Friday marked the halfway point on in my time here abroad and looking back on all I’ve done it’s no wonder that time has been flying by. Furthermore, looking forward to all I have left to do I doubt that the next 2 months are going to be slowing down at any point soon. So much has happened since my last post so I’m going to take this two month update to recap some of the wonderful/hilarious/crazy memories that I’ve had in this trip thus far.
- Computer Crashes. Those of you who know me well, might know that technology and I don’t always get along. Example: the numerous time I broke my cell phone I had in middle school (sorry mom&dad). But still we (technology and I) had been growing closer as we matured (and I stopped breaking things) over time. However, my luck with computers has been less than stellar as of late. That being said, I think the most stressful point in this trip thus far has been my computer crashing while I was trying to update my software. There’s nothing like trying to explain to an apple service provider what happened to your computer when: a) you don’t know what happened b) you don’t know any of the specialized vocabulary relating to computer problems in spanish and c) you don’t speak fluent spanish and they don’t know english. However, where there is a will (and a 75 minute international call to apple) there is a way. So I continue to type from the comfort of my own bed. Sadly I did loose some of my pictures from my time here but the ones I liked the most I already had on Facebook anyway.
- Netflix. On October 20th, 2015, Netflix reached Spain. And while I actually haven’t used it too much, thanks to the absurd amount of work I’ve been doing for my program; knowing it’s there is like a little safety net. A safety net that would only be improved by my ability to find a single chinese takeout place anywhere near me.
- Day Trips. I’ve recently taken day trips to both Córdoba and Cádiz which while both short were nice ways to spend a day outside and in a place closer to Sevilla. I’m hoping to take day trips to Ronda and Carmona if possible before I come home. But we’ll see what happens.
- School Strikes. The spaniards had a student strike on Thursday, which, basically just meant I didn’t have class that day. Side note: Yes, I’m still actually taking classes — despite the fact that the numerous pictures of different places that I’ve been posting on Facebook might have you think otherwise. The best part of the strike was that the professors didn’t try to stop it. In fact, in one of my classes the Professor asked to raise hands if we would be in class, and when no-one did, he replied “okay, I won’t come in tomorrow then”. It was truly fascinating.
- Birthday Celebrations. We’ve had some birthdays and we definitely have more coming (hint: mine is in November ;D) so we decided to have a nice dinner with most of the program and it was really nice. I don’t actually go out to eat that often since our program requires our host parents to promise to make us 3 meals a day. I actually can’t wait to get a chance to eat out more often.
Looking forward I have some amazing trips planned, some special visitors coming to visit and 2 more months to enjoy this amazing country. I’m truly thrilled, and while it’s had it’s ups and downs, it’s definitely been the learning experience I wanted. (I just wish the Eagles didn’t have so many late night games because trying to wake up for 2:30am game that then runs until 6:00 isn’t as fun as it might sound). Before I go, there’s the one question that most people have been asking and they want to know, which is the question of how’s my spanish. The honest answer Is, I don’t know. I can’t say for sure that I really feel like I’ve gained fluency or that it’s still not a struggle at times — because it definitely still is. But what I can say is that I feel more comfortable speaking the language and I think that for me, that is a big hurdle. I don’t know if it’s going to count at the end when my program evaluates me but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
As for home, I hope all is well. I definitely miss some people and I definitely miss Philly (that is and will always be home), but it seems like there’s plenty going on both on campus and just in general to keep people busy. Plus two months will fly by and I’lll just have more stories to share.
Next up: Dublin. Time to see how Ireland does Halloween.
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