Taking off, again?

After a two week holiday in Italy with my family, I was ready to face the world on my own for the first time. I watched each family member pass the first security guard, empty their pockets into the bin on the conveyor belt, and wave back at me before they passed through security and out of sight. I rolled my big, canary yellow suitcase across the hanger. I had five hours until my plane would start boarding. So what did I do with my time? I found a place to plant with an Italian cappuccino, and I listened to the busy travelers quickly passing.

A personal goal in my Spanish adventure is to gain a stronger understanding of the acculturation process.  Getting face to face with some of the challenges that an ELL might potentially face was of the utmost importance to me.  As I sat in the Airport lobby surrounded  by a world of strangers and a new tongues, I got my first taste of what life as a foreigner actually is like. I found out very quickly, right upon take off in fact, that the foreigner life has moments of both exhilaration and terror.

The plane had only risen a few thousand feet off the ground when the slightly disheveled voice of the  pilot crackled over the intercom.  It was apparent from the pilot's tonality that something was wrong with the plane.  A bit of turbulence and my foot reflexively shot out to brace myself, just in case, when I felt a hand on my set on my knee.  On my right sat a kind-eyed Italian woman. She explained to me, the best that she could, that we were going to land again to check an open cargo door.  She reassured me that it was only a small issue that it was "no big deal". We soon landed and the issue was easily taken care of, but now my concern was that I was going to miss my layover in Barcelona.  It was a nerve wracking flight trying to figure out if I would make it to the flight on time or not.  Thankfully, the nice Italian woman allowed me to pass her first, and I was able to make it to the next flight just in time.  Unfortunately, my canary yellow suitcase did not.

After some negotiations to make sure that my suitcase would make it to Medina, I left the airport to meet Maria (the lead teacher at the nursery) and my host family.  The Spanish countryside was beautiful and in many ways the scenery reminded me of the windy road leading to Cedar Breaks.  We arrived at the apartment and my host mom was kind enough to allow me to borrow some of her clothes so that they could take me out to see the rest of the town.  Although the people like to talk about how small Medina is, life in Medina seems much more metropolitan than life in Cedar City or my hometown of Mapleton.

Now, I have been in Medina for 10 days.  The people have been very kind, and I have certainly learned a lot.  In the nursery, I have been helping with the babies and I have been helping to plan the activities of the summer camp.  On Friday the babies had a fiesta marking the last day of the school before the summer.  My host family has taken me to the beach and other beautiful locations around Northern Spain.  They have introduced me to authentic, although vegetarianized, Spanish cuisine and siesta/fiesta lifestyle. 

 As for the language learning, I have been simultaneously impressed by how fast I have been able to pick up the language and utterly frustrated that I am not always able to join in on all of the conversations because I do not yet have the language capacity.

All in all things have been good. As a prospective ESL teacher I have come to a few realizations:

1.  I've found that I don't necessarily have to understand the language in order to understand the intended meaning if I have some context into the situation.  Although, understanding the language certainly helps to clear up many misunderstandings.

2.  It helps to have a supportive community to rely upon. People who are patient and friendly can make all of the difference in the world.

3.  Familiar foods and songs can be oh so comforting. I really enjoy all of the new food and music that I have been able to try here, but something about the smell of a hamburger cooking or hearing the black-eyed peas on the radio is very comforting (and I'm a vegetarian!).

This coming week we will be preparing materials for the summer camp, and I will meet some of the older school-aged students.  I'll keep you updated about current events!

Hasta luego!

-Lindsey