June 1, 2019 - Spain

---

Roundabouts

One thing I found interesting is the amount of roundabouts in Spain. We drove through multiple on our way to Tarragona. While I drive through three roundabouts on my way to work at home, I found myself dizzy and nauseous on our drive to Tarragona. I was anxious to get off the bus, and I found myself frustrated when we had an extra 30 minutes because our bus driver got us lost. I did not want to complain, so I tried my best to be a good sport and change my attitude. One thing I do appreciate about them is the beautiful landscape on the inside of many of them.



Host Family

Meeting our host family today was simultaneously exciting and terrifying. Silvia and Augustine do not know any English, so all of our interactions must be in Spanish. In most interactions I have with them, I get so flustered that I do not know how to respond, even if I know what they are saying. I found my CQ Drive to interact with them diminish because I was discouraged by how much I did not understand and could not say (Livermore, 2009). I have to keep reminding myself that they know I do not know much and that eventually, this will help me become better at speaking Spanish.



Health



Coming to Spain, I was under the impression that Spaniards had good physical health. Walking and biking are common forms of transportation, so most Spaniards appear physically fit. However, I wonder how healthy they actually are given the amount that they drink and smoke. Culture Smart describes their drinking habits as: “It’s never feels like the right time to have a last drink” (Meaney & Viguer, 2016, pg. 58). Additionally, Spaniards smoke cigarettes quite frequently and I have even seen vending machines for cigarettes. Both drinking and smoking in large amounts is very unhealthy for a person’s body, especially the liver and lungs. I am curious if the Spaniards’ actual health matches how healthy they appear on the outside, or how these habits affect death and cancer rates.



Word Count: 341

---