The Paisley Palace

Psychologists will tell you that group dynamics and group cohesion are often best shaped by shared experiences. For anyone who has participated in international travel or study aboard experiences, this principle is practically a religious code. Though I am firm believer, I would like to add a lesser known, though equally relevant theory of my own—furniture. I’m not talking about your average couch, love seat or standard dining room set. These items rarely have the power to capture the imagination of six 20-something year old guys. No, to achieve this kind of feat, several qualities must be fulfilled. First, the couch must provide amble space for the minimum of six men, sprawled out after a long day. Second, despite the assumption of many women, color and pattern are important (though not essential). With this in mind, I invite you to close your eyes and take a little mental sojourn to an Egyptian apartment that I have come to call home over the past week. This apartment has been passed down through the generations of MESPers (Middle East Studies Program) and was entrusted to the six of us for the semester. Before entering the apartment, we were informed that our apartment had been christened ‘The Paisley Palace’, and that we had no choice but to embrace this fact. Why the Paisley Palace you ask? Well, it has a little something to do with the giant pink paisley couch that that adorns and occupies the majority of our living room. Instantly, this item became the unifying element for our flat. In minutes we had found our identity as the ‘Paisley Palace men’—we haven’t looked back since. Lying on the couch last night, I remembered something I first realized when I was in Germany: cities are just empty skeletons occupying a fixed space. People are what bring cities to life; people create memories and strengthen hearts. Looking at the five other guys lying on our paisley couch, I couldn’t help but smile, and be thankful for the new people in my life.