The Acceptance of Change

When I skyped with my parents this past weekend, they informed me of some terrible news from the homeland. My beloved dog of 13 years, Cedar, had died. I was in complete shock. This dog, from the day she was born, was the craziest, cutest, sweetest, softest, most energetic and loving dog (trust me I could go on…), that I had ever laid eyes on. Needless to say, I was devastated. After hearing this news, I felt a great amount of homesickness and sadness. However, after talking with friends and family both here and at home, I realized that I will overcome this loss. While I will never forget my hyper golden retriever, I must move on. Because of this loss, I also learned that one of the greatest challenges of going abroad is realizing that life at home does not freeze, but keeps moving and changing, whether for the better or worse, and we have to learn to accept and adapt to these changes.

On a happier note, I start more activities this week! I had my interview at the community service office and I am going to teach Spanish lessons (at a basic level) to Spanish immigrants from Africa, the majority of whom do not speak Spanish nor English, but French. The first few classes will be hard as my French vocabulary solely consists of ¨bonjour¨ but hopefully I will find a way to teach Spanish effectively without using French…or English! I am considering using this volunteer program for my ICIP (Independent Cultural Immersion Project). For those not familiar with ICIP, let me fill you in! HC requires that every abroad student completes an independent project in which the student immerses into their host community in an activity in which they are passionate. Some of the other students this year in A Coruña are considering taking cooking lessons, volunteering in the schools, learning the guitar, learning a Gallegan dance, and playing on a local soccer team for their ICIPs, so as you can tell, the selection is quite diverse! In addition to volunteering, I am also joining a soccer team. I have loved soccer my whole life, but have not played since high school, so I am very excited to get back on the field! Unfortunately (…I mean fortunately, mom and dad…) these next few weeks also are filled with readings, papers, presentations and exams. So in addition to starting many activities, I have quite a lot of studying to do!

Dato Divertido: Today was one of the first  heavy rain storms in Coruña (which is quite impressive as I thought it rained every other day here) and EVERYONE had a big umbrella with a large sturdy handle, protecting themselves from the fierce winds and water. My careless self walked out of the apartment this morning, only to realize that my mini, collapsible and flimsy umbrella was no match to the intense Coruña weather and I instantly got soaked…I guess I have to go shopping!

¡Hasta luego!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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