The teachers I am in Salamanca with are very different from me. Granted, I have my small Salamanca "family" of a few close friends who I eat, study and sit with in class, and last night was an awakening as to why I hang out with the people I do. Last night made me realize that bigger differences exist between not only me and the many native speakers (there are only five non-native Spanish speakers in my class), but also between me and the "married" people on the program. Why does the work require quotation marks? Because apparently this program, rather than being an amazing educational experience, serves as a mere escape from reality for many people. There are quite a few married people on the program who do not wear their wedding ring and quite obviously try to hide the fact that they have a spouse and, in some cases, a famiy. Last night a birthday celebration turned into midnight in the plaza with a few classmates. I will spare the many details of a conversation I had with one of the girls, but share a very important event that resulted from the evening. I called it a night around 12:30, but everyone else went out. Well, the girl I'd been talking to all night, sharing stories about marriage and her and her husband's decision to start trying to have a baby when she returns from Salamanca,apparently had a visitor last night. My friends and I saw them leave our dorm together this morning. She made eye contact with one of my friends as she left the building, but she looked down and ignored my friend. I cannot stop thinking about this. It makes me sick that this is what people are doing on this program. I felt like I was the only person last night, other than one other man at the table, who had these wonderful, happy stories about my relationship and wedding. I'm keeping my distance now from certain people and using my remaining weeks to concentrate only on my classes, my yoga and running and the things that I want to do here (photos I want to take, etc.). It is strange to feel left out because you are doing the right thing!
3 comments:
woah, that's seriously nuts christine! really sad, actually. but i think the good in it is that you feel more focused. and that you know how amazing it is to have a loving husband and healthy relationship, because it sounds like that's not as common as we might all might like to believe it is.
holy cow. i guess folks enjoy making that vegas slogan globally applicable, huh? understandable to feel that way, somewhat less understandable to take action on the urge. especially if you're looking to start a family upon return. v.sad. enjoy your remaining weeks out there and i hope you meet some other folks to hang with!!
p.s. LOVE that you're blogging.
oh my gosh, that is incredibly sad. it is def. things like this that make us who we are and who we associate with or want to be around. ¡tenga un buen viaje!
i agree with leslie...i love reading your blog! more, more...
Post a Comment