"Let laughter rule the situation - fear is useless."

This is one of the most important lessons that I learned from my uncle, Greg. This quote has been on my mirror at home for years. Only today did I realize how applicable this quote is to my experience here. Study abroad so far, is absolutely amazing, but incredibly frustrating and stressful. I'm completely assimilating to a new culture and a different language, accompanied only by people I met in the past few weeks. But, hey, no one ever told me it was easy. In a situation where fear and frustration can so much overtake you, I'm choosing to embrace humor and positivity.

Being surrounded by Spanish can be so frustrating. It can definitely take its toll on you. The group decided that we wanted to speak in Spanish even amongst each other, because we all know that its the best way to learn. Its frustrating because at the same time we're supposed to be getting to know each other and becoming close friends, but in Spanish I feel like I have to dumb down all of my thoughts to be able to communicate them. I'm only able to express simple desires, emotions and needs. I miss the way English permits me to speak eloquently, have intelligent conversation and be funny! Instead, we have to learn to just shrug our shoulders and laugh it off when the language barrier gets in the way. Like when I called the "man at the desk" the "man at the backpack" (same vocab list ha), or when Anna tried to order black coffee but asked for white coffee.

Also, instead of becoming frustrated or confused by cultural "quirks", it is easier to just laugh at them. Amy, Kylie and I spent probably 20 minutes cracking up researching the purpose of our bidet (look up bidet on wikipedia for a good time). And a cultural difference that doesn't frustrate me: the laundromat, instead of just being a place to do your laundry does your laundry for you (separates, washes, dries, and folds!)

In addition to letting my laughter lead the way, I'm also learning to celebrate the little things, like a successful taxi interaction, or navigating my way from the office to the university (a good 20 min walk) by myself, or a local telling me that I have very good Spanish (whether I believe them or not ha).

And sorry that the only picture I have on here is of a bathroom appliance. My camera currently will not upload anything!