This is the post that I'm sure all of you have been waiting for....after being out of the US for 4 months and staying as far away as the average American as possible....you're probably thinking...what on earth does Sarah think of us now??? :P
Now that I'm back to being surrounded by them all day and everyday, of course my patience is being tested. I love this country, but the time away from its values, society and people were refreshing to me. But I have to adjust and accept [some] things once again and pick up where my life left off here.
Take a look at a few of my first observations about American culture.
First of all, let me say that when I was walking off the plane in Newark, NJ with my newly made Spanish friends who were visiting New Orleans [which is another story :P], the two men I had sat next to on the plane and I were going to take a picture before we parted. We should've taken one by the gate or before we reached the escalators cause once we got down there we were near the ropes where citizens and non citizens separate. I told my one friend what about the foto we were going to take...and he called his other friend over and we were getting things in order to take one when this stupid lady "directly traffic" near the two lines heard the word "foto." Blast Spanish and its cognates sometimes!!! She was like "Photos? This is the United States Customs there will be no photos or cameras out at this time. Please move forward and on your way." The customs area was so lame anyways but I had to respect their wishes. I was NOT a terrorist people. I did think to myself, "Welcome to America," and I think I said it under my breath too. What a warm welcome it was. haha No, it made me mad and I was already wishing I could go back to Madrid.
So unfortunately I said goodbye to my friends in Spanish and proceeded through the citizen's line--which was like empty. In fact all of customs was super empty for a Sat. afternoon. So dumb.
Well, that was my welcome that I had to share. But here are the observations you have all been waiting for:
1. I can't understand people from the South. I saw the movie, "Facing the Giants," in English at a friend's apartment in April and literally COULD NOT understand what the director's wife was saying. Granted it's not the greatest acting it in, but I could not say before that I couldn't understand movies in English before.
2. People are always, ALWAYS on their phones here...texting, emailing, surfing the net, calling people--it's so ridiculous! In Spain only the businessmen would be on theirs a lot, but most of the people would be walking, talking or meeting with friends and then spending time in person with them. America is very impersonal at times.
3.People dress sloppily and too informally at times. Oh, and apparently anything goes these days! Yuckkk.
4. Motorcyclists who don't wear helmets, jackets or boots are IDIOTS here. And after seeing everyone who rode a motor bike in Spain wear a helmet and smart clothes all the time in Spain, seeing people who aren't aware of the importance of those things and the dangers of riding a motor bike REALLY annoy me. I nearly flipped out the first time I saw people without helmets back in late May. lol
5. People get waited on and served even if they don't have a shirt on!!!! What is this??? Could it just be Southwestern Ohio or do you see those people in your neighborhood too??
6. The North is still abrupt and as inconsiderate as always. Although more people have been smiling at me in Dayton than ever before either. Must be my foreigner vibe though....
7. Americans expect people to accept them or make an exception for them because they only speak English or are American...as if they "don't" know any better.
8. Americans automatically think they deserve peoples' respect....um, it must be earned cause we have quite the mess to clean up over in Europe.
9. Ohio drivers are terrible! There is no aggressive driving in Ohio like there is in NY, FL and the European Union. (This was actually just a reminder for me as I have lived in this state most of my life.)
10. Guys will hit on you like it's going out of style if you dress like a everyday Spaniard [everything looks fashionable and matches-haha].
11. I've noticed that with the Mexicans here it's perfectly okay to ask if you have a boyfriend and if not, are you going to get one. Or even suggest that at their restaurant oh, for sure you will find one here! Whaaaat?! lol
12. Everything has to be done quickly, but not necessarily enjoyed.
13. People whine and complain about the tiniest little things; especially the second things don't go right for them.
14. It seems like only the real serious couples kiss and hold hands in public....not much chivalry here. I really miss that about Spain! Seeing PDAs here doesn't really phase me at all since I saw it all the time in Spain. I think it's sweet [within reason-haha] and necessary.
Well, that's it for now! I've spent most of this evening writing these blog posts........now I need to recover and go listen to some Spanish music! :P
Un saludo y muchos abrazos fuertes a todos!
Sarah
Monday, July 5, 2010
Saying See-you-later
Well, I meant to write this post a long while ago but I've sort of been laying low here in Ohio slowly easing myself back into American culture....cause honestly, after being in Spain so long and loving it there, I didn't want to leave!
And of course avoiding annoying Americans and hanging out with the cool Spaniards and "Spanish" Americans really made my stay pretty awesome.
But alas, I am back at home here in Ohio and I must say that when I walked into my house and brought in all my luggage I felt relieved. I wasn't going somewhere else next week or having to go through another week of school in Sevilla and didn't have to pack again. For the first time in about 4 months I was able to just set down my bags and not go anywhere......it was quite a refreshing feeling. Granted, I was super tired too because it was almost 3 in the morning for me when I returned home, but that relief was very sweet and made me glad to be home. Although my heart and body were aching to be back in Sevilla.
On the bus ride from Sevilla to Madrid the morning of May 21st, I hadn't cried that hard for a long time. I didn't let anyone see the tears streaming down my face cause I had had THE WALL up [my sunglasses on], but you could see the sadness in my body language. I was in a state of disbelief in the taxi on the way to the bus station, but when the bus was pulling out of Sevilla and onto the freeway, I couldn't hold it together. The tears came because I started thinking about all of the people I had met and would miss once I left Sevilla and Spain. As I cried, my heart cried out to God to save the wonderful and caring non-believing Spaniards I had met and to provide a way for me to come back and visit this wonderful country and city.
Though the tears have been wiped away, the memories remain and will not be wiped away.
But I want to share a really cool story about my journey back to where I started in January...the Madrid Barajas International Airport. Well, from 6pm to about 9:30pm I tool the Cercanias train to Aranjuez, since I decided with all my luggage [all though I put it in storage in the Mendez Alvaro South bus station] and all the hills in Toledo it just wouldn't be smart to go anywhere farther than 45 mins away [which was where Aranjuez and the royal palace were]. The palace was closed but the outside and the gardens and lakes were just gorgeous! And I got a feel for another small town in Spain where they only speak Spanish....and a lot of stares and little whistles since I was the only giri [American] around. Oh, well....it was a very cute and beautiful town.
So after I left there I made it back to the Madrid Atocha Train Station and walked out to Calle Atocha. I asked a lady at a small stand a little ways away if there was a McDonald's near by and she said was in front of this street [on the corner]. I only had less than hr to access the Internet in Spain one last time and I didn't know how much battery power I had. I think I had 20 something percent but that was just enough time to check just a couple things and send out an email to my family and then a msg to my friends via my group, "Send Sarah to Spain." I also had enough time to come up with a catchy status that would last me until Sunday afternoon or so. Time was really of the essence cause I had to get back to the bus station to grab my stored luggage by 11pm before they closed and I would've had to wait until 6am to get it. I left McDonald's [the last time I would be in a full and extremely loud one for awhile--yay!] around 22:40 and I was about 6 metro stops away there on Calle Atocha.
But the good news is that they didn't close until 23:30! [either I read the sign wrong or they had changed it after I left cause I could've sworn it said 23:00 when I looked it a couple times earlier] I got my luggage okay and only had to pay the one day's rate however, I didn't realize they wouldn't treat you like a customer until you pulled out your receipt. :P
From there I decided to head up the floor with the cafeteria to get some dinner around 23:30 at night! It was quite the task maneuvering two check-in rolling bags and three carry-ons (two bags and then a purse) plus my blasted wool coat that I don't like anymore. haha
But I was able to have a tortilla de patatas bocadilla, hot tea [although Idk why I ordered it cause I was SO freaking hot with lugging all my stuff around and the heat] and a bottle of water. It was a nice last Spanish meal but it still can't compare to the most delicious tortelini mixed with Parmesan cheese and melted butter that I had had the night before in Sevilla.......ahhhhh, my mouth is watering as I write and remember. It is SO good!
WELL. Anyways, I hung out in the surprisingly busy cafeteria until midnight or so and then I summoned up all my traveling stamina again and headed down to the metro to begin the journey back.
It took me about an hr to get from the bus station to my gate in the Madrid airport [where I'd be spending the night]. Before I left the McDonalds, I sent out a msg to my group members to pray for smooth travel in the metro [since Madrid's metro and I have some issues--haha] and for me to find friends along the way to help me with my luggage. If you're reading this and you prayed for my safety and for me to find friends....THANK YOU! I got help with them almost immediately when I went down to the metro floor in the bus station. A nice Spanish girl named Lorena who is working on her Master's in Journalism here in Madrid saw me struggling to get my big suitcase through a super small metro gate [I totally did NOT see the large one for handicapped people-hahaha] and motioned for me to come over to the bigger one. She said to me in English, "Do you need help?" Which made me feel stupid so I responded in Spanish to save face. :P
She helped me up until the stop Nuevos Ministerios [which was on the gray line but from there I had to switch from there to get to the pink line to get to the airport]. The path Lorena showed me to get to the airport was SO much shorter than the one I had mapped out before I left...UGH....well, I can't go back! haha
From there I was on my own to make it the rest of the way. I thought I was supposed to go down because I was following the signs for the pink line transfer but I was going the wrong way. I had all my crap with me when I went down the escalator and as soon as I got on my big bag tumbled down in front of me and almost made me fall. People were watching. I felt embarrassed...but me da igual because I had embarrassed myself so much in this country at times that there wasn't much else I could do that I haven't already done. hehe
When I got down to the bottom and realized I had to go back up again, I ran into these two older but nice gentlemen who could clearly see that I was turned around just looking at my face. One guy said, "Guapa! Necesitas ayuda?" Pretty girl, do you need help??
Um, yeah....I have 5 bags on me and just want to get to the airport! haha They and another lady, Leonor, who just happened to be passing by and saw us helped me take three of my five bags. The two men [I don't think I got their names] helped us until we found the right entrance for the pink line and said goodbye to me...the normal Spain way with dos besos. :) Leonor and I went off to go up another escalator and talked a little bit about where she's been, where I've been and what I was doing in Spain this year. She was at her metro stop [which was also her neighborhood] so she needed to go, but she didn't leave until she made sure I was okay to make it the rest of the way to the airport. I said that I knew the way from there and said that I would be fine. I asked her where she's from and where she lives and she said that she is from Madrid and is actually from the barrio Nuevo Ministerios. She loves traveling she said but she loves her neighborhood a whole lot. And she definitely recommends a visit to Nuevo Ministerios....so I guess I will have to come back to Madrid! :)
After that, I had help from another couple in their 30s early 40s with getting my luggage onto the metro and making sure things didn't fall, get moved around or fall on me. haha
I had to pay an extra euro just to get to the airport because it's so far away from the center that they have to charge a supplement......not that they need to get any more money out of me. [I didn't pay it like I was supposed to when I came from the airport....hehe] Then after taking the acensor [elevator] this time, I made it up to the top and saw the familiar Madrid at night mural hanging above the escalators when I exited.
I had officially come full circle. I was back where I started this incredible journey. But I had a ways to go yet before I could sleep. I took several moving conveyor belts before I reached the first set of gates. It was a lot of work to get there with all the crap I had and the fact that I piled my small rolling suitcase onto to my bigger one and was balancing two bags on each shoulder and my H&M purse too. It was A LOT of work and my whole body was weary. But was I going to be able to sleep in a nice bed that night? Nope.
When I got to a screen that actually had my flight up, I had to walk to gate 158 or something like that. I was like that can't be too bad....there are probably only like 200 gates here. Boy, was I wrong! There are like 350 in the Madrid airport! And I was starting from the 300s and had to walk ALLLL the way down to one 153. Now, that was a trek!
I think that all I remember doing before I went to sleep was go to the bathroom [with all of my stuff], get my stuff situated, decide that I was going to prop my head up against my big purple suitcase, take my contacts out and then drape my winter coat over my eyes so I could sleep......cause those emergency room style lights that were everywhere NOT gonna be turned off any time soon. Ugh. I fell asleep around 1:15am I think which was around 7:15pm for you guys on Eastern time. And I think I slept about 3 and half hours. Around 4 or 5 this homeless or mentally handicapped old guy came wandering down by my gate with his walker and was babbling incoherently and VERY loudly. It scared THE crap out of me! I was like oh, great now I'm gonna get mugged [cause at first I couldn't really see or realize what kind of person was near me] so I "played dead" by not moving and hoping this guy would just go away. I watched a security guy come over and helped him where he needed to go [AWAY from me] and then I fell back to sleep. Everything hurt and I all I could think of was how much I wanted to be in my nice Serta bed at home. My neck was aching sleeping at that angle!
But once 5:30 rolled around and a few people were joining my spot to sleep themselves I decided to get up even though I felt like a train wreck. I still had to organize my suitcases [moving some stuff from my bags to the suitcases], clean out one of my bags and get rid of the food and liquids I had on me.
That took almost an hr and a half cause I was running on little sleep and my bags were pretty messy. Then I focused on getting ready, changing shirts, putting on makeup--to belie how I felt--and enjoy the last few sounds of Spanish in that airport.
Little did I know what the plane ride home held for me.......
And of course avoiding annoying Americans and hanging out with the cool Spaniards and "Spanish" Americans really made my stay pretty awesome.
But alas, I am back at home here in Ohio and I must say that when I walked into my house and brought in all my luggage I felt relieved. I wasn't going somewhere else next week or having to go through another week of school in Sevilla and didn't have to pack again. For the first time in about 4 months I was able to just set down my bags and not go anywhere......it was quite a refreshing feeling. Granted, I was super tired too because it was almost 3 in the morning for me when I returned home, but that relief was very sweet and made me glad to be home. Although my heart and body were aching to be back in Sevilla.
On the bus ride from Sevilla to Madrid the morning of May 21st, I hadn't cried that hard for a long time. I didn't let anyone see the tears streaming down my face cause I had had THE WALL up [my sunglasses on], but you could see the sadness in my body language. I was in a state of disbelief in the taxi on the way to the bus station, but when the bus was pulling out of Sevilla and onto the freeway, I couldn't hold it together. The tears came because I started thinking about all of the people I had met and would miss once I left Sevilla and Spain. As I cried, my heart cried out to God to save the wonderful and caring non-believing Spaniards I had met and to provide a way for me to come back and visit this wonderful country and city.
Though the tears have been wiped away, the memories remain and will not be wiped away.
But I want to share a really cool story about my journey back to where I started in January...the Madrid Barajas International Airport. Well, from 6pm to about 9:30pm I tool the Cercanias train to Aranjuez, since I decided with all my luggage [all though I put it in storage in the Mendez Alvaro South bus station] and all the hills in Toledo it just wouldn't be smart to go anywhere farther than 45 mins away [which was where Aranjuez and the royal palace were]. The palace was closed but the outside and the gardens and lakes were just gorgeous! And I got a feel for another small town in Spain where they only speak Spanish....and a lot of stares and little whistles since I was the only giri [American] around. Oh, well....it was a very cute and beautiful town.
So after I left there I made it back to the Madrid Atocha Train Station and walked out to Calle Atocha. I asked a lady at a small stand a little ways away if there was a McDonald's near by and she said was in front of this street [on the corner]. I only had less than hr to access the Internet in Spain one last time and I didn't know how much battery power I had. I think I had 20 something percent but that was just enough time to check just a couple things and send out an email to my family and then a msg to my friends via my group, "Send Sarah to Spain." I also had enough time to come up with a catchy status that would last me until Sunday afternoon or so. Time was really of the essence cause I had to get back to the bus station to grab my stored luggage by 11pm before they closed and I would've had to wait until 6am to get it. I left McDonald's [the last time I would be in a full and extremely loud one for awhile--yay!] around 22:40 and I was about 6 metro stops away there on Calle Atocha.
But the good news is that they didn't close until 23:30! [either I read the sign wrong or they had changed it after I left cause I could've sworn it said 23:00 when I looked it a couple times earlier] I got my luggage okay and only had to pay the one day's rate however, I didn't realize they wouldn't treat you like a customer until you pulled out your receipt. :P
From there I decided to head up the floor with the cafeteria to get some dinner around 23:30 at night! It was quite the task maneuvering two check-in rolling bags and three carry-ons (two bags and then a purse) plus my blasted wool coat that I don't like anymore. haha
But I was able to have a tortilla de patatas bocadilla, hot tea [although Idk why I ordered it cause I was SO freaking hot with lugging all my stuff around and the heat] and a bottle of water. It was a nice last Spanish meal but it still can't compare to the most delicious tortelini mixed with Parmesan cheese and melted butter that I had had the night before in Sevilla.......ahhhhh, my mouth is watering as I write and remember. It is SO good!
WELL. Anyways, I hung out in the surprisingly busy cafeteria until midnight or so and then I summoned up all my traveling stamina again and headed down to the metro to begin the journey back.
It took me about an hr to get from the bus station to my gate in the Madrid airport [where I'd be spending the night]. Before I left the McDonalds, I sent out a msg to my group members to pray for smooth travel in the metro [since Madrid's metro and I have some issues--haha] and for me to find friends along the way to help me with my luggage. If you're reading this and you prayed for my safety and for me to find friends....THANK YOU! I got help with them almost immediately when I went down to the metro floor in the bus station. A nice Spanish girl named Lorena who is working on her Master's in Journalism here in Madrid saw me struggling to get my big suitcase through a super small metro gate [I totally did NOT see the large one for handicapped people-hahaha] and motioned for me to come over to the bigger one. She said to me in English, "Do you need help?" Which made me feel stupid so I responded in Spanish to save face. :P
She helped me up until the stop Nuevos Ministerios [which was on the gray line but from there I had to switch from there to get to the pink line to get to the airport]. The path Lorena showed me to get to the airport was SO much shorter than the one I had mapped out before I left...UGH....well, I can't go back! haha
From there I was on my own to make it the rest of the way. I thought I was supposed to go down because I was following the signs for the pink line transfer but I was going the wrong way. I had all my crap with me when I went down the escalator and as soon as I got on my big bag tumbled down in front of me and almost made me fall. People were watching. I felt embarrassed...but me da igual because I had embarrassed myself so much in this country at times that there wasn't much else I could do that I haven't already done. hehe
When I got down to the bottom and realized I had to go back up again, I ran into these two older but nice gentlemen who could clearly see that I was turned around just looking at my face. One guy said, "Guapa! Necesitas ayuda?" Pretty girl, do you need help??
Um, yeah....I have 5 bags on me and just want to get to the airport! haha They and another lady, Leonor, who just happened to be passing by and saw us helped me take three of my five bags. The two men [I don't think I got their names] helped us until we found the right entrance for the pink line and said goodbye to me...the normal Spain way with dos besos. :) Leonor and I went off to go up another escalator and talked a little bit about where she's been, where I've been and what I was doing in Spain this year. She was at her metro stop [which was also her neighborhood] so she needed to go, but she didn't leave until she made sure I was okay to make it the rest of the way to the airport. I said that I knew the way from there and said that I would be fine. I asked her where she's from and where she lives and she said that she is from Madrid and is actually from the barrio Nuevo Ministerios. She loves traveling she said but she loves her neighborhood a whole lot. And she definitely recommends a visit to Nuevo Ministerios....so I guess I will have to come back to Madrid! :)
After that, I had help from another couple in their 30s early 40s with getting my luggage onto the metro and making sure things didn't fall, get moved around or fall on me. haha
I had to pay an extra euro just to get to the airport because it's so far away from the center that they have to charge a supplement......not that they need to get any more money out of me. [I didn't pay it like I was supposed to when I came from the airport....hehe] Then after taking the acensor [elevator] this time, I made it up to the top and saw the familiar Madrid at night mural hanging above the escalators when I exited.
I had officially come full circle. I was back where I started this incredible journey. But I had a ways to go yet before I could sleep. I took several moving conveyor belts before I reached the first set of gates. It was a lot of work to get there with all the crap I had and the fact that I piled my small rolling suitcase onto to my bigger one and was balancing two bags on each shoulder and my H&M purse too. It was A LOT of work and my whole body was weary. But was I going to be able to sleep in a nice bed that night? Nope.
When I got to a screen that actually had my flight up, I had to walk to gate 158 or something like that. I was like that can't be too bad....there are probably only like 200 gates here. Boy, was I wrong! There are like 350 in the Madrid airport! And I was starting from the 300s and had to walk ALLLL the way down to one 153. Now, that was a trek!
I think that all I remember doing before I went to sleep was go to the bathroom [with all of my stuff], get my stuff situated, decide that I was going to prop my head up against my big purple suitcase, take my contacts out and then drape my winter coat over my eyes so I could sleep......cause those emergency room style lights that were everywhere NOT gonna be turned off any time soon. Ugh. I fell asleep around 1:15am I think which was around 7:15pm for you guys on Eastern time. And I think I slept about 3 and half hours. Around 4 or 5 this homeless or mentally handicapped old guy came wandering down by my gate with his walker and was babbling incoherently and VERY loudly. It scared THE crap out of me! I was like oh, great now I'm gonna get mugged [cause at first I couldn't really see or realize what kind of person was near me] so I "played dead" by not moving and hoping this guy would just go away. I watched a security guy come over and helped him where he needed to go [AWAY from me] and then I fell back to sleep. Everything hurt and I all I could think of was how much I wanted to be in my nice Serta bed at home. My neck was aching sleeping at that angle!
But once 5:30 rolled around and a few people were joining my spot to sleep themselves I decided to get up even though I felt like a train wreck. I still had to organize my suitcases [moving some stuff from my bags to the suitcases], clean out one of my bags and get rid of the food and liquids I had on me.
That took almost an hr and a half cause I was running on little sleep and my bags were pretty messy. Then I focused on getting ready, changing shirts, putting on makeup--to belie how I felt--and enjoy the last few sounds of Spanish in that airport.
Little did I know what the plane ride home held for me.......
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