The first....

Something I've been talking about with people that I think is really interesting about this whole experience is all the new firsts. I feel like a lot of times in life when people get bored of their routine it's because they aren't making an effort to create some new firsts in their lives. Here everyday there is a new first. My first time walking down a particular street, my first time trying a new tapas place, my first time using a new Spanish word I just learned, and the list goes on and on. This brings an excitement and a joy to each and every day that is not only beautiful but motivating. When I think about my life at home there are still plenty of firsts that occur but since that is the life I have known for 21 years, sometimes it takes a little more effort to make those firsts happen.

The beauty about being in another country is the fact that you don't even have to make an effort to have 20 firsts in a day. I'll list some that have stood out in my mind in my time that I've spent here so far.

The funniest part about a lot of the interactions I'm going to describe is the fact that to these people it was probably just the same old daily routine but for me it was a momentous occasion. For example...

The first time I asked for directions in Spain was when Paul and I were walking back from class and we got really lost so I had to ask directions and find our way home. It was just a fun thing walking up to some random person and speaking to them in another language and then using the information you get from them.

The first genuine conversation I had in Spanish was with the girl who works the desk at the gym when I was getting the tour of the gym I'm now a member of. I remember at the beginning of the convo I was stumbling over words and having trouble getting a thought out but as I relaxed I was belting Spanish. To her it may have just been showing around another potential climate but to me it was a big step in my Spanish experience. It's hard and sometimes scary to do these things and put yourself out there but when you do the result is almost always a great one.

The first genuine Spanish greeting I ever had was a few days ago at a club with a Spanish girl from the university of Granada. We were talking at the club and the regular Spanish greeting when you meet a girl is "dos besos" which is the kiss on either cheek, its the equivalent of shaking someone's hand in the states. So I met her, found out her name was Celia and did the dos besos and it was the first time I had done it in a real context, not a joking manner with other study abroad students. All these little things that help you assimilate more and more may seem like nothing to people around you but they make such a difference to you. Then I thought it was kind of funny at the end of our conversation she said in very broken English, "It was nice to meet you." So I had a genuine Spanish greeting and she gave a typical English goodbye.

The first real, deep conversation I ever had in Spanish was with my host mother Mavi one night after dinner. We sat and talked for close to 2 hours about life, relationships, just about anything you could imagine. She told me a lot about her divorce and the struggles she went through and still battles with on a day to day basis. It was a very honest candid conversation and she said something that really struck me, she said, "People come to other countries and are enjoying themselves so much that they can't imagine why people in that country would ever be sad. But the truth of the matter is no matter what color, race, creed, or religion you are every person wants the same thing. Every person wants love, friends, acceptance, and to find happiness. We all want those things but they are not easy to find." It really opened my eyes about this whole experience. We are all still in the "honeymoon phase" of  this experience where everything is perfect and we don't have a care in the world. But it's important to realize that people all around the world deal with the same things we do. Heartbreak, sadness, relationships ending and of course the opposite end of the spectrum in finding new love, making new friends, and finding the joy in every day. It's funny when you don't even realize you have preconceived notions about a group of people until you spend a great deal of time with them, for some reason we have this delusion that everything in Europe is perfect when in reality it's a lot more like the states than we realize.

It's just a great feeling when you walk away from an experience and go, wow that was the first time that has ever happened in my life. Without a doubt that particular situation had never occurred before and now it is a new experience to build on.

Here's a list of a few more of my firsts since I arrived here, I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch but here's what I can think of at the moment.

My first time...

- In Europe
- Climbing a mountain (In the Alpujarras)
- Living in a country with a language different than my own
- Living with a host family
- Staying out at a club until 7am
- Eating tapas
- Having a drink at an outdoor bistro
- Meeting people from Spain, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, England in Europe
- Going to a Chupiterria
- Eating a kebab
- Realizing how weak the dollar is compared to the Euro
- Saying something stupid in Spanish to a Spanish person and getting the "Oh my God, what an American." look
- Experiencing the Spanish schedule and way of life
- Joining a gym in a foreign country
- Trying both Burger King and McDonald's abroad
- Saying "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" then saying that again the next day and having it be true
- Trying hookah
- Experiencing a broma (Spanish word for a lighthearted joke)
- Writing a blog
- Skyping someone from Spain
- Experiencing all the things that I have heard about for years about traveling

I think in life it gets very easy to become complacent. To just accept what you have, where you're at, and to be not necessarily afraid of change but to try to avoid it whenever possible. I think in life finding working to keep finding firsts is one of the most important things you can do. By trying something new or doing something that puts you completely out of your comfort zone you learn so much about yourself as well as the world around you. How can you know what you will love in life unless you try everything?

People often get so caught up in things and they avoid these firsts. "I don't have enough money" or "I don't have time" well I've always been a firm proponent of having more experiences than having more money and I've found when you want to find time for something, there is almost always a way to do so. I am going to keep working to have those firsts keep coming on a day to day basis and to make sure that I keep putting myself out there in ways I never have before.

I'm going to close out this entry with a quote from one of my favorite shows, How I Met Your Mother, that I think fits in very nicely with this whole entry.

"The great moments in life won't necessarily be the things you do, they'll also be the things that happen to you. Now I'm not saying you can't take action to affect the outcome of your life, you have to take action, and you will, but never forget that on any day you could step out the front door, and your whole life could change forever." - How I Met Your Mother