Sssalt Shaker!

I have had such mixed feelings today!!! Man I feel very ACD I cannot concentrate on one thing today! I am worrying about my classes, how the credits will transfer over, and the workload each class demands, I'm worried about switching apartments because of money issues, I'm loving every minute of being here and have so many different things on my agenda that I want to see and do here...I don't know what emotion I want to feel like at any moment because they are all combined to create a whole big ball of emotion. hahaha It's so crazy.

I miss salt.  They don't believe in salt here I swear.  It is never put on your food before you eat it, and it's not on the table for you to put on yourself! French fries don't taste quite right without it. haha.

Also for those of you who'll only eat Ranch on their salads....nope. Not that I can find anyways! Everyone eats their salad all fancy with olive oil and vinegar.

They don't eat cake and cookies for dessert!!!! I have such a sweet tooth and they usually only offer something like fruit for dessert!!

You have to pay for plastic grocery bags if you want them, you have to pay .50 euros to use a shopping cart at the supermarket too!

They have no refrigerated milk in gallons, they have shelf milk in cartons.

They NEVER eat their dinner at 5 or 6 p.m., rather they wait and go out to dinner around 8 pm if you are early and around 10 pm regularly.

It's those little differences many people can't stand, but you know, it's all part of that awesome experience of being totally immersed into another culture.  I long to speak English to people, if someone on the street is speaking English, I want to talk to them.  But at the same time I long to speak Spanish so well, and even though it takes that much effort to talk in Spanish, it will be worth it and ingrained in my mind for long after my short 6 months here. I only have these 6 months to live in a large European city and get in as much adventure and experiences as possible before I go back to my usual life in Pocatello.  Living on the Mediterranean Sea seems to be many people's dreams, and here I am 2 kilometers from the beach! It may come at a price, cause culture shock sucks, but it's totally worth it! If i were back home right now I would probably be at work hauling boxes around.  That's what I did all last semester in order to prepare for this.  When I think of that, I think, now, isn't it better to put some extra effort into speaking Spanish and living it up instead of doing the usual old grind?! Yes. Yes it is. I worked so hard to get to this situation in my life and so have my parents! Confidence is key.  and so far that has been the hardest thing for me to remember.  I keep doubting myself on my Spanish skills, even though I know I have the ability to say what I want to say.  It's catching myself freezing up when someone is asking me a question, and realizing, 'hey, it's okay, answer at your own pace, you are doing great.  At least you understood what they were asking you!' People aren't going to get mad at me for making a mistake. I have many foreign friends and do I get angry at them for saying 'braked' instead of 'broke'? No way! It's all part of the learning experience. And everyone wants to know about me! If you are a foreigner, they want to know all about you and what it's like in your country.  They aren't going to worry about if you have perfect grammar or not, they are just curious about the different lifestyle you have.  Keeping my head up and am ready for another amazing day tomorrow!!! :)