Week 1 by Shannon Dempsey

            Whenever I heard the word culture shock, I never thought I would ever experience something to that extreme. Pulling up to the drop off area was exciting yet scary at the same time. After the first night here in Caceres I was so nervous for what else was about to come. The major struggle I faced was the language barrier and not being able to understand. The first night I was here was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, due to the fact I have never been away from my family like this. After slowly getting used to the cultural differences and the time change, I have adapted very well. The main cultural difference that I have adapted to well would be the eating schedule. I have found myself enjoying the schedule a lot more than I thought I would. One thing that I had to get used to was the siesta time. At home, I never nap and here everything shuts down. Never in a million years did I think I would enjoy that time frame, and now I do. Also after being here for only a week I have adapted to the language much better than I thought. One of my goals here was to become somewhat fluent and after only a week I understand and can comprehend so much more than before. One thing I realized is being away from the United States is a lot harder than you think. You would never guess the cultural differences from there to Spain. Something so simple as a smile or an excuse me is so different. It takes sometime getting used to but after that, it’s easy. This past week has been filled with so many emotions that it has made me grow so much. I have enjoyed the time and differences here so far and want to continue to grow.