Granada - Day 1

---

Change in Perspective



At this point in my life I have become a very open, talkative, and inquisitive person that really values communication and interaction with other people. I have found that I am not able express these personality traits and values in the same way here as I don’t know the language as well. I am able to get information from my host family, although most details have been translated by Tina (bless her), but I am not able to start many conversations or learn about Elba and Miguel (my host parents) effectively. This has been an interesting change in perspective as I have taken more of a backseat during these interactions, which would not be my preference. If I had know this would be the case, I would have planned better in brushing up on some Spanish conversational skills.



The Family Dynamic

As a whole, the interactions with Elba and Miguel have been dominated by Tina due to her knowledge of the language. I have talked to Tina about this and I know this is also unusual for her as she normally does not talk as much. I have been wondering if Elba and Miguel have noticed that these are not our preferred roles during communication. I know they have interacted with a lot of students, but I am not sure if they have encountered many that lack significant Spanish skills as I do, because at one point Elba thought I was the person with the least language skills on the trip, which is not really true.



Elba and Miguel’s Openness

I am also astounded at the generosity of this family to open their house to students. The section on family in Culture Smart talks about how the Spanish are very friendly (pg 51), but I was also told Spaniards do not normally open their homes like this. I’m wondering where this disconnect is. They seem to do this kind of thing a lot so it makes me wonder why Elba and Miguel decided to do this. Did they have a less traditional upbringing? Maybe... although it is hard for me to ask as I do not know the language well. That is something I would like to know.

---