Last Updated:1:16 PM EST 1/28/10 Section: Lifestyles

Media Credit: Submitted photo Morgan (left) with fellow Fisher students Connor Church and Savannah Forell, out on the town in Salamanca. [Click to enlarge]

It's the end of week one, and on my way back from a meeting on culture shock I realize that I have already had Application Anxiety (since Thanksgiving) and Selection/Arrival Fascination (I'm in Spain!), and I am now between steps 3 and 4: Initial Culture Shock and Adjusting.

If the elderly want to get by on the sidewalk there is no "please move." They have no qualms about poking your eyes out with their umbrellas. Don't expect class to start on time or shops to open when their scheduled hours are. Your normal two cups of coffee in the morning will keep you awake for days, and you find yourself making lists of the foods you plan to eat when you set foot back in the USA.

Then there are the things I am embracing with open arms. I arrived during 'Rebajas' meaning everything, everywhere is discounted by some amount. Clothes, shampoo, electronics - everything must go.

Presently the weather is much rainier and colder than usual, but it looks like next week I might not have to wear an abrigo [winter coat] at all. How can I complain about that?

New friends from Florida, to California to Texas all flock together at this point, especially the 11 of us in the University Residence. It is so interesting to see people from the same country react differently to the same scenario. What is cold to some is warm to others. While some stray from the group to explore independently, others retreat to American cliques. Even our diets can be drastically different, so the food here may require a lot of bravery, or it may not.

There are bars that are set up purposely to attract Americans with classic things like beer pong and karaoke night, yet at times I have to ask myself if I came here to improve at beer pong or for the culture.

Whenever I walk past McDonald's and Burger King I start to strategize how one discovers the real Spanish culture. I will meet an "intercambio amigo" (Spanish student who wants to learn English while I learn Spanish), and we will exchange customs. I will have tapas of cheesy clams, "patatas bravas" and famous ham sandwiches. I will talk politics with the locals in the Plaza Mayor over sangria. I'm already starting to get dizzy.

There are two words in Spanish which mean "to know." Saber means to know a fact. Conocer means to meet and then get familiar with something. My goal this semester? "Conocer España."

mam05487@sjfc.edu

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