After spending a semester in Madrid and looking back on the experience I honestly wish I could rewind time and start again... Not because I would do anything differently because I don't regret any of the choices I made along the way, but rather so that I could re-experience the moments that I did love during my time abroad. Since I have been back people continue to ask me what I learned along this journey, if I feel that I am in any way different, and what was the best part of my experience. I have come up with a million different responses and I 100% feel that I have grown and learned a lot about myself and different cultures throughout my time abroad.
The most important and rewarding part of my experience was getting to spend so much time with such an amazing host family. I am so happy that I chose to live with a family.... not only did I improve my language (as I could only speak spanish in the house), but I got to know some pretty amazing people. From the start I felt that my experience was different. Other students complained about missing their family (not that I did not miss mine), spending all their time shopping for themselves, wanting to practice the language but having roommates that constantly spoke english, and not knowing how many of the different systems or cultural habits in Madrid work. In contrast, I not only gained a host mother who took care of me the way that my own mother would, but I gained an entire family, new siblings, another father, even a cousin and house pet cat. Throughout my entire experience I felt that I was part of the family... sitting in the living room at night watching youtube videos with my host bother... having my life interpreted through my zodiac signs by my host sister.... going to local hidden bars with my host cousin... spending hours discussing the differences between the United States and Spain with my host father... and cooking and playing words with friends with my host mother though out the day and night.
Instead of spending all of my time trying to find which grocery store carried the products I needed to buy and cook for myself, I went to the family pueblo and learned the ways in which my host father grows his own crops... maintains his own irrigation system... and made sausage, cheese, and milk. I had the opportunity to eat native spanish cuisine... to learn to make traditional paella, cocido, tortilla espanola, along with eating freshly grown vegetables and fruits from the family farm each meal.
In addition, if I were sick or had a problem, my host mother came to the rescue. She constantly made me concoctions of different herbs and fruits to drink as a tea... she would draw me maps of how to get to different locations.... she told me which gym membership to get.. where to go to get stamps for the United States.. good restaurants to go to with my "intercambio".... anything I needed. I felt as if I were living at home with my own family yet still in college.
Furthermore, living with a host family, as my many blogs have demonstrated, really teaches you a lot more about the cultural habits in Spain. In my cultural seminar I was able to apply practically every idea or situation presented to my own experiences living with a spanish family. Not only did I learn language that is used in casual conversation, but I learned the correct manner to leave a conversation... the reasons for why the kids live with their family for such a long time... the traditional food dishes... customs such as wearing shoes in the house... and the background about ever holiday that took place throughout my time there. I had advice on places to travel and what to do when I got there.
Other than living with this family and learning so much more about Spain and Madrid, the culture and the people, I also learned a lot about myself and personally grew from this experience. The word of the semester is independence. Although I just explained how supportive my new family was I became much more independent during my time abroad. Much of this independence was gained from traveling, having to plan trips on my own... having to figure out how to handle unfamiliar situations... new transportation systems... and not speaking an infinite number of languages. Traveling was another highlight of my time abroad as I visited so many amazing places but it also easily could have been the most stressful part of the experience if I had not handled many situations the way I did.
Additionally, I definitely learned to appreciate life more. This experience was once in a life time and I am fully aware of that. We only do have one life to live and taking advantage of each and every situation is so important in life.... making the most of moments. The beauty of getting to know new people and cultures, sharing moments with people, seeing new places..... It is very much spanish culture to confront each problem straight on and then move on from it. Arguments in the house were common, but lasted maybe 2 minutes then talk was back to normal... grudges were not held and after the problem was confronted life moved on. This communication should, in some way, be applied in life here as should different parts of the lifestyle in Spain, such as being much more relaxed... Due to the leisure of life and lack of preoccupation with time, numerous conversations were had that would not have taken place if I were living in the US. In addition, the idea that beauty in life can be found in so many unknown or unexpected places became very realized..... watching fish give birth at night with my host mother.... or seeing the expression on my host sisters face when I gave the family teas and chocolates.... even just going for a long ride with my host bother out into the outskirts of Madrid.... I experienced so many small moments in life that should be focused on and remembered. I definitely have a new outlook on life... a new realization of what I want out of life... and a new mentality in living.
Finally, living in Madrid for a semester really helped me appreciate my life in the United States. The amount of protest and strikes... the number of days I showed up to the metro to discover it was not running... the aggressive way that men treat women at times... the way so many things are not planned out at all.... the disorganization of so many systems.... even seeing the unemployment situation in my own house hold there (only 1 of 4 having a job at the time).... All of these experiences helped me appreciate the lifestyle that I have here. That being said, as I mentioned, I believe that part of the lifestyle that people live in Spain can be applied to the busy lifestyle in the United States.
Overall, I loved my experience abroad. It was life changing and it is an experience that I know I am never going to forget. Its going to be strange going back to campus and not having to cram to get work done during the week to go travel to some country during the weekend... having to speak in english all the time is somewhat overwhelming as was spanish originally for me when arriving in Spain... and although I have still been keeping in contact with my family in Spain since I have been back, not having those longs talks with my host mother at night about life and not watching spanish movies and making dinner with my host siblings is going to be bizarre. Part of me wishes I were still in Spain for another semester, while the other part is more than ecstatic to be home... either way, I am left with amazing memories that I will hold with me forever and a new family that I am sure I will be seeing again in the future.
I hope this blog helped you follow me through my many adventures in Spain (specifically my travels) and although I did not share that many of my personal family situations in Spain that you are able to understand how fantastic an experience I had living in Madrid.
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