Adjustments

It's been a week of cold rain here in Granada! We're all hoping warmer weather starts up again soon...the buildings here were made to stay cool, not warm, so layering up and huddling in bed between classes (with nothing else to do in a city geared up for hot weather) has been the order of the week. I also have a slight cold, me and my roommate as well, and cold showers this week really haven't helped the mood! I'm staying positive though, with lots to look forward to as spring comes ever closer.

Otherwise, I'm finding that my adjustments here have really become personal. I like the city, I don't mind the Spanish language barrier as much, my new English roommate is pretty cool, and classes are going okay. It's me and my own lifestyle that I am learning the most about. I know this is all on that graph of "study abroad phases" that you go through that everyone will tell you about (which is kind of depressing and predestined, if you ask me) but I'm really learning a lot about the kind of people I'd rather spend time with-- sometimes I feel like I don't fit in here, which is to be expected with the Spaniards to some degree, but especially with the Americans. 

I am also learning about what I like to spend my money on, and that I would rather travel with close friends, family, or people I love, to share the amazing things I've seen with them. Things like the uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and other nearby places make me want to avoid Morocco; things like the American student studying in Madrid who recently went missing and whose body was recently found make me want to stay in at night. Does that make my views un-American, stereotypically speaking, for a student studying abroad? I hear American students study abroad so they can go wild and take risks they never would at home, so does that make me something other than an American student?

Other considerations are pieces of less-than-happy news from home. My professor John Devlin and his family are working their way through daughter Kat's recovery from an umbilical cord transplant, a procedure to prevent the spread of cancer in her cells. Although the procedure went through, they are still in Boston now, weeks later, dealing with resulting fevers and smaller procedures and whatnot. Many thoughts and prayers to them; being away from home and constantly moved around and having to deal with every small insensitivity can really make a stressful situation even more trying.

I'm also hearing some things that I don't want to hear about Saint Mike's and college justice systems throughout the U.S. A friend of mine recently has made the college aware of an uncomfortable and unsafe situation on campus, and they have been unreceptive and slow-moving towards fixing the problem. After the death on campus a few weeks ago, I had hoped the support system would be stronger than this. I am pretty disappointed, and worried for my friend as well. No one should feel unsafe on campus, and no one should have to wait for something really bad to happen before action is taken. At Saint Mike's especially this kind of thing is rare, and I would like to think Saint Michael's is investing in keeping it that way.

That's all for now; thanks for reading! Next weekend I'm going on a hiking expedition with a friend in caves near Portugal...working on travel plans for spring break....updates to come!