I'm getting extremely lazy and writing posts without actually posting them because that requires me to actually go downstairs for internet... sorry.....
So,
Halfway.
The first semester kids have all gone home and the second semester kids have arrived and are settled in. A new exchange student came here to Jerez from Australia and she's actually going to be staying with my host aunt. I have yet to meet her but I'm sure I will sooner or later. She apparently speaks zero Spanish so it's my job to show her around and help her with her Spanish. When my host mom first asked me about helping her out, I felt so proud of myself that she thought I was far along enough with my Spanish and with my knowledge of the city that I could actually help someone else out. It's the first time I felt like finally I'm not some American tourist who's only here for a short period of time. I've been here 4.5 months! I consider myself at home here which is something I honestly never expected to happen. I've already started to plan my travel plans for returning home which is definitely not something I've enjoyed doing.
A couple of days ago, a man from my program came to check up on us American exchange students. When he came to my house with my local coordinator to talk to my host mom, my host mom told him that she's very frustrated with how I eat. She couldn't stop going on about how I don't eat and her frustrations with me. I didn't know she felt so strongly which has made these past 48 hours a little awkward. The problem with my situation is that my host mom hates to cook so we literally have the same things every week. Granted, the food she makes is amazing but it's a lot of the same thing so I've just kind of resorted to eating less and less which I guess has made her frustrated. She's also concerned that I don't talk enough and when she said that I had so many arguments and things to say back to her but I kept quiet. Not because of the language barrier, (I was actually thinking of all the things to say to her in Spanish) but because since being here I've learned to pick and choose my battles which is something that for people who know me back home know isn't one of my strong suits. I'll admit I love to argue and I can hold a grudge longer than anyone. Here though, there are so many things that annoy me or make me angry that I can't argue or be annoyed at everything or I would almost never be happy. I think one way I've grown since being here is by learning to forgive people and not let little things get to me like they used to.
Obviously, my host mom isn't actually angry at me I just seem to frustrate her a lot whether it be me forgetting to clean my room, not eating everything she gives me, or never giving her clothes to wash because I feel awkward not having to do anything. I love my host family and I'm pretty sure they love me too it's just hard to create relationships with people when you don't speak the same language. Most of the friends I have here speak some English and we gradually just switched over to speaking in Spanish. I can see though that as my Spanish grows stronger so does the relationship between me and my host family.
For the past month I've been desperately awaiting February 9th. Not only because it's the birthday of a friend of mine but also because it's the day after our schools dance recital. Apparently, all of our dance tests over the past few months are actually leading up to something. Next Wednesday, the entire school is putting on some kind of dance recital where every group who has a dance has to perform it in front of the entire school. When I first heard this, I just started laughing until I realized that they were completely serious. Since then, I've come to learn that this is actually one of the most important days of the year. I've even had to practice with my group on the weekends and we've been planning costumes since after winter break. At first, I was extremely nervous because I basically never dance let alone in front of people but now for some reason my nerves have gone away. I'm pretty sure it's because I know that everyone knows I hate to/can't dance so they don't take me too seriously.
Today I talked to my host mom about possibly signing me up for Spanish cooking/flamenco classes because despite what I just ranted about with my hatred for dancing, I would actually like to learn some flamenco dance. The reason for this is that in May, there's this huge week long fair that's basically based around this dance. I figure, actually learning some of the dance might be a good idea for me to do. I also want to take a cooking class, mostly to learn how to make Paella because there's no way I'm going home without some lessons on how to make this wonderful Spanish dish.
Anyways,
Today is obviously Friday but I felt the need to update on what's been going on here recently. Now I have to clean my room because one of my American friends is coming to stay the night with me.
Ew...cleaning...
Adiossss
-Libby
No comments:
Post a Comment