On this blog I tend to talk a lot about how things are different here in Spain and all the new experiences I'm having. But not everything is different. In fact, there are some surprising similarities that my classmates and I have come across in our month and half here. Here are just a few of the things that remind us of home everyday:
1. Music
During my first week I asked my host mom who her favorite music artist was (thinking I could add a new Spanish artist to my Spotify playlist) and she told me Rihanna. Everyday I ride the city bus to campus and it's almost guaranteed I will hear Bruno Mars's "24K Magic". I could walk into the tiniest, oldest, most hidden away little shop in Toledo and 9 times out of 10 I will hear Meghan Trainor or Ariana Grande or something along those lines. This isn't to say that I haven't heard any Spanish music here because I have. It has just surprised me how much American music I hear everywhere too!
2. Fashion
Ok this is a funny one. Many of the graphic tees here that they sell in stores like Zara are written in English which was at first very surprising to us. The only problem is they are translated from Spanish into English and translated pretty badly. My classmates Anna and Mary have been collecting photos of this badly translated fashion and I borrowed some of their photos to put at the bottom of this post just to give some examples.
3. Movies/ Actors
Two names: Robert De Nero and Julia Roberts. I have no idea why they are so popular in Spain but I hear their names mentioned EVERYWHERE! We took a trip to a small pueblo called Consuegra and one of the men working in a shop was singing about Pretty Woman. I had another man tell me at the bus stop that he thinks Trump's wife is hotter than Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. My host mom told me one of her favorite movies is Pretty Woman. Another time at the bus stop an older man stopped me because he heard me speak English and needed to tell me how great Robert De Nero is as an actor. A different man on my flight to Ireland also mentioned the amazing talent of Robert De Nero. This will forever be a mystery to me.
4. Learning English
Most people here know a few words here and there in English, but I have come in contact with a lot of people who are actively taking English classes. Both of my host brothers are taking English and a few of my professors. I was helping my host brother study for an English exam one night and I almost burst out laughing when I saw his workbook because it was EXACTLY like the worksheets I have been doing my whole life in Spanish. It was one of those moments that took me back to elementary school homework where our assignments included naming the pieces of furniture and items in a classroom in Spanish.
So even though I'm thousands of miles from home, it seems that Spain is giving me a heavy dose of Julia Roberts and Bruno Mars to keep me company.