Have things really changed?

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The last 24 hours have been exciting but have also reminded me of two of life´s infamous sayings.

How many times have you returned to a place that was once a stomping ground but is now a memory in the past? You return with the memories you last had of the place and for some reason you expect nothing to have changed although it makes no logical sense since as we all know (1), "The only constant in life is change." Being a mid-twenty year-old, this phase of my life and the lives of my friends is about finding the path, the patner, and the clearness of mind to forge a life. So, naturally my friends and myself are taking steps forward and then back and then forward again, all with the expectation that eventually we will hit the path that feels right under our feet and start to run. However, perhaps the most difficult part is beginning to run down the path is knowing that you are leaving behind the others, which you might never see again. "What could, would, or had happened if I had done xy or z?" As I walk the crowded streets of São Paulo, past the beggers, the blackmarket vendors, and the businessman, who pass you by with such a swift stiffness that you just feel their arrogance, I duck in and out of cafes, museums, and restaurantes meeting my friends. They have changed jobs, boyfriends/girlfriends, and perhaps cell numbers (which has made it difficult to contact a few of them), but in the end (2) "nothing really ever changes around here."

As much as I may sometimes feel that my memories don´t exactly resemble the São Paulo I see today, in reality the exterior has changed but the substance remains the same. Whether this be a friend´s new haircut or a new condominium across the street from where I used to live or even a corrupt politician in jail (something unheard of in Brasil 10 years ago) things remain very much the same. So, could it be that these to seemingly contradictory phrases don´t really contradict one another but instead refer to two different time periods, one the long term and the other the short term? Or is it perhaps that one is really the answer and the other not true at all. Well, it seems to me that they both seem to coexist just fine because the more changes that occur, the more I am reminded that the essense remains the same.

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