Expectations

I don't think I can manage an entire list of all my thoughts concerning my trip to Spain next month. I leave July 4th, and I am incredibly excited! And even more so because I will be able to see my husband, Trey, who I have not seen in several months. To say the very least, I can't contain or describe my anticipation!!! There is so much to look forward to! But in the interest of my grade and this blog, here are a few things that I expect for myself and to find in Spain:

For myself, I want adventure. I have never been a very spontaneous person. I wouldn't consider myself "stuck in the mud" or anything. Its simply that the things I enjoy in life - tend to be simple and average. But I don't consider anything that I will be doing next month - simple or average. I have never even been to an airport alone! I am excited that I truly have the chance to do something new every day and make every day an adventure. I hope to come home with a story or two that Trey and I will remember all our lives.

I want to be surprised. There are many things I have heard and read about Spanish culture. The laid-back atmosphere, siestas, their grand and exaggerated expressions and conversations, late nights, heavily family-oriented lifestyles, tapas, etc. But I don't expect any of these things to be the way I see them in my head. I want to be surprised by the reality. I hope that experiencing a different culture is 10x better than whats written in a book or from the way I have it pictured.

I want to learn Spanish! I will admit that I am not as ready as I would like to be, as far as being able to hold a conversation in Spanish. I am practicing vocabulary and looking over things in my Spanish book but it is hard to be as motivated when I am not in a Spanish class. I do have motivation though! I have a lifetime goal to be able to speak Spanish fluently. I hope to practice my Spanish conversation skills on a daily basis.

As for Spain and FORSPRO, it is hard to picture. I expect to find a city similar to ones here in the U.S., filled with similar people and buildings and traffic. I expect my room to look similar to my dorm-room in college. I expect it to be hot. The images in my head are limited! What I truly expect to be different are the people. And not really the way they look or dress or the type of occupation they have. (Even though, those things all might surprise me too.) But more any way that they express themselves - food, art, they way they hold conversations, etc. I think all of that will be very different. And I am honestly not sure how. Just different. And I'm excited to experience it!