Growing Pains

Learning a second language feels like your mind and soul are going through puberty. There are growing pains, awkward moments, and a grab bag of emotions, but just like those pre-teen years, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

The great part of studying abroad is that you can share all of your emotions with the other students. Everybody is going through just about the same things. This year there are only 17 of us at the school, which has been truly fantastic because there is more of an opportunity to get to know each individual person. I am an introvert, so spending this much time with the group has been sucking the energy out of me (thank God for siestas), but it has been really fun hanging out with all of them. :)

Until I came to Spain, I didn't realize how much language plays a part in our lives. Our native language becomes involuntary just like blinking or breathing. For example, you can be talking to someone and at the same time hear and comprehend other words around you. For me, when someone is talking in Spanish, it's almost like there is funnel stopping me from hearing anything else around me because I have to translate every word that I am hearing. I become so focused all day on translating, memorizing, and practicing that my mind is absolutely burnt out at the end of the day, but it's a good kind of burnt out if that makes any sense. There isn't an hour that goes by that I feel like something is unimportant; I am constantly learning and growing.

On another note, my heart is aching for the various disasters going on in the states right now. One of my favorite places in the world, the Columbia River Gorge, is being torn apart by a fire that just keeps spreading. I am not sure if everything happens for a reason, but I do believe that these sorts of disastrous events can be a time for individuals to come together and for love to be spread. If anyone can rebuild acres of forestry, it's Oregon.

(photo above : Eagle Creek, taken in August)

To end on a happier note, yesterday I got to go on one of the boats in the Plaza de España, which was one of the things that I really wanted to do while being here. SPOILER ALERT: it is harder than it looks, and it more like bumper carts than the romantic boat scene from Disney's Little Mermaid.