So if there is anything I have learned after being here in Spain for three and a half months now, it is the true meaning of patience. Also, I have completely changed my whole concept of expectations, especially when dealing with other Spaniards.
I mean, my very first taste of Spanish work ethic was when I ordered Internet, and it took three whole weeks after I ordered and paid for Internet service and installation until I was finally able to use the Internet I paid for in my own apartment. I realized then and there that I wasn't in Kansas (well, Texas) anymore.
The whole Internet situation made me so angry. That experience taught me how to express my frustration in Spanish. A good learning experience for sure. It also taught me that the laid-back Spanish lifestyle-- complete with the siestas and and late-night partying that I used to glorify and daydream about returning to---is really not all that I made it out to be. Now that I am living as a Spaniard I am actually experiencing the inconveniences of everything stopping from the hours of 2pm to 5pm so that everyone can go home to eat and nap. What if I still had errands to run or medicine to pick up from the pharmacy? I seriously have to wait until after 5pm?
Fortunately, I am a human being, and as humans we learn how to adapt to things quickly, so I am no longer angry every time I expect to run a quick errand, and two hours later I come home empty-handed. In fact, I have learned to laugh at the situation. The other day, my friend Hanna and I were talking about her trip home to the US over Christmas break and she was telling me that she went to the bank to exchange some Euros into USD but the bank had no money for her. She had to hit up a few banks until there was one that could give her dollars, after permission was granted by the manager. So not being able to get money at the bank, which many would assume (you know what happens when you ass-u-me) is the function of a bank, does not surprise me. Not at all.
I mean, the other day I went to the post office to buy some stamps to mail off some post cards. When it was finally my turn, I asked for four stamps for mail going to the United States. The woman began looking around and couldn't find any stamps. Soon the whole staff was searching high and low for even one stamp, and believe it or not I walked out of the post office empty-handed because they were out of stamps. I wasn't surprised or angry. Just amused.
I walked next door to a tobacco shop and they pulled out a sheet of twenty stamps and saved the day. However, they were out of tobacco.
Just kidding about the tobacco part. But I bet I had you going for a second there :D
XOXOXO
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