Sunshine makes everything better.

So I have been a horrible blogger recently, but there is a reason to my madness.  APPARENTLY, there is this thing called the "Cultural Adjustment Curve."  It is one of those things that you look at and go "that will never happen to me, I am so much stronger than that."  Funny story though...it happens to everyone. No matter what.  It doesn't necessarily mean that you get frustrated with Spain, it could also just mean that you get homesick, frustrated at people, frustrated at your academics, frustrated at the weather, be that as it may.  So it is possible that I may have gotten a teensy eensy little ittle bit frustrated with a couple of the above things and did not want that crankyness to show in my blog...my bad :)

http://www.esf.edu/international/images/AdjustmentCurve.jpg

That all being said and done with, the sun is shining today, both figuratively and literally.  It is warm and lovely out.   Carnaval in Gijon left a lot to be desired, so I have one more chance to enjoy Carnaval at its finest in Oviedo this Saturday.  Wish me luck!  

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The first part of this blog was written about 6 hrs ago when the sun was shining and the sky was blue...The ironic part about thinking that things are going so well, is that something needs to go wrong immediately after you get so happy.  My computer unfortunately died, RIP.  My original reaction was to curl into the fetal position and cry for about an hour... However, after all of that and some frantic emailing with the best dad in the world, I realized something important:

No matter how bad things appear, there is ALWAYS someone worse off.  The more people I meet here, with their diverse backgrounds and histories, the more I realize how truly lucky I am.  I have family and friends who love me, good health, a world full of experiences at my fingertips, and opportunities that many would dream of.  I am not the victim of any tragic natural disasters or bad situations at all, and if the WORST thing that happens to me is that I have broken my computer permanently and had been feeling a little down for a short minute, than I should definitely not complain.  

I think that we all need to, or at least I need to, make sure that we examine on a weekly, if not daily, basis how lucky we are.  I don't want to say "count our blessings" but that is the general gist.  It is so easy to get bogged down with the little stuff in life, and I want to try and get some big picture perspective and appreciate how truly lucky I am.