Accents

I have always considered myself to be fairly good with accents. I like to, okay love to, mimic accents - my favorite one to mimic is the British accent - and I have a tendency to eavesdrop of people when they have interesting ones. While I was in Europe I had no real problems understanding people speaking English to me with accents...except for this one time when we were in France at a Christmas Market and a lady selling soap spoke to me. I responded with an "I'm sorry I don't speak French" only to get laughed at by my mom when she told me that the soap lady had been speaking to me in English...whoops! I think a part of it is that when you expect someone to talk to you in one language, but they actually speak to you in another, your brain takes a little bit to adjust to reality from what you had anticipated.

Here in the United States I have had a much harder time understanding people! Some of these Southern, country accents are just messing me up. I'm okay if I am looking at the person; then I can do a bit of lip reading if I need to. But there have been two instances when I have been listening to two people have a conversation and I completely believe that they are speaking a different language. The first time was a few weeks after college started and I was in the elevator with two of our building's maintenance men. They came in and started a conversation, and my brain automatically told me that they were speaking German. There was an instance between me hearing people speak and not understanding them, and me realizing that German was not a language commonly spoken here, that I completely believed that those two men were speaking German. That was instance number one. Number two was about a month ago, as I was walking to class behind an adorable couple who were talking, no, it was more like cooing at each other. They were just so precious, and I was walking close enough to hear their conversation. But I wasn't able to understand their conversation. I spent a minute trying to figure out what language they were speaking, and my brain and I finally decided on French. Then just as I was about to pick up my pace to pass the cute couple so I wouldn't be late for class, I heard it. Not that French accent. The heavy Southern accent. The accent that once again threw me for a loop, because my brain still thinks that when I don't understand someone talking, they are speaking a foreign language. But this "foreign language" isn't suppose to be foreign, even though it is clearly still giving me some trouble!

Spring Break

So three years ago spring break was cruising around the Mediterranean visiting the islands of Greece and Croatia. Two years ago it was spending a week traveling in between Florence and Venice, and last year it was going on a cruise to Morocco, the Grand Canaries, Madeira, and Spain. Guess where I am this year? Panama City. The biggest spring break spot in the Southeast; where tons of college kids come to go to the largest club in the U.S., hit the beach to work on their tans and show off their bodies, and all in all not be sober most of the week. This is clearly why I am here. (Note the sarcasm.) In reality this is where my family is now, so I came home for spring break with some friends because we now live by the beach.

I just have to comment on the spring break I am seeing here in America versus what spring break was like while I was in Europe. Here everyone is pretty much either going home/visiting friends, working, doing a missions trip, or going somewhere warmer to drink and party. I understand the going home/seeing friends. I mean we're in college and would love to see people we love! (As well as get some good meals in before we have to head back to the monotonous dining hall food.) Working is for the people who are saving up for something, or just those who are diligent. Mission trips sound like so much fun (I'm dying to go on one!), even the countless hours in a fifteen passenger mini bus don't sound so bad. And then we have the people don't actually remember having a great spring break, but their insane pictures tell them that they did. All of this is definitely not like spring break in Europe. Spring break in Europe meant my friends and I were talking about which cities we were going to go visit, which masterpieces where in the museums we planned to go into, and what countries the cruise/retreat/family was going to hit within our week off.

We rode these babies up the side of the cliff! Greece

Florence, it was simply amazing.

Cinque Terre, Italy (Where I had the best cannoli of my life)

Venice, where the scenery was gorgeous everywhere you turned.

The 3rd largest mosque in the world, Morocco.

In the Kasbah, Morocco.

So instead of seeing the donkey's in Santorini, or the statue of David in Florence, or the Kasbah in Morocco, I'm here in Panama City enjoying my family, friends, the fabulous meals my mom cooks, and the beach (while trying to avoid the drunk people), and I cannot help but laugh at the contrast of spring break here stateside.