Halfway Done?!!

Mid-point Blog???!!!

It absolutely blows my mind that I am already half-way through my time abroad in Spain. God has been so good and has continued to bless me every day. For this blog, we get to reflect on a few topics, but first I want to give you all a little update on how I am doing and what I have been up to! 

I am approaching my Spring Break, the same week as Holy Week (Semana Santa), which means I am just wrapping up my partial exams! I cannot believe I am already almost done with my partial exams because what felt like yesterday, I was nervous about classes and studying for these exams. In the last couple of weeks, I have had 2 wonderful visitors here in Madrid and took a small getaway trip to one of the Canary Islands to get some sun. 🙂 A dear friend from MLC, Sam Grass, came to visit me on her Spring Break which was a blast because I got to play tour guide. It was so wonderful catching up, laughing, and seeing all the sights with someone who reminds me of MLC and the people I love dearly there. The same day that Sam left Spain, my boyfriend, Dylan, arrived. Once again, this was such a special week for me because I got to spend time with one of the people I love the most and show him this city that I dearly love. I am so incredibly grateful to both Sam and Dylan for hopping on a plane and going outside of their comfort zone to come visit a very happy Madrileña. 🙂 (That’s ME!!) 

Emily, Sarah, and I hopped on a plane the same day Dylan left Spain to have a little getaway weekend on one of the Canary Islands, Tenerife. We went to the South of Tenerife for some swimming and sun. It was so beautiful there and we had a blast swimming and jumping into some natural pools. 

We got back and it was already time to start studying for and taking partial exams! The time is just flying! 

Now, back to reflecting on being in Madrid for almost half of my time already! (WOAH)

 

1. How do you feel about your experience so far? Why? 

I am feeling a lot of emotions about my experience so far. I am feeling incredibly blessed to be here. God has blessed me with this opportunity and I could not be more happy. I have wanted an experience like this since I was young, and to be living it right now is surreal and a gift from God. I feel so content and excited to be learning new things every day, about the language I love, the culture I am growing to love, and myself. 

I truly love school and learning here. I think it is because ALL of the content I am learning is in Spanish. I feel like I have never been more happy to go to school every day and I believe it is because all of the content I am learning is in Spanish. My teachers are all amazing and the content is SO interesting. 

I do feel like my Spanish is slowly but surely improving, which makes me happy and gives me a lot of hope. As some of you know, I am hard on myself when it comes to my abilities in Spanish, so I have tried to really give myself credit here but keep working hard. I find myself understanding concepts better and it clicking more than it has in the past, which is really rewarding. It may just be the repetition of learning things back at MLC and here and hearing it every day in conversation. There are also times I walk away from class a bit confused, but I know oftentimes it is because in the Spanish language, sometimes there is no logical explanation for things. As a perfectionist, this is something I have worked hard on to just accept. 🙂 

I am so thankful for both Emily and Sarah, who have been great Madrid buddies. We all came together but are still making efforts to grow and learn on our own and I appreciate this so much. We have multiple classes together and live in the same residencia, so we see each other often. 

Overall, I feel very content, happy, and blessed. Living in Europe, specifically Spain, during this season of my life is just perfect timing. Thanks God:) 

2. Which goal have you made the most progress on? 

The goal I have made the most progress on is journaling every day, both in my gratitude journal and my travel journal. I went into this experience with really high hopes that I would be consistent with journaling since it has been something I have struggled with for SO long, on trips and in everyday life. There were a couple of days when Sam and Dylan were here where I did not journal but I have made all of them up! I love my gratitude journal because I can see all of the prayers God has answered for me as well as the wonderful experiences He has provided for me while I’ve been here.  I ALSO want to throw in the fact that I have gotten WAY better at “going with the flow.” YAY! This is something I am super proud of because I can be such a rigid planner. I still have things I can do to improve even more, but I am very happy with my progress. 

3. What are the three areas that you can improve on for the second half of your time abroad? 

An area that I need to improve on for the second half of my time abroad is reading my Psalms. I have done such a poor job of reading a Psalm everyday, and I feel guilty because time with God should be the MOST important part of my day. I would appreciate your prayers and encouragement as I look to improve this goal! 

I would love to improve on hobbies I have wanted to get more into while I am here, including reading and painting. I have read a bit of my one book, but still have not completed 1 book! I would love to work towards my goal of completing the 2 books I brought along, as well as buying one here to read! I am only 27 books away from David Fenske…SO CLOSE 😉 

My final goal, which I would like to make more of an effort towards, is exercising three times a week! I decided not to join a gym since we walk mostly everywhere here, but now that I have been here for almost two months, I would love to try some classes if they aren’t too expensive. I would love to try some pilates classes, cycling classes, and go on more runs when it gets warmer! 

Thank you for your prayers and continued encouragement as I work towards these goals:) 

4. What has surprised you about the culture of your host country? What have you improved on? How have your opinions evolved? 

Something that has surprised me about the culture of my host country, Spain, is that even though at times, it can be very slow-paced (which I love and am working at embracing), there are a good amount of people who live very fast-paced lives as well and this can be noticed simply in the body language. I just did not think it would be as noticeable as it is! I have not had too many more surprises while I have been here. I have really worked towards improving my patience and understanding of cultural habits or things I may not understand. I have done this by posing questions to myself after I have had a negative thought and seeing how I can look at a situation differently, in a more positive light. The most important questions I ask myself are, “How would Jesus approach this situation?” or “How would Jesus see these people?”. Of course, this is something I continue to work on every day. I’d like to think of myself as an open-minded person, and I do think this is true to some extent, but I think being open-minded to Europe’s standards is different from America’s standards. There is nothing wrong with this, just a difference between cultures. This has taught me a lot, and I have worked on reflecting on all of my opinions and feelings in a way that compares between American ways of thinking and Europe/Spain ways of thinking.  

 

Thank you again for taking the time to read this blog, and keeping me in your prayers! God has blessed me beyond belief! 

 

Con Amor, 

Alaina Wiedoff