Time flies when you're somewhere new...

It’s crazy to think that the first month of my semester abroad has already come to an end, and I’m almost halfway through the second. I had a feeling that time was going to fly, but I really had no idea that this much time would be gone in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

What seems even crazier is how much of a blur the first two weeks or so are now. When I think back on them, I remember feeling exhausted and completely overwhelmed with the language and trying to get to know a big, new city. But other than a few moments that stick out in my head, everything else seems as I remember it feeling like: a whirlwind. Culture shock has been a common topic of conversation lately, and talking to other students about their experiences has helped me to kind of get a grip on what the heck has been going on inside my own head.

I think it took me a little longer to get over being jetlagged than I expected, but maybe I’m just making an excuse for how tired I was and how little of an appetite I had. This might really have been culture shock. I think after the first two weeks of trying to get used to everything that was new and different, I finally started to adapt and hit my “honeymoon stage.” Sometimes I think I still have one foot in this stage, since I am still in awe of so much around me and there are days when I think “How can I be okay with this ever coming to an end?” But then again, when you’re somewhere like the absolutely beautiful Alcazar of Seville, pictured, or being inspired by everyday people doing their everyday thing, it’s hard not to feel this way.

There’s so many interesting and beautiful things and places in Seville, but I think that rather than just having a pure honeymoon phase, mine has been mixed with the “conflict stage.” While I really do love it here a lot of the time, and know that I’ll be missing it when I go back home, I can’t say that I’ve really felt a honeymoon phase as strong as others have described theirs. There are many things on my mind that, I think, relate to the conflict phase, like wishing I could skip a class on Thursday to travel somewhere for a four-day weekend, or being so frustrated over the language barrier when I’ve spent so much time in Spanish classes (believe me, I was expecting that it would be hard) and wishing I could make more Spanish friends.

I feel like there’s more that I could be doing to get more of the experience I was hoping for and to take more advantage of this experience, I just am struggling to get there.

I envy my roommate a little for doing just that, and for the fact that she has double the amount of time here than I do. She just always seems to have a better grasp on this experience. But I love walking around new parts of the city, going to see movies in Spanish, spending time at cafes doing homework and watching live music performances in different bars with her. I’m lucky, and very happy, to have met someone like her this semester. I look up to her probably more than she realizes and I hope that we will continue to have adventures. I feel like I can learn a lot from her.

I asked her about her experience with culture shock and felt a lot better knowing that she went through a lot of the same feelings that I did, even though our processes had their differences, which is normal-- everyone goes through different experiences with culture shock, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that we all go through it. It’s not a bad thing to lean on the other students around you when you need it, and to talk things through. But it's important to not be afraid to seize the opportunities that will give you the experience you dreamed about (something I've got to work on...)