Doing like the Spainards do

---

So sometimes I wake up in the morning here and pinch myself just to make sure it's real. I mean I'm in Madrid, Spain, I am speaking Spanish, and actually feel like I am almost fitting in if you get rid of the pale skin blond hair look topped with a strong American accent. I walk to the metro or the bus and I know what to do with my bag and how to act. I go to the clubs and I'm singing Spanish songs. I meet Spaniards and I can carry on a good conversation and not take ten minutes to form a sentence. It's an amazing revelation. Not to mention the days that I do stick to my tourist ways and explore the beautiful city of Madrid. Spain has actually started to feel like home. I have come partial to the beautiful city of Madrid and find a deep connection to be rooted there. It's not about trying to appear as un-American as possible anymore, it's about recognizing the fact that I am a foreigner and trying hard to learn as much as I can from a culture different from my own. I have always found that leaving a familiar place and being thrown into another unknown place does change a person but sometimes reminds them who they were in the first place. Assimilation is a story of person. It is about one who fights the concepts of culture in order to better understand one who may speak differently or even merely think differently. When I say that I'm falling in love with Spain I mean that it is changing me and taking part of my with it. Mi corazon esta en Espana.

---