Journal for lcolliso

update!

2008-04-27T12:09:18Z

I’m still enjoying my time in Spain, with only 7 weeks left. I think the last two months are going to fly by, seeing that time is already flying by quite quickly. I have all of my work starting now through June 3rd, which is different from my science classes at home, in which I would normally have studying and work to do from day 1 through finals week. Needless to say, I’m not very stressed out and have been able to relax a bit more. However I do miss some things from the U.S., namely: the value of my US dollar there, cheap peanut butter, health food and vegetarian choices, science classes, my friends and boyfriend, and Willamette. I am enjoying spending time with people here, and come June, I’ll be ready for a bit more work and traveling in the U.S.

Hi! Nice to meet you and by the way...I like your shoes.

2008-02-18T16:15:19Z

One of the major differences between Europe and the United States various cultures that I started noticing in the Frankfurt Airport was shoes. It sounds a bit superficial, but honestly the manner of dress seems pretty important partly as a sort of indicator of how people regard each other and themselves. In the U.S. it’s cool if you’re wearing sweats and a pair of Nike tennis shoes out shopping or for a brisk walk on the street. But here, if you’re wearing tennis shoes, you better be on a professional sports team or you just look out of place. On a similar note, the clothes people around my neighborhood wear are what I would wear for very dressy events at home, like an interview or a nice, professional job. And these are the types of clothes worn everyday, for shopping or going to coffee.

Another thing I have noticed here is that people just look at me and start speaking in English, or I open my mouth and say one thing, albeit a bit slowly and the person I’m talking to replies in English. I think the proper response for me is to continue speaking in Spanish, but I can’t be sure. I’ve decided my goal is to be able to talk more briskly in Spanish and sound more fluent so that I receive that response less often. I notice when I’m outside of my flat (which is very beautiful, by the way), I get very nervous and avoid conversation as much as possible; I’m working on this!

Also, I'm not sure how to upload photos, because I think the internet somehow can't handle my photos (they're very large files! and the internet is a bit slow here)

waiting...to say goodbye?

2008-01-11T18:45:50Z

Seeing as to that I still have a month and two days of a wait left until I board an airplane to Vigo, Spain, I'm anxious for all the things I'm supposed to get done in that amount of time. It's both a long wait to go somewhere I've been looking forward to going for several years now and a very short time in which to say goodbye.

I'm not usually one to hang on to familiar things. I'm fine with living among strangers and fine with occasional discomfort. I don't want to be completely out of the loop during the next six months, so one of my goals will be to keep in touch, not necessarily everyday or even every week, but just know what's up at WU and home.

I'm still waiting on my visa and starting to pack some things in a suitcase as I think about them. I'm excited to begin my next big adventure: on to Vigo, Spain!