It was just for a second that we exchanged glances. He looked at me and I looked at him. Then suddenly, a shiver ran down our spines; we both looked down, pretending we had seen each other for the very first time, when we were roommates, well at least for ten days. I couldn't blame him and he couldn't blame me either. The situations were the same for all of us - over fifty people - living together there and sharing the same schedule. Five of us shared the same room; we went to bed at the same time and woke up together to the sound of a shared alarm. “Same room” and yet we were so distant. No one ever said a word. No one had the time or permission to harm the equanimity of others by pursuing any form of communication, even gestures or sign language. Striving not to make the mistake of disturbing the calm of others and harming our own calm, each of us always kept our heads down, facing the ground. It was as if we were all searching for something priceless on the ground beneath us, “ourselves.” I was seventeen when I decided to leave....