Snapshot thought: 7 beds

I've slept in 7 beds in Greece in just over 150 days. 
Bed 1: A 2nd floor apartment in Chalandri
Bed 2: A 1st floor apartment in a suburb on the fringe of Patras
Bed 3: An odd hotel in Igoumenitsa, a working port town for working people
Bed 4: A sweet family-run hotel in the mountains of the Peloponnese.
Bed 5: A bottom bunk on a ferry to Crete
Bed 6: A loft in a rustic house on the ocean
Bed 7: A 2nd floor apartment in a quiet neighborhood of Heraklion, Crete.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain
In my view travel is the cure for small-mindedness and its sinister cousin closed-mindedness. For travel begins with curiosity and when you are curious about something, you open your mind. If you approach someone new with curiosity you ask questions with open eyes, open ears, and an open heart. You listen so you can satisfy your curiosity or ask new questions. I've visited schools with many resources and some who appear to have no resources at all but who make almost-miracles happen. I've gained more empathy for students from all walks of life as well as their teachers. Sleeping in a quiet, safe space is not a given for students. Food security is not a given for students. It's almost cliche to say walk in someone's shoes, so maybe it's time to think about swapping pillows. Is your student sleeping in a car? On a friend's couch? In a room they share with several siblings? In a clean room filled with trophies? In a quiet space that is their sanctuary?  
This thought exercise may lead us, as Samuel Clements suggests to a "broad[er]" and more "charitable" view of the children in our schools.

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