I have never been on a 7 hour flight, let alone never having been to Europe. I have never traveled with a group of people I do not know, let alone traveling with them to Europe with them. And I have never had to speak Spanish before, but again, the pattern continues. I knew going to Granada, Spain was going to push me out of my comfort zone, but I did not know how much. Well, now I know.
Upon my arrival in Granada, I noticed everything looks different. When I look around outside, the landscapes are different, the cars and roads are different, and the air is different. But different is beautiful. I love the way there are people out and about all of the time, the way people get to come home from work for lunch, and the way there are things to do in every corner of the city. The Spanish language is beautiful, too. It is ironic that in school every teacher and professor wrote off teaching us "vosotros" and here I am in Spain where the people use it.
My host family is wonderful. In the beginning, I was nervous because my family does not speak any English and communication was not easy. But, I had told myself I want to learn the language here, and living with a family that does not speak English is definitely the way to do it! My family is kind, sweet, and they give me as much chocolate milk as I want...my favorite. I am enjoying listening to them and one of my favorite parts of the trip so far has been seeing the looks on their faces when I say something they understand. It is rewarding to know that the words and sentence structures I have been learning since I was 12 years old actually do make sense to people's ears here in Spain! I am very grateful. I am meeting the rest of my family's family tomorrow. I am excited but nervous. I am comfortable making mistakes speaking and speaking slowly around my host parents, Concha and Antonio, but not so comfortable around other people. It should be fun, though. Apparently their grandkids speak English!
Last night, as a group we went to a flamenco show. I was completely blown away by the passion the performers had. They tell a beautiful story through their body language alone and are very convincing because of the way they perform. I think their outfits are cool and the venue was very intimate, which played into the passion of the performance. The dancer was very talented. I found it fanscinating how the three performers stayed in sync. I noticed the singer and dancer always watched the guitar player's hands to keep the beat of each song. They all had a lot of chemistry together and the hour went by very quickly.
I have thoroughly enjoyed walking around the city and learning its routes with my friend Harry. He is also here on the school trip and has been a really great buddy. We live near each other and have spent time together wandering the city. I like to be with him because he always has something funny to say and he likes to get lost like I do, so usually we just get lost together. It is fun to figure things out on our own and find fun places to go. When we walk, the sun is always out, the birds are always singing, and the tapas are always so good!
I am going to enjoy my internship very much. When we walked into JesusObrero, I knew I was going to be happy there. I love working with kids and the atmosphere there feels amazing. You can feel how helpful the establishment is to the city just by standing inside of it, and I can't wait to be a part of it. The kiddos are so happy and cheerful and seemed excited for us to be there. My favorite thing is to coach kids so I am so excited to start working with them. I think it will be a challenge for me because they do not speak much English nor do they play volleyball, but I think my coaching abilities will come through either way. The ladies that work there seem amazing, down to Earth, and patient. I am truly looking forward to seeing what this internship experience does for myself as not only a coach but a person. I am so lucky to have grown up in the household and town that I did, and not all of these kids can say the same. But JesusObrero helps them tremendously. I can not wait to get started.
I have run into some roadblocks so far in the trip, but there is no reason for me to get down. Everything is on an upswing and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here. I am soaking in every moment and finding a way to learn something every day (well, many things!). Here are some things I have learned or seen thus far: Today, I got to see a peacock do a mating dance and open its feathers, something I have never seen before. "Tapas" are called "tapas" because they come "on top of" drinks. My host family helps me with my Spanish. There are dogs all over the place! The sun is always shining. My professor and his wife are so nice and helpful. The Alhambra is beyond beautiful lit up at night. I don't like Sangria at all. People in Granada love potatoes. People wear shoes inside their houses.
Thank you for a fun first week to everybody who has been a part of my journey! I look forward to every day to come.
