¡Viviendo la Vida Española!

Greetings from Spain!

I figured that I'd take the time out of my very busy evening (lies) to write a post about this great and magical land of Spain, where I'll be for the next 5+ months. Needless to say, I'm having the time of my life, and I've only been here for 3 days. Also, bear with me if my grammar sucks, because this is some of the first English that I've spoken, written, or typed in 3 days. When in Spain, you do as the Spanish do, right?

Which brings me to my topic for tonight (today, in the United States): Cultural Insensitivity.

Anyone who has traveled abroad knows that it is extremely important not to offend others when interacting with people from the place that you're visiting. It's even more serious when you travel somewhere where the language is not your own (or, in my case, not my first). The key word is TRY! Try the food, customs, language (FOR GOD'S SAKE!), and soak up every possible thing that you can about the place that you're in.

Now let me tell you about this FOOL: Today during lunch (though, it's not really lunch, since it's the main meal of the day...they just call it "comida" aka FOOD), we (meaning, the other students in my building) were watching tv as we ate. Now, like most television shows here, whatever was on was dubbed over in Spanish, and there were Spanish subtitles scrolling at the bottom of the screen. There was a new guy at lunch today (either new to the building, as international students usually come and go, or new to me) who basically insisted that they change the tv to have English audio and then Spanish subtitles. In my residence building, international students are the minority, which is precisely why I chose to live here in the first place. So, insisting that they accommodate you by changing the tv that we allllll were watching, was what, boys and girls? CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE!

I was so offended for them that I got up and left. In our hall, there are 3 international students who speak English, as well as 1 Spaniard whose major is in English language Education. That’s it. Out of about 15 people, 4 people speak or understand English, and you’re rude behind thought that your car rehabbing show was SO important that they had to sit there and read subtitles of their language IN THEIR COUNTRY?!  I was embarrassed. This is why people hate Americans when they travel abroad. I just couldn’t believe that he had the audacity to be so rude, when he’s clearly here studying in Spain for a reason.

Vale (Okay). Let me bring it down a notch. Here’s the message: Don’t be THAT guy. You know, that guy who is the obnoxious one that everyone secretly hates and then goes and rests during siesta (designated rest time after lunch), and then wakes up to write a long blog post about. Don’t be THAT guy.

I implore you, if you travel abroad, BE ABROAD! My co-Boss Beauty Sadé asked me earlier today the percentage of time I spend actually speaking Spanish. My response? 98.5%, the 1.5% in English is spent on the phone, writing angry blogs, or asking one of my group-mates for a vocabulary word. It’s a struggle, but that’s how it’s supposed to be done. And let me tell you—it has been the sweetest struggle of my life. I’ve been here for 3 days, and I’ve already fallen head-over-heels in love with this place. Let’s see if I ever come back!

Paz, amor, y alma

Angeliqué, a Boss Beauty

Here are a few pictures! I'll be setting up an online album for all of them, so when I do, I'll be sure to post the link to that.

Santa Basilica Catedral (Catedral Viejo); Half Gothic . Half modern. All magnificent. It truly takes your breath away., outside and inside.

All gold everything? Por favorrrrr...You don't even know.

One of the domes inside of the Cathedral

Yes. That is Satan. With an ice-cream cone. Like a bawse. There was an earthquake that destroyed some of the cathedral. So, when they restored it, the architects decided to have a little fun with it. Therefore, there are lots of these funny little additions, including 4 things to represent the elements, as well as......

...The astronaut. Clearly, the original architects could not have foreseen that astronauts would exist, so this is obviously one of the newer editions.

The front of one of the oldest Universidad de Salamanca (my school) buildings. The amount of detail is crazy!