First 3 days....One Word....SORPRENDER!!!

I apologize for the amount of time between this post and my first post. However, I can sum up my experience to this point in one word……SORPRENDER!!! As of today, I have been in Spain for nearly 3 days.

The First Day

I arrived in Spain on Sunday expecting to escape the dreadful Chicago winter. Unfortunately, after stepping off of the plane in Madrid all I could see was snow. Apparently, snowing is a rare event in Spain. All of the Spaniards seemed excited about it. An hour after arriving in Spain I was dropped off at the house of the family that I’ll be living with for the month. I had no clue what to expect...And I most certainly was not prepared for what was to come. Within 5 minutes of being in the home I found myself in a state of shock. My Señora, caretaker, did not speak ANY English and I definitely did not know ANY Spanish. It seemed as though she spoke 100mph, while I gave her the “deer in headlights” look…Talk about feeling brainless… After attempting to converse with my Señora for about a half hour, I retired to my new room for the rest of the night completely bewildered. I had never appreciated the ability to communicate effectively until that point. Based on my last blog entry you’re probably thinking “What happened to all of the excitement? The unquenchable thirst for knowledge?” Well…….rest assured that you have nothing to fear. You know I cannot let you down! Despite the fact that the previous comments seem like complaints, I cannot begin to explain how amazing all of the confusion made me feel. It verified the fact that I will be exposed to a lifestyle completely foreign to my own. I have the opportunity to realize exponential personal growth unlike any other. I have never been so excited to attend the first day of class…not even in Kindergarten LOL!

First Day of Class

Part of this experience requires that we find our own way…..to class that is. Yes, I was tossed directly in the fire LOL. My first thought was “Oh Geez!” I decided that I would use the metro (la linea 6) as my mode of transportation. It couldn’t be any harder than navigating the metro in Chicago right? Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken into consideration that the signs in Chicago are in English and these signs were in Spanish. Therefore, I definitely got lost on my way to class. After eventually finding the school (and on time), I was greeted by a receptionist (who only spoke Spanish) as she handed me a placement exam. I must say, the exam went as expected, muy mal. However, I was happy to start with the basics.

After the first section of class (2 hours), I decided to sit back for a moment to take everything in. At that very instance, I realized something very interesting. Throughout the day I had attempted to speak with other students (assuming they knew my language) only to find out that they either didn’t speak English, or it was not their first language. Why would I assume such a thing while in an environment where there were many different nationalities (i.e. Chinese, Italian, Polish, German, Brazilian, etc…)? I guess I would contribute this assumption to being born in the United States. Being surrounded by the various cultures gave me a brief sense of familiarity. As crazy at it may sound, I think that I have underestimated the diversity of the American population. Every nationality that was present in the building at that moment currently has significant representation of their culture in the US. As I continued to speak with other students something else caught my attention. I’d try to communicate with a German student in English, and when that did not work we switched to Spanish. The same thing occurred with students from Poland, China, Brazil, Greece, etc… This sparked a question in my head. Why is it that everyone here already speaks 2 languages fluently (if not more), while I’m working on my second? I even met a couple of people who knew 5+ languages. I understand that English is probably the most common language on a global scale. However, with America being so diverse, why isn’t their higher numbers of bilingual and multilingual US citizens? Is it more beneficial to be unified through use of a single language? Could it be that we feel that our superpower status eliminates the necessity to learn another language? I don’t know the answer but I’d like to hear your thoughts!

One more thing! Whenever we (the students in the program) introduce ourselves, we must also identify the country that we come from. After I announce my country of origin, I receive the most amusing response (especially when I say Chicago), they say “Oh Barack Obama!!!” with a huge smile. That is always the first response I receive. President Obama is even on the front page of today’s newspaper in Madrid. One of my professor started doing the “Yes We Can” chant, proclaiming it to be the international quote of the year. Whether you like President Obama or not, it seems that the aura he emanates is good reason to have a positive outlook on our international relationships. Everyone (and I’m talking non-Americans) speak his name with a smile on their face. Of course, it is too early to proclaim any success in the rebuilding of foreign relations, but the potential for change in this aspect of politics cannot be denied.

What is on the Agenda for Tonight?

It’s time to make my way to the club scene!!! After all of this studying, the international students decided to have a night out. By the way, it sounds funny to call myself an international student. This should be rather interesting considering the fact that none of us are that great at Spanish and we all speak different languages. Interestingly, everyone likes Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, and T-Pain. I guess some things don’t change! More to come later…

P.S. Feel free to comment on anything I’ve posted. I’d love to hear what you think. You can also email at the address below.

Also, be sure to check out the video. Thanks for tuning in!

Email: internationaldarius@yahoo.com