Learning Experiences

You know those phrases everyone tells you about growing up that never make any sense until you experience it? Like that college is a time when you figure out who you are, finding your identity, etc… and every time you hear it you think, “I know who I am; I’m me!” or  “how do you not know who you are?” or plane and simple, “what the heck does that mean? How the heck do you ‘find yourself’?”

Yeah, well studying abroad is one of those things. Everyone said I would learn so much about myself during this time, and here I am, two weeks in, learning about myself. They also said that I would change… haven’t gotten there yet…

This is what I’ve learned:

1.     I AM NOT A FOLLOWER. I definitely do my own thing. And I’m not afraid to do it, much less to do it alone. In fact, I sometimes prefer, and sometimes need to do it alone. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a social butterfly (or peacock to some J ) and would be miserable without the interaction; but after a while people start to annoy me. I like being an independent woman. I want to see what I want to see, without being run by a group or tied down. I like my time to reflect, to contemplate, to listen to music, to nothing, to whatever – to have the occasional experience all to myself.

2.     I AM NOT TYPE A. I don’t know if it is the latina in me, or just me, or what, but I don’t like planning too much. I find myself giving people very vague answers and not wanting to commit too much to anything. Many students are planning trips around Europe and buying tickets in groups, and I’m thinking “geeze, already? No, I’ll wait till the week of, maybe a few days before to jump in.” I’m barely on time for most things, I like having a general idea of what I’m going to do when I’m traveling (mostly for back up), but if something else comes up I’m willing to go with the flow. I don’t like being rushed. I just got to Cadiz, and I want to get situated with class and the place before running around. Hostels? Eh, I can figure it out when I get there… day before… ok maybe I should look. Buget? Eh, whatever. Two weeks later… ok maybe I should outline SOMETHING. Sites? Eh, we’ll see (no pun intended, hehe). Now… ok, maybe I should pick my tops and base my budget off that if I want to not spend ALL my financial aid here. Classes? I’m sure I’ll know what I’m taking by the time school starts.

3.     IN OTHER WORDS, I’M A PROCRASTINATOR – BUT A RESPONSIBLE ONE J I’m good at it ;)

Today was the last day of orientation and this is a picture of our class with our beloved teacher, Carlos. He was a lot of fun J