I would be lost here Tom

Hola todos.

So my dad visited me a while back. Unlucky Trevor had to visit me when it was raining here (4th time its rained here, Im counting!) and also the coldest I have ever seen it (lowest I saw was 8'C). It has since gone back up to the more comfortable high teens. Despite all this he seemed to enjoy it because he has never been to spain. well he has been to spain probably more than 30 times but never SPAIN.

I'm not going to call the touristy areas of spain (benidorm, costa del sol etc) spain because you can easily go there and speak english all year round. When my dad arrived in spain he said that he would be lost here. Sometimes you need someone else's perspective to see things. He showed me that no one in the area I live (I don't live in the touristy area) speaks english. My dad would frequently say "cold isn't it" or "he (me) speaks good spanish doesnt he?" and just get blank expresions from the spanish. However they did try, with some managing "thank you" and "three" haha. I took my dad for some tapas and got him to try tinto (de verano) for the first time.

It made me feel good that dad said he was proud of me when he heard me speak spanish. Whilst I'm sure he's proud of all us kids I'm guessing for him its easier to be impressed with physical things. I mean getting a PHD or degree may be difficult to comprehend the effort but hearing someone speaking a different language or getting a well paid job is clear.

I end the blog saying that I'm proud of myself living here and using and understanding spanish. Whilst learning a language as an (young) adult was not easy it is definitely one of the best decisions I ever made because I love speaking spanish. This blog may seem a bit big headed but we all need to say things we are proud of now and then and maybe it takes the need of others to point your successes for you to realise them.

Despite all this I'm struggling to get the effort to learn the languages of the countries that I will visit next and in my arrogance wish I could just speak spanish or english to them instead :p.

Next blogs include my trip to my spanish friends village (best day in spain so far), my trips to Barcelona, valencia, sierra nevada, possibly others and xmas in spain! Sorry that I hve made so few but it really takes a lot of effort. Very proud of my friend Nicole who has wrote a blog every day for a year, see nicolespearlsofwisdom.blogspot.com .