Refreshed

View from our balcony - our new favorite study spot!

Finally, a breath of fresh air — literally and figuratively. I didn't realize how homesick I'd become until yesterday, when a sudden outbreak of tears struck and I realized how much I wasn't dealing with. Stemming not from culture shock, but rather a sort of déjà vu of freshman year in college, when all hell seems to break loose and all sense of identity shatters. I know, I know how dramatic that sounds — and it was — but after taking a few steps back, I was able to wake up this morning feeling all poetic-squirmishness/aching-for-home begin to subside... who would have thought a Monday morning could feel so post-therapeutic?

Thank God for Genevieve.

I am finally settling into a routine here (I forget that it's already been two-and-a-half weeks!), and today was the first day I've been here and haven't spent a single euro (pronounced here "eh-woo-row"), which is usually very difficult for me (I'm so easily romanced by hand-braided bracelets, petite sandwiches, and other unnecessary things sold by street vendors), but I'm finding that I like the challenge of saving money more than I actually like spending it. Well, for now at least.

I finished my homework before 6pm (gasp!), probably because I felt so energized after my 3 hour siesta (YES!). Of all cultural differences, one I appreciate the most is the Spaniards' sense of time. I can't emphasize enough how fantastic it is. One of my instructors, when marveling at the thought of us bringing coffee and lunch to class and eating it while participating said,
"I don't know how you can do it! Take notes and eat at the same time? I would go crazy!... [here] We like to give each moment its own time. There's a time for lunch, there's a time for work."

So when the hottest hours of the day creep upon us (about noon to three in the afternoon), we retire to the nearest park, or beach, or home, to rest before the second half of the day. Here it feels like we have two days in twenty-four hours! It's absolutely marvelous. When I return for the winter quarter, I've already promised myself to cut out "busyness" and make time for people, and leisure, and exercise, and spontaneity. I've wondered what it is sometimes, that made me so energetic in high school, despite being busy all the time, and I think it's that for the most part, I was usually doing something I cared a lot about. I'd like to start doing that again (well, I tried last quarter and ended up doing too many things about which I cared a lot) — so maybe this go around, I'd like to try doing less in general, and make more time for coffee with friends, and walking, and sitting... and feeling refreshed.