"Comfort Zone"

I have never been fond of change. I am not sure if it is a result of moving a lot as a child, or a fear of letting go of the past, or simply anxiety about the unknown, however, for as long as I can remember I have done everything in my power not to let anything change. Changing from middle school to high school was a rough time...changing from one parent's house to the other was so very sad... and growing up was often pretty difficult, but due to the fact that change is absolutely inevitable, I have learned that all I can do is learn to embrace it. In order to test myself, grow stronger, and increase my confidence when faced with change, I set out to Spain. Of all changes I have endured, this has been the largest, nevertheless, I can feel myself growing already.

Since I got here, everything about my day to day life that I have grown to know and love in Nashville has been temporarily taken away, and I am having to adapt to an entirely new way of life.
Walking down the street, people run into you, roll their eyes at you, and an "excuse me," or "I'm sorry" is absolutely unheard of... I often say it and get looks that make me feel foolish.
My shower neither drains well, nor has a rod for the shower head, therefore when I shower I have to hold the shower head to get myself wet, turn off the water and hang the shower head back up so the water can drain, wash my hair, turn the shower head back on and rinse my hair, turn the shower back off, etc... it is absolutely awful.
My kitchen neither has a stove or an oven.
I don't visit starbucks daily.
I don't have Bco, or much less salads at all...
I don't have my sweet pups.
I am NEVER alone... :(
and the list goes on forever...
The wild thing though, is that I am handling it surprisingly well... Don't get me wrong, its rough at times, but my ability to experience and enjoy these changes for a couple of months is amazing me.

So the past few days have been pretty full. I officially know my way around the heart of the city. I have found a tiny tiny local gym that is a block from my apartment, and though it is nothing like my beloved YMCA, it is better than nothing.  Not going to lie, I am a little bit dissatisfied with their selection of cardio machines, but I'll make it work. I went last night and was one of two females there, the other one was an older Spanish woman. The rest of the gym was filled with men of all kinds. Some were clearly spanish, some looked like Americans who were in the same position as me, some were pretty into themselves and a little shady, and then one was a WAY overworked body builder who looked in the mirror every chance he got. I didn't need my book or my head phones, because these men proved to be plenty entertaining! I apparently offered them some entertainment as well... they acted like they had never seen a blonde American in their lives and though they believed I didn't speak Spanish, I understood every word they were saying about me...

I have also gone to see Gaudi's home, park, La Sagrada Familia, and some other masterpieces by him, but forgot my camera that day :( I will be going back!!!

I found my new addictions!!! Spanish coffee is wonderful (I haven't been to starbucks in days)... and I found a nice little cafe called Nostrum, which sells all home made pastas, chicken, soups, etc...

Today we went to the aquarium on the water, which was very fun, and I made another friend...

All in all, things are pretty great here. I am pretty sure that I am going to get even more out of this than I ever imagined possible. Although I am a tiny bit homesick today, I knew I would be at times, and I am making my own little family abroad as well... I am hopeful that some of these people will be good friends for the rest of my life.

I would give anything to have the ability to gather all "my people" at home, and bring them here to see what I am seeing, live how I am living, do what I am doing. The way that people love here is absolutely amazing. I have said it before and most likely will say it again, but one of the biggest differences between life here and life there is the appreciation of time. Time is not wasted, or taken advantage of, or rushed... every second is appreciated and made wonderful. I wish I could bring that concept back to the US when I go... because I know once I get used to slowing down, its going to be extremely hard to speed up again...

Not to mention, I am getting the opportunity to become familiar with one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.