my travels so far

Officially a Dancing Queen.

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Howdy,

 

This past weekend was probably one of the best of my time here in Spain. It was the weekend of February 17th, and on Monday was my 17th birthday. Oliver stayed over at my house on Friday and Saturday nights, saying that he didn’t want to miss my birthday weekend and that his host family was going out of town so he didn’t have another option. He and my host sister, Carlota, became best friends immediately, and are actually a lot like each other. In addition, one of my good friends from Georgia who is also doing an exchange in Spain from a different program, Elijah, came to Sevilla to see me for my birthday. Elijah brought his friend, and during the weekend I showed them all over Sevilla. On Sunday morning, Carlota told me that our mom wanted to meet them, so we planned a lunch together at her bar. When we arrived, it turned out that they had all planned a surprise party for me! I had no idea and they had been planning it for weeks! Carlota had invited my best Spanish friends from school, my American friends, and my two friends from Madrid, and we all had a delicious lunch together followed by an incredible cake. I felt so comfortable switching between the two languages, and it was so amazing to have all my groups of friends together, getting along, laughing, and eating good food. It truly was a meld of my new cultures and languages. Instead of being Spaniards or Americans, we were just teenage friends. In fact, the language barrier just made it more fun because even a simple conversation became so much more fun when a word or phrase was messed up and everyone was trying to explain it. I truly feel like I belong here now, and what seemed like what was going to be a long year suddenly feels way too short. I am so comfortable with my friends and host family and Spain that I never want to leave. I love where I am and I love my life and I love learning new things every day. This past weekend, someone asked me if I was sure that I was American because my Spanish was so good. And another person told me that they wished that they could be bilingual like me, which I am definitely not, but hearing that makes this whole year so much better. I love everything here. I am so so so happy. Happy 17th to me 🙂

 

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my birthday cake coming out:

 

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Starting off second semester really well! Love love love!!

Peace,

~Parker Grove

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my travels so far

La Mitad.

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Howdy,

 

This past Friday, February 3rd, 2017, marked the halfway point of my exchange. Honestly, I don’t really know how to take that. One part of me is relieved, because this has been by far the most challenging thing I have ever done. Every day teaches me something, but with that always comes the feeling of embarrassment or disappointment that I have learned to just accept as part of the day. Sometimes, it feels like I have lived a lifetime in Spain, and that my life in the USA was all just a dream.

But another, stronger part of me is heartbroken by this halfway point. I have just started to feel comfortable here in Spain, just made strong great friendships, just started living in a place that feels like home, just started smiling and not feeling like I have to force it to come, just started understanding what it means to be an exchange student, and now I have less time here than what I’ve experienced. This year has gone by simultaneously as slow as honey and as fast as the blink of an eye.

I feel 5 years older and a 10 years wiser, and now I can completely communicate in a language that isn’t my own. Yesterday, a Spanish friend of mine told me that from 1-10 on a scale of fluency, she would put me at an 8, merely because my accent is very American. That made me so happy because when I got here, I was definitely around a 1 or 1.5 at the most. The fact that in 4 months I have improved so drastically makes everything seem worth it. Also, there’s the fact that I really really really really really really do not want to go back to Georgia and just America in general….yesterday I spoke with a friend of mine, Hannah Scotch, who returned to the USA after doing a semester here. She said that everything was harder, more expensive, and much more boring, and that she wants to come back more than anything. Hearing this solidified in my mind that I never want to go back. Yes, this place might be so so so hard, but at the same time, it’s my new home. The people around me are my friends and family. The love I feel is so real. The fact that when I speak English, I forget words because I haven’t said them in so long or that the expression I want to use doesn’t exist in English is evidence of my immersion. This is who I am now. I’m not just American or foreigner or Spanish. I’m a mixture of everything I have learned and been through. I’m happy.

Peace,

~Parker Grove

 

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