Well we’ve reached the half way mark. Four weeks in Spain have gone, four have yet to come, bringing new surprises and adventures with them. What’s been the hardest part you ask? Surely it’s the time difference, or the diet consisting of all things fried, or cleaning bathrooms everyday, or the fact that you don’t eat supper until 10 o’clock each night. While those things have definitely been challenges, the hardest part of this whole experience for me has been the people.
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am an introvert. I don’t talk much, I don’t insert myself into situations or conversations. I am a wall flower, and I love it. Give me a book and I can go a day or two with no human contact at all.
Living at camp, I get no such luxury. I live in a little tin roof, double-wide cottage with two other girls, both of whom are extroverts. Now please don’t mistake me, I love these girls. I have not laughed so hard and as frequently as I have in my four weeks here. But we wake up together in the morning, we eat breakfast together, we go to work together, we work together all day, we eat our meals together, we got to the pool together, we go home together at night, and we go to sleep together.
We are always together!
That doesn’t work so well for me. I need my alone time. I need it. You can tell if you’re an introvert based on a simple test. Do people energize you, or do people drain you? If you get energized from being around people, you’re an extrovert. If being around people too long drains you, you’re an introvert.
People drain me. I can’t constantly be around people, I just can’t. I get tense, snippy, impatient, tired. In short I become a Mr. Grumpy Gills. That’s no fun for me or the people around me. I don’t wish that on anyone. So I’ve had to work extra hard to get my alone time.
Often I can’t ever actually get away from people entirely. When there’s a camp, there are campers everywhere. They’re mini-golfing, or swimming, or sitting on the patio, or playing games in the courtyard, or hiking or walking around or sitting in the amphitheater. There is no where I can go to just be completely away from people. So I use books and music as my escape. If you give me a book, I can pretty much tune out what’s going on around me, even more so if I’ve got my ipod in too.
Unfortunately I grossly underestimated the number of books to bring with me. I brought two fiction books I hadn’t read yet, and a fiction and non-fiction that I had read. So 4 books total. For 2 months….bad plan Kaylee.
I’ve read through them all, and two of the fiction books twice. Sue (one of the camp directors) gave us a stack of books that she didn’t want anymore. They are Christian romance. Urg. I can’t stand Christian romance. Why are they always about Quakers or pioneers? But don’t let me get on that soapbox. Anyway, I am desperate enough, I might actually start reading these books. That’s how bad it is. That’s how much I need to get my alone time. I haven’t caved in yet, but I’m close.
I also have to go on walks. I just have to get out of the house sometimes and get into the open. Although, being in a mountain valley is not as open as I’m used to at home with the flat plains. But it’s still out of the house, and it’s beautiful here. I suppose I can suffer through another month of a mountain on my doorstep J
In addition to reading and walking I keep a journal. Two journals actually. One is kept for events, if we went sight-seeing one day or just daily happenings. The other is for my thoughts and meditations and prayers. It really helps me organize all the thoughts spinning around in my head. I have all these thoughts and feelings and I need an outlet for them, and journaling helps me do that. When I can’t necessarily say how I’m feeling out loud, I’m able to say it in my journal and get that release.
It has definitely been a growing experience, this month in Spain, and it’s been in ways I wasn’t expecting. God is pretty cool that way, showing us ways He wants us to grow that we didn’t even think or know about. I know I’ve definitely grown in my month here and I’m sure it will continue in the month coming.
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