Hello, family and friends. Spain has been a crazy adventure thus far. I've seen a bunch of breathtaking sites, but that's not the focus of the article. To be honest, usually the "mundane" things are more interesting to me. Here's an account of the ordinary endeavors that have proven to be the most valuable learning experiences.

1. Getting a haircut.

This was stressful, guys! I got substantial inches lopped off and got bangs. I also had an hour of small talk to make on my first day in a new country in a language that was not my own. The hairdresser was super sweet and loved the result. She even taught me some slang.

2. Grocery Shopping

The cleaning supplies were the hardest. All the packaging was generic and had to read carefully so I didn't grab window cleaner for dusting.

3. Filing a police report

While I felt horrible for the friend I was translating for, this was a good learning experience. I had to use Spanish in a situation that mattered. Also, I got scared into hyper-vigilance hearing other people's pick-pocketing stories. The highlight was realizing the wait takes hours and leaving for the Women's March and coffee.

4. Seeing a movie

My cinema and culture professor knows the director of a movie that's playing in Madrid right now. I've never watched a Spanish movie without (Spanish!) subtitles, but I actually knew what was going on. Met the director.

5. Taking notes in class

It'll take me a hot second to mentally translate fast enough to take decent notes.

6. Writing essays

I love writing. It comes naturally to me. Having to take papers sentence by sentence to make sure my structure is correct and my tenses, gender and amounts are aligned is a whole new process. I'm not trying to sound eloquent - I'm trying not to speak like a second grader. My grammar will definitely improve here.

7. Sitting with strangers at lunch

At my home university, this would be fine. This would be fun. It was a whole new beast entering a conversation where you know maybe three slang words. I've met so many amazing people, though, and have learned so much from them.

8. Asking for directions

I'm in a whole new city with amazing public transport - I'm exploring it! Too bad I don't understand the layout and need to fumble through asking for directions. But, again, it's all helping Spanish become a more natural process and I'm going to embrace every chance I get.