Expectations vs. Reality

Before coming to Seville, I did research on the cultural norms of Spain, places to not miss while being here, and I looked at lists of food that I needed to try via Pinterest. I even admit that I looked up the address of my new home on Google's handy street view mode to see what my new neighborhood would look like (no vergüenza). In sum, I tried to prepare myself for something that in reality nobody can prepare themselves for.

Yes, that blog post told me that I needed to try paella, but what it didn't tell me was that my sweet host father, who doesn't cook, would cook it for us special on Sundays. It didn't tell me that during those meals it would be hard at first to understand him, but that conversations would progressively get easier over time.

Yes, that Google street view showed me that there would be multiple cafeterías, and heladerías on my street, but what it didn't tell me was that those would be the places where my roommates and I would retreat to after long, stressful weeks, and that even though those weeks would be stressful, they would be the best kind of stressful. You know what I mean, right? It's the kind of week where you are struggling to decide whether to go to Italy or not (not a bad problem to have), the kind of week where you are tired from dancing and have to go home to study Spanish art and poetry, which shouldn't be stressful at all because it's so beautiful!

Before coming to Spain, my main goal for this semester was to learn the language and become fluent. This of course is still a goal of mine, but what I didn't realize before was that this semester would be so much more than the language; the language would just be the tool I would use to accomplish everything else. My abilities to speak Spanish have allowed me form relationships with people and to learn about the culture in a way that I never would have been able to if I didn't speak Spanish. Now, I learn new words not just for the sake of learning new words, but rather with the intention of using those words to get to know my host family better, to show my teacher at school what kind of student I really am, and to truly immerse myself into the Spanish culture.