Study Abroad 2017: Week 3: Sept. 18th-24th (Cádiz)

Hi everyone! Well...this week went so fast! I cannot believe it has already been another week. Last week was so slow, but I guess since classes started, it sped things up quite a bit! This week was super fun. I had my birthday last Monday and I had a great group of friends who made it super special. We went to a restaurant along the river called “Don Cammillo e Peppone.” I highly recommend it. It was delicious and, the best part, is that they had gluten-free Italian food! I had 10 of my friends join me and we just enjoyed the good food and good company. The waiters were really nice, too. It was also a beautiful night. At the end of our meal, they brought champagne and dessert and my friends sang happy birthday to me in English. It’s weird to think that I’m 21. In the US, it would be such a big deal, but I like that here in Spain...it isn’t. It was a birthday and now I’m 21 and that’s that. We went to an Irish pub after dinner and an Irish man works there who speaks English, and then a lady who has the cutest British accent and also speaks English. They were so sweet and fun. She “IDed” me because she knew that that’s how they do it in America. I can actually say I got IDed on my 21st birthday! I didn’t think that would happen. And not because I look younger than 18 (the legal drinking age here)...but to make it feel like home in America. Woah, I really don’t believe that when I say it. 21? It’s not that I feel different, but I think there’s a “stigma” that, unless you’re 21, you’re not an adult. I guess in some ways that’s true and then also, it represents some indication of your experience. This could be a very complicated subject, but let’s keep it simple! It was a great birthday! My host parents are so sweet and got me a starfish necklace. I love it!!

I really am enjoying my classes. I’m not used to not having a ton of homework so that’s been a bit of an adjustment. I actually have time to practice my Spanish or do things that I would like to do, but don’t usually have time for. I applied for internships this week, I am sorting through pictures and email, and I have time to listen to podcasts and journal and enjoy where I am in this moment of my life. I feel a little inactive but then I have over 10,000 steps every day so I’m not exactly being inactive. I do think I need to figure out a workout schedule soon or I might go crazy.

I learned something crazy this week. Our host mom told us that every Spaniard has two last names. The last name of their dad and then their mom. I told her how we take the name of our husbands when we get married and she thought that was crazy. She thinks that that demeans women in some ways. I didn’t quite agree with her, but I don’t really have the vocabulary to explain exactly as I’d like to. I just let her do most of the talking. But I guess I’m “old-fashioned” and I like the way weddings are represented in America. Well, or the old-fashioned way of America where the dad gives his daughter to the husband and you take the last name of the man. Weddings just don’t seem that important here. It is common for a couple to have kids before they are married here. She says a legal document shouldn’t define your love or commitment and, that statement, I agree with. I just think a wedding in a way of professing your love and commitment in front of witnesses because you are happy to declare your love for each other. And it’s exciting! Everyone has different opinions about it, I suppose. I like hearing about their culture for sure. It is interesting to compare the differences.

Ah, also. My teacher said this quote in class this week and it is now my motto to live by. “The limits of your language are the limits of your world.” It is a quote by an Australian Ludwig Wittgenstein. I love it! I believe that is exactly why I am here. I am learning this language to expand my world. And it’s true with my major, too. As I study the business world, that is expanding my world to know what the business world is like so I can be successful in that area of my life. There is no way to know everything--we are not an all-knowing species, hate to break it to you--therefore, it is better to look at it as limits. The more you are eager to learn and the more you do learn, the wider your world expands and the less “limits” you have. It is up to you to choose how far you go. I just fell in love with the quote and the meaning behind it.

Well, as for activities this week, we went to the beach in Cadiz yesterday. It’s a small peninsula on the south coast of Spain. It’s almost at the bottom of Spain and a little west. It was super fun! I went with my roommate Carly and our other friend Mary Jo. We relaxed on the beautiful beach and then walked around the town and then “tomar algo(ed)” at one of the cafes. It was super small, but so beautiful! We also got some delicious helado there. It was real toasty in the sun but a perfect temperature in the shade. It was only an hour and a half train ride there and so worth it! I highly recommend it if you ever come to Spain! Oh, and then last night Carly and I had another adventure. We went to go visit our friends at the residencias, which is about 30 minutes away by metro. We left a little after 11:30pm. The metro closes around 11pm on the weekdays but on Friday and Saturday, they are open until 2am. Well, we must have been tired from the beach because neither of us thought to take the metro and we jumped on a bus instead. We were on it for much longer than we must have thought because we finally realized we were going the opposite way of center. We stayed on for a little longer thinking it would circle around, but it didn't seem to be doing so and so we got off. We switched sides and were just going to ride the bus back and start over. Well, we waited for over an hour and no bus came. Then, we realized we were an hour walking from home. That was much, much further than we had thought. But because no bus ever came, we only had two options. Walk or take a taxi. We like getting our steps in and it was too late to go to the residencia at this point so we ended up walking home, which took us 45+ minutes. We got home at 1am, having accomplished nothing but walking over 5,000 steps. Ugh. We were quite annoyed but there was some reason that happened to us, so I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it. :-)

This week I have some more great activities coming up. I am going to run in a “Carrera Nocturna” (night race) which is about 5.3 miles. It starts at 10pm on Friday and is supposed to be one of the most fun races to be a part of in Seville. Then, also on Friday--because I love doing everything on one day--I am going to Gibraltar with our ISA program group. I’m super excited for this excursion. I think we’ll be able to spend some time at the beach there!

It’s supposed to be super hot this week so send cooling thoughts my way. Have a grand week everyone and I’ll catch up with y’all soon!