You can’t know the things that you don’t know until presented with the opportunity to learn. I often found that major cultural differences—siestas, late-night dinners, and a relaxed sense of time—were not too difficult to get accustomed to as they were daily occurrences established early on. Throughout my experience in Spain, the main sources of confusion and culture shock came from smaller details and habits that we did not know existed until presented in the moment.
I often learned a lot about Spanish culture and practices during dinners with my host. I was lucky enough to have such a wonderful host, and dinner with her was our opportunity to catch up at the end of the day and learn about each other’s lives. Most nights, I found myself pausing to see how my host would serve and eat her own plate of food because my own instincts were not always the typical style of eating in Spain.
The most common example I experienced of this was when we would eat fruit after the main course of dinner. We would often eat oranges and melon, and while they tasted amazing, my host and I had very different approaches to eating them. My host would always hold the piece of fruit in her hand, and use a knife to peel the skin off the orange or cut the melon off the rind. She would hand me a knife, expecting me to do the same, but I was simply not used to eating in this manner. I attempted following her lead, but the motions were awkward. Seeing as I would lose a finger if I continued, I confessed to my host that it would be much easier for me to peel and eat the fruit with my hands instead. She thought it was odd, but remarked how she had hosted American students in the past who behaved the same way. The interaction was insignificant, but a perfect example of how my host and I navigated run-ins with small cultural differences.
I might have gone into this program seeing Spain as a far-away place with customs unknown to me, but it’s important to remember that my host was not familiar with my home country either. She saw America as different from what she had always known. As the month went on, we formed a good routine together, despite the language barrier. We may not have always understood each other’s Spanish, but that didn’t stop us from approaching each interaction with compassion. I had an amazing experience staying with her and would recommend it to anyone, but it requires going into situations with a good, open mindset. There is not necessarily a right or wrong way of doing things, whether we were eating fruit or sharing other, larger cultural differences. We were both open to hearing the other’s perspective, and that undoubtedly allowed us to form a strong bond based on respect for one another.
