01 March 2009

The heart of life is good

Palabra del dia: tranquilo/a --> quiet, peaceful, tranquil

The more time I spend here in Granada, Spain, the more I appreciate the way of life that the people here follow. Today we had lunch with most all of the family for Estelle's birthday. I love lunchtime. From 2-5pm everyday, the entire city shuts down, literally. Also, yesterday was the Day of Andulucia. It is a day to basically relax and take it easy and spend time with family. The entire city shut down then too. So that means that the whole weekend, minus the bars, the whole city was closed. Supermarkets, closed. Stores, closed. Post office, closed. Cell phone stores, closed. For some reason, I don't think this would fly in the United States. This way of life is how it is here. Things are just slower. I've grown to appreciate (actually, grown is not right. I've loved it from the start) the way in which the Spanish people take life easy. If they are walking somewhere and see a friend on the street, they stop and say hello and talk for a while, no matter where they're going or if they're running late. They would rather sit around with family for three hours everyday than work those extra hours. Maybe I'm naive to say so, but it seems that the people here are not as obsessed with things. Money, cars, iPods, the newest digital things, fashion, or even body image. They don't seem to focus on the trivial things in life. They LIVE life, not obsess about it.

The way of life here is so incredibly refreshing to me. It is teaching me even more about what I already knew: the most important things in life aren't things, they're people, relationships, and living life to the fullest.

Well that's really all I wanted to say. I was inspired by our incredible birthday feast at lunch today where we ate amazing food as usual, drank red wine, and laughed with the family that is becoming my own. It was wonderful, to say the least.

Hasta luego!

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