Though I haven't been blogging I´ve been thinking a lot lately. After over 10 weeks in Spain some parts of my life are finally starting to feel normal. I have a solid group of friends I hangout with, I can hold everyday conversations in Spanish without (a lot of) fear and I have a set routine which includes classes in the morning and students in the afternoon. However, some days still feel like I just arrived. I still get lost at least once a week, there are still a few incidents where I have no idea what someone is saying to me and there are nights where all I wanna do is go home and cuddle with my dogs. While the bad days seem horrible and the good days seem amazing overall life is normal. I never though I´d say that living my life in Spain could be normal but instead of complaining about grandiose things like finding a piso and not understanding how to grocery shop we now complain that our favorite cafe isnt open on Mondays or that the tortilla we got for tapas was dry or the everyday things that everyday people complain about.
Now that all my residency paperwork is figured out I am a much happier camper and hopefully as of Novembre 26 I will have my resident card in hand. Right now I am fighting with a little homesickness because Thanksgiving and my birthday are approaching within the next month. I want nothing more to sit down on Thanksgiving and stuff myself with my dad's delicious turkey, but there is give and take because if I were home this semester I would be taking exams on my 21st birthday. Instead, I am celebrating a 4 day puente with a trip to Madrid.
So, 74 days in and what have I learned you ask?
1. Time isnt the same here. For those of you who follow Dr. Who Spain time is wibbly, wobbly, timey and wimey. No one is ever quite sure when homework is due, the extranjería never called me when my papers were ready and things that begin at 9 do not hit full swing until 10. Sometimes this is annoying however other times, such as when you cant find your keys and dont leave your piso until the exact time class starts, it can be beneficial. In general it is teaching me to relax. That things will work out when they work out, and not a moment before.
2. You cannot learn a language to the point of fluency without living somewhere that speaks it. I have learned more in 10 weeks here than in all my 4 years of previous study. People just dont call you an empollona at home....
3. Being American has disadvantages and advantages . First the bad, almost everyone will want to practice English with you. This is extremely annoying. Firstly because Im paying out the wazoo to be here to learn Spanish while the majority of the students pay significantly less and secondly, for them it is still practice in a foreign language, for me it is just another time that I revert back to my native language. This irks me so much. However, I have come across a very good gig teaching private English lessons for a beautiful 11 € per hour. Though this doesnt seem like much between my 4 students I pay rent and most of my groceries from this money.
4. You learn who your real friends are. I have kept in contact with only a handful of close friends back home and those that havent made an effort to contact me I have learned to let go of. Nothing like moving to a different continent to make you realize who is there for you. You also learn quickly who your closest friends are here. For example, my American friend MJ feeds me numerous times per week, calms me down when i am spastic and is always a good listening ear and reality checker. I also know that my group of friends f rom Italy would do anything for me. When everyone is in an unfamiliar situation and searching for support the walls come down quickly.
This coming weekend Im taking a trip to País Vasco with the Centro de Idiomas and Im very excited to spend a few days outside of León. While I love it here it is a bit small for my liking and I am looking forward to a day in a bigger city. Thats about it for now. I will try to update once more before Christmas
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