Hola! This weekend I had an exciting treat--a full weekend spent in Granada without any traveling! I honestly cannot remember the last time this happened. It was amazing to be able to relax and get some sleep and have fun in my own city. The weather has been absolutely beautiful (except for raining yesterday), and I spent some time this weekend shopping. I also discovered the best gelato shop in Granada...since we all know I'm not getting enough sweets ever. All in all, I'd call this weekend a huge success.
But, let's rewind and have some real talk about study abroad. First, familiarize yourself with this diagram:
Any study abroad student will immediately recognize this. It was presented in countless meetings and included in packets and books. It is the dreaded "Cross Cultural Adjustment Scale". We are warned that throughout the duration of our study abroad time, we will go through ups and downs associated with culture shock and homesickness. While I have felt like I've been doing pretty well thus far, I kind of hit a wall after Barcelona. We hit the half-way point in our program, and at this point I have a little over 7 weeks left before I return to America. I am stuck between feeling like this is an extremely long time and feeling like it will fly by. Things are about to get pretty wild for me travel-wise (Dublin & Scotland in 11 days!!), but it still seems like forever until I come home. Last week, all the things that I had formerly found charming about Spain started to seriously bother me. You can't go shopping or do anything productive during siesta. People walk SO SLOWLY that I want to die. Everyone speaks Spanish. Spainards stare at us whenever they hear us speaking English. They're rude and standoffish (COME ON GUYS, WE ARE FUELING YOUR PITIFUL ECONOMY). They don't have cheddar cheese. They wear their winter coats until May, no matter how hot is is, because they are too stubborn to change wardrobes (sorry y'all, this Southern girl is breaking out her shorts as soon as it hits 80 degrees...). Although I'm not in a 3rd world country, it would appear that Spain has yet to discover the modern-day invention of dryers. While this makes for cute sights of clothes lines outside of houses, it doesn't make my skinny jeans very cute. They don't believe in free refills.As you can see, I pretty much rejected anything new and different from America this past week.
I miss my friends, I miss my family. I miss Charleston and the beach. I miss hamburgers and normal Diet Coke. I miss being able to use dollars. I miss driving my car. This list could keep going on and on! It is the little things that you never thought you would miss that really get to you!
This being said, I will admit that I'm already feeling so much better this week. I have to remind myself that I have bad days/weeks in Charleston or Alabama, so it is not unusual for it to happen here. And I'm completely obsessed with Spain; I love it sooooo much. I'm sure I will look back on this blog entry and feel so silly! I am blessed to have so many places and people to miss, and I'm blessed to be able to add Granada to the list when I leave.
Hope everyone has a great Monday...I'm going to play in the sunshine :)
Besos,
Shannon
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| I CANNOT BELIEVE I'M GOING TO MISS THIS THIS YEAR!!! |
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| My wonderful family in Charleston...miss you! |
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| I miss the beach!! |
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| I miss my friends :) |
Oh girlie, I know exactly how you feel. Except that every complaint I have about the British is the opposite of your about the Spaniards... I want them to slow down and chill out!
ReplyDeleteBut for real, sorry you're feeling so homesick :( I totally sympathize, and miss you too!!!! See you in just a few weeks!
Hey girl, I know what you mean for sure. I HATE this graph! It's so depressing. I am definitely on the upward swing but for a while there it was really hard. We'll have a good rest of the weeks here I think though!
ReplyDeleteLove the graph! Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteNow wait a minute....you think the Spaniards walk slowly? And you grew up in Alabama and go to school in South Carolina, and Spaniards walk slowly? If that is the case, they must be walking backwards in Spain, because folks in the South do everything slowly. I can cook a lobster, start a fire in the woodstove, and read an essay by Emerson in the time it takes a Southerner to drawl out a greeting.
-Uncle Tom