One of the driving forces behind me coming to Spain was to learn. Through these first two months I have managed to figure out how to get myself into learning experiences. My main learning facets have been school, traveling, and learn-by-doing in everyday life.
School has been a eye opening and jaw dropping experience like always. The lack of respect that teachers get in Spain is twice as bad as in the United States. It's incredible the amount of shenanigans that students try here. Writing on desks, throwing things across the room, and hitting each other. I'm not going to lie, students in the United States do similar things, but for the most part they know when enough is enough. Not in Spain. Not to mention, they have mouths on them like sailors! Then again, so do their parents. Every other word is joder, cabron, de puta madre, etc. Ok, I get it, they're teenagers, but today one of my colleagues at the elementary school said that one of his kids said puta (b****). The kid is only 4 years old! Basically, swearing is the more of the norm in Spain.
Traveling is interesting in itself. You quickly learn many things when traveling. Some things are about yourself and others are about people. For instance, I prefer to take a train rather than a bus when traveling long distances. The train allows you to stretch, walk around, enjoy a bit more of the scenery, and to see how average people live. For example, my home town doesn't look like New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, or any of the other large towns. When you travel you usually travel to the main attractions and skip over the "ugly" side of it, but when you travel by train you get to see the country in its full spectrum. It's more of an off-the-beaten-track kind of thing.
It's strange when you figure out that you're very much like your parents in many ways. For example, when I travel I always need to have a bag with certain items: ibuprofen, sunblock (for Liz), and I even pack a lunch and snacks from time to time. Thanks Mom. In addition, I have always considered myself more of a free spirit and up for anything, but it doesn't seem to be the case. When ever people ask me if I want to travel I have to look up everything. What time does the train/bus leave? What is there to do there? How much will it cost me? One time I want to just jump on a train for a week and see where it takes me. Just show up and find whatever I need when I get there. Maybe someday when I have money.
The most learning by far can be attributed to everyday life. Even the simple things impress you. For example, I have realized, thanks to the rainy climate of Bilbao, that I have short legs and not a pair of jeans that compliments them. What's more, I hate having wet pants so much that one day I pinned them up with clothes pins and walked around Bilbao. Also, this trip has revealed to me that Spanish people (maybe just the basque people from what I have experienced) are some of the nicest people I have ever met. People you've just met will give you there phone numbers and cards and say if there's anything you need to just call them. However, they also think that we are inept to do anything. They treat us somewhat like children. If we ask them how to get somewhere they will walk us there. They assume that we cannot speak Spanish and prefer instead to struggle in broken English in order to communicate with us. Our landlord coming in to clean everyday doesn't help. Well until next time, stay tuned for some travel photos and movies...
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