The "honeymoon" is over

So it's been nearly a month for me in this incredible country already. I'm not surely sure how to describe it or if I even can. In the midst of traveling for the first three weekends and now have three weeks off before the next trip to Barcelona, I will definitely have time to just indulge in the culture here.

For a recap, I've learned that the seafood is a little crude, bread and starch are main courses for every meal and that gypsies don't talk, and definitely don't want to be spoken to.

The weather is also turning here, contrary to the popular belief of the students that it would remain a summer vacation forever. With this sign of turn in the weather has come the "rainy" season of Spain, it has now rained for two days in a row. As is the weather outside, I find myself swamped with three papers and a book to read over the weekend, yes all in Spanish, but none the less we will find some time for adventure and especially in this culture, I should have plenty of time to rest because no one wants to work too hard and miss their siestas.

I only have one story to summarize my mood and will summarize a little bit of the culture.

My third day of work at the FEDETO, which is essentially a government consulting firm for businesses and the department I'm in is the international department where we help businesses get their products to foreign markets, I am assigned my first project. After reviewing the guidelines and deadlines and discussing about what some businesses need here, my boss immediately declared it was time to take a break and that was enough work for the morning....it was time to get café and socialize with the locals.

Roughly an hour later I was able to begin my project, just before another hault occurred and it was time for siesta. I must say it was a strenuous day at work.

But I have realized that people care more about their relationships and family and actually put those first than that of some work. Of course, we all know the economy is a little hard here these days and I even question why their taking this "much needed" rest from the problems and taking a siesta but it has been incredibly valuable.

I have felt more awake, more rested and more productive than I could have thought from taking little breaks in the day.

As my boss told me one day, it is good to get some air and breath every once in awhile, and I couldn't agree more. Coming from a culture that is work hard.....until you die, maybe that's a little extreme, but to a culture that is much more intentional relationally in some capacities, it has been quite the eye opener.

So I hope everyone may find rest in their work day and get some air once in awhile! 

More Silence than usual

I am now through the first two days of my classes and as I never imagined, it seems there is more Spanish everyday. I don't know if that's me absorbing more of the language or my brain telling me there is an abundance of it and please stop!

It is amazing though, even though it's only been one week, immersing myself in Spanish has been one of the most challenging but rewarding things as well. Although at times I really want to zone out or just wait to chat in English and figure out what the instructions were, I know that would not lead me to my ultimate goal of becoming fluent in Spanish.

I read another friends blog this morning and he said a result is a byproduct of consistently doing right things.

Well, I hope I can do the right thing in my mind, which is to embrace this culture and practice this language as much as I possibly can.

With that said, there have been a few other byproducts of this culture that I was fairly unaware of until spending this past week in it.

Silence.

For the most part, I knew that Spanish culture had a siesta, but I did not know the full meaning or beauty of it until I came to Spain! I feel like I find myself with much more time to be silent and let thoughts calm down throughout my day. It is something in the US I feel is greatly missed and is why I feel many people have stress that just builds and builds.

I know it's a small byproduct but it has significantly made my experience in Spain so much better as I can remain calm and not overwhelmed with goals I would like to accomplish for the day.

See if you can take a siesta today and experience a little bit of silence. It's worth it.

¡Viva España!

Hello,

It's been awhile but figured I would take some time to during siesta to catch up on the recent happenings.

The first two days and nights in Madrid were awesome, my friend Greta and I tried to see as much of Madrid as possible and I'd say we did a pretty good job of the that, the short list includes, El Palacio Real, El Museo del Prado, La plaza Mayor, El Estadio Santiago Berneabau and many other little sites. It was so much in two days but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It was an incredible welcome to Spain.

Fast forwarding quite a bit I found myself in Toledo. This city is incredible. Enough said. The scenery is one of which no one could have dreamed of. My favorite memory by far, is on the second day in Toledo, my friend Matt showed me and about 4 other friends of ours this lookout at the fundacion. It was amazing. That was the first time we got to lay our eyes on all of Toledo and just think of what this semester was going to bring us!

The people I have met come from as far as Australia and Japan as well as many locals. It all feels like a dream right now but I know we're all here for at least the semester!

This is all for now because I want to go and siesta myself but more in depth experiences will be coming!