Push for Leaving
I live in Galicia in Spain. I currently work as a teacher in the North American Language and Cultural Ambassadors program through the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Education.
I originally became interested in traveling at my university because I started meeting people from so many places. I had friends from Pakistan, Japan, and Germany. Hearing them speak about their homelands made me more interested in going abroad. I made several attempts to participate in study abroad trips during the summer to India to learn Hindi, but each time my work schedule became an impediment to this pursuit.
During a meeting with my advisor, it was mentioned that I should apply for a travel scholarship that would grant me $9,000 to travel where I wanted to do any project. Unbeknownst to me, my advisor was one of the people on the travel scholarship selection committee, as was a Spanish department professor who knew me very well. I requested the project to travel for 3 months to Scotland and Argentina to research fossils and it was approved. While in Scotland I met many Spaniards who would talk to me about how they traveled often, even without knowing the language of their various destinations. Hearing that gave me the desire to travel even more than before. In Argentina, I met many people that talked about traveling as well. They showed me many different places around Patagonia and I began to fall in love more with the landscapes that I saw.
These experiences showed me how easy it was to leave the US and visit other places. Knowing how easy it was to leave the US caused me want to leave the US constantly I. always thought that traveling was something other people did. I thought it would be complicated to leave the country, but that turned out to be COMPLETELY UNTRUE. Once you’ve left once, it becomes easier to leave again.
I tried to settle into a factory job because it offered a salary that allowed me to live comfortably, but it was not enough for me to abandon my interest in frequent travel. I began to feel antsy, and out of place in my hometown and all I could do was think about leaving again. Thankfully I was offered a teaching position in Spain in 2013, and I have since been teaching English in Spain.
Problems While Abroad
Language
The language barrier for me fortunately has not been much of an issue because I have only ever traveled to countries where I speak the main language. I did have to make some quick adjustments between going from North Carolinian Spanish to Argentine Spanish and then to Spain Spanish. The first few weeks were problematic, but I soon became accustomed to the differences.
The scariest part about being abroad in a non-English-speaking country is when you get sick. No one ever seems to mention this in language books. Having explosive diarrhea and struggling to use the correct words is one of the worst experiences I have ever had. I have had a stomach virus three times in Spain and it never gets easier. There’s something about the combination of fever, dehydration, clammy skin, stomachaches, and southern clenching that really make you forget your words. As you can imagine. this can get even more problematic for more intimate appointments. It’s one thing when you’re in the US having to explain it in English, but it’s a VERY different thing when you have to explain to a doctor in another country in another language what you need them to look for down there.
Money and Finances
Finances have been difficult to manage but interestingly have not been as much of an issue as I thought it would be. I have only been stuck twice over all my travels where I didn’t have any money because of a bank issue or because of miscalculations on my part. In both cases family members have had to bail me out by sending me money. The cost of living varies from one country to another. For example, meat in Patagonia (in Argentina) is very expensive but meat in Galicia (in Spain) is very cheap. I believe the average salary in Spain is about $1,790/month. This seems like very low for most Americans because the average monthly wages in the US are around $4,600. This means that you can live more with the average monthly American wage and even with a lower wage you could still fare decently in Spain.
Fitting In and Dating
Sometimes it is uncomfortable to be the only Black person in a room full of Spaniards. I normally try not to think about it, but every once in a while I do wish there was another nonwhite person in the room. I can also notice that although the Spaniards I associate with may not think about my skin color, but they are always double-checking themselves before saying anything about a person who has darker skin. Sometimes I question them about their comments or what they mean when they say ignorant comments about darker skinned folks.
The people that I witness who are oppressed as Black people in the states, would have to be the Romany people (gypsies). Romany people are mistreated both by the government and by white Spaniards in general. A lot of times when Spaniards want to call out White Americans on their racism, I always try to make them see the parallel between himself or herself and a Romany person. Another thing is that w that frustrates me when I am normally out for a night on the town, is the ‘semi-drunk’ Spaniard who says the “n-word” because they think it is cool or that’s what Black people are supposed to be called English.
From my experience, white Americans in Spain have appear to desire friendships, while ignoring the racial differences that would normally exist at home. I like to remind them on occasion that just because we’re both foreigners in a new country that does not mean that I stop being Black and that I don’t get treated with racism.
I am currently in a relationship with a Spaniard and I haven’t had too many problems with family members. But that’s only been my experience, which may not be the case for many other Black Americans in a relationship with Spaniards.
Homesickness
I miss my home and family about every few months and around major holidays. I don’t miss them more often because I normally talk with them frequently enough that I can still stay in the know about the latest family gossip. It’s easy to tell twhen I am homesick because I subconsciously start eating my mother’s favorite foods like ice cream sandwiches or sweet potatoes. I tend to get most homesick when I am actually at home in the United States. It comes from seeing how much has changed, how much grayer older relatives have become, how much of a young man my brother has become, and how much older my mother has gotten. I start to realize I missed home (both in the sense of missing events and missing people). It’s an odd feeling to miss a person when you are with them because I do not want to waste my precious time with them thinking negatively.
Has It Been Worth It?
All in all, I’m happy I took the plunge and moved to Spain. Spain isn’t this luxury paradise that people paint in books and in the over-the-top white traveler’s blogs. It’s more of a real place with real folks just like the US. At the end of the day, Spaniards poop just like everyone else.
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