10 Things About My Spanish Life

So nothing too incredibly special or outstanding has taken place since I got back from Pamplona. Or rather, after being at the craziness of Pamplona, nothing has seemed even remotely exciting. Life is all relative, and after going to San Fermin nothing seems relatively wild ever again. haha

But I recently read my friend Megan's blog about 20 facts about her life and it got me thinking....what are a few things about my life here that I haven't really taken the time to step back and examine lately? The longer I live here, the faster everything becomes routine, which is really a tragedy. Every day here is such a gift, and even though I'm still thankful every second for this incredibly opportunity, it's hard to still see the magic in everything.

Regardless, I'm thankful for the peaceful moments I get to sit back and think about my life here. With so much traveling, sight-seeing, and non-stop going going going, sometimes I get way too caught up in it all. But now, now it's just me and my thoughts. So, without any further ado, here are 10 new facts about my life here in Spain:

1. My little hermanos Mario and Guille, although really young, are really complex and unique individuals. Mario is only 7 and yet he has a sense of humor that never fails to crack me up. Of course, he speaks so fast and slurred together (just like little kids in the US) that sometimes I just have to laugh and pretend like I get the joke. Guille wants so much to be independent but he still wants to know that you care about him. He usually gets pretty jealous when I show Mario a little TOO much attention. I have never lived with kids before, so living with these two has been an experience in and of itself.

2. Spanish music is..........interesting. I love music of all types. Seriously, give me any genre and I guarantee you I will find something I like. However, the music over here is just different. I think they try to be a little to American-ized with their music while still trying to maintain the Spanish roots and it doesn't really always come off sounding too well. But I have found some that I really like, and yes, I have already added them to my iPod. (See: Juanes - Me Enamora, Bebe - Siempre Me Quedará)

3. Student/Teacher relationships are COMPLETELY different here as compared to the US. Back home, the professors and OU staff would never, ever spend time with students outside of the University of environment. This is partly because there are a few rules against it, but in my opinion, the academics in the US have a kind of high-and-mighty complex that, in their minds, sets them apart from the students. Yet here, the faculty and staff will gladly go and have a drink with you after class or go enjoy some tapas in the plaza with you. It's really incredible, because you can learn so much more (non-academic stuff, like Spanish culture and lifestyle) outside of the classroom this way.

4. The Spanish people just really generally enjoy life. I see this more and more all the time. They love their family time. They love their siestas. They love dancing and socializing. And of course everyone in the states loves those things, too. But life just revolves so much more around leisure time here.

5. Spain (and Europe in general, really) is absolutely, without a doubt, the most liberal place I have ever been. Take the Madrid Gay Pride, for example. The city basically shuts down for it. Everyone from gays to straights to 80 year olds to entire families make their way to the parade. Our teachers really pushed us to go to it, and I think I kind of see why now. It really did open my eyes to the tolerance and liberalism for the country. I like it.

6. I've always been a person that loves meeting new people any time that I can. That is one of the reasons that study abroad was perfect for me. And more specifically, it has made Spain perfect for me. So far everywhere I've gone I've made some new friends. Anytime you're sitting next to a Spaniard, they love striking up conversations with you. Don't speak perfect Spanish? No problem! They love to help you practice/practice their English with you. (or at least this is the case with my experiences so far)

7. My Spanish is WAY better than I ever thought it was. And I have no idea how. There are several people who are studying here who have taken the exact same amount of classes as I have back at OU, and their level of Spanish is far lower than mine. And they've admitted that to me, so I'm not just making a rude assumption. But, for example, when I was in Pamplona, I was talking to a brother/sister pair and the brother told me that I spoke Spanish better than any other American he had ever met and the sister (who walked in late to the conversation) asked me if I was from Madrid because I had a Madrid accent. Which naturally inflated my ego big time, haha.

8. I still haven't really experienced true homesickness. There are always those moments, those "I just heard a song that reminded me of my best friend" or those "I bet my parents would love to see this" moments that make you miss people every once in awhile. But really, I know that my home will still be there when I get back, and I'm too focused on making the most of every day. I don't have time to be homesick, even though I do make time to think about my family and friends a lot.

9. To me, and I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with this, the people in Spain are really really good looking. They all have these really dark, beautiful features and there is hardly an overweight person in the entire country. I could people-watch for hours in any of the major plazas. Now if the Spanish people would just stop dressing so weird with their mullets, parachute pants, lip rings, and short (and I mean SHORT) shorts.

10. Life is just good. Plain and simple. I love this Spanish lifestyle. I love Madrid. I love the people. I love all the weird little quirks of the culture. It's such a great place. I want everyone I know to get to see this country that I have grown to love, and it's almost unfair that some people will never get to see the beauty in Spain.

Okie dokie. That's all I've got for now. I realize that that was a really long post, and I applaud you if you made it all the way through. haha But I just felt the need to get some things down about life in general rather than just about my travels. Traveling is a huge part of all this, but even bigger is just the fact that I'm living and functioning in a foreign country. That is a major part of all this, and it's something that is easy to forget.

So that's all I've got for now. Jordan is happy. No surprise there, right? :)