Spanish, my favorite sport.

It is almost officially the middle of October and so I've almost officially been here, in Madrid for an entire month. I'm laying in bed and about to go to sleep but just wanted to quickly post something that I was just thinking about.

I remember my Dad once telling me at a Wethersfield High basketball game that when an athlete begins to master his game he has the ability to slow the game down. He can make thoughtful decisions in high stress situations without breaking a sweat and has the ability to glide gracefully through the chaos, adjusting to each change before it even happens.  I love this idea of time being the variable in mastering a sport and as continue on my journey to perfect my Spanish I can identify with this exact sentiment.

I have to first admit that this path is not a constant one and that one day I'll feel like a native speaker and the next I'll feel like I've never taken a Spanish class in my life. I've suffered from whiplash from these sorts of scenarios but what makes it worth it is this feeling of slowing down the game. And by game of course, I mean Spanish. Poco a poco (little by little) I feel the chaos of the Spanish language slowing down around me. The crowd at the tapas bar on the corner has begun to talk more slowly and what once was white noise on the metro now sounds like a conversation between two friends. When people ask me a question I feel less flustered when finding an answer because my thoughts flow more seamlessly than before. I'm more aware of my surroundings, I'm more present in my every day life and I can feel myself growing as a player in this crazy game. It feels like all of Spain has kindly adjusted themselves to speak more slowly than when I first arrived but as I think about the wisdom my father once shared with me I realize that time is just the metaphor and that it isn't actually time that is changing but it is me. Like I said, I'd be lying if I said I genuinely felt like this every day but when I do feel the game slowing down it's like magic. That's all for now. Goodnight!