What I've Learned (3 Months)

What I've learned? Is... A lot.


What I've learned cannot be expressed in one post, a blog, or a book. Why? Because not even I know everything that I've learned. But I do know one thing.

I've learned a lot.



As I sit here and think of how the trimester students have already returned home, I am so thankful that I have more time.

Why? Because I have yet to finish many things.

One- the language.
Two- a solid group of Spanish friends.
Three- the culture.
Four- school.
Five- understanding life.

And lastly, I haven't figured out how to use a cell without handing over my life savings to Vodafone.

I've got seven months. But only... seven months.




A possibly better list than "What Still Needs to be Finished" would be titled "What Still Need to be Understood."

And this list...could go on. And on. And on. For kilometers, and kilometers, and eventually miles- (If you're in the United States...)




What Still Needs to be Understood:

One- the language.
Two- Spanish people.
Three- the culture.
Four- school.
Five- life.

And finally, how to use a cell phone without handing my life savings over to Vodafone.



Yep. Same list. And why is this? Simply the fact that I haven't learned everything yet. There are still unanswered questions, and missing pieces to the puzzle. If something doesn't make sense, it's simply because I don't know the reasoning behind it.

And this, my friend, is the reasoning behind three very eventful months...




ONE: The Language

Basic and straight forward- I have yet to master the Spanish language. At three months I can more or less understand most eventhing that is said to me. I can speak decently, but not as well as I'd like. It's interesting- as my level of Spanish depends on the topic of the conversation; mostly due to vocabulary.
Today while reading my science book, I could understand most everything. Understanding conversation? That's tricky. Conversation is very hard to understand when I'm not 'in' the conversation. I've decided this is because when you know what is going on, you can almost guess the response from someone, making it easier to understand.

Reading my literature book? I don't. Or- I try not to. It just gets me angry and makes me think I'm reading Chinese.

TWO: Spanish People
I don't like to generalize by any means, so I am just talking about sense I receive from the atmosphere around me. Waiters, clerks, salesmen, etc. have a different attitude and relationship with us..customers. They aren't as interested in your life as many are- and certainly would never dream of asking how a stranger's day was. I'm not saying they aren't nice- they just...are there to get their job done.



Lost? I've tended to notice that if someone doesn't know how to get there- they'll act like they do. Especially police officers. It really confuses me actually. If they don't know- they'll confidently point you in the direction of their choice.

Toursits. Good luck. That's all I have to say. You of course (remember I'm in Madrid...very toursity) will be taken advantage of by all means. I think a lot of people in Madrid are tired of tourists, and tend to ignore them when possible. It's funny for me to see tourists with all their fancy cameras, metro maps, standing on the wrong side of the escalator, pronouncing things wrong, and just generally wandering around in general. Then again I can pick out the Americans. That's always fun.

A few things I've noticed. The number of young smokers? RIDICULOUS. Absolutely absurd. It's sad to see such young kids walking around with cigarretss- I think if they actually knew how bad they are for you, they wouldn't smoke.

Walking. Yep. You can pick out a local from a tourist from a Spanish person just by the way they walk. Well, atleast the people I've been with. Tourists just walk around stopping in the middle of the street taking pictures, oohing and ahhing over the monuments or whatever, while I've noticed a lot of Spanish people just walk slow. Like in general. I mean, if it means you have to run twenty feet to make the metro on time, let's do it- ok? I never knew I could walk so slow in my life. It's quite difficult, actually. Requires a lot of patience.

"Mind your own business" is a phrase I don't know how to say in Spanish but could be very useful. If you're used to not wearing a coat in 65ºF weather, you're not going to wear one, OK? And if you don't wear a scarf because "it's windy"...your not going to! And if you don't sit down the second the teacher comes into class, it's your problem- not theirs. Just because I (or other exchangers) might speak like a little kid, people forget that they don't have to treat us like one too.

Crosswalks. I am very intriegued as to what the laws are in Spain- as you can cross any (for sure one way) street and cars will just stop for you. It's amazing. Red, Green, Yellow, whatever- you are basically allowed to cross whenever you feel like it. It's still taking a bit of getting used to- but it's really nice. Bigger streets? Not as much. People really like to show off how loud they can rumble their moped though.



Besides teachers which I have already talked about- I want to make clear that I am not saying every single person is or does things mentioned about. I've just found a few similarities I've found in the people here.

THREE: The Culture
This is simply been quite an...interesting part of my adventure. If you read Jake's blog, theres a post about 8? things different here than in the USA. We had to laugh because almost all of his differences were opposites of mine. This just proves that culture and family lifestyle are two completely different things.

So what is culture? That's a tough question. As life in your house can be so much different than you're neighbor's...culture is such a hard topic. Also, being in the center of Madrid makes it hard to distinguish between 'culture' and 'tourist traps'. Chocolate and churros are lined up in the streets, followed with places to eat paella and ham- but is this really what the culture is?

My answer has yet to be found. I have been left to do culture searching basically on my own. I have been thankful enough to have gone with other student's host families to a few events- but I'm still out searching for that "typical lifestyle"...as my host family is quite different.

FOUR: School.
School. Ugh. That's a post in it's own. (Eskwehla en Espahnya...or something)

FIVE: Life.
As most of my differences have been with my host family, it is very interesting to see how drastically different lifestyles can be in the same country. I've concluded that the country you pick isn't nearly as important as the family you receive. And to confirm the rumors- Yes. I am searching for a new host family in Madrid. there have been some miscommunications as to what is a "family experience" and the responsibilities of a host family. If you host- atleast be interested in having someone in your home. For the least.

Even though three and a half months have been a bit questionable on this end- I have learned more than I probably would have with a more "typical" host family. Simply this has made my experience worthwhile- as I have grown leaps and bounds by figuring out and solving daily life by myself.



And last, the good old Vodafone. I'm not going to lie- it's going to be weird going back to a home where I can shoot anyone a text or call them when or how often I want. My phone plan? 35 (EURO!) cents a minute or text. Unless they have Vodafone. Then I only have to pay for the first minute, and the next 89 minutes are free. The catch? You service never lasts for more than three minutes. Go figure.

And this is only a summary of What I've Learned- the Three Month Mark.



Keep an Open Mind

-mb