por fin

better late than never?

Hi everyone! While I don’t always seriously lay out new year resolutions – o un propósito – for myself, starting and keeping up with this blog is a big one for me in 2020, in the hope that I can update more people who are interested in seeing how things are for me over here. I strongly considered creating an email listserv (still tempting), but in the meantime this seems to be the most reasonable and accessible way to update those who are interested!

First, I am SO SORRY it has taken me so long to get my act together and finally publish this! To everyone who has patiently reached out and asked how I have been doing in various ways – thank you. I clearly have not been quite as good at keeping up communication as I had hoped, but here we are. As cliche as it is, it is incredibly difficult to believe that I am already 1/3 of my way through the grant period. What a time it has already been!

I have been hoarding my thoughts about experiences/time this far in a word doc, so they will be joining this site shortly.

That all being said – I am absolutely loving this. The people, the place, the food…I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to be in Spain, and especially in this community. I do miss home, and people in particular; however, I must admit that some days, I wonder if something is wrong with me because I adjusted to life here so quickly, away from family and friends. I suppose the jury is still out, but the point is probably that I am finding myself surrounded by stellar people who go above and beyond to make me feel at home.

some initial reflections/thoughts/etc…

• I was so scared to leave Creighton, and then I was terrified to leave home when the day came to drive to KCI and fly to Santiago de Compostela.
• I have spent a lot of time thinking about my experience and role as a foreigner residing in Spain with my clearly-not-native-language abilities. My accent generally gives me away as an English speaker, but since English is seen as a more “in-demand language,” it’s not treated as a hindrance. I ruminate on this and the value we assign languages and how that leads to the treatment/perception of not-native-speaking individual, especially in comparison to what may often be the case in the US.
• A big lesson: learning to accept help, even when I have nothing to offer in return except for “gracias”
• The process of grappling with the occasional homesickness, and the realization that it’s okay and it doesn’t mean that things aren’t going well here
• The world is filled with incredibly kind people
• Language is funny
• I feel especially lucky to be in Galicia, which is a particular region of Spain that really doesn’t get the attention that it deserves – if you’ve heard of it, it’s probably because of the Camino de Santiago
• “Home” is a weird concept
• There are some days I come home from school and I want to apologize to anyone who has ever taught me – sometimes children are simply terrible in the classroom, and I know I was once part of that
• I think I’ve relearned how to relax? (see below)

• 

Really, this blog is meant to be a “thank you” to the innumerable people who encouraged and supported me along my way here! It is the best way I can try and share this experience with all of you at once.

I will likely post things from September, October, November, December, and Christmas over the next few days, and then of course keep this updated every couple weeks (ok we’ll see but I do intend to make that work).