from such great heights: bubble world

Time in Sevilla has been flying and I've barely written anything about it. However, I've been finding it quite difficult to write anything, even in my journal. There's so much to ponder that I think I get overwhelmed by it all, leaving me unable to write anything. That being said, please bear with me as I try to share a bit of my life recently in Sevilla!

In my Bible study group we were challenged to think about the "bubble world"; we were discussing it in a religious sense (if you need/want more explanation, feel free to email me), but it's a metaphor that can also be used to describe my interactions with Americans.

Spanish completely surrounds and penetrates my day to day life that it's so easy to hide back in that comfortable sphere that is American people, American English, and American food. This weekend I had a wonderfully refreshing dip into the bubble world at a sleepover with the Bible study group. I absolutely loved spending about 20 hours straight doing completely American girl activities: eating (pizza, brownies, and popcorn), watching a movie (13 Going On 30), and getting to know some really interesting people.

This weekend was also the first time I began to feel homesick.

I wonder, was it the 20-hour marathon of American culture that made me miss my home and family, or is it a natural reaction after eight weeks of being away?

If it's the former, then it would seem best to keep my "bubble world" experiences to a minimum, not only because they make me miss home, but also because that time should be used to continue to immerse myself in Spanish culture.

Yet with only six, seven weeks left of classes and the CIEE program, how much more culture can I take advantage of? Now is when I've begun to think that a semester is far too short a time to immerse oneself in another culture.

And now for something completely different: a preview of photos from a long weekend in Portugal.