International Hopscotch

There is something uniquely beautiful about stumbling upon a discovery, an uncharted piece of the world that suddenly becomes available to you. The beauty is especially palpable when it happens without a plan, a happy accident that you had the good fortune to experience. What could be more fitting than realizing how much the world has to offer and how little of it you have seen at the Monument of the Discoveries in Lisbon?

We had been living in Santa Maria de Belém for three weeks now and it still hadn't occured to us to explore the neighborhood. The fatigue we felt after teaching during the week and partying through the wee hours of the weekends took precedence over exploring the gems in own backyard. This is quite commonplace, the failure to explore what's within arm’s reach in order to collect experiences elsewhere.

On one cool evening, we finally decided to go exploring. We knew our surroundings were beautiful; simply looking around told us that much, but what we wanted was to get up close and personal. We walked to the Monument to the Discoveries, an ode to the Age of Discovery which took place between the 15th and 16th century. This 164-foot monument was built facing outwards on the edge of the Tagus River, 33 important Portuguese figures of this period carved out in stone on either side. It stands here because this is where Portuguese ships departed to trade with India and the Orient hundreds of years ago.

We stepped to the edge of the calm water, unable to see the end of the river on either side. To our left we could see the 25th of April Bridge, which looks very much like San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. The cool breeze kissed our skin. Invigorated by the open space around us, we jumped up and down like children, paying no mind to people who might have thought us strange.

At our feet was a compass and a mosaic map of the world, outlining the itinerary of Portugal's voyagers. Each of us stood on top of the country from where we came: Canada, Greece, Poland and Serbia. Here we were, different people from different places, coming together on a map on the pavement.

It wasn't so much the beautiful craftmanship of the structure or the lovely view of the water in front of us that etched this memory into my mind, rather it was the sharing of a moment with friends who revel in discovery and exploration just as much as I do.

Out in the distance, there was a lone sailboat. I wondered if they, too, were out in search of something new.