11/15/09
Currently sitting at this really cool Indian/Spanish tapas bar right. With all the distractions buzzing around me on the street, motorcycles, people walking by chatting with one another, an the clattering of plates in the kitchen, I’m struggling to focus on much else besides the ambiance of this restaurant. Let alone focus one iota of effort towards planning my relatively complicated lesson for tomorrow.
As a writer, I’d rather write than plan right now. So to the benefit of the blog, let’s agree to go that direction.
First of all, it was so helpful to see you all respond to my quandary the other day. Looks like we have 1/2 of the votes committing me to stay in Spain longer and then the other 1/2 (divided perfectly down the middle) and 1/2 of the votes are requesting a relocation to Vietnam.
Which to choose.
Do I want to learn the Vietnamese language? I do. Do I want to eat Vietnamese food for a year? I do, yes, I do. The questions for Spain yield the same results.
I’ve been thinking about Costa Rica and Australia recently. Australia has a large immigrant population and I would love to work in an area where cultures intersect. Right now, I’m leaning towards either Vietnam or Australia. Of course, I’ve also given a lot of thought to staying in Arizona and working there for some time. Arizona certainly has a population in need of language support and if I’m looking for a diverse place where cultures collide, I really don’t need to look much further than my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona.
As I think about home, I begin to daydream about the little things like California Pizza Kitchen and a refrigerator only I can access. I’m definitely ready for all of the trappings of home.
It’s ironic, really, because when I’m at home I think about escaping the mundane and when I’m away from it, suddenly I want it. Good lesson perhaps about satisfaction and where its found. Certainly it’s not in a place, I’m thinking it’s more a state of mind.
I’ve loved my time here in Spain and I’m so grateful for this experience. If this place has taught me anything, it’s what I do want just as much as what I don’t want out of life. Of course, my experience here has been filled with abnormal things such as school and a very sad lack of siestas, so I have not been able to truly appreciate life in Sevilla the way I think I may as a tourist or local.
I have a few fun stories to tell, Flamenco bars and delicious wine, I can’t wait to share with you.
My first priority tonight is the plate of Chinese food sitting in front of me. The Chinese food here is incredible. Full of flavor and served family style in restaurants more than welcoming to foreigners. I hadn’t anticipated a very large Chinese population here, but there seems to be a sturdy community built up of Chinese/Spanish immigrants. That would be interesting to explore later down the line (jots note furiously in journal). Moral of the story, yummy Chinese food, almost impossible to find food this good in Arizona, comes first. Homework comes a distant second.
My internet computer time is pretty much done for today. I’ll stop back by tomorrow to upload photos from Granada and my Sevilla to Granada, Spanish driving experience!
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