After having
landed in Spain one month ago today, I found it appropriate to recap my
findings and ambitions from a broader perspective.
First, poverty is proving less
stressful as I approach the light at the end of the tunnel I spent 3.32 on groceries today and it about
killed me, but I still have five euros left until who-knows-when. I’ve exercised a lot of self-control and done
a lot of cardio. Hopefully I’ve lost
some weight. Alas, I’ve found ways to
deal with loneliness and boredom, namely exploring the woods near my
house. I’m finding it more difficult than
expected to join the community at a basic level—they talk too quickly for me to understand, I don’t go to their church,
and I feel my job has me under constant scrutiny. Though I have considered attending mass with
the idea that some church is better than no church, I’m currently of the view
that it would cause more harm than good.
I am meanwhile content to focus on my writing, photography, and Spanish
studies.
During this time of grow and
reflection, I’ve come to realize that my intent in Spain has been unarticulated
(if it ever existed at all.) Due to some
inspiration from a dear friend, I’ve spent today, my month mark, re-evaluating
a great many things, and I, like him, am ready to come forward with my bucket
list for Spain.
Before I do, it’s important to
note that I have adopted the attitude that I only have until June before I
leave Spain, willingly or no. The plan
has been to stay, but I don’t know how feasible that is. And I’m certainly not going to miss out. I need to live like I’m running out of
time. Because I am. That being said, I also need to mention that,
while marriage is a top priority, I chose not to add it to the list of “Things
I absolutely must accomplish in the next nine months” for obvious reasons. So, without further ado, here it is:
Continue
preparing to be a good wife/mother
Become a
good teacher
Become
fluent in Spanish
Read the
Book of Mormon in Spanish
Perform
every ordinance at the Madrid temple
Pray in a
cool forest
Sing in a
castle
Have a fresh
churro and chocolate
Have Paella
Eat Basque
food
See a
flamenco show
Running of
the Bulls
Go to a
futbol game
Go to a cool
city for a procession during Semana Santa
Go
salsa/bachata dancing
Do the
Camino De Santiago
Surf
Go Skiing
and to the beach in the same day
Take an
award-winning photo
Go to a flea
market
Ride a horse
Learn a cool
Spanish guitar riff
Visit the following
places:
Cordoba-Mesquita Catedral
Barcelona-Sagrada Famila, Gothic
Quarter, Las Ramblas
Madrid-Retiro Park, LDS temple
Cadiz-Beach
Ronda-Bridge
Malaga-Ski, beach
Granada-Alhambra
Seville-*Plaza de Espana,
Catedral, Real Alcazar
Now, with my bucket list
official, it sure doesn’t feel like a lot to experience in a year, but it is
such a loose outline for things to come!
*I have already gone to the
Plaza de Espana, when I first arrived in Spain, and it was there I took what
may be the best photos thus far in my life.
Also this month, my perspective
has broadened on what is and isn’t Spain.
My job has helped me see that children are expected to show utter
respect for authority/adults and are treated somewhat heavy-handedly. Compared to my co-workers, I am delicate and
a bit of a push-over. This concept is so
foreign to me I find myself dizzy from trying to wrap my head around it. It’s never entered my cognition before that I
might ever be “delicate,” but Spain has shown me otherwise. Despite the sternness and frequently raised
voices coming from the other teachers, the children seem to have a very strong
sense of self. I imagine this is how
children might have been brought up in the US before the time of lawsuits and
micromanagement. It feels more like a
one-room schoolhouse way: “Do as you’re told.
Go play outside,” etc.
My opinion of Spanish food has
lessened since I first wrote about it.
Tortillas (omelets) are delicious, but I had some once that contained
only the eggs and potatoes, leaving out the peppers and onions and whatever
else goes into them. That batch was NOT
good. Spain doesn’t use much salt,
rendering other dishes relatively flavorless.
They do serve a ridiculously high amount of meat with lunch, from which
dishes get their flavor. This is also
disappointing because I hoped for more spices, what with all the Moorish
influence. I am very impressed with
brown lentil stew, and Spain’s version of Moussaka. Christmas sweets are hitting the shelves and
I am excited to buy some soon.
I’m unimpressed with the
constant noise, but I’m sure that will change when I have money to go out and
be noisy as well. One thing that won’t
go away is my utter disgust for all the garbage everywhere. It’s like the world is their dumpster. I’m hiking to a castle for the first time
tomorrow and I’m not looking forward to what I’ll see there.
The warmth of the people, though,
that has exceeded my original opinion. I’ve
been asked out by men WAY out of my league age-wise (way out of my mom’s league
too for that matter,) given hugs by strangers, and seen 12-year-old boys stop
everything to randomly kiss younger siblings in passing. I am approached almost daily by the school
director, “Como fue la comida? Que
necesita?” (How was the food? What do
you need?) I thought it was just a
polite series of questions until the day I got sick. Teachers came to the office offering medical
advice and sent texts wishing me a happy, healthy weekend. The sweetest teacher, Esperanza, is, not
coincidentally, also the most regularly pissed off. I am, without question, the mild-tempered one
here, and that’s odd indeed. Blood runs
hot here, that’s for sure, though the carefree attitude of pretty much everyone
masks that quite a bit.
And some of
my students’ accents sound drawled, like Italian.
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