At first living with a family, or for some of us only mamas, was a weird change. Instead of living on our own like normal we all of a sudden lived in someone else’s house with someone else’s rules. We get our food made for us, our laundry washed, and the house cleaned! It’s nice to not have to worry about any of that, but like I said, quite a change.
Well, after living here for four months now, it’s safe to say that those changes were actually simple. In fact, the truth is that our host families have become our refuge, a tool to help all the changes seem less scary. Our families are the normalness in our every-day, crazy lives! This really became evident to me upon returning from spring break vacations. After 12 days out of the country I was ready to go home. I was sitting on the plane feeling like I was going home to the U.S. Upon arriving in Denia I was not very excited because I still felt like I was not at home. All those feelings disappeared immediately when I walked in the apartment and saw my mama waiting for me. She was so happy to see me, she gave me a lot of besitos, family style! I immediately had forgotten those feelings of foreignness and quickly remembered that I do have a home here.
Not only do I have a home, I have a whole extended network of people who care for me and my well-being (outside the Calvin group of course). I have my immediate family that I have developed an intense relationship with, but I also have all my brothers and their families, all my aunts and uncles, etc.
In the home with the host family is by far one of the best ways to practice our Spanish. As a group we have found it a constant struggle to try to balance school work and family time. It’s a tough battle since I can’t even decide which one I learn more from, school or my family. I have also come to find that every time I decide to travel outside of Denia, that’s another time that I could be spending with my family.
While the struggle sounds like a bad thing, it really does not inhibit the ability to build relationships with our families. They are fully aware that we are here for less than 5 months. They understand our goals, our lifestyle, our struggles, etc. and they are all very giving and here for us. We love it when our mamas pack us lunch to take on a trip and she slips in a bar of chocolate!
While we have all developed routines for spending time with our families (i.e. eating meals together) we have also found ways to spend extra time together, trying to bond as much as possible in the little time we have here. Some of us have certain shows that we watch together, others play weekly games of dominoes, others go on walks, others are in the same church groups, others cook together, and so on and so forth.
No one person can really compare their family, or home experience to that of another person. But it is certain that we can all say that the experiences are valuable, and the uniqueness of each one is what makes them attractive. Just like back home in the U.S. we all treasure the uniqueness of our own situation. Just like with our real parents, our host parents beliefs and customs can be seen in what we do and how we act here in Spain. If our mamas eat only yogurt for dinner, that’s what you’re supposed to eat for dinner. If our mamas take siestas, then we think that’s the right thing to do. It’s funny, sometimes when I am trying to make conclusions about Spain’s culture I have to take a step back and remind myself that that’s probably not all of Spain, but just my mama.
In conclusion, living with a host family is a true blessing. Not only do we have the comfort and companionship of our own home with people who care about us, we also have a constant person to practice our Spanish with, and the opportunity to see/live in Spain like a Spaniard would.
Jessica picking oranges with her mama
Brittany celebrating her uncles birthday with he mama and sister
Me playing with my niece, like always.
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