Back in 2019, I spent 3 months in Spain as an assistant English teacher. Before I left, my mom got me a journal that I could use to keep notes about my feelings throughout the experience. One of my journal entries was a full page of everything, both big and small, that I missed from home. Here are 5 things from that list.
Family & Friends
This is a given. I was used to being away from my family for months at a time because I went to college in a different state and didn't have a car to drive home regularly. But this was different. Being thousands of miles away is much more intense than being a couple hundred miles away. And unlike college, there was now a major time difference that I had to consider, meaning my family wasn't necessarily a quick call away if I needed them. And in school, I always had my friends right there with me, seeing them literally every day. Whereas in Spain, I was living in a really small town and knew nobody. So I missed everybody a lot more than usual.
Breakfast Food
Breakfast is my absolute FAVORITE meal of the day so I was very disappointed when I realized that I'd be missing out on my favorite foods for a few months. I still laugh when I think about our very first day at orientation when all of us program participants went downstairs for breakfast. When we got to the room, we saw coffee machines on the counter and croissants on the table. Of course, all of us being American, we thought "oh they are still cooking the rest of the food." So we talked and talked...and talked...and talked...and realized they still hadn't brought anything else out to us. At that moment, I knew this was going to be a loooong 3 months. Breakfast in my host family's house consisted of croissants, some kind of rice cakes, or a small bowl of cereal and that's it. So I was looking forward to getting back to America where I could eat my pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, breakfast sandwiches, hash browns, omelettes, large bowls of cinnamon toast crunch, etc.
Natural Hair Products
I knew taking care of my natural hair abroad would be more difficult and that I would need time to find the right products so I got box braids before leaving. They lasted about 1.5 months which was great! But after that, I was struggling. I think I didn't pack any products in my suitcase because I ran out of room. But I figured I'd be able to find some alternatives in Spain once I got there. No ma'am! I couldn't even find a wide-tooth comb! So my last few weeks were spent washing my hair with a Garnier Fructis shampoo, putting some of their conditioner in my hair, pulling it up into a high puff, and hoping for the best. Luckily my hair survived until I got home and could give it some real TLC.
American Hygienic Practices
Moment of transparency. I'm not sharing this to talk junk about Spanish culture or to get you all to judge them. But in living abroad, you learn a lot about very random aspects of another culture that you never even considered before. And for me, hygiene was something I had to get used to. Spanish people really enjoy communal meals so family dinner was set in the middle of the table for people to just grab off of, stick their fork into, use their hands to tear the bread, etc. And even during bible studies, teacher meetings, birthday parties, etc., they went the communal route. As an American who isn't used to this, watching everyone touch on, stick their used forks into, and breathe all over my food was intense. I'm also not sure the kids always washed their hands after using the bathroom. And of course, you'd think "Duh, they are kids!" But I never noticed an adult ask for confirmation or tell them to go back and do it. The kids would just run out of the bathroom and be on their merry way. That would not happen in my household at all! I noticed a lot more but I'm not going to go through it all today. I'm assuming a lot of the things I noticed have also changed since the start of this pandemic. But I still felt like it was an interesting topic to share from my experience because it was major for me.
Being in on the Joke
Lastly, I really missed being in on the jokes being told around me. I love to laugh so sitting quietly while everyone around me was laughing and having a good time sucked. Even after learning Spanish in school and living in Spain for a few months, I still don't understand much of the language. So my host family, their friends, students, teachers, etc. would primarily speak Spanish to each other and I would just sit there lost. I missed being in a room full of English speakers and knowing what was said so that I could laugh with everybody else.
Even considering this list, I still really enjoyed my time abroad and would definitely do it again! It's all part of the experience. Have any of you lived abroad and experienced anything similar? Any thoughts?
Save $200 With These Referral Links!
Hope this served as your sign to step outside of your comfort zone and teach abroad! I thoroughly enjoyed my experience! And if that wasn't enough, I also have a referral link that will save you an extra $200! (I wish I would've had one of these before my trip, $700 to cover housing, meals, placement assistance, etc. while living abroad for 3 months is honestly a steal! That would normally only cover 1 week in a hotel lol.)
And of course, there's no hiding that there is a benefit for me too if you use my referral link because if you get $200, I also get $200. Win-win lol. However, I'm not in it for the money. I genuinely did enjoy my experience and would recommend it a thousand times!
Comments