Half-Way Through

I can't believe that I'm already half done with my Spain experience. I've been here for two months, and finals are in another two months- the time seems to have flown, but at the same time it's hard to imagine my life before I came here and before I knew all of the amazing people I've met, my host family, the culture, Pamplona in general, the language... I'm curious to see how the last two months go compared to the first two. I have a feeling that they'll fly- I'll have lots to do! For example, next weekend, I'm visiting Barcelona through a university-planned trip, the next week I'm taking a field trip to Madrid with my culture class, the next weekend I have 2 days of orchestra rehearsals and then two concerts, and at the beginning of April I have 12 days of spring break! Then, there's only 3 weekends between break and finals. It's hard to believe...

I think I've pretty much got a routine down now- I've noticed that not as much surprises me anymore and that I feel pretty comfortable with life here, which probably means that I've really been learning the culture and adjusting to the lifestyle. Yesterday, I took a nap and dreamed in Spanish for the first time that I can remember- I've heard that once you dream in a foreign language then you really are immersed in it. I can pretty much understand Spanish tv, or radio, and catch most of what Spaniards say to me... it's pretty neat. I know I have a TON to learn still, but I've heard from a lot of people that my Spanish sounds good to them! That's encouraging :) I learn so many new words each day, and a lot of it I think is due to my host family- they're constantly helping me and teaching me new words. I'm going to miss them a lot once I leave...

As far as classes, I've noticed that there are WAY less projects and homework assignments than at Concordia, but what we do have to do is graded more heavily (in my experience so far)... it's interesting because at home I generally been able to practice various skills on homework assignments to learn how to do it well and to know what the teacher expects from me... it's interesting how students here can do well when there's so little out-of-class work. Studying for finals is going to be intense! It might bring me back to how studying for Advanced Placement tests in high school was, where the entirety of the class is scored on one test. I think I'll be fine though :) It's just something different than what I'm used to. I feel like a happy medium between Concordia-style teaching and this would be perfect.

I've heard that there are four stages, emotionally, of studying abroad. First, you're in the honeymoon stage, where everything is new and exciting, and you just can't believe you're actually living in a foreign country! Then you hit the lowest point, and kind of miss your old life and can get culturally fatigued... next, is the stage where things gradually get better and you start to notice things you do or don't like about the culture. At the end, you realize that the culture has become a part of you and leaving might be hard. I feel like I'm in the third stage, where I'm noticing what I like about Spain and miss about the United States. For example, the food schedule (lunch at 2:30 or so, dinner at 9:30 or 10) is ok here, but I kind of miss my old routine because then I'm not so hungry in the morning and early afternoon, and I don't have to go to bed on a full stomach! I also miss doing things like watching movies with friends- so far, I've only watched one movie while I've been here. On the other hand, I love how outgoing and friendly the people here are. I can talk to pretty much anyone on the street if I need directions or something, and they're usually more than willing to help. One time when I needed directions, the lady that I stopped even walked me to where I needed to go... I also love talking with other international students and learning about their culture. For example, earlier this week I was talking to a friend from Taiwan and a friend from Japan and we were all comparing languages... it was interesting to see how Mandarin and Japanese work and are different from more European-type languages. I feel like leaving will be bittersweet- I'll be happy to go home, back to friends, family, Minnesota, and to what I've always known, but at the same time it will be hard I think to leave my host family and all of the new friends I've made here.

What else is new?? I think that's about it for now! I miss you guys at home, and hope you are all doing well.

¡Hasta luego!