At the end of my weekend trip in Uruguay, we drove up this windy road and walked down a gravel path that revealed the house of Carlos Paez Vilarao. This famous Latin American artist built the white clay structure called Casapueblo on the side of the cliff overlooking the Atlantic coast with the most breathtaking view of the ocean I have seen in a long time. The Casapueblo was built in stages by the artist to resemble the mud nests created by the region's native hornero birds. It is now a hotel and a museum of his works, where admirers come from all over the world to marvel at his works. At sunset, we enjoyed a café con leche and listened to poetry recordings of the artist. Quiet, peaceful, reflective. It is in these times I look inward and feel the deepest love of God over my life. How constant, like the tide washing in and out on the shoreline, sometimes He may feel far or near, but He is always there. How He paints the sky with colors that burn my eyes, but I can’t help but stare. The Creator of man, created man and through art, poetry, music, dance - man gives back through his own expressions…a testament of His beauty and grace. Carlos Paez Vilarao called this house his “living sculpture”. Isn’t that what we are? Living sculptures formed from clay and dust, brought to life by His holy sacrifice. The Bible says that He is the potter, we are the clay. Our lives become shaped and moulded to reflect our experiences…and through them we change. 
Passing by the airport in the cab on the way back to my apartment, I saw families standing by the fence watching the planes land at sunset. Dads were holding their sons up on their shoulders as the massive jets landed in a glow of blue and green lights. Husbands and wives stood with their arms around each other, a steady hand on their babies’ stroller in awe of the runway. My dad used to take my brother and I to watch the planes land too. And it made me think of how people, families everywhere have so much in common, how the simplest things in life are things that we all share…My second month in Buenos Aires is almost over and as I returned to the city after only being away for four days, I realized that I really do love it here. Maybe I had to leave to appreciate it. Maybe that holds true for everything in our lives, that you have to leave or it has to be taken away before you truly realize how incredible it was. After leaving my parents to spend four years in Providence, I developed a friendship with them that I wouldn’t trade for anything. After my brother left home for college, our relationship became stronger. And after leaving the guy I love, I still feel as though we are closer than ever before and the love I have continues to grow, despite the distance, despite the odds. Maybe we are meant to leave the things we love for a season, to realize how much they truly mean.
“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know. Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.” – Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
