As I enter the final stages here in Madrid it is starting to set in that I will be leaving soon. As I write this post, I only have 12 more days in Spain. Everything around me here has become very comfortable and it feels like a new home in a sense. The weather has started to get very hot, which has not been very enjoyable, especially because only half my house has air conditioning. It is also not the half of the house where my bed is so some of the nights have actually been quite miserable. Last night it was about 82 when I went to bed and felt significantly hotter in my room. I ended up getting quite a poor night’s sleep and even using a pillow made my bed too hot. Outside of the weather though, there isn’t much else I can complain about. Everything here has been wonderful and all the people are very nice.

This week specifically was a pretty relaxed and calm week. Over the weekend I did not do very much. On Friday night, Spain beat Germany in the quarters of the Euros, so I stayed in and watched the game with my host family. It was enjoyable to be in the presence of people who really cared whether or not Spain won and it made it very fun. Hopefully they win again tomorrow against France. Being in Spain for the final while Spain plays in the final would be a wonderful experience. Then on Saturday I just relaxed and rested. Sunday was pretty similar but it was my host sister’s birthday so she had some friends over and there was a big dinner and cake, which was fun. This upcoming week will likely be much more active as I have a friend from home coming to visit. I will likely end up having a hectic but fun weekend with him. 

Shifting gears towards work and work culture however, I don’t think I have really encountered any problems as a result of communication differences. I have noticed some differences, but nothing that has led to any problems. One key difference is I don’t really have any clear deadlines for the work I am assigned. They will ask me to do something but don’t tell me when they need it. They also ask me to do things while I am actively working on other projects, so I then need to figure out which one is more important and when I think each is “due” by. So far though I have finished everything on time so there hasn’t been any problems. Along with that, when I first arrived sometimes I was a little confused on what exactly I was being asked to do, but as I’ve spent more time here each task I am given is clearer and clearer. I think I have learned and figured out how to effectively fill in the gaps in instructions in the time I’ve been here. It isn’t necessarily that I get less instructions then I would in the US, it’s just that the instructions are presented and told to me in a different manner. Figuring out this different way has been challenging but I think I have started to get the hang of it. Overall though there hasn’t been anything really that difficult with communication differences. There have been some very small things I’ve needed to change in projects, but nothing major and I’ve been able to understand and do everything I have been asked to do. 

I think in general the communication in Spain is much different than in the US, even outside of work. I have noticed a lot of the same phrases and sayings being used that are very general when literally translated, and to me don’t make very much sense to use in that particular context, but natives understand and use these sayings. I think maybe part of it comes from just fewer words existing in Spanish than in English, so many words have more alternate meanings than in English. As a result then, people often have to just naturally understand what is meant by certain sayings and words even though it could technically mean a lot of different things. This inference skill though I think lends to the culture of being low context. IN everyday life many things are said in low context meanings where inference and cultural understanding is needed. This then just naturally is assimilated into work culture and work language. It is interesting to observe how the makeup of a language can then affect the structures and contexts in which people then speak.