The amazing and challenging experiance of living abroad (Nathan)
1:02 PM
Courtnee wrote our first blog post a few weeks back with her perception of the experience thus far. I would suggest you all read it. After I read it she mentioned that she was interested in hearing my perspective. So, here it is.
My thoughts before moving abroad...
A month in I was suffering from a bi-polar (manic/panic) issue thing.
The manic part had to do with how excited I was to actually be living in Europe and in such an amazing and beautiful place like Granada. I had made plans every year on my birthday to save my money and go on some amazing adventure and now I was actually doing it. Every time I walked out of our apartment and down the cobblestone streets to the bakery or when I would look up and see a medieval castle sitting on a hillside I would get butterflies of excitement as I realized once again that this was my life for the next few years.
The panic part came from the two most important and central parts of my new life, school and Courtnee. I am here doing a masters degree in public health. The program is called Europubhealth and it is made up of public health schools all around Europe. You can take the first year in English (in England) or in Spanish (in Spain). I naturally chose Spain and Spanish since I did not really speak Spanish. I spoke Portuguese from my mission and could get by if I needed in Spanish, but a masters degree is a slightly different story and Spanish in southern Spain is a completely different story. Back in October I was really wondering if I had gotten myself in over my head as I was assigned heavy theoretical reading, presentations, and writing assignments all in Spanish. And with Courtnee, I could see she was struggling to get used to our new life. She really missed our families, friends, cars, and the food from home. It didn't help that we lived at the top of a big hill, don't have a lot money, and that she didn't understand anyone or anything. I tried hard to teach her Spanish(as I was learning too) and keep the vacation feel that we had the first month here. We filled our spare time climbing with my classmates and exploring, but as I got busier with school it became harder and I didn't know if I was going to be able to keep her happy here.
My thoughts before moving abroad...
The truth is I have been anxious for years really. My father probably is to blame for my desire to see the world and understand it. He filled our house growing up with books and historical artifacts from around the world. Also, together with him and a group of seminary teachers I had my first experience outside of the country in Mexico. It was amazing and overwhelming. Several years later I served as a missionary in Brazil. The poor slums that I had noticed from the comfort of our car during my time in Mexico, I had the opportunity to explore and get lost in as a missionary in Brazil. I was introduced to a whole new understanding of the world and the lives of other people in it. Even though the experience was life changing I was very happy to return home after 2 years. I learned that I had taken a lot for granted and realized I had so much exploring to do within my own country. Though I have spend the last 8 years since my mission seeing and experiencing places nearer to me, the desire to see more and to challenge myself again with a new culture and language has been steadily growing. I have longed for the struggle and personal growth that constituted my two years in Brazil.
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| The old man and I as I was leaving for Brazil |
My thoughts one month in (October)...
A month in I was suffering from a bi-polar (manic/panic) issue thing.
The manic part had to do with how excited I was to actually be living in Europe and in such an amazing and beautiful place like Granada. I had made plans every year on my birthday to save my money and go on some amazing adventure and now I was actually doing it. Every time I walked out of our apartment and down the cobblestone streets to the bakery or when I would look up and see a medieval castle sitting on a hillside I would get butterflies of excitement as I realized once again that this was my life for the next few years.
The panic part came from the two most important and central parts of my new life, school and Courtnee. I am here doing a masters degree in public health. The program is called Europubhealth and it is made up of public health schools all around Europe. You can take the first year in English (in England) or in Spanish (in Spain). I naturally chose Spain and Spanish since I did not really speak Spanish. I spoke Portuguese from my mission and could get by if I needed in Spanish, but a masters degree is a slightly different story and Spanish in southern Spain is a completely different story. Back in October I was really wondering if I had gotten myself in over my head as I was assigned heavy theoretical reading, presentations, and writing assignments all in Spanish. And with Courtnee, I could see she was struggling to get used to our new life. She really missed our families, friends, cars, and the food from home. It didn't help that we lived at the top of a big hill, don't have a lot money, and that she didn't understand anyone or anything. I tried hard to teach her Spanish(as I was learning too) and keep the vacation feel that we had the first month here. We filled our spare time climbing with my classmates and exploring, but as I got busier with school it became harder and I didn't know if I was going to be able to keep her happy here.
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| The walk to the bakery (Granada) |
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| Plaza Nueva (Granada) |
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| Exploring on a gray day (Granada) |
My thoughts now (February)...
Things are pretty great. I am just in love as ever with my life here abroad. I maybe do not get the butterflies of excitement as often, but they still pop up every once in a while as I realize once again that this is not a dream. We just got back from exploring Tenerife. The biggest of the Canary Island off the coast of Africa (The Canary Islands are basically the Hawaii of Europe and part of Spain). We figured we are closer now then we will ever be in the future, so when we found cheap flights ($80 round trip) last week we made a long weekend and took full advantage.
School is going well. I just had a meeting with the director of the program and my grades are surprisingly high. I just scored better than many of the Spanish medical residents in my class on our Epidemiology/Statistics module. I still have a long ways to go with my Spanish but I was able to give a 20 minute presentation on the Zika virus 2 week ago to the public health school without any real difficulty. I am loving the program and learning a lot.
Courtnee is also doing a lot better, as you can see from her post below. I am annoying and bug her to keep practicing Spanish and go out and explore more and make the experience what she wants it to be, and she fights through all the difficulties. I sure do love her for being so happy to come with me and being so good to me. I don't know how she stays as happy and positive as she does all time. She is working on her masters degree as well and is usually stuck studying in our little apartment for most of the week. When we go out to dinner with my friends and classmates or when we go to church she has to strain herself to try and understand what topic we are discussing, but she is always happy to come with me wherever and she smiles the whole time even when she is tired and can't listen to another word of Spanish. She has become a master in the kitchen and is always cooking up new things, even though she doesn't really love cooking. Marrying her was the best decision I made in my life and it is fun planning out the future together with her as we walk the old streets here and wait for our buses.
School is going well. I just had a meeting with the director of the program and my grades are surprisingly high. I just scored better than many of the Spanish medical residents in my class on our Epidemiology/Statistics module. I still have a long ways to go with my Spanish but I was able to give a 20 minute presentation on the Zika virus 2 week ago to the public health school without any real difficulty. I am loving the program and learning a lot.
Courtnee is also doing a lot better, as you can see from her post below. I am annoying and bug her to keep practicing Spanish and go out and explore more and make the experience what she wants it to be, and she fights through all the difficulties. I sure do love her for being so happy to come with me and being so good to me. I don't know how she stays as happy and positive as she does all time. She is working on her masters degree as well and is usually stuck studying in our little apartment for most of the week. When we go out to dinner with my friends and classmates or when we go to church she has to strain herself to try and understand what topic we are discussing, but she is always happy to come with me wherever and she smiles the whole time even when she is tired and can't listen to another word of Spanish. She has become a master in the kitchen and is always cooking up new things, even though she doesn't really love cooking. Marrying her was the best decision I made in my life and it is fun planning out the future together with her as we walk the old streets here and wait for our buses.
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| All smiles (Tenerife) |
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| Tenerife |
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| Seville |
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