You would think that while being in Spain, my biggest problem with communication would be trying to talk to others in a completely different language. However, it's the English communication that's the hardest. I'm 7 hours away from all of my friends and family and that makes chatting at a decent time nearly impossible. If something amazing happens to my friend, Jenny, back home, I get to hear about it 8 hours later when I wake up and she just fell asleep. At IWU, if I need to call my mom, no problem-just dial the phone and she'll pick up. In Spain, I have to think and rethink about whether or not she's at work or cooking dinner or sleeping. The time difference kills FaceTime calls with friends too. I have planned, replanned, and replanned FaceTime dates with friends 10 or 15 times already because things are constantly coming up on my schedule, and with a 7 hour time difference, there isn't much wiggle room for a different time (Sorry Elise!!!).
On top of the time difference, there's the issue with my phone. If you've ever traveled to another country, you know it's a necessity to have an international plan to be able to communicate freely with loved ones back in the States. Welp, international plans for 4 months are crazy expensive!! I got a Spanish SIM card thinking that I was being tech savvy. I was under the impression that calls and texts would send just as they normally would. Nope! So now, I'm stuck with only wifi to send texts back home (iMessages only if I don't want to be charged a gazillion dollars plus tax). My poor Android friends can only communicate using Instagram or Facebook messenger which is not the most efficient way to have a conversation. I think the worst is with my grandma. I'm used to calling my grandma about once a week at home, but here that's impossible as she doesn't have a smartphone. Therefore, I'm left to snail mail. The name is pretty accurate- my postcards take over three weeks to get to her house, and I am still waiting on a letter she sent a few weeks back. Better than nothing I guess! (If mom shows you this article, Grandma, just know I'm thinking of you!)
PS. I'm having a wonderful time in Spain, thank you for those who try to reach out (and probably fail because apparently 21st century technology doesn't have the ability to send a simple message but can send a man into space), I appreciate all of you back home and cannot wait to see all of your wonderful faces when I come back in April! Until then, keep trying with those messages and make some really neat memories that you can tell me all about in person this summer!
