more thoughts on the whole international travel and experience thing... from dave

In a general sense, although I don't think I'll fully realize how the trip has affected me for years, I know that it's opened my mind a bit. It's made me realize how unaware Americans are of the world surrounding them. We only come into contact with the rest of the world through the tv. But there are real people out there with different views on life and politics and culture, and that's great. As Americans, we have everything we need right here. We--right or not, I'm not sure--have a hard time seeing how other countries view our culture and lifestyle. While the trip hasn't vastly altered my beliefs or made me anti-American, it has shown me that there are different ways of thinking out there, and they need to be acknowledged. On a less serious level, I've found that Americans are very out of touch with history (theirs' and others') and geography, etc... Europeans seem to have a greater respect for their history and take time to learn about that of others. I almost expected them to know where Denver was, but before this trip, I could hardly pinpoint Madrid on a map.