much as you possibly can, is one of the most rewarding experiences one can experience in my opinion. I have lived my whole life in West Chester, Pennsylvania and my last major move has been to New York City back in 2012. With that in mind I have been able to travel to Peru, England, Canada, Italy, and Spain. I can only hope that the list expands. This is actually my second time in Spain and so far this has been yet another mind opening experience for me. Keep in mind that in Peru my family and I went through an earthquake and a few days before we were almost held up in the middle of a dessert at gunpoint, in Italy I had the best luck in the world avoiding being thrown in jail over a misunderstanding, to name a few experiences…
I hope I’m not coming off as a chulo that thinks he knows everything or has been though the worst; rather, I’m just here to talk a little bit about what I’ve been through in hopes that it can help or entertain anyone out there. Life is such a relative concept and it has always been such a difficult concept for me to accept and understand.
In my following posts I invite you to hear more of my story: my adoption, my quest for language acquisition, and my love for music. Along the way I hope to leave you language learning tips ( I feel close to fluent after learning a year on my own), traveling insights, and a peek into what I will be doing musically with my time here. I’ve never been one for blogging but I am a strong believer in “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” right?
A big thanks to anyone reading for your support and I look forward to sharing my experiences here with you.
-Matt