One Week

Alright. So this time I changed the font size at the very beginning instead of saving it until the end and then forgetting to change the size, making it difficult for my readers. 

As the title of this post indicates, I am one week into my Spanish adventure. And with that, I would like to make some preliminary remarks about Americans and our culture, and Spaniards and their culture.

To begin, I would like to say that one of my observations is that time moves so much slower here, it seems. I have only been here for a week, but it feels like I have been here for at least a month. It really should come as no surprise to me that the pace of life is slower here, because I read and heard about it all the time, but I think that until you experience it, you will never fully appreciate it. It is crazy to think that I have another 23 weeks here, as I am sure it will feel like a lifetime for me! This is not a complaint, just to be clear. It is nice to have a much more relaxed lifestyle, one in which I am not driving everywhere, answering texts and phone calls, or cramming everything into a day. Although many people have tried to convince me otherwise and many of my fellow students think I am nuts for it, I think there is a certain sense of tranquillity in not having a cell phone. Yes, I am not up to date with what is happening. Yes, it makes hanging out with people much more difficult. Despite all of this, I am not checking my phone every two seconds, worrying about whether I missed a phone call or a text or an important email. I go with the flow here. I hang out with people and we chat and have a good time. I get to just sit in my house with Rufi and watch TV and chat about the news (her favorite television show apparently :P) or whatever we want without my phone distracting me. For this reason, I think my experience in Spain is going to be one without comparison, to be sure. 

Americans. You can hear them and pick them out of a crowd wherever you go. Quite literally. For one, they are all in a huge mass, trying to stay as close together as possible, putting the weak and sick ones in the middle so that predators cannot snatch them. Then they are speaking English. Even though this is a university town and a lot of the locals know that there are many Americans here, it seems to me that there are still a good number of individuals who do not know how to speak English. So if you are in Salamanca and speaking English, chances are you are American. English is not something unique to America, however, so if you hear a group speaking English, it could be they are from Australia or the United Kingdom or something. Which is why the volume is the defining characteristic of Americans. Within my own group of students studying with ISA, there are a lot of people from the East Coast, a couple from the Midwest or West, and one fellow from Texas (who is extremely loud, but that is only because everything is bigger in Texas, right?). I have never met so many East Coasters in my life and the closest thing that compares to them are Chicagoans. East Coasters speak quite loudly and to get a word into a conversation, you have to be louder and more assertive than the rest of the group. Being from the easy-going Mid-West makes entrance into the conversation difficult, then, and I told all of them that it is not that I do not like hanging out with them, it is just that it is a bit overwhelming at times. 

Within my group, it is also the case that many of them do not like to speak or practice their Spanish. They prefer to speak English. While this was ok when we were first getting to know each other and I was totally fine with it for the first few days, after that it irritated me. We are in Spain...speak Spanish. If you do not start now, with your peers, when are you ever going to speak it? It really bugged me, but now I do not have to deal with it as often, as they are all doing their own thing and I am doing mine. Connected with this, it seems to me that none of them are really interested in taking seriously their studies here. Most of them are here for the parties and nightlife. While that is an important part of Spanish culture and I have and will participate in the nightlife and fiestas, at the same time you are studying abroad, not getting shitfaced abroad (pardon my French). You need to focus also on your studies. But many of the kids from my group seem to be rich kids that really think that money grows on trees or something. Many of the kids went to prep schools, while some of them are studying abroad for an entire semester for a second time! I could not believe this, as I find myself fortunate and blessed to be studying abroad for one semester, which is why I am going to take this experience so seriously. Do not get me wrong, there are a few kids that are genuinely interested in learning the language and moving on with their life, but it seems to me that most of them are not. I guess this is fine, as it is their study abroad experience, but I think they are missing out on so much more. 

Rant about negative aspects of American life, over, and now on to Spaniards. For the first few days in Madrid, it seemed that Spaniards were generally unkind or only self-interested. But I think that this was only because it was a big, metropolitan city, and this is generally how larger cities work. Once we went to Toledo (remember my experience there in the Jewish quarter with the man who gave me free samples and chatted with me), it seemed I had found a more genuine Spanish culture. Salamanca is bigger than Toledo, but nowhere near as big as Madrid, so the culture seems to be mostly the same. Everyone here is really kind. Rufi is a good example: she cooks for us three times per day, does the dishes, cleans the kitchen, bathroom, hallways, even our bedrooms, does our laundry, talks with us, puts up with our horrendous Spanish skills, and never complains once. When I really think about it, I cannot believe all that she does in one day. It amazes me. 

She introduced me to her niece, Sara, who was interested in doing an intercambio with me. An intercambio, exchange in English, is between a native English speaker and a native Spanish speaker. These individuals get together every once in a while to speak to each other in their non-native tongues to improve their oral abilities. It is actually a funny story how Sara and I were introduced. I was going to take a siesta on Tuesday when I heard the phone ring. Rufi answered it, said some words, and then knocked on my door. I was worried that someone from the states had called me and was going to flip out at the person had contacted me via phone because it is only for emergencies. Anyhow, I opened the door, Rufi gave me the phone and told me it was her niece, Sara, wondering if I was interested in doing an intercambio with her. I agreed, and so we had our first meeting on  Wednesday night. Sara told me that my Spanish was really good (which made me happy) but that she was afraid of talking in English because she has never, in her entire life, had an oral exam in English, even though she has studied it since she was 13 years old and she is now 31. So she was nervous, but we did it and I reassured her that she really could speak English well, pronouncing consonants (w, h, y, etc.) and consonant combinations (th, etc.) that are difficult for most native Spanish speakers to pronounce. After that, she asked if I was interested in continuing this intercambio with her, to which I definitely agreed, and then we set up a date for last night (Friday) in which she would take me to a bar for tapas and then told me we would hook up with some of her friends to play billiards. So I did this last night, and she helped me get over my fear of ordering stuff in bars. So for about a half hour or so, we talked in English and then we went to meet up with her friends. We got there, and I officially met her husband, Ivan, and her two friends who are married to each other, Edith and Jorge. They were interested in hearing about me and my background and whatnot, and they were really nice, which is something typical of Spaniards not living in larger cities. We shot some pool, ate some pizzas and other tapas, drank some beers, and chatted about life. It was so relaxed and cool. While we were there, Sara told me that her brother was also interested in speaking English with me, so I agreed that I would meet with him as well. So tonight (Saturday), we are meeting at 9:30 to do some intercambios between the three of us, and Ivan is going to be there too, but I get the impression that he does not speak English. I am pumped!!

Well, I think that is actually enough for this post. There is a lot more to be said about the culture and the people, but I guess it will be for another post. Happy weekend, all!