Reflections of the past few days

Thus far I have had a very fun and enlightening experience. Getting to see the ruins of Knossos and the art in Heraklion was particularly interesting seeing how old, advanced, and oriental the civilization was there. Seeing the war museum was a lot of fun getting to see all the artifacts from the wars that have influenced modern Greece. Today we spent the day at Elafonisi which was by far the most gorgeous beach I have been to. All these things have been very entertaining and I have learned some interesting facts. However not to be cliche but it really has come down to the people of the island that have made this experience the most profound and has really put in perspective what my country and I's place in this world and how we should conduct ourselves abroad. When we finished doing the threading and Flax crushing one of the ladies from the cooperative and her parents made us one of the best meals I have had in my life. The meat was so tender and delicious. The meat was so flavorful and I could almost taste grass that the lamb probably had been consuming. I also got to try Hare for the first time which very tasty. While we were eating this amazing meal the father who was 94 explained to us how grateful he was that the United States was the only nation in the war that had given food to the people of Crete and kept them from complete starvation. He had lost his brothers in the war and explained how he spared a rebel Captain in the following civil war and how years later they threw a feast in thanks. It was a very emotional experience and he told us the story about the priest in mourning still gave a visitor a meal and bed. It was very inspiring and it revealed to me a number of things. First I think Americans have been misled about our foreign policy. I believe we really do have a purpose to be around the world to ensure stability and that our soft power such as giving food to those in Crete is an example of how we can create goodwill and cooperation towards our  country. In addition I can really see how a move towards this individual based society really threatens such a beautiful culture and goes against the humanity of these people. Moving towards a personal association would erode the social institutions that gave us the opportunity which afforded us that enriching cultural experience. Getting to see our bus driver dine with us and how they made sure everyone was seated and inviting those around to dine with us seems to create such a strong trust and appreciate for ones neighbors that is a necessary for a strong community and helps establish a strong democratic institutions. Similarly getting to have a conversation with the Corporal was a lot of fun and we found out he was a political science major with a masters in history. Even though he was a foreign soldier we really got to bond with him and discuss politics and geography. While traveling has exposed me to such an awe-inspiringly beautiful island and history, having these interactions have really made the trip worthwhile as they really put into the context the importance of all these elements we have been studying and exposed to.