As most of you know I am now in the south of Germany working as an Aupair for the summer in a SMALL Bavarian tourist town called Garmisch. I mention the Bavarian part because this fact affects many aspects of my experience. The German they speak here is very different from the typical German they teach in the states, with a strong accent and slang. However, as most of you also know, I don't really speak German, so this doesn't necessarily make things harder, just more interesting. I am learning most of my German through my interactions with Emily, the four-year-old I am taking care of for the summer, and a computer program that Andre gave me. So, the progress is: I can now understand most of what Emily says to me and I can speak back in simple sentences, "I like popsicles, I want to be the pink princess, let's go to the park," you know, the important stuff in a four-year-old's life. In Bavaria they also still decorate all of their houses in the bavarian style, (if you don't know what this means google image it real quick because you should), and they actually still wear lederhosen and dirndles. Just the other day there was a casual celebration at Emily's kindergarten and, I kid you not, half of the adults and children were wearing these traditional Bavarian costumes. To know that they don't just wear it for the tourists was a treat. I considered buying one to try and fit in until I learned that the lederhosen run at about 600 euros and the dresses at about 200 euros, I shall thusly admire from afar. Another thing of note is that they served bratwurst and delicious beer at this kindergarten party:)
The town I live in is surrounded by mountains, on the border of Austria, and is very green because it rains quite often. I just came to Garmisch for the mountains, but by accident (or coincidence?), I ended up 10 minutes away from where my family originates in Germany. So far, my personality agrees with my genes, and I am more German than Spanish. I like to get up early, eat decent sized breakfasts, greet strangers in the street with a smile and a hello, drink good beer, dress casually and with ugly-yet-comfortable shoes, and spend as much time outdoors as possible, all things I missed while in Spain.
For those of you curious about how the end of my Spanish experience went I will do my best to consolidate my experience into just the most important parts. First of all, I was really happy with the level of Spanish I accomplished in 6 months. I received compliments by friends and teachers, but the part that made me feel really good was the confidence I developed in my own ability. I completely lost the need to think about what I was going to say before I said it. Well okay, it is always important to think before speaking, but I don't feel the need to "pre-translate" it anymore. I feel as though I can communicate anything I could possibly want, yet just like in English, I may have to talk around a few vocabulary words. Due to the fact that I took all my classes in Spanish, with other Spaniards, I am comfortable talking about my field of study, Psychology, which is pretty exciting for me. Up until the very end, Spaniards in the north stayed true to their stereotype, and were incredibly closed off, thus, my best friends in Spain turned out to be from places all of over the world EXCEPT Spain. The common language between my group of international friends and I was amazingly Spanish and not English, therefore it was necessary to practice Spanish in order to communicate and we were extra patient with each other, however, we also spoke what we called "Erasmus", being a kind of "study abroad version of Spanish", because we had few native speakers to correct mistakes.
As I neared the end of my time in Spain, I became to really love my new life and drag my heels at the thought of leaving. If I could do it again, I would stay a year because it takes a good 4 months to settle in a new home and culture and by that time I only had 2 remaining months to enjoy it. I finally acclimatized to the differences in culture, and found solid groups of friends with which I could study, run, climb and sunbathe on the beach. The only thing I never got used to, and this is going to sound horrible, were the typical spanish women who would stroll around town linking arms in groups of three or four with long fur coats on and cut in front of you in lines. These old ladies could get really mean, and they also made going for a run on the sidewalk nearly impossible. Perhaps it is good that I left when I did, because if I would have stayed a year, I very well may have knocked one or two over.
As my friends were all getting ready to go back home for their summers, I had to think about starting all over again in a new country, language and lifestyle instead.
As my friend Kendra put it so well, the best and the worst part of traveling is that you are constantly meeting new and amazing friends only to say goodbye to them and hello to others. By the time I finish with this European adventure I will feel like I have five homes, (Bozeman, Seattle, Granada, Santander, and Garmisch) and a set of people to miss in each place, not to mention all those I met in transitions from one home to the next. Each of these geographical locations has something special to offer, but absolutely the part that makes them feel like home to me will be the people. Hopefully someday my travels will circuit back around and I reconnect with all these wonderful people. Until then, ¡Hasta lueeeeeeegooooooo!
Thank you Andre for your photos.
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