I don't really know what to tell you guys as far as an update on my life in Spain. I mean, yeah, I'm in Spain, but still -- I have a routine. Life is still life. A typical weekday goes like this: Wake up, get ready for school, catch the schoolbus, do school from 8:30 to 3:00, go home, eat lunch, homework/chill/write/run/etc., have a light dinner and go to bed (not too different than my routine in Iowa). On the weekends, I usually hang out with friends on Friday and Saturday night, then Sunday is basically a day to relax/prepare to do it all over again. What I'm trying to get across is that just because I'm living in a foreign county, it doesn't mean that my life is always bursting with excitement. It really bothers me when people refer to my exchange as a vacation, because I'm NOT on some holiday in Spain. I have a life here. Don't get me wrong -- I love Spain to death, but I truly began to fall in love with Spain when things felt normal. Those moments when I don't feel like that complete foreigner; those moments when I know that Spain is truly another home -- those are the moments that I love.
This Friday I'm actually changing host families, so that will be interesting. I'll be living with my Rotary counselor, Juan, and his wife. They don't have any kids, but they have a lovely German Shepherd! I'm a little nervous about switching houses because I'm already used to how things are here in my current house -- I know my expectations and such, but I know I'll survive. I made it the first time around in October, I can do it again. I'll try to post a video or a photo tour of my current house sometime in the coming week.
I'm not sure what else to tell you, so here are some differences between life here and life in the US that I've been brainstorming lately.
1. Spanish people are small.
I don't know how, but everyone here seems to be so tiny, both height and weight wise, guys and girls. I'm thinking it just has to be something in their genes. In the US, I'm considered to be a bit short. Here, I am actually a bit taller than average. I have small feet compared to my friends in the US -- about a size 8 -- but here, I've actually been turned away from stores because they don't carry a big enough shoe size. I find this sad, especially when stores have super cute shoes.
2. It's normal to have someone come to clean your house here.
Having a cleaning lady or someone come to your house a few times a week here isn't considered a luxury, it's normal. At my house now, someone comes two times a week and she does laundry, dishes, vacuuming, mopping/sweeping, etc. It seems like a lot of my friends actually have someone come to their house everyday! This is something I'm probably going to miss when I go back to Iowa.
3. There is such a stinking ton of English here.
Okay, so in the US, yeah, my friends and I say random Spanish things to each other. It's fun and a little silly, but whatever, we do it. Here it's like that, but so much more. My friends here will say random things to each other in English (like we do in the US with Spanish), but their English is actually pretty good. They listen to English music, absorb American media . . . English is easily part of their daily lives. Dang, if I had as much Spanish influence as the kids here have English influence, my Spanish would be so much better! Grr.
I'm pretty sure I had some more differences to tell you, but I can't think of them at the moment. I'll try to brainstorm some more soon. In the mean time, I would highly recommend checking out my friend Hannah's blog! She is currently living in Malaga City (an hour east of me), and is from Oregon. So many times I read her blog and think, "This is exactly what I'm feeling... Ohmygoodness, we're like the same person." So yeah, it's at http://www.englishtospanishdictionary.blogspot.com/. It's really good stuff.
That's it. Check out my Spain Playlist on Spotify if you haven't yet. Woop woop.
Byebyebyebyebyebye
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