*cue the theme song from "Cheers"*
Whenever my professors here at Universidad de Catilla- La Macha read off the attendance, I am reminded of the ancestry that I have in this country. They pronounce my name flawlessly without pause. This may seem like a small detail in the greater scheme of this trip, but for me this is something that I took notice of almost immediately. Every new semester I prepare for professors to pause when they get to my name on the attendance sheet: "Myra? Is it Mera? Maria? Maura?" But here there is no pause, no questions and no misunderstandings. It's honestly pretty cool. In fact now the tables have turned because for people in my class, for example classmates named Josh and Paige (common names in the USA), the professors need multiple attempts at pronunciation. Just another reminder that everything is relative.
This week, I also got to celebrate my 21st birthday! It was fun explaining to my host family how in the United States this birthday is a big deal because you are legally allowed to purchase and drink alcohol. They thought it sounded a little dangerous that we allow people to start learning to drive at 15 and a half, and odd that we consider them legal voting adults at 18 but do not allow them to drink until 21. Here, essentially all of these privileges begin at age 18. Fun birthday fact: I share my birthday with the day of the Patron Saint of Toledo San Ildefonso so we had no classes that day (if that doesn't sounds like fate I don't know what does). I learned that there is a Saint for every day of the year and every city has a patron saint so they celebrate on the day of their saint. When I asked my host father "wow! how many saints are there?" he replied "well, at least 365". So true.
While living with my host family, I am speaking more Spanish than I ever have in my life. They speak little to no English (though my host brothers are taking English classes which allows them to help with basic vocabulary sometimes) which is honestly for the best. It is allowing me to stop relying on English so much, if I don't know a word in Spanish I HAVE to explain it and speak around it. For example, I did not know the word for hair dryer this week so I had to ask if they had "a machine that makes hair not wet". They figured out what I was trying to say and I got to learn a new word (secador= hair dryer). Their patience they have with me is admirable.
I have been studying Spanish for essentially my whole life, from kindergarten to college, and if there is one thing I have learned is it that "fluency" is an elusive and mysterious concept. People always ask me "are you bilinguial? are you fluent in Spanish?". Well, its complicated. These first two weeks have taught me that I know more than enough Spanish to survive as a friendly tourist in any Spanish speaking country. But when living with a family, you quickly flip through all of your well practiced topics such as how are you, where you are from, what you like to do for fun, what are you studying in school, etc. Once I started moving into the territory of having to explain my opinions on certain political issues in the United States and knowing what to say when someone told me a family member has cancer and trying to politely let my host parents know I was going to a bar with some friends, my Spanish skills seemed to have failed me. These are things you cannot be tested on in Spanish classes, it's casual vocabulary and phrases that are not part of the basic foundation you learn. I started feeling like I knew nothing, where had the past 15 years of school gone! But day by day, I am regaining confidence. I am coming to terms with the fact that I will make mistakes and there will be a lot of things I do not know but that is why I am here. To learn! To explore! To be immersed!
My name is not the only name everyone knows here. Another name I hear everywhere I go is Trump. It has been an interesting experience living in a foreign country as the newly elected president of the USA completes his first days in office and regardless of your opinion on Trump, when you're from the United States people will ask you about him. As a family we watch the news every evening and there has yet to be a night when his face has not appeared on the screen. Most people here from what I have gathered were pretty shocked about his election, but the reviews on his recent actions as president are just as varied as in the United States. Some believe there should be a wall but Mexico should not be paying for it, some believe he is doing the right thing keeping muslims out, and others think he is simply a monster. A few days ago, some people heard my classmates and I speaking English at the bus stop and a man immediately asked us what we thought of Trump. He then proceeded to tell us his opinion on the beauty of Trump's wife (again, opinions just as varied as in the US).
Beyond personal reflections on this second week, I am also excited to share some of the physical adventures that I have gone on! I am placing a gallery at the end that include a trip to the major Cathedral in Toledo, a day trip to Madrid and some beautiful views from a hike in Toledo. Excited to see what experiences week three in Spain holds for me. Hasta la proxima semana!
