Disappointment Strengthens us...

When Tedd always said to me...Don't expect anything and you won't be disappointed, I never thought I shouldn't "expect" to not practice Spanish in Spain. Let me try to explain...

Living on the coast this week, has been a blast but I am ready to move into my host house and live the "good life." Today was a day that all I could do is laugh...and it went a little like this. I was going for a run on the beach but before I left I stopped to say hello to a few friends soaking up the sun on the Mediterranean. As we stood there, I saw what looked like a small city in the distance on the the coastal line in the water...Was it an island or Barcelona...I wasn't sure, so I built up the courage and went on a questioning adventure.

The first woman I walked up to (only because it was the only woman with a top on on the beach besides us) responded to my question with: I only speak Russian (in Russian). What the Heck! I fly all the way to Spain...use my spanish and get a russian?????

Try number 2: Walked to a man sitting watching the crystal clear waves crash on the sand to get: No Tengo una idea....ok, that was progress but nothing more than 4 words.....Great!

As my group of friends could not hold from laughing I continued my journey onto the 3rd....which was supposed to be the charm. After my tongue rolled out a beautifully constructed question about what city was in the distance.....I was answered with English in a British accent. Great! So now I realize my Spanish sucks enough that this guy I knew English, and yet again....my skills were pointless. 

Very frustrated and confused why I was in Spain, I moved on and headed to the boardwalk for my run. As you know, I hate to give up, so I went on to ask the 4th person....my last try...I thought.....and as with the past 3 try's I happened to ask an older couple that only knew Catalan and absolutely no Spanish...this time I was screwed. 

I moved on, venting through my run, but wondering what I did wrong. As I ran for about a 5 minutes, my eye spotted a woman that I thought knew her stuff, so I stopped, asked and BAM! Hit in the head again with an English answer of....sry, I am not sure, I am not from here.

That was it. I was done trying, and I guess I should have never EXPECTED to use my Spanish in Spain! At least I thought I was done until I saw a life guard and knew that this was the perfect person to ask what city was in the distance.

Me: ¿Cuál es esa ciudad en la distancia?

Him....Senor, que es un barco. (It is a ship)

With embarrassment, I continued my run laughing and realizing I was here to make mistakes and learn from them!

That is Spain. Life is good!